Tri-Dogmom

As I mentioned in my pre-race posts, I was ready. I was confident. I was calm. While you never know what will happen on race day, for the first time in my active life I knew and believed in myself and what I was capable of doing out there on the course. I didn't question that I could swim between a 1:07-1:10 or bike a sub 6 hour, and I just KNEW (thanks coach for the help on this) I could run around a 4 hour marathon. Race morning went off without a glitch. We had 9 racers with us, 4 first timers. The nerves weren't crazy and spirits were high. Before I knew it, it was time to head down to the water for the swim start…..Let's start this thing! The swim is tough. While I only have IM Canada to compare to, this swim course never seizes to fail on the difficulty side. The start is complete chaos and for over a half of a mile you really don't get to "swim." It's mostly head out of water damage control while you try not to get kicked (which I did), pu...

Bike & bags checked. Full belly. Glass of wine and rice crispy treat. I feel good, I feel rested and most of all I feel READY. After 3 days of freezing my butt off in the Pacific Northwest I'm finally warm. The wind has died down and the sun is out. I've made a few adjustments to my race plan including some hot tea before the swim, a vest and toe warmers for the bike. I'm calm. Most of all I am confident. I've been talking smack all week to my buddy Daniel. For the first time I believe in what I can do tomorrow. I put numbers down on a paper for spectators. And, low and behold my husband just put $100 bet on my finish over Daniel. Here we go. See ya on the flip side :-)

The bags are packed (small miracle in itself for me), boarding pass printed, taxi-service via friends confirmed and besides taking a shower, it's all done before 4pm. Don't judge, the shower is least of my worries. I only worked out for an hour today, ya know :-) Besides obsessively checking the weather, exchanging numerous texts with my coach, fellow racers and friends in the area I feel like this IM prep has been pretty seamless. Could it be I'm finally getting the hang of these things? My bags aren't over-stuffed, I don't think I've forgotten anything and I don't seem the least bit nervous (yet). The water is going to be cold, the bike brisk and the run (as of now) near perfect for me. I can't wait to get back there on this course. I've got someone chasing me this time. I have a feeling I might be looking behind my shoulder a few dozen times, but if everything plays out the way it should…. He won't be catching me THIS TIME. Have fun cha...

Four years ago I wrote the blog post below. It was the day before I was flying to Spokane, home, to do what I thought would be my first and only Ironman. I was 29 years old & naive. Little did I know what that journey would turn into. I was scared shit-less, having no idea what I could do come race day, unsure if I could even run a marathon (post IT band surgery) again and yet excited beyond words all at the same time. I cried before the start, I cried at the finish. It took me like 5 hours to prep my transition & special needs bags. I drank too much wine the week before the race, I was restless. I was not confident in myself or my abilities. Yet, somehow I crossed that finish line still standing, without peeing my pants and with one of the biggest smiles of my life. It was a moment I will NEVER forget. In just over a week I'll be heading back to IMCDA for the 3rd time. I'm a different person now. I'm a different athlete. I still have some insecurities, bu...

I'm having a pity party. While my husband was off in Mexico with a bunch of our friends for one of our favorite events, Circus Mexicus , I was at home with a plan of having some great last ditch training after missing out due to the flu last weekend. Things didn't go exactly as planned. I felt better and stronger every day this week, but still wasn't sleeping the best. Achy legs, and just restless. I went back to my all natural diet of lots of fruits and veggies and extra protein (after 4 days of bland carbs). I didn't push myself during the week… But still, when I headed out for my 4hour ride on Saturday I still felt a little FLAT. I was able to chase a few people up some hills, so that felt good getting my HR up, but as soon as we turned around to head back home I just had nothing. I wasn't hurting, I wasn't cramping, stomach fine.. I was just BLAH. I ended up accidentally shortening the loop by turning around too early so it was ~66 miles 3:40, good ...

Monday morning I was checking my phone, half in a stomach flu/fever induced blur when I saw a strange text from my girl, Shelby. It said "Are you in Mexico? Call or text if you want to talk." Not strange because I heard from her, but the "tone" was strange. We definitely keep in touch, she's just one of those girls you can't help but stay close with even after graduating college, moving away, getting real jobs, married…the whole nine yards. I sent her a quick text back saying I was home, and "what's up?" Then my phone rang. Shelby sounded immediately upset. She asked if I had heard about our friend Sarah. Having no idea what she was talking about I asked more questions. She started to cry and told me that Sarah had passed away the night before from a heart attack. The conversation went to silence, then comments of disbelief. What? A heart attack? We're THIRTY THREE years old? I was stunned, I was shocked. Shelby started to get ...

I hate to say the word "never" cause I swear every time I do it comes back to bite me eventually, but I think this is a good time to say it. NEVER let me sign up for an A race that takes place the first week/weekend in June. Most likely, I'm going to be sick. I was joking around a few weeks ago as Ironman is approaching I needed to find my bubble. I'm accident prone, a klutz and the second I let my body start to rest, everything seems to go to shit. I started taking airborne daily about 2 weeks ago. I am trying to get as much sleep as possible and I'm eating as many fruits and veggies as I can stuff in my face, as well as adding extra protein to my diet. We can only control so much, right? Just like last year, during deuces wild oly tri when Shane & I both came down with the stomach flu & mine went on and on and on , seems I'm repeating it again. Similar thing happened the year before although I think I did the smart thing that time and too...