Riding for a Different Reason

How many people reading this are currently battling cancer, have had it, or know someone who has? My guess: 100% of you.

This year, I will be joining my friend Jenn and my husband Ken for the 100-mile LIVESTRONG ride in Seattle on June 20th. Sadly, I will be riding in honor and memory of many people. My Mom is a survivor of colorectal cancer, my Grandmother is a survivor of colorectal cancer, my Grandfather had prostate and skin cancer, and my husband's father passed away of a cancer that I can't even spell or pronounce. One of my best friends mother died of colorectal cancer, another good friends mother is a breast cancer survivor. My Mom's best friend died of brain cancer when I was in grade school. Almost every week I listen to a friend tell me about a family member or close friend who was recently diagnosed. The list goes on and on.

Help us raise money for cancer research by logging onto one of our donation pages. No donation is too small, every little bit helps.
My Donation Site
Ken's Donation Site
Jenn's Donation Site

Another Month Bites the Dust

32 days of running! Guess what I'm doing tomorrow? Not running. It was an interesting experiment though. I realized that I can, indeed, get my feet out the door no matter what sort of excuse I try to come up with. The quality of my running probably suffered, my body is feeling the cumulative effects of no rest day in over a month, and my biking and swimming sort of took a back seat. But here are the positives: I still love running, my form has changed (in a good way I think), and I covered 91.5 miles on my feet. While healing from a possible stress fracture. I'll call that a "win".

February:
* Swim 2x/week
* Ride 50 miles/week
* Lose 5 pounds
That doesn't sound so difficult, right?

2010 Vancouver Lake Half Marathon

It's that time of year again. Icy rain, howling winds, and bone chilling temperatures have loomed over us for the last couple of months. And that's what is in the forecast for the next 30-something days. For those of us who participate in endurance sports during the warmer months, we are likely just starting to get back into the groove of some semblance of training. The aftermath of the holidays still clinging to our midsections. Our ability to go long hasn't quite gone away, but our ability to go fast is sort of missing. We look at the calendars, and HAH! OH LOOKSY! A half-marathon is on the calendar. Tomorrow.

And so it happened that on Sunday morning I woke up early, mixed my nutrition bottles, prepped my gear, and went through all of the pre-race routines like I have done so many times in the past. Despite the lackluster feel to the whole thing, I was excited to ride my bike to the event with Julie. And I was looking forward to seeing some tri peeps that I haven't visited with in a couple of months.

I tossed all of my stuff into a backpack, and headed out on my squeaking Cervelo (it really needs a tune-up!) to meet Julie in downtown Vancouver. At about the same time we met up, the first sprinkles started to fall out of the sky. A mile later the sprinkles had turned into a steady drizzle. Pretty soon I was squinting to keep the sideways raindrops from pelting my eyeballs. As we were turning into the park, her rear tire went flat. My rear tire stopped turning because of the amount of wet road crud lodged between the tire and frame. We dismounted and hoofed it the rest of the way in. Not exactly a motivating start to our day.

After getting our packets and changing into some dry clothes, we met up with Mark (my running partner for this race for the THIRD year in a row!) and huddled in Ken's car until it was time to line up at the start. I don't recall a bang or a boom. We all just started moving forward.

And then we ran 13.1 miles in the cold rain. Then finished. Then rounded up in dry clothes for bloodies and burgers.

Final time = 2:29:17. About a minute slower than last year and 4 minutes slower than a PR. Not bad, not great, just another 13.1 mile run.

Big thanks to Mark for keeping me company with fun chatter again this year. So much fun! And thanks to The Hubs for standing out in the rain and waiting for your slow wife to finally cross the finish line.

Mid-January Ramblings

I just finished Run #20. It's my longest days in a row of running ever. There were a few days that I walked, due to the healing stress fracture. And a handful of days where I really only ran 1 mile. It's starting to become a routine and not as much of an inconvenience as it was a couple of weeks ago. I wonder if I can go all year? Okay, okay, I better just get through the month for starters. I'm just over 52 miles for January. Not spectacular, but not too shabby with the obstacles thrown my way so far.

Here I am heading out for Run #13. Since 13 has been my lucky number since high school sports, this seemed monumental for some reason. It doesn't seem that way so much anymore, but here is the picture anyway.

I still haven't been to the pool. It's been over a month now. One of the reasons (and admittedly not a very good one) is that the only swim cap I have is a condom colored latex one left over from a local triathlon. I also have the one from my Ironman, but I'm not wearing that and risking ruining it. All of my silicon caps were either lost or ripped right before IMAZ. But, yesterday I came home to a box of caps from TYR. Here is my favorite. So, no more excuses this week.

On tonight's run, I was chased by TWO different dogs. My run was all of 1.13 miles. Yes, TWO dogs in just over ONE mile. I understand that pets get loose once in awhile, but I see dogs out all the time. Irresponsible owners. Right after I'm done with this post, I'm purchasing some of this:And anything that threatens me while I'm out by myself (dog, squirrel, stupid teenage boys that insist on yelling lewd comments at me) is getting a nice long spray up the sinuses.

To end this post on a happy note, I feel obligated to let everyone know that I have found coffee nirvana. A micro-roaster just opened up down the street from my house. It is always packed. Like standing-room-only packed. I was curious, so I bought a couple of pounds while out for one of my runs. I brewed some up the next morning. Ooooooh wow. Good stuff. Good good stuff.

Das Foot

The results from my foot appointment today...inconclusive. All signs point to stress fracture. Except for the x-rays. Not a sign of anything, which is awesome. But apparently these sorts of things don't always show up right away. I left the docs office with a prescription for a mega anti-inflammatory, instructions for hot/cold treatment to get circulation to the area to promote healing, and a stern warning about my activities over the next 3 weeks. I go back in 4 weeks for more x-rays and see how things are healing up. The pluses: I don't have to wear a boot (!!!!). I am allowed to run in the near future if I keep it short, stop when it hurts, and wear shoes. I can bike as much as I want. The bummers: I have to keep my distances super duper short and I have to do it wearing shoes. Preferably shoes that are stiff enough that you can't roll them into a ball. Clearly, my doc doesn't understand the allure of having your feet free. And during the day I am to wear my Danskos (the compromise to not having to wear a boot).

The January Challenge has been in effect for 10 days now. I have ran for 11 days in a row, since I also went for a run on NYE. My longest running streak ever. How is everyone else doing on it? We're almost half way there!

None of my 11 runs have been very long (6 miles max), and some of them were only exactly 1 mile. But getting out the door every day for at least one mile has been a suprising challenge. It has highlighted how I have an excuse for everything and can rationalize just about anything to myself. "Oh, just this one cookie, I was good all day" or "it's okay if I skip this one workout, I'll just do extra tomorrow" or "I'm just not feeling so hot and it's okay to cheat/rest/be a total sloth today". However, when I put a challenge out for myself and really dedicate to it, I have a tendancy to stick with it to a fault. I'm battling an injury in my foot...it may be minor or it may be major, I don't know yet...but I have still ran every day this month. Because I said I would. Which leads me to my next challenge for February. I think it should be food based, but I haven't decided yet. Maybe no sugar, or no processed food, or something like that.

My week in review:

I worked a lot. The first part of the year is always nuts-to-the-wall crazy for me. It's okay, since it's not a year round thing, but it's hard to adjust after having the holidays off. So I spent most of this week either working, running my 1 mile for the day, or sleeping.

I succeeded in eating healthy all week. The only sugar/processed food that I consumed was in the form of chocolate covered espresso beans (these things are what got me through the week) and a little bit of ice cream on a couple of evenings. I feel 10 times better because of it.

Since I can't seem to get up when the alarm goes off at 4:30, all of my runs have been done after work. In the dark. I have almost been mowed down by cars like 6 times this week. So I bought a new reflective vest. (Please excuse the hair...it had been a long day.)

And, as much as I hate to admit this, I have done too much too soon while barefoot or in the Vibrams. And I hurted my footses. Rookie mistake. Even worse, I sort of knew that I was doing it. But I loved being barefoot so much, that I didn't want to stop. And after being barefoot or in the Vibrams, my regular runners felt like I was wearing truck tires on my feet. So even when my foot hurt, I resisted going back to the running shoes. *Sigh*. I tried to compromise by getting a pair of racing flats, but the damage is done. I see the tootsie doctor tomorrow. Please think positive thoughts that it is only an irritation. That half marathon in 2 weeks should be a blast...

I managed to get a couple of trainer rides in. And 1 glorious outdoor ride -- AWESOME in January! Sadly, we forgot to take a photo. Total training for the week = 6 hours.

Snowshoeing Adventures

After saying "we can't wait to go snowshoeing" a bunch of times, and then life getting in the way a bunch of times, we finally went over New Years weekend for the first time this winter. Jeff, Julie, Ken, and I headed up towards Mt. Hood with no particular place in mind and in no real hurry to get there. Coffee, cookies (of course), and a bit of Miley sing-a-long started our day. An hour or so later we ended up at the sno-park for Trillium Lake.

Here's Julie, somewhere between the parking lot and the lake.And Ken with his behind-the-shoulder model pose.

The lake is about 2 miles in, mostly downhill. We stopped there for a little picnic of snacks (crackers, cheese, salami, and dill dip) and drinks (mimosas, peppermint patties, and wine). Hey, a heavy backpack = a better workout. So yeah, Ken and Jeff got a better workout. :-)

Jeff was the first to jump in the snow and make an angel. Awesome idea, except had he taken about 2 more steps, he would probably still be a the bottom of Trillium Lake.

Instead of coming back out the way we came, we decided to finish going around the lake and do the full loop. I think the reasoning at the time was that it was shorter to go that way, but in hindsight, that makes no sense at all. It was still a pretty easy 5ish miles. And we came across a great field perfect for snowball fights and making snowgirls!

2010 Training Goals

This is how far I swam, biked, and ran in 2009. From Bellingham, WA to Miami, FL. Over 100 miles of swimming, almost 3000 biking, and 7 miles short of running 600 miles.

Here are my training distance goals for 2010. Maybe a little ambitious in some regards, but setting easy-to-achieve goals kind of defeats the purpose I think.
Swim - 250,000 meters
Bike - 4000 miles
Run - 900 miles

I better go get my running gear together...

The January Challenge

Jenn and I are in. Who else wants in on the fun?

The challenge:
Run at least 1 mile each day during the month of January.

The rules:
- Run at least 1 mile per calendar day, even days before and after a race
- Walking doesn't count unless you are barefoot, sick, or injured
- Snowshoeing counts, but only for half the mileage (e.g. 4 miles of snowshoeing = 2 miles of running)

Our Wedding Quilt

Instead of a guest book at our wedding, we had squares of fabric for our guests to sign. The idea was to later incorporate these squares into a quilt. Something that we would see everyday, rather than something that would sit in a box in an attic or garage. And while I'm crafty, I'm not that crafty. And certainly don't have the patience that quilting requires. So while we were shopping for fabric for the squares, my Mom offered to make it for us. After the wedding, we sent all the signed pieces back to California with her. And I figured in a few years we would get it on one of our anniversaries. Like the 5th. Or the 3rd if she got busy with it.

Imagine my suprise when I tore open a box this Christmas...less than 3 1/2 months after the wedding...and saw this! I cried it was so beautiful. And I know how much love and hard work went into it. Each square was sewn together by her and then the entire thing pieced together. She had the front and back quilted together, and then had to hand sew the edging on. Hand sew, not with a machine, but as in a needle, thread, and hours hunched over the whole thing. We are now in the process of making new drapes and duvet cover so that it will match in the bedroom.

Barefoot Snow

Okay, not totally barefoot since I did wear my Vibrams. It was the most surreal feeling. If you can imagine dancing barefoot in the snow but without the frost bite...that's what it felt like. Today marks Day 1 of training for the Eugene Marathon. I'm following one of Hal Higdon's novice plans. I couldn't do a super focused marathon because I will simultaneously be training for this marathon, a hilly century ride, a half ironman, and an ultramarathon.

Today called for an easy 3 miler. This is how it looked outside when I started. There was at least another inch on the ground when I finished.

I was the only runner in the neighborhood and had it all to myself. I was having so much fun along Officer's Row with all of the Christmas lights on the huge homes, huge chunky flakes coming down, and making first tracks all over the place. On the way back I saw 3 accidents where cars either tried to stop too quickly, or tried to drive up a hill and didn't make it. At one intersection I helped push 2 cars out of the way so that all of the backed up traffic could get through. Can you believe that no one came out to help an old lady stuck in her car until they saw me pushing it? Crazy rude.

Injinji socks inside the Vibrams kept my feet pretty warm.Cool tracks!Total mileage = 3.15
Time= 42:17

That is a pace of 13:25...not terrible considering I was almost barefoot in several inches of snow. :-)

Weekly Totals

And just to show that I haven't been totally sloth-like, here are my "training" totals for the week.

Swimming - nada...gonna fix that this week

Biking - 11 miles

Running - 15 miles (shoed + VFFs + barefoot)

Barefoot walking - 1.75 hours

Strength - 1 hour

Total time = 6.6 hours

Here is Jeff and I from our run this morning on Heritage Trail. Jenn was there too, but disappeared before I got the camera out.

Barefoot Running, The Holidays, and Happy Changes for 2010

Barefoot Running...
I got some emails after my last blog post regarding barefoot running. It seems that being overweight isn't a hinderance to going barefoot. Quite the opposite, actually. So I gave it a go. And LOVED it! I started with a little less than 1/2 mile. Just decided to take my shoes off towards the end of a 5 mile run. It was freezing temps, so I left my socks on. A couple of days later I went about a mile, this time with no socks. And again a couple of days later. And so on. Each time, adding a little bit of distance or more difficult terrain. So far I've run on asphalt, concrete, and grass. And gravel for about 10 feet. That will take a bit more time to get my running form correct enough to run on. I also purchased some Vibram Five Fingers, which I love. But I am trying not to use them as a way to run further "barefoot" than I really should. Ultimately, I would like to run totally barefoot all the time, except for sub-freezing temps or on really ugly terrain. It's just too dang cold to go barefoot every day right now.

Some of the common questions I've received already:

Q - Why?

A - I don't have enough time to write all of the reasons here, but go to these websites for some great info on barefoot running: http://www.runningbarefoot.org/, http://www.barefootted.com/, http://www.barefootrunner.com/

Q - Does it hurt?

A - No. Unless I am running incorrectly, and then it does. Then I stop and figure out what I'm doing wrong.

Q - Aren't your feet going to get nasty and callused and icky?

A - Nope! Being a vain person, this was one of my bigger concerns. If you are scuffing your feet and damaging the soles, then you aren't running properly. If you "kiss" the ground with your feet, then your soles won't get all torn up. I read on one of the websites to treat your feet as kindly as you treat your hands. Meaning, wash them and moisturize them and take care of them. I have about 6 barefoot miles on them over the last couple of weeks and they actually look better than 2 weeks ago.

Q - (from Ken) Really, you have a gazillion pairs of expensive shoes, but you want to go barefoot?

A - I really have no way to answer this one. Sorry honey.

The Holidays...

We had a wonderful time over the holidays. We went to the Nutcracker (an annual tradition) and I walked around downtown in ridiculously high heels. Wishing I was barefoot. But being vain won out that night. And Vibrams don't work with stocking feet.

We had lots of awesome friends and coworkers stop by on Christmas Eve for cocktails and good conversation. And I went for a run in the sunshine with Jeff. On Christmas day we cooked a beautiful turkey (our very first one together). 17 pounds of free range and hormone free yumminess. Except that we fell asleep on the couch while it was in the oven and it was done when we woke up. But none of the other dishes were ready, so we had to scramble to get it all together. It ended up delicious anyway!

We played lots of Wii. Here I am getting my Kung-Fu on.

And of course we did the gift thing. Santa brought me some new BLACK Uggs. These won't show bike chain grease like the last ones. Yay! And I don't care if you are an Uggs-hater. Nothing feels quite as fabulous after a 20 mile run, as sliding your feet into a cozy soft fuzzy pair of Uggs. Even if they are covered in chain grease and sticky PowerGel drips.

Happy Changes for 2010...

Despite very good intentions, it appears that I have been suffering from PIAS. Post-Ironman Attitude Syndrome. Symptoms are lots of sleeping, lots of unhealthy eating, and a general don't-give-a-cows-ass attitude about pretty much everything. Thankfully, I've done just enough training to avoid packing on too much weight. Actually, as of this morning I'm back to the weight I was on race day. Which is still overweight, but at least not 10 more pounds overweight. Admittedly, I've spent far too much time on the couch. I googled "Ironman Couch Potato" today and this is what came up:Despite a little too much lounging, I do feel like it was good to take a break and recharge. Even if I have lost some fitness because of it. Whatever, I'll get that back. And unlike a couple of weeks ago, I'm getting all excited for next season. This afternoon, I am writing out my training plans for the marathon and half-ironman. I'm trying new plans. Hopefully making some good changes over the plans from last year.

I am slowly making changes in my diet. Okay, the holidays don't count. I am trying to limit added sugars, eliminate high-fructose corn syrup, and eat as little refined foods as possible. I'm even moving to bulk malto-dextrin and bulk electrolyte powder for my sports drinks. As soon as I work my way through the GE tubs I have in stock.

And, as of today, I am changing where I workout. I've been wanting to do this for awhile now, and I finally did. Swimming: Did you know that there are 3 community pools with convenient hours and super cheap fees within 5 miles of my house? Neither did I! Very cool! Biking: I pretty much ride outside or on the trainer in our spare room anyway. I'll miss the group workouts, but I have lots of backlogged shows on DVR to catch up on. Running: I haven't ran on a treadmill in over a year (with the exception of the 1 mile run I did the week after Ironman), so not much will change there. Except I will be doing more on trails. And barefoot.

So, yeah, some pretty exciting changes for 2010 for me. Hopefully I'll have happy updates as I incorporate everything into my new routines. Cheers!

2010

It's going to be impossible to top 2009. It was one of the most amazing years of my life. But I want to carry some of that energy and excitement into 2010. My main goals are: lose weight and get faster. Specifically: I will get closer to my goal weight of 145 lb. I will break 30min in a 5k. I will break 22 mph at the VBC Thursday night time trials. I will PR at Vineman 70.3.

Other things running around in my mind -- trail running, ultramarathons, and barefoot running. This is all very new territory. New challenges. And that's what gets me going. I recently bought a book on trails in the Portland area. I picked out some shorter distance trail races. If I like those, then I'll be signing up for an ultra towards the end of next season. As far as barefoot running goes, I don't think that it is a possibility for me until I drop some weight. But I'm doing some research and seriously considering integrating very short barefoot sessions into my training plan. Well, as soon as temps get out of the 30s. In the meantime, I have a lot of running to do to be ready for my 2010 season.

1/24 - Vancouver Lake Half Marathon (signed up)
2/20 - Hagg Lake Trail Run - 25k
3/16 - Shamrock Run - 5k, 8k, or 15k
4/3 - Beaver Freezer Sprint Tri
5/2 - Eugene Marathon (signed up)
5/30 - Forest Park Trail Run - 10k or 20k (or 50k, but not likely yet)
6/5 or 6 - Blue Lake Sprint or Oly Tri
6/20 - Livestrong Century Ride (signed up)
7/18 - Vineman 70.3 (signed up)
7/24 (?) - Mt Hood PCT Ultra - 50k (probably won't be ready yet, maybe I'll volunteer)
8/27-28 - Hood-to-Coast Relay (signed up)
9/11 (?) - McKenzie River Trail Run - 50k (thinking this will be my first ultramarathon)
10/10 - Portland Marathon or Half Marathon

Monday Update

It's been a challenging week on the health front. For starters, the "no cookie" thing isn't going so well. Two days after my last blog post, a care package from my Mom showed up on the doorstep. Full of homemade chex mix and Christmas cookies. Argh! I have ZERO will power when it comes to cookies. They were gone in less than 48 hours.

Also, I've gained 3 pounds this week. THREE pounds in ONE week. So much for my goal of a 1 pound loss. I'm sure some of this is from the cookie box, some is probably catching up with me from the car trip home (in which I ate lots of cookies), and the rest I will credit to Mother Nature's biological gift. Such fun.

On a happy note, I had a fabulous week with friends and with Ken. I came home from work each night, changed into my comfies, and spent time with The Hubs. I haven't been able to do that in months. I had an alcoholic drink at 10am on a Saturday. Awesome. We got our Christmas tree. We actually went out to a party, and I am proud to stay that I lasted past 9pm. I ate lots of cookies there. We slept in one day. Did some Christmas shopping. Basically, normal life stuff. Stuff that has been missing since April.

And while normal life is great, and something I could really get used to, I have a half marathon...and then a marathon...looming. I'll probably semi-wing the half. Train just enough to avoid injury. But I want to PR at the marathon, so starting in January, I'll be gettin to it. Right now, I'm still trying to balance getting some workouts in with making sure I recover both mentally and physically. I'm working out when I feel like it (which isn't very often), but trying to ease back into a routine.

So, my goals for this week:
-- Run some.
-- Not gain weight.
-- Develop some form of a healthy diet. This is much harder than I imagined.

Moving Along

The focus of my blog over the last year has been Ironman. Now that it's over, there's this big gap in my schedule. In my conversations. In my thoughts. Oh dear, I did not realize how one-track minded I had become! Time for a shift in focus.

Yesterday started the first day towards hitting my final weight loss goals. I have lost around 50 pounds over the last 3-4 years (give or take 5, depending on cookie consumption). I have maintained this for about a year. But I still have about 25 to go. IM training wasn't very conducive for weight loss -- lots of sugary stuff during training, constant stress on the body, insane appetite, stressful schedule, not enough sleep. But now I have no excuse.

I have my new starting weight, measurements, and goals. The weight goals will probably change as I go, as I will periodically check my body fat composition (I don't have access to a reliable method on a weekly basis). Stay tuned for progress reports!

12/1/2009:
Weight = 169 lb

Goals for the week = lose 1 lb, continue working out for recovery (runs of 20-30 minutes, zone 2 rides, swims less than 1000m), plan/shop for/stick to a healthy menu plan

Long term goals = weight of 145 lb, body fat of 20-22%, eat for energy and not for comfort, be healthy!

Race Photos

My Mom told me that I had to order the professional race photos. So I did. :-)

Swim start from the helicopter. The turn around is just a bit past the first bridge (Rural Road) that you can see in the distance. We ran over that bridge 6 times during the run course. The path on the right side of the "lake" is also part of the run course. Another one of the swim start, but from water level. It doesn't look so bad!Me coming out of the water. My goggle-eyes are S-E-X-Y! You should see it close-up. Even sexier.

Me on the bike. Take note of the sweet smooooth pavement underneath me. That was awesome. And my stylin' arm warmers (tube socks with the toes cut off). I was in my happy place here.

Me starting the run. Quite the flattering pose, no? Huh, I don't remember doing the chicken-dance during the race. Actually, I think I had just headed out of T2 (note the slathering of sunscreen all over me) and was thinking "boobies = chaffage = ooooowie".

Another one just out of T2. "Seriously? A marathon? Um, I don't think I thought this through very well. Well, shoot."

And how awesome do you think I was feeling when this one was taken.

And now the good parts. :-)

Finish line #1. My leg looks funny, and you can see the chaffing under my arms, but hey, it's the FINISH LINE!!!!

From a different angle.

And the grand finale!

The Stats

My overall times, paces, and places:

Swim
Time = 1:25:37
Pace = 2:16/100m
Division Place = 78/122
Overall Place = 1650/2516

T1
Time = 5:47

Bike
Time = 6:38:24
Pace = 16.9 mph
Division Place = 80/122
Overall Place = 1887/2516

T2
Time = 3:59

Run
Time = 6:17:20
Pace = 14:25 min/mile
Division Place = 111/122
Overall Place = 2147/2516

Total
Time = 14:31:06
Division Place = 99/122
Overall Place = 1983/2516

Part 3: The Run

By this point, I have ran 2.4 miles, rode 112 miles, and now I've changed clothes, lubed up, and am heading out for a marathon. I saw my Mom and Debbie and got hugs. This is so fun! I am surprised at how awesome I feel. I can totally do this! This feeling lasted exactly 1/2 mile. I was badly overheated and was starting to feel a little...funny. I ran by the very first mile marker on the ground. 1 mile. I can't write down what I wanted to do to that stupid sign. The guy next to me actually said out loud what he wanted to do with it. Okay, at least I'm not alone here.

I ran into the first aid station and went straight for the cold water. Ahhh. Then a cup of gatorade. It came right back up. Okie doke, no gatorade. I tried an orange slice. Nope, uh uh. A gel? Right back up. Oh crap. I grabbed more water. Poured some over my head and some down my throat. Ice went down the sports bra and into both fists. For the next 8 miles, nothing would stay down. I took in approximately 100 calories over the first 2 hours of the marathon. You don't have do be knowledgeable in endurance sports to know that this was NOT GOOD. If something didn't change fast, I was going to be in big trouble.

I ran across the support crew around mile 4.5. I was in the middle of my lowest point of the entire day. The edges of my mouth were lined with regurgitated gel. My calves and hamstrings were cramping up every 10 steps. I was crying. I wanted to jump into the lake and drown myself. Instead I gave Ken a hug (and a kiss...ewwwww, I bet that was gross for him) and kept moving forward. I remembered something I had heard during training "no matter how you feel during the day, good or bad, you can be sure it won't last." I had to believe that this wouldn't last either.

Somewhere towards the end of the 1st loop, the sun started to go down. Relief! I started to feel better, but wasn't quite ready to start eating yet. I saw my crew again and let them know things were about to get better. And it did! By the 2nd aid station on the 2nd loop, I was able to drink cola. Nectar of the gods, that stuff. Hmm, let's try a gel. Okay, no, that still won't work. Cola it is! And potato chips! And pretzels! My routine at each station became: wet sponge to wipe the sweat off my face, water, cola, chips, pretzels, cola, water. Run 1 mile and repeat. The only problem...the bottom of my right foot was becoming badly covered in blisters. Each step felt like a hundred sharp pebbles grinding through the skin. I wanted to run, but I couldn't. So I walked fast. Faster than some of the people running. I ran when I could, which wasn't often. But I was moving forward. The marathon was going to take me longer than I had hoped, but I was going to FINISH! I was going to become an IRONMAN!

On the 2nd half of the 2nd loop, I was able to access my special needs bag. I reapplied body glide. I took the poptart. I couldn't eat it, but I held onto it for like 2 miles. You do weird things at this point in the race. I took out the photo of Matthew McConaughey and laughed out loud. Thanks Jenn! A little bit later I saw my friend Angie's mother-in-law Barbara and brother-in-law Matt under a random bridge. I didn't even know she was in town! We hugged, they cheered, and it picked me up enough to finish the 2nd loop. By this time I was feeling AWESOME. Yes, I wanted to cut my foot off. But my legs weren't cramping, I had found a way to get calories without turning my stomach inside out, and I was over half way there! I power walked my way to the 3rd loop. I saw my crew again and we all screamed and laughed. 9 miles left! SINGLE DIGITS!!!

On the 3rd loop I started taking the chicken broth. It rivaled the cola in it's awesomeness. My new routine was: water, broth, cola, broth, cola, water. I ran/power walked from aid station to aid station, looking forward to the cola and the broth and the chips. I blocked out the pain in my body by dancing to the music at aid stations, talking to other athletes, high fiving the spectators. I was having so much fun again! I finished the first half of the 3rd loop and only had 5 miles left. Only 5 miles, but these were going to be the toughest 5 miles I had ever done. I saw Brian and Nadine here and they wanted to run with me a bit. I couldn't run, so they walked with me up a little hill. I got another mental boost from them, and started to run. Only 4 miles left! I got to my least favorite part of the course. It winds through a dark, empty park. Up and down some hills. Around a bridge. Out to the other side of the lake, but directly in line with the finish line. You can hear Mike Reilly and the music. Okay, only 3 miles and I get to be there too. Only a 5k left. I crossed back over the river to the Tempe Town park walkway. Onto the soft dirt path. Getting closer now. I started ripping the reflective tape off my shirt, fixed my hair as best I could, wiped the crud from my mouth. Gotta look good for the photos!

I passed the 25 mile marker and was running. 1 mile left now. I cheered silently. I wanted to celebrate, but there were people around me still on their second loop. I came to the split in the course and I got to turn left. Then I cheered! All of the pain was gone from my body. I saw Tom and Jon and their families. Hugs all around. I kept running. I found myself next to another athlete. He stopped and nodded for me to go ahead and have the chute all to myself. Thank you! I turned left and was blinded by the lights. Music boomed towards me. The crowd screamed. Somehow in all of this, I found my friends and family. I floated towards them (I was running on air now, not pavement). High fives and smiles and cheers. More high fives as I ran towards the finish. I made sure to listen for Mike Reilly saying my name. There it is! I crossed under the archway, threw my arms up in the air, and finally...I got to stop moving.

Matt, and his wife Heidi, caught me at the finish line. So cool. They held onto me tight. My legs weren't working so well anymore. They wrapped me in a space blanket. Someone else put the medal around my neck. I got a shirt. A hat. And then was put in front of the finisher's backdrop for another photo. Then they walked me to the family meet-up area and got me water and fries. Mmmmm, salty fries. My Mom, Debbie, and Ken came in and hugged me. Julie, Jeff, Brian, Nadine, Kristin, and Lorin were on the other side of the fence to congratulate me. The only thing better than crossing the finish line and becoming an Ironman, was getting to see my family and favorite people at the end. I wish I could bottle up how I felt at that moment. There really is nothing like it.

I sat there babbling gibberish for about 20 minutes. Then I started to shiver and it was time to go home. I wanted to stay to watch the midnight finishers, but my body needed to leave. Next time I'll stay and watch.

It's worth mentioning a HUGE thank you to the volunteers. This event wouldn't happen without them. It takes over 3000 volunteers to help 2500 of us to the finish line. Amazing! And another thank you to my friends and family. The support I received this year is unreal. I cry every time I think about you guys and how awesome this year was. Thank you!!!!