Hattiesburg - DREAM bike ride 4-21-18

Charity Bike ride for DREAM.  

Dream of Hattiesburg is a non-profit, community-based substance abuse prevention agency.  Their mission is to prevent and/or reduce the abuse of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs.  So you know I was down for riding.  I love to help out organizations that help others.   And not to mention since I am in the middle of training for my first full Ironman race, the long distance bike miles are right up my alley.  

I also had a couple of friends join me.  :>)  I decided not to do the 100 miles because I am signed up to do 100 at the Natchez Trace on 5-7-18.  We all did the 65 miles except Frank.  He did the 30 miler and then waited on all of us to finish.  He was at the finish line ready to help us with our bikes, show us where food was at, and anything else we needed.  Honestly, he's like the best thing ever!  I wish I could take him to all my races. :>)  He's such a caring friend and wants to help all of us.  We all pick at him and tell him he has a "Harem" of women. :>) 

After rain for several weekends in a row, it turned out to be a beautiful morning for a bike ride.  They started the 100 milers first at 7am and then us at 7:30am.  The night before when I loaded my bike I noticed the back tire was almost flat.  I almost changed out the tube but decided to just air it up.  I should have changed the tube!  When I arrived at the site and began unloading my bike, my tire was flat.  I have yet to change a tire on my new bike so everything seemed to tight.  I worried with it for a good 10 minutes until the guys that were parked next to me told me that they had a bike tent up at the start line where they would change it for me real fast.  So I rushed to the tent.  See I didn't arrive till 30 minutes prior to start time because I knew it wasn't a race.  But at this point, I was mad at myself for not being earlier.  A guy I know was working and quickly asked me what was wrong.  He changed my tube, but when he went to air it up the stem on the tube was so short the portable pump they had would not attach and fill my tire.  So we rushed back to the parking lot to get my gear bag with my CO2 unit.  I just did make it back to the start line to meet my friends with them announcing they were starting us in 30 seconds.  Talk about being rushed!  All I could think about was that I had probably forgotten something that I would need on the ride.  I didn't even wish my friends good luck.   Mel grabbed a quick picture and we were off.  We are all different speeds so I knew we wouldn't be together for long as soon as the crowd thinned out on the trace.  

Us at the start line... Krista, me, Sonya & Mel.... not sure where Frank was at during this pic.  Notice we are in the back.  Krista has on her clip pedals that she just got so she did not want to start up in the crowd.  Mel and I gradually weaved our way around the crowd once on the trace and finally got a pretty good speed going.  When I passed the 2nd rest stop along the course she yelled at me and said, "Are you ever going to stop?".   I just laughed and told her my plan was not to stop till the half way point.  She didn't like that too much. hee hee..  She said the pickle juice sure smelled good at the rest stop we passed. :>)   For awhile she was drafting off me and then I lost her.  

I arrived at the half way mark and was averaging 17mph.  I was happy.  Going out tends to be a tiny bit of elevation in several spots so I knew coming back I could maintain that 17mph (or I hoped).  I have not maintained 17mph on longer distance miles since the Florida half ironman where I averaged 17.8 miles for the race.  I did average 17.8 at the sprint TRI the first of April, but that was only 17 miles.  Taking off for months really showed in my speed, but it's starting to return.  I quickly went to the bathroom, filled my water bottle and chatted with a young girl that had been riding neck and neck with me for a good 15 miles.  She introduced herself and wanted to know if I was training for something, etc.  She was sweet and reminded me of my friend Serina who never meets a stranger.  

As I was leaving out of the rest stop, Mel came in and wanted me to stay with her.  I told her I had to get going.  I had already stopped longer than I wanted to.  She grabbed a quick picture and told me she'd see me at the finish line. 

Aren't we cute. :>)

I was soon back out on the route.  A few times my legs would say they were tired, but I pushed to stay at that 17mph average.  I meet a very nice couple the last 15 miles.  We ended up pacing each other.  They were doing a shorter distance than me and had came up behind me.  We got to talking when we had to stop at one of the road crossings for a car.  They too asked me if I was training or just riding.  They both have done full ironman races.  They told me that Chattanooga was their first ironman.  They said I am going to love it.  So we talked about the race and paced each other until we crossed the finish line.  They are from Madison, Ms so not too far from me.  They will also be at the Natchez Trace ride that I'm doing in May.

 Frank was at the finish line waiting and took some pictures of me.

Thanks FRANK! 

My goal was to do the 65 miles in 4 hours.  I beat that time.  I ended up doing it in 3 hours 48 minutes, average pace 17.1 mph.   It might of been faster but the last 7 miles or so we had to stop several times for cars and a 5K race that was going on.  I thought the kids were going to make us wreck.  When you are clipped into your pedals...... it can be very nerve racking knowing you might have to try to clip out real fast to avoid a bad wreck.  You can't just hit your brakes and stop then put ya feet down because your feet are clipped into the pedals.  :>)

It wasn't long until Mel, Krista and Sonya made it in.  I was so proud of Krista... her longest ride to date!  

Of course we had to get a picture holding our bikes.  I had already put mine up on my car and Mel said I had to go get it. :>)  I LOVE IT. 

Mel, Krista, Sonya, & Me

It was a great day!  I made my goal and Krista also wanted to maintain a 15mph average and she averaged 15.2mph! Whoop Whoop .... You can do anything you put your mind too! She's working towards her first full marathon in December.  I can't wait to see her complete this journey. 

I have to give thanks to MEL!  She is our spin teacher and she kicks our butts in class.  I would not be as strong as I am if it wasn't for her.  I can beat her outside on the bike, but she beats me in spin class. :>)  I guess you can call it equal.  hee hee

Well that's a wrap for the 65 mile bike ride.  This week my coach as me on recovery.  Next weekend will be the 100 miler.  I hope we have good weather for that ride.  Looking forward to seeing my other friend Kathy Byrd riding.  

Happy Training,

D

Traditions Sprint TRI 4-7-18

First TRI of 2018!  I love this event.  However, it's usually very cold on race morning.  We've typically been standing around glad to be in our wet suits to try to stay warm!  But this year was totally different!  A huge front came in the area on Friday night and led to rain most of the night and Saturday morning.  I debated on not even driving the 90 miles to the race.  The forecast was still calling for 80-90% chance of rain at race time with high humidity.  I even thought about just stopping in Hattiesburg on my drive and running the half marathon there that was also the same day.  I hated that both races were the same day because I like to do both of them.  I decided to go on to the coast and hope for the best at the TRI.  Maybe because now that I have a coach I feel a little more accountable to what I do... hee hee  Otherwise I might of just talked myself into staying in that warm bed until mid day when the rain went away. :<>) 

It rained off and on the whole drive.  I was so dreading the bike ride on the wet roads!  When I arrived at the race site and headed to transition, I heard them announcing that they had pushed the race start back to 8:30am because the weather looked like it might clear at the point.  It was 6am when I got there so now I had a good long wait till race time.  It was still raining so most of us sit in our cars.  Heck, no one even put there stuff in transition until the last minute except for their bikes.  Most went ahead and took their bike in, but did not take their running shoes, etc.  No one wanted them to sit there in the rain while we waited for race time.  So I sat in my car and read my devotion and prayed.  I actually hoped they would just cancel the race and then I wouldn't have to get on my bike on the wet roads.  I couldn't remember exactly how hilly the bike route was, but didn't look forward to flying down a hill when the road was wet.  I get nervous enough flying down a hill.  Yep, I'm one of those crazies that will actually tap my brakes to slow myself down when going down a big hill.  Have you ever looked at how skinny those bike tires are???  LOL 

This was my devotion.  and I'll never forget what my coach, Lisa said... "remember... y'all are all in it together".  I wasn't the only one dreading the rain at the race.  Matter of fact, after the race I heard so many talking about how they almost didn't come due to the rain.  :>) 

As we finally lined up to start the swim, I heard one man say, "I can't remember the last time I swam in the rain".   It was still sprinkling, but by the time they made the announcements and was ready to start the race, the rain quit.  But I was still nervous about biking.  LOL  When I entered the water and my face went under...boy it was a shock.  It was COLD>  ha   I had not done a practice swim due to the rain.   It seemed everyone just sat in their cars.  Usually you'll see people jogging or swimming to warm up.   My swim was ok.  No panic attacks.  My time wasn't as good as last year, but close.  I was however thinking about my ironman that I'm training for and how I was going to have to swim over 4,000 yards for that and this sprint was only 600 yards.  Talk about scaring me. LOL  Thankful that I have a good 25 more weeks to train before ironman.  I will accomplish that 2.4 mile swim somehow! I may have to swim on back, side, free style, whatever.. but I plan to finish it! 

Ok.. back to this race.  ...   Once out of the water, I hurried to transition.  Because it was still raining at 8:15 when we had to leave our stuff in transition, most people had left their stuff in garbage bags to keep it dry.  I had done the same.  So I had to start getting my stuff out of my bag to get ready to get on my bike.  Took a little longer than I would have liked, but best I could do due to rain.  I was finally off on the bike.  The roads were wet and I was COLD after coming out of that water.  I quickly warmed up though once I hit the main road out of Traditions subdivision.  The rolling hills started.  They were constant.  I kept reminding myself to just pedal and stay alert due to the wetness.  I was shocked when I looked down at my watch to see that I was averaging a pretty good pace.  At times going up the hills it felt like I was going 2mph.  I had to stand up on 3 hills to push to the top.  I actually didn't feel like I caught my breath since the start of the race until about mile 9 on the bike.  It was then I finally felt like I settled in on my breathing.  I think all that sitting in my car was a bad thing.  I should have warmed up and got my heart pumping before the race started!

Boy I was shocked to have this pace on a wet road.  I was just thrilled! I think it made me hurry in transition to get on the run. :>)  I kept thinking that it just might be possible that I could come out in the top 10 in my age group.  There are usually some very fast TRI women in my age group!  Seems the older we get the faster they get! Last year my hip was bothering me so bad that I mostly walked the run so this year I was determined to have a good run.  And I did.  It felt good to run even after getting off the bike.  I managed a 9:36 pace overall on the run.  I was just tickled pink about that too! :>)  

 

It felt good to cross that finish line and I was so shocked after I went and changed clothes and came back to find out that I had placed 3rd in my age group!  Wow!!! 2nd time for me place in a short distance TRI.   

Notice that I'm 6 mins behind the 1st place winner... these girls are fast!

Our cute award.  An alligator painted on a piece of wood. :>) 

My cousin was also racing.  I couldn't find her anywhere when I finished which was unusual.  She is so much faster than me in swim that she normally finishes way before me.  I finally saw her coming in and went and meet her at the finish line.  She had a flat tire on her bike.  She doesn't like to change her own tires so she waited for someone to come do it.  She laughed and told me how she knew I could change a tire because she's watched me do it on the trace before, but she had no desire too if someone else could do it for her.  LOL   Somehow, even with her flat time, she managed to get 2nd place in her age group. :>)  We had someone take our picture before we loaded up to head home. 

She always encourages me.  She's done a full ironman and has been giving me all kinds of tips.  

Well, that's a wrap for the race.  I was glad the rain had tapered off and I felt really good about my performance and couldn't wait to tell Lisa so I sent her a message.  She was just thrilled.  

If you would have asked me 5-6 years ago if I would be doing TRIs, I'd say HECK NO  ... boy time can change a lot.  You are never too old to go for a new dream or new goal!  Especially with God by your side. :<>)  

HAPPY TRAINING!

D

Flora-Bama Beach Run for American Warriors - Half Marathon #34

What do you do if you have a 12 mile long run on schedule????  You find a half marathon because running with friends or others at a race is way more fun than running a long run alone. :>) Several of my Hattiesburg running peeps had told me they had done this race in the past and what a wonderful race it was because the money raised goes to military families.  So I decided if any of them were doing the race that I would join them.  A couple of us talked off and on for 2-3 weeks about going.  We were all watching the weather because every weekend we've had rain.  We didn't want to drive 2 1/2 hours to run in the rain.  The week before the race a couple of them found out it was going to be opening weekend for softball and baseball.  They have kids that play so that meant no going out of town for them.  It ended up only being me and Candy that could go.  We are 2 of the oldest... our kids are grown and gone.  That's one good thing about being in this "season" of life..... I don't have to plan my runs around kids activities.   

Candy warned me ahead of time ... she said... "this is going to be tough but fun"...   She had done the race before with the PPRF group (peer pressure running friends).  I kind of figured it was going to be tough because the whole 13.1 miles is on the BEACH.  Just thinking about how tough it can be walking in the sand during the summer told me to get prepared.  Candy and I were able to leave on Friday afternoon and stay at a friends condo that was 1/2 mile from start line.  Thanks to that sweet Friend!  It made it so much easier than getting up at 3am to drive down on race morning.  

The weather turned out beautiful!! It was 62 degrees when we started.  We did have a nice wind blowing too which made it feel cool coming off that water.  Candy's dad flew P38s in WW11.  So we had to get some pictures with the flags. 

Just look at that beautiful beach!!! 

 Me waiting to start... talking to my legs about getting prepared for that sand.. hee hee

I didn't keep the arm sleeves long.  I got warm within the first mile!  Boy that sand was tough!!! By mile 3 I told Candy that I was going to have to start listening to my watch beeps and do my run/walk program or I was not going to survive 13.1 miles in the sand.  She said that was good with her. :>)   I tried to grab a selfie of us.. but only got her and my shadow.

 Most of the runners tried to stay as close to the water as possible.  We were all hoping for hard packed sand there.... however, due to the tide, it was so soft that your foot would sink deep in the sand and most of the time the wave would come crashing in and you were soaking wet.  I went up on the dry sand several times hoping it would be easier up there, but it wasn't.  It was just plain hard running on that beach no matter what.  

Candy at the half way mark trying to get sand out of her shoes.  She took her shoes off and put them back on.  Our shoes were so full of sand and it all ended up right under your toes.  I felt like I had 10 pounds of sand under each foot.  I waited till mile 10 to take my shoes off and try to dump sand out and it didn't really help.  

By the half way mark, Candy had started talking to a lady that we stayed neck and neck with. We would get ahead of her on the run segment and then when we walked she would catch us.  She was doing a slow steady pace.  Candy is like another friend of mine that will strike up a conversation very easily.  I'm shy and quiet.  LOL  Anyway, Candy asked the lady how old she was and if she ran on the beach much.  The lady said she was 51 and she didn't live far from the beach.  We had both guessed she was older than 51.  

So you know what happen next... that competitive side of me kicked in. :>)  I told Candy that with her being 51 that meant she was in either our age group .. if they did 10 year awards.. or my age group if they did 5 year awards.   Candy is 57 and I'm 51 currently.   And that meant we needed to stay ahead of her... LOL   Candy told me to go on and not let her hold me back.  She said the sand was kicking her butt.  I told her we'd both run our race and not let either one hold each other back.  So when we made the turn at the half way mark, I picked up the pace.  I turned up my music and told myself that running 5 minutes in the sand faster than I had been running wasn't going to kill me... I'd get a walk break here and there..   

When I stopped at mile 10 to try to empty my shoes, I looked back and could not see Candy or the lady I was trying to stay ahead of.  I don't know how I got so far ahead of Candy.  She's STRONG.  But I will say that running on the beach was so mental...... well it was physical also.. but I really had to talk to myself to continue.  I had to keep saying.. this is going to suck... this is bad....... but I GOT THIS...   I was so glad that I KT taped my ankle.  I tend to have trouble with one of my ankles when I run on a trail or anywhere that my foot isn't on even ground.  So far my ankle was holding up and I only had 3 miles left.  

Boy I was so glad to see that finish line!  Here's a few pictures the race guy captured.  

As soon as I finished I walked back down to the water, took off my shoes and socks, tried to get the sand out by washing them in the waves.... while watching for Candy to come in.  It was like 5 minutes or so till I saw the lady coming in that I had wanted to stay ahead of.. but no Candy.  Then I thought I had missed her while washing my shoes... but all of a sudden I could make her out in the distance.  With my eye sight I can usually make someone out by the way they run before I can see their facial features... hee hee    I cheered her in and we grabbed a picture in the water. 

 We were both so glad it was over.. ha   

Our medals. :>) 

The race is not that big .. it's only their 5th year to host the race and there is also a big race called the Azalea Trail Run 10K that is the same day in Mobile, Alabama.  I hope next year they won't be on the same day.  Several of Team Run4TheKids did the Azalea run.  I missed running with them and seeing their smiling faces.  I saw several great pictures of them.  I just didn't want to run a 10K and then have extra miles to run afterwards to get my 12 miles in.  I'd rather get it all done at one time so I'd be ready for bike on Sunday.. however, the Azalea is always a fun 10K.  

Flora-Bama host the warrior race so all registration fees goes to S.O.W.F. ... that's the Special Operations Warrior Foundation.  They've raised $18,000 so far this year.  It was so nice seeing so many military families.  Really makes you appreciate what they do for our country! They had lots of food afterwards and we hung around for awards because we both knew we were probably placing in our age groups with it being a small race.  I normally don't place in half marathons..:>)   I only saw 2 females ahead of us during the half.  It was more men that ran the half marathon than females.  They also offered a 5K and the majority of people did that instead of the half.. guess they didn't want to do 13.1 miles in the sand.. ha

 

I got 1st place in my age group and the lady that I pushed so hard to stay ahead of got 2nd place.  When we went up to get our awards she said to me... "boy sister.. you kicked it in gear that 2nd half and I lost sight of you."  :>)  The guy giving us the awards just laughed and hugged us big time. ... He said he was big on hugs. :>)  

 I love my glass!

 Candy also got 1st place in her age group.  The awards were in 5 year age groups. 

We ended up staying on the beach a couple of hours and relaxing.  It was so NICE.

Took my St. Jude Igloo cooler.  I love this thing! and I love St. Jude! It was one of my hero gifts from last year.  

So that's a wrap on my half marathon in the sand.  I'm still shocked I pulled out a 2:33 time for a half in the sand!  I also thought I'd be so sore on Sunday and worried about my 65 mile bike ride.  I was so surprised that my legs were not really sore.  Even when I was riding my legs were not hurting.  It was my neck and shoulders that killed me on my long bike ride.  It's a common complaint among bikers on long rides.. however, my neck is weak and I started last night doing some exercises to try to strengthen it so maybe it won't hurt so bad on my long bike rides.  I have 75 coming up this weekend... :<>)   I'm building for a 100 miler (century ride) coming up in May. :>) and also training for that first full ironman coming up in September.  So this neck has got to improve. :>) I had planned to sew on Sunday night, but that didn't happen after that long bike.  I had to rest my neck for my "power" swim this am.  Yep, she titled it "Power" swim and boy it was... ha I had to talk to myself again... "this is going to suck!.. this is going to be hard! ... but I GOT THIS".    I know in the end it will make me stronger.  

Philippians 4:13

Hope you had a good running, biking or swimming weekend!  I'm so glad tomorrow is REST day for me. :>) 

Go for your dreams!  LIFE IS SHORT!

D

Rain ... Rain... GO AWAY

Another week is almost behind us.  Trying to figure out my weekend long run and long bike around RAIN!  I'm so dang tired of this rain every weekend.  It can be pretty all week long while I'm at work and then it's going to RAIN all weekend.  We've had a couple of nice weekends this year, but for the majority they've been RAIN.  My yard is so wet in spots that it's useless to mop or vacuum because we have a dog that comes in and out and his big old paw prints are all over.  I'm just OVER this rain!  BTW it has rained all day today.... calling for 80-100% all weekend!

So this week is 29 weeks till IMCHOO (Ironman Chattanooga).  How am I feeling?  Actually pretty good.  I am LOVING having a coach!  Each Sunday she gives me my workouts for the following week via Training Peaks.  It's an outlet that a lot of athletes use.  Your Garmin data will upload to it automatically.  She can see exactly what I'm doing and how I'm doing.  It holds me accountable.  :>)  Plus she sends me feedback.  :>)  I told her in the beginning that the swim is what concerns me the most.  She assured me she would make me confident and ready for that 2.4 mile swim.  Well........ boy the swim workouts sure have been different than anything I've done before.  I use to just go swim and try to swim as many laps as possible.  Now I'm working more on form ... and I'm also swimming many laps.  I swam 3 miles this week.  Did a brick.. That's a bike ride followed immediately by a run.  Yep, starting them early.  My coach says I'll be so glad come September. :>) 

 I also love that each week my training peaks calendar has a countdown showing me what's coming up.

Week 22 Columbus GA Tri (OLY)
Week 15 Kona Marathon
Week 12 Heatwave Classic TRI
Week 8 Natchez Ride - 100 Miles
Week 6 Hattiesburg Ride - 65 Miles
Week 4 Tra Tri - Sprint TRI

Training can be one of the hardest things no matter what you are training for.  You must put in the time if you want to succeed.  I know firsthand that if I skimp on workouts, I will pay for it come race day.  Augusta Half Ironman was one of the hardest and most rewarding things I had ever done.  Those last few miles of running in 93 degree weather was awful.  So I know the full ironman is going to be work.  It won't come easy.  

But a little faith and hard work...  I know I can do this! 

I hope whatever you are training for that your training is going well and you are putting in the time.  You'll be thankful in the end.

Happy training! 

D

Marathon #10 in the books..

Marathon #10 is in the books.... even if I wondered if it would happen or not. 

Work has just been crazy lately.  Seems most days we are here very late and some on the weekends.  It's hard to get your training in when that happens.  My husband even said to me... "I don't know why you signed up for that full ironman when you already come home exhausted everyday."   I tried to explain to him that I come home mentally exhausted not physically.  He doesn't get it.  He has very little stress at his job.  He's not keying numbers at a computer all day and staring at the numbers all day long trying to be a magician and predict the future. LOL  I told him that some days I seriously think I'd rather just be a Walmart greeter and not have to think. :<>)   And this is the one thing that concerns me about getting in my training for ironman.... Just praying work won't be rough come June, July & August! That's when I'll really be in the heat of my training. 

This is how I feel most days here lately.. OUT OF ORDER!

Oh that's enough of me complaining about work.  I do love my job most days.. just not here lately.  Let's get on to the race report. 

So I had not done a FULL marathon since Disney back in January, 2017... it's been a full year.  That dang bursitis really got me down last year along with a few other things... so I had a good long break from doing any full marathons.  I was nervous.  My running still isn't back up to par.  I'm basically doing a run/walk program for my long distance running and have felt good doing it.  

Notice the R4TK... Run4TheKids... I love to represent the kids! 

We meet up at the park and grabbed a picture with our awesome teammate who was pacing the 4:15 group.

A couple of  my running friends were also doing the full and had asked me to run with them.  It tends to make 26.2 miles go faster if you have a running partner. :>)  I had told them I would try, but planned to do my 5 minute run followed by 1 min walk.  Michelle said that was going to be too much walking for her and she didn't think her knees could take it. 

Waiting to start.. the wind was chilly.

So at the last minute I went against my plan and told her I'd try to just run with them and I hoped the water stops were going to be every mile so we could walk them.  Well, the water stations were more like every 2 miles.  

Not sure what mile this was at.... Michelle loves to go live on fb while running and take pictures so I never got my phone out to take any of my own.  :>) 

Basically I surprised myself because I was able to run.  We did walk each water stop and even stopped to go to the bathroom one time.  Now keep in mind we were not going fast.  Matter of fact when we would get to doing a 9:30 or so pace, Jamie would slow us back down to a 10:30 - 10:45.  We all knew we did not need to run too fast especially in the beginning because none of us 3 have been training hard lately.  By mile 17 my whole body hurt.  My toes were on FIRE!  Even though I had rubbed most of my body down with vaseline, I was starting to rub raw in several places.  It was so HOT!  My whole face was covered in salt.  AND to top it off they had changed the course since I last ran it.  We were now approaching a huge bridge that was a monster HILL!  We noticed that runners were also coming back over the bridge which meant we were going to have to do that bridge 2X... grrrrr...   Little did I know there would be 2 more bridges that were hills before we turned around to come back in to the finish.  

Now don't get me wrong.  I prefer a race with hills because there is a DOWNHILL side..... but since my longest run was 14 miles with 4 miles walking to get a total of 18 miles .... I was not ready for hills at the end of a marathon.  We decided to walk up and run down them.  

It was about mile 20-22 that we got to talking about our time.  Michelle realized that if she didn't walk much the last miles she could make a PR.  Even though me and her were both running our 10th marathon, she said she had never ran one under 5 hours.  I told her I had and there was no way I could make something better than a 4:30 to get me a PR so we encouraged her to run on.  She did and she got that PR!  And by shock with my walking I was able to pull out a 5:01 .... here's my watch time for proof :>)

Talk about being shocked after not running for several months.  I guess it was good to take a break.  Now 5 hours still ain't fast.... that's just a 11:30 pace ... but that's also for 26.2 miles. :>) I was happy with my time.  

We all finished with minutes of each other which was even sweeter.  We grabbed a few pictures before heading back to our hotels.

I love these peeps!  They are all so very inspiring and encouraging.  I'm glad I'll be with several of them in Hawaii to conquer the Kona Marathon in June. :>) 

BTW... I was sore as heck! That's the downside from not running much.  It kind of felt like my first marathon all over again.  Today is day 4 post marathon and my quads are still very sore tight.  I'm glad my coach gave me an easy week of workouts to recover.  However, she's got a swim program tomorrow that I'm going to have to google to understand what I'm supposed to do.  ha!  I've never had real swim training so this is going to be interesting. :>)  Looking forward to the challenge.  Change is good. :>) 

Happy running peeps!

Grab you some friends and get out there! 

D

Courage to leave that shore...........

You know that saying....  

Since the beginning of the year I've had this burning desire deep inside me.  I've been pushing it back down telling myself that there was just not enough time to be ready.  

Well, it just hasn't worked.  That desire just keeps coming back up.  So I've decided to pull the trigger and sign up.  I bet you're wondering what FOR by now...  we all know I like a little adventure and challenge.  Always signing up for crazy races like a warrior dash to crawl around in mud, Dopey challenge at Disney (who goes to Disney to get up at 2am every morning .. ha) or a Ragnar where you literally camp in a tent and run for 24 hours.  Some call me crazy.  I like to think of myself as adventurous.  However, this time my desire is bigger than the average fun race.  This will take a lot of dedicated training time.  It will take being mentally prepared.  Basically it will take A LOT!. 

Some say dream big and go for it..... 

So I've decided to go for it.  But not first before consulting a coach.  I've given her all access to my Garmin data.  She knows where I'm at and where I need to be by the end of September.  I told her I am nervous, scared and excited all wrapped into one big emotion.  She said she'd be worried if I wasn't scared.  LOL  She also told me that most her training plans are 20 weeks and I have over 30 weeks.  She says I can do it.  I trust her because she's done many of these races all over the world.  I've heard she's a great coach. I'm looking forward to working with her.  But most importantly .....

I believe my faith will guide me.  and I know he will always be with me.... 

So you've probably guessed by now.....

Yep, I've signed up for a full ironman on September 30!  I debated doing Florida in November because that would give me a little more time to train, but I tend to have bad luck on race day with ocean swims.  The swim is either canceled or the water is so rough I'm nauseous after the swim.  So I picked Chatty.  Plus everyone says it's really a great ironman for your FIRST FULL IRONMAN. 

Ever since Drew passed I just keep having this deep feeling how short life can be.  If you have a dream, why not go for it.  

I feel better than I've felt in months.  My training right now is going well.  I know come June, July & August that I will really know how I feel about this when my training will be at an extreme high.  I may ask why in the world did I decide to do this... or just maybe I'll say... YES, I'm so glad I did this.... either way... I wan to TRI

I hope all my friends will pray for me and encourage me as I begin this journey.  I attended a race seminar a few years ago and they talked a lot about goals...  once you set a goal say it out loud.... tell someone... then it kind of holds you accountable.  So now I've said it and told a few people.... ha  I feel also having a coach is going to hold me accountable...she'll probably kick my butt when she sees that I'm not giving it my best in training... :>) 

GO FOR YOUR DREAMS!

D