TWO Ironman races this summer...Dan and I are crazies!!I know I can actually GO the distance- training for my previous two ironmans were nothing to be in awe of -here's the training and race recaps...
Wisconsin 05- swim training was minimal. bike training was minimal. my times reflected appropriately. The bike was rough due to the crazy heat and wind of the day- for every 10 miles i finished a whole bottle of water AND a whole bottle of gatorade!...run training was alright, but race time was bad due to lack of sleep/caffeine... once i started drinking RC the last 10 miles i felt great!! I didn't really drink any kind of pop before that, but ever since I've been an avid cola drinker!! lol. but sleep-walking definitely hurt the time...this was my first Ironman, I'm just proud of finishing it!
PS i'm in the Finisher video twice- once by myself getting out of the water (cold as usual lol) but the cutest thing...in the beginning, before the swim start, they captured a really special moment- dan told me that he signed up for Ironman, just for me, and we got caught kissing on camera =)
Fav memory...during the run, I'm starting to get back in the game after a caffeine fix, and I see a table with the BEST food i've seen all day- Honey Nut Chex mix and girl scout cookies!! oh MAN i was excited! it was a little off the running path, but i went over there anyways and grabbed a handful of chex mix and handful of girl scout cookies and start chowing...then the FAT lady who was sitting at the table said, "Excuse me, those are for the volunteers..." oh yeah, like she needed any girl scout cookies. look fat lady, i'm doing an ironman triathlon!! haha. i ate them all =)
Florida 06- I had heard it was the "easiest and flattest" ironman race...but didn't take into account one MAJOR factor- STUDENT TEACHING. good lord- many of you know what i mean. what an awful time in my life. i really didn't like history, so that made it that much worse. i had NO TIME to train for an ironman. i managed to squeeze in some awesome run training- hard summer running and coaching the BHS xc team helped a lot, and i was able to qualify for Boston at Chicago. I was building up bike and swim training nicely in the summer, no rush since IM wasn't until November; but once S-T got into full swing, I was screwed. bike training requires TIME, which i didn't have, and after a full day of teaching, planning/studying, coaching/running, and sometimes working at 4Seasons, all on 4-6 hrs of sleep, i did not FEEL like swimming. I wish I could have anticipated this before signing up for the race.
Race Recap-I was NERVOUS about this one. I was on a high from Chicago marathon, but could I do THIS?? The pre-race festivities put me in a better mood- the carb dinner with all the motivation, expo-shopping, meeting Frank Ferrar and Henry something, one of the founding fathers of Ironman...awesome.
Night before the race: Grading 140 exams, entering it in the online gradebook...exciting pre-race stuff. Morning: it was COLD- like 45 degrees. i HATE cold- i'm nervous about the swim as is, now with this twist?? o jeez. next, i'm freaking out because they are telling everyone to get out of the transition area and go to the swim start...but I couldn't find Dan! I was so sad- this is OUR thing, and I wasn't even going to see him before the start?? I might not see him all day! I start losing it, but then heeeere he comes (grand entrance as usual lol). now I'm a little more sane.With the wetsuit on, I wasn't that cold, but the sand freezing my toes at the start was a reality check...Once we got in the water, it was great! the temp was like 72 degrees, much warmer than the air, it felt like a hot tub! despite major waves, i suck at swimming anyways and i knew it was gonna take me awhile, so they didn't really bother me. I was just happy i wasn't going to become hypothermic lol. o man...taking the wetsuit OFF was bad though! now i'm WET in 45 degree weather?? there's a classic pic i'll post sometime lol. Yeah, I had like a 20 minute transition because I needed to warm up before heading out onto the bike course lol.
Bike training is CRUCIAL for ironman success. I did not do enough bike training. I had a baaaad day on the bike. I was uncomfortable in the position because I did not ride enough. It was windy and I didn't like it. there weren't very many spectators, so motivation was lacking. Let's just say I think I was the last woman to make the bike cut-off...I think there were one or two men behind me. what a close call. could you imagine being kicked out of a race because you didn't make the bike segment cutoff?? what a waste of money, travel, training, ego, etc...
Coming into the transition, I honestly and sincerely thought to myself, "YES! ONLY A MARATHON TO GO!!!" in retrospect, i realize that's messed up. but it worked for me at the time- I rocked that run. All the training I put in for Chicago paid off again. I ran a chill pace the whole time, walked through the aid stations, and finally was enjoying the day!! Best way to finish =) I ate a lot...especially cookies, pop, and chicken broth...along with other random stuff they were handing out, i ended feeling pretty darn sick about 30 minutes after I finished...silly Laura.
I don't need to talk about how amazing an Ironman finish is...what I do think is funny though, after finishing, feeling sick, now sleep-moving...my parents took me to waffle house...i remember forcing myself to eat a meal...literally slathering those delicious waffles with apple butter, then cutting them up and devouring them...automatically. it was a vague memory, but a delicious one. lol.
then, we had to leave the next day so i can get back to school =( boooooo. haha My cooperating teacher told all the students that I got bit by a shark- he warned them that I would definitely be wearing pants to cover the bite (duuh, it's winter...) and would probably be limping/walking funny (after 140.6 miles? yes i'll be walking a little funny!)...and didn't tell me about it...It was pretty funny when someone asked me if they could see the shark bite and I had no clue what they were talking about!! LOL!!
Aaah good times. I love Ironman...more to come on this...
Wisconsin 05- swim training was minimal. bike training was minimal. my times reflected appropriately. The bike was rough due to the crazy heat and wind of the day- for every 10 miles i finished a whole bottle of water AND a whole bottle of gatorade!...run training was alright, but race time was bad due to lack of sleep/caffeine... once i started drinking RC the last 10 miles i felt great!! I didn't really drink any kind of pop before that, but ever since I've been an avid cola drinker!! lol. but sleep-walking definitely hurt the time...this was my first Ironman, I'm just proud of finishing it!
PS i'm in the Finisher video twice- once by myself getting out of the water (cold as usual lol) but the cutest thing...in the beginning, before the swim start, they captured a really special moment- dan told me that he signed up for Ironman, just for me, and we got caught kissing on camera =)
Fav memory...during the run, I'm starting to get back in the game after a caffeine fix, and I see a table with the BEST food i've seen all day- Honey Nut Chex mix and girl scout cookies!! oh MAN i was excited! it was a little off the running path, but i went over there anyways and grabbed a handful of chex mix and handful of girl scout cookies and start chowing...then the FAT lady who was sitting at the table said, "Excuse me, those are for the volunteers..." oh yeah, like she needed any girl scout cookies. look fat lady, i'm doing an ironman triathlon!! haha. i ate them all =)
Florida 06- I had heard it was the "easiest and flattest" ironman race...but didn't take into account one MAJOR factor- STUDENT TEACHING. good lord- many of you know what i mean. what an awful time in my life. i really didn't like history, so that made it that much worse. i had NO TIME to train for an ironman. i managed to squeeze in some awesome run training- hard summer running and coaching the BHS xc team helped a lot, and i was able to qualify for Boston at Chicago. I was building up bike and swim training nicely in the summer, no rush since IM wasn't until November; but once S-T got into full swing, I was screwed. bike training requires TIME, which i didn't have, and after a full day of teaching, planning/studying, coaching/running, and sometimes working at 4Seasons, all on 4-6 hrs of sleep, i did not FEEL like swimming. I wish I could have anticipated this before signing up for the race.
Race Recap-I was NERVOUS about this one. I was on a high from Chicago marathon, but could I do THIS?? The pre-race festivities put me in a better mood- the carb dinner with all the motivation, expo-shopping, meeting Frank Ferrar and Henry something, one of the founding fathers of Ironman...awesome.
Night before the race: Grading 140 exams, entering it in the online gradebook...exciting pre-race stuff. Morning: it was COLD- like 45 degrees. i HATE cold- i'm nervous about the swim as is, now with this twist?? o jeez. next, i'm freaking out because they are telling everyone to get out of the transition area and go to the swim start...but I couldn't find Dan! I was so sad- this is OUR thing, and I wasn't even going to see him before the start?? I might not see him all day! I start losing it, but then heeeere he comes (grand entrance as usual lol). now I'm a little more sane.With the wetsuit on, I wasn't that cold, but the sand freezing my toes at the start was a reality check...Once we got in the water, it was great! the temp was like 72 degrees, much warmer than the air, it felt like a hot tub! despite major waves, i suck at swimming anyways and i knew it was gonna take me awhile, so they didn't really bother me. I was just happy i wasn't going to become hypothermic lol. o man...taking the wetsuit OFF was bad though! now i'm WET in 45 degree weather?? there's a classic pic i'll post sometime lol. Yeah, I had like a 20 minute transition because I needed to warm up before heading out onto the bike course lol.
Bike training is CRUCIAL for ironman success. I did not do enough bike training. I had a baaaad day on the bike. I was uncomfortable in the position because I did not ride enough. It was windy and I didn't like it. there weren't very many spectators, so motivation was lacking. Let's just say I think I was the last woman to make the bike cut-off...I think there were one or two men behind me. what a close call. could you imagine being kicked out of a race because you didn't make the bike segment cutoff?? what a waste of money, travel, training, ego, etc...
Coming into the transition, I honestly and sincerely thought to myself, "YES! ONLY A MARATHON TO GO!!!" in retrospect, i realize that's messed up. but it worked for me at the time- I rocked that run. All the training I put in for Chicago paid off again. I ran a chill pace the whole time, walked through the aid stations, and finally was enjoying the day!! Best way to finish =) I ate a lot...especially cookies, pop, and chicken broth...along with other random stuff they were handing out, i ended feeling pretty darn sick about 30 minutes after I finished...silly Laura.
I don't need to talk about how amazing an Ironman finish is...what I do think is funny though, after finishing, feeling sick, now sleep-moving...my parents took me to waffle house...i remember forcing myself to eat a meal...literally slathering those delicious waffles with apple butter, then cutting them up and devouring them...automatically. it was a vague memory, but a delicious one. lol.
then, we had to leave the next day so i can get back to school =( boooooo. haha My cooperating teacher told all the students that I got bit by a shark- he warned them that I would definitely be wearing pants to cover the bite (duuh, it's winter...) and would probably be limping/walking funny (after 140.6 miles? yes i'll be walking a little funny!)...and didn't tell me about it...It was pretty funny when someone asked me if they could see the shark bite and I had no clue what they were talking about!! LOL!!
Aaah good times. I love Ironman...more to come on this...
