Winter blues

OK so for most of us in Colorado triathlon season is over. We are still having some incredible fall days - it was like in the 80s yesterday. But the weather is getting to be a little oscillating. Like this morning. I set my alarm for 6 a.m. And it went off. But I lifted up my eye covering and peeked out and it was still dark. It's just so freakin' hard to get out of bed to train when it's still freakin' dark. Not like dawn but dark. So I layed there. And of course I was late. I didnt' get to the gym until 7:10. Not good when I got an hour of lifting to do and 30 min of swimming and need to be to work by 9 a.m. I only ended up getting 1hr of strength training in. No swimming. But I'll swim tomorrow morning. Bike Saturday and Sunday cause it's supposed to be gorgeous out!

Even so I know that winter is coming. Which means cold runs. Colder bikes. Head lamps and a general change in my disposition. Oh well. This is the price we pay for glory right!

You're my hero...

The bar was smoky, hot and a little funky. It was about 6:45 p.m. and dusk was just settling in for it's comfy nap. I had just participated in my inaugural appearance at the Jack Quinn's Running Club Tuesday night run. It's basically a fun 5k run through the streets of downtown Colorado Springs. You meet at the bar, sign a waiver and then hit the street. I was doing the run only because I opened my big mouth atthe meeting of the Pikes Peak Triathlon Club my Triathlon Club the night before about doing more training things with the members of the club. So I sent an e-mail to the group and told them all to join me there.
Trouble is I woke up yesterday morning with a 3 mile run scheduled in my head. I hate running after work so I usually run in the morning. I'd totally forgot about the Tuesday night running club. So I rolled out of the bed and set off a running.

At the time I hadn't run in two weeks. I was still in recovery from the Half-Ironman I did on Sept. 17. Read about it!
But it was such a beautiful September morning - warm about 50 degrees, a little breezy and the sky was blue as a Carribbean waterfront. Lovely. How can you not run in that?
That question actually rushed through my mind. Four years ago, when I started doing triathlons I would have never thought about that. But that's what triathlon fun can do to you. Change your whole perspective on weather reports! :)
Instead of sunny and nice - I think perfect time to bike!
Instead of cold and windy - I think perfect time to run.
So I couldn't pass up the fun in the Fall sun. And instead of running 3 miles I eeked out 4 miles. It was slow about 13:47 a mile but hey it was a recovery run!
Even so I arrived at Jack Quinn's right on time at 6:00 ready to run. Another guy from my Tri club showed up - Ed.
Ed, an actual rocket scientist, and I ran/walked the 5K. He was tapering for a 1/2 Mary and I was just getting back into running. After the fun run, a dash by the free food buffet and, of course, a "Snakebite..."
I settled onto a bar stool with Ed and started to talk. As we were talking another PPer walked in. He had on our triclub hat.

"Hey, you're Ovetta right? He said.
"Yeah."
"I'm Ken. You know I met a friend of yours last week and I told her that you were my hero."
"Oh yeah, Monica. She told me. Wow, man what's that about."
"Well, my wife met you about two years ago at Criterium." Criterium is my local bike shop.
"Yeah," I said, nonplussed. I meet so many people. It's hard for me to keep them straight.
"Yeah, and you started talking about triathlons and you talked us into it."
"Holy Cow," I said. "Good for you."
"And now," Ken said. "I'm doing Ironman Florida next month. And it's all your fault."
We laughed and talked about our road to Ironman.
But it's really eerie, humbling and kind of fun to have someone actually say to you "you're my hero." Mostly because there are very few categories of people who actually desserve that term hero - despite's NBC's new show!
Heroes are people who fight wars.
Heroes are people who save lives.
Heroes are people who change the world.
I laughed off the comment. But inside I was beaming. I mean I certainly do not feel like a hero. Most days it takes an act of herculian effort just to get me out of bed. But when I think about all the things I've been through since doing my first triathlon in March of 2004 it seems heroic like.
Going from 260 pounds to a lot less.
Going from only being able to run 2 minutes at a time to running a 1/2 Marathon
Going from not being able to swim 25 yards in a pool without stopping to swimming two miles at a time.
Going from not being able to ride a bike for more than hour - crying when I hit more than hour to riding 60 miles.
It's definitely an accomplishment in my life. But still falls short of heroic.
Still it's nice to know that what you say can help motivate others.
I have to remember all the strides I made up to this point when it gets hard. When I can't run another step. When I can't stay on my bike a minute longer. I have to remember, "You are my hero..." and suck it up!

Back on the horse - Tri Season 2007

Well, I have been here in a while because I've been busy! I started to this blog to keep track of my progress in triathlon for posterity. But I haven't been documenting that progress much because of my busy triathlon season. I wish I could take the daily blogs that I do at my www.beginnertriathlete.com and import them here. Then everyone can see what kind of progress I'm making.

So I've decided to do some copying and pasting starting in April through September to show you guys what I've been doing. Here it goes.

Ok the whole copy and paste thing didn't work. Which means I have to actually blog here. Geez I write all day. I don't know if I can maintain this blog thing but I'll try.

It's about the bike - Part II

Had a really great bike today. Being a big girl biking is tough for me. I've got power but it's tough to haul all this up a hill. Still I'm getting leaner and really pushing myself on the bike. My training plan called for a high cadence ride today. I kept it up to about 120 pedal strokes a minute. The route was pretty flat - not too many hills and I was pleased with the 18.9 mph average. I'm liking the bike more. But I've got a 2.5 and 3 hour bike ride planned in a couple of weeks so we see how much I like my bike then. I want to get up to regular 4-5 hour bike rides but I'm having trouble finding routes I like. I don't like a lot of traffic. We'll see what I can find.

Travel Training

I work at a global company so I travel. Not extensively but when I do travel it's usually a week or two at a time. Which always puts me in a dilemma - how do I do triathlon training - specifically biking - when you're traveling to a developing country. There isn't exactly a 24-hour fitness in Burkina Faso. I'm going to South America on Saturday and all I can obsess about is how I'm going to get my training in. Good news though - the hotel I'm staying in is a luxury one and is along the beach so I can run there. Woo Hoo.

Anyway, I had an incredible bike ride this morning. Really pushed my cadence and it showed in my mph - about 18.9 average. I usually average about 14 mph so this was great. I've calculated and I have to average at least 18 mph over the 112 miles for me to finish my bike ride in the Ironman in six hours. That will give me plenty of time to run the marathon.

I know more than 50 weeks out this is all conjecture but I'm obsessing now so that I know what I'll have to work up to to get through and finish this damn thing on time.

It's about the bike

Boy I'm truly tired today. Did about 31 miles on the Air Force Academy campus. The Air Force Academy sits on 18,000 acres of some of the most pristine, beautiful and wonderful land in Colorado. And the best thing about it is I get to use it like it's my back yard. I try to ride there at least once a week - by trail or by road. Anyway, the Academy sits basically on a mountain so anywhwere you're riding there you're pretty much climbing. I had a 2.5 hour ride to do so I decided to do it there. I'm still granny-gearing it up the most uphill slopes. I'd like to at least 2nd gear it up those long, winding hills. I just didn't have the stuff today. Me and this chick played leap frog and I had her for a while but then I couldn't sustain it and poof, she was gone. She had a really high cadence. I've often wondered - if high gear high cadance is the ideal is it better to be able to go high gear low cadence or low gear high cadence? I need to speed up my cadence. This will of course help me go faster.
The bike is the portion I worry about most for the IM. I need to get through the bike in about 6 hours so I can walk the run if I have to ... not that I'm planning on it, 26.2 miles is a LONGGGGG way to walk.

So I need my butt in the saddle like white on rice so that I can get better at rotating those legs and hips. Oh well. At least I try!

358 days to go

OK so on Monday I signed up for Ironman Couer d'Alene in Couer d'Alene, Idaho. It was an exhilirating and terrifying experience all at once. I began doing triathlons in 2004. Just a year later I had already planned to do IMCDA. My plans got derailed by work, personal stuff and just general laziness but I came back in 07 with a vengence and I figured it's now or never.

There's something almost mystical about my need to do an Ironman. I mean probably 80 percent of the population doesn't even know what it is. This fact is verified by all the people who say "So when are you going to run the Ironman..." or "Is this a full triathlon..." as if any triathlon you do isn't full. But despite everyone's ignorance about my beloved triathlon sport I trudge on with my crazy notions of wanting to swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles and run 26.2 miles in one day. And it's not like I have to do it. I really want to do it. Who actually wants to do that? Guess I'm among the crazies.

I've often wondered what exactly made me sign up. I reread my tri log from 2005 and it freaked me out that I had already planned to do IMCDA in 2007. I had only been doing triathlons for a year. I'm definitely the poster-child for overachiever. And signing up for the IM is part of that cult of personality for me. But geez it's an Ironman - no small feat.

I secretly believe it's my need to be liked, loved and admired! :) How desperate and delusional is that. I mean it wasn't like I signed up for the Ironman in total silence. Like I just clicked the "enter" button and didn't tell anyone. Nope I talked about it beforehand. Put it in cyberspace. Sent an all user e-mail to my department (looking for accomodations I told myself...) made it a public pledge. But though I'm the world's most inwardly focused extrovert I'd much rather fly under the radar on this thing. Mostly because I do not like to fail. And more importantly I do not like others to know of my failures. I want people to think of me as the quit-witted, smart, stratetic thinker who rarely flups, missteps or makes mistakes. But if I don't finish...if I don't cross that finish line then the spotlight will not only be on me but my human frailty and failure.

Which is probably why I told everybody - it gives me no cushion. I have no excuse but to succeed and I believe that the human will to suceed can outlast, outwit, outdo anything that this world has ever come up with.

The race itself is almost incidental. I mean it's 17 hours out of my life. But it's the challenge that I find sallacious. Just like when I started doing triathlons in 2004 and I was 260 pounds. I know people in their head (never to my face - cause hey I'm a big girl) what does she think she's doing? And that made it all the more better. Sure Norman Stadler's going to finish an IM - I mean the man weighs in at a buck something and he's expected to. But me - a permanent BOPer who's fastest run ever is about a 13-min mile, who throws a freakin' party and revels when she gets above 18 mph on the bike, yeah me. I'll be doing one too.

And there it is folks - the journey makes all the difference.