Racing to Ironman: The Clock is Ticking

This weekend was a big milestone with the passing of 100 days left until IMAZ and the beginning of the fall race season leading up to the event.  Friday was an exciting day marking the end of triple digits and a time for reflection on what we have been through since that cold and rainy morning last November when many people stood on line to sign up for this big adventure.

There have been 4 hours in the pool and 3 running and 3 bike workouts of varying speeds and intensity each week.   We have layed bricks, done finales, biked up long hills, logged a lot of miles in our long zone, and eaten a lot of bagels, chews, jellybeans, gels, salt tabs, carb and electrolyte mixes...Not to mention all the miles we have driven in a car, just to get to a location to sit on our bikes and ride many more miles.

We have woven a tight knit team that is there to support each other whether it is laughing at 4 am when you are too tired to stand up let alone run, to rubbing out your teammates cramp, to lifting each other up when we are down, to encouraging someone to keep going when it hurts, to praising each other for their progress, to discussing private matters, to sharing life stories, to creating new stories, to sharing a passion between generations, to talking a friend off a cliff, to hugging someone when they cross the line, to enjoying a meal or movie together,  and to just quietly being by someone's side when there are no words to be said.  Together we stand, but each one of us has to travel to a very personal place to get into their own zone.  You must go to a place that only you can reach which requires anchoring down, letting go, and digging deep.  You find comfort in a familiar face along side of the road or another yellow jersey on the course and it makes you smile and then you return to that place inside where you contemplate, battle with yourself and find peace with yourself and the world.  Sometimes it is like being stuck in a video game where you have to kill off the dragons that pop up along the way to get to the kingdom, but when you are moving fast and the demons stay off your path, riding through the wind brings you into a dream like state where you find your happy!

This weekend was the Mountain Man Olympic Triathlon in Flagstaff.  It was another opportunity to escape the heat and assess how our bodies are responding to training.  The race happened to be on my son's 13th birthday and my husband had to travel to Russia and could not enjoy the weekend with us.  We were fortunate to have friends with a cabin at Morman Lake who hosted us and helped make my son's birthday a memorable one.  I highly recommend staying in the pines as a pre-race strategy because I found myself to be extremely relaxed and calm.  I picked up my race packet on Friday evening and just separated myself from all the pre-race excitement since we did not have to check our bikes in the day before the event.  My son hung out with his friends and was in boy heaven playing in the woods with soft air guns and ATVs and other off road vehicles along with a boating adventure and campfires at night.  He was happy and I was happy that he had a chance to really enjoy the outdoors.  We just got to chill for the entire day.  Well almost the entire day.  I had a short brick workout to warm up for the race on Sunday and it was hard to keep it short because being in the pines makes you just want to go.  I rode with the cows and ran with a deer and kept it short to save my legs for the race.

Sunday morning came and I got up before my 3 alarm system at 3:45 am and went quickly and quietly through the rituals because I did not want to wake up anyone else in the cabin.  Off to the races in the dark I went.  It was pitch black driving through the woods and then all of a sudden there were little spot lights and cars lining up on the side of the road and the pre-race festivities began!  I parked a half mile away and stuffed all my gear into a small backpack and held a flashlight in my hand and rode my bike to the start.  It was an open rack system and my team set up on 2 racks.  It was fun and though the adrenaline was starting to flow, I felt an overwhelming sense of calm this particular morning.  I was worried how I would do without butterflies in my stomach.  After picking up our timing chips, body marking, donning our wetsuits and taking BEFORE pictures, we headed to the swim start.  Ahhh, then my body started feeling a little whoozy, "oh good I am alive", I thought.  Now, I am going to be ok if I don't get sick.  The water is usually not a source of nerves for me so I decided to take the inside lane and we were off.  My coach warned us about starting off too fast in high altitude so I made sure I went at a comfortable pace.  The bouys seemed so far away today, but I just felt comfortable and made my way to the first green buoy.  I did not deal with much congestion until the first turn and then I stayed on the inside to have a bit of a crash with another swimmer at the next buoy and she flipped out and screamed "WTF".  I decided I was getting out of this "road rage" swimmers way and sprinted ahead.  Not sure if she was upset with me or who got in who's path, but I was not taking any chances of someone that was falling apart in the water.  Finally made it to the last turn and then it was a diagonal path to the finish.  I could not see the bouy, so I just followed the other swimmers and hoped they were going toward the finish.  The swims always start at sunrise so you always have the sun in your eyes in one direction and this time it was to the finish.  I was satisfied with my swim and then fumbled as usual in the transition taking my wetsuit off and getting my bike gear off.  I find this to be the most difficult transition trying to get your hands to work and balancing on your feet to get on your bike.  My legs felt tired, but I had a lot of things to focus on since having another coaching session with my bicyclologist, Jeff, this month.  We road this course 2 weekends ago, so I was familiar with what was to come.  My legs came back and I enjoyed the rolling hills.  The ups were a little harder this week after the swim and a bit more head wind and after getting passed by a few people on them, I came back stronger on the second half (plus it was a short ride for us being under 25 miles).  I settled into my base heart rate zone which is not a place I easily get to.  I was really happy to pass teammates in both directions and then a group of teammates screaming at the transition warms your heart.  T2 went a lot smoother and I said I was taking my time, practicing a slower transition for IM, using reverse psychology with myself to try and relax.  I looked at my watch on the way out and I was at 1:52.  That meant I had an hour and 8 minutes to break the 3 hour mark and it was very doable if I could run the entire course so I contained my energy and started off slow.  This course is known for its steep hill at mile 1.5.  I had run it 2 weeks ago, so no surprises for me, but this time I had swam and bike before running it.  I tried to enjoy the scenery, talk to myself to stay standing and say a prayer that my legs would not cramp.  I sang happy birthday to my son and thought about some of my little angels that I carry with me on races to help me fly.  The top of the hill seemed far away, but I knew at the turn around, it was going to be all down hill and the race would be mine.  Only on the way down, I started feeling the pre-cramp twinges.  Again, I tell myself all I have to do is stay standing up and moving forward.  I shortened my stride.  I felt good as though I could start running faster, but I knew I would risk a full blown cramp and I might be forced to walk.  I did not want to walk.  I realized that I did not take the salt tablets I had packed on my bike which might have prevented the cramping, but it was too late, so I had to just do what it took.  I held off the major spasm until the last mile and even to the finish where my toes were curling and stuck together in my left shoe.  This is what the Mountain Man race slogan was about "THE TOUGHEST RACE YOU WILL EVER LOVE".  I looked down at my watch and I had done it, I had broken 3 hours on the hilly course in higher altitude with 3.5 minutes to spare.  A gush of heat filled my face as I held back my tears and my brother ran up to me at the finish and helped me get water and walked me back to our tent so I could cheer the rest of our teammates on.

I ended up improving my time by at-least 5 or 6 minutes. I even ended up placing 3rd in my age group out of 14 which is quite an accomplishment for a HAPPY TURTLE.  The first 2 places were quite a bit faster than me, but I was honored to be in the top three for a nice change.  You never know what athletes are going to show up on race day.  Even better, many of my teammates PRed.  It is really cool to see everyone's hard work pay off.  Not everyone has a perfect race, we wouldn't be here if we did.  It is about overcoming each challenge as it presents itself and finding that happy place within and sharing it with others that seek it out.

We are well on our way.  I still can't even imagine what is ahead in these final 14 weeks.  The focus has to be on one day at a time, but us triathletes love to count and play with numbers.  The clock might have stopped at the end of the race, but it is still ticking away on the count down to Ironman.  Have you hugged your Ironman today?