164 Days...and counting

My Google Main Page is pretty amazing. You can track anything and everything from that one central place....news, weather, sports...and for me....a counter to count the days until Ironman.

164 to be exact.

For some reason, I logged on this morning, saw that number and I could feel the panic starting to rise. 164 days. Now Im not one of those numbers people who would break it down to hours until the start of Ironman Florida but this realization of time flying by has gotten to me a little.

For the most part, I have focused on each day. Each day has a specific workout that must be accomplished. I can make it through any 24 hour period. So I look at my Training Peaks, where my trainer puts my workouts and tell myself: you just have to finish today's work.

Wednesdays are tough. Boot Camp from 5am to 9am, breakfast, time with my husband then I leave for Disney at 1030a. I work from 1130a to 830pm. Its kinda hard to fit a workout in there without sacrificing time with my husband. As we increase hours and miles in the coming months, my husband understands that I will have to use that time for a workout. For now, however, I have to find some balance.

My run has improved slightly. After yesterday, I felt a noticeable improvement in my endurance. I think my speed still sucks but that will not really improve until my weight decreases.

Speaking of weight, down another 2 pounds. This is painfully slow..but at least it is going in the right direction.

So today's 1.5 hour run will probably get moved to another day. I can't be up at the crack of dawn, work underwater for several hours and still do this run without feeling like someone ran over me with a bus!!!

This just doesn't get any easier...but man is it worth it

345am...

My eyes are wide awake. My body? That's a totally different story. I have been up and down all night. My hubby is home..and Im so glad he is here..but he snores. For some reason, I am sensitive to it tonight/this morning.

The routine for the 5am bike trainer class is basically the same. Up at 4am. Vitamins, make endurance drink for the session and load the car. A bowl of oatmeal ingested then its off to fulfill my coffee addiction. Just a few ounces of 7-11 coffee to get my body awake enough to function....then the short drive to the Downtown Y.

It does amazing me how many people consistently attend this early morning session. We look like worker ants as we all grab our bikes and trainers and bags and head into the gym and set up. Hector sets ups a loud CD player and we are off...pedaling for all its worth....and going nowhere...at least not mileage wise!

I like routine. It is a safe place...but it is also very boring. The sessions are always different but getting to and from can be quite mundane. Aero bars have a dual purpose at this hour...at times during the warm up, I can feel myself drifting a little bit. That pillow would feel so good right now.

But as I make it to the end of the session, I am energized. I go out for my recovery run and I am amazed at the energy I feel. Im awake. Im alive. I am so very blessed. I have the most incredible husband Im not battling cancer. I am not losing my house. I have a solid family. I have kind and caring friends. I am still alive at 46-six years longer than the doctor told me I had. Life is...well...its GREAT!!

The last couple of days have been hard for me. My parents would rather see me give up this dream and every time I see them, they make one more negative comment. I wish they would understand that training is so much better than being morbidly obese! Bon Bons...or Bike Trainer? Ill take the latter..

My brother and his wife are on a low carb diet and seeing a doctor that gives them a range of medication (B-12 and such) and an appetite suppressant. They have lost 30lbs. My parents are thrilled....giddy with excitement that they are losing weight. Then they turn to me and basically give me the "look"....

I am happy for them...and they look AMAZING...but that's not the path I want to be on...I want to have a balanced diet and do this right. Its not the easy way...but ITS MY WAY.

Time for that coffee.....

Proud of the Graduates

Ok ok ok...I know...my blog is suppose to be about my journey to Ironman...but please allow the "old crazy aunt" to have her moment of pride!! Today, my niece and nephew graduated from High School with distinction!! Palmer Yergey received the James Higgenbotham Award given to the graduating senior that best displays and lives the principles taught by their Christian based school. Interesting tidbit...i won this award on my graduation day from the same school oh so many years ago!!

My niece, Louise Yergey, graduated with National Society Honors!! thats a GPA of 3.7 or higher but trust me, her grades were near perfect.

Both are headed to college (Louise to the University of Florida..Palmer Jr. to Auburn University) and both have amazing aspirations for the future. I definitely played the role of proud crazy aunt today!! Good Job Guys!!

Meet Sterling...

Meet a new "member" of my family!! Considering how much time I am going to spend with this piece of machinery, I hope she will become a very good and faithful friend indeed. Meet Sterling. Yes, Im weird (but if you have been reading my blogs and are JUST figuring out that I am a little odd...you have issues yourself). I name my bikes..and yes, they are always girl names. The thought of riding a "boy" bike for 7 hours is a little obscene..don't you think!!

Sterling..as she is now known...is a Cervelo P3 with Dura Ace components and carbon EVERYTHING. My beloved husband went all out when we found this bike at the St. Anthony's Triathlon. See...I am only 4'11"...so to find my size bike IN STOCK is something that doesn't happen often. Outspokin Bike Shop in Clearwater was a vendor at the triathlon and just happen to have this top of the line bike-in my size-available for sale. Usually, I have to have a bicycle ordered in my size and it has taken up to 6 weeks for a bike to come in. Not this time...she is mine all mine.

I drove 2 hours over to Clearwater to have my bike fitted using the Retul system. This is a computer imaging system that take measurements on your on the bike using connection similar to those you would find when having an EKG. The connectors are place on strategic areas...like hip, knee, shoulder etc. to see their movement and placement on the bike and the aero bars. Pretty neat stuff huh!!!

The fitting took two hours and the recabling of the bike too another two hours. Meanwhile, I had the bike fitted with a new bike computer, cages and emergency kit. She is ready to roll..

Only one problem....its suppose to rain BUCKETS tomorrow!! Oh well...guess she will get her first ride on a trainer :)

10lb hand weights, 20 flights of stairs and resistance bands...OH MY!!

Ok...You gotta either give Hector (my Ironman trainer) credit for his creativity, or wonder if he got some of his training techniques from working at Gitmo with our detainees!! Today was a workout I definitely didn't expect!!

I got to Hector's gym in his building downtown and got on the treadmill for a 20 minute warm up! Hector was running a little late so he rushed in with his tri bike and gear, set it down and pulled out some resistance bands. "Oooooohhh Noooo.." I thought to myself. Today is gonna hurt.

He came over to the treadmill and jammed the elevations from 3.0 to 9.0 and had me jog there for about 3 minutes. I watched my heart rate teeter on the high end of Zone 2...but it was as if he knew right where to set it to keep me in the zone.

He ushered me off the treadmill and handed me two 10lb weights and showed me the door to the stairwell. He sent me 20 flights up. By flight 5 I was starting to feel it, by flight 10 I was breathing hard, by flight 16, I was glad as hell whoever built this structure was superstitious and didn't put in a flight 13...and by the time I got to the top..I was whipped.

Hector took the elevator...of course.

He took one of my hand weights and sent me back down..the hard way of course to do this again.

When the stairs were done, we were not! He proceeded to take me through a series of drills using the resistance bands. One of these drills included wrapping the band around my waist and running across the length of the gym with Hector pulling on the other end. At the one hour mark, I was absolutely drenched in sweat and totally exhausted. I could speak and my heart rate was up there but he had kept an eye on things to make sure i was in the right zone.

Hector looked me and told me: "You are the strongest I have ever seen you in the months I have been training you. You are going to break 8 hours at Augusta. Stay focused on the training...not on the math. Believe in your training and this will all come together. Trust me."

There are alot of emotions I had for Hector today. (Especially climbing the stairs...I was planning his death with every step)..but one thing must be for certain...I definitely trust this coach to get me where I need to go.

Wonderful Advice from a guy who has BEEN THERE

During my treadmill workouts, I like to pop in Ironman videos of past races and get inspired. Lets face it, running on the treadmill is a boring endeavour so anything that can make it more interesting works for me.

Ive watched the 2007 Ironman World Championships before. This is the race where the heavy favorites fall from the race. Natashia Badmann crashes, Norman Stadler is so ill on the bike he can hardly hold a line (I KNOW all about that feeling) and drops out and Faris Al Sultan is a no show for the race. Its a pretty amazing event...but even with all of that there was just one story that grabbed my attention and that was the story of Murray Frank.

Murray Frank use to be 350lbs. When he did this Ironman, he was still a rather large guy and was featured at the swim exit of the race. The announcer said "There are all shapes and sizes of Ironman triathletes, but some just make you say "No Way!". This comment just pissed me off. Of course, he's a Clydesdale...he couldn't possibly finish this race...right??

Wrong! Murray Frank completed the Ironman World Championships in 16 hours 44 minutes. Hmmm??!!! Well now, this was someone I just had to talk to if possible.

I went on the Internet and found his email address and sent him a note. I told him what I was trying to accomplish and asked if there was any advice he could bestow upon me. To my surprise, I got a response within an hour...and here was his reply:


Hey Melissa;

A 200lb weight loss makes you an Ironman of itself. I have been 350 and I know the struggle it is to overcome the challenges that got me there in the first place.

3 Half Ironman races to your credit is just outstanding. It is obvious that you have found the conversation with yourself that pushes you forward. One 1/2 Iron is a trophy. 3 is a lifestyle choice.

I am reluctant to take praise for my race in Kona in 2007. I was there by lottery and tried to avoid the attention of the camera’s. I was there as part of our lifestyle change that began in 2001 and has seen me finish 8 or 10 half’s, 3 marathons, Ironman Canada 3 times and then IMH in ‘07. My wife has fought her weight as well as cancer and she to has raced Ironman Canada 4 times since 2004 (and is going again this August).

The advice I have for anyone doing an Ironman is pretty vanilla. You have proven that you deserve to be there by all of your accomplishments and I would suggest you at least consider these 3 things:

Trust your training, the day is long and it will at times seem overwhelming. Make good choices as each challenge presents itself, and it sounds like you made a good choice last year when your body refused you. The Ironman is just many, many small accomplishments strung together over a very long day.

Do not allow the challenge of being forced to stop short last year, to change your mental attitude about your race this November. If you visualize the finish, recall that you have been visualizing it long before this year. You did not quit this race, your body asked you to defer until this year.

Race past the finish. Get some advice on how to train past the Ironman for at least 6 weeks. Change the routine to something that is unstructured and something you love, but keep moving. If you work towards a major goal and do not set goals beyond that point, it is easy to slide all the way back to where you once were. Find balance and do something for Melissa every day. Trust me on this one.

Think of me training along side you as I prepare for Kona again this October (yes – I got a lottery slot again). I will be leaner. I will be even better prepared. I will have even more fun than last time, and I will not slide backwards after finishing this time – it made the past 2 months of training very uncomfortable.

Keep me posted!

Murray

Now that's some great advice!

Running in the rain

Well..if you live in Florida at the moment, it appears that all our prayers for our drought ridden state have been answered at once. Its raining cats and dogs here..and it will be for the next few days. We oh so need the precipitation, but it does make for some uncomfortable training conditions.

Actually...I found I like running in the rain.

I awoke this morning at 4am...then proceeded to turn off my alarm. I woke up again at 450am and almost screamed!! DARN IT...Im gonna be late to my bike trainer season at the Y. My poor husband (who really deserves to sleep in on his days off) got to listen to me scurry around like a crazy woman gathering my stuff, jumping into cycling clothes and retrieving my bike from the workout room.

I got everything in and on the car and broke a few traffic laws to get to the Y at 5:05am. I set up and only missed about 4 minutes of the workout. I am noticing some improvement during these sessions. My cadence is getting just a little easier to maintain and one legged drills are not nearly as difficult (don't laugh..I can actually get all the way around now without dead spots). We finished up an hour on the trainers and Hector said he wasn't going to make people run their 20 minute recovery run in the rain .. that the group would do an obstacle course in the gym.

I went to Hector and asked if I could go run anyway. I think he was surprised. He gave me a 40 minute run and off I went.

I realized the rain is pretty nice as long as there is no lightening or thunder. The first 10 minutes of a run are always so uncomfortable off the bike. You would think by now, my transition muscles would get the clue that we are going from bike to run...but it takes a few minutes for this "machine" to get in gear. The rest of the time, I ran my Galloway method of 5 and 1's ..and felt really good.

Im trying hard not to focus on the time I need to make up in these races to finish at Florida in 17 hours. Im just looking at the workouts each day and putting in my 110%. Aside from losing weight, there really isn't anything else I can do but give my best.

Bring on the rain...