Game. On.

(alternately titled "oh shit what did I just do???")

I just registered for Ironman Texas.  140.6 miles, May 21, 2011, The Woodlands, TX.

Yes it will be very hot and humid.  Yes I will most likely be walking a good chunk of the marathon.  Yes, I will probably finish in 15+ hours.  Yes, I'm freaking out, thinking this is a terrible idea, but still really excited to see how this terrible idea plays out.

Hopefully I won't die.  I've got ~330 days to get ready.

On Vacation

I will post a race report later in the week - maybe next week.  I will say it was one of the hardest things I've done.  Swim was perfect (at least my time was exactly what I was shooting for).  I ran the entire run except for a bit before mile 11 and a bit before mile 12.  And I survived the bike.  Made it up the big scary hill and I didn't die.  Considerable achievement, given we had 28 mph winds and 35 mph gusts.  Including a headwind the entire 20 "easy downhill coast" to the bike finish.  Given how hard the bike was I'm super proud that I ran the run section so well.  It may not have been fast or pretty, but my feet were moving in a motion generally resembling running.

Today, everything but maybe my ears are sore.  We're headed out the grandparents ranch for a few days and then up to the mountains for hiking, kneeboarding, and fly fishing.  I think I earned this R&R.

Procrastination

So, its Tuesday and we fly to Boise tomorrow.  This is my first time flying to a race and I know that I've got tons of stuff to pack and organize.  Take down my bike, pack it in the loaner hard case, pack my nutrition, pack my race stuff, pack 10 days worth of clothes.

Have I done any of this?

no.

Its not for lack of time.  Saturday I was done and home from running by 8:30.  Went and had breakfast with the swim team, was done by 11.  Decided to go and swap out cell phones (work is cancelling the company phone service and has asked everyone to migrate their number to a personal account and then we have to expense our bill every month - fun!).  Then I took a nap.  Sunday I got up early, did a brick (a very pathetic brick - my leg is unhappy again).  Then home for a nap and Super Mario Galaxy 2.  All afternoon and part of the evening.  Last night was better spent watching some people go for the Guinness Book of Records entry in the largest rice krispy treat. And all weekend long I've been obsessively checking message boards for reports of water temperatures and predicted winds for race day.

I should have been spending my time looking over my wetsuit, making sure there were no tears, getting all my race stuff in order and even packed.  Should have spent time figuring out how to take my bike apart and practice it.

I think the reason I didn't do any of this is that maybe I don't want Boise to happen quite yet.  Don't get me wrong, I'm physically and mentally prepared.  I've been training hard.  But I think the deal is that once I pack, then that makes the race real.  And quickly approaching.  Almost like its been so fun training and talking about it, but I'm not really convinced that the race itself will be fun.  Honestly, I'm most scared of the bike.  They changed the course and its a bit easier (no more short spikey hills on the profile, now there's just ~5 hills, one of which is steep but the rest seem ok).  And I'm afraid of the things I can't control (wind, hills).  So, if I don't pack, that means the race isn't here, and I don't have to worry quite so much.  Something like that.  There's just something about packing that makes things tangible and real.

But like it or not, the race is here and tonight I have to pack.  Everything.  I just hope I don't forget anything.

Taper - what's that?

Where is this mythical taper that everyone speaks of?  From where I'm at, I just don't see it.  Here's my schedule for this week and next:

• 5/29 - 14 mile run
• 5/30 - 60 mile hilly ride
• 5/31 - masters swim
• 6/1 - 8 mile run, which I refused to do.  "compromise" was the track workout, which was 1x1600 warm up, 3 x 4800 (that's 3 miles) z3-4.  After the first 4800, I cut the second one to 3200.  Still, that was a lot.
• 6/2 - masters swim AM, 2 hr bike PM (I cut the bike to 1:45 because hello? I ran out of daylight)
• 6/3 - 45 min spin / 60 min yoga in the morning
• 6/4 rest
• 6/5 - 8 mile run (part of it is a 5k race)
• 6/6 - 90 min bike, 60 min run (brick)
• 6/7 - 90 min masters swim , 60 min pilates
• 6/8 - pre-race brick (BIKE - WU 10 min Z2 then 3x5min (3min Z4, 2min Z2)  RUN - WU 5 min Z2 then 3x5min (3min Z4, 2min Z2), 5 min cool down)
• 6/9 - fly to boise
• 6/10 - 25 min run
• 6/11 - same brick as 6/8 plus a 20 min swim
• 6/12 - race day

 Is it me, or does this week seem really heavy? I tried asking my coach, but he took that as me questioning him, when really, this seems heavy compared to most people's tapers.  Of course, I'm most of the way through this week, so its a moot point.  I just hope that this week hasn't done more harm than good.

May Totals

Bike: 22h 10m 36s - 288.42 Mi (3 hrs spinninng) [doubled my time/miles from April]

Run: 17h 03m 07s - 86.15 Mi  [40 more miles running than April]
Swim: 10h 33m - 25800 Yd [10k more yards than April]
Pilates: 2h 40m
Yoga: 4h 00m

So, yeah, pretty heavy month, even with recovery thrown in there.  Logged more miles in May than I did in March, which was a pretty heavy training month as well.
 
Checking in on May's goals....

May goals:

Recover from the HIM. I'm climbing the walls, but I've been told by many people to "respect the recovery". So I will do my best. Still, its frustrating. I think I did this... 

Theme word for Team Erin is "Chappell Hill". Lots of riding hills to get ready for Boise.  Got in 2 training rides in Chappell Hill.  This was the best I could manage, with recovery and a race in Corpus Christi.

Get acclimated to the heat. Easier said than done, but well, its getting hot out so I don't have much of a choice here.  I guess I did this?  Meaning, I excercised in the heat and didn't die.

No injuries. And do not let the training schedule kill me. Easier said than done. I guess I did this as well? Meaning, I excercised a lot and didn't die. However, I will say that I felt like crap last week with sinus issues (allergies/over-training/sick), so I took it easy last week.  Still, I didn't die.

Annnnd, goals for June (pretty simple, really):
Have fun at the Boise 70.3
Try not to have to walk up any hills on the bike portion of the race
Enjoy my vacation
Take the rest of June "easy"