RACE WEEK..........

Race week is here! 

Great start to the week getting this message from my coach:

"You are ready. You are brave. You are strong. You are confident.
Rest your body. Rest your mind. And build your soul: I am ready. I am brave. I am strong. I am confident."

Lisa has been amazing!  She's coached me now for 2 years to get me to this point.  I can't thank her enough!  

So here's the days leading up to Sunday (RACE DAY).

Monday - REST day! 

The day didn't start out well.  As I was leaving for work in my subdivision, I came upon an accident.  A young woman was hit while walking and killed.  I couldn't stop shaking.  It was so surreal!  I run that road all the time and never once have I felt unsafe.  Life is just so damn short!  We never know when our time will be!  I made it to work late and all I could think about was the 2 families involved.  So tragic.  So many lives changed all in one second! I had so many calls and text messages from people checking on me.  It was just a very blah day.    

Tuesday -  20 min swim, 30 min bike, 30 min run

20 min swim = 800 yards  Felt kind of odd only doing 20 minutes, but I was thankful for a short workout.  I didn't sleep well.  Still got the accident in my neighborhood weighing heavy on my heart.  I feel it's most likely just a terrible accident, but now 2 families are forever changed. :( 

Was going to do my bike and run after work... ended up only doing run.  I got distracted on my run thinking about the accident.  Just so sad.  When I finished my short run, I checked my supper I had left in the oven and then totally forgot about doing a short bike.  Just too much on my mind I guess.  Run was HOT which means I'm still thinking about this race coming up in a few days and this HEAT!  I'm hydrating every day and hoping this will help me not start out behind. 

Wednesday - 15 min swim, 25 min bike, 15 min run

Slept in and skipped the 15 min swim.  I just felt like I needed the sleep.   Plus my sciatic nerve and hip woke me up a few times during the night.. geez!!! Why!!!!  I had read on the FB Ironman page about different Podcast people planned to listen to as they did their long drives to Chattanooga.  Yes, so many are already in Chattanooga!  I've never listened to a Podcast so I decided to try one.  I listened to Crushing Iron #305 - How to race smart - especially in heat.  It was really good and the guy lives in Chattanooga and talked about the race!  I really needed to hear his message.   And as I drove out of my neighborhood to work, they now have flowers laying beside the road where the young girl was killed.  My heart just seemed to stop as I drove by.   

Bike 25 min - didn't feel like biking outside so I found a Peloton class that was similar to my workout I needed and did a class with Robin.  I felt great.  Afterwards I went outside to do my 15 min run and my neighbors were walking so I ended up walking with them.  Everyone in our hood is still just in shock over what has happen.  

Started getting my race stuff together.  I have stuff laid out all over one of our extra bedrooms!  It takes a lot of stuff to do an Ironman! You are doing 3 different things.. swimming, biking, and running!

Thursday - REST 

Packing and Packing and more packing is the plan!!! I kind of wish I had taken off work on this day!!! But with me being off all next week to go see Gary's mom, there was no way for me to take another day off.   However, it sure would have been nice to pack and kind of chill at home instead of being at work.  I can barely think about work.  All my thoughts are on traveling and the race!! Plus I'm looking forward to a week with my MIL where I won't have to clean house or cook and maybe I'll get in several naps. :>) 

Got to have lunch with 2 of my good friends that I know will be praying for me on Sunday.  Love you Frank & Krista!  You'll never know how much your support means to me. :>) 


This will be my last post until after the race....So here's my next few days leading up to Sunday:

Friday - Travel to Chatty... bike check, leg check, maybe swim on site ??  Get a feel for where everything is at.  Go to athlete check-in and briefing on race.  Opening ceremonies for race at 6pm. 


Saturday - Rest --- (Note: don't stay on your feet all day!  Rest and be ready for race on Sunday! HYDRATE... HYDRATE... HYDRATE) Check bike in with bike and run bags.  Make sure you have everything laid out that you'll need and in it's proper bag!


SUNDAY - RACE DAY 

Well.. that's it for now... I hope my next blog post will be a race recap of me completing my goal.  It's been a long 2 years.  I know I'm ready.  I know I can do this.  I've done the training.  AND now I pray that all things will come together for me on race day so that I can cross that finish line.  I would love for all of you to pray for me, please.  Sunday is going to be a very hot and long day.  All I can do is go out with God by my side and TRI (get that try.. TRI.. hee hee... ). 

It will all start and end here!

I love this! Its from another Ironman race, but the saying holds true for any Ironman race! I hope I have my "gratitude" on Sunday!  They say if you can't do something with a smile on your face then you aren't doing it right.  :>)

T-1 week!!!

1 week..... 1 week.... 1 week... then RACE

I can hardly believe it!! 

Here's what my week looked like last week:

Monday - Rest day (however I swapped Monday & Tuesday because I had to go to Jackson on Tuesday for an event) ... So Swim - 1,700 yards 

Swim went good.  I focused on my stroke and tried to mentally picture swimming in the river at a calm pace.  

Tuesday - Rest day...  

The company I work for host a PGA tournament.  Tuesday they  have a women's event.  I love going to the event.  

I won the cookbook on our table! Yippie

It was so neat watching Wyatt paint this chicken during our lunch.  And then they drew for a winner!! I was shocked.  I thought they would auction it off.  Some lady was a lucky winner! 

Wednesday - Run & Bike .. not a brick (didn't get the bike in, but got the run in)

I spend the night at the Golf event so I could watch my boss play the next day.  Krista and I were able to get in a morning run together since she was there.  I really enjoyed our time together! 

 We sent our friend Frank our picture.  He normally runs with Krista when she's home.  He sent back that it must of rained where Krista was running.  He always gives her a hard time about sweating.  It was HOT! 

 Ran into my friend Tommy who just retired from Sanderson!  Good to see him at the Chalet!

My boss waving to us as he's walking the first hole.  My coworker Randall and his son was his caddy. :>)  It was so HOT!! 98 degrees!  I only walked a little and decided I had to get out of that heat!  I'm supposed to be on taper and letting my body get ready for my big race so I did not need to walk all 18 holes in that heat!  
It was a nice distraction to keep my mind off my upcoming race, but I was pretty tired when I got home.  We had stayed up way too late in the chicken coop.... that's what they call the ball room at the hotel where everyone gathers at night to socialize. :>)  

Thursday - Rest day...  

So glad for REST!  Although I had to play catchup all day at work from being out for 2 days! grrrrrrr  Got a message from a guy in Meridian that is also doing chatty.  He's a member of the Mississippi Coffee Runners group.  We chatted a little bit about the race.  He's done the half ironman there 4 times!  I told him I was worried about this heat.  He said his trainer had him drinking Pedialyte now until the day b4 the race.  Said that cramps had cost him his first attempt at the Chatty full.  So guess what?  I purchased me some at lunch.  I mean what could it hurt?  I want to be ready to conquer this heat! 

Friday - Swim 2,000 yards

Oh it felt GREAT to do that last 2,000 yard practice swim! I had a BIG old smile on my face afterwards!  Then I prayed ... Dear Lord, Just let me finish this weekend without any injuries.  Keep me safe and get me to race day so I can cross that finish line with your help.  In Jesus name, Amen.

Saturday - 40 mile bike + 1 mile run

Originally the plan was to bike on Sunday and I was going to do the Southern Magnolia bike ride on the coast.  Then I mentioned to Lisa about me biking on Saturday instead so I could go to church on Sunday.  She said she liked that idea even better.  So I did an easy 40 mile bike followed by a 1 mile brick run.  I was very cautious on the bike ride.  I kept remember that last year I wrecked this same weekend and was out of the race.  So I stayed focused on the road ahead of me and just rode easy.  I ended up seeing 2 others that are also doing Chatty and 2 that are doing Augusta Ironman next weekend.   We all chatted about how we were riding easy and trying to stay safe.  I felt so much better about not waiting and driving to the coast on Sunday for the Magnolia ride.  I had a huge smile on my face most of the bike ride and I shed a few tears.  Not sad tears, but joyful tears that things were coming together for race day.  I was pumped when I was finished and I thank God for keeping me safe.

Then..... later that day I received a message from my friend Jennifer, who has also been training for Chatty with me.  She didn't bike with me Saturday morning because she was doing a 5K with a friend that morning, so she planned to bike later around her house.  She texted me to tell me she had just wrecked her bike.  My heart just sank!! She will be seeing an Ortho doc next week, but she's pretty sure she has a fractured clavicle!! I am so heart broken.  I really had hoped we might see each other along the course at some point.  But I'm more heartbroken that she wrecked.  I know how it feels.  You are mad at yourself and wonder WHY!  All the training!   I remember feeling so lost after my wreck.  But somehow, I feel now that it was all part of God's plan for me.  I feel different this year.  I can't really explain it, but I'm ready to do this. 

 Praying maybe Jennifer will get better news from her ortho doc next week!  Cause I'm sure gonna miss her if she can't go! 

Sunday - 1 hour run

It was cool Sunday morning and my run felt great.  Maybe it is because I was so relieved the bike was over and I did not wreck.  :>). I still have a couple of short workouts this week just to keep my muscles ready for race day so I'm still taking it one day at a time and thanking God each day that I survive without any injuries.  

This Mississippi girl is ready! 

Being delivered to Chatty next weekend

Someone shared this on the Chattanooga ironman fb page. I had to share... so true. Why couldn’t the weather be like this weekend? I literally had chill bumps on my bike yesterday when I started out. So cool. 

Next Sunday calling for 98-99 in Chattanooga fo race 😱. The last time it was this hot for the race was 2016 and 39% of the racers DNF (did not finish).  😢

We can’t control the heat. But we can control our attitude and the choices we make during the race. I plan to race with God as my guide. Slow and steady. Don’t sweat the heat, just focus on one piece at a time and stay hydrated leaving it all in God’s hands.  🙏🙏🙏. 

On a side note... wonder how many cool arm sleeves and cooling towels have been ordered on Amazon the last couple of days by racers trying to prepare for the heat? 🙋🏻‍♀️🙋🏻‍♀️

Dear Lord, give me rest, give me focus, give me faith, give me confidence and let the next few days leading up to next Sunday be focused on you and not stressing over things I can’t control. 🙏❤️ in Christ name, amen.

My friend is making these shirts for my family to wear on race day! 

Well.... the hay is in the barn.  Time to rest and focus mentally.  This time next Sunday I should be well on my bike in the race God willing. :>)

Philippians 4:13

T - 2 weeks! Or .......14 days!!!

9/29/19 is in 14 days!!!

Did someone say it's taper time????????

AND trust me... I'm moody.. ha  AND I cry at everything!  I even started crying while running on Sunday.  I started picturing the finish line and broke down crying.  I'm sure  people that passed me was wondering what's wrong with her today.   I'm just all emotional so excuse me if you see me and I'm acting a little cray cray.... 

So here's what my week looked like last week:

Monday - REST DAY 

My friend has a shirt that says, "My everything hurts and I'm dying".  She has worn it several times to some of our marathons.  Today I felt like I needed a shirt that says, "I'm stiff all over and just plain TIRED".   So thankful for a rest day!  If only I didn't have to go to work. 

Tuesday - 2,800 yard swim

Felt like a slow moving turtle!  And actually turtles look pretty graceful while swimming to me.. ha 

But I sure didn't.  I tried to focus more on my stroke since my friend told me that she noticed that I bring my arm way too far over and cross in front of my face.  I shouldn't be doing that.  I so wish I had paid for swimming lessons at this point!  but 2 weeks is not enough time to learn something new..... so I'll just do what I can do to try to not do that as much and maybe it will help my swimming time.  Basically I still just felt TIRED.   Sitting at my desk afterwards at work was NOT fun.  I just wanted to go home and SLEEP for days! So glad I have a private office.  I closed my door at lunch and closed my eyes for a good 30 minutes after I ate.  

Wednesday - 45 min bike

How about a Peloton ride? Yep, I think I will! I didn't feel near as tired as I did on Monday or Tuesday.  Thank goodness!  I was so tired those days my whole body ached like I was getting sick! So glad Wednesday was a better day!
I choose this climb ride.  Matt has done the famous climb called Sa Calobra and wanted us to experience it.  I love when he does this!  He talks while he is teaching us telling us details that literally make you feel like you are there and it's almost like you can see the scenery.  It kind of makes you forget you are climbing... And he just gives awesome tips and he's such an inspiration!  

Thursday - 45 min run

Whoa.... talk about feeling like your legs have 20 pound weights on them!  I decided to sleep in and run after work was my first mistake.  93 degrees with heat index of 101 when 5 o'clock roll around!  I sure was wishing I had ran that morning b4 work when it was 73 degrees!  However, this heat does not seem to be letting up!! I could very well be running with it 100 degrees in 2 weeks at Chatty!  I'm praying NOT.. but it could happen.  Right now Chattanooga is very dry and hot.  Not much rain (so no good river flow) and the heat has not let up!  This is going to mean no fast swim if something doesn't change.  :(   My legs were so heavy when I started running that I honestly didn't know if I'd be able to get in the small speed drills.  I managed somehow, but I was so glad when it was over and I was soaked with sweat.  

Friday - 2,000 yard swim

A continuous swim today.  Try to not push hard off the wall and just swim continuously was the goal.  I swam easy and tried once again to focus on my stroke and not my time.  It seemed to go by fairly fast and I was glad.  I was tired the rest of the day.  I'm longing for several days of rest after this race is over.  :>)

Debated on skipping the Zach Little memorial ride on Saturday all afternoon on Friday.  I ran into a friend at lunch who was stressing to me to be careful the next 2 weeks and not wreck like last year and then I read a post on the IM FB page where a guy was recommending riding inside on trainer for the next 2 weeks to avoid any crazy accidents.  He said he had several accidents leading up to IM races that would put him out so now he rides inside when it's this close to race day.  All afternoon I kept going back and forth with the idea.  I do want to be safe and I have seen some crazy accidents on the trace.  Matter of fact last year on this exact ride a guy hit one of those bumps and wrecked breaking his collar bone I believe.  I know we can't control everything.  When God says it's our time... it's our time no matter how careful we are trying to be.  Anything can happen anywhere.  I don't want to live in fear, but I sure want to make it to this race this year and since I tend to be a tad clumsy..... maybe it's a good idea for me to just ride my Peloton 3 hours tomorrow and skip going to the crowded ride on the trace ... ?????  

Saturday - Zach Little bike ride - 50 miles plus 1 hour brick run

So Friday night when I went to bed I was tired of tossing around the idea of staying home to ride Peloton or going to bike ride.  So I prayed for God to give me a peace about it one way or another.  Saturday morning when I woke up I had a peace about just staying home and riding.  So that's what I did.  At this point it's not like I could get any more fit.  The hay is in the barn as they say.  I asked one of my friends if she thought I was running from fear.  She told me that I had already conquered my fear.  I got back up after my bike wreck and I've been training hard for months riding outside on the roads.  I also knew I'd get more from my Peloton than the ride on the trace.  It was a memorial bike ride for a kid that died of cancer.  It would have many bikers that don't normally bike.  It was more of a fun thing than a training thing.  So I did 2 - 90 minute power zone endurance rides to equal my 3 hours I needed.  I started with Matt, who I love.

Matt is an incredible teacher.  He's also done an ironman so he knows all about endurance.  If you haven't taken a 90 minute power zone ride, try it.  I hope I'll remember so many things that Matt said during the ride when I'm trying to finish my ironman.  

After Matt I did a 90 minute power zone ride with Christine.  I haven't taken her before.  To look at her you might think she's not a biker.  See she's not small and all perfectly muscular like someone who you'd think was fit.  It's kind of like what God teaches us.  We can't look at the outward appearance of someone.  We must look within.  Trust me, if you haven't done any races, you should go volunteer or watch.  You'll be surprised at all the shapes and sizes of people doing the race.  It's not our outside that gets us there.  It's what is deep inside us!  Yes, there is a physical part, but there is an even bigger mental part.  

Anyway, her class was good and I was surprised to hear her talk about her bike races and she's even raced at worlds!  My quads and hamstrings were really yelling when I was done. 

After the 3 hour bike, I had a 1 hour run.  My daughter showed up with her dog and my son's dog that she was dog sitting and we did 2 miles together and then I fished my hour alone.  I felt pretty good on Saturday which made me feel good because all week I was just so tired.  Zoie was a hand full.  She isn't trained to walk or jog on a leash.  All she wanted to do was run off and chase everything.  I thought she was going to pull our arms out of place.  I swear she could pull a wagon all by her self! She's strong as an ox!  And then look at that sweet baby laying up in the chair by Erin.  :>) 

I ended up getting a tad too much sun that afternoon with Erin at the pool.  But I LOVED spending time with my daughter!

Sunday - 1 hour 30 min run

Sunday came quick.  I got up and put on some food for lunch in the crockpot and got my run in so I could make church.  I was so happy to be back in the Lord's house!  I've missed church the past couple of Sundays with long workouts.  We had a great service and I felt so blessed.  I had texted Erin to tell her I was cooking lunch so she showed up not long after I got home from church and then we ended up waxing her car!  It may of been work, but sometimes you do things just to spend time with your family no matter if work is involved.  You get to visit and find out what all is going on in their life. :>).  Her car sure needed it!  She doesn't have a carport so her car is parked out in yard under a tree.  It was nice and shinny when we finished.  We worked together and it made it go by faster.  

When we finished we both went out to my parents.  Erin lives out by them.  My baby brother Travis ended up rebuilding Erin's front steps that were starting to rot.  I was thankful that my baby brother was also out visiting my parents and he was nice enough to fix Erin up.  I don't know what I'd do without my FAMILY.  Travis has done many things for me other the years.  I'm so BLESSED! All this work actually kept my mind from wondering and thinking of crazy stuff us racers think of when we are tapering.... like.... Are we ready? Can we do this??? Are we sure we are ready??? and it goes on and on......

So what's the purpose of tapering?  Hopefully so you can peak on race day.  :>) Praying for a peak on September 29!  and I'm sure gonna need all the prayers I can get from my peeps to help me. 

Bring on another week.... countdown continues 

T-3 Weeks!

T-3 weeks..... 3 weekends left to train before the big day!

When I saw my schedule posted last Sunday night I honestly said ... what the HECK!  My coach must be cray cray.  Another LONG weekend with a LONG bike and LONG run!  I thought I was hitting the taper mode... :>)   But I know she knows what is best.  She's been there and she's also in the middle of training for her own ironman so I must trust her.  Plus ..... they all say this is the time that training gets hard and we just need to hold on because the wonderful day is coming soon where you'll reap your benefits of putting in those hours of training.  However, I am literally over the hours and hours of riding a bike, lap after lap of swimming & miles after miles on my feet for those long runs! ... but we MUST press on.....   So that's my plan.  Grin and bear it as they say. :>)  

Monday - 5K (3.1 mile run)  .. Didn't happen 

I had full intentions of going to Hattiesburg for a local 5K to not race, but just enjoy an easy 3.1 miles with friends as a recovery run after my long weekend.  However, my washer decided to act a fool and a young teenager was killed in a car accident over the weekend with her funeral being on Monday.  I ended up spending over half the day finding a washing machine and with a very heaviness on my heart for the Clark family.  I was just sad.  Then an unplanned thing happened that changed my mood.  Both my kids showed up at my house late that afternoon unexpectedly to get in the pool and just chill.  I ended up running to the grocery store to get some steaks to grill and we had a wonderful afternoon of doing nothing but chilling by the pool and we ended the night playing cards.  I felt so blessed!! Sometimes the best things are unplanned. :>)  Oh and me & Erin beat Brett and Whitney in our card game.. SWEET. :>) 

They don't like me snapping pictures.. .but I grabbed this quick one.   I told them I want to start doing game night at least once a month.  We don't spend enough time together.  

Tuesday - 1,500 yard swim

Love this distance.  My neck and left shoulder usually doesn't start bothering me and it goes by so fast!  I'm in and out of the pool in no time.  Thank you for recovery swims! 

Wednesday - Brick... Bike 1 hour 15 min followed by 20 min run

Get up early and get it over!  Plus I had hair appointment after work so I wanted to get it done early.  Got to get those gray hairs covered!  Felt pretty good today. 

Thursday - REST 

Love me some rest days. ha. Plus our grandson that lives in Jackson was coming to town for a football game so we got to see him!  Hate we live in different towns.  Makes it hard for us to get to many of their activities with our jobs. 

Friday - LONG SWIM... 4,224 yards ...thought I was done with these until race day.. ha 

Wasn't sure I'd get this in or not.  My left neck and down my shoulder have been bothering me all week really bad.  I started taking some left over 800 mg ibuprofen I had left from my PF in my foot to see if I could get some relief.  Feels like a bad bad crick in my neck that radiates down my left shoulder.  Happens usually after long swim and long bikes.... grrrrr.    but I managed to get in my swim today.  Got it done before work and then was tired the rest of the day. ha  Still wondering how this is going to feel on race day when I have 116 miles on bike and 26.2 miles on foot after swimming 2.4 miles!  At least I'll be moving.  I think the sitting at my desk after a long swim just makes me want to go to sleep! 

Saturday - LONG bike AGAIN.. 110 miles

Whew.... heat warning for our town... YUK...  Rode 42 loops with Jed's bike group to get in some hills.  I hung back so I wouldn't over do since I had many miles to ride after they were all done.   Ended up riding with a young guy who did Ironman Texas back in April.  He said he had not rode much since then so he was also not pushing it.  We chatted for a good while about training and stuff.  I was glad to have the company!  When we finished the loop, I restocked my water and fuel and was back out on the trace riding alone.  Boy I missed my friend Jennifer!  She was at the beach doing the Brett Robinson TRI with her swamp donkeys. :>).  It was HOT and BORING.  I ended up getting 101 miles instead of the 110.   I was so over the heat and my neck and shoulder were killing me that I just didn't have it in me to go back out form 9 more miles.  So I called it quits and went home to get out of the heat.  

 Thought of Jennifer each time I passed this sign.  The last time we rode long she said she never wanted to see this sign again.. ha

Sunday - LONG run AGAIN .. 22 miler

Up early and back at it.  I planned to do 1 loop with 12 miles and refuel at vehicle and then do another loop of 10 miles to try to get my 22 miles.  I ran on the trace for a little over a mile and then turned off on a road that I've rode my bike on that has some hills.  Lisa had said for me to try to get in some hills on my long run so that was my goal.  The first loop went really well.  I felt good except I was sweating a ton!  It was humid and hot.  I felt like I was doing a good job hydrating at this point.  So I started the 2nd loop.  By now the sun was full blaze and the road with the hills had no shade basically so I was really starting to get HOT.  My feet were sloshing so bad in my shoes.  There wasn't much shade on the trace either!  Leaves are falling off the trees everywhere so the sun just beams through.  By the time I reached 17 miles, I felt sick.  I was so hot.  I decided it was time to walk more.  I did not want the cramps to come back.  So I walked and walked and walked.   I drank so much cold water from the water fountain when I got back in to my vehicle.   Oh my gosh it felt so GOOD!  I didn't make the 22 miles.  I got 20.75 miles in and called it quits.   I'm OVER the heat!! Please let there be cooler temps in 3 weeks!  

 I usually keep my MS50 headband (or whatever you call them) wrapped on my wrist to wipe sweat when it's HOT.   Boy it felt good to let this cold water run on it and then squeeze it out on the back of my neck! 

Got me a nice bike/run tan going on.... ha.  I use to come home and lay by my pool after biking or running, but not here lately.  It's just too HOT and when I'm done exercising, I do NOT want to be hot again.

I'm so thankful for churches that stream live on Sunday.  I've listened to several here lately on Sunday when I'm running.  I need my church time.  :>).  I'm excited that next Sunday my run is not this LONG and I should be able to make church! YIPPIE.   A church friend asked me last week if I had quit coming to church. 
:<).  I explained to him that I had not quit.  I am just into the really long training weekends and it's hard to fit it all in.  

Last long weekend done! Yippie.  Tapper now.   Still have some long bricks with 50 mile bike followed my hour run, but no more 100s till race day!  I hope God will use me though this journey to inspire others.   It's never too late to go for your dreams!  Just look at me at 53 trying for my first full ironman!

Heard this song while running on my worship channel and It's exactly how I feel.  Click on the link to hear the song or the words or below:

Lord I offer you my Life

~~Lord, I offer my life to You

Everything I've been through

Use it for Your glory

Lord I offer my days to You

Lifting my praise to You 

As a pleasing sacrifice

Lord I offer You my life

Things in the past

Things yet unseen

Wishes and dreams that are yet to come true

All of my hopes

And all of my plans

My heart and my hands are lifted to You

Lord, I offer my life to You

Everything I've been through

Use it for Your glory

Lord I offer my days to You

Lifting my praise to You

As a pleasing sacrifice

Lord I offer You my life

And Lord, I offer my life to You

Everything I've been through

Use it for Your glory

Lord I offer my days to You

Lifting my praise to You 

As a pleasing sacrifice

Lord I offer You my life

Lord I offer You my life~~

Happy Training.. D

T - 4 Weeks till Ironman Chattanooga, TN

No Worries, PLEASE

"So don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries.  Today's trouble is enough for today."

Matthew 6:34 NLT

Jesus, help me to place all my concerns in your capable hands so that I can be free to praise you as you deserve! 

This is my prayer most every day.  Trust him and not worry cause Lord knows the closer it gets to race day the more crazy thoughts that go through my head!  

So here's my week:

Monday - 1,600 yard recovery swim .....  I was pretty tried Sunday night after my long weekend and really didn't want to swim the next morning.  But I got up anyway and made it to the pool where I found LONG lanes.  I use to hate when they'd turn the pool around to long lanes, but now I embrace them. :>)   I was in and out in roughly 40 minutes with a nice recovery swim.  Felt pretty good.  

Tuesday - Rest day ....  Now when I say rest day, I don't mean I laid around all day.  I still get up and go to work.  LOL   AND usually rest day is the day I get my housework done because all the other days I'm just too tired!  I remember when one of my friends was training for her first ironman.  She would tell me how she had not done housework in forever.  She didn't want anyone to come see her because she said they would literally wash & dry clothes and leave them piled all over the couch.  No time to fold and put them up.  Her and her husband were both training at the same time.   I totally get it now.  I haven't deep cleaned my house in over 2 years... YIKES.  

Wednesday - Bike ... Depending on healing in the private area.. :>) Well, I'm happy to report I was able to get in a hour ride on my peloton.  I did one of Matt's power zone endurance rides.  The ride is more about building endurance than racing at a high speed to see who you can beat.  He stresses to stay in your zones.... build endurance.   It was a great class and I was excited to be able to do it without much pain down in my chaffing area.  

Thursday - 45 min bike + 15 min brick run

Yay another Peloton ride.  I took one of Dennis' classes.  It was a mixture of intervals with some added arms.  Great class! Then I grabbed a quick 15 minute run.  Check out Dennis! 

Friday - 9 mile run 
I was off work because I was heading to Ga around lunch time so I enjoyed my morning by drinking my coffee and not having to get up at 4 or 4:30am!  Then I got in my 9 mile run before Jennifer and I left for Ga at lunch.  

Saturday - 2.4 mile swim... Chase the Hooch in Columbus, Ga

I had done this swim last year and it really pumped me up knowing I could swim 2.4 miles in a river before the race so I had mentioned it to Jennifer and we decided to go.  But then on Wednesday I kept reading info about this training camp at Chattanooga.  I couldn't get it off my mind.  I was so aggravated that I did not realize they were doing a camp.  They were going to swim, bike and run on the actual course for the ironman race!  So I told Jennifer about it.  But it would mean we would of spent two nights away from home.  She has a 13 year old so it wasn't good for her plus Thursday when I got to work and pulled up my hotel reservation for Ga, I couldn't cancel my room without a one night penalty.  So that was my answer to my prayer.  See I prayed and prayed for God to send me some sign as to whether I needed to skip Ga and go to Chattanooga or if I just needed to keep my original plans.  It's like my friend Krista reminded me..... I didn't have to go to Chattanooga for camp to really be prepared for the race because God will be right there by my side on race day.  He's with me every step of the way.  So I felt better about going on to GA.  

Even though I had done the swim before, I was still nervous that morning.  Jennifer and I arrived early and noticed there was barely any flow in the river.  Usually it has a good downstream flow.  When the race director starting briefing us before the swim she said the river was extremely low.  There would be spots you could literally walk if you got too far from the middle of the river..... so there was little flow.  This made us more nervous.  We were not going to have a nice current to help us!  We chatted with a woman as we were about to start and she told us she was training for Ironman Florida.  I asked her if she did the half ironman in Florida back in May.  She said yes, but I DNF on the swim.  I felt so bad for her, but I understood completely because that water was ROUGH and I didn't know if I'd make it! 

Jenn & I before the swim:

The river really is pretty.  It's a beautiful area.  I guess cause I was nervous I never noticed my watch was on pool swim and not on open water swim!!  When I finally finished which seemed like FOREVER! I was so glad to see the last buoy!  My watch said I had only done 200 meters!! LOL.  I could only laugh!  

    

  I had to manually adjust my distance..... and it still shows I only burned 4 calories.... hee hee...  My time wasn't as good as last year....that just shows what a current can do for your swim.  Here's my time from last year:

Jenn smoked the swim! She beat me by like 20 minutes.  I tell you..she's a BEAST!  and I Love her! We feed off of each other when training... or I feed off her! She pushes me.  

Here we are after we finished and our towel we got! Yay Quick shower and 5 hour drive back home to prepare for long bike on Sunday.

Sunday - 70 mile bike + 20 min run

So Jenn talked me into riding 100 with her!  She is going to be out of town the next 2 weekends and said it was her only time she could get 100 in and wanted to get it done.  So I told her I'd try depending on how I felt.  Well, I felt GREAT.  We rode 100 with no issues.  NO CRAMPS! and I just felt good!  We ran 20 minutes after and grabbed this pic:

I was pumped that I felt so good!  I've head a few bad workouts lately or ones that I just had no energy at the end, but today was a different story.  I felt really good.  I felt so good I came home and washed my vehicle.  I haven't done that in forever.  I've been coming home and crashing after a long workout.   I really think since I started hydrating differently that it has helped me.  Sometimes I feel I'm eating a ton of salt, but it's keeping me going when I'm sweating so bad.  

So this week was a good week for me.  Yay and I GIVE ALL THE GLORY TO GOD!! I COULD NEVER DO ALL THIS WITHOUT HIS STRENGTH.  

GUESS WHAT.....

Bib #'s are out! 

IT'S GETTING VERY REAL!! 

BRING ON ANOTHER WEEK.