Six Months and Counting

The Magic Clock
How many people sit around counting the months, the days, the weeks, the hours to their big day.  Maybe graduates, future brides, expectant mothers.....not I....I count the months, weeks, days, minutes, and seconds left until Ironman.  Every time I blink, the number of days on my counter gets lower.  Just 6 months ago, I sat in line at 5 am to sign up for Ironman AZ 2012 and here I am with only 6 months left to pack for this very exciting trip.  The road ahead is steep and long, but if you just focus on each step, you will summit before you know it.  There is not much time left for procrastination.  I would say it is time to get down to business.  I am finally getting comfortable in the middle distances and ready to start building on the base that has been built. 

Progress Report:
Swimming:  The workouts continue to work on technique and I am comfortable swimming 2000 meters in the pool or open water.  My open water swimming is much faster than my pool swimming and I still consider swimming to be my strong sport and I am relaxed and enjoy this part of triathlon training (though my coach still continues to try and make me more efficient, but all I feel is out of breath when trying to implement changes).  I especially enjoy finding a pool that has cool water instead of hot now that we have reached the 100s in AZ.

Cycling:  My new bike rocks.  I have gained speed and power on my new carbon road bike with shorter cranks that enable me to get more power.  I am not having to work as hard on my new bike and am able to ride with a lower heart rate at a faster speed and keep up with more teammates on our group rides.  I can comfortable ride for 3 hours.  Meeting the bike deadline during the race is no longer a concern.  Will meet with my bike fitter very soon to assess my saddle and add aero bars, however, I am actually getting attached to the saddle that came with the bike and I am enjoying my current position.

Running:  Finally feeling more comfortable running but track workouts and long runs are still the most challenging workouts for me.  My muscles seem to be more elastic and foregiving and I am having less tightness and cramping.  I have comfortably reached 10-12 miles for my long run.  I still feel like running is an area that has room for improvement as I have definitely slowed down with age, but I am not counting on speed during an IM, just hoping for sustainability and being able to run a good portion of the race cause 26.2 could make for a long walk home!

I look forward to the next half of the journey where we just continue to climb up, up, and away until our bodies are programmed to swim, bike or run in our sleep.  In fact, I am starting to read a book on mental training to help prepare my mind for the long day and all the tricks my mind and body will be playing on November 18th.  The tool of mental rehearsal or visualization has been effective in helping athletes reach their peak performance during their big moment when it counts.  I have competed against myself over and over again and some days the mind prevails and helps the body complete the task and other days our body breaks down and our spirit breaks with it which can end your race or make the outcome less desirable.  The only disadvantage I find when I dream about a race is that I wake up tired and sometimes it is hard to motivate yourself to get to the start line.

The next 6 months is really all about getting to know yourself very well and simulating the different challenges you may face on that day and practicing pushing through boundaries.  And other times, it is having the strength and courage to know how to adapt to the unpredictable or when to stop. 

COURAGE
Speaking of courage:  This weekend I participated in the "NOT ONE MORE" bike rally where many of the local bike shops, clubs, teams and individual cyclists came together and rode downtown to the AZ Capitol to honor cyclists who have been struck and injured or killed by motorists to plead with our legislators to pass laws to protect cyclist from distracted drivers and to encouarage vehicles and cyclists work together to make the road safer for everyone.  The 3 cyclists that I mentioned in an earlier blog were all able to make it to the rally in neck braces, wheel chairs, and slings.  The survivors were fortunate as names of fallen cyclists were read and remembered.  It is amazing to be part of the cyclist community filled with strength and spirit, but all of us together cannot withstand the impact of a moving vehicle, so there is much work to be done.  This organization is starting a campaign on You Tube highlighting cyclists experience to try to faciliate cooperation between cars and bikes on our roads.  Will post more about those as they become available or you can go to notonemorecyclist.com/.

Addiction and Codependence:  Triathlon is a drug!
Some people might say if you have to have an addiction, pick one that has some healthy side effects.  So, I have to admit that it is hard to get through a day without a workout or three and if you have to take off more than one day, you will go through withdrawals.  When you have to do long workouts or short hard workouts, you can no longer do them on your own, but you rely on your training partner to text or call you to make sure you wake up and to make sure you show up.  Just make sure you read the warning label before you sign up for an IRONMAN and it helps if your family agrees to support this habit that strips you of your dignity as you change clothes in parking lots, depletes your savings account as you have to buy the proper equipment, gear,and then all the right accessories and the extra fees for fitters and coaches and fancy outfits, and it impedes in your bodies natural biological clock as you wake up at 4 am and you go to bed at 8pm not to mention the workout, eat, nap cycle in between.  Just wish that the ones you loved in the beginning will be the ones that love you in the end and they will not send you to rehab when you cross the line, but maybe they will sign up for the insanity next!

Counting Keeps You Sane, so keep your eye on the clock!