From 10 months out to 3 months out...

When I signed up for Ironman Louisville Part Deux, the event was 10 months away. Now here we are 3 months and 1 week away!

Next weekend's Kansas City Triathon (Olympic distance) is my first race of the season since I decided to skip out on the 3 hour roundtrip drive for 30 mph winds in Emporia. It feels so late for a first race.

I'm already ramped up to 5 hour bricks (bike + run where your legs feel like bricks) so I'm pretty sure that I'm ready for the Olympic distance ;). Then Kansas 70.3 (half Ironman) is a fast 3 weeks after that. I have to admit that I'm nervous about that because I phoned in the two 70.3's that I did in 2011. Being unprepared for those distances did not make for a pleasant day. I just want to do something more respectable to and for myself this year at KS.

Really, anything has to be better than last year...including my epic KS swim that I made it through after being swept across the course back to the first buoy line. It wasn't 2012 Ironman St George epic though...perspective! http://iamtri.com/group/ironmanstgeorge2012

Reading the St George race reports got me to thinking about character, preparation, and dealing with obstacles and challenges. I need to be ready for the tough stuff.

I have been participating in triathlons since 2000, and sometimes have days where I don't feel very tough. Like last weekend where I felt claustrophobically constricted in my wetsuit during my first open water swim this year. I felt so weak like I had no pull because of how my shoulders felt in the sleeves. I'd rather be a little chilly than feel that way. After the swim, we were biking the KS 70.3 course. My calves had been tight that week and that impacted my feet during the ride. The bottom of my foot was killing me more and more during the ride...it felt really tender. I literally wanted to cry and was worried about what the deal was. Thankfully after resting a couple of days, foam rolling my muscles (could feel a calve muscle knotted like a cord), and icing it...it feels normal again! 

Everyone is different but here are my words of advice as a novice Ironman finisher. If you want to sign up for an Ironman keep your year simple. It helps for attempting to stay healthy, avoid burnout, and lower the risk of getting injured. When I do Ironman, it is all about Ironman and I'm 100% invested emotionally, financially, and time-wise. Sometimes I miss out on some things that could be fun, but my ONLY goals are to get to that Ironman start line healthy and in one piece, and then to complete it healthy and in one piece. That's it. Everything else is preparation for it or nothing else. For me it is all about singular focus.

Regarding nutrition, I'm working with my friend Aaron and have learned a lot. It is nice to be able to bounce that stuff off of him because who else wants to talk about calories, sodium, and ounces per hour all the time? I was so random and clueless about my nutrition in the past. I've learned a lot about sodium and endurance events. "Studies have shown that ultra-endurance athletes can lose 1-2 grams of salt per liter of sweat. If you consider that athletes may lose up to a liter (or more) of sweat each hour, you can see that over a long endurance event (12 hour race), it is not unimaginable that an athlete could sweat out a huge amount of sodium. Replacing this loss of sodium during the event is critical to performance and safety.

Symptoms of Hyponatremia

The early warning signs are often subtle and may be similar to dehydration; nausea, muscle cramps, disorientation, slurred speech, confusion, and inappropriate behavior. At this point, many athletes get into trouble by drinking water because they think they are dehydrated. In fact, water alone will increase the problem of hyponatremia. At the most extreme an athlete may experience seizures, coma, or death." 

Yikes!

After my last two long runs, I'm needing to listen to Aaron more about implementing a different plan for the run. Running out of gas during long workouts is not fun. And you have to find that perfect balance of getting sufficient calories and hydration in without eating and drinking TOO much. I've made a lot of progress but still have work to do and every long workout is nutrition practice too.

So that is where I am 3 months out from Ironman! And hopefully I'll have a decent race report next weekend!

IMKY here we go again!!!

It's on again! I will be training and competing in Ironman Louisville in 2012!!!

"But Amy, you said you would never do an Ironman and then you said you'd never do another one again!"

True, but I changed my mind. Never say never! If you really don't want to do another one...definitely don't go to your friends' Ironman races and spend hours watching people attain the glory of the finish line!

Feeling bored and wanting another epic challenge with personal improvement, I took the plunge. With other KC friends doing the race, I won't be alone. And I have to say, I'm excited about the challenge.

I have re-mixed my Ironman Video to honor my first Ironman experience and to celebrate a new adventure!!!

1st Annual Kade Meyer Celebration 5K/10K

Here's something you haven't seen from me in awhile...a 5K race report. These days I use them as time trials to assess my fitness or lack thereof! You see where you are, then plug your numbers in to determine training paces a la http://www.mcmillanrunning.com/mcmillanrunningcalculator.htm. All in all, considering I have been goofing off the last 6 weeks and not doing any speed work...I'm really happy with how I felt this morning. I averaged about 8:08 per mile.

Most importantly, I would highly recommend this 5K or 10K. It was held at Celebration Park in Gardner and is a fantastic course. The race celebrates the memory of Kade Meyer ~ in September 2010, this wonderful little boy that I never met was killed by a car outside of his Elementary school in Gardner. There was a strong show of support for Kade by the participants, and it was great that they were out there on this beautiful morning doing something healthy and getting their bodies moving.

This story illustrates the grace and strength of his family, friends, and others that carry on without him. It's not just about carrying on, it is also *how* you carry on. It's also about having the support of family and friends (and they are grieving too). There are choices in life, and so often you see people that do not or cannot cope with difficulty and the toll that can take. It can be debilitating or self-injuring (there are examples of this all the time on shows like Hoarders or Biggest Loser). Of course there are natural stages of emotion that people go through after a loss and feelings that continue on, but there is also a choice to make: are you going to curl up in a ball and hide and not live, or do you fight to regain some new and healthy sense of normalcy and live the best that you can?

When there is nothing you can do to change the circumstances that life hands you, you have to reach down deep and be strong. How do you acquire the life skills to be strong? It's always easier said than done. And you wish that people didn't have to have their character tested like that. But it happens. I am thankful for people that dig deep, find the grace to be as strong as they can and live the best that they can under the circumstances. As someone standing on the outside looking in, I can say a prayer for them and let them know that they are not alone, and that they are setting an example of grace that others can learn from.

You can read more about the story at http://www.kademeyer.com/.

Boulder 70.3

After participating in KS 70.3 four times, it was time for a getaway! After checking out the website and pictures (http://ironmanboulder.com/), I selected Boulder 70.3. And as it turns out, two other friends would join in, which made it a lot more fun!

My 2011 KS 70.3 race was pretty hideous...from the choppy, wavy swim to backaches on the bike from a mis-fitted seat to the mess of a run, I wasn't feeling the love and had lost my mojo. Just burned out and was over the longer distance training and races. After KS, I decided to focus just on one thing and put some

effort into biking. After weeks of 100+ temperatures, I did some swimming too but not much running. And those levels of effort ended up playing out according to exactly how much I put into each sport. Shocking right?

The good news is that I was in a more happy place this time, and Boulder is certainly gorgeous. I drove out Friday and arrived shortly before 4pm and went to pick up my packet. The venue was outstanding...really good setup. Parking was convenient, there was ample transition space near the beach. Good stuff. As usual I spent too much money at the Ironman store and got a deep discount on the Boulder 70.3 shirt because they accidentally put last year's participant names on the back...whoops! A mere two hours later, Katrina reported that all the shirts were GONE. But not because they sold out...they took them off the floor. I'm not sure why they would do that, won't they lose money regardless? Maybe they thought that was better than having to explain the mistake to 2,000+ people.

I went to check in at the hotel...Katrina made an awesome choice. We were at the Residence Inn which was 4 miles from the race site! And a mile from Whole Foods. We were SET!

On Saturday Katrina and I drove the bike course (http://ironmanboulder.com/course/bike/). It is kind of hilarious to see the profile of the course, because of the squished miles scale it looks like you are biking up a giant mountain and back down. Which could be conceivable in CO right? In reality, it is about 3 miles on the first part of the loop at a 2% grade. Then another 6 miles of 1% upslope, aka false flat. If you look at my mapmyride fullscreen, you can see the profile image is a lot more gentle/realistic: http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/fullscreen/45362870/

After that, we went to the race meeting and they announced that Andy Potts was going to be at the Power Bar tent. So we booked it over there and were the first ones. He just walks up and we got to chat with him. He said he trains 30 hours a week, talked about his family, etc. I made some comment about needing to train more/swimming yadda yadda and he asked if I visualized swimming. I said yes, and he joked "you need to actually swim". So true :) He seems like a very down to earth guy and family-oriented. It is fun that he takes the time to meet people. Andy was the first out of the water but then wasn't feeling well after the bike and unfortunately DNF. I could understand how he felt after my race!!!

Race day comes and I was pretty excited, but nervous. The half ironman is still a significant effort. Katrina and I got rockstar parking on the 2nd row and made our way to transition. Unlike KS 70.3, you don't have to leave your bike there overnight. It wasn't that bad getting everyone in there, if you get there early! We got our spots in order and made our way down to the water. It looked calm!!! We met up with Lindsey and waited for our heats.

Once again, the 35-39 men would be right behind my heat. Oh well. I decided to swim WAY out on the outside. They had configured the course to go clockwise from the left side of the beach to finish on the right side in order to avoid having us swimming directly into the sun for a whole segment of the swim. We were only into it for part of one turn, which was still really tough but way better than the alternative. I may have been way too far to the outside, but the beautiful thing was...no one else was there and I had all that water to myself. It was so relaxing and I felt really smooth in the calm water. Every breath, I could see the mountains in the background. Was still thinking about our troops shot down in Afghanistan. I was happy and sad and mad at the same time.

Not really sure how much time it added, but at the first turn I had to swim way back over to the turn. Ooops. But at the next turn, I could see tons of the 35-39 men coming through and I was happy they weren't swimming over me. Really happy.

All in all "okay" but was way off what I was shooting for (low to mid 40's): 48:15

I head out on the bike feeling okay. The first few miles were slow and relaxed and then around mile 9, I let it rip...it's downhill and virtually flat for the the rest of the 28 mile loop. Then repeat. The scenery was absolutely beautiful. I was feeling the love. By the second lap, I was tired and it was getting a little more windy. Getting back into the park was scary because there was a huge line of cars trying to get in and only a tiny bit of space for the bikes...and some fast guys were wanting to pass. Scary.

Bike personal best!!!! 3:00:49 (~18.6 mph)

Getting off the bike, I had not yet seen any of the run course. I was going to have to just tough that out, because I knew that I wasn't prepared to "rock it". I did not realize that the entire course was going to be gravel/rocks. It was not easy to run on and actually was pretty uncomfortable. Unless you have tough feet, you don't want to wear flimsy shoes on that. The first lap I tried to go conservative and felt okay. If the race would have stopped after a 10k, I would have been golden. I think the lack of being prepared + the altitude, heat, surface, and long distance burnout just got me.

I will be honest...I wanted to care and try hard, but I just didn't and couldn't. I was done mentally AND physically and walked 90% of the second lap. Lindsey came by and was not feeling the run love either, but she hung in there longer than I did! I wanted to run and get it done but didn't. Was I disappointed in myself...oh a little bit. But frankly, I was thinking about the guys that were killed in Afghanistan and their families, & was feeling sad. Nothing else seemed as important.

I crossed the line and at that point felt totally fried...in all likelihood dehydrated despite drinking and drinking and drinking. It was hot. I felt terrible. Katrina was at the finish line and her foot injury had taken a beating on the gravel, so she smartly called off her second lap. It was great to see a friendly face at the finish, because I felt TERRIBLE! The kind of terrible that only throwing up could fix. Sounds fun right? No worries, because now I'm finished with 70.3's for the foreseeable future!!!!

Had a great time in Boulder and hanging out with two of the coolest women I know (that is you Katrina and Lindsey!). I am glad that I did it. Now it is time to adjust to post Ironman and 70.3 life!

Mojo

Austin Powers: So I started to work my mojo, to counter their mojo; we got cross-mojulation, and their heads started exploding.

Dr. Evil: Mojo: The libido. The life force. The essence. The right stuff. What the French call a certain... I don't know what.

Jerry Springer on Austin Powers: You know, what have we learned here today? Perhaps it's that no one can take your mojo. You can look around all you want, but what you're really trying to find is on the inside. Take care of yourself, and each other.

Austin Powers: I've lost my mojo.

I think I got my triathlon mojo back! We'll soon see, as I will be doing my "last" Half Ironman for awhile. It's time to mix things up, all this long distance stuff is hard work. Not that there is anything wrong with hard work, but it's time for fun and something different. How long have I been saying that I want to try some other things but I never get around to it because I'm doing long swim/bike/runs all the time??? A long time...4 years. I want to crank out some shorter races and focus on power again...and maybe some speed! Relatively speaking of course.

So going into this last 70.3, I'm actually stronger on the bike than I have been in a long time thanks to some group training rides. I'm feeling "okay" about my swim. My running not sure...it might be "okay" as well. I guess we'll find out!

KS 70.3 was possibly my worst race ever, and it's time to celebrate and have some joy & fun. After KS, there is nowhere to go but up right?

Paleo Pear Pie

I have quite a few friends that adhere to the Paleo Diet For Athletes (http://www.trainingbible.com/pdf/Paleo_for_Athletes_Cliff_Notes.pdf). I do not follow it strictly (I like Greek yogurt!!!) but work on incorporating as much of it as I can as often as I can. Being involved in triathlon, I have to fuel wisely while also balancing trying to enjoy life (and great food...and pizza).

One thing that I know is that I love desserts, and maybe I could find some that are a bit better than others. Enter tonight's experiment: Paleo Pear Pie.

Crust: Blend together via processor

1/4 cup almond flour (160 calories: 14 g Fat, 6 g carbs [1 g sugar], 6 g protein)

4 medjool dates

Filling:

1 pear chopped (100 calories: 26 g carbs [16 g sugar])

1/2 cup pecans (377 calories: 39 g fat, 7 g carbs [2 g sugar], 5 g protein)

2 tbsp Agave nectar (120 calories: 16 g carbs [15 g sugar]) the less you can use, the better.

Total for entire recipe: 757 calories (53 g fat, 61 g carbs [34 g sugar], 11 g protein.

Now, of course you have to divide that into more manageable portions :)

Two would be pretty large sized and 378 calories each. Three portions would be more ideal...only 252 calories and a lot of flavor. Notice that this isn't low fat, but you have to have some...and this source is nuts so that is a better fat than others.

Swimming!

After my abnormal, horrific, panic-filled, epic KS 70.3 swim (24 minutes slower than my goal time and much time spent hanging on to boats in the choppy / 35-39 male infested waters)...I really want to redeem myself and get that swim PR at Boulder 70.3.

So tonight I had one of the best swims maybe ever! Over the last few months, Kathy Boyd helped me with my high elbow/body roll, arm position, and hand entry. I had to figure out what to tackle next!

Over the weekend I was checking out swimsmooth.com and got ideas to try some new things with my catch and pull. It immediately felt different and like I was pushing more water than ever before. It felt as though I was moving through the water more efficiently and faster. It immediately took seconds off my 50/100 times without expending any more effort than usual. Towards the end I got a bit tired, but still felt decent.

I will continue to work on this...I've really grown to love swimming over the last couple of years but I really want to make a breakthrough and get faster now.