OK, a few friends have asked for some updates on my Ironman training. I have signed up for the Revolution3 Full Triathlon on Sept. 12 at Cedar Point. (www.rev3tri.com)
It's on my 34th birthday. It's going to be a great day!

So I'm going to start posting some of my turning points in my training, or important moments or whatever.

Basically I am swimming, biking and running, both with friends and alone, just about every day.

I am also eating healthy for basically the first time in my life. I still indulge in sweets, but within certain parameters.

So here are some highlights from the past couple weeks. I'll start making new posts as I go. I'm just recapping to get started:

6/20/2010
UGH.
BIKE: 5h 04m 74.24 miles 14.65 Mi/hr
1:25 PM
Equipment:
Felt B2 Carbon

Wow, do I have a lot of work to do. This ride totally kicked my butt. I've done it before in other years, but this time was alone. I made the mistake of looking at the bottom of one of the pages of my google map route and it said 60 miles, so I thought the total ride was 60 miles, but as I got close to the end and I wasn't close to my destination, I got the maps out again and realized the total miles updates on each entry on Google Maps, and really the total ride was 71 miles. Then I made a wrong turn and added on a few more.
Actually, it was a lot of navigation and I handled it very well. The wrong turn was because I made a mistake preparing my cue sheet.
My endurance was terrible. By mile 40 I was ready to get off the bike, and I was already stopping for stretch breaks. When I found out I had 15 more miles instead of 5 more, I had an outright pity party on the side of the road. I laid down in the grass and everything. The situation was not helped by the fact that I was calling my mom frequently to update her on my position, because I was alone, and she kept offering to come pick me up, which was sounding better and better.
At mile 68, a mean dog chased me, and that really sucked, but I was surprised I had some speed left in my legs afterall!
This ride was from home to Indian Lake - my parents cottage. I planned to get there for dinner. Instead I got there in time to catch a ride back to Columbus. Dinner was all cleaned up. They saved some for me, but I was really nauseated by the time I finished the ride. I got in the lake to cool off, changed clothes and laid down on the couch and went into that half-there kind of sleep/rest. Sat up and drank a little 7Up (I am not a pop drinker, but nothing sounded good) and then moved to the backseat of my parents' truck, where I dozed most of the way home. I still don't feel like eating now. I know it will affect my recovery, but I also don't want to throw up.
That was my worst bike ride ever.
I have A LOT of work to do before Ironman. I am unfortunately not super excited about starting "cycling boot camp" for myself this week while dh and the kids are gone, because currently I would like to never see my bike again.

6/21/2010
Reflections
Looking back on yesterday, I'm realizing I actually haven't put in too many miles on my triathlon bike this year (as opposed to my road bike). I think most of the problem on my ride was not having enough time in THAT saddle. The aggressive position, the strength of my neck when I'm aero, etc.... All these things I haven't really done yet, because I put so many miles on my road bike getting ready for Little Smokies. After Smokies, I had an easy week, then the next weekend my long ride was pulling the kids in a family event, so I used the road bike again. So really this was my first long ride (50+) on the tri bike. No wonder it sucked!

I'm planning "Cycling boot camp" for this week, since David and the kids are gone to Florida.

6/23/2010
Outswam the boys today at the quarry

I had a fun morning. For some reason, my swimming was feeling really good today.
Additionally, all the collegiate swimmers didn't show up.
So it was me and the middle-aged guys who usually are slightly faster than me.

A little background:
Yesterday I did a ride with the group that was VERY hard and I got left behind for awhile. Afterward, one of the guys, Hutch, said he would run with me after the ride.
I am a 9-minute miler, and we ended up going at an 8:30-minute/mile pace that gradually sped up to a 7:50/mile pace. I hung on until the last 200 yards, when I fell behind.

(I like Hutch. He's a great guy, actually. We get along well.)

So today, Hutch and I swam about the same speed to the first two stopping points in the quarry, with the two other guys lagging behind us just a little. He said he thought it was the hardest he had ever swam that section. I was not out of breath at all. So on the third leg, I totally smoked him.

I knew Hutch was a little miffed because he is uber-competitive. When we stopped after the third section, he started complaining about how he hadn't eaten breakfast today, and woke up late, blah, blah, bellyache, blah.

That left just the last section back to the docks.

He usually lays it all out there and beats me to the docks no matter what.
But I totally poured it on and got there first!
When he got out of the water, I walked up to him and said, "That's payback for making me run 7:50 miles yesterday!"

I know I should not be so proud of beating him - - in a training swim, no less. But man, it feels good! Way better than the day all the collegiate swimmers showed up and none of the middle-aged guys, and I was dead last by about 200 yards on each leg of the swim. That was a rough day.


(I am starting to see why people enjoy training with groups!)

6-24-2010
Ramping it up
BIKE: 1h 22m 12s 22.70 miles 16.57 Mi/hr
6:08 AM
Felt B2 Carbon

Did the same bike ride as Tuesday, but a little bit slower. (Slightly less intense crowd.) Also, it's amazing how much I learned about handling in just two rides. I was able to take the corners much better today, and even accidentally dropped the other two for a minute when I was in the lead. (I was in the lead!!!)

6-24-2010
Sunset in running shoes
RUN: 2h 01m 12s 11.31 miles 10m 43s/Mi
6:27 PM

Very good easy, long run. My HR was legitimately low - in the 120 range. I would normally doubt that data is accurate, but I had my mouth closed and was breathing through my nose, so I think it is about right. It is very hot today, but the sun is setting so it wasn't too bad.
Discoveries: It's OK to go back to more padded, more structured shoes for a long run during a hard week of training, especially if my knees are feeling beaten up.
2) Cold water is tastier and I drink more of it, therefore I feel better.

6-26-2010
Cycling boot camp
BIKE: 3h 30m 53.00 miles 16.99 Mi/hr
Felt B2 Carbon

Rode with Justin - drafted most of the time. Wow, this ride felt great. Like, 50 miles? No big deal! I was purposely taking it easy to stay ready for tomorrow. I had a little unexpected speed work in the first 30 minutes when my route to meet Justin was closed and I had to go way around and didn't have his phone number, so tried to hurry.

6-27-2010
Yee-haw! Race course preview!
BIKE:5h 22m 58s 93.34 miles 17.34 Mi/hr
8:52 AM
Felt B2 Carbon

Wow, I did it! Look at that! 93 miles!
Of the group of 15 or so who turned out for Rev3 training day near Cedar Point, three of us ended up doing the Full Rev loop twice, like it will be in the race, but we skipped the out and back to the actual amusement park due to traffic. (And due to feeling like garbage after 93 miles!!) It was a scorcher, and we stopped 4 times at gas stations. (Not reflected in total time. Total time on the road was a little over 6 hours.)
I feel REALLY great about this (just like Amy said I would!). The course was pretty nice - once we got out of town, the roads were good, no broken glass, etc. The gas station people were nice. (We stopped at each one twice!)
My longest ride before this was a miserable 74 miles that took just about the same amount of time as this ride. What an improvement in a week! It helps a lot not being alone. Thanks to Steve and Kurt for sticking it out and doing the second loop.
I have to say a hamburger never tasted so good as it did today.
I want to add that I did a fair amount of drafting. Not the entire time, but a lot. But I am still 2.5 months out. Soon I will be able to do it without drafting and without so many gas station breaks.