Monday, October 26, 2009

Quick update from the Ironhouse..

OK, these will be bullet points. My brain is heavily into Ironman Crazies. Some may call it "Bipolar Ironcrazy" but really it is only the extreme tiredness and fatigue that accompanies Ironman training. H & I woke up the other morning and promised each other that next year NO IM training!!! We must stick to this as partners..otherwise one of us will get weak and pull the other in. That is how the madness starts..

1. I am tired. Oh, I think I mentioned this already.
2. I have no idea what my goal for Ironman Western Australia is. Sometimes I think it is just to finish, sometimes I think it is to have a PR. I can't decide.
3. I will run over 100 miles the month of October. First time ever over the century mark!
4. My house looks like hell. Not only is is dirty..there is laundry piling up everywhere.
5. I got to see my five year old granddaughter go to Kindergarten when I visited Long Beach a few weeks ago. That and dance class. I still remember her mom at dance classes for goodness sakes. What happened to to all that time in between?
6. Fall is officially in New Mexico. The Balloon Fiesta is over, the leaves are turning, the heat is on and the damn chamisas are blooming. I know because I can see them and feel them everyday!!!
7. My ankle is so much better. I do feel twinges of the previous sprain but usually after I bike. Weird...
8. One reason my foot is probably not bothering me is because we are getting into a groove of running 2 minutes, walking 1 minutes. We average 13 min miles, which some may say is not really running as a recent NY Times article alludes to. Shame on you NY Times!! I could actually plan on doing this at IMWA and be fine with it.
9. After said running training, I ran the whole Long Beach half marathon, only walking at the aid stations. I did NOT have a PR but felt great. Sea level is a wonderful thing.
10. I have done 2 century rides in the past month. The first, the Acoma Century Ride was a wonderfully supported ride with plenty of aid stations, bike support and happy volunteers. The next one was yesterday the Day of the Tread, which was basically a suckfest. Now part of this just might have been the 4500 yard swim and 14 mile run we did the day before. I am not discounting that. Part of it could have been the 20 MPH headwind we had for a good 30 miles of it. The wind was suppose to be 5-9 MPH. WTF??? So I was not prepared to be blown all over a road that has traffic whizzing by at 80 MPH like a highway..It was miserable. The good news is on the way back on said road we were flying at 25-27 MPH! Still, the support on this ride was miserable. There was one aid station during one 40 mile stretch-not what I would consider "support". There were no bike support vehicle in sight the whole ride. We barely even saw anyone riding the 100, only 2 pretty fast groups that passed us early on... Now on our part, we should have started earlier looking back. The start time was 8:45, we started at 8:30. Nevertheless, when we got to the "finish line" there were only workers putting away the food and drinks and not one race volunteer in site. I know we were late and added on 4 miles to make the full 100 miles but 7:45 for a century with stops is not THAT late! I am very disappointed in this local ride and they heard from me this AM. They could take a few lessons from our Acoma friends to the West.
10. We are heading out to North Carolina next week for Beach to Battleship half IM with several of our NM Outlaw buddies. This should be a nice reprieve from IM training. Logistically, it looks like a bit of a nightmare but I will try and not worry too much about this as this is not really my "A" race. Many of our friends are doing the full IM. Can't wait to cheer them in!
11. I am heavily into "list making" for our trip to Australia. I feel stress about getting ready and if I ponder the lists too much, I get crazy. One thing at a time....I need to remind myself.
12. We leave for Australia one month from today. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! OK, settle down..Once I get there I will be fine, the preparation makes me nuts..
13. I need to stop watching crime solving shows. I think the negative energy is affecting me..
14. It is suppose to snow in ABQ this week. Oh dear..not ready for indoor training!
15. Did I mention I was tired? Time for rest....