6 dayz later, a little perspective on nyc and the marathon from heck

It's easy to look back at something with a little perspective, but you know what? That perspective came right at the end of the 5 hour and 11 minute journey just about a week ago, and nothing has changed since. It was it was. You can't return and change things, and, as slow as my adventure was, it was still an amazing day. Every minute of it,and yep, i think I'll return again in 2011.

Actually, of the whole 7 day adventure, the only hiccup, the only black spot, was the roommate from hell. Yep, now i know better. Next time no roommate. But who knew? When the organizer of our tour group suggested it was a way to save a little money, I'd hoped for a tall Swedish blond, or even a short Swedish blond, but the snoring coke chugging roommate from hell? The behemoth almost derailed what was to be an amazing time. Yep i did consider bailing, and getting a good sleep instead, and just enjoy the trip to NYC. But one of the huge disadvantages of doing this race with a tour group, is that you can't re-enter for the next year and automatically get in. Everyone else, can and would, tour group people, not! No sleep for the two nights before the marathon began to put a bit of damper on things, . It meant that i missed the friendship run with Lance Armstrong (while everyone else,even my roommate ran, i slept!), and i did drag my ass around 1st and 5Th aves during the race (okay, i did try and sprint through the Bronx...i mean yech!) the whole thing was amazing. The start, the finish, Queens, Brooklyn, Harlem (the music and the bands on the course were worthy of a stop and a listen!) and that start, wow!

Yep, i was hurtin'. I have to say i wasn't really trained (my longest run this past year, was maybe 16 miles)....but man, when Frankie started singing new york new york as my wave started up towards the verrazano narrows bridge i shed at least a little tear, i was seriously choked up. I mean wow, watching the 1st wave, including the pro men, head out over that bridge ahead was a wow and a holy shit moment! i was really there, and i was really doing it...it was definitely a watershed moment, or a Kodak moment (yep, i wished i had a camera..again wow!)

The organization at the start was amazing. Amassing some 40,000 runners seems a daunting task. there was plenty of food around as we waiting for the start (Gatorade, bagels, coffee, tea, and hot water) it was a little chilly, but began to warm up quickly, porta potties everywhere, and some short lineups, but nothing deeper the 2 or 3 people. I've done a lot of races, and nothing matches this one for being easy to do. as runners, we just needed to do what we came to do, everything else was looked after for us, no fuss, no muss, nothing. Right from riding that bus from the front of the new york public library (yep, that one from ghost busters) to Staten island, from the moment we got on that bus, we were in the hands of the volunteers, and we were all treated like pros. directed to our corrals on the island at fort Wadsworth...funneled through the fences to our start (i was lucky, 2nd wave, so as advertised i started at exactly at 10AM right on time!) It be kind of cool to volunteer some day at this race to see it from the other side. All the volunteers all over the course, all day long, were all amazing. Other races should look at this organization for lessons on how it's supposed to be done.

And man, that 1st run across the 1st bridge was, fantastic. i tried to hold back, and i did. i just kept picking people to pace with. A Cops For Cancer guy spotted me and my Ironman Canada cap, and tried to go with him which was cool - the one other Edmonton person in the race that i knew as a friend of a friend, how's that work- and i had planned to use my garmin's 11 minute alarm to try and stick as close to a walk run, or at least as a run slower signal, but you know what? the crowds were so loud i couldn't hear nothin'!.....people stacked up, on both sides of the streets, everywhere. Cheering everywhere, just kinda pushed me along.

Brooklyn was a great place to begin.. People, people, everywhere, and every block or 2, music everywhere. mostly cover bands, a few solo folks on guitars or keyboards that i don't think were part of the official party, but added to the whole atmosphere, and kids, kids, everywhere, all wanting hi 5s...h1n1 be dammed! And as most of the race followed straight lines, you could see how many masses of people were up ahead, and if you took the chance to look back, how many were behind! the numbers just seemed staggering.

i couldn't believe how quickly Queens came on. it seemed like we crossed a short bridge, and there it was, welcome to Queens! and if possible, it was louder even then Brooklyn The coolest part was Williamsburg. I had heard/read that this might be the quietest part of the run, being the Jewish enclave of NYC, and it was to a certain extent, the males in their traditional dress, and women as well for the most part ignored us, but their kids seemed pretty involved, and they wanted to be as well. More then a few of them were out, standing near the roads on the sidewalk, a couple of them handing their own candy out to the runners, and we ran past one school full of school kids (Sunday for them is a day of work/school) and i think they thought my pinkish hair was, um different, Also there was at least one band playing in the area, just as were about to cross over the Williamsburg bridge.

i was still feeling pretty good here. i was making sure to hit every aid station for Gatorade, and popped at least one electrolyte cap in at every one, and man i was tired/exhausted ( i could have layed down by the side of the road and fallen asleep any time) but the crowds, the massive amount of other runners, and it was just fun! so much fun, you just had to have a smile plastered on your face, and then came the 59th street bridge.

here, things began to start to fall apart a bit. i finally took my first walk break, at between mile 15 and 16 - maybe i shouldn't have -because once i did, i had a hard time getting the body moving again. i had hit the half way point (about the middle of the bridge to forever) at 2:14:57, which wasn't bad, especially if i was looking for that faster 2nd half split, (but today that wasn't going to happen) but from this point on, things began to hurt, a lot. 1st one thigh, then the other, then one knee, then the other, left ankle all the time. i kept trying to keep to 10 and ones, or at least running the 1 mile distance between each aid station, and then walking at the aid stations, and sticking to 1/2 water and 1/2 Gatorade at this point,.but i was pretty much done. running north on 1st ave in Manhattan towards Harlem and the Bronx was tuff. i felt a little down on myself at this point, because the crowds here were massive. each side of the wide wide ave were filled up. 3 or 4 deep, all screaming and shouting - amazing -and i kept trying to suck it up and i did run, hobbled a bit, as much as i could, but most of the time just couldn't, and then my lower back started to ache at this point (shoes, could it be older shoes?), but again too, wow!

the less said about the Bronx, the better. know it's one of the 5 boroughs, but dam, it was like running through an industrial park, wait a minute, it was. not that many people cheering. okay at one point where a huge vid screen had been put up, there were a few, but until we crossed back outa the hood over the Madison ave bridge back into Harlem, and Manhattan island there just wasn't that many people out this was the low point of the run overall

my time was starting to slip quickly (mile 21, 4:01:31) and this is where i think i started to die. which was kind of weird, and just seemed to work out oddly, because when i ran, i ran strong, I'd pass people, I'd weave and find my spots to pass, but i could only do that for so long before my legs would cramp up and say hey bud, what the f do you think you're doing?

then, the bands started to pick up again, that's another reason that the Bronx was such a disappointment, no live music up!

the best were the school bands though out Brooklyn and queens, and the bigger groups in Harlem, wow, over and over again.

then all there was 5th ave...it took me over an hour to run between mile 21 and 26.2? how is that even possible?

Then bopping into central park was so amazing, and then seeing my insane sister screaming her head off and running at just the point where i was gonna give up and walk in, what another awesome moment! my own Canuck cheering squad, flag and all! - found out later that she'd fallen and scraped herself up a bit while trying to keep up. but thanks sis, i needed that. And that final 1/2 mile, then 800 meters, then 400 meters, and finally 200 meters to the finishing shoots wow!And yep, I choked up yet again What a feeling.

looking back i still can't believe it was a 5:11 marathon, it didn't seem that long, a lot of that i think has to do with how many runners and just people cheering there were, there was never a point to think, or moan, it was just what it was. but 4:01 at mile 21, and 5:11 at 26.2....even walking that would be slow, so i don't know, don't care, why? because it was all fun!

okay, so a week later, my right knee still hurts, my left ankle may need a brace again....I'm thinking of starting to run with my orthotics and my toes still look a bit like scrap metal (3 of them have blisters (popped blisters) under the nails, and it looks like my shoes/socks pushed my cuticles a few millimeters back from those 3 and a few others) but i feel almost recovered. my skilled massage therapist did an amazing job on my thighs and IT bands this week, I've been stretching, and yoga may be in my near future but i feel okay. Okay with the race, okay with my time in NYC and CT. it was an amazing 7 days. the Brooklyn bridge, NYU and Washington square park, the empire state, the top of the rock, the museum of modern art, and just hanging in westport, the subway, the comm trains, the people, grande central station, all of it, even the hotel (the Roosevelt)..it was all amazing (have i said that already)

it was the perfect way to end an amazing season..the great white north tri, ironman, and now this....wow....and wow again...who knows what 2010 will bring...but this has been an awesome way to welcome my 50th year....50 rules!

a run to cure...a ride to conquer?

a time to move...move on?
yesterday was the annual run for the cure here in edmonton. an amazing event. 10,000 people running or walking, just moving, with just 1 thought in mind. cancer. breast cancer, but possibly cancer in general. those with it, those fighting it, those that have had it and survived, those that haven't.
are we running scared? possibly, but probably running for hope, with tears in our eyes, and aching hearts, but with hope in our souls. the power of positive thinking, in motion.
5K...the wonder of the distance is that it's just enuff. it's enuff for a bit of fun. it's long enuff for passing people, for people to pass you, but it's also enuff to get a handle on the people running or walking. seeing the team names on the backs and the fronts of the t-shirts. what the names mean, who they are. kids from schools, friends, families of survivers, of those that have become angels, those struggling to remain among us. some that have returned to this event, some that have returned alone after having been a part of this event in times past as part of a couple, a part of a family, as a part of a circle of friends. some run hard, some giving everything they've got, some just wanting to get through, to finish. but during the run, what are we all thinking?
and when it's done...what's left. we cheer, we clap, we clap and support those still out there, we wish everyone well, but eventually the event ends, and all that's left at the square is what's left.
hope.....
about 10 months from now, the ride to conquer cancer begins. a 2 day ride through the rockies, again to raise funds, to raise hope.
this'll be my 1st ride with this group, but at this time, it just seems the right thing to do.
can we conquer cancer? i think preventing may be all we can hope for. but who knows.....but we can hope, provide hope, and believe that, what we do, will make a difference. we have to....i don't think there's a choice.

w

staying pink???

SO?

The question is, what to do with the hair?...

The pink is kind of cool and kind of different. and it's amazing how people react to it, how many understand the why part, how many people it offends, how many actually like it, how many wish they had pink hair.

there's a personal reason why it's pink, and those that know me know the why, but it is also a general reason, of course, breast cancer, and the run for the cure, specifically.

I've been registered for the run for the cure every year since 1996. there's a few years that i was just registered, but ended up missing the actual event, due to a few things....work, family issues for 2 reasons....but it's something i feel is important enuff to get me out of bed every 1st Sunday in October.

The 1st time was a bit different, it was the first organized run, fun run, that i'd ever done. it was perfect. it came at the end of a learn to run clinic at the running room, and it seemed perfect, a measured 5k, everyone in the clinic said they'd do it...sort of a graduation, a test, and hey, it could be fun!

well it was, that was in 1996...the run was held in the university area, with the start being at the butterdome, and it was an amazing 24 minutes of fun. at that time, the reason was immaterial, it was just a run. but as the event progressed, the reason, it's importance clicked, and became, um, more important.

every year, as the years have passed, it seems like every year i've more and more reasons to be involved. the race bib number has migrated 2 the back of my race shirt, and the page that lists my reasons for running has more and more reasons added to it. an aunt, one of my kid's elementary school teachers, a friend, another family member, and finally all those and more. and yep i raise money, but it just seems the right things to do, it's something to do. i don't know if the $ is actually just little more then a drop in the bucket of what is needed, but the reason seems more important. we may never solve the question this ailment presents. we may never find the reason some spot on the dna map causes this monster to appear. But, we can hope, we can give hope, we can believe in hope. we can be positive, positive that those so afflicted will have a cure, will have lives that will carry on, will bring that power of positive thinking to those that need it, those that have no choice but to believe.

so what does hair have to do with this? well, hopefully people see it and think. think about getting involved, think about those that they know, or knew, thinking about, hope.

so what do i do with it?...well, i could just keep on keeping on. let it grow, and fade...it's pretty much almost all blond now, the pink is quickly fading to the bleached stuff under neath. and my natural hair colour is beginning to reappear....dark and grey....

a few years ago, i did shave itall off. on Halloween, i braved the shave, and went bald...and dammit, it was so cold. cool, but cold. and i swore i'd never shave it in the fall or winter again...but yet again for the cause?....yep...

the run for the cure is about 3 weeks away...and i'm thinking, i want it pink for that...so.....i'm leaning towards getting it coloured yet again.....but

i have a marathon in NYC on November 1st..and yep the pink would make me stand out, but do i want to be in bad old new york city with pink hair?....

i have thought of just leaving it, and getting it cut as soon as the run for the cure is over...but, i don't know...i don't know?...but then i think, there's a reason i did this, that reason still exists.....so.....?.....i think i'm keeping it, i'm gonna probably enhance it...and then decide after the run for the cure what comes next.....the only thing that'll remain, is the reason, the hope that someday being a breast cancer survivor is what will be expected, the norm, and not what's hoped for.



w

reflection..ironman 2009 - what it was, what it is..what it will be

SO!!!!!!!

Ironman Canada 2009 was over and done with almost 4 dayz ago...4 dayz. hard to believe. it seems like another time another place. Oh wait a minute? it was. it was, it was what it was, it was a bunch of beautiful dayz, that culminated with a beautiful day, a hard day, a disappointing day, a hard to believe it was just one day, it was a hot day, it was one of the toughest dayz i've ever experienced, it was a day that beat me- this time - and it was a day i'll be back to repeat in about 360 dayz. but all in all, it was a beautiful day...with apologies to U2.

SO!!!!!!

What happened?...we'll i won't bore into the time leading up to the start of the race, other then to say every minute of every day was amazing...there were a few fawlty tower moments in our house on up the creek-side, but all in all, everything we did, steve, ted, suz, DD, pete and jan set everything up for an amazing race day. you know what? i could bitch about a couple of things (JAN QUIT SLAMMING THAT B-ROOM DOOR!)...but that would be so unlike me...the food was great (thanks u guys!), i slept well every nite...well except for the 2 nites before the race, but that was okay, it was nerves, or the wine, or something and...all the food and wine made up for everything...and all that put me in a great frame of mind, so much so that i was going into the race, on sunday morning, with absolutely no fear. what me worry?

SO!!!!

the swim, the 3800 meter swim was my biggest fear. swimming with 2500 of your closest friends is tuff enuff, but when they're all swimming towards the same place is even tuffer. i was worried about the bumps, the violence, the crush of humanity, so much so that i waited on the beach for most of the racers to take off before my face hit the water. but that seems so stupid now. as soon as i took a few strokes, i'd caught up, and then it was all about finding my spots to pass people, looking for open water, and just putting my head down and swimming.

the first 16oo or so meters to the 1st turn was very congested, but by the time i turned for home and started stroking, that final 1800 was amazing. i actually found open water and was suprised as to how calm i was. my heart rate must have been it's usual 65 to 70 bpm....also by heading out to open water i may have added a few extra meters to my swim, but i think it was worth it.....my time of about 1:21 wasn't amazing, but i was okay with it...and my 10 minute transition time was okay too. i'd heard that rushing through the swim to bike transition wasn't the best thing to do, it was better to make sure you had everything on properly, that the feet were dry and the socks were on, and that the sunscreen was liberaly applied...so i did all that, and once i was out on the bike, i felt pretty cool.

the bike was weird. i had a plan (honest), to keep my heart rate between 120 and 130 bpm, and to just to ride within myself, keep everything aerobic, and stay out of the anarobic zone. and i did that for the first part out to the bottom of richter's pass. i let people pass without giving the chase. even when ted sped by i stuck to the plan, steady the course mate!...just get it done.

well, except for the climb up to the creek road. and a few of the hills after that...i tried to hold back, but, well dammit, i just can't ride that slow going up hill.

i think that's where my downfall began (you think?) the whole point of staying aerobic was to prepare myself for richter's, those rollers, and the final climb up to yellow lake....but. well, as soon as i got to the bottom of richter's, well, even though i was in a granny gear, i just got tired of following people, and once you start passing, you have to pass, right?...and, i never had to stand up on the peddles to do so, which was strange, and weird too. i just kept spinning...i caught ted just about at the 1st summit, and then (oh my god!), jordan as well...that's when i should have realized that what i was doing was stupid...but, i'm a guy, and we're born with that stupid link in our DNA somewhere....so, even though i felt a bit sick, and i could feel my legs starting complain, i just kept it up.

the other deal with going up and down hills, is, well i found my nutrition plan to fall apart. actually it began right at the beginning of the day.

on saturday night, i'd spent the night filling up small containers with my endurolyte/electrolyte pills, and then screwed everything up. for some reason, even though i really needed the things on the bike, i'd put one container into my bike to run bag, and left one in my run special needs bag, and none with my bike, or on my bike. ...stupid, stupid, stupid....

i realized my mistake early on, and started scrambling, trying to decide on how i was going to make up for this nutritional mini-disaster.

the best thing i could come up with, was to eat and drink a little or a lot of everything else i had with me, and to drink like a fish at every aid station. so i stuffed myself with various flavors of gatorade, the 2 bottles i had on board, and whatever the aid stations had, plowed through my cut up power bar, and finished off a bottle of my perpetuem, thinking something in there should have something that would replace the electrolite stuff. but nothing seemed to be working. i was feeling a little woozy by the time i got to the out and back section of the race course, and to my bike special needs bag. what a waste that thing was. all i'd put into that special needs bag was a peanut butter and honey sandwich, and a bunch of fig newton bars...yeech!..i couldn't look at them even though, nor even eat any of it.....it just all seemed so dry, and nothing i needed. or maybe....?

the next mistake was getting off of the bike at the bottom of the climb up to yellow lake. i just felt like i needed a stretch, but as soon as i jumped (yep jumped) off of the cannondale, both my quads cramped rock hard. i could hardly stand. i acted like nothing was really wrong, and when jordie rolled by,and i think sheered me on, or challenged me, and i figured, you know what? i'd been up this hill before, i know, i know it's more about perception then reality, so why not...so up onto the bike, the legs seemed to release themselves, and up i went...and wow!..here i am, at the top of yellow lake, it's all down hill from here right?.....big deal, a few k after that, at a point that goes past a golf course, i did my norman stadler impersonation, and started blowing chunks. barfing all over my bike and my aerobottle. pretty much all the way until i reached the final aid station before the final decent, and by then i was a vomit comet.

and that by itself would have been okay...drink some water, cold cold water, and i should be okay, right?, well maybe not. on the way down, my heart rate monitor hit 300 bpm....300!?....i didn't know it could go that hi!....that's pretty much when i decided that this wasn't a day that i needed to, or could run 26.2 miles.

there were points on the way back into town, and through town when i thought, well maybe, but then i'd feel faint, see my heart bounding up yet again every time i tried to pick up the pace, and reality set in.

then, when i got to the transition area, when the volunteers couldn't find my bike to run bag, i guess someone else had grabbed it, i took that to be a sign from some higher power. i was done, and you know what, i felt fine with that, so maybe that was another sign. i knew there'd be another day, and while i sat down and drank some Gatorade and water, and saw ted head out on the run, and my cousin jillian head into the change tent, while the vounteers kept checking on me, and asking me over and over and over again if i was sure i wanted to drop out, i was fine.

i know, i've seen people who've dropped out of races really look disappointed, i've heard the stories, the tales of woe, but this seemed different. i sat on a curb, watched other racers head out on the run, and i felt okay. i walked back to our house on the hill, and reflected, and felt okay. had a shower, drank and drank and drank (water and coke you fools) and felt okay.

then going back 2 watch the finishers, watching friends finish, with other friends, was amazing. it was fun. wished i could have been out there still, but okay with not.

am i disappointed that i didn't become an ironman, yep. am i okay with how i ended the race, well, yes and no. i could have dropped out before coming back into town. there's were plenty of opportunities, there were ambulances all over the place picking up other people, i could have joined one of them, but i never even gave that a second thought. i was gonna finish that bike ride, even if it killed me. maybe if i'm really disappointed with anything, it's that i couldn't up my pace on the bike to the finish. i sort of gave up a bit too soon. a 7:08 bike is okay, but something closer to 6 hours would have been better. ...but then, well, i did give up a bit.....

but again, there's always next year, there's always another race, and yep, there's that NYC Marathon in November. also, i'm looking at the whole, the whole adventure, the training with friends, the fun i had swimming, open water swims, the rides, the places i've seen on those rides, the runs through the river valley, and all those i've crossed paths with on the way to this point. indeed it was all about the journey, not the destination. this isn't about a life, it's not a bucket list sort of thing, it's just about fun. i swim, i bike, and i run, because i enjoy it. that's it. for me, that's all it's all ever been about. anyone that knows me, knows that about me. if ain't fun, i won't be bothered. and that's what this ironman thing felt like, fun. it was a lot like my time racing death race up in grande cache every august long weekend. as soon as i drove into penticton, it was a lot like driving inton GC, it felt like it was some place i was meant to be, it felt like home. i felt that way during the swim as well. it just felt right. and for most of the bike i felt that way too. and during our training rides, swims and runs in penticton, it just felt, well, this is what life's all about. it all felt right.

so now what? well, the NYC Marathon of course, and then, well, i guess it's back to the drawing board, it's back to mordor, it's back to begin yet another journey.

but at least now, i know now,where i'll be going.

w

i'm sleeping in for the next 5 dayz...then, i guess it's show time?

so this is it, sorta
tomorrow the big dance begins...and i don't have a date?......
nope! boo hoo
am i scared...nah, worried, nah.....concerned...you bet.....
anyone that knows me, knows that i spend a lot of time overthinking things...
i plan conversations months in advance, and then analyze everything for years afterwards (you betcha...so what did kim really mean?).....
so this ironman thing, i've dreamed every scenario over and over...visualize the race?, i've visualized races....and you know what, i always finish....sometimes in those dreams, i finish late, i don't finish looking good, but i finish....the two things that always look good..the bike and the run, nope not the swim...okay i must have finished the swim in these dreams, cause i finish....but the bike...always looks good..i get bored to death riding to richters always feels slow but fine, yellow lake get's done...and then i walk and run....so am i worried....'what me worry?'....yep, but not too much, i'll worry sunday morning...but the swim, what do to about the swim?
i know i can swim 4000 meters, i know i can swim the distance, i know i love open water and i love my wetsuit (it's a speedsuit dammit.....what's not to love?)...but swimming in close quarters...getting hit, smacked, pulled, pushed under, whatever...i took a long time to get comfortable at the great white north swim this year...but i did eventually catch my breath, and i did calm down, and i did just do what i had to do, and enjoyed it...but this will be with about 1500 more swimmers...and i know, i know i'm supposed to be a strong swimmer (whatever that means)..but do i want to push that, or do i hold back and pick my spots..there's always gaps, there's always a huge group to draft behind...but i could get away with that at GWN, i'm just not sure about IMC...can i break out to open water...i think i can handle doing 3800+ meters if i have to, and my goal is to make to cut off time...(i'm hoping for 1:30...)...so we will see, what will be will be....and yep mary poppin's i'll need some sugar on that!..
again the ride will be the ride....i know that last 30K is gonna be harsh...yep it's downhill, but i've gotta keep pumpin' the salt in so i don't cramp, and gotta be ready for that run/walk...so my nutrition is gonna have to be dead on (and there'd better be porta potties!!!!)
i'm planning on turning my bike into a smorg...so i'll have variety, so if something doesn't sit right, or doesn't seem to be working, i'll have a choice...and tums, gum, whatever...gels, Gatorade, powerbars, whatever.....and they'd all better be outa my system once i'm off of the bike, hopefully around 1600 (that's 4PM to all you normal folks)....
what about the run though...i've had so many thoughts about this point, i think much like my diet on the bike, it'll depend on how i feel in the moment as to what i do...walk, run , walk the aid stations, walk the hills, run 10 and 1s, whatever...gels, broth, cola, whatever...as long as i get in before midnight...thant's all that matters and nothin' else....i kinda like the idea of starting off with a 2 minute walk though...
but you know what'll be nice...no longer thinking about nothin' but this race!!!....i wanna get back to just training, cause i love training....this thinking about IMC day in and day out, every night before i go to bed, every day after i wake up, and even in my dreams (and yep, sometimes i am naked with dark socks)....i just want to get back to havin' fun!
on the other hand, like just about everything i've done with the gang, this has been fun. to be honest, if t wasn't for the gang, i would have never run a marathon, raced a triathlon, got hooked on death race, whatever, and i'm seriously thinking IMC may become one of those fun with friends things.....you know i love this stuff. i love getting into Grande Cache every august long weekend, i love bopping into the coronation parking lot every may. the 1st sunday in july, it just feels right hitting hubbles lake....it's just living, it's just life, it just seems normal..and it's doing stuff with friends, people that all do the same things, like doing the same things, and people that don't take most this stuff so seriously that they forget to have fun.....and boy are they in for a treat when i get to penticton this year....6 dayz with this basket case, should be fun...for me.but,so i'm thinkin' once i drive into penticton tomorrow...that feeling that this is the right thing to do will kick in.....well hopefully sometime before sunday...

w

8 dayz left....this is it!!!!...maybe i'll give up and buy a skate board instead?

this is a weird feeling.
i'm 8 dayz away from standing by the big peach, in lake okanagan waiting for the starting gun and 4 ironman canada to get underway. And u know what? i can feel my head hitting that water right now, and i know exactly what it's going to feel like. ....weird. and i'm okay with it....nervous, but okay....well, you know, nervous, nauseous, but okay...it'll be fine. i'll be fine.
of course i'm basing all these feelings on the great white north triathlon, and every triathlon i've done. i know, i know how nervous i am at the start of every race, and i know, i know how quickly that disappears as soon as my face hits the water and how quickly i can get into the moment, the minute....
i have to do that.this will be whole crew of people just having a fun day. 6+ hours of this at the great white north 1/2 ironman was so cool, so i'm thinking 15+ hours of the same thing should be, um, painful, but fun!...i'm looking forward to the ride up to yellow lake, i'm looking forward to riding back to okanagan lake, and running along skaha lake to okanagan falls.....or maybe walking to okanagan falls, that'll be fun too. it'll be a long long day, but i've had those before...and there'll be food and drink with me, the scenery will be amazing, there's aid stations everywhere, and i've got 17 hours, so i guess the plan should be to enjoy every moment of it.
but you know this a friends thing. i love doing this stuff with friends. it's possibly the only way i wanna do any of these races. i'm cheering as much as i am racing. it's the fun part.
yep, i can be a basket case, i always am anyhow, but the dayz, the hours, the minutes before a race, even more so. i over think everything, i start thinking about all the training dayz i missed, i remember how badly i've screwed up my diet, and yep, i never seem to remember how good the training i did went, and how much i loved every stroke, every moment on the bike, and the runs.
i have to keep telling myself, that nervousness, will go away as soon as i take my 1st kick, my first stroke.
the race will be the race, it'll be what it is, and as always, the swim doesn't bother me, the ride neither. i know i'll be finished both well before the cut off time, which will give me 7 or more hours to finish the marathon portion of the whole thing. i just don't know how i'm going to deal with the run....that's the big, huge question.
this year, i just have not been able to run, as well as i'd like, i'm injured a bit, but i've been keeping that to myself. so, 26.2 miles, 42K...well, i know i've got a plan to start with. walk the aid stations, and to go relaxed, laid back, take it easy, but definitley run. if everything goes well, if i do the nutrition on the bike right, if i hydrate, hydrate, and take my gels, use my salt tabs, keep the tums handy, i should be fine. but 26+ miles?...i know i can probably walk 26 miles in about 4:30....so as long as i don't completely cramp up, it'll be good.
now, packing...yikes, how much crap do i need? to swim, you need a swim suit, a wet suit, goggles, that should be it, to ride, a bike, a helmet, that's it, and for the run, a pair of running shoes, that's it.....so how come i have 3 bags full of stuff!...and i still have to buy a bunch of things in penticton, because i don't want to pack anything else into my car!....wow!...
oh well, it's all ready to go, i'm ready to go, and again, this will be all that it is. i leave with the family for jasper tomorrow morning, spend 3 dayz in jasper, ship the wife and kids by train back home on monday, and on tuesday morning i leave for the okanagan. ...oh well, at least i can spend a bunch of time on the beach....with friends....volleyball anyone?

3 weeks..and how much food can i stuff into me before i throw up?

okay, so as bug bunny would say, this is it!.....20 some days to ironman, the long dayz of training are pretty much over, we're into big time tapering mode, and nothing i can do now will get me through ironman......but who knows, maybe there's a few things....

the only thing i do know, that almost everything is coming down to just how much can i possibly eat?.....when i'm recovering, and during the race...right now, after a pretty interesting day of riding and running....i'm just eating. eating everything and anything thing that remotely looks like food. some of it good, some of it not so good. some of it i'm pretty sure i'll regret in the morning. but i'm hungry, i know i lost a few pounds on this morning's ride, and i need to put that stuffing back in. it's all about calories baby, and energy, and stuff i'll need to burn during tomorrow's run.

and it's all about what i eat during the ride. 2day was okay. i didn't seem to lose much weight at all, i drank a lot, ate a bit, and felt okay. i think i've found stuff i like....banana flavored nuun, caffe latte perpetuem, water and gatorade...stuff i like, stuff i actually seem to crave, and nothing that's been too hard on my gut.

the biggest surprise has been the perpetuem. i was warned about it, and a few people advised me against using it, but i like the taste, it's easy to make, and i think it's giving me some of the calories i need. and i like the taste. a lot like chocolate milk actually, or maybe more like quick mixed in milk...now i'm not really sure about running after drinking a ton of it, but it seems to be fine, so far.

the thing is, according to everything i've read, it seems like i need to take in somewhere between 2800 to 3000 calories on the bike. along with the stuff i've listed, i've tried adding fig newtons, which were good, gels, sharkies, and other easy stuff to carry and use. i can't handle dry stuff, potatoes, bagels, whatever...think i wanna try peanut and honey sandwiches, maybe this week, but that's what i've got to work with. i get the feeling that on race day my bike is going to look like an all you can eat buffet, but i think as long as i have choices, a variety, i'll be fine.i hope.

tomorrow's going to be an important day. i had a great sunday morning run last week, and i definitely need another one this week. about 21+k would be nice, somewhere around 2 hours would be great..but i seriously wanna feel good after. that's my key.

i don't know what i've gotten myself into here...why a triathlon?....and i'm seriously wondering what my answer will be during the bike, or more likely on the run? when i ask myself, why am i doing this?...my pat answer is, because it's fun...it's not a fitness thing, it's not about me trying the prove anything, it's not a stamp on my life just turning over the digits to 50, it's not me trying the prove myself to myself, or to anyone, it wasn't a challenge? i just find this all fun?....i've thought about that during my last 2 1/2 ironman races in stony plain...it just feels so cool to hit the water and swim, draft behind a bunch of other people doing the same thing, i like the sites, the sounds, and once on the bike, i just like riding, i love hitting the hills, i love speeding down the other side of those hills, the transitions are fun, watching other people, other friends racing and enjoying themselves, it's just, um, fun. and even though i've been sucking on the run lately, i don't even mind that. just as long as i keep moving, drinking, eating and taking it all in...it's fun....and of course there's the crossing that finish line. what a rush!.....but why?...maybe i can figure that all out before august 30th....hopefully. i'm thinking that would be the wrong time to find that answer.......or maybe the ace itself, is the answer?

w