Actually it is 26 days...I skipped the first two...til the Big Dance in Kona. H and I leave on October 2nd. A mere 17 days away-Eeeep!
I lay here in bed, coffee cup in hand, having awakened at 4:00 AM. I decided to head up to Chama yesterday for my big 6-0 birthday week. I often wake up super early and this is one of those days. Listening to James Taylor, I am looking out the window at the stars still shining brightly until dawn appears. My hubby will join me up here tomorrow. My goal was to "clean" the cabin before he arrives tomorrow. I usually clean the place about twice a year. However this cleaning day may get scrapped since I feel a little bit like I was hit by a Semi Truck.
A weekend in the life of the IronMaiden's quest for Ironman Kona-starting at home in ABQ:
- Get up Saturday AM, eat a big breakfast
- Head out around 8:00 AM for my long run. Ended up running over 12 miles in 2:40. Not bad for these old legs..
- Head home, eat brunch made by my wonderful hubby, catch up on emails, laundry-the never ending laundry that exists in our house with massive training!
- Go to the pool. We had to go to the local club pool, which is in my opinion gross by any standard. Murky water, god knows what people leave in that water..there are always people standing in a group in the first lane, just talking. There is an awful moldy smell always at one end of the pool. Often older, overweight men just hanging around the hot tub staring at people. Not in it, just sitting around it. It is creepy..Anyway, I digress. H and I swam for 30 minutes. I swam with my Finis music earphones, and kept my eyes closed a lot to avoid seeing the water and imagining the worst. My choice is always a city pool, where they gave figured out the art of using chemicals to keep the water crystal clear! Swim done...
- I feel tired. Try to relax but know there is much to do before my trip to Chama so start packing the car.
- Do 2nd run in the evening. I ran 20 minutes since I overshot my morning run by 10 minutes. It was difficult to drag my ass out there again. I went over to get some body parts waxed after dinner and it made sense just to head out and do the quick run afterwards...run done.
- Home by 7:00. Packed up car more, I was dropping my Tri Bike off yesterday to my local bike shop to be picked up by TriBike Shipping today. But was taking my road bike up to Chama so packed that in one car and my Tri Bike in the other since was riding it yesterday in the Century Ride. Confusing, right? I was confused also. Had to make lists so as not to forget anything. In bed by 10:00.
- Sunday morning I woke up way before our 5:30 alarm, so decided to pack the rest of my stuff in the car I was taking to Chama so I could leave directly from Century ride and head to Chama. This seemed like a good idea until it was time to leave and I was still packing-woops! H got there early in his car and I finally arrived only to miss the group we were going to ride with that left at 7:00. We missed them by a minute or two. Oh well, off we went anyway.
- Started riding the "Tour of the Rio Grande" century ride, which is flat, flat. It was a gorgeous day, hardly any wind but generally had the wind at our backs on the way back. I had programmed the "Tour of the Rio Grande" course in my Garmin and for once, something electronically magically worked for me! So although the course was clearly marked, we had directions..Only crap, it did not record my ride data..oh well, H had his Garmin to gather our ride data at the end. I started pushing on the bike, hanging on to anyone's wheel I could who was going faster than us. We drafted a few folks but mostly I pulled us in Kona training mode down in my aerobars, trying to look fierce! I took all my Kona nutrition to train my stomach as well. We only stopped a couple of times for water and potty breaks. I ran into a buddy from Grad School (we graduated 12 years ago). Great to see an old schoolmate! Saw some other team friends along the way. I soaked in all the encouragement about Kona. My poor hubby got dragged along my quest for a century ride with minimal stopping. Stuck to my nutrition plan-no issues at all. I felt strong and was able to push the pace pretty much the whole ride. My legs got a little tired at the end but nothing I couldn't push through. Finally we hit Rio Grande Road and we were almost there! I couldn't figure out how to look at my speed and the course map at the same time but knew we had done these 100 miles fast! We were finished and H turned to me and said we had down the ride in less than 5:30. Whoopee!! Later he told me we actually did it in 5:20, averaging 19 miles/hour. Oh, if only I could run a marathon after that! Maybe I could?? That would be nice. I headed back to my car, said goodbye to hubby-see you in 2 days!
- Put my running shoes on, and pushed my tired body into a 25 minute run. This sounds so short, right? But I was counting the minutes. It was getting hot. I was tired of eating gels and wanted food!
- After the run, I drove to the bike shop and said goodbye to my Tribike (by now had my 2 bikes in the car and all my s#%t for Chama). I felt a little nervous just leaving my bike, which they are boxing up and getting ready for Fedex to pickup today for the long trek to Kona. I will pick it up on the 4th in Hawaii, all put together and ready for me to ride (hopefully). My first IM 10 years ago, I shipped my bike Fedex and they managed to lose the shipping label so got a call from Texas Fedex office saying it was a good thing I had thrown a luggage tag on my bike so they knew who's it was...lesson learned. Needless to say, my bike was labeled clearly this time!
- Ok, now I am literally starving!! I head over to "Which wich", an awesome sandwich place! After grabbing a sandwich, chips and diet coke, I started scarfing down the food. Of course had to have the chocolate brownie too. I don't think I have ever been so hungry after a long ride! I ate as much as I could, got gas, filled the cooler with ice and off to Chama by 3:10..
- Drove to Chama. The 2:45 drive seemed quick! I arrived and unpacked the car. This guy was here to greet me:
So a weekend in the life of a Triathlete Ironman in training goes...today I have a 90 minute spin with 20 minute run off the bike and Yoga.
Think I will stay in bed resting til then..oh and await the 60th anniversary of my birth in 2 days. Wow, where has the time gone?? Just the other day, I was riding a tandem with my best friend Allison, age 11 or 12-us giggling and not a care in the world!
(H doesn't believe it's me but yes I m the one in the back..my preteen "awkward stage")
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