Props to my spouse

He did it. Swam 2.4 miles in a mud soup garnished with flood debris (bottles, branches, socks, etc.), Biked 112 miles on a hilly course, open to cars, over the lake 4 times, and ran 26.2 miles of some of the steepest hills I have ever seen in KY. It was amazing to watch Gary compete in this event, and make it look so easy! I ran on the run course Saturday and Sunday for a total of about 27 miles for the weekend. My legs are still sore and my min/mile pace was about 1-1:30 slower than usual. While I was running I kept thinking to myself how is he going to do this??? He did and he had a great race.

AMAZING!



Way to go Gary!

Good Luck, Gary!

Gary and I are leaving for Lake Barkley this afternoon. He is competing in the full distance of the Runovia Triathlon on Saturday. What a stud! GOOD LUCK G!

Everyone should check out my cousin Jared's blog. He's pretty awesome.

IMMOO

Last weekend Beth, Jeff, Gary and I drove to Madison to watch Ironman Wisconsin. Despite the lack of sleep, running out of gas, running 16 miles by myself, cold rain, and getting lost near Chicago twice (my fault both times) we had a good time. Listen to me complain and I didn't even compete in the 140.6 mile race on Sunday. We actually went to, yikes, sign up for next year. Beth, her husband Eric, Jeff, and Gary are all experienced triathletes. Beth, and Eric have done 3 Ironman races, Jeff one, and Gary is doing one this coming weekend not to mention the numerous other triathlons they have done over the years. Nikki's count?...1. When was that? um, 1992. I was 12. However, I did win it. Now for my comeback. Why start with a sprint, or olympic distance, or even a half-iron? Why not just throw myself into a 2.4 mile open swim, 112 mile bike ride followed by a marathon? It will be fun! And easier than just training for a marathon? So these friends of mine keep telling me.

The swim
To be honest the swim doesn't worry me. Being in a wetsuit? Maybe. Out of the 3 disciplines this is definitely my forte, but my strength and speed is not quite where it used to be. I'll get through it.

The bike

This one is still very new to me. (That's my bike above) I am always asking silly novice questions about cycling that everyone else knows. I still have the little plastic thing on my rear wheel which apparently not cool. Gary did get me shoes for my birthday last month. Those and my hand me down Look pedals have made a huge difference. I thought it might be scary, but it's so much better than the toe clips. The most I have ridden as of yesterday is 42 miles. That's only about 1/3 of IM distance. Maybe it's because I haven't ridden much yet, but the bike doesn't scare me all that much either. It is a long ride, but every time I have been on my bike I have had so much fun, and I feel like I could ride all day. Let's hope I feel like that in Sept. 07

The run
I know I can run a marathon. I'm 26 days away from my 3rd marathon in less than 11 months. I am still newish to running, but I feel like I have a good endurance base like I've never had before. I also really enjoy running. But, out of swim bike run, the run part scares me the most. Running a marathon is one thing. Running a marathon after hours and hours of swimming and biking is another thing. I actually got a slight taste of that this weekend. I had a 2 1/2 hour run scheduled for yesterday and I also got invited to go for a bike ride. I have trouble saying no to riding, so I went, rode 42 miles, ate some spicy eggrolls and french fries and went for my run a few hours later. I have never felt worse. Note to runners: Spicy eggrolls and french fries are not a good pre-run meal. I know it wasn't just the eggrolls' fault, and I kept thinking to myself if I can't do this today how am I ever going to do an Ironman? I know I am training for a marathon right now and not triathlon, but it still felt a little daunting.

Along with my hesitations about this race, I am very excited. I really enjoy training, and I have such a great group of friends that are going to be doing this with me, and who wholeheartedly support me. Who could ask for more than that? Maybe to not run out of gas next year.

Goal Setting Decisions

These past few weeks of training have been nothing but great. I guess I was off to an emotionally rocky start with feeling like I was slow and out of shape but, as always, my confidence grows with each week. I am consistently putting in 40+ mile weeks and feeling great. Last weekend I did a 17 miler, probably a bit too fast, but my average HR was lower than I expected espically for the hills out at Todd's Road. That run was probably the most painful I have had so far. I think my body was just getting used to the longer pounding of the pavement. I recovered quickly and went on a 30 mile bike ride the next day and felt great.

This weekend I have a double weekend of a 1:40:00 run today and 1:40:00 run Sunday. My friends Lynn and Dave convinced me to run in town with the "Chevy Chasers" this morning. The group (all running the same route) broke off into a few different smaller groups and somehow I ended up in the lead group. Oops. The runners I was with are stronger runners than me and the first 5.5 miles were more like a tempo run. I was glad when we stopped for water and regrouped with everyone else. We ended up back at Starbucks (11 miles) so fast that I still had 10 minutes to run so the coffee would have to wait. I ran a few minutes with Lynn and Dave (both running Columbus) and we talked about goal times for the race. I hadn't thought about it much yet, but as we get closer to the race I start to wonder what I am capable of. Dave and Lynn want to go 3:45:00-3:50:00; both of those times would be an improvement on my last marathon of 3:55:xx. I know I am training smarter, and I feel a lot more fit, and faster than when I trained for Louisville. 3:40:00 would be my dream time but, do I really want to try for an 8:24 pace? I know I will be happier with anything faster than Louisville, but I know I won't be happy if I just try for 3:54:00.

6 weeks to figure this out...