Ironman Louisville 2009!

Full report to come but the event did not disappoint. I will catch up with everyone on Tuesday or Wednesday but suffice it to say, Ironman Louisville was a total success on so many levels. The athletes kicked some serious ass on Sunday - some you may know and a lot more that we don't. BUT, it was the most perfect day you could ask for...for Louisville in August. I think the high was around 80, no joke. PERFECT!

Thought you might like a few pictures from the event. I don't have any of the athletes because we were busy cheering them on. If you were there, I sure hope you saw us! We take our job very seriously and will cheer every daYum person. It's a long day, 140.6 miles is no freakin joke....We may have achieved our 140.6 beer goal for the day as well.

Me and my swim coach

At the ~40ish and ~80ish mile marker on the bike - rockin our cheer line! There was a free flash to anyone that went by, maybe a moon here and there, whatever it takes. WE will do whatever it takes to get a smile out of those athletes - amateur and pro alike.

Just before the swim start...just before the angry pirate stepped on my foot with a bike shoe (OUCH!)

This was my run poster for my coach that I did not get up in the concrete jungle.

So much more to come! Can't wait to hear about everyone's weekend and the weekend of racing. I DO love an ironman - not enough to sign up for another. I'm still eying that 24 hour tri...

And in between...

And in between getting ready for Ironman Louisville (pronounced: Lewvoole), I have, actually been working out too. So far this week - one dreaded trainer ride (barfO, how I hate them), two pool swims, two runs - leaving two bikes, one swim and a long run left for the week. Scheduling around Ironman is hard business, I swear.

I met a friend for mile repeats at 5amish, in the dark. She looks over and says - It looks all rape-y over there. I died laughing and then agreed BUT we forged on. We figured if the would-be rapist was in there a) he couldn't catch us b) we'd kick his ass c) we'd be cussing so much he'd think we were guys. Mile repeats when down like this - warmup, then, 7:27, 7:26, 7:15, cooldown. I was very happy. The target was 7:35 so this was fine with me. The best part was that I didn't feel like I was going to puke on my shoes, really. They were hard but sustainable. I love it when what WAS really hard becomes EASY (OK, EASIER). The shorter stuff is much harder, I think. Those dumb ass 400's and 200's burn much more than these miles did.

OH, and someone puhleeze tell me how to dive or even jump into a pool without having your goggles fly off your head? We practiced this last nite at swim for in water starts and I could not get it ONE time. The daYum things flew off my head. Now, I do keep them a little looser so I don't get a headache or horrific goggle eye but jeeze. Seems like everyone else made it. At one point, I was goggle diving and that's just a little rough with contacts.

Provision check for Ironman Lewvoole...
Bloody Mary Mix
Vodka
OJ
Sugar Free Red Bull - for about 5pm when I'm dying
cups
peanut butter sandwiches
purple wig
pink duct tape - just because you should have some
pretzels
cheer signs
cowbells
I think I'm ready to GO!

Not So Wordless...Wednesday!

Go Ironman Louisville! Sorry, this Wednesday, we have words for the first and maybe last time evah. For anyone racing in Louisville this weekend, if you're reading, please drop a comment with your race number. I WILL be there. Here's what our ragtag group usually looks like - can't miss us. Yes, Ironballs is our mantra. When you hear - YOU HAVE IRONBALLS, that's us.


This was at the swim finish and, um, yeah, it hadn't even started yet and I was AT LEAST one bloody mary in. They're thick, they're strong and you'll get used to it. Yep, we start the day out right and cheer til midnight. It's exhausting really. I will be sporting the same look + purple wig so show me some love out there.
Learn from my mistakes - know where the photographers are and don't let them take a picture of you eating a sandwich. Yep, peanut butter and honey sandwich in hand. I had to buy the pic.

SONOFA...

Thanks to everyone for their kind words and thoughts yesterday. I even got a flower from a coworker and friend. I'm so glad she didn't stay to talk because I was on the edge of losing it all day. It's hard to explain, I mean after 11 years it's changed, the feelings of loss and sadness have changed. They're just different. Maybe better, I don't know. My dad likes to say - everything happens for a reason and we may just not know the reason yet. I think that's a cop out and I want to tell him to shut the hell up because there can't be a good reason that MY mom, HIS wife died at the cool age of 57. Obviously, it makes him feel better so I just nod and try to smile..all the while thinking that's what weak people say when they don't know what else to say. The truth is, he believes it, so I have to let it go. So YES, for ONE day a year, I AM Debbie Downer. Seriously, I try to be fun, upbeat, not Pollyanna but just positive because negative can suck the effen life out of you. But, Monday was MY day to be negative Nelly.

And it started like this..

Up at 4am to head to the local track for my mile repeats. I'm thinking, sweet, hit the HS track about a mile and a half from the house, perfect warm up, cool down, 3 x 1 mile repeats and the shit is in the bag. Um, no one told ME that the track was under construction. Sonofabitch. OK, not prepared or willing to do my long run, so I just 'run around' to get some mileage in, home, lift Grandma up out of her slumber to get her to pee. Do YOU know how hard it is to wake up and lift a 65lb Boxer out of a dead sleep? Crap, fine, she's pissed at me, I'm just pissed, period. Carry her sorry ass down the steps, she pees, outside, that is. Fine, fine, then she won't eat. It's like having a geriatric ward in my house. After no breakfast, she just stands at the foot of the steps looking up. This is my sign to haul her ass back up stairs since I'm the bitch that woke her up in the first place. Boost her up, Grannie is back in bed, happy.

Recent trip to the park with Grannie...oldest Boxer I know at 13.

Work is work but work was about 11-12 hours on Monday, adding to my less than stellar, all around cheery mood. Thankfully, the only thing I had to be pissed about was missing my swim and having to get on a bike trainer at 4:15am on Tuesday. Yeah, another long day ahead and I freak when I start missing workouts. I rarely miss more than one in any given week. It freaks me out.

At some point in all of THESE good times, RH asks - is this why you run, race, do tris? Do you do this for your mom? Yeah, I suppose I do. I'm forever looking for her to say she's proud of me. We didn't have enough time and she didn't get to see me married or race or anything. So, that's the only way I can explain all of this, I do it for her and hope that I make her proud. Hell, it's cheaper than therapy.

It's good to have a stiff one...or two...

...the shoes, the shoes you freakin sick-O. It was unbelievable. Tested out the new super carbon-Y shoes and it was amazing. I was just on a casual ride but the power transfer was noticeable for sure. I didn't feel like my energy was wasted in the flex of the shoe. So far no issues. I know others have talked of hot spots or rub points when the shoe gets harder. So far, so good.

The only issues I had - twice I couldn't clip in...user error. They were both at the most unfortunate spots too...when I was sitting at a stoplight and it changed. Yep, I was that guy, fiddling around, trying to get clipped in, the guy everyone honks at. Oh well. What can ya do? Still felt like a weenie and wanted to yell, I'm not new, I'm not new.

Ever look at your training schedule for the week and wonder when it's all going to happen? With everything else I have going on, like work and Ironman cheering, I don't know when it's all going to come together. Guess that's why I got up at 4:15am on a Monday.

P.S. Hug your mommy today if you can. If you are a mommy, hug your kids. Mine passed away, 11 years ago today. I miss her tons and she was, by far, the funniest, most fun, silly person I've ever know. Just the best.

New Gear and Helmet RULES...

OK, I have been using the same road shoes I got when I first started riding. As you can see, they've seen better days BUT I still love them. They are so comfortable and I'm a huge fan of Carnac's. Yep, four, count em, four straps. In tri-land, this does NOT make for speedy transitions in any kind of way.

So, the UPS man brought me a present! Look at these new fancy, carbon, super lite Scott's!!! I haven't even used them yet. I'm kind of scared, really. I've never used another shoe. I know they'll work just fine but I hope they feel as good as my Carnac's. Only some saddle time will tell.

Helmet RULES - everyone knows how I feel about a helmet FOR EVERYONE, parents, childrens, old people on a cruiser, whateves, you just gotta wear one. It's OK, it does not look cool but when was the last time you looked 'cool' anyway? No matter what you think, teenagers think YOU are a dork, it's just a fact. To prove my dork-dome and how NOT to wear a helmet, I took some pictures for you. People, when you leave the house, look in the mirror and check your helmet before you go because you don't want to look like this...

This is the one women are most guilty of and I have NO idea why. The push back - if you're trying to protect your hair, give up.

We, affectionately, call this the FRED. This is the cockeyed helmet and you just look like a jackass. Feel free to say, hey man, you look like FRED. That means, fix your helmet, dork! ...and my eyes are all jacked up because I just got back from swim!


We call this the kippah or yarmulke helmet. It's when you refuse to loosen it up and it sits on top of your head. This will do NOTHING to protect the front of your head people.

If I have to explain why this is bad, get off your bike RIGHT NOW AND NEVER GET BACK ON! You think I'm kidding...I've seen it, I've seen people riding with their helmet on BACKWARDS. No joke.

When in doubt, wear a helmet...see, even Magnus does! He's the best dawg evah.

I put the 'tard in uniTARD!

Not a TON to report on this week as it is a recovery week for me, some swimmin, some cyclin, some running - not too much of anything. I love me some recovery time physically and mentally. In fact, I didn't post on Tuesday because, well, I had nothin' for ya! But today...

On Wednesday, I did a baby brick, ~20ish mile ride and a 3 mile run all in my new uniTARD. Yep, coach got uniforms for us. Since I went to Catholic school for 12 years, I am not afraid of a uniform. In fact, I find them much easier than 'regular people' clothes (partially because I have NO fashion sense). ANYWAY, it was a good day to test this bitch out. As you ALL know, I'm a fan of the one piece speedo for racing. I just find it free enough but holds in my soft gooey center. I can't manage that for 70.3, though. Those girls must have some seriously tough cooter bones to handle it for that long. I have forever struggled with what to wear for a half that will hold me together without the busted biscuit affect OR just look like a sausage. ENTER, one piece uniform. Thank GAWD triswami had enough fashion sense for it to be dark on the bottom. The fit, for me, is pretty good. I was hoping for it to be a bit tighter on top BUT tighter on top also means shorter and shorter will mean GIANT camel toe for this tall biatch. So, I stuck with the medium.

The bike in my new uni - it was a short bike so I didn't have to deal with those baby sized pockets that will hold half a gel or something. All around, very comfortable, very wicking on this super humid day. The top portion was just soaked and the bottom just looked like I peed myself. I guess the fabric was doing it's job. It didn't pull or feel funky in anyway. I have NO clue how I'm supposed to go pee in this thing...actually, I DO know but I really don't want to pee ON myself. I don't know that it was tight enough to hold me together but at least the bottom portion was dark so it helped with the illusion. The fabric was so slick that I kept sliding off the back of my seat. Nice. I was on my road bike and not my TT bike so I'll have to do this exercise again to see how my other seat 'hits me' with that super mini chamois in it. Ryan also wants to know where my boobs went in this thing.

The run in my new uni - my goal was to just run a fast first mile with good turn over and then roll for the remaining two. The uni felt great on the run as well, the fabric has perfect, flat lock seems, great leg grippers. HOWEVER, I could feel my baby jiggling, my water baby. Every time I would run by a parked car, I'd look at my profile to see if the baby was growing and he was. DaYum, I hate that. I don't know how to avoid it other than stop drinking....not going to happen. I'm thirsty for crying out loud. With each parked car, I was just hoping that it wasn't making a roll.

Overall rating, two thumbs up except for one feature....coach put THIS Michigan State (Go Green, Go White!) grad in University of Michigan colors (Maze and Blue...BARF!). That's like putting an FSU grad/fan in 'Gator colors, sheesh. BESIDES that, I like the new uniTARD. I will be testing it out on some longer rides, some TT rides just to see how I can manage with it. I am hopeful. I am also hopeful that this could be my ticket to some race pictures that don't make me look like a sausage. Fingers Crossed!

I'm loving my KSwiss miSouls. I had to return the ugliest shoes in America because they just weren't doing it for me. Traded them in for an extra pair of miSouls! Magnus loves him some salty legs, he can't help himself.

(Semi) Wordless Wednesday

Weekend Blog Slacker

It is a well known fact that I fall off the face of bloggerland come Thursday or Friday each week. Like most of yous, weekends are filled with working out, catching up on chores and laying out recovering from said workouts. And the weekend went down like so...

Friday - morning swim before work which always makes for some nice goggle eyes at the office when people always ask - do you feel OK? Thankfully, now, they just look at me and say, how was swim? Not sure if it's the perpetual smell of chlorine OR goggle eyes.

Saturday - 3800 yard swim and 10 mile run. The swim was solo. It's kind of amazing how much swimming you can get done when you're not talking! It's a hazard, for me. 10 mile run goal was to just average 9min/mile, doable but a bit of a challenge on this warm day. The route was going to be very tame so I should make it. My splits were right on but I could hear the devil creeping in the last three miles. Well, you're almost done, you can let up a bit. IF you hit your next split, then you can cut it short. There is a Coke waiting for you in the car and the car is RIGHT THERE. Thankfully, I didn't give in but am certain I looked and sounded like I was going to die. Ran back to my car, cranked the A/C and hammered my Coke in two sips. So delicious! It's my recovery drink of choice. Checked my watch, average pace 8:55/mile. I was thrilled with the outcome, even if I did feel a little light headed.

ICE BATH
OK, I don't do these very often at all because...they SUCK. That's why! Give me a warm to hot shower any day. Sitting in there shivering my arse off does not seem like a good time. I knew I had to do it since Sunday was more pain. I don't even know how much ice to get - two bags, not enough. Whatever, I actually shower first because I am disgusting. Then I jump into the icy water bath. Holy crap, holy crap. I wrap myself in a towel and put a winter hat on. Sorry, no pictures of this. This seemed to help except that I froze my nether region off. Yes, you guessed it, since I'm no ice bath officiando, I jumped in...nekkked. OMG, I can say, I froze my arse off in the literal most sense of the word. There was SOME value in that, though. At least I couldn't feel my arse or cooter for Sunday's ride. There's got to be a silver lining somehow. After my jackassery, I donned some compression socks, shorts and raggity tank top. I'm certain that I looked like some cretin that crawled out from under a rock.

Sunday - what kind of friend says they'll do hill repeats with you? Only the best kind. Thank gawd Angie was there or I may just have crawled into the ditch a cried.

This is Angie...

Suffice it to say it was hard, I suck at it, it was hot and about 10 miles longer than we thought. Whateves, we still kilt it out 'der. Hell, one guy didn't even want to finish with us and went home. As always, she sang to me and yelled battle cries at the tops of the various climbs. It was great...and OVER.

So there it is...swimming, riding, running and frozen arses, everything a good blog entry should have.

Coming around

Well, after my notsogreat performance at Mountain Lakes, I decided that a 2hour bike ride was going to cure me on Sunday....alone. Sometimes, you just have to go alone to think and contemplate your navel (as Mom used to say). I decided to ride past some of my old ironman training grounds just to see what was happening. I heard a nasty rumor that my friend, Snook, was no longer sitting on his front porch waving at passers-by. In fact, a friend was out there when there was a firetruck at his little house. We all assumed that he passed away. See this report from last year for the details of my Ironman Bucket List!

I knew I was on the approach to Snook's house. I start to slow, sit up, expecting to see his house buttoned up. To my biggest surprise, there he WAS! Sitting on his front porch with his overalls, jacket and hat on, waving at me - it was a gazillion degrees out too. Yep, no mistaking, it was him. It was that moment that I had truly forgotten about the previous days performance. I was just happy he was alive. I have no doubt this guy could be a 100 years old...I know he's seen some shit in his life, that's for sure. I'm sure I looked like the little kid with the shit eating grin waving so hard their hand is going to fall off. That was me and I couldn't have received any better news that day, just to know that our 'ride staple' was still out there waving at us.

In workout news...
Monday - off day, recovery day! One of my favorite days!
Tuesday - baby run in the dark of the nite (445am) and the heat of the day, 80 + 80% humidity. I was sweating like a sumo wrestler and it wasn't even light out! Supposed to ride at nite but it rained and I just didn't want to get on a trainer, no freakin way! So, I drank beer instead. That was a great decision.
Wednesday - swim and bike, headwind can suck it!
Thursday - TRACK, OK, 24x200's SERIOUSLY?! I've never run a 200, I don't know what it's supposed to feel like but I'm sure it'll hurrrrt. Thursday's are also known as CTS days - that's cursing turrets syndrome, in case you were wondering. I curse a lot at the track and drool on myself some. It's not pretty, not a pretty day at ALL.

...then there's that short bike I skipped on Tuesday...still trying to figure out where it's going to go...

(Semi) Wordless Wednesday

Breast Stroke Fire Storm!

First and foremost, my apologies for setting off the breast stroke firestorm yesterday! Breast, fly and back are all wonderful strokes and should be used for good cross training efforts. I use them all at different times - except for fly, I look like I'm drowning. All strokes are acceptable in any triathlon, as far as I know. Any way you want to propel yourself, is great.

The swim start is like any big road race - if you're an 11min/miler, do you start at the front starting line with the Kenyans and other HS phenoms? Not usually and if you do, you only do it once after you realize what just happened. If breast stroke is your best/fastest stroke, by all means, DO IT, you just don't 'line up' with the guys doing 1:05/100 yards. By doing the breast stroke in a crowd, you're probably going to hammer someone with your frog leg kick, it's just going to happen.

There is a reason...it's not just that everyone is complaining about breast strokers for the sake of complaining....When I OWS, I swim much like the catch up drill where one arm is still outstretched and protecting my face, I don't take another stroke until my hand/arm is in the water protecting my face on the other side. I would rather have you kick my hand than my face which is what happens when you're freestylin, you kick my hand, big deal. If you're breast stroking, my outstretched arm will not feel your feet . My arm may hit the water and 'feel' that this is open space and continue to pull forward...right into your frog legs. This is what happened to me on Saturday. I was being polite when I said my face got hammered. Honestly, my nose still hurts and there's a scab on the outside where I got frogged. I heard my nose crunch inside my head and I was ticked. I would never discourage anyone to get into a tri or try one out. I would, however, say to be cautious in those kinds of situations...everyone wants to make it out the same way they went into the race, that's all.

Mountain Lakes Race Report

This sucks because there are NO pictures, why, because I went alone and got there late. Totally sucks, that is NOT my nature but that's how it worked on this day. Up at 3:30, rolling by 4:00am, car packed the nite before. No worries. Directions in hand. There's a lot I could say here but suffice it to say that in the 'SOUTH' they like to name their streets multiple names AND don't like to put street signs on everything. Your instructions may say Hwy 7...but no one told you that is also called Jordan Rd. There was some getting lost in the dark and back tracking. At one point, I just saw two trucks with tri bikes, busted a U turn in the middle of the road and flew at 80mph on a two lane country road just to catch them. I like to get to races when check in OPENS (at 6:00am). Yep, it was 6:45 with a transition close at 7:15 and a 7:30 start time. Fine, fine, dumped my junk on a towel and hoped I thought of everything. Ran to the water to warm up a little and figured I was good to go. I DID stick with my plan - no watch, no Garmin, no bike computer.

Swim - 10:55 - if that was 600 yards, I'm the Pope. I don't care that it was a little long. The swim is just fine with me but I didn't suck an egg that badly in the swim. Maybe 650-700, whateves. Felt fine, got calmed down after all the morning hub-bub UNTIL the breaststrokers started in. PEOPLE, PUHLEEZE, breast stroking is totally acceptable but don't freakin sit in the middle of everyone with your frog legs. After I got hammered by frog legs, I heard my nose crack in side of my head. Grabbed nose, no blood, good, kidney punch to the breast stroking guy. Moved on (OK not really but I wanted to).

T1 - 2:14 - about 15ish seconds too long but I need socks, I don't care how short the daYum race is. Uneventful.

Bike - 46:52 for 16.2 miles or 20.5mph or 32.99kph (I'm fancy) - I was OK with no watch or no computer for the bike portion. I would have guessed I averaged ~20mph, it felt good, fine, no issues. Got passed by some men and some men that need to read a rule book, apparently. Seriously, if I JUST passed you, the idea isn't to pass me again, you're supposed to drop back. I'm sorry you just got chicked, not my problem...AND if I see you coast one more time to adjust your junk, I'm going to punch you right off the bike. Passed by two or three girlies that were just on fir-AH. There was NO hope to even keep them in my sights.

T2 - 1:14 - again about 15ish seconds too long. Besides the fact that my legs didn't want to run, I don't really know what I was doing in there.

Run - 24:40/3 miles - 8:13/mile or 5:06/km (check my math) - Legs would not go, legs felt like lead, legs didn't feel good and warmed up, they felt dead! Crap! I am NOT feeling this run. I know I can DO this for 3 miles but sheeeit, how long is this taking ME!? I see guys frothing at the mouth, literally and I try to steal some of their juju. No luck, legs don't wanna. At about the mile 2 marker, I feel warmed up. UM, there's only ONE FREAKIN MILE TO GO! I gave it what I had in that last mile.

Finish time - 1:25:53 - 7th of 38 in 35-39AG

Crossed the finish line and thought, I wonder what my time was? I started asking the guy who finished in front of me, looking around for the timing peeps. I guess I'm too A Type to go sans gadgets. It was a good experiment and would recommend that everyone at least try it. I was HOPING that I would push it harder not freaking out that I was going to fast and going to burn up in the end. At the end of the day, it wasn't a disaster. I didn't flat out, cramp up, crash, nothing. The only problem was making my legs run off the bike.

I've had a couple of great races on much tougher courses this year (Mach Tenn and Irongirl) so I had HIGH hopes for this flat race. I think that's why I was so disappointed in myself. I'm not second guessing anything that I did because I don't think I could have done anything else differently, really. I think my body just said, um, NO, not today. The only thing I WILL do is run off the bike more often. Not a brick, per se, just a 10 minute presto changeo into some running shoes to get the turn over action firing.

So there it is. I'm not still crying in my beer. I just know that I have some very hard work ahead of me to get to where I want to be. In the end, I got to race on Saturday and it WAS fun. I did have fun...I always have fun! Oh, and the frog leg to my nose DID leave a mark. Rather than look like a very cool 'war wound', it just looks like I have a zit that went crazy AND 16.2 miles on a bike in a bathing suit is about all I could manage. Yep, no pictures of THAT either!

Mountain Lakes Sprint Tri

What I learned today...

Not every race can be a PR.

Alabama street signs all have two names and not all of them are on your 'direction sheet.'

I DON'T like racing with no computer or watch.

I DO like getting races early to set up all my shiz in a logical manner - rather than dumping it into a pile (like I did today).

Team Magic puts together a kick ass race with killer prizes and schwag.

Full report to come but I ended 7th out of 38 in my AG - swim was ok, bike was good BUT ended with 8:13ish/mile for the run (3 miles). Not what I anticipated or hoped for but not distraught or anything. Slightly pissed (at myself), just thought I had more in me. Didn't get warmed up on the run for about 2 miles, uh, yeah, it was only 3 miles.

More to come, thanks for all the well wishes.

Missy

Birthday Cake!

I've officially eaten my weight in Ryan's birthday cake. I should never jump on the scale after such an episode. That is just evil and wrong. I don't know that it's ever been right but I use it for consistency purposes rather than the actual number. Um, apparently, I need to eat a leaf and bean for lunch and by a bean I mean one. The sprint this weekend in my bathing suit might have a little more to show than normal. Watch out guys, might be getting a little cheeky! Oh well, the cake was good, if it matters.

Did my 10 mile TT - sad, very sad. Conditions were not optimal but the timing was right so we did it. DaYum crosswind was a struggle to hold onto that bike. Target of 20mph average was missed, 19.8mph is where I came in. I was disappointed since my 20 mile TT was 19.4 under similar conditions. I guess I know I need to work on my 'big gear' - my big internal gear. BESIDES that, a swim, another killer fun bike (that would be in the hills on my road bike), and a run where I almost melted. Don't know about you but it's been unseasonably cool here this year. I ran in the middle of the afternoon Tuesday, yep, thee hottest day for the year so far. When my HR spiked after ~4 miles, I just slowed down to bring it down...I ended up having to walk it out because the HR just wouldn't come down, dang it. A good run foiled. Oh well, it ended up as a nice day at the park.

So there it is, track this morning with coach, 400's on tap, blech. Give me 13 miles any day, this short shit is for the birds. I know, I know, I'm the one that said I wanted to get faster, I get it. Rest tomorrow and then to Alabama for a sprint - sans gadgets, no nothing. I'm excited to test this out and may have even talked a few others in joining me. We'll see if we can break our A type/OCD nature!!!

To the track...

(Semi) Wordless Wednesday

Happy Birthday Big Guy!

Happy Birthday Ryan! Yay, we're both taking today off to play, which will involve riding a bike (10 mile TT on tap today) and whatever else the birthday boy wants to do. Woohoo!

In other news....

I have been silently attacking my 12 challenges this year. If you've been with 'me' for a while, I created 12 things to do in 2009. Coming off an ironman year, I wasn't so sure what I was going to do so I created a list. Drum roll please - I think I'm going for #2 this weekend - do not race with a watch or any gadgets. I'm not a total gadget freak like some of yous. I will use my Garmin a lot of the time but not always. I think I'm going to do this sprint tri this weekend with no watch, no Garmin, no bike computer. It's a sprint so the perceived effort should be REDLINE. If you don't puke at the end, you're not doing it right...for the short stuff, anyway. There is no pacing, no saving it for the run, lay it on the line. It's an interesting prospect, really. Can you push yourself hard enough or harder when you're not totally sure how fast you're going? Can you do it just on feel? We're getting ready to find out. The best part. Seeded start so even at the finish line, I won't know my time. I won't know it until it's posted. That's the part that might kill me.

Why didn't someone slap me when I put no alcohol for a week on my 12 Challenges list? No wonder that one hasn't been done yet! How stupid, what was I thinking?!?

REJECTED!

This weekend brought my 20 mile TT ride, a 1:30 run and a swim. They all got done, just not as speedy as I would have liked.

20 mile TT ride
This is on my training plan as a baseline test as I make my way to B2B. I have a 10 mile TT later this week as well. Anyway, ~5 mile warm up and Ryan and I were off. How I got him to do this with me I will never know! He must have really wanted to ride ... and draft. I told him he could draft me as long as he wanted but that I would not partake. The stretch of road we TT on is about as flat as you're going to get in Middle TN. ~740 ft of ascent and descend.

Hit my watch and we were off and up, as always, everything starts on an incline around here, I swear. Each lap is ~5.2 miles.
Lap 1 - 19.8 mph
Lap 2 - 19.5 mph
Lap 3 - 18.6 mph - uh oh, I think this is where I yelled, "My cooter is killing me! I need new shorts!" It was killing me.
Lap 4 - 19.9 mph redemption
Total was 19.4mph - I wasn't terribly thrilled, happy but not thrilled. Thrilled would have been 20 but there it is. Into the wind, both ways, did I mention that part?! It was a crosswind, actually and I think Ryan had to work pretty hard at it, even though he was sitting on my wheel (that was the plan).

We passed a couple two or three times - passed them like they were sitting still. I'm sorry, but there is joy in that. Coming past someone saying hi for two seconds and just hammering on. Ah, yes.

Here's where rejection comes into play - Saturday, 1:30 run was on tap. No worries, I thought. Started to run, um, this doesn't feel very good, my legs won't turn over. OK, just take a few miles to warm up. Um, yeah, that never really happened. I couldn't run to save my life. I wasn't hungover, I had plenty of sleep...that bike ride kicked my arse into next week, literally. I just couldn't GO. 1:30 run turned into 1:15 run and a 20 minute dog walk. No sense in just pushing through. There was nothing to be gained in that last 15 minute slog fest run. In fact, Ryan passed me in the car at one point, only to say - you looked like you were almost walking but working really hard at it. Yep, that was me. It just wasn't my day to run.

Swim - I did a splash and dash and used every excuse to hang on the wall. Thanks Andy for joining me at the pool. It was my perfect 'excuse' to catch up!

Irongirl - did you see me, did you see me!? Yep, I made the cut. I was at the beginning on the beach looking at the water and then again at the swim start once or twice. It was great to watch, great stories too. Sometimes the answer to why we do all this is very simple, we do it because we can.