Taper, sucks!

I try, as a coach, to warn my runners about taper... it's a quiet confidence killer before a race. The body is in muscle building mode. So fatigue, sand bag legs, and that blah feeling, takes over.

The mind starts to second guess all your training. You wonder if you are ready. And you wonder if the 6 miles you ran yesterday with a high heart rate and barely moving legs, is a preview of what to expect race day.

Yup, yesterday was a bad day! All I can do now, is trust the training system and not let one "small" run bring me down!

Ah Taper... I'll let you have this week... but Sunday is MINE!

Adventures of Bike Drop Off

The Family signed up for TriBike Transfer for Canada. It's a brilliant money maker with, what I imagine, a low overhead cost. Basically, for $300+ you have a kid in a UHaul transport your bike and a bag to Canada so you don't have to break it down into a bike case or lug through customs. Each UHaul holds about 50-60 bikes... can someone say cha-ching!?

The only downfall with TriBike is you have to say goodbye to your bike over a week before the race. For our Family, that was not an issue. Let's be honest... we saw it as a great excuse not to workout!

So, Friday was our drop off date at Edge. Shouldn't be a problem, right? Well:

• I was in Costa Rica for work, and the forecast called for severe rain showers
• In order to get all the outdoor shots we needed for the spot, our shoot was at risk of spilling over a day. That meant I wouldn't get home until Friday even, way after the store's hours
• Goldy offered to take my gear for me as a contingency - awesome!
• Except, Goldy... on Friday, went to start his car after lunch with bikes and gear in it... to find it wouldn't start (something to do with electrical malfunction)
• So, Goldy calls Adult Supervision for help (It should be noted, Adult Supervision... the poster child of Ironman training... already had her gear dropped)
• Adult Supervision was off to Edge with now both Goldy's and my gear...
• Throughout the day, 2010 Shannon (or as the group called me that day OCD Shannon) called the shop, Goldilocks and text'd Adult Supervision to quadruple check my bike was on that truck (and not the one going to Ironman Louisville) I have issues with control...
• Having heard this, Goldilocks considered intentionally putting his bike en route to Louisville and avoid doing Ironman Canada all together... I had to tell him "no, he's doing the race with us! Not just wine tasting and cheering us on!"
• At one point Hank from Edge and Adult Supervision decide to play a joke on me for all my anal retentive behavior. They claim my bike will head off to Mrs T's Tri in Chi-Town. My response: "Great! That's a shorter race! I'm fine with that!"
• To which I received no response... I guess it's on the truck! (Oh, and so is Goldy's)

Race day is 7 days away. And since no one has a bike... we all... **BREAKING NEWS** swam today!

(Well, I tried. Had to get out of the pool after 40 mins due to a shoulder problem. Bummer!)

Tomorrow's our last "long" run of 6 miles and then Wednesday we are off to Canada! If the bikes make it there, great. If not, we always have wine tasting!

You Will Do This!

Always makes me tear up alittle...

A bit of seriousness...

Ironman training is tough! I mean, it really is...




Full time job, family, friends and then you choose to carve out (a significant amount of) time for something "you" want to do. ("You" as in, it's no one else's problem but your own- you chose it, so "suck it up, buttercup") I'm not complaining. I love it... and I hate it.



A friend asked me tonight... what exactly do you love about it? Is it just the bragging rights? What??

That's a fair question, I think bragging rights can be true, but that's not the whole truth...

The love for Ironman is so many things... but mostly it's the emotions you feel before, during and after that make it all worth it.


It's about someone telling you, you couldn't do it. And about whispering to yourself, "yeah, I'm not sure either". It's about purposely putting yourself up against a huge feat.... that most won't try. And saying, "Why not!? I can be strong too".



It's about the physical. The mental. The sacrifice day in, and day out, to train. The structure. The joy. The amazement... at your body and your mind's capabilities. It's looking back at the past 6 months (or three if you're part of the family) and recognizing the sweat, pain and beers you had to get across the finish line.



It's about that one day. Finishing. The endorphins. Not the medal so much... as the metaphor of looking back after you crossed the line... knowing you conquered. You stepped up. You negotiated. You pushed. You cried. You numbed self doubt. You fought hard. You didn't settle. It's about facing yourself and saying, "You can do this!" It's that "turn" in the day, where you decide "I will do this!" Deciding, no more negative self talk! No one's in my way. Nothing can hold me back. Not the cramps. Not the fatigue. Not the exhaustion you feel both mentally and physically. Not the night time that has descended. Not the idea that it's impossible to travel 140.6 miles in less than a day...




It's about, "I did this and no one can ever take it away". It's being in the Ironman family. It's exclusivity. It's elite status. And the end to a journey that you can't quite sum up in one word and do it justice. It's overwhelming... It's amazing. It's the best day of my life... and above all it's crazy.




Right now is the hardest part of training for me... the race is so close, and yet, so far away...




We need to focus on getting to the start line... and that is where the true pain/discipline/mental toughness/physical strength/determination begins. I say this because, oftentimes you're exhausted here and ready to just "get 'er done". But, you still have work to do. You still need to keep your eyes on the prize... it's still pretty far away.




Thanks to everyone for your support to our Family. Even if your support is just simply reading about our crazy adventures... understanding our temporary withdrawal from society... or the emails/phone calls of encouragement...




We thank you because it's pretty intense...
...Ok, maybe not that intense.

The Legend of: Lost In Transition

Admittedly, I skipped this morning's long ride. I'll just come out and say it: I just couldn't do it. Mentally. Physically. Overall an impossible feat, this week... and The Family rode thinking I was hung over.

So, Adult Supervision kept me in the loop of the "5" hour ride the pair did today. I say "5" because... after my text bowing out, Goldilocks decided to take his time for the workout (I wonder if he thinks milking the workout will benefit his total weekly workout hours).

Adult Supervision provided commentary for how the workout went:
7:02 - Goldy wants to know why we are starting at 7. He's still dressed in street clothes and carrying his coffee mug around. Adult Supervision is dressed and just waiting on him
7:15 - Goldy decides to walk Hoku (not Ritalin dog). Adult Supervision is baffled.
7:30 - Goldy looks for missing water bottle.
7:31 - Adult Supervision realizes Goldy operates on Hawaii time, so technically they don't need to start for another hour and a half. This makes her kind of nervous... she'd like to get back in before dark
7:45 - The pair are (both) dressed, and on the corner ready to push off... Until... Goldy realizes he's missing some screws (on his cleat, not in his head)... more delays as he fixes the cleat. Adult Supervision is literally sitting on her bike.
7:46 - The Coffee Mug makes a come back, as Goldy sits down to fix the cleat (hm, and Adult Supervision thought they'd made progress, guess not)

Apparently the group finally pushes off... I'm not sure what time, but I do get a text from Adult supervision:
11:34 - Third stop of the day as Goldy hits the Mini Market
1pm- I'm starting to wonder if they will ever make it home...

...and that's how Goldilocks gained his other nickname (Lost in Transition)

Have you seen this man?

Ya! We haven't either - at least not on the bike or in the pool lately...

If you happen to find him at a wine bar, will you send him our way?

Thanks,
Adult Supervision & 2010 Shannon

Here's to you, Mr Thigh High Tanlines Guy...

Training for Ironman does amazing things to your body! It gives you a strong, healthy body that most would envy (if you actually trained)...

But let me share with you the fun body issues you deal with when training for an Ironman... in the summer!

Try looking "hot" with the "I'm always wearing a watch Tan line"

Or, the "Why of course, I always wear thigh high stockings" Tan line:
Or the "I'm not quite sure how those got there" Tan lines:
The "I'll pick the red tan lines for 300, Alex" Tan lines:
The "I'm corn-fed" Tan lines:

It's fun! Particularly when you are in a bathing suit! Everyone thinks you have a white unitard on... at all times!

Alright onto this weekend: We (Adult Supervision and I) finished the longest bike ride for the training scheduled - 7 hours. Where was Goldilocks?

GLDY text: "Feel sick, not gonna be able to ride today" sent 5:15am Saturday.

So Adult Supervision met at my house to ride our last LONG, LONG, LONG ride without Goldy.

Did we believe Goldy was sick? No. See, it was Saturday morning, and we figured he had too much to drink the night before... like good friends, we rode the entire 7 hours thinking he was hung over and owed us lunch!

Sunday, (a healthy) Goldilocks and I finished a 12 miler in Huntington Beach. Now, this was quite a feat considering the US Surf Open was happening at the pier. Let me take a moment to say a word of wise to those out-of-towners...

Dear Out Of Towners -

Don't stop in the middle of the busy boardwalk, don't cross the boardwalk without looking first and please closely monitor your children under 10 while on the boardwalk. If you do not listen to my words of advice, then you deserved the sweaty bump given to you, while we ran by...

Love,

The Family