Countdown

Yep, 2010 is rapidly coming to a close, I have really enjoyed the last 5-6 weeks off from tri training and indulging in all of the great food which seems to surround me everywhere I turn. Training starts again next Monday, but maybe tomorrow. It's been long enough that it will be hard to get back to it, but also long enough that I'm looking forward to getting back into the routine.

The morning after IMAZ I had the option of going down to Tempe Town Lake and registering for 2011 IMAZ. No way...I was not going anywhere near that park. IMAZ sells their slots first to the currently registered athletes on Saturday (no thank you, I had enough to think about with the 2010 race looming). Next you can go to the park on Monday morning, the volunteers have priority registration, following the volunteers anyone onsite can register. Open slots are then put on active.com at 12:00 noon. It was a little after 12:00 as we were driving home I began to reconsider, maybe I will do IMAZ again in 2011..............too late, it was sold out! So, here it is my 2011 albatross (something that causes deep concern and anxiety) Vineman full, a trip to wine country to do what? These are my deep concerns about Vineman: 1) It has a 16, not 17 hour cut-off 2) It's in July, in California, the run could be killer hot 3) The bike course looks spectacularly beautiful, but I did love that flat Beeline! Training starts January 1 with Don Fink's "Be Iron Fit" plan. This plan calls for a yet to be determined oly in May and 1/2 the first week of June. And as for my current training plan...........does wallpaper stripping and painting count, I haven't been to the gym lately and have eaten my weight in See's candy.

Ironman Arizona 2010

Ok I think I've finally calmed down enough to write a coherent race report. What an emotional weekend, a years worth of training coming down to one day. A day that could go any which way, depending on so many factors that you do and don't have control over. I was finally ready or not to do it.

4:00 am Alarm went off, it didn't matter, I was awake, I probably got more sleep than I thought I did, but it felt like I was awake checking the clock every 10 minutes. Ate toast and a banana, diet coke and a started on a bottle of water.

5:00 am Craig and Brent drove me down to Tempe Town Lake, our hotel was about 3 or 4 miles away. I almost started crying in the car, it was so overwhelming that I was on my way. Brent kept pumping me up with lots of positive comments, trying to keep me calm, he did a good job.

5:15 am Checked on my bike, filled by bottles, took trash bag covers off the seat and bento box

5:45 am Met Kate, we decided to start together, and got our wetsuits on

Brent took this picture of the lake, shortly before it looked like ............

This....the age group start, do you see me? Look close, I'm the one in the black wetsuit and the lavender cap.

7:00 am We are off. The water was cold, I heard anywhere from 59-61, I had a neoprene cap under my race cap and was glad I did. You hear a lot of horror stories about the washing machine swim starts. I started way in the back. I was afraid of not making the cut-off time. I had two hour and twenty minutes to finish the swim and not a second longer.

8:51 am The swim wasn't as scary as I thought it would be. I just tried to stay clam and keep going. If I ever do this again, I will definitely be braver and start a lot further up. Check out the clock, I made it! 1:51! I knew I made the cut off but honestly I didn't see that clock, I didn't see a clock until I came out of T1 and it was 2:02. WooHoo I had bought myself a half hour of time.

Craig-I think he was in a state of disbelief-I was out of the water!

Well for some unknown reason blogger won't load my pictures, so I will just finish this and add pictures later.
The bike mount area
Out on the course

9:02 am Next up, a long day on the bike, it's a three loop course which is great 'cause you get to see your family often. I started out strong on the bike course, but it didn't last long, it rained, hailed and the headwinds were ferocious. The good thing about the wind was that it was a tail wind on the out which is a false flat and a headwind on the downhill, Even though it was downhill sometimes I was only going 10-12 mph, it was a tough wind. I ended up with a 7:17, I was hoping for less than 7, but still had banked a little more time for the run. Some good advice I got from BMc: eat, eat, eat. And I did, I ate even when I wasn't hungry, and drank more Ironman Perform than I ever want to drink again in my life! Another piece of advice from me. I really stressed over what to put in my bike special needs bag, the only thing I wanted when I got there was my DZNuts Bliss (the she version of DZNuts). The volunteer got it out of my bag for me, I said close your eyes, and the rest of my ride was saved!
The bike finish chute-happy in an understatement

4:30pm Bike done, oh happy day! I now had 7 1/2 hours to finish this thing, I knew I could do it. I also knew that I would have to run, I wouldn't make it walking. I decided only to walk the aid stations and pretty much stuck to my plan, I walked a few uphills. The aid stations were incredible especially the police one, it couldn't help but make you smile every time you came through.

I kept going, it wasn't fast but it was forward progress, my Garmin went dead about 1/2 way through which was probably a good thing, it slowed me down more.
Kyle was at this aid station when I got there, My next comment to him was, "I hate Gu"

I didn't realize what was happening but I began to list to the left, have you ever seen anyone finishing a marathon or ironman bent over to one side, well that was me. I thought it must be something going on with my back after a long day of breathing to one side on the swim, staying aero as much as possible on the bike and running. I learned when I got home that is was brain hyperthermia. I was so happy to hit the last loop, but still at my pace that would mean two hours! I just kept going.
10:49pm Kyle met me at the cut-off for the finish line, I asked him how far it was. At the St. George Marathon you see the finish line a long time before you actually run through. He kept saying it's right there mom. Someone walking through the area said only 300 yards, really you're that close, at the last corner a lovely volunteer met me, saying something to the effect of Melinda, there it is, it's the finish line you did it, Mike Reilly is waiting for you, Chrissie Wellington is waiting for you. I was still running listing to the left, Mike Reilly saw me and said that is truly mind over matter and told the crowd to go crazy to bring me in.
I have never heard a finish line so crazy, and loud,thank you, thank you. They were incredible, I tried to stand up straight for the picture but I don't think I was very successful.
Finally crossed the line I wouldn't walk across the day before.

I was in at 15:49 and as soon as I crossed the line I was in Chrissie Wellington's arms getting a huge hug. Wow, the world champion, she had just set a new world record that day and she was at the finish line to greet me. I am her biggest fan, what a kind, wonderful, genuine person, she is very impressive not just as an athlete, but as a person.
Don't ask me what I went through for a medal, a t shirt and a hat!
Craig was just happy I was alive!

Thank you to all the volunteers, they were incredible, they would do anything to help you! Thank you most of all to my family for putting up with me for the past year. I was up early and off to the gym, Craig made breakfast and lunches for the boys, weekends were long rides and runs. My family never complained they picked me up after long runs and bike flats, encouraged me when I got discouraged and believed in me. They made sure I had great equipment, they wouldn't let me fail. On race day, they were there cheering for me all the way. I have pictures of Craig with tears in his eyes when I came out of the swim. The boys met me on every loop of the bike to cheer me on. The run course is three figure eight loops and Craig, Kevin, Brent, Kyle and Brad were always somewhere cheering for me. I love you all.

What was I thinking????

Ok, it's that time, it is panic time.  I have spent the whole day watching youtube videos and panic-ing, already.  Will that prevent open water panic, just get it over with now?  I sure hope so.  One video shows the cut-off of last years swim, three swimmers didn't make it and they looked like darn good swimmers to me.  I just sat there with tears in my eyes, what is wrong with me-----.
I am stressed, I can't concentrate.  Friday I went down to Redlands Cyclery, I forgot it's their huge sale weekend, the guy outside told me I should leave my bike then and could maybe get it back on Thurs.  Umm that's not going to work.  I went inside and talked to Eddie, bike can go in on Tuesday and out Tuesday.  Yay Eddie!  Bike is basically ok, just an issue with a quick release lever, a general tune up and I'm going to put a cheap computer on it so the Garmin goes on my wrist.
I still haven't decided what I'm going to wear, okay so this is probably just a girly girl issue, but here's the problem:  my Redlands Tri Club jersey has two ridiculously small pockets, so do I wear a regular bike jersey?  Do I really need all that stuff I like to put in my pockets?   I've decided just to pack every bit of work out clothes I own, tri jersey/shorts, bike jersey/shorts, run clothes, short sleeves, long sleeves, jackets, you name it I will probably have it with me.  Usually I can pack for a week in a backpack and still not use everything, this time I think it will be the gigantic suitcase with the wheels, heck maybe even the whole set.  I don't have a nutrition plan, I really feel like I just don't know what I am doing at all.
Oh and another thing, today was stake conference.  I've always felt a little guilty about doing a Sunday race, 'cause really I have never raced on Sunday.  So what did President H talk about today--secrets, sunburn and regrets.  In other words are we keeping secrets that aren't congruent with our values, with our own integrity (perhaps that should be professed integrity), for example going to the beach on Sunday, do we compromise our values for sunburn and regret.  Ok, maybe I should just bail now.
My thoughts keep jumping all over and I know this post is a little random, I'm not sure how to gather and calm myself.

Sag

Sag today for Temple to Temple (Redlands to Newport).  Wedding reception this afternoon, ride?

Open Water Swim

After meeting up with Brian in Irvine for breakfast this morning Craig and I went out to Lake Perris to do some open water swimming.  The water was warm just two weeks ago, today it was cold.  I did not want to swim, it started out to be hard mentally to get myself in the water, in a positive mind set and get going.  Once I did I actually enjoyed the water, I am still scared but I'm getting closer.  Closer to what I'm not sure, a finish, yes a finish!

Bib Number

2732

Making Friends

I had a nice weekend in Arizona, even if it was just a quickie up on Friday back on Saturday trip.  The boys decided not to go so it was a short chance to catch up with my husband for a few minutes.  The purpose  of the trip was to get in 112 miles on the bike.  I planned to ride the whole course, but ended up modifying somewhat.  We rode out from Tempe Town Lake, did four loops on the Beeline and rode back, total miles 103.  The reason for the modification was my fear of traffic.  To ride the exact course you would ride 3 loops, each with considerable traffic and lights going out of Tempe 7.7 miles and back in, 7.7 miles.  My first out loop was a discouraging average of 13.something, what the heck, it was 15 last June.  I made up for it on the way back in and managed to ride much stronger for the next three loops, bringing my average up to l6.2.   I was very happy with that.  My whole mantra was "making friends with the Beeline, Beeline you are a friend of mine"  I think we succeeded, now if I can  just make nice with the gods of wind and all things weather!
As we were about to leave I met two BT ladies, AZSunshine and LeahDD, how fun, as my friend Judy would say, it was Serendipity!  Nice to meet you ladies, see you soon, and good luck with the last four weeks of training!  I think I would much prefer real friends to making friends with a road!

Makin' a Beeline

   Woohoo! Going to Arizona tomorrow, gonna ride the Beeline on Saturday.

Big Rock Triathlon Race Report

First in my age group!

(by now you know not to ask how many were in my age group)

Well I think they posted the results right after I finished my last post.  My swim was really 15:19, I know that is slow to a lot of people but I am really, really happy with it.  The water was warm, no panic and the wetsuit was good.  My biggest problem was swimming off course, I consistently veered left inside the buoy line.  T1 was embarrassing, 9:14, so I had a little tea party in T1, actually I fiddled around with my helmet and then took it off to put on a jersey, which was hard to get on at the last minute.  I didn't really need the jersey, but, well, lessons learned, hurry up in T1.  

Bike was 47:43 which put me just over 15 mph, I had hoped to average 16 or 17 but I was strong on the two hills, one of the few places I could actually pass people.  Thanks to living in Redlands you have no choice but to ride hills.  According to my Garmin on the flats I was about 17, maybe less since my average wasn't so good, but still I'm ok with it.

T2  2:26 ok another T time that could be better..........

Run  I'm not a strong runner just not, but I got 11:39 average with a little walking getting my legs back after the bike. So I'm happy again.

All in all for me it was a good day, it was cool and overcast which is always helpful.  The race is well organized, plenty of volunteers,  law enforcement support on the bike (I never had to stop).

The swim course is a long rectangle, buoys on the left, yay, great for left sided breathers like me.  Well maybe that wasn't so helpful, my sighting is lousy!  The bike has two hills coming out of the park, and then coming back in, other than that it is fast.  The run is along a sidewalk in the park, nothing really to comment on.  I would definitely do this race again, fun morning with hamburgers and hotdogs after.

Big Rock Tri-Fake Race Report

Well I have failed at Garmin school again!  Despite intense coaching and practice last night (I was sure I had it mastered) I messed up the Garmin again.  I would like to write my race report but I don't have the stats yet.  Mine weren't posted when I left and the timing company/event organizer haven't put them up yet.  I am anxious to see them because as always my swim wasn't great, I came out of the water and the clock said 24 and some odd seconds.  I was completely unhappy about that until Craig reminded me that if my wave started on time it was 9 minutes after the first wave.   OHHHH, now I really don't believe I had a 15 minute swim but I can't wait to find out.  More later when the results are posted.

Big Rock Tomorrow

Big Rock tomorrow, I won the entry and got a registration conf for the oly, it was supposed to be sprint, I emailed the race director and he said he would change it, hope so. I know, I know I should do the oly but being DFL just isn't so good for my mental psyche right now.  Yeah, yeah, I know it doesn't make sense, but it's me.  Now I gotta a 60 mile ride I'm out the door to do.

First run this morning since St. George, felt good, the rest of my runs are all in 7-8 mile range, I decided I can't do those on the treadmill. I used Craig's headlamp this morning, left at 5:00 it worked out pretty well, especially since the weather is still on the warm side, early mornings are cool but not cold.  100 miles on my bike tomorrow--I've gotta get the mental going here, I can do this, I want to do this, I'll keep saying it.  My new  running mantra is "relax, smooth, enjoy--don't think"  Kev added the don't think part, I had to use it in St. George.  He said it takes too much energy to think, so just zone out.  For me especially thinking is not good, I am just too hormonally challenged along with all the emotional part of feeling physically challenged and scared, so  DON"T THINK really helps otherwise I would be crying all over the place.

Compression Sleeves and Snake Oil

Promises, promises, first of all I got a pair of compression sleeves (for your calves, not arms). They promised improved recovery and 12 minutes off your marathon time. 12 minutes! For me that is a whole mile, how could I resist.  You are never supposed to do anything new on race day, but since I bought the sleeves the night before we left, well...they got a true test by fire.

Results:  Fabulous, I cannot sing the praises of compression sleeves enough, they worked and then some.  I lopped 45 minutes off my last St. George time, granted I was better trained and last time was pouring rain, but this year was hot, so all things not being equal this was a $40 well spent.

The St. George Marathon Expo is a wonderland of fun booths. I purchased "The Stick", a very popular massage stick that I promised I would get Kyle and Brad.  I have to admit that we all tested it before we brought it home and it almost got sneaked into Kevin's car.  He did his best to take The Stick home with him, but I managed to wrest it away from him and take it home to Kyle and Brad, if anyone gets Kevin's name for Christmas...there you go, please get him The Stick.

And this purchase at the marathon expo I call my "snake oil purchase".  This is a rubber band type bracelet with a hologram of pure energy.  You wear this and you will have tons of energy, balance, run faster, recover better, you name it, it will happen to you if you simply wear this bracelet.  Being a fine jewelry person this was just up my alley, you know rubber sports watches, rubber bracelets they're just me and besides it was within my jewelry budget allowance for the year.  Well if the compression sleeves gave me 12 minutes that means that the Pure Energy must have given me, are you ready for this--a whopping 33 minutes.  WooHoo, can I be a spokesperson.

St. George Marathon

Finished in 5:09 (that is fast for me) smashed my old PR, very happy day. Maybe Ironman training is paying off. Craig was his usual fantastic sherpa self and ran the whole way with me since he doesn't have to qualify for Boston this year. Thanks!!

Woo Hoo PR for Kev today too, 3:24, so proud of you son!

Too Much for Me!

Hocus Pocus
Very few people except for Craig and the kids know that I am training to do an Ironman. I am semi-unsure, no, make that totally unsure of my abilities. I would rather not be confronted with well meaning inquiries on how the race went and have to explain failure. Not even my friend Jenn knows. Jenn and I had planned to do a pool sprint tri this weekend, it would be her first and I said I would love to do it with her and she could come stay at our house the night before as it is a shorter drive than from Malibu. Unfortunately Jenn has to go to Texas this weekend for the UCLA game. But there's no stopping Jenn, tomorrow morning she has her own personal tri mapped out. We were discussing it this morning, I am her support crew, back-up man, go-to person if there are any problems (which I am fairly certain there won't be). Hocus Pocus overheard us discussing it, after Jenn left she said:
"So how'd you do in the race?"
Me: "Oh I didn't race, we were talking about Jenn's race tomorrow."
Hocus Pocus: "Well I knew you biked, but all that swimming, running and walking has got to be just too much for you!"
Not long ago I was told I was too old for the outdoors, now a sprint tri is too much for me, and I think I'm going to be doing an Ironman in 81/2 weeks? Hand me the remote and the Oreos, I give up.

TMI

Let me just begin by warning, this post may be TMI, but it's my training blog and you don't have to read it if you don't want to. If you read triathlon boards you will always see posts from men complaining about their saddles and their quest for the perfect saddle to accommodate their junk. The quest for a perfect saddle is endless, until....you find and break in that perfect saddle; whether you're really breaking in the saddle or your sit bones or other, I'm not sure. Lately I have been forgoing my long rides in order to get in my run training for the St. George Marathon, (I know I will pay dearly for this later!) But this week was a recovery week, with no long rides and my long run was only 12 miles. It seemed like Saturday morning would be a great day just to get a nice leisurely, ride in.

Not even five minutes into the ride I protested, well, rather my she-junk protested. I Chamois Buttered like crazy to no avail. I am hating my saddle, and therefore hating riding, I cannot imagine getting my post marathon 100+ mile rides done. This has actually been bothering me for some time and I have suffered through, but I can't suffer through the ramp up, no matter how hard I try, it's not gonna work.

Craig put my stock saddle back on the bike after carefully measuring my current setup. No--that didn't do it either. Then I remembered when I did my Arizona ride I didn't have any problems and it was right after that SBR did some seat tweaking, pushing the saddle all the way forward. Yeah...come to think about it, I have never been comfortable since. So we started experimenting, slowly pushing the seat back, hmm better, more, lots more, no....back forward. Voila, hit a point where not only was the seat feeling good but the pedal stroke felt a lot better too. I wasn't expecting that too.

Craig rode home, picked up my TriStryke saddle and we decided to put it back on. Wow! What a difference. I will let you know what I think after my 95 miler next weekend. Oh...you really don't want to know---ok, just don't read.

OWS

I had a really good run this morning, I did 12 miles, next week is 8, I'm tapering for the St. George Marathon, gotta love those tapers! After running Craig and I went out to Lake Perris and I got an open water swim in my new wetsuit. Wetsuit is good, makes my butt float more than the old one, heaven knows we need floaty butts. We were swimming in the swim area but there were no lifeguards, three guys run out and dive in. One starts calling to Craig and I to help him, he was struggling. There is no way we are strong enough to pull someone struggling in, but we start towards him talking and talking, trying to keep him calm. We finally got him to flip over on his back, fortunately we were not that far out and we were able to get him to the point where he could stand up. Whew, that was kinda scary.

When I am an old woman I shall.....

Wear purple with a red hat....Naw...when I am an old woman I shall ride my bike:
Now some may argue I am already an old woman; point well taken. In fact I have even been told that I am too old for the outdoors. I will choose to laugh rather than respond, heaven forbid my inhibitory neuron misfire.

Today I had a really good ride, lately it seems all my rides have just been slogging it out, but today it all came together and it was a good ride. It was the kind of ride that leaves you smiling and energized and happy with your accomplishment for those few hours. To make the day even better I actually made it to the Saturday yoga class, I haven't been in so long I didn't know the instructor was a sub, but she was great.

20 Mile Long Run Today

Yep, I did my run, felt pretty good, came home sneezing, Craig and Brad's cold finally caught me, not so fun.

Triathlon Fourth Event

Many people talk of triathlon's fourth event. To some it is strength training, or transitions, nutrition, or juggling calendars. So what is my fourth event.............it is the event I have the most experience in. It is Laundry. I am the champion of all laundry, as only a mother of six children can be. Except now it is me generating an outrageous volume of work for the washing machine and the dryer.

Each day there is morning workout clothes, swim and run, or bike, evening workout clothes, any combination of the above, plus throw in yoga clothes and sorting paraphernalia, gloves, helmets, multiple pairs of socks, sunglasses, goggles, swim caps, and water bottles. There are the I'm home from work out, clean the house clothes, oh, now lets clean up a little and go get groceries and do errands clothes, hmm...Craig thinks a movie would be nice tonight, I guess a pair of clean jeans and a tee would be a good idea. I think I'm up to at least 7 or 8 clothing changes, maybe more in a single day, geesh, I guess I make up for not having a houseful of girls.

Do You Have an Appointment?

Today was a 70 mile ride on my training plan, I only got about 48 done, it was blazing hot and I double flatted. I know I need to learn how to get my rear wheel on and off, it is not as easy as my road bike. I had a rear flat about 40 miles in, luckily I was just a few big blocks past Redlands Cyclery, I quickly debated my options, Craig is out of town so I can't call him, I can call a friend, I can call Kyle and drag him out of school or I can change it myself. I decide that if I attempt to change it myself, with my luck I'll get the wheel off and never be able to get it back on. Suddenly I remember, Oh yeah, I'm not that far from my LBS, where I'm well known, I'm in there way too often with the boys. I walk back, head to the repair section and handy mechanic asks what my problem is, I explain I just flatted, have you got a few minutes to fix it for me? "Do you have an appointment?" What----do I look like I have an appointment? Did I call you last night and line up an appointment in case I flatted on my ride? I say no....... and I could fix it myself if it was my road bike but I really struggle with the derailleur on my tri bike. So apparently I'm not so well known in there as I think I am. About then someone who knows me walks by says hi, he almost didn't recognize me in kit and now handy mechanic is nicer to me. Maybe it was just my imagination, maybe he was trying to be funny, I don't know, but he fixes my tube and informs me my front is also flat....good thing I walked back there since I only had one tube with me. Anyway I really am appreciative that he fixed my tires for me, that I wasn't very far from the store when it happened and that I remembered to stick my ATM card in my pocket that morning (only because I wanted to buy cinnamon bears and water at Circle K.)

Tomorrow 13 mile run and 3 hour swim clinic, not so looking forward to the swim clinic.

Story Problem

If an elderly, small female does an 18 mile run, burning approximately 1800 calories and gains 1.2 pounds, how many cinnamon bears must this small elderly woman have eaten on her run?

Road bike vs. Tri bike

This is my road bike. It is a Trek 2200. I've had this beautiful bike since 2004 and have puts thousands and thousand of miles on it. In short, I love this bike, it is comfortable, it fits me and together we have solved many problems. When I signed up for IMAZ I initially thought I would just throw a set of aero bars on my bike and we would be good to go. Kev said, no, no way, so I got fit for a tri bike and this is what Craig surprised me with for Christmas (I would have spent much less).

This is a Felt B2R, as I said I've had it since Christmas. When I first started riding it I was having "issues". I just didn't love it, which led to guilt because let me just say this was an expensive puppy for my level of ability. But it is now August and we have begun to adjust to each other. Since my crash my Felt has been in the shop longer than expected, so I've been back on my road bike, including several 50+ mile rides. Thursday I got my Felt back, I rode yesterday and today. Wow! That's all I can say. I love my Felt. It is definitely true about the way your legs feel, the road bike hammers my quads much more than the tri bike. The Felt is fast, and wants me to ride it even faster, the road bike just wants to go on a picnic. Let's be fair here, the road bike is older and aluminum, the tri bike is carbon and top of the line components. I am still not the best at holding aero but thanks to Kev for telling me no way on the road bike for IMAZ.

Back in the Pool

I am healing well, road rash is unremarkable. I was back in the pool for the first time Monday. I was totally creeped out at the pool. I think I'm going to start using Highland's pool as much as possible. Their pool is right in front of the building, it has glass all the way around the front and across from the reception desk. Not as scary. Today: eight mile run, one hour in the pool.

Gutter Water Crash

30 mile ride today, crashed turning in the gutter water right before home. A little road rash, bruises, broken shifter and cracked helmet. It could have been worse! Great excuse not to do my swim. My bike is in the shop til Wednesday, I got a new helmet with a little pink on it. There was a very cool gray, black and red one but we all know what would happen if I bought that one!

Tempe Town Lake--OH NO!!!!

Oh no, Oh no, the dam at Tempe Town Lake burst, there is no more lake as of this moment. Big promises to have it repaired in time for IMAZ. I have a love/hate relationship with swimming, and I am scared like crazy to do this swim, to get kicked, poked, jabbed, swam over and spit out. Or maybe I'm just more scared about not making the cut-off time. I would gladly skip the swim......or so I thought. But an Ironman is an Ironman, and an Ironman is not an Ironman without a swim, call it a du or whatever, I don't want to be an Irondu, I want to earn the title Ironman. Please Tempe, fix your lake.

What Training Partners Do.....

And

I told Craig I would never do another Ironman (after this) unless.......unless I don't finish. If I don't finish this I will be in line on Monday morning to register for attempt #2, and I will be in that line with him by my side to register as my sherpa. That didn't go over very well since he has already done his one and only Ironman (see race report) he won't even consider doing an "easy" Ironman like Arizona. Nor, (sadly) will he consider being my sherpa. But what he will do is just about anything he can to help me now. I'm down to my last 16 weeks of training and have already checked out on cooking dinner and pretty much laundry too, he's picking up the slack without complaint. Every night he asks me what time to set the alarm for and sets his alarm (so I can't roll over and turn it off) and gets up to do whatever it is that is on my training plan with me. This morning it was three miles of swimming--no I didn't do three miles, my training plan thinks I can do that in 1hr 15 minutes, but I did swim the whole time. When we got to LA Fitness the lanes were full (left to my own devices I would have just gone home), so instead we drove over to Highland--nice club BTW and swam. Craig left a little early went and bought diet coke and peanut butter since we were out of my training staples and came back to get me. That's what training partners (who don't want to be sherpas) do.

Good ride this morning!

Now I am just waiting for water aerobics to be over so I can go swim, have I ever ranted on here about water aerobics. I hate water aerobics, note: not the cute ladies who do water aerobics, or the workout, it's dang hard, I hate water aerobics cause they take the whole pool, couldn't they just save one lane for lap swimmers?

Swim done--good day, if I swim as well as I did today I will make the cut-off!