Ironman World Championship

Our friend, Heidi, is racing in Kona today, you can follow her here

https://track.rtrt.me/e/IRM-WORLDCHAMPIONSHIP-2017#/tracker/RKBGDTZP

Ironmans Injury

My Ironman has an injury and hasn't been working out. He's using the barn building as an excuse and though I appreciate it, he needs to get busy building up his body. Hes got a big race in November to FINISH and do it well.
From some of his comments hes made it sounds like he wants to use his injury to get a pass on the race this year and defer till next year. Um, NO. I paid for him to do it THIS year, not next year.
I was checking out the calendar and I wouldn't be able to do it till 2020 if I remained on-call at work, since we can't take days off of Thanksgiving week.

The barn/lean-too

is now completely off the arena, its a lot lighter & brighter in there. But if we are smart it can stay light and bright, with use of windows and clear roof panels.

He has been moving dirt out of the way to make room for cement. Its going to need 6 inches of sand + 4-6 inches of cement so hes got a lot of dirt to move.

After The Run

I wanted to wait before running again to see what happened with the foot, what kinds of weird pain it might have caused.

There was normal tiredness the first evening but it wasn't hurting.

The second day though, it felt like my sock was folded down a lot more than ever before. I actually took off my shoe twice to check it and of course both times it was fine.

Yesterday I didn't run, wore the usual compression footies and it felt fine, today I wore regular footies, not compression and after just an hour or 2 it felt fatigued. Changed socks and its fine again so I will just plan on wearing them for a lot longer.

 

I have 2 friends racing tomorrow in Ironman Boulder, excited for both. She's just happy to be there after a bad bike crash & torn rotator cuff just 10 months ago.

He is competing in his 12th Ironman event and after this he will qualify for Ironman World Championships in Kona. I've already told him if he makes it I'm going to be there to see his finish.

 

Horse related:

The barn work is going slowly, as I imagined it would. Without a bulldozer in the area to rent the ground work is taking 10 times the work. It has been fun doing the planning and measuring, making orange marks in the dirt.

60 feet long, 5 stalls

Not the straightest lines but this is just so we can imagine it



If we open this end of the covered arena and extend it, it will come out to this rock.

Sunshower & Roses in stalls

And Wifi in the aisle & Joey in  the arena

 

Joey & my girls were turned out in the front grassy pasture this morning for 2 hours, then when I went to bring them in all I had to do was whistle and they came to the gate to go to the back pasture. Slowly and calmly, no messing around. Good horses!

They are learning to come to my whistle and I love that.

 

Training is going OK

Lans Ironman training is going well. This week he is taking a break and getting a LOT of work done around the house; electrical right now, prepping for the wood floors.

For a month he was very serious about his training and now hes slacking off but that's OK, I built slacking time into his training plan. I'm very proud of his efforts and hes trying hard. His one downfall is pain in one calf so he can't run but hes been swimming and biking to his hearts content.

 

It seems like a lot now but the days will fly past and soon hes going to be thinking

'Shit man, where has all my training time gone? I'm not going to be ready!'

 

But I'll keep him on track as best I can.

 

Swimming 100's

I'm not doing my own Ironman this year but I'm helping Lan with his training for IMAZ.

 

Tonight I timed his 50's & 100's:

 

WARM UP

600 easy swim, holding proper form and letting your HR rise to 70% by the end. (ALTERNATE SET: Trim this to 400 Swim)

Intermediate set: 4 x 50 hard (@80-85%) w/15 sec rest after each

1. 39.00

2. 44.09

3. 43.17

4. 42.95

Average 42.73

MAIN SET -- BIG TARGET!

10 x 100 @race pace (85+%) w/10 sec rest between each

1.   1:30.09

2.   1:38.32

3.

4.   1:39.58

5.   1:33.51

6.   1:38.20

7.   1:39.02

8.   1:36.14

9.   1:41.34

10. 1:39.55

Average 1:37.10

-- keep track of your total time (add up the time for each of the 100's) and record the average pace per 100 in your log book, for future reference.

(ALTERNATE SET: 8 x 100)

COOL DOWN

6 x 50 @60% w/10 sec rest after each

 

 

He was supposed to follow up with a 35 minute run but his calf has been bothering him. If its not better in 2 weeks I'll insist he goes to his doctor.

 

The following poem was written by a friend, super cute

 

Now that it is December, I can spread the holiday cheer! :-)

Sweat drops on muscles and blister prevention;
New Ignite hoodies and convertible mittens;
Cool event t-shirts and tattoos with wings;...
These are a few of my favorite things!

Pizza and burgers and all kinds of pasta;
Chicken and rice ‘cause it makes me run fasta;
Custom race bibs next to finisher blings;
These are a few of my favorite things!
When it’s hot out;
When it’s raining;
When my brick goes bad;
I try to remember I’m paying for this and I don’t want my coach to be mad!
Race belts and run gels and Blue Steel for Rashes;
Electrolyte supplements and avoiding bike crashes;
Mike Reilly’s voice each time my phone rings;
These are a few of my favorite things!
Bright colored bike shoes and pushing the big gear;
Well fitted wetsuits and goggles that stay clear;
Corndogs and donuts and food fit for Kings;
These are a few of my favorite things!
When it’s dark out and I’m worn out;
When I don’t think I can;
I simply remember my favorite things -
And that I finished IRONMAN!
~Gnay Galloway

Results IMAZ 2016

Dave didn't Finish, as NO ONE thought he would. He 'CRASHED' on his bike at about mile 40 and had to stop. Whaaa. Poor big baby. He didn't finish a single race or long ride this summer because every time, SOMEONE ELSE made him crash or 'hit him with their car'... EVERY time. So no one is surprised.
His swim was OK, 1:46:45.

Ironman Arizona 2017

I'll find a way to get there, even if I have to call in sick.

 

Lan will be racing and I'll be damned if I make him go alone. I'll drive the car down and probably back or he can drive it back and I'll fly...

 

But this next year is going to be dedicated to his race.

 

He asked a local coach to help him but as far as I know Lan hasn't heard back yet. I'll be pissed off if the coach doesn't at least tell him personally why not, if he doesn't want to coach him. Lan has tons of potential to do very well at IMAZ, even in the largest A/G.

 

At Vineman he was 96th out of 217 in his A/G and he admits to being under trained. If he had a coach, someone that would demand accountability, then he could get into the top 25% and that's HUGE. He won't listen to me though so I can't help him at all and he's going to have to speak up when he has a problem, any problem.

35 Hours

Officially counting down the hours till we leave for Kona and Maui,

currently at

.

I still have packing to do but I've made arrangements for the dogs, cats, horses and chickens. I've gone shopping for the house sitter and made sure all the animals have enough food to last. The VETERINARIAN EMERGENCY CONCENT FORM has been filled out, printed and signed.

 

I've purchased enough snacks to feed an army on the plane because you never know how long it's going to be before your next meal and who knows what kind of crap they're going to feed ya.

 

I didn't want to get stuck with a big ass heavy carry on but Hawaiian charges $25 for a checked bag so I have to get everything in the carry on and the small backpack.

Backpack still has room but the carry on is getting loaded. I can still unzip the extra 2 inches all around if needed.

What we have done before on trips is go light and come back heavy, purchasing big ass bags where we are at so we only have to pay one way to check them. We've done it before in Hawaii and England and the junk store is by the old jail.

Kona & Maui

We'll be leaving in 4 days.

Holding My Breath

Suzie hasn't gotten back to me yet about her early registration slot for IMAZ so I'm still not 100% sure if I'll be getting it or not but I'm already planning things. Diet, exercise plan, logistics.

I'm TRYING to lose weight now but that's just not happening but I am slimming down. Shakeology once a day plus 4-5 other small meals with some protein at each meal. Some of those meals might just be 12 almonds but that's keeping my metabolism going. Lan thinks I need to eat less but I've been reading more and more about menopausal women needing to eat more. I'm eating less but its better for me food more often.

I'm once again going to use the plan I had for my previous Ironmans. I'm not going to hire a coach and have them give me a plan that's just like this one or not as good and I only have to be accountable to ME. I'm not going to lie to anyone or myself and say I've been riding 76 miles when I only went 45. If I don't do a workout it will only be ME who suffers.
The plan is really good, it doesn't say RIDE YOUR BIKE 45 MILES or RIDE FOR AN HOUR, it actually gives me a workout to do, most on the bike trainer.

Sunday  RUN 1:10

You might find it helpful to mentally break this run into 35:00 chunks. I always find that to be more manageable than a full hour, for some reason, and it helps maintain the focus throughout this longer duration.

             Spend the first 20:00 getting into it, watching your HR slowly get above 60%
            2 x 20:00 @75% w/5:00 @60-65% in between
            BIKE 0:30  Immediately after the run...hold the intensity @70-75%
            RUN 0:50  I'm going to ask you to really challenge yourself here -- time to up the tempo and close out your week with a bang. Remember, you've got tomorrow off, so go out there and make this a strong effort. 
You'll be starting with a fast tempo right out of the blocks:  2 x 15:00 above 80% w/10:00 @60% after each

Run  6.6 miles / 1:20
Bike 14 miles / :50  
Run 4.0 miles / :50

The above workout was in week 27, which was a 'competitive season' week. Not only did I use the training plan but I also kept track of how much time & miles I completed, and for the bike I rode more than 2283 miles between Christmas and IMAZ 11 months later. About 400 miles run and only 20 miles swam.

I'll be honest here, I could have trained a lot more, with my work schedule all jacked up due to working odd hours, I missed a lot of workouts. This time it can be different. If I just do 50% of the missed ones in addition to the ones I did, I'll be flying high.

But this fucking plantar fasciitis needs to get better. This is so fucked up.

No weight lost yet

Weighed the same this morning.
Today I went swimming, not hard or fast, swam about 1/3 mile slow, open water without a wetsuit. Swam the way back faster and beat Linda out of the water.

Came home & did a 10 minute legs video.
After work I did the upper body 21 day fix.
Tracking all exercise and food intake.

I better start losing weight soon.

Today I made another big life change. Transferred my entry into the Marine Corp Marathon (October 30 in Arlington, VA) and am making plans to do another Ironman race in 2017.

Hoping I can get in to the one I want.

 

Which is

IRONMAN ARIZONA 2017

 

Suzie has an early entry into it so I asked her if she doesn't use, may I please have it and she said maybe. She wants to do Chatty again. But I'm sure she will give her early entry to someone else that she likes better than me.

 

Lori sent me a text the other day, saying shes got the bug and would I like to do it again with her. I asked Lan, he said I can't whine to him about training. I promised I'd only whine half as much as last time.

 

 MCM was and still is on my bucket list and I'll enter the lottery again when I don't have something else going on at that time of year. This year its Hawaii for the Ironman Championships.

I also want Lan to have a chance to do another Ironman, I can't hog them all.

And I cried over this decision.

Open Water Swim

 

Today was the first real swim since Ironman.

 

Afterward, I snapped this picture, literally half a second after the sun slipped behind the mountains.

A beautiful way to end a wonderful day.



2016 Vineman 70.3

Lan raced Vineman 70.3 on Sunday in Windsor, California

 

The swim and T1 are 20 miles away, in Guerneville in the heart of the Sonoma Valley wine region.

The 1.2 mile swim is in the Russian River, 4-6 feet deep in most places but only about 12" deep at the turn so athletes had to walk the turn around.

 

  Lans swim wave was the 4th to start, 16 minutes after the pros started their swim. First wave after the pros was the 35-40 yr old women, then 3 waves of 45-49 yr old men.

 

 

 

Pros came out of the water in about 25 minutes.

 

Craig Alexander and Andy Potts are just two of the pros in this shot.

 

 

Here is T1

 

Lans swim was 38:01, he was 118th in his age group

 T1 was 4:10

 

The bike was on a rolling hills course through wine country.

The pros finished the 56 mile bike in about 2:10.

 

Here are Craig Alexander and Andy Potts with a couple other pro men heading out on the run and they are after it. These guys were #3, 4 & 5, the other 2 were ahead by 90 seconds.

 

A short time later Lan finished his bike, in 2:47:18,

an average of 20:08mph.

69th in his age group.

 

 

Right about the time he finished his ride the pro men finished their 13.1 mile run;

Andy Potts was the winner with about 3:48.

 

Lan, almost falling as he heads out on his run.

His T2 time was 6:15

 

Here are the pro men chatting after the race, still in the finishers chute.

 

There is Lan in the yellow shirt as he finished his run with a time of 2:17:09,

he was 96th in his age group.

 

Total race time was 5:52:23

There were 217 men in his age group and 1996 total athletes competed.

 

Just happy to be done.

Black Diamond Triathlon

 

Once again I'm in for the Black Diamond Long Course triathlon in Enumclaw, WA.

This year on September 10th.

 

I finished last year in 7:38:50

with times of

Swim~ 50:13

T1~ 4:48

Bike~ 3:39:38

T2~ 3:09

Run~ 3:00:59

 

All I have to do this year is beat each one by 1 second and I'll be good.

 

The next day is Tri Turtle Tri, our local sprint put on by Lisa every year; my fastest time on that was 2:00:26 so all I gotta do is beat 2 hours. This is weird, my fastest TTT was 2011, I also did it in 2013 but took 2 minutes longer and least year I was the bike in a relay team and I was still slower. Geesh.

Nationals

I woke up this morning wanting to do something nice for someone, someone who means a lot to me. I offered to pay Windys registration fee for her to go to Nationals since she qualified too (1:21:45, 8th in her A/G) and she is going. But she totally shot me down.

Made me feel like a heel for trying. Hurt my feelings and pissed me off.
She just doesn't get it, that I can't go but if I could pay her fee then I will feel a lot fucking better about NOT GOING. I'd feel like I was there, just a little bit.

Congratulations from USA Triathlon

Congratulations from USA Triathlon

Congratulations Denise! You have qualified for the Olympic-distance race at the 2016 USA Triathlon Age Group National Championships on Aug. 13 in Omaha, Nebraska, after finishing in the top 10 percent in your age group at the Iron Girl Seattle. 

 

        

             
    Registration is now open. To register, look for an email invitation with the registration link to hit your inbox within the next business day. If you do not see an email in your inbox, please check your junk/spam folder before contacting USA Triathlon. This event has sold out in past years and is likely to sell out again in 2016, so be sure to claim your spot on the starting line early. If you would like to participate in the Sprint National Championships on Aug. 14 in Omaha – either in addition to, or lieu of, the Olympic-distance race – simply CLICK HERE to register.

The USA Triathlon Olympic-Distance National Championships race is the nation’s premier amateur Olympic-distance event with top athletes from all 50 states forming one of the most prestigious age-group fields in the sport. The top 18 finishers from each age group will also automatically qualify to represent Team USA at the 2017 International Triathlon Union (ITU) Age Group World Championships in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The dates of the 2017 ITU World Championships will be announced later this year, and additional information will be added to the Team USA website.

For more information on the 2016 USA Triathlon Olympic-Distance National Championships, please visit www.usatriathlon.org/nationalchampionships. Please note: Athletes must be current USA Triathlon annual members through Aug. 13, 2016, in order to register. You may register or renew your membership at www.usatriathlon.org.

 

I have been hoping for this email since last summer when I finished in 10th place at Iron Girl but since there were only 98 people in my age group I had no idea if I would qualify or not. And look at that, I did! So exciting for me, to be in the TOP 10 in the nation in my age group.

 

There are a few other ladies I know who qualified, Suzie, Barb, Heidi in my A/G alone, plus Windy in hers.

 

I wish I could go but I can't afford it with Hawaii in October and my work will never let me have the time off for sure in the middle of summer. And that just bums me out. To work so hard, to do so well and not be able to go the next step.

 

If Windy decides to go I'll help her any way I can, maybe give her some cash for a new jacket.

I DID IT!

16:11:33

Officially, I am an Ironman.

 

10 Days

No time for anything with all the work I have to do. Still have to swim 45 minutes and run an hour. Ugh. Might do a spin class instead.
Need to go get hay, its already loaded in the trailer. Took the truck over there last night with every intention of running home but she talked my ear off and I got 3.1 miles before Lan showed up to get me. Luckily I left him a note with my route.
This morning I spent 2 hours out in the barn cleaning stalls, feeding breakfast, filling 10 water buckets, getting dinners all set. Also had to fuck with the fence so I could get the girls out in the back and Joey & Rosie in the front but Wifi had other plans and wouldn't cooperate. I finally just left them out there and she found her way out to the piles of hay I had left & then I beat feet out there to close the fence off. Stinker.