RACE DAY - IRONMAN CANADA -  August 26^TH 2012 – Race report & summary of my gratitude!!!

It all starts around 3am when I wake and stare at the clock because I can no longer sleep. What am about to do in a few hours, why do I think I can do this, am I ready, will I make it out of the water, will I make the cutoff? All of these things are going through my head as I just lay there… holy shit I have an Ironman today! After calming a bit, I get up, get dressed, have some coffee and off we go to the race site.  We walk outside and Mother Nature appears to be on our side, it is a PERFECT weather day and no wind – thank you God!!!

It is now 5am, I am dropping off my special needs bags, convinced I forgot something major, but it is too late now. I get body marked, go put food on my bike, pump up my tires, grab my wetsuit all along thinking to myself “you are doing WHAT in 2 hours?”

Mary, Brian and Becky are with me – THANK GOD – as my heart is racing so fast now, that talking to others was distracting me and keeping me calm (For those of you that know me well, I talk a LOT, and when scared or nervous it doubles, so you can only imagine – ha).. Out on the swim beach I start to freak, I am over prepared since I am so scared and even wore 2 pairs of goggles (yes had eyes in the back of my head) due to a fear of them breaking or leaking and having to swim 2.4 miles without them.

It is now 6:45 am and pros are off… 15 min away from the scariest swim start for me ever. 2700 people doing a mass start swim and then working out all day, are we idiots? To some this is a day to be competitive, to others it is personal and they just want to beat a previous years’ time, to some it is because they were given a 2^nd chance in some way and they feel blessed to take this challenge. To me and many others, we are Ironman virgins; it will be the FIRST TIME we ever take on an endurance event of this size! We all have different reasons for doing so, one of which is, because we CAN and we are blessed with our health to be able to do so. Thoughts of those that aren’t so lucky may also be what get some of us through the day (you know who you are)!! I get in the water and do a very short practice swim to just get adjusted and then out again to stand and look out on the lake at what I am about to begin! My heart is racing and I am still in disbelief that this is about to start.

THE CANNON GOES OFF at 7am and we are OFF… I made the decision to hold back a bit to not be in the chaos of ALL 2700 people, and say to myself, stay calm, just keep swimming and remember to breathe. After a few good punches  in the face, my leg being pulled on a few times, people who can’t site cutting me off, spotting a few scuba divers below that I just smiled and waved at and counting 31 buoys over the next 2.4 miles, I DID IT.. I am out of the water in 1:48 .. slower than normal, but over 30 min before the swim cut off and for the first time EVER stayed calm the entire way. The best part, I have a SMILE on my face & tear in my eyes. One sport down, two to go (oh and 138.2 miles – ha)

After a slow T1 due to dizziness and trouble standing (guess that happens when you have been horizontal in moving water for a while), I am now dressed for the bike and off I go to find Ronan and get on the course… The next 112 miles on my ass might I add (holy chaffing, but that is another story) were actually the most enjoyable 7+ hours I have had in a long time. The scenery was breathtaking, orchards and vineyard everywhere along the mountains and surrounding the beautiful lakes. Mary was right, this course was amazing! I clearly had a lot of time to think out there, so many things crossed through my mind… Random things from my Grandma looking down at me being proud as she was the one who always told me I could do anything, to Mary’s voice telling me to suck it up, to my beautiful goddaughter and how blessed I am to have her in my life, to the you-tube video my amazing friends made us back in Colorado, to the family of friends I have made over the past 7 years in CO, to my amazing niece & nephew back in Texas, to my sisters and brothers and how blessed I am to have them all in my life now & I am not going to lie, I was also thinking about how SORE my ass was starting to feel and how I actually was looking forward to getting off and running (WHAT? Who wants to do that) I was elated, smiling and just enjoying every minute, never once worried about my speed, simply still just wanted to take it easy and get to the end which was the ultimate goal.  The bike was coming to an end, I am close to getting off and see a few friends heading out on the run, I LOVED having friends out there with me, makes the day easier.

Are you kidding me right now, TWO sports completed & I have only 26.2 miles left (yes you read that right I have been out exercising for a little under 10 hours already and I still have a FULL MARATHON to go) and believe it or not I am STILL SMILING ….. Now off to the run…………..

Let the marathon begin, I am shocked at how good I feel and that I am so close to achieving this bucket list goal. I see so many fellow RMTC members on the run course (mind you most of them are on the 2^nd part of their run, and I am on the first ½ marathon, but I don’t care) I love it, waving, yelling their name, hugging all of them I see and then seeing Mary and yelling at her “Stay on your side” in-con-siderite” – (inside joke) (but she wasn’t feeling so good to keep up our ghetto humor)  Another great part of the run, seeing spectators that came out to support us and simply taking in the day for what it is. The volunteers and spectators out on the course are AMAZING, they truly keep us going and hope they all know what it means to us athletes for them to be there!! The run is going great, I am almost at the turnaround at mile 13 and feel amazing and it is just over 12 hours that I have been out there. They are starting to pass out glow sticks knowing the sun will set soon and I am SHOCKED at the time I am doing & how I am feeling great, but then what Mary told me begins to happen.. Expect the unexpected.. Mile 16 hits and everything changes. From mile 16 to almost 24 I am sick, nothing will stay down, I can’t eat anything, can’t drink anything and feel like daggers are being stabbed into all parts of my legs. I don’t care!!!!! I have gone all this way I am NOT giving up even if I have to walk it all the way to the finish, or hell crawl for that matter!!! Thoughts of others go through my head and how they wouldn’t give up their fight, this fight, or fighting cancer or other things life brings us.. DON’T GIVE UP TORI…. YOU CAN DO THIS!!!  I get to mile 24 and the town starts to light up, something comes over me and I start jogging again, I get to Lakeside drive and I see Kelly & Elizabeth (my friends that came to support me & I am sooooooooooooo grateful to them for being there) I can’t tell you HOW HAPPY I am to see familiar faces and also know that I am so close to achieving this goal..

Mile 25-26.2 felt like forever, it was almost like everything went quiet, I could see people cheering and smell those nasty fried donuts at the turn around (not good for a girl who has been throwing up – wish that sense would have faded too J) I see Kelly & Elizabeth again, YEAH – I know I am close, I pull out my Colorado State flag (that I had recently had signed by Crowie, Rinny & TO – 3 pro triathletes for those of you that are not aware) and I see the light… HOLY SHIT this is happening… I run into the finish chute, smiling ear to ear, flag over my head and an emotion that I can never explain to anyone...as soon as I cross the finish line, my head drops and I break into tears…

I DID IT - I AM AN IRONMAN…

I am the same girl who 8 years ago I couldn’t swim, I hadn’t been on a bike since I was a little girl and the thought of running a mile made me want to cry…………………a girl who never believed in herself.... BUT NOW...

I achieved something I never thought possible, I believe in myself in a way I never have before (the way Grandma always did), I didn’t give up and for the first time ever in my life, I was Proud of MYSELF  – I AM AN IRONMAN!!

NOW FOR THE IMPORTANT PART.. THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you to my fellow teammates who pushed me all season, thank you to Coach Charley and all of the other coaches in TNT over the years that pushed me, thank you to my friends who didn’t get mad at me when I didn’t go out so that I could go to bed early and get up at 430am to train, thank you to Kelly & the entire Smith family for taking me in as one of your own, thank you to the all in the medical world that got me through my injuries so I could make it to race day. Thank you to those that have touched my life that allowed me to keep going in their honor or memory! Thank you to my Grandma for looking down on me all day from above and reminding me that I could do it. And a big thank you to Mary Carey, who is the toughest person I know. She was the one that taught me how to swim 8 years ago (trust me it was UGLY), she talked me into not biking in tennis shoes and getting clip pedals and she never doubted I could one day run and not walk so much…She is not only a coach, but an true inspiration to me and best of all, an amazing friend.. I am truly blessed in life and I am still pinching myself from this surreal experience and achievement!  THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!

 

Thursday, August 23^rd through Saturday, August 25^th

Today is the day I head to Canada to endure on the biggest event to date in my life. I go pick up Kelly and we head off to the airport to meet everyone else to head out to Spokane before our 4 ½ hour drive into Penticton, B.C in Canada. What a beautiful drive, had I known this part of NAM was so beautiful, I would have taken a road trip years ago. We arrived at our rental house and were greeted by the sweetest couple who showed us around their home & even gave us some welcome wine, they were lovely! Off to a great Greek dinner we went.... I even tasted some Peach beer… there is no lack of peaches in the area!!! 

Friday morning we went for a practice swim and then it all started to get more real, if this morning was any indication of race day, I was now even more scared. Windy, choppy and white caps in the water, I lasted 10 minutes and was sea sick feeling, oh boy 2.4 miles is going to be long if these conditions stick around. We then rode our bike around a few blocks to check the gears, etc and ensure all was good for race day (that planned 45 min ride turned into 10 minutes due to the extreme winds). We are now off to pick up packet.

In line to get my packet and I am given a silver disco  colored wristband that the volunteer asked me if I ‘loved’  it since I had spend $700 for it.. (too funny), we got that and a bag and the basics for the race, holy shit this is getting real.  I am trying my hardest not to show the anxiety I am feeling and just try to enjoy the day with friends. That evening we went to our athlete dinner (bummed our friends didn’t join in as there was a 30 min wait and they were hungry – who can blame them). The dinner was nice and we got to watch past video of IMCA and also hear a few people speak. One guy had done over 100 Ironmen in his life (is he freaking crazy – who does that and who the hell has time for that, does he not work? but still very impressed) and then a few pros and also Sister Madonna – what an inspiration this woman is. 82 years of age, the first women to ever do Ironman Canada AND she was going to do it on Sunday with us again!! Okay now seriously, I BETTER suck it up and finish and for sure  don’t get beat out by an 82 year old (although she is way more experienced than I am) Seriously what an inspiration. We also learned that Sunday will not only the 30 year anniversary of Ironman Canada, but the LAST Ironman Canada, so another reason to get my butt out there and stay strong.

Saturday morning I got up early because I couldn’t sleep, thoughts of Sunday were racing through my mind. I decided to go for a little practice jog by myself before everyone else got up to clear my head a little. What an amazing area we are staying in. I ran alongside Lake Skaha and had some deer as company, saw an old gutted hotel building and just simply enjoyed the amazing views around me, vineyards and all.  Once back and everyone was up and ready, we set off to load our bikes into transition, drop off our bags and then had a great lunch with the crew overlooking the lake, did some gambling and headed back to the house for an early night.  We all worked together to make an amazing dinner and even invited Wes over to join us (he is our amazing bike transporter from Pro Bike Express), had a lot of laughs & turned in for the big day tomorrow.  At this point I am so nervous and scared I just want to pretend to sleep for a while and pray for a good day tomorrow! For anyone that knew me when I did my first triathlon in 2004, I had to be talked off a ledge the night before, I was so scared of the open water swim and the idea of doing an Olympic distance triathlon at all. I am guessing that person is either shocked right now or laughing at my ‘thought’ of doing this… because now I am doing 4 times that and 8 years ago I didn't know how to swim, didn't own a bike and couldn't run a mile – REALLY I am now attempting an Ironman?

 

One of the best finishes to a Triathlon I have ever seen.....

The weekend of August 4th & 5th, I took a little time to cheer on one tri and volunteer at another. Saturday morning I went to meet up with Mary & Brian at the Boulder Res where we normally do our races, but today was a day for the kids. Poor Madeline was sick and had to as she told me 'sit this one out' (precious), I mean it would have been year three for her, so she was good!!!  However, her little sister who she trained so well, stayed strong and did her first ever triathlon alone just 7 days before turning 3 - (yes 3 & age on the calf was the proof - ha). I could not be more proud to be Amelia's godmother and see her doing this event. I think the pics speak for themselves. Amelia has officially joined her big sister and is an IronKid 2012 :-)

Sunday I then spent the day out cheering on those doing the half ironman and boy o boy will I say thank you 10x's more than I already do to those volunteers on the course when race!! It was a hot day and those athletes did not give up. I handed out that water as quick as I could and enjoyed every minimute of being on the other side helping others!!

Don't worry I didn't bail on training ALL weekend - Mary and I did manage to get a 60+ mile ride in after Amelia finished her triathlon... so still trucking along for the big day!!!

Well…. It has been 6 weeks and each week I thought about updating this, but was either too tired or out training and so here I am finally back…….

Last time I was on here I was about to celebrate a birthday and June was about to come to an end – I had a fun time out to dinner with friends and then woke up a year older, likely with another wrinkle and more grey hair, but young enough to take on the Loveland Lake to Lake Triathlon in Colorado as a training day that morning when I woke up (oh boy have times changed when this is now a training day)

Had a great day in Loveland – ran a better pace on my run than normal and finished overall in 02:48:56, I will never be the best, but when I get better than ‘myself’ from the day before, I am happy!!! There are days I am still shocked that at 30 years old (a long time ago.. haha) I could barely swim (okay I sucked let’s be real) and didn’t run a mile without some level of pain or whining. Today I am only proving to myself that you don’t have to be 20 or even very in shape to do this, you just have to put your mind to it and believe in yourself. There are still days I need to keep my mind in check, but it IS DOABLE!!

JULY 2012  -  A new month – one of chaffing & a new found love of Aquaphor!!

Well July was a trying month – did my longest training days ever in my life.. had several weekends of 6-7 hour work out days and LOTS of chaffing, which normally you don’t even know until you get into the shower, the water hits it & you scream like a baby!! I also managed to keep my butt on a bike for 100.16 miles one day too (oh yes I counted that .16 – ha). This was something that I have never done (came VERY close a few years ago and only once, but this one took the cake)… yes my ass hurt big time when done and I preferred standing, however that was even a challenge with my sore legs, but NO CHAFFING – thank you Aquaphor!!! One week in July I did almost 18 hours of training and with work and life that week I thought ‘what the hell did I sign up for’ – but I kept moving forward, which is what I also hope to do on race day – NEVER GIVE UP was in my mind and HTFU (let’s be real) and thoughts of those I admire most that aren’t healthy enough to get out there with me and therefore I am blessed to do in their honor!!

On July 29^th (the day after I rode that 100 miles) I went with friends and teammates and did the Rocky Mountain Triathlon in Silverthorne. Swimming at 9000ft. elevation was definitely an eye opener…I couldn’t breathe and boy was I slow, got through the bike, not so fast, legs were tired from the day before, but then on the run, I was SHOCKED.. had my fastest run to date and did it at altitude, I thank the cooler temps for sure!! Fun weekend but exhausting!!!!

The entire month of July proved to be trying and I wondered a lot of times if I could do this, but I am still here & sharing this with you and hope to make everyone proud in 22 days when I make it through the hardest day of my life both physically & mentally!!!

OH WAIT --- before I leave July - I met Craig Alexander (IronMan WORLD Champion) AND won a new pair of Newtons from him that night (well he said my name & hearing it with that accent was a great win in itself)

RACE MONTH HAS ARRIVED – HOLY SHIT J

11 months ago I registered for IronMan Canada, which will take place on August 26^th 2012 – I paced for an hour before hitting submit on my computer, I might have gotten sick and my nerves were shot and that was simply registering. I have had my struggles over the 11 months with life, school, work, traveling internationally which interfered with training and simply believing in myself. There were days I wanted to just give up, but I didn’t. June was truly the FIRST full month of training (due to so much work travel) where the IM was the focus and if I didn’t have a coach who was also one of my greatest friends & believes in me & support of others, I may have walked away thinking that wasn’t enough! Well here I am, so close and about to start tapering until race day. So I am as ready as I am going to be.

I may not be fast, I may not be the visual athlete people may think, but if I believe in myself and keep moving forward, I am DETERMINED to get to that finish line before midnight (which is the 17 hour cutoff) – Keep your fingers & toes crossed and positive thoughts that day!!!! I have decided not to give myself a time and be disappointed if I don’t hit it. This is huge to even attempt for me, and if I can swim the 2.4 miles that morning, follow it with 112 miles on the bike and then jump off and run a full marathon, all I care about is crossing the finish line and not giving up without any pressure of time.. as long as I actually get a time (which means being done by midnight)

Tomorrow I will take a short mental break & go watch my precious goddaughter and her amazing sister compete in IronKids in Boulder, CO in the 3-5year old age group.. ADORABLE.. I am going to make them signs and go support them – I can’t wait!!!!

THE COUNTDOWN BEGINS………………(okay who the hell am I kidding it started in August of last year) but now reality hit me and this shit is getting close J

It’s my Birthday……

Today I wake up to messages from friends and family wishing me a wonderful birthday – what a blessed person I am!!  VERY BLESSED as I also wake up to hearing about a friends dad being home with hospice now and his daughters by his side, knowing he will soon be in a better place with his wife. So hard to see others lose both parents at such a young age to such an evil thing like cancer.  A hard day indeed for them I am sure, and makes me realize how blessed I am to have made it through another year with good health that I should never forget I have! Another friend (who I have written about a lot in this blog) Doug, had been released to go home after his recent transplant, but this morning was re-admitted into the hospital with pneumonia and low BP. My prayers & thoughts are with both families today! CANCER SUCKS!!!! Stay strong all of you!!

Later today, I will head out with Mary Carey to Loveland to get ready to race in the Lake2Lake Triathlon tomorrow – a training day for us in preparation for our BIG race in August.. Yet again the race is being changed. Two races in 3 weeks, crazy! They have shortened the bike due to the fires here in CO, yet another thing to put life in perspective, people have lost their homes and everything, but this is such a supportive state that hardly anyone is in the shelters as friends/families and strangers are taking people and pets in.. I LOVE IT…

Hoping to have a nice dinner with friends tonight and then work hard to get through the race tomorrow … more to come after we finish… and after I celebrate my birthday a bit with friends tomorrow night… more to come…

65 DAYS TO THE BIGGEST MENTAL AND PHYSICAL CHALLENGE OF MY LIFE!!!

Road Trip & Boise 70.3 Weekend – June 9^th

My road trip began with a 9 hour drive into Salt Lake City where I decided to stay the night before continuing on to Boise. This was my first time ever to take a road trip alone for no reason other than to do it. I was really bored in the beginning, but then decided to download some books on my iPod and plug into the car and boy did time start going fast. I LOVED it..

On June 7^th I arrived in Boise and was so excited to see the Emmons J 4 days of nothing but laughs, smiling and great times with Marissa, Marcus, Molly, Micah and the kiddos!! I even got the blessing of seeing Little Cameron (well not so little anymore) and Brian …. Odd that sometimes relationships in life don’t work out, but I truly am blessed that Tim brought all of these amazing people into my life & I am very grateful for that. We had shopping time, wine festival and great moments just hanging out all weekend.. Love my Boise peeps!!

RACE DAY – Well….today was a day of realization that sometimes things don’t go as planned, but you have to just go with the flow as it is what it is!!  Woke up early to temps in the 40’s and raining outside. I prepared my transition bags, got my nutrition together and mentally started to get prepared to race in the cold rain, which really I was okay with if it was just light rain as I am not a fan of the heat.

Marissa had stayed up late the night before to make a beautiful sign for her, Ethan & Marcus to have along the course to support me. I have never had something so fancy just for me at a triathlon and made me feel so supported & special. Love them!! Marissa and I headed out, dropped off my ‘run bag’ at T2 and then up to the canyon area where the race start and T1 were at. As we were driving up there, the temperature gage in the car was dropping and dropping and the weather was taking a turn for the worse. We got to the top and it was raining hard/sleeting and windy. We later found out the wind chill up there was 35 degrees.. BURRRR. I was dropped off, went out in the rain and set up my bike and T1 area. I was getting colder and colder over the next 2 hours and I was NOT dressed for this… who would have known in June that it would be winter weather.

 

About an hour before race start (well my wave start) and 2 hours after I had arrived, they announced due to extreme weather that the bike course would now be only 12 miles instead of 56 as they were concerned with wrecks on the bike and hypothermia and didn’t want to take any risks for the safety of the athletes!! A lot of people at this point grabbed their bikes and decided against racing as no longer a ½ IM and also not worth getting sick. I continued to shiver and hang out in a wetsuit – hot look – and never in my life wanted to hang out in a porta-potty as it was warmer and dry in there J

Finally at the start, heading to the water, I lost my shoe.. someone came up behind me and said, “Ma’am you lost your shoe” – me looking around was like ‘really, I had no idea’ – he did not like this answer (I later realized he was an official race medic) as I had just run over gravel and didn’t know as I couldn’t feel my feet or my body for that matter. About 15 min later my lips turned blue, I stopped shaking, my fingers were so swollen that I couldn’t bend them and guess I looked like a ghost. Needless to say I was pulled for going into hypothermia and did not get to race that day.

For those of you that know me well, I am stubborn and was not happy about this as not only did I pay for this, but I knew of others suffering in a hospital with cancer and I was determined to do this in their honor, but it was just not my day! After getting over it (took a while and some tears) I warmed up, got better, watched pros and others ride their bikes in wetsuits (which I have never seen) as it was so cold and then headed down in a shuttle to the finish and get my run stuff and head back to my friends house. By the way I had no phone, no way to reach anyone and they were out waiting on me on the course.. Amazing how much technology is what we depend on and I had no way to communicate.. Luckily it all worked out and I wasn’t stranded!!  I ended up doing a little run and felt a bit better later that night!

Time to leave Boise and decided to take a different route, this time through Jackson Hole. I went to Grand Teton National Park for the first time ever… WOW is all I can say – breathtaking!! I decided to stay the night there and the next morning got up and did a long bike ride through Grand Teton.. Breathtaking and so glad I made that choice before driving the rest of the way home… 26 hours in a car alone and riding through beauty like I did gives a lot of personal clarity. I have to say I loved it and feel a lot better about a lot of things since this road trip!!! I am blessed with some amazing friends in my life and health that I shouldn’t ever take for granted…

Now………….. time to get my butt into some MAJOR training and forget about this set back and move on to the big day in August!!

Memorial Day Weekend – AKA – Mary Carey Boot Camp!!!!

Well this weekend was an eye opener and a good kick in the butt to get my training in full force… IMC is getting closer and closer and my body is not going to train itself without me pushing it.

We had a full weekend of training, lots of biking, running and swimming.. One day was a 50 mile ride that felt completely uphill the entire time with strong winds, followed by an hour run, tough workout, but we all made it through!!

Thank you Mary for your continued support and belief in all of us during this new challenge in life & in the sport I have grown to love so much (well some days)!!

Well.. it has been a month since my last post and a LOT has happened...from travels, training (or lack of), a wedding and the miracle of others...

After my last post travel began again.. I headed off to Sinapore for a bit for work and well I tried to keep up with training, but work, the heat & humidity, monkeys and a book might have distracted me a bit.. Yes I said MONKEY's. Over the weekend when I was in Singapore, I decided to take a ferry over to Bintan, Indonesia. I went for a run the first morning there and about 2 miles in all these wild little monkey started flying around in trees and across the path I was on and scared the living shit out of me.. I RAN all the way back to the hotel a bit freaked out. haha - I now can laugh, but I had no idea what they were, I was alone and seriously was freaked out.. so needless to say my run was cut short, but hey better than nothing & what an experience... I also took a day off to ride an elephant.. so cool and amazing what life has given me in my so many adventures in life.

Next up... I left Singapore on a LONG journey in order to get to NY in time for my little sisters wedding!! So a few short workouts, but again, not what I should be doing, but it was okay as this is a day I wouldn't have missed & am truly blessed to have been able to be a part of. It was an amazing weekend, one I prayed would happen one day. All of my siblings together in one place for the first time in a little over 20 years.. truly a blessing & on a day my sister married her best friend. Truly a blessing. After a weekend of great memories with my sister, I flew home to another blessing..

I got home and received the news that Doug (see more on him from earlier blogs) our team hero on May 23rd received a stem cell transplant that was a success. He still has a battle ahead... so keep he & his family in your thoughts & prayers, but I would like to share something he shared with us the next day....

Life is short. It is so important that we make the best use of our time here on earth - striving to live our lives in a way that we can look back on when our time comes and say to ourselves "I have made a difference". There is ...someone on this earth who has done just that very thing today - giving of himself with the intent of helping me. I am so grateful for the wonderful thing this person has ...done for me - I only hope that I will be presented with the opportunity to do something of such magnitude for someone else during my lifetime.

and even better news, he has been walking around the hospital getting his exercise and trying to get strong again... So why am I sharing all this on a blog about my adventures to get to my first IronMan in August ... because he is one of my inspirations and who got me through my training weekend this weekend..

Over the 3 day weekend I FINALLY got back into training.. I biked 90 miles in total over the weekend and ran 13 miles.. I am tired and sore, but reality is back that I have a 1/2 Ironman in 2 weeks and the full in 3 months.. I complained, I mentally had to push myself.. BUT thoughts of Doug & others in my life now and in the past truly got me through on Sunday when the winds were so strong that I held on with white knuckles to stay up on my bike....I am blessed to be healthy enough to train for something like this and truly can't take that for granted...

Now if I could just figure out how to take a power nap between each leg of the race in August as maybe it will make me think it is a new day when I get up, because the thought of adding 22 miles of biking to what I did over the long weekend, doubling the running distance, oh and adding 2.4 miles of swimming to it all in ONE day - well it simply scares me.. However I WILL continue to train, not take my health for granted and pull for those that can't and visualize crossing that finish line to my ultimate athletic goal...

Well it has been a few months since I have made an entry on this….just been crazy busy with work, travel and grad school, so time to catch up… So much has happened in the past few months, so let me break it up. I will post a race summary, a training summary and just highlights that you might like to hear from older posts!!

Race Summary – Race #1 of 2012 is Complete
April 1st I completed the Lavaman Olympic Distance Triathlon on the Big Island in Hawaii. Below is a summary of my time. I beat my time from last year by a little over 6 minutes, so I can’t complain as it was better, but was 2 min off my ultimate goal of breaking 3 hours. (Rumor has it that the swim was long however, so I don’t feel bad, the PRO that won was one was a minute off his time, so a minute in Pro terms could be several in my ‘normal’ world

Swim Time (.9 mile swim in beautiful clear water checking out seat turtles and cool fish – kind of forgot I was in a race – oops that may have been another reason I didn’t hit my goal) – Time: 34:26 Bike Time (40K) - Avg 18mph – Time: 1:22:30
Run time (10K) - Time: 59:59

I have to say that distance is so enjoyable and the location was amazing & likely can’t be beat. THE BEST part of the race was that our team honored hero DOUG was able to join us and be at the finish line when we came in. I was on a mission to not give up and get to him there as he hasn’t given up in his battle with cancer!!!! (More on Doug in my ‘overall’ update below) Now that this event it over, I have to come to reality and realize that I became insane in August of 2011 when I decided to give myself the ultimate challenge and register for an Ironman in 2012 – what was I thinking, I still don’t know. I am scared to death. So the ‘enjoyable distance’ I hope to remember as I am training for the scariest thing to date in my life. To get there, I will be doing a half ironman in June in Boise and then the big day is August 26th in Canada, so let the hard training begin….. or training in general

Training Update

Well …..This is the part I need to get better at. Training and I do not seem to go hand in hand. Maybe partially because I can be lazy, but also work travel gets in the way. Some people that are insanely into this sort of thing may say “rent a bike, or bring yours with”, where the “not so insane” person (aka ME) says. “it is Singapore why would I do that, too hot and crowded to bike there and too much work to bring a bike” and there is my downfall. However my friend Mike H, would likely say right now.. “don’t worry don’t train until 2 weeks before and then just pull it out of your ass like you normally do” – makes me laugh, but for this distance, I think I should refrain from that strategy!!! Since January of this year I have been on the road more than I have been home and again I will be on the road almost all of May. Running is about the only thing I am able to keep up with and sometimes that is even hard as I HATE a treadmill & at times that is my only option. HOWEVER, reality hit today when my good friend (and coach) sent out a ‘Reality check’ email kindly reminding me that my ½ IM was in 7.5 weeks and my full was in 17.5, not sure if she was trying to make me wake up to reality or throw up in the middle of a work meeting when it popped into my inbox scaring the shit out of me to put it mildly! So let the training begin, yes May will be a struggle, but June and July my butt will be on a bike a TON and swimming more than I ever have before. So this may mean diapers to cushion my butt, so no picking at me at the bar (oh wait maybe I should stop drinking to be able to get up and train – GEEZ this is a lot of work), a lot of screaming in the shower from chaffing and pruned fingers from all the swimming --- sounds attractive doesn’t it… .. I am DETERMINED to do this and achieve the biggest personal challenge of my life just shy of my 40th birthday! (Yep because that won’t be enough of a challenge for me mentally, turning 40)….

Overall Updates & REASON I keep on “Tri’ing” and Training….

Some of you that have read my previous posts know that I did Lavaman through Team in Training (TNT), a branch of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. I fundraised along with many others on my team and throughout the country to raise $$ for those with blood cancers! I am very proud to say that for this event alone TNT raised 2.5 MILLION dollars – that is amazing…. I also have an update on my earlier post this year on Doug. We found out that they have found a donor match for him and the process will begin in May – So happy they found a match and praying that all goes GREAT and we see Doug back out with us and next time training and feeling great. In addition, another teammates Dad who also was struggling from his blood cancer had his transplant a few weeks ago and so far so good. Watching how the $ we raise benefits others is so cool & is why I continue to work hard to train and fundraise to save lives!! We WILL kick your ass cancer!!!

So this one is long enough, but beware I am taking the summer off school to train and focus, so I will be trying to do weekly or bi-weekly training blogs.. you are WARNED you may hear about butt chaffing, crying, complaining and less than attractive things about my days… but all of it will be worth it… RIGHT?

Count your blessings everyday!!!

Today, I am leaving a work trip in Singapore and heading back to the States. It is the morning of January 25th here in Singapore and the afternoon of the 24th back home (I still find it amazing to be ahead in time while here). I decided to update today as this trip was hard for me in so many ways, but also very eye opening. I have been here for 10 days & it was an amazing place to experience. For a place that is only 26 miles, which is a distance I have run in my life (scary I know) their vision is beyond anything I have ever seen. I was fascinated by so much. I will post a link to pictures later, but the detail of my trip is not the reason for my post today. All throughout my trip, I have struggled trying to eat healthy while wanting to experience the food of their culture. (Let’s face it, they have the greatest food over here, but not all of it is very healthy). I was jetlagged and had 10X’s more work to do during my trip then the clock allowed for, which in turn stressed me out. I have been a little lonely sitting in my hotel some nights wishing I could have shared the experience with another. I normally work out to relieve stress, but outside of the weekend, time was limited for that as well. So you ask why I am sitting here complaining to you?? Well here it why….It is because most of us do this daily, complain over little things…. Reality was a fast slap in the face reminder today that I should have taken these past 10 days and enjoyed them 10 times more without worrying about the ‘little’ things or things I cannot change as it is NOT worth it. Overall I am truly blessed to be healthy and have the opportunity to be here even if it is for work and not vacation. Today I read an email. An email that made me stop and realize how blessed I am to not only be healthy and doing things, but to have others in my life that matter to me. I woke up, I ran on the ‘dreadmill’ for an hour and I ENJOYED it. I enjoyed it because first off my injury is better and I am healthy again & can.. YEAH… Today I had motivation, clarity and inspiration that made me want to run longer and harder. Most of you that know me, know that I am personally competitive with myself and tend to give myself crazy goals each year. But you also know that for the past 8 years I have been a part of Team in Training (TNT), originally because I joined with friends, but continued for personal reasons very close to my heart. With TNT I have been doing endurance events while fundraising to find a cure for all blood cancers. In the present also using those funds to make a better life for those living with one. Well this season, as you may have read in my last post, I met Doug. Doug is our team hero. Doug joined our team during his remission after being diagnosed about 11 months ago and was getting ready to do his 1st triathlon with us on April 1st. I have been motivated, inspired and blessed by meeting and getting to know & train with Doug over the past 2 months. Watching him do the workouts and build his strength has been amazing. Today I found out he may not be able to join us on race day as his cancer has returned and he has to go back to treatment. It saddened me to be out of town when he told the team as I wanted to give him a hug, but he knows we are all here for him and he is a fighter. I will Run, Bike, Swim and get to the finish line FOR Doug. Our entire team is behind him and we will see him pull through. So this is just a reminder that health, family and friends are a TRUE blessing and we should be thankful everyday for what we have & stop worrying about the little things. Now time for me to get back to training (well once I am done with these 28 hours of traveling home) and start sticking to the schedule to be ready for April as well as the BIG race in August… no more excuses! My fight to help LLS find a cure continues… you can keep track of that as well or help out those suffering with a blood cancer like Doug, by visiting my website below!! http://pages.teamintraining.org/rm/lavatri12/tauth