Let's do this!

This summer I have really struggled with figuring out if I made the right decision by signing up for IM Louisville. Every time I did a ride in the heat, with a lot of hills I was thinking " I should have signed up for Florida". But being here in Louisville, I realized that THIS is the race for me! The people here are SO happy that we are here racing, everyone is wishing us good luck. There are signs up at liquor stores, Churchs, everywhere wishing Ironmen good luck. The people here are so nice and this town has so much personality, Florida just wouldn't be the same! One of the things I am most excited about is the run, we go through University of Louisville's campus and they are playing University of Kentucky. It's a big game and kickoff is at 3:30. They warned us at the athletes meeting that there would be a lot of tailgating and things might get kind of crazy out there but I say BRING IT! I want the crazy energy!

I meet Bree today at the swim practice! She's just as sweet in person and she is on her blog! Have a great race tomorrow, I can't wait to see you out on the course!

We rode the bike course today. Lot's of little rollers, beautiful though, which makes it worth it. There are some climbs and of course, I am not the world's strongest on the hills, but I am confident that tomorrow I will be conservative and do alright.

It's blazing hot here! 91 degrees tomorrow. Lot's of humidity too. I really wish that Atlanta wasn't so mild these past couple of weeks. But I met a guy from Portland who was TOTALLY unused to weather like this. Felt pretty bad for him because it must feel like he's in a steam room right about now.

I haven't been sleeping well. Last night I was exhausted but there is a Worldfestival going on and they had bands playing until way too late.

Gotta run, Momma's here!

See ya when I am an Ironman!

Gettin' lucky in Kentucky.....

I TOTALLY forgot about this shirt until I read something on Bree's blog about her "getting lucky in Kentucky". (I owned the shirt at one point, but gave it to a cousin in KY) I have to say that I am sorry that both she and Paul didn't have the races they wanted to have yesterday. But they seem like two people who really have a grasp on knowing that things happen for a reason, and that it's not the end of the world, it just sucks when your race doesn't go according to your plans.

That being said, this week is really about me focusing on my attitude and how if I can't make my body feel a certain way, I will really try VERY hard to make my mind feel as good as possible. Totally positive. Totally ready for an Ironman!

I am WAY too emotional right now. When I was watching Bree's interview with Paula Newby-Fraiser yesterday I could sense all the emotions and it made me cry! I am giving everyone a head's up....I am filled to the brim with all sorts of feelings, and I am bound to bust soon! So if you see me crying the morning of the race, don't worry, they aren't tears of sadness!

Today I felt like I could swim. My breathing is still labored, but now things are starting to break up, I am coughing more and there is some rattling around in my chest. Seems like that is a good sign. I am also sweating like crazy. Did about 1500 yards non-stop. Left shoulder was killing me, stupid ghost pains! When I got home there was a package for me and with a good luck message for me and Keith this weekend. I got so excited thinking it was a care package and when I opened it up it was just "Advanced exercise prescription" textbook. I was confused until I remembered that Henry (fellow triathlete) works at the post office! Thanks Henry!

I appreciate everyone's well wishes and I can assure you that if you can will yourself to wellness, I am going to do it!

Bree- I don't think you need any "luck" in Kentucky!!!

I. Am. Sick.

Yes. It is true. Approximately one week away from the most important athletic attempt in my entire life and I am sick. Today marks the fourth day in a row without training, and the other days I "trained" last week were pretty lame. Ugh. If I was super-organized I would be looking back on my training logs and reminding myself of all the glorious hours I have logged on my bike and assuring myself that I am not turning into a big bowl of jello. But I gave up on the training logs (takes too much time to record everything) so instead I am having to rely on other things:

What exactly is wrong you ask? Well I feel like my lungs are filled with fluid, it hurts to breathe (in my chest and back area) my throat is killing me and I can't do anything for more than two hours without being totally exhausted. I am armed with an inhaler and some anti-inflammatories that aren't doing anything, but I haven't given up on them yet. Everyone keeps telling me about their cousin's best friend's husband Billy Bob who was sick and didn't train for five whole days and then PR'd their IM. I believe it. But right now I just want to be able to walk up a flight of stairs without being winded. That's my primary goal for the day.

In other news my left leg has gone totally ape on me. After months of nearly pain-free running the bone is swelling up and my knee hurts even when I walk! Some peeps have suggested phantom pain because I am tapering. I abandoned two runs last week due to it, and let's just hope this "phantom"clears out by next Sunday.

I am throughly enjoying watching all the coverage of Ironman Canada today. I have professed how "over it" I am, but today I am starting to actually want to do this Ironman! I typed up a three-page packing list, re-taped my bars, and will get my bike cleaned up and race wheels on soon!

A lot to say but don't feel like talking.

I'm here! Just not really in the mood the talk. Things are going ok leading into the last three weeks before my IM. I did a 90/4 brick on Saturday with Keith, Michelle, and her friend David. I was thinking about how great it will be to stop at 50 like Michelle and David did! Sunday I volunteered at Acworth and it was great to see everyone who raced hard out there!

I am sure that most of you have heard by now that Keith's brother was killed in a motorcycle accident. Then his mother suffered a heart attack and was rushed into emergency triple-bypass surgery. Totally sucks. She is still in the cardiac ICU and will hopefully be transferred into a regular room and taken off the ventilator today. So my ear infection and sore throat? Not really that important at the time.

In other news Steven has kidney stones and his wife Tat is having her gallbladder removed today. Again, more sucky stuff. I am pretty bummed about all these people I care about hurting so much. I feel pretty worthless, but I am trying to help out as much as I can. Please keep everyone in your thoughts and prayers during this difficult time!

Rubbed raw!

Yesterday was my first ever three hour run. I went as terrifically splendid as a run can possibly be when you are on the verge of a stomach explosion at the end and just plain uncomfortable. I think that I was drinking a bit too much water and that was the reason my tummy was upset, because I only ate three gels and had 24 ounces of gatorade. Water? That's another story. LOTS of water. I was super hot and was sweating like I have NEVER sweat before! In fact at mile 13 I took of my socks because they were soaking wet (I can't stand having my feet wet!) and ran the last 5 miles with no socks and wet shoes. But I didn't get blisters so it looks like my 8 remaining toenails are safe! But I was having a ton of discomfort where my sports bra was rubbing me. I knew that it was rubbing me raw (this sometimes happens when I sweat a lot) but what I wasn't expecting was this:

It's kind-of hard to tell from the pic, but it's actually quite painful. Today it looks even worse. It looks like a blister and hurts worse than road rash. There's a lot more but it's not in places that I can show 'ya! During the night it got all oozy and was stuck to my shirt when I woke up this morning. Nice. I was concerned that the water in the pool would burn really badly so I pulled over on the way to my swim and squirted myself with my water bottle to test it out. Bearable so I went to the pool. Probably not the best for the sanitation of the pool, but the chlorine needs to kill something right?

The good news is that I have learned that I need to 1) use body glide and 2) not wear that sports bra for IM. I already turn my bra inside out on a suggestion, so if you ladies have any other tricks let me know 'cuz this burns!

I am late posting the pics from the huge storm we had on Sunday. Lightening stuck a tree in the courtyard and it went down over cars, a gate, and literally stopped at someones front door. If the tree had fallen the other direction it would been right on top of a house and destroyed it. The people who live 8 feet from the tree were truly blessed!

On staying cool and ground chuck feet.....

The Covington Century was one seriously misrepresented ride. Well, actually, not really. I was told it was hot, that part was true, and it was flat. Ummm.....the beach is flat, not this ride. To those of you who kept insisting it wasn't flat? You were right. It was 98 degrees when we finished with a heat index of 104. My nutrition was WAY off balance because I had an upset stomach. Someone claims that hot perpetuem makes your stomach upset. Don't know if that was the cause, I was thinking it had more to do with the 10 or so bottles of water I was guzzling down. Either way, my tummy was not really hungry, just thirsty, and I wasn't able to take in the nutrition required to ride 110 miles (we tacked on some at the end). The result? I was hot, cranky, half-bonky, and slower than anticipated. The fierce headwinds after mile 75 didn't make things any better. Congrats to Tat and Steven on their first century, to Reger for blowing it out like always, Sarah and Allen for rocking it, KP, and everyone else who had the sense to stay far, far, away from Covington. All in all, I felt really great after the ride and an ice bath....kind of surprised my legs weren't feeling more of the ride. I managed to stay cool today, see?


Oh, and Nat, I read your post about hamburger feet. Interesting. My mom cuts out articles for me too. But they mostly pertain to things like 50-somethings that are still able to have kids. She wants to make sure I know that there are like countless years left in my fertility. I was thinking about your reasons to not partake in ultramarathons and Ironman. Me? I am not too concerned with hamburger feet. Remember Joe's pics of his feet he posted after his 100-mile run? I was still intrigued and thought: I wonder how far I can run before my feet look like that? That's not the reason why this stuff is no longer appealing to me. I realized today while I was reading that my deal-breaker is time. I am SO stingy with my time. I am hyper-sensitive to how valuable it is (to me obviously my time is important) and there is nothing in the world that irks me more than it being 5'oclock in the afternoon and you realize that all you've done is ride 110 miles, bathed, and....well that's it. Laundry? Nope. Reading? Nope. Groceries? Not yet. Target? Maybe tomorrow. If I had an assistant who was willing to take care of all my business (including paying my bills) I would be more than happy to take on these endurance challenges. Until someone can clear off 9-months of my schedule? Not gonna happen. I get too worked up when things aren't done, and hate the feeling that I don't have time. Now if you can create a time machine? Then we might be talking........