What it takes...September 2011
September...crazy!
@ Becky- glad to hear you are calm this week. Will keep you in my thoughts for Sunday!
My race went not so well (RR here: http://members.endurancenation.us/T...fault.aspx). but I'm glad that the season is over. Unfortunately my body is currently revolting and I'm getting the start of a cold/flu which is no fun. I can tell you what I am enjoying- fall weather! Fall is easily my favorite time of year, I love the changing colors, the cool temps, and biking and running after work is just so much more pleasant now. Plus I love my fall wardrobe better than my warm weather one, so that's always fun too!!
Hope everyone's week is going well 
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We had a little informal Cyclocross practice here with some of my road buddies. They were super at teaching us the basics and man oh man do I have a LOT of practice to do before my first race!!! I've got the OBX Half/Sprint this weekend and after that I'll put Fawkes the TT bike up on the wall for the winter while I play on Oliver the Cross bike!
Good luck to everyone racing this weekend- at IMWI and at 70.3 Championships!!
I'm sure everyone is winding down from the busy weekend
But now it's time to put Fawkes (the TT bike) up on the wall for the rest of the summer and start working on my new relationship with Oliver (the Cyclocross bike). I love Oliver- but he and I have a lot of work to do building some trust between us before we head to our first race! That mount/dismount thing is fookin scary!
Volunteering at IMWI with Kathy Nelson rocked! We had such a blast. I would have loved to have Josh Choate out at Bike Special Needs to film a video of "Whats in my Bag?" Unbelievable what people pack up in the SNB's! A gal next to us (a cheerleader no less) mentioned that some people probably just don't know what they will want at that point so they pack everything. One gal's bike looked like it was sprouting all manner of snacky things.
So, I screwed up our hotel reservations and we ended up staying at what can only be called a "crack hotel!" The first morning Kathy mentioned that there were drunks outside the window around 4. When we arrived and checked in on Friday, there was a ESL woman at the desk who was obviously racing, had arrived at the hotel (middle of nowhere...near the landfill) in a cab. Kathy and I got to talking about how awful it would be to be that far out with no ride to the race so ended up getting up on Sunday morning and toting her over to the special needs boxes. When I went down to meet her in what can loosely be called a lobby, a couple of drunk guys were stumbling around in the lobby, clearly not IM athletes or if they were they were not up for the race that day. She was so delightful! Great story....crappy ex boyfriend who was racing at IMWI broke up with her and guess who kept the good room??? Yeah...so it was a lot of fun to get to meet her and hear her story! She is a Polish national living in New York and teaching in the Bronx. So...now Kathy and I can mark staying in a crack hotel off our bucket list.
I do have to say that the travel from Madison back to Freeport, ME yesterday is almost worthy of a race report. Almost missed my connection in Milwaukee and was just panicked because I had a job interview first thing this morning. Since there were five on my flight on the same connection, they held the plane for us. I met a guy on the flight from Milwaukee to Boston that did Rev3 Cedarpoint on Sunday. 26th overall age grouper. Nice "kid."
Wow, y'all should check out the winner of the IMWI 50-54 women! Gal that I used to work for at Gear West in Long Lake (briefly). A-m-a-z-i-n-g 52 year old. She was third woman overall, 1st in her age group! She is fast!!!!
So incredibly pumped to see Becky out there getting it done in spite of the injury! Saw Joanna and she looked great. Saw a lot of EN'rs out there getting it done. Can't wait to rip it up next year and finally get the IM baptism by Mike Reilly!! We need to get a chica mojo group going again for this year!!!
holy crap, Cheryl, that sounds absolutely awful... but at least you can laugh about it.
It was great to see you at BSN (don't think my bag was video worthy, though) and so sweet of you to chalk the road for me. Great to meet Kathy, too... and to see you on the run.
The race was awesome with so much support from the volunteers and spectators. I think the feather boa may have to make a return so I can come back to watch next year... if my budget allows.
Just posted my RR on the appropriate page. It's a long one... but how can a person write about an almost 16 hour race in a few paragraphs?!
@Becky, race report is great! Such courage through it all!
@Nemo, at husband's request, I booked Inn on the Park, Best Western. Don't like that it doesn't have a kitchen but close to the action and he can lounge in the room while I'm out.
Oldest daughter who is making crab cakes right now, "Mom! You didn't sign up for IM Wisconsin again did you??? I can't take it again!!!" Me, (snort) "No! Why would i?" Won't she be surprised!!!
Have a great weekend all!!
Yes to the feather boa!!!!!
Legs are finally not post-marathon lead any more. I can walk up and down stairs like a human! The foot didn't start bothering me til yesterday, interestingly, that's when my quads were okay. I guess that's good - not sure if I could have handled the pain everywhere at once. I've started back up with the Yamuna foot wakers (to stretch and strengthen) and hope that helps - I do think it did in the week before the IM when I got them.
I can't believe it's almost time for my vacation. This weekend I'm going to put all my bike stuff away (i.e., clean the condo and get organized) and start packing. I am so excited, it's going to be so amazing.
So, my relationship with my folks isn't exactly the best. I don't call home like I should... they don't call me (well mom will every so often and I get the guilt trip). It is what it is. My dad has probably only called me once in his life. Don't think he's ever signed a birthday card and can only think of 2 Christmas gifts he's ever gotten me (that didn't come from mom in the "mom and dad" from line). Anyway, as you know I wrote my race report and posted it in a few places. I also circulated it via email. Anyway, he read it and called me. He loved it. He thinks I'm the next big author (lol - well, he is my dad, of course he thinks I'm the greatest thing since sliced bread). Anyway, he really enjoyed the read and is really happy for me (and doesn't think I should give up the vino... ha ha). So that was pretty funny. He wants to help me with a blog (I told him I had one that I rarely post to) because he thinks I can make money with it. I don't know about that... but I will say it was the strangest (in a good way) conversation with my dad I've ever had. Then mom got on the phone, got the congrats, and then she asked how life was and if I was seeing anyone (can't believe that wasn't her first question... she worries about me and thinks I should move home to meet a nice boy and settle down - yeah, go back to Dayton, OH.... sure). Then she launched into the worry about my trip to Africa - what I'll be eating, drinking, the unrest in Somalia... etc. Just like a mom. I invited the folks to CDA - dad was so pumped about the race report I thought I'd plant a seed. I told him I couldn't write about him in a RR unless he was there. :-)
So all is good with me.
Leaving the country Wed and will be out of pocket for 2.5 weeks. I don't know if I'll have any computer/internet access... and don't plan to try to power on my iPhone while I'm overseas. I may be transferring to a new bureau when I get back, so there will be lots of change at work. I hope for the better. I've been bored for a while (can't really complain as it was IM training season), but I just can't take it anymore. Fingers crossed it will work out well for me.
Hope everyone has great weekends!
So, I hope everyone finishes out Sept with a bang. I'll be back over Columbus Day weekend. I have my first PT appt that Monday and am looking forward to getting my biomechanical issues figured out, getting back into some sort of weight routine, and getting my act together (meaning my weight and body comp) to have a strong and injury-free 2012 season.
Take care!!
I'm getting much closer to my next "big" race, Chicago Marathon. Mostly looking forward to the social part of this race and have no expectations or goals with respect to the finish time. I got in all of one 19 mile run in preparation- I hope it's good enough!
When do your legs come back after an Ironman? It's been about 2 weeks and change after IMWI and I have managed to do a few runs here and there. Haven't been back on the bike ( and the kids are quite excited for bike free weekends). The legs just feel heavy and they don't want to go to the pace I want them to.
I ran a few miles today and kept a zone 3 pace..but I am not sure it's reasonable to except a PR at the Army Ten Miler next week? Maybe I am expecting too much? I realize that the Baltimore Marathon in a few weeks is out of the question, even though my work buddies think I should. I plan on starting the outseason in Nov for Placid.
Jen