Ironman Pajama Party...Girls just wanna have fun!

When you finish a 5 hour bike ride and you feel like you just woke up from a dream, you wonder why you are going to swim, bike and run for 17 hours if you are just going to forget what you did right after you cross the finish line.  There are some highlights from this journey that stand out more than others.  When you look back on this amazing ride, you have flashbacks of the greatest moments.

This weekend was an "Ironman Pajama Party" and was just what the doctor ordered.  I think it will be one of the flashbacks I will remember for a very long time.  We headed back up to Flagstaff for another training weekend to escape the heat and enjoy the long weekend.  The plan was to drive up early that morning, but being the "spoiled IMIT" (ironman in training) that I am, I did not want to sit on my bike after sitting in the car for a few hours before and/or after, so we made a weekend of it.  Two of my bestest training buddies came up with me the night before (we call ourselves the Angels, but that is another story) our long bike ride.  We decided to make a girls night of it where we could just hang out together, share meals, prepare our gear, and talk shop.

Without any alcohol involved, laughter filled the room.  We discussed our concerns, emotions, aches and pains, fears, and hopes for our big day.  We decided to turn in early since we had a 5 hour ride in the morning.  As soon as my head hit the pillow, I said, I was tired, but I could not sleep.  It is what I call "Ironman Insomnia".  Sometimes it is hard to fall asleep or stay asleep due to the excessive amounts of training, your body working over time and the anxiety and excitement about the big day.  I shared with the other angels that I was feeling on edge and more emotional.  When we look at each other now, we don't have to say anything because we know what the other person is going through and you begin to laugh, sometimes until you cry.  I can only compare it to PMS, so I renamed it PIS for pre-ironman syndrome.  I am sure it is not exclusive to women.  I said I have PIS and we laughed until we cried!  What a release.  It is amazing that your body does what it needs to in order to survive.

Other games we played this weekend include:
Racelab Trivial Pursuit:  We discussed the history of our team and its accomplishments and trivia tidbits

Monopoly:  IM Edition (patent pending, so don't think about stealing this game):  Instead of GO TO JAIL, you had to GO TO THE COACHES CORNER.  Watch out, you could not get out of the coaches corner until you did 4 steps of pushups on the wall at swim and vertical kicks or extra drills at track.

What Hurts Today?  Stomach, Shoulders, Knees...pick one (or two or three)!

"If I were the Coach...."  This game you fill in the blank.  When you are wondering why your coach has you doing brick workouts or long workouts day after day or strength training on your day off and you dream of changing your schedule, what would you do!

Name that Acronym:
IMIT:  Ironman in Training
PIS:  Pre-ironman syndrome
NDFAH:  Nice day for a HILL

The 5 hour ride went well.  Flagstaff was in full bloom and wild sunflowers lined that roads and the meadows.  We rode 80 miles under the fluffy clouds with a nice cool breeze (sometimes a little more than a cyclist hopes for) and even a little drizzle.  When it started to rain, my teammate said "what are we going to do now" and I replied, "keep riding until we get to 5 hours".  It never poured so we escaped big rains and everything was just right.  No stomach upset in the cooler weather.  A little back pain and foot pain, which leads one to question whether you can have everything feel right all in one day.  This was a great ride to prepare for the Half Ironman we are doing next weekend which will be in similar conditions.  All I know is that when I am surrounded by pine trees, everything in my world is right!   The ride was followed by a good meal (or two) with friends and I could say family even though my husband and son were not able to make it as my Ironman Teammates have become my family.

We stayed another night in the cool pines to do our ten mile run and open water swim.  We ran on the Urban Trail System in Flagstaff which actually wound through neighborhoods in the woods and then to the County Fairgrounds and a few more miles deeper in the woods.  Slow and steady we did run on tired and sore legs.  The swim was questionable, but we pushed on to fit it in and the water felt great.  We finished just in time for THUNDER and a BIG RAIN STORM moved in right when we reached our cars.

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THIS JOURNEY SO FAR:  my angels, my long slow distance partner, my caretaker, my rookie, my young irongirls, 4 girls on the side of the road trying to change a tire, giant track workout, Friday mornings roundtable chats before swim, Friday breakfasts at Einsteins, long rides at Canyon Lake, meetings at Macayo's, meals after workouts, Flagstaff rides, dinner at Courtney's with team talent show, hugs from teammates and coaches every time you see them, texts around the clock, facebook friends, encouragement, laughter, pajama party, race day, meals, meals, and more meals, teammates, my brother who got me into this mess, both brothers who supports me through this mess, my husband and son who do just fine without my presence and have been patient, EFS, Carb Pro, sportsbeans, GU chews, bike fittings, Camille to Scottie, Triathlons, Vineman, Wine tasting, writing my blog, turtlescanfly2@blogspot.com and my bestest blog buddies and followers to share the journey with...... and I am sure the best is yet to come!