Posts from — October 2008

OK, so I went for my LAST workout before the IM race begins- a simple/easy 15min swim was on the calendar for today.  Ah, not so much….

The waves are VERY strong today.  I’m hoping it won’t be like this tomorrow.  Lesson to all, this is a very good reason to learn bilateral breathing.  While going out to the first buoys, it was wavy, but OK-doable.  Going across we were not as lucky.  The waves/current were coming in at an angle and pretty high so every time I breathed to the right, I got water instead of breathe, no matter how high I held my head.  So, to the left I breathed.  Then, going back in to shore, the sun was coming up to the right, so, off to the left I breathed.

No problem though!  I’m going to do an IM tomorrow- what is cooler than that

BTW, my hands were so cold, this hurts to type LOL

Enjoying the journey….

So, I finished the 12 mile bike ride (we cut off one of the turns of the run) and it felt great.  Of course we went VERY slowly, but my legs are ready!  Now I’m cooking a carb loading dinner.  Chris and I decided not to risk having someone else cook our food, so I’m making pasta and chicken for dinner.  We then have to get over to another athlete meeting at 7pm.  This is sooooooooo much fun!

Talk to you tomorrow after my swim and after Beth and Chris cook me breakfast

After working for 5 hours from 5-10am, Jim and Marie picked me up to take me to the airport for the final journey of this year long endeavor.  We got to the airport, uneventfully, parked and ate at a pretty good restaurant in Terminal E.  It was great because we had plenty of time to relax and eat and have great conversation.  Thanks guys for taking me!

My plane took off on time and I ended in Memphis at 5:30pm local time (Central).  This brought up an interesting point for me. I completely forgot that IMFL is held in the part of Florida that is in the central time zone.  So, my plane didn’t leave Memphis until close to 8pm local time.

I landed in Panama City Beach at 9:30pm CST and Chris was there waiting for me.  Just like clockwork!  This trip was just as I like- uneventful

We drove the hour to Panama City and went to the local 24-hour Walmart to get water, fruit and breakfast for tomorrow.  I finally got to bed about 11:30 local time which is WAY past my bedtime!  I slept until 5am local time and couldn’t really go back to sleep.  I layed in bed until 6 and then gave up.

I’m now sitting here doing email and watching a movie “Lions for Lambs” while I wait until 8:30am so I can go get my bike stuff and register…. the excitement then begins!  Here is the plan for the day:

9am get bike and transition bag walk back to hotel

10am register and get goodie bag and check out IMFL store

12 or 12:30 Eat lunch with Chris and his mom

2pm ride the run course VERY easy

4pm shower and shop for dinner

5pm start dinner

7:30 athlete meeting

BTW, this condo is very cool.  Fully equipped with everything.

It is freezing here, we might as well be in Boston!  It’s 41 degrees right now, this won’t be so fun swimming and then biking while the sun comes out!  Brrr…..

What a blast we had yesterday in the Heartzones seminar yesterday.  As you guys know, I was fortunate enough to host a Level 1 personal training and coaching Heartzones seminar at the WTSC yesterday.   It was a lot of fun.  What did I like best….seeing Keri, Janet, Marie and Barbara!!!  That was great.  Now the 5 of us will be all set to perform and teach our Danskin tri athletes next year, all of  the sub-max tests.

It was great to catch up with you guys and I REALLY appreciate your well wishes for next Saturday.  Remember check out the Athlete tracker at www.ironman.com.  My number is 2383.  I think you can just put in my name too, but knowing the number is FUN!!!

I have so much energy right now, I’m bursting…..save it for Saturday, save it for Saturday, I know.

I’ll post again after my flight to FL on Wed.

Cherio..  Enjoying the journey,

Diane

Friday I had to bring my bike to Fast Splits in Newton to be shipped to Florida.  You would think this would be a simple task….not so much…LOL

The plan:  Do a 2 hour bike ride outside, work until 12, drive to Franks to have pedals removed, drive to Newton, be home for 2pm conference call, meet at club at 5pm to go over logistics for Saturday’s seminar.

Actual:  Get in bike clothes, work until daylight, get call from son that he is going to UMASS because he had allergic reaction and had to give himself the epi pen, spend morning at UMASS working while son slept, got relieved by husband at 11:30, drove home to get bike and transition bag, change clothes, grab quick bite to eat, drive to Franks, drive to Newton, go to old location of store, call Bonnie for directions–get aggrevated–realize I forgot transition bag at home, spend money shopping for more tri gear (:-)) while husband drives to Newton to bring bag, he gets lost—he AND I get aggravated— go home, jump on trainer for 40 min before meeting at club, meet at club, go home, grab a bite, go to movie with husband, go to bed…………phew

I think Duncan is right, just GETTING to the race in one piece will be the chore LOL…. enjoying the journey..

2383 is my number for IMFL!!!  How unbelievably exciting is this!?!?!?!?!

On race day you can go to www.ironmanlive.com and click on athlete tracker, or Ironman Florida and put in my number (or name) and it will tell you what checkpoints I’ve gone through throughout the day.

Last night I started packing the bag that I am sending with my bike with the transport company.  How exciting is THIS!!!  The funny thing is how confusing it is.  I have 3 lists that I made of stuff to bring to Florida with me.  I’m sending one bag with the bike, so I have to track what I send so I don’t pack the same items twice!

Plus, there is ALOT of stuff to bring for this.  Imagine all the stuff you normally bring to a tri, plus 4 days of non-tri clothes, plus all the nutritional stuff (remember the mantra:  never try anything new on race day!), plus sleep stuff… and the list goes on.

I’m allowed one bag to go with my bike and I’m trying to figure out if  I can attached the helmet separately on the outside of the bag.  If not, I’ll have to carry it on the plane.  NO CHECKING LUGGAGE for me.  I’m not taking the change that they loose anything!

This is sooooooooooooooo much fun….glad you guys can experience it with me

I just got this posting and thought you would all enjoy it too.  I think it hits the mark with our training.  I have to say that when I try to cut back on calories to “lose a few pounds” during training, I tend to bonk during my long workouts.  I promised to lose weight on the off-season, not during training and this is why…

Mike was here visiting from Vegas so we went on our last 100 mile ride before IMFL.  We joined the CRW ride out of Concord/Carlisle high school.  The weather was absolutely perfect.  72-75 nice fall day. The leaves were turning colors, so it was beautiful too.

The ride went well.  I did not bonk, I felt great when we finished.  So, one down, one to go.  What to do about tomorrow’s 18 mile run.  Atleast it looks like a normal- huge-blister.  The blood part is gone.  But, the ride today made it fill with fluid again.  I have wrapped the blister in mole skin, with a hole for the blister, and then a bandaid over it to keep everything in place.  I tried on my sneakers with the bandages and thin socks, and it isn’t pain-free, so I’m still not sure what to do.  I will be going anyways to cheer on Bruno, so I can decide tomorrow morning whether I am going to run or not.  I really want to get in the 18 mile run, and I’m not sure if I run on Mon it will be all that much better.  But, we’ll see….

I’m off to bed, I’m tired!

You just have to laugh at this point.  What’s next…

Here is the story– enjoy, no laughing…

Like a good little irongirl in training that she is, Diane said “I’m not going to run outside at 5:30am this morning because it is too dark and wet and I might slip.  I don’t want to do ANYTHING to hurt myself”.  So, off to the gym I head with all my stuff to go to work from there.  I only have to run an hour, so if I have to do it on the treadmill, it won’t be too too bad, it’s just an hour.

About 1/2 way through the run, I notice that the bandaid I put around my big toe was coming loose (you see, I had a TINY blister that was healing from a few weeks ago, and I didn’t want it to get worse- just wait…).  So, like a good little irongirl in training, I stopped to fix the bandaid–remember, not taking ANY chances… I rewrapped the bandaid so it was over the blister and I continued for another 30 min.  I noticed that the blister was really hurting, but concentrating on my gait, not to change it, I figured, how bad could it be, I’m still running fine.  As a matter of fact, Craig came up to me when I was running and said “wow, you look really comfortable, you must be ready”……

Anyways, I go to take my sneakers and socks off to take a shower and look down at my TINY blister and it has blown up to the size of a large red SEEDED grape.  It actually looks like a large, red, seeded grape because it is purple!  I have never in my life seen anything like this.  So, I take a shower, get some bandaids, and show Eric (the PT guy) and Cheryl at the club because I’m trying to figure out what to do.  I think it needs to be popped because it is so big and now I can’t walk.  But, I don’t want it to get infected.  You see, as everyone who has every trained for an ironman knows, the 3 week out point is the longest and biggest weekend for training.  So, I have a 2 mile swim planned for Fri, a 100 mile bike on Sat and an 18 mile run on Sunday….  OR NOT….

I show Cheryl and she says “OMG, that’s disgusting”.  I show Eric and he starts laughing.  No, I’m not kidding, he was laughing and says “you have to get a Dr to drain that”.  So, I call the Dr.  The nurse says “you have a blood blister…” almost mocking me.  I explain my training plans for the weekend and how big the blister is and she says, OK, why don’t you come in.

Into the Dr. I go, with my sandles on because at this point it is so big I can’t wear anything around my toes-including socks!  I go in, the nurse says, “so you have a blood blister”.  I start to laugh and show her, and she says “OMG, that’s huge, I’m glad you came in”.  The Dr comes in and says, “so you have a blood blister”  I show him and he says “oh my”….

Anyways, the net, net of it is.  I can’t swim Friday. I’m not sure about the ride on Sat (but I”m hopeful), I’m doubtful about the run on Sunday, and once again, Diane’s mental state is challenged…..  You see, a blood blister is not just a blood blister when it looks like the state of OHIO between your toes!

At this point I have to laugh or I’d be crying.  So, laugh with me and off to Florida I will go and if I have to go without this last weekend of heavy training, so be it.  I WILL FINISH THIS DARN RACE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!