April 26, 2008

So I'm now registered for an Ironman. Holy crap! What did I get myself into? I guess if I wasn't nervous it wouldn't be an Ironman, right?

Right now my focus is on having a PR for the Florida 70.3 race on May 18th. Matt will be in town and Mario is taking the day off of work so it will be nice to have some fans there to cheer me on. I think Adrienne, Nikki, Ellen, Steve and Morgan are going to be there, too. Last year when I did the race none of my family could come. That was kind of a bummer, but I did it just the same.

Last year's race was great. Hot, but I live in Florida so I should be used to it. I finished the race without training one bit. Not something I'm proud of, so this year I've been training. I've even started working out with a coach that I'm going to hire for IMAZ. I rode most of the race course with Lea and Brian last week. We weren't able to do the whole course because some of it is through Disney property and they block the rodes during the race. I did 18 yesterday. I am lucky in that I can ride some of the race course anytime. There is a stretch right near my house. I want to say it's around miles 30 to 50. It is the "hilly" part of the course. I know, I know, there really aren't hills in Florida, but this is as close as we get. I rode the 18 miles in 59:39. My goal as IMAZ gets closer is to knock that down by 15 minutes. Tomorrow after work my plan is to do 60. So all of those text messages I keep getting about going to O'Shuck's tonight? Yeah, I'll have to pass. Thanks.....

Swimming, let's talk about swimming.....what can I say except that I don't like it and I don't do it very well. I often wonder if something happened to me as a child and gave me some crazy fear. My mom doesn't like the water, so that could be where I get it. It may be to the point that if this doesn't get better I just might call a sports shrink. Oh, no, I'm not too proud-it's an Ironman for god's sake. I have to be able to swim.

I just bought a wetsuit....how cool are wetsuits? At least I won't drown in the Tempe Town Lake! Now Bay Lake on the 18th is another story (the Florida 70.3 isn't wet suit legal).

I'm meeting with Koren on Tuesday out at NTC so she can teach me how to swim. I think I might join the Master's Swim Program out there, too. We'll see. More on swimming later....I'm too bad at it right now to spend a lot of time on it.

The run....one would think that after running as many marathons as I have this would be the easy part. Is there an easy part of an Ironman? I've even heard of people practicing their transitions. I've been running a few times a week. I did 5 the other day and it was great. I have a new route that goes by all of these beautiful houses here in Windermere. I've started wearing a hat or a visor when I run. They are quite possibly the greatest invention ever! I was always worried I would get hot so I never wore one. Funny as it sounds, I started wearing one when I would run after my long bike rides. There was a cute guy and the bike helmet would mess up my hair! How pathetic am I? Anyway, I love visors now, mostly because they keep my hair out of my eyes and second they are great for the sun here in the Sunshine State. I have this great M-Dot visor. Can I wear it even though I've only done a 70.3? Hmmmm, am I being "that guy"? You know, the one who wears the race shirt on the day of the race. Well, even if I am "that guy" I wear the hat since it's a goal of mine. A goal that will be accomplished on November 23, 2008 in Tempe, Arizona.

Well, that's it for now. I didn't do any triaining today and it felt great! Tomorrow is the St. Anthony's tri in Clearwater. So bummed I'm not racing. Next year, I guess.

Until tomorrow....