Honoring my most influential Ironmen before my 2014 journey

It's almost 2014.  It's gonna be a HUGE year for me.  It feels like I should reflect on my past journey to appreciate the one in front of me, especially when it gets really difficult to Just Keep Moving Forward. 

 

I've been thinking about a full Ironman since June, 2011. It was just a flickering of an idea that came pretty much out of nowhere.  Call it luck or insanity.  I kept thinking about it louder after each time I met a Full Ironman triathlete. These are the triathletes that have impacted me the most and I really want to honor them as I face my 2014 ironman journey.  I know as I endure my Ironman race on Nov. 16, I will reflect on each of you to give me the strength to do my very best to cross that finish line. I will carry your names on my forearm at IMAZ because you were all with me to get me to my ultimate goal.

 

 I met my first Ironman at LA Fitness.  She was in her 20's and had a pair of twins. I thought it was insanely awesome to accomplish such a goal.  Her passion was contagious and it made me research her hobby.  Ashley was a superwoman to me.  She had no idea that she would change my life.  I saw her finishline picture and was in such awe of her IM St. George accomplishment.  Because of her, I have met so many other amazing Ironmen.  I never would have crossed their paths without Ashley's contagious passion and influence.  I will forever be indebted to her for showing me the path to triathlons. I even won a contest writing about Why I Tri and her impact on my sport.  That $100 helped me with one of my first triathlon purchases which was the Garmin Forerunner 310XT! I couldn't believe how much this watch cost!  Little did I know the amount of money I would spend over the next few years!! Thank you so very much Ashley Jensen Paulson! You will always be my original Rockstar Mentor!

 

 

Every time I have met an Ironman, they have turned out to be pretty damn awesome.  I love their dedication.  I love that the journey means more than their finish time.  I love how they all give back to the newbies.  My 2nd Ironman connection was James Cengiz Ismailoglu.  I went to an intro meeting for TCSD Cares.  I stared at him like he was Super Human.  He started in TCSD Cares like me, but a year plus a few months later, finished IMAZ.  How can that happen?  I can barely finish a marathon.  How do you train for 140 miles if 26 seems so daunting? I've followed James' journey while zigzagging on my own tri journey.  Wow he really is incredible.  He is giving; he is patient; he is determined; he is focused; he is relentless; he just loves the journey.  He really is my super human triathlete mentor.  I wondered if one day I could somehow, maybe, join that IM circle too. But, I just couldn't understand how people do this.  It is just such an overwhelming achievement.  I am a mere mortal with no athletic background.  I just can't see the light.  But I was still attracted to the possibility.

 

Then I met Dean Sprague.  How can we be the same age? How can someone finish over 25 Ironman races and still be alive?  He is so humble, so wise, so giving. Who enters a Full Ironman race with a newbie just to be by their side for almost 17 hours to ensure they finish? Seriously??? He probably could have finished a double Ironman in 17 hours!  He joined my club race team when we had a 3 person club race just for the challenge! I am so proud to know Dean.  He is the most humble athlete I have ever met. I just love his Tigger bounce when he runs by me like a freight train! His kind encouragement and club support is absolutely relentless. He taught me everything I know about the Garmin 310XT so I can teach others. His tri journey has shown me that anything is possible if you just dedicate yourself to the goal.

As I worked on my technique, my endurance, my feet, and had plenty of setbacks,  I watched Tracy Cohen-Peranteau.  She is incredibly positive with every level of triathlete she meets. Her personality shines proudly through her multiple Ironman tattoos on her leg.  She is also such a giving and supportive teammate in our tri club world.  She must have seen my pain as I tried to finish strong at the San Dieguito half marathon and so she helped me finish strong by making me chase her to the end! Wow - never has a finish hurt so good! It was one of my most rewarding races to date. Tracy is a giver in so many ways, whether her classroom or a triathlete, she is highly respected for her level of fitness as well as her inspiration to others.  I am so lucky to know this amazing Ironman. I will especially think of Tracy on my IMAZ run because I don't know anyone who can pick up a pace at mile 20 so they can reach the podium!

My online Ironman mentor this year has to be SwimBikeMom. She has shown me that anyone that has a crazy busy life, weight issues, kids, injuries, fears, phobias, can be an Ironman with determination and perseverance. She showed me by example that anything is possible and even a mere mortal with no athletic ability, can build on their technique and confidence which will lead one to believe it is possible to  reach an Ironman goal. I am so grateful that she blogs her journey. She has given me incredible courage through her own experiences. She has helped me believe in myself all year in 2013. Always dream HUGE! and Just Keep Moving Forward... Thank you Meredith, I definitely will.

 

Rachel IMLT

Julie the Coach

My most important Ironmen for 2014 have to be Julie (Moss) Dunkle and Rachel (Rocket) Wills.  These women know how to calm me, support me, and push me to be better than I thought possible. Rachel has advised me on all of my questions and set me up with all of my tri equipment.  Of course my new tri bike is appropriately named Rachel Rocket. Julie is coaching me to the finish line with her incredible experience and patience.  I am so grateful to have them both on my journey through my multiple events in 2014.

 

Ashley, James, Dean, Tracy, SBM, Rachel and Julie will give me the strength and confidence to achieve my 2014 goals. I am so grateful for their influence and experience.  They are all incredible and these Ironmen will take me across each finish line in 2014.  My dream is to hear from Mike Reilly while I am searching the chute for my supportive family who will be putting up with this very difficult year of milestones and cheering me on every step of the way.  This journey is going to be epic. It takes a village to create an Ironman and I will carry each of them with me every step of the way. My celebration will be at IMAZ on November 16, 2014. I am so excited for 2014!
 

My 2013 tally (base building for my 2014 journey)
2 successful foot surgeries/recoveries.
2 Ironman 70.3 races, Cali & SOMA
1 marathon, Half Moon Bay
8 half marathons, (LA New Years, Tinkerbell, Surf City, San Dieguito, SD Half, SF Half #2, Costume Party, Wine/Dine DW)
3 Olympic tri's, CV/Malibu/Superseal
1 Jump Aquathlon
3 cycling events - 2 metric centuries and a 50miler in Mexico. 
11x hill repeats on Tidepool hill (PR)

 5208.36 bike miles ...
907.64 run miles
354577 y swim = 201.46 miles

My final foot surgery is over. Now begins my IMAZ journey

Finally yearend has arrived and it is time to complete my bunionectomy journey so I can continue the journey to Ironman!  My right foot bunion surgery was on Thursday Nov 14.  This second round will be easier than the left because I don't have any hammertoes on the right foot. Three days after surgery, I will attend a speedpass volunteer shift at IMAZ on Sunday from 10-11:30pm. I was fortunate to have been offered a switch to 8-10pm shift instead!

The surgery was faster and I was very calm since I knew the routine.  There were only two differences.  This anesthesiologist didn't like to put you out.  In all my outpatient surgeries, I was told "you will be awake but feel nothing" and I black out instantly. This was the first time to be asleep yet hear conversations in the background.  It was so strange..a little creepy too but still a pretty good rest! I was in the recovery room less time too.  In fact, I kept being awakened by the HR monitor alarm which sent nurses charging in when my HR dropped below 40 beats a minute!  It would scare me and my heart would jump over 40...Oh, false alarm.. the nurse would leave, I'd sleep 5 minutes and the alarm would go off again!  Apparently my Resting HR is about 37!  I told them I was a triathlete and that 40 was normal so that must be where they set the minimum! If you want further information about Dr. Berenter, here is his website . He also has a video on a REAL surgery without any blood! Check it out here!

I had no extra bleeding, so no extra bandage changing, and  just some throbbing a couple nights. It was pretty uneventful. We drove to Tempe, Arizona on Sunday morning with my right foot in an aircast resting on the dashboard.  I iced Thursday to Saturday.  This time I did take one pain pill at night the first two nights because the throbbing woke me up.  But otherwise I was pain free. I was completely ready for the aircast by Sunday with no pain whatsoever.  I knew that standing for my IMAZ volunteer shift wouldn't be any problem.  I was so grateful to get a speedpass.


The speedpass wristband is earned by working a volunteer shift that specifically states SPEED PASS in the description. You have to sign up on the first day volunteer slots open which I did on July 1 at noon.  It typically is a "hard to fill" position.  Earning it means I am not waiting in line at 3am to buy my entry for IMAZ 2014 on Monday morning.  I have head of line privileges so I basically just walk up and get my ticket in front of thousands in line.  All I need is a green band, my ID, my credit card, my USAT card. In return, a get a little piece of paper!

Pretty cool! My shift actually only lasted from 8-9:15pm because my water station #1 was the cutoff mark at 9miles for 2nd loopers.  After the dreaded headlights arrived, we knew there were not going to be anymore runners.  I was so thankful runners were pulled off the course just before our station so I didn't have to witness that horrible scene.

Monday, I awoke at 7am, and was registered by 7:30am. SWEET! Let the training begin...

 

I know the foot routine..ugh.. no water on the foot for first 2 weeks until  my stitches are removed. Then, I wear the aircast another 2 weeks which means 100's of miles in the lounger spin bike at the gym in the meantime.  Another 2 weeks later, I will begin running again.  It also means basically soup and salad for months to lose this extra 10 lbs I have packed on with two vacations in 6 months.

So, fast forward 3 weeks from surgery...my hopes are coming true and this recovery is faster than my left foot which had the hammertoe fusion.  I have far less swelling and don't even ice it, so I'm pushing much harder and sooner.  I couldn't swim until the knots were removed BUT I started on the elliptical by week 2 and it felt great. I'm also out of the lounger bike and now in the upright spin bike in week 3.  I feel almost normal with bike, elliptical and swim workouts now. The timing is perfect for removing the stitches because Dec 1 is the beginning of the NCC USAT 3 month challenge.  Julie, my coach, headed up a 100x100y swim on Dec 1 to kick off the swim miles and I achieved my first 5k in a pool on Dec 1!  That is 2 weeks 3 days post surgery! Granted I was tired after the long swim but my foot felt amazing since it was soothed in the water for 2 hours!

Although I didn't spend too much time at IMAZ13 this year, I did REALLY get the tri bike bug...Black Friday sales were already boasting their screaming hot deals.  So, my Honey awarded me an early Christmas present and we drove straight to Moment Cycle Sport after I bought my IMAZ14 ticket!  My tri bike fitting said I really fit better in the Cannondale Slice vs Cervelo so I bought one on sale with deep discounts, used my Reynolds and Quarq powermeter, and applied the savings to upgrade all the components to Durace.  My little beauty has been appropriately named RACHEL ROCKET because I gave Rachel, at Moment, the go ahead to make it the best it could be as if it were her own bike.  Rachel has supported me since the first day I inquired about triathlons at the Moment shop. She is an awesome mentor! Now I can only hope she will give me her incredible endurance and speed as well!  I will be taking my RR for a 20 mile spin only 3 weeks 3 days after surgery!  Then Sunday, I will go a little further as I adjust to the Tri position.  Isn't she a beauty??!!!

I had my 4 week (minus 2 days) check up this week and Dr. Berenter is very happy with my fast progress.  I learned that he is one of the few podiatrists that uses dissolvable hardware and he has been using it for 18 years now with fantastic results.  Maybe that is why I have had virtually no pain. The screw material is made of the same product as dissolvable stitches, but just poured into a mold. I am ready for a spin class now that I can fit into bike shoes.  My next goal is to begin running at the 5 1/2 week now. For now, I am pushing myself on the elliptical, hoping that I haven't lost too much of my running base.

So I reflected on my goals for 2013 since my year is basically over. In 2012, I decided after IMAZ volunteering, that I wasn't ready for the Ironman journey.  Mentally and physically, I knew it wasn't the right time.  I decided to train smarter, build confidence, and repair both feet in 2013.  I accomplished a lot in 2013, besides two successful foot surgeries/recoveries. I completed 2 Ironman 70.3 races, 1 marathon, 8 half marathons, 3 Olympic tri's, an inaugural race called Jump Aquathlon and 2 cycling events - a metric century and a 50miler in Mexico. I am so happy that I improved greatly in all three disciplines.  It's been an awesome building year.  2014 is looking even better with a great job, a coach, a true tri bike, 3 70.3's, a couple marathons and hearing Mike Reilly tell me: YOU ARE AN IRONMAN on November 16, 2014!

November 2013 Lessons Learned

I seem to have a pattern now...It's called" Find your physical limits in November". Last November 2012, was 6 half`s in 16 days.  I already have Nov 2014 plans to nearly die trying to finish my first full ironman at IMAZ! Here's' my November 2013 journey:

This month included Borrego Springs climbing the Montezuma grade within a 50 mile ride and 4500 feet of total climbing, 4 Disneyworld theme parks in 4 days with a half marathon on day 3, and my 2nd foot surgery with a volunteer shift at IMAZ 3 days later, so again; this means do as much as possible in the shortest time frame in case you can't do it later!!

Let's add one more kink is this craziness...a total wrench in my life...I started my new job October 28...bittersweet and chaotic emotions ensued. I couldn't turn down great benefits and my highest salary to date and an actual path to promotion..more than I have ever been offered in my career but... I had just planned my next chapter after 18 months of unemployment.  I had accepted it with the destiny of full time Ironman training for IMAZ Nov 2014.  I had one last interview to go and then I expected my final rejection.  I had decided to return to school full time.  I wanted an AS. My BA/MBA had none of the sciences. I wanted to go into the medical field; maybe Cardio technology, maybe nursing?  I had to start from the beginning of science regardless so I ordered all my transcripts and talked to counselors at National University and Grossmont College.  I need 2 more GEs?? oral communication and a PE class since my degrees are old ?? fine... I added it to the science pre-req list.  They waived Algebra for my chem class because I took Calculus..haha like I remember that from the 80s!!!  I registered for Bio and lab courses starting the end of November.  oh YEA!!! I love a good plan.

oh NOOO!! a full time job with a 25 mile commute each way?  that wasn't expected at all. Hell the puppy wasn't even 4 months yet so she didn't have her rabies shot so she could go to daycare when Marcus travelled!  When are we getting her spayed now? What about foot surgery planned Nov 14? What about our 5 day Disneyworld vacation planned and paid for!! OMGGGGG!!  Seriously I felt like I was hyperventilating around the clock.  My job said.. no problem with the time off!!! wow my brain hurt trying to reconfigure my future.  Here's my list of things to do in November.

1st. I hate commuting. It is such a waste of time.  Let's move. Well let's sell the house.  Ummm crap there's a lot to do to get it ready.  Got our realtor on board and he gave us the to do list. Marcus cancelled his business trip and we hired contractors  which turned into a living nightmare and drove us nearly to drink.  We packed our "clutter" day and night and pushed the contractor to work faster. We decided on an open house Nov 8 while we were at Disneyworld and the dogs were at my parent's house.  We did our best in 7 days and we kept our Nov 2 plans for Borrego Springs.  It's a ride I refused to miss.



Quark Riken compact powermeter

2nd on the list.  I couldn't sleep over my baffling mess at SOMA 70.3. How could I have been more efficient?  How do I bike stronger and still have something left to run, .....really RUN?  I decided the only way to keep my IMAZ goal was to hire a personal coach.  I felt the power meter and coach combo would get me to the next level and relieve my stress of preparation while working fulltime. I did some research, ordered the Quarq power meter, and hired Julie Dunkle . Did both before the BIG Borrego ride so I would have great Garmin data for Julie.   Here's Julie's website http://www.dontgetdroppedcoaching.com/Home_Page.html




3rd was the Borrego Springs 50  ride which had been planned for a month. It was a ride I never would have completed without the group.  I am so grateful for the last 6 months I spent riding every Tuesday with Steve's Valle Velo group ride.  He showed me North county and now my job is center in this area! It was meant to be! The 2 hour climb was brutal for me. It really strains my neck and knees to push that hard for so long.  My cadence is far too slow. The power meter worked well and proved I have a lot of work to do so I am more efficient.  However, my altimeter did not work at all so this is the 2nd 910XT watch that has broken in 13 months.  Unbelievable..why do things break on the most important days?  Had to order a new Garmin before DW and had no elevation for my big climb.  Marcus showed 4500 feet of climbing.  It was a great accomplishment for me mentally, although we lost half a day of prepping the house.

4th was to see as much of Disneyworld as possible in 4 days.  OMG I didn't realize this was nuts at the time.  We arrived Wednesday night, dropped our stuff at the Shades of Green resort and took a bus to Downtown Disney immediately that night.  It was 11pm and one store was open but at least I got my breakables and didn't need to get stuff later at the park.

Day 1: We woke at 6am (3am SD time) and spent the next 15 hours at Magic Kingdom.  When we left, I felt like IMAZ couldn't feel much worse on my body. In fact I welcomed the thought of a 7 hour bike ride in the middle of the day  just to get off my feet! It was well worth the magical fireworks over the castle that night!

 

 

Day 2: We woke at 7am and went to Epcot all day for 12 hours plus the race expo and returned fully exhausted again. We walked the entire park and the international food loop.  This was a great decision although we didn't know it at the time.  The half marathon ends here.  We thought the food was included in the after party but it was not.  We had no incentive to walk this loop again after the half marathon at 1am.

Day 3: We woke at 8am and spent half the day at Animal Kingdom.  We rested at the resort for 5 hours until we left for ESPN Wide World of Sports at 7pm.  I really regret this decision.  We missed two of the big shows because we left early and it was Saturday too.  the lines were ridiculous and we just didn't have the stamina to endure more than about 5 hours.  We saw the Bug Life show but missed the Lion King and Nemo shows sadly.  We were so tired that we decided on a sit down lunch where the wait was double the expectation and the food was just ok.  I wished this had been a hotel day and then we could have done this park fully on another day.  The tree of life is so beautiful although man-made. It was totally lit up during the race as well.  The animal carvings in the trunk are spectacular.

We rested at the hotel about 5 hours and then went to ESPN to enjoy the pre- race dancing festivities and started the half marathon at 10:15pm.  My legs were very tired and my GI track was very pissed off from eating crap for days and not enough water.  I had 2 bathroom breaks during the run which considerably slowed our overall time but I just could not help it. I hate stopping during a run, however, it was required!  Our pace was about 10:30 without the 2 stops so I guess that's not bad considering 3 days of walking and pictures.  We finished about 12:45am and tried to enjoy the after party but we were so tired and so we didn't walk much of the giant Epcot loop with international foods since we had done this the day before.  The prices were all the same which gave you basically  a 2-bite tapa for $3-$6 each after waiting in line for a long time.  Try getting a meal out of that and you are looking at $20 over a couple hours, after finishing a half marathon at 1am. We were less than thrilled.

I loved running through 3 theme parks and the difference in the Disneyland half and DW half is that DW owns about 20000 acres so there is electricity everywhere, even between the parks, so we were entertained even if we were not inside the park.  Lights were everywhere, huge megatron TVs showing cute cartoons, music, loads of volunteers..it was absolutely gorgeous and entertaining for the entire 13 miles.  DL doesn't own the property outside of the theme park so there are dead zones although they do their best with antique car shows and cheerleaders along the way to the Anaheim baseball park. DL half is in August so it starts at 6am in total sunshine.  Tinkerbell starts in January so from 6-8am it's totally dark and without owning the land, the electricity is only available in the park so I felt Tink was too dark and would recommend Disneyland half over Tinkerbell on the west coast due to daylight savings time. 

There was a fun dancing warmup to lots of funny songs before the run which I really appreciated since it was 10pm. We ran from ESPN to the Animal Kingdom park 1st,which was like running through a forest with little lights hidden in the shadows..just loved it.  Then it was a few miles to reach Hollywood Studios but it was my favorite section because the park was so lit up and the Spectacle of Lights made me slow down just to take it all in...It was incredibly beautiful.  There were billions of lights everywhere.

We then ran into Epcot.  This was a bit irritating and needs to be rerouted somehow.  You go through the center path but the party is the opposite direction.  You have to walk all the way to the end of the park (where you just entered) but are blocked by the runners still heading to the finish line.  It's a huge backlog of people trying to crossover the runners' path.  They let finishers go a few at a time which caused  huge delays and no one wants to be packed like salmon swimming up stream with a bunch of stinky runners at 1am.

We stayed a little while, had a snack, and walked the longest route possible to the shuttle to take us back to a DW resort where we had to walk another 1/2 mile to get to our resort.  We arrived at our door at 3am to find our door key did not work.  I collapsed in the hallway while Marcus walked back to the front desk, (not close to us by a long shot), to find keys could not be reprinted at that time because they were doing an audit (at 3am???? seriously??)  Marcus and I waited for who knows how long for security to arrive to let us into our room.  I did the Julie Moss crawl from the hall to the bed and THAT was my IM DW finish...I was absolutely delirious. Lesson Learned:  BRING BOTH KEYS. No alarm was set for the next day!  I hoped that I would never wake up. Our Coast to Coast medal with Walt and Mickey is beautiful although it probably cost us a small fortune to earn.

 

Day 4...it's 9am...with one eye open, we decided to eat a good breakfast buffet at the resort before starting our final day at Hollywood Studios.  We stayed for about 8 hours seeing as many shows as possible.  If there was a line or we couldn't get a fast pass, it was skipped. This was one of my favorite parks because I thoroughly enjoyed learning about Walt Disney's Dream, the history of inventions and how Oswald The Lucky Rabbit became Mortimer the Mouse to all the Mickey versions that followed.  It was beautiful to

see the Princesses of Disney all in one place!

We took great pictures each day and tried to enjoy each park but it was tough on the body to cover it all in 4 days.  We really shouldn't have done anything on marathon day.  I have a new level of respect for nutrition and taper week before an endurance event.

I have 2 days of work, and workouts, before my foot surgery on Thursday Nov 14.  I have a fast pass shift at IMAZ on Sunday from 10-11:30pm so we will just drive to Arizona on Sunday.  I get my entry for IMAZ 2014 on Monday morning and we drive home.  Let the training begin...oh, after 2 weeks when I get my stitches out. Then, I keep the aircast another 2 weeks which means 100's of miles in the lounger spin bike at the gym in the meantime.  It also means basically soup and salad for months to lose this extra 10 lbs I have packed on with two vacations in 6 months. UGH vacationing is HELL!!! Training for tri`s is so much easier!  I am so looking forward to handing off my Ironman training to Julie Dunkle!

THE END of Ironman Disneyworld

October 2013 Lessons Learned / SOMA 70.3

October was focused on wrapping up the SOMA 70.3 training and work on bigger bricks since September was about longer runs for the marathon.  I also worked with physical therapy for 6 weeks or so trying to breakup the scar tissue from the left foot surgery.  I didn't realize the strain in my foot arch was from tight scar tissue in my toe.  However, I have gotten much more flexibility in my toe and arch with UCPT help. Maybe I will get some of my run speed back soon.

While training on longer bricks, we found some odd weather in San Diego with Santa Ana hot winds and I found myself with another crazy lymph node infection which starts with ear pain, teeth pain, cheek pain, jaw pain, neck pain, temple pain...I'm dying pain...It's a mental nightmare to keep going.

Motrin 800mg every 6 hours and Amoxicillin 4x a day and finally about 10 days, it was mostly gone. Then shoulder blade pain came the entire week of taper leading up to the race and more pain meds, heating pad, deep tissue massage ensued.  All this time I watched the weather in Tempe continue to climb with heat.

Finally, it was race day and the high was going to be even worse than expected at 90 degrees.  I tried to prepare with a mini ice chest for transition which held a neckerchief with cooling beads for the bike and a cooling towel for the run.  Also I had a sponge and ice cold water bottle for the run.

It was surprising to set up next to Marcus. I'm used to being with my wave/AG but we were racked by bib#.  This would mean I would have no idea how I did in my swim because bikes would be everywhere when I arrived in T1.

The course layout was similar to IMAZ which is why I chose this race, but the bike course was crazy different with 45 turns including 12 Uturns within 56 miles.  The swim in the lake was 70 degrees and no salt.  It was odd to have COED first timers in my wave.  I had a my goggles knocked off twice in the swim but I just adjusted and kept going.  I think I lost satellite under the bridges but my Garmin said I swam 1.37 miles instead of 1.2.  My pace was a little slower than I expected but part of the extra time was that I swam to the left of the stairs because they were open and the far right stairs were backed up for swim exit.  Then when I arrived, I was told I couldn't exit there! no markings at all and I yelled in disbelief and the volunteer helped pull me up eventually so I could move on.  It was also FUN to experience STRIPPERS!!! So glad I remembered to prepare my wetsuit sleeve and pulled it over my watch for that. woohoo I was out of my wetsuit in about 3 seconds flat!

It was a little run to T1 which made my swim time even longer but I got my bike stuff together quickly, grabbed a GU and ice cold neckerchief for the ride and took off.  I held 18mph the first lap and felt good - so I thought.  I was cool and was prepared for 15 turns per lap but the Uturns surprised me because they were so tight, it scared me to almost unclip.  I didn't though and tried not to surge to pickup speed too fast but I know I did - I wondered how much I would pay for stop/starts.  I heard Jim Vance telling me to not surge...you will deplete your glycogen..I couldn't help it, I was trying to give my all on my bike... the course is relatively flat and I wanted a PR on the bike.  Lap 2 was a little more windy - felt more difficult for sure.  I was more confident on the turns but this time one guy crossed the line on a turn and nearly caused a head-on collision with me and a few other riders! Yikes, brakes on, surge repeat. By the 3rd lap, the wind was stronger, I could feel I was fatiguing and on the last little hill at mile 50, I stood up (NOTE: you know better!!! don't ever do that AGAIN!!)and my left thigh cramped and spasmed...I couldn't pedal with my left leg without tremors and spasms for 6 miles.  I yelled at myself for surging and there was no reason to stand on that hill. I know better.  I can pass people on a hill in my seat.  So I paid dearly for that mistake and dropped my speed considerably. All the extra effort up front was a waste...damn you! listen to the coaches!

When I hopped off the bike at T2, my thigh was shaking and I was limping with a trot.  I ignored it.  I switched to the cooling towel, grabbed 2 salt pills for the heat, a little PBJ and icy disposable water bottle.  I ran out of T2 prepared for a dry sauna.  I ate about half the sandwich and slowly drank the ice water over the next 2 miles.  My goal was to only walk through the aid stations.  I felt pretty comfortable with the cooling towel but my thigh didn't relax for 2 miles.  I drank the Gatorade at each station, poured ice water over my head, and poured ice into my shirt and towel.  I still just could not pick up my pace and the slower I ran, the more negative talk crept into my mind.  My thighs were just empty.  All this planning for heat and no thought about a flat bike course?  No coasting/no recovery time for the thighs...bike pacing is critical for this course. Mental training is the most difficult for me.  I thought about Jeff Galloway and he said the hotter the weather the slower you will run so adjust your goal.  I tried to accept the slow pace as out of my control but I knew it was the bike surging that got me.  The first run lap wasn't too bad but by mile 10, I was seeing stars.  I had stopped 2x before aid stations already but I knew I would be ok if I added some calories.  I had a GU at mile 6 but had only a couple orange slices with all the Gatorade.  I decided to eat a piece of banana and cola and instantly felt better. 

I was able to round the corner of the lake and finally see the bridge and knew the finish line was approaching soon.  It was wonderful to see Marcus waiting for me at the bridge to run with me to the finish line so we could get a picture together. I finished in 6:45 and was 15 minutes past my goal time (all due to bike surging, not run heat!) and 13th place of 26, but I learned some lessons during this race about pace and I was not prepared to ride hard for 3 hours without a break.  I ride hills a lot so it is hard up but recovery down.  There was no recovery time on this course and I need to work harder on intervals in the wind on fiesta island to be stronger for IMAZ.  I have decided I really need a power meter so I know my limits on the bike so I have something for the run. The bike segment is my best discipline but it ruins my run which is already slow.  This needs to change for IMAZ.  I don't want to cramp at mile 50 with 62 miles left on the bike and face 26.2 miles of a death march to the finish line...nope this must improve.

The goody bag was pretty good with a water bottle, visor, medal and shirt.  However, black is never my first choice and I was disappointed there was no mention of the date or distance of the race on the shirt. Overall, I think I would do this race again.  It was good to race out of my comfortable neighborhood.  I have a lot of work to do to prepare for IMAZ 2014.