Adventures in Ferromagnetism

So Now We Have a Pair of Iron Balls ...... Brain Droppings from Ironman Muncie 70.3

2011-07-16T17:26:00.002-06:00

The Schwag

So last weekend Mike, Alison, and I completed the Inaugural race of Ironman Muncie 70.3 (formerly the Muncie Endurathon, one of the country's oldest triathlons), known in our house as "IronBall" because, apparently we are all 12 years old here and equate racing in Ball State University country with testicles made of iron. Just go with it.

Out of the swim

Lots of stuff happened here, I think I'll just randomly share them with you all.

* For your laughter and enjoyment are my race pictures from the official site. I'm not sure where sports photographers buy their special "Unflattering Action Lens" but I would greatly prefer it if they switched to the "Beer Goggles Lens" next time.

* One of the stressy moments of the day was when the water temps were announced. Temp at 6:30AM was 81. They announced that since it was above 78, the race was no longer wetsuit legal, so a choice had to be made - swim with your assigned wave (my wave took off 3rd) or start last if you wanted to swim with a wetsuit and not be eligible for awards (more than an hour after the 1st wave). Well, I wasn't going to be getting any age group award anyway, but starting later meant being way further back in the pack and right from the start and being out in the heat another hour. So the decision became much easier and I swam 1.2 miles without a wetsuit for the first time. I get tougher all the time.

Bike into T2

* {TMI WARNING- boys, I'd skip this one} I am ready for menopause already. Or a hysterectomy. Not only did "Aunt Flo" appear 2 weeks early (Whiskey!Tango!Foxtrot! Seriously. ) but race morning was day 4 and I seemed to be dumping fluids pint after pint. Choice. We got up at 530, got ready and were at the reservoir by 630. Things had already reached EMERGENCY stage, having bypassed a disposable Diva Cup and a gigantic Tampax. I had also soaked the pad of the bike shorts. I was not going to make the potty line in time to salvage anything so I did what I had to do- I changed a tampon in transition as nonchalantly as I could. We were racked by the pros who were busily reaching down their shorts to apply Chamois butter, so I guess I fit right in. How's that for "First"??

* As I waited to go down to the start, I noticed my neighbor had a bottle of spray sunblock. I asked her if I could use some. She didn't answer (since she was already gone), so I took the silence as a yes and applied a few sprays to my neck chest and arms. Seriously, though, I wouldn't say no if someone asked so it was OK.

* Alison and I started in the same wave. We found a good spot on the beach to claim for our own and we waited for the the start buzzer to sound, she leaned over and said "Have a great race, I hope you don't bleed to death."

Run out at T2

* The water at the reservoir was awesome. Warm, clear, and not stinky or boat gas. It was a great swim. The lack of wetsuit was not a problem at all. What was a problem? The swim ended at the beach, then you ran up a huge long hill, and THEN you crossed the timing mat. Too bad the mat wasn't at the water, it would have been a much better swim time.

* The bike was great. Flat and fast, headwind out, tailwind back. Had a bike PR for the HIM distance. Had a great time on the bike. Since the ladies started before all the men under 60, I got passed a LOT by fast boys on fast bikes, most of whom were nice enough to lean over and say something like "That's a purty bike" before they dropped me like a bad habit. I averaged 18.3 mph for 56 miles - very cool!

* The bike was an out and back course in 2 directions so I saw Alison twice on the bike and she looked good. I tried to catch her after seeing her just before the first turnaround about 10 miles, and when I saw her just before the second turnaround she had gained a bit of ground on me but not much. I never did catch her though. Saw Mike at about my mile 40 and and told him to hurry up and catch me.

Who's that guy yelling?

* Once I was back to the transition area, I dismounted and jogged in to rack my bike. The heat of the day hit me when I stopped moving and the stillness set in. I'm not sure what happened to the wind from the bike, but there was absolutely nothing moving. I used the potty quick and got to changing shoes and hats. I again asked my neighbor to borrow her susnscreen. Her bike was back, but she was not around so I again took her silence as a yes and applied liberally. I also stopped at the susncreen apply-ers near Run Out for good measure, although I think the teenager applying mine just had fumes on her gloves and no actual sunscreen.

* As I exited Run Out, I heard some guy yelling "GO JENNY!!!" I could not place him. He yelled again. Noticed he was wearing an older IMWI Finishers shirt. Still couldn't place him.....he looks familiar..... and then there was Kathy Fitzmaurice with an umbrella a little ways down yelling my name too. It all came together who the guy was - Kathy's husband Adam Ball. It really is cool to have a cheerleader you had no idea would be there.

* The run became a shit show quick. The temp on the road was at least 95 and there was no wind and the course was nothing but unrelenting gently rolling hills. There really was no flats to be had - we wer either headed slightly uphill or slightly downhill. Period. Yuck.

I gave try at running as best I could, but it was so freaking hot, my pulse would skyrocket as soon as I tried. So i walked a lot of the 1st mile, then took water, a piece of banana, 2 icy wet sponges and a cup of ice, then gave another shot at running with a run 3/walk 2 method. It was not long before I was simply walking most of the run just to get the end.

* I get to some dark places in my head when the run goes sour. Disappointed in myself, I get really irritated by people who say things like "Looking great!" as they pass you. I had a couple meltdown moments on the run, which I'll share next.

* About mile 5ish on the the course, I was patted on the back as I was walking uphill, hot, sweaty and feeling defeated. A tall lumberjack-looking guy said "People like you inspire me!" My immediate response was to be offended. My response went like this: People like me? Who's that- fat people? Old ladies? Crappy runners? What?? He did not respond and kept going.......perhaps I scared the lumberjack?? Much later on the course, I got to thinking he was probably referring to the "Ironman Wisconsin" Logo that was written across the seat of my bike shorts..... (Sorry for being such a beyotch, Lumberdude, I was a little touchy about my performance when you arrived on the scene)

* At about mile 4 I saw Alison running back in, which would be about mile 9 for her. She was on a walk break (I have NEVER seen Alison walking) and she looked hot and had a couple ice sponges under her shoulders. You know it's rough out there when you see Alison at anything less than a steady determined run pace..... Anyway, we both headed to the middle of the road. I should have said Good Job or something. What I actually said was "It's hot as dicks out here, Batman!" My daintiness filter was already gone at that point.

crying as I walked, wouldn't look up

* Just as we approached the turnaround on the run course,I was passed by Triathlon Barbie and her entourage as she was giving them all a lesson while they ran about how important it is to drink cola when it's offered on the course. As they passed me, she turned around and said "Don't you quit, you're doing great!" I responded snarkily "I'm not quitting, just slow." She said "Great! Don't you quit now, keep at it!" I wanted to poke the back of her perky head, but instead just said "This ain't my first rodeo, Barbie." and kept on my way.

*I saw Mike again about mile 7ish as he was headed out to the turnaround. I yelled: You better hurry if you're going to catch me, WimmDogs! (the moment called for a little bit of WWJBD- what would Johnny Brown Do?). Mike passed me about mile 8, looking good. He had made up an HOUR on me at that point. Ugh.

* It only got worse. My back and hips were locked up tight from holding a single position on the bike for so long and the heat was wearing on me terribly. I was in survival mode, just getting to the finish line and getting out of the sun. I was fried to a crisp and felt like I was on fire. The course was getting hotter and hotter as the day went by and the asphalt was blazing. By the end of the day it was over 98. There was no shade. What had been shady on the way out had shifted as the day went on and was now shady on the other side of the street.

* About 2 miles from the finish, I saw one of the photographers as I was headed up a small hill. I started tearing up, hot, hurt, and tired. Knowing it would be a race picture, I hung my crybaby head so my hat brim covered my face. He kept yelling "Hey Wisconsin!" to get me to look up but I wouldn't. So stubborn sometimes.

Can I stop now please?

* If someone had come by in one the golf carts and asked me, I'd have taken a ride back in and said screw it. I was that done, and I am never willing to give up and SAG in even when I probably should.

* At mile 12.5, there was one final F*#%king hill. At the top was a guy who was yelling the participants up...."Come on! Sack up! You should be running this! You're almost done!" I was at my limit. I burst into tears and sobbed "Stop yelling at me!!" He stopped :)

* at mile 13, I was cresting the top of a hill, sobbing my eyes out like a toddler, then I turned down the lane to the finish. It was downhill so I was jogging it in, biting my lip to suppress the tears. There were Mike and the Viemeisters (cool!) and Mike is yelling "It's all worth it, you get a cool hat!!!). That cracked me up and I started laughing. I got to the finish line and it was over. I was hot, sweaty, crampy, tired, sunburned EVERYWHERE, including the backs of my legs and ready to get out of the sun.

End Result: Swim was the Swim, Bike PR, Run PW. Not a PW overall.

Review: One of the best races I have ever done from a a volunteer and organization perspective, but if it's always that hot, I don't think I'd do it again.

The aftermath: Had a nice dinner at a greasy pizza place with Alison's college roommate's husband and daughter, which was cool. He is a professor at Ball State in exercise physiology, so dinner conversation was interesting and entertaining.

The next day we headed home, and took a short detour through Elwood, IN where my grandparents and other family lived. It was a nice walk down memory lane see all the local landmarks, check out Grampa's house and his paint store and to share the local stories with Mike.

Fun Times.

Milton Optimist Club 10K a/k/a Adventures in Africa

2011-07-05T11:08:00.001-06:00

So, again we are at the number 13. Avg speed for this race: 13:13. One day REAL soon we are getting back to the 12's or lower.......

So anyhow, here is the Independence Day Lucky 13-

1) It's been a while since I've had a race shirt I've really liked. This is one of them. I love the slogan "Optimism - Play it Forward." It kinda sums up my goals in life: Keep a positive outlook, do good things for other people for no reason, that kind of stuff. Not that I always achieve it, mind you - sometimes I am a snarky beyotch- but a girl's got to have a goal.

2) This was only the second run of the week for me. Probably should spend more time running if you want to get faster...... but the bike is sooooo much more fun.

3) It was hot out there. it is always hot out there on this particular run (imagine that, a hot day in July..... who'd think??). Not just hot, but that overwhelming Africa grade heat where you expect to see a lioness come pouncing out of the brush after a zebra or two. Holy Hell I hate that kind of heat on a run. Add in some open road with little to no shade and you have there a recipe for some serious whininess. In all seriousness though, the bulk of the water stations were out on the open part of the course, as well as a sprinkler station at a local farm, so the heat was thwarted as best as the RD was able.
4) This is a great little race. No frills. Cotton tshirts. No chips. No times posted online. They barely advertise it at all, not on active.com or any other registration site, just a little blip on the Milton 4th web page. Registration is a paper only by mail or in person affair (*GASP!!*) only. And yet, there are a ton of people there, mostly locals who do it every year or a newby or two who decided to give it whirl since it's in their backyard. Kudos to Kris Koeffler for putting on an event the community can really get behind.
5) Five.... the number of people I passed after the halfway point. On this race, I know that I generally make the most headway on others after the 5K mark. Lots of folks can wing a 5K. I am not particularly speedy, but I keep a slow steady pace and can do some distance for a long time. So the rabbits take off and go hellbent for leather and I plod along doing my thing and pick them off on the back half when they fizzle out after the hill on the turnaround. Best of all, most of the folks I overtook appeared to be over the age of 10 and under 70..... so they were more in my age range than the people I usually pass :) I think there were at least 13 people behind me overall. I love that.
6) Phil and CJ (and Tucker, one of my favorite puppies) were at the crossroads that was both the 1 mile and 5 mile mark. You gotta love having a cheering section on the course, thanks guys. Shortly after seeing the Gredler gang, I came across a kiddo trying to attack me with a dinosaur machine gun style squirtgun. I was pretty hot, wish he'd had better aim - totally missed me with every drop of water.
7) After the 5K mark, I set my sights on a lady about my age up ahead. I spent the last 5K trying to catch up to her. She was running just a bit faster than my pace the first half and was slowing a bit. I tried to keep running when she did and to keep running a bit longer when she stopped for walk breaks. I made up distance on her each block, each mile. At the finish, I was just a few steps behind her. I patted her on the back and told her I'd been chasing her for miles and she gave me a good run for my money. If it had been an 11K, I'd have caught my pace bunny.
8)I love that the whole Wilkinson clan came out. I spent most of the first half as a Wilkinson sandwich, with Jack and Brendan leapfrogging with me off the front and Michele and Sparky leapfrogging on the back. Those kids did awesome. We stuck around for the end to cheer the kids, because really, that's what life is all about.... cheering in the next generation and lighting the fire.

9) At the finish line, was my favorite preschooler, my niece Izzy. She was hot and tired and crabby, but still just about the cutest thing ever.

From my sister at the finish. All I see are eyes, boobs, and hips, everything else is a washout.

Coming up on the first corner just after the 1 mile

Heading into the last mile

10) Remember what I said about this being a no-frills kind of race? There was no official photographer there either, as evidenced by the super-terrific photo documentation of the race shown here. Sadly, I think they are some of the best race pics I've ever taken, mostly because they are blurry so you can't see all the stuff flopping around in high def.

11) Mike puked on the course and still managed to almost PR. What's up with that?

12)The best part of this run is our usual post-race dip in Storrs Lake nearby. It's about 1/3 of a mile across, a good distance for some open water time. The water is nice, there are just a few fishing boats to contend with, and it's rarely wavy or rough. This year, Mike and I were joined by Alison, CJ and Phil, Jamie, Steve, and Jeff. It's always nice to swim in a small group to help you pace and sight. Plus, it felt awesome to get in the water and cool off. Win-win.

13) We stopped at McDonald's on the way home specifically to get something cold to drink. Have you had one of those new Mango Pineapple smoothies there? Those things are delicious! I do not normally advocate for fast food, but I think I have found my new go-to treat. O.M.G.

Fort Atkinson Half Marathon: back to 13 things

2011-06-19T22:07:00.001-06:00

We're back to 13 again...... *sigh*

Saturday, Mike and I did the Fort Atkinson Half Marathon. What a great race! Tons of good schwag (tech tee, backpack, medal, pancake breakfast, lots of giveaways, and wet towels at the finish), the city was so friendly and welcoming, the course supported well, and the spectator presence was unreal. Everywhere you ran people were in the driveway, had sprinklers going, had hand made signs made, cowbells, etc. EVERYWHERE. My only disappointment was I understood this was a flatter course and I would call it quite hilly, not big hills, but lots and lots of little rollers that grab your attention all the way through it. Despite that, I would do this over and over, thought it was just a real gem. Plus I was far from the slowet person there, which never happens!

For this one, I was thinking I would do the songs at each mile that kept me moving forward.

1. Vampire Weekend: A-Punk. Love this song, it makes me laugh and reminds me of the movie Stepbrothers. Great to get you going, very upbeat. Spent this first mile picking my pace bunnies. There were a handful of power walkers behind me and I was determined they stay there. I played leapfrog with a lady (I'd pass her, she's pass me, etc) in this first mile and up the first bigger hill. There were a couple of other folks I picked to pass later on. Picking people to pass helps keep me focused on forward motion and not on the mechanics of the run.

2. Beatles: Octopus's Garden. Passed two twenty-something girls who were chatting and jogging/walking early on. They looked very chirpy and I named them "the cheerleaders." Passed them and never saw them again.... it was just too early to for that level of perky.

3. Alexa Rae Joel: Notice Me. Great song. Continued to play leapfrog with the lady from the start. Together we passed Cubs Cap guy and his momma (It never pays to run in basketball shorts), and then shortly after I passed the old dude in the green shirt. It was pumping me up to continue to pick people off. I call this sniper running - picking people off one at a time. What can I say? It helps me pass the time...

4. Anthrax:efilnikufesin-n-f-l. This mile was dedicated to passing the leapfrog lady. At one point as we were running past an aid station, she held out her hand, shook mine, and said "Nice to meet you, I'm Mary Ann, and I suspect we'll be seeing a lot of each other today." We talked a bit during a walk break (she was from Illinois, gave me advice from the running clinic she went to (um, yeah) and told me I needed one of those Ironman watches that you can program for intervals (uh, I was wearing one....), and told me her son was training for an Ironman. I let her run ahead again as I walked up the hill, then I got ahead of her on the downhill and that was the last I saw of Maryann. By the way, you really shouldn't sing along to this song when there are others around. Not everyone appreciate the lyrics....(NFL- nice fucking life!)

5. The Dollyrots: Brand New Key. At this point in the run, I was wondering just exactly was meant by what I had heard about the course being pretty flat. It was pretty frigging hilly for me so far right from the beginning. I passed the pink top girl in this mile. Then she passed me, then she stopped in the portapot and and I got ahead again. She passed me again in a bit and walked a 100 or so yards ahead of me a while as we walked up a hill. I spied a small person in green basketball shorts ahead of her. I intended to pass them both soon, but first I had to walk up the hill.

6. Gwyneth Paltrow: Country Strong. This mile started in the country and headed back to town. I passed the pink top girl for the final time and then came up on green BB shorts guy, who actually a boy about 13 years old. I gave him a thumbs up, said "halfway there!" and executed the pass.

7. Hot Chella Rae: Tonight, Tonight. Love this song, always pumps me up. Sang it for a while and didn't care who was listening. Sometimes you just gotta do what ya gotta do to keep the motivation to keep moving.

8. House of Pain: Jump Around. "I'll serve your ass like John McEnroe/.../if you come to battle bring a shotgun..." Somewhere in this mile while this song was on, I passed 2 more random people.

9. Billy Joel: You're my Home. I heard this song come on as I was passing over the river through downtown Fort. It made me think what a perfect song it would be for a first dance at a wedding and I started sobbing a little too myself. This little lapse of sappiness made me realize I was probably skating on the edge of bonking a bit so I ate some powerbar gel chewies from the pouch I was carrying and - VOILA! - no more sappy crying as I slogged along :)

10. The Police: Canary in a Coal Mine. Passed another pink girl. The streets here were very hilly and domed so bad I had to run down the middle of the street to keep from feeling like I was leaning sideways. I thought, seriously? More hills? This is nuts!!

11. Alien Ant Farm: Smooth Criminal. We were headed through downtown and the farmers market. I Picked a lady to pass up ahead who was soon being paced for a few blocks with hubby and kids. I waited, since it felt mean to pass a woman with her fan club watching, so I hung back and kept it easy Pretty soon, she pulled off to the side and was doing some stretching for her back and I executed the pass without contributing to her losing face. Cool.

I need a nap after all that!

12. Cake: The Distance. Passed a girl I called Thirteen. She looked like a shorter chubbier version of Dr House's Thirteen from the show, and she was the 13th person I passed. Somewhere in here, there was a lady on a bike in a medical shirt who was shouting at me "Go Jenny!" "This is a short day for you!" Looking good Jenny!" Obviously she knew me. I did not have my glasses on and she was going by me so fast, I couldn't focus her face before she was too far away to make out he face clearly. I was tired and didn't have the presence of mind to say I need my glasses -who are you? I felt like an idiot, because I couldn't place the voice even though I recognized it. (Later found out it was Julie (Plautz) Neppl, who I went to grade school through HS with.....duh.) Sorry Julie, I wasn't myself and was blind as a bat :)

13. Pitbull: I know you want me.In this last mile I played leapfrog with weepy pink shirt girl. It took me a while to figure out she was running with a constant medical escort. I quit passing her because it felt wrong, this seemed like an important moment for her and I don't know what leads to a personal escort, but I wasn't going to purposely rain on her day.

.1 Lady Antebellum: I Was Here. In these final couple blocks, I ended up passing her because she slowed way down and I just couldn't slow anymore, I needed to be done. Mike was nice enough to capture my finish on his phone. Thanks? I had no idea there was so much jiggly stuff going on . Wow.

Aquathon Series #2: 12 things

2011-06-19T15:01:00.000-06:00

So I am very excited to only be posting 12 **TWELVE** things for you about this race.

1. We have nicknamed this race the Gun Show. Seriously, everyone who shows up is ridiculously fast. For something that is so short, I am always way far last. Kinda bites at your enthusiasm for it sometimes.

2. Because of this, I spend my time on the run announcing to the corner marshalls that I'm last. Hopefully they appreciate knowing they can pack it up and go home. Its the least I can do for making them wait for me.
3. This night the water was much warmer than the last one (Tough to get colder, the last one was 54 degrees...). Wore a sleeveless wetsuit for this one.
4. There were a ton of people there this time. And they were still all smoking fast.
5. The swim went well. Felt fast and was able to pass up a couple pace bunnies by the end.
6. I took off with Alison at the beginning. We could walk out quite a ways. Before actually started swimming I was able to walk a few steps ahead of her and declare "I'm winning Alison, better hurry up!" She wasn't amused. :)
7. Took off from transition knowing I was doing really well for time. It isn't often I am out of the water before a bunch of people. Alison encouraged me to swim on the inside of the stream of people, which worked well. I swam out too wide somehow on the middle leg or I think I would have been faster yet.

From last year

8. I only slowed to walk twice I think. That was OK. It's harder to walk on the out and back courses because all the fasties are running at you the other direction, which is motivation to keep moving.

9. At the halfway point, I did some quick math and realized if I hustled back I could break an hour. That was my carrot. It hurt.

10. I didn't do it. Close though, just missed it and it was a PR time. Gives me a goal for next time :) Although I am last at every race, I am currently in second place in my division. I am hoping for a bobblehead trophy again this year, so hopefully not too many more chubby chicks join in the series. Sometimes it pays to be fat and stubborn.

11. They announced that the last place man and woman in the series will win a pitcher of beer and a bucket of wings each month for a year at Quaker Steak and Lube. Pretty sure if the past 2 years are any indication, I should nail it. At last, a goal!
12. Best thing about Aquathon night is Chipotle afterwards. Had a great supper with the Viemeisters, Zach, Steve, and Jamie. Yummo.

Capital View Olympic Triathlon: 13 things

2011-06-19T12:15:00.001-06:00

(To review, I am using the format of using the same number of key points as my run minutes per mile. I'm hoping you see less and less of me here that way)

1. This was our first true triathlon of the year. As usual, there were some jitters as we got ready to take off for the swim. God lord, that swim looked long! The water was a balmy 62 degrees. I chose to bring a sleeveless wetsuit.....too cold for that. Swam the first leg of the triangle swim with my head out of the water - rescue stroke style- until I could contain the face-in-the-water panicky feeling from cold water swimming.

2. They started women over 40 in the swim wave that went off just before the men over 60 and the relays teams. I would not have chosen to send the slow fat old ladies off at the end, but they didn't ask my opinion.

3. Did I fail to mention that we did this race before? 2 years ago. The race was nice as far as organization etc, but the difficulty of the course was a total suckfest. I swore I would never.ever.ever. do it again. And yet, somehow we were toeing the same line again.

4. I was thinking about it as I ran up the beach to transition and to my bike. "This bike is going to suuucckkk."
5. Once I took off on my bike, I quickly found my groove. I was out of the park quickly and headed out to the loop. There was no shortage of folks on mountain bikes to pass as I headed out. There are couple good downhills on the way out, but you have to turn right at the bottom of them and head up a monster around the corner. I hate it when there is no chance to enjoy a good downhill.
6. Then came the loop around Enchanted Valley Drive. It sounds very fairy tale-ish. The first part of it is- long winding downhill, coasting forever. Heavenly (but you know when you are headed downhill, the climb back up is never as satisfying). Then comes the climb back out of the valley. Into a headwind. uphill. The biggest hill comes up just before the turn to go back to "the stick" back to Gov. Nelson Park. Mile 15.....ouchie.
7. Headwind followed me back to the park. The bright spot in this is I got to pass a couple of my pace bunnies, including a freakishly fast dude on a commuter bike.
8. Once back to the state park, I was dreading the run. I got to a fork in the road by the ranger station that wasn't marked and I took the left one. I should have taken the right one, but it wasn't marked and since my wave started so late, there was already people leaving and there were pedestrians all over both paths. It ended up OK because it eventually dumped me out where I was supposed to be.
9. The run is a 10K trail run, first through a hilly open prairie, then through a hilly dirt path in the woods. I don't enjoy either type of trail and I especially am not a fan of hills. I sucked it up and ran as much as I could, shooting for a 80/20 ratio with varying success.
10. The last time we did this, it was really hot and the open prairie was insufferable. This time, it was cool, overcast, and had a strong breeze which made for a much better experience, even if I didn't like it much.
11. Shoe choice was poor. I wore my Gel Noosa tri shoes which let in a lot of trail debris. I have a pair of trail shoes, not sure why I didn't remember that I had them and wore them.
12. I was not last (there were I think 5 people finishing longer than me). I beat my PR on the course by 9 minutes, mostly on the run. I've decided I will probably let this course PR stand. If I ever start talking about this race again, please stifle my crazy-talk and remind me that I said I was never doing this race again because the bike is way hard and it's a trail run.

13. I do have to give props to Endurance House for putting on a first rate event. Even though I don't care for the course itself, they still put on a heck of an event. The registration was easy, the packet pick-up was easy, the schwag was great (tech tee, backpack, etc), the volunteers were awesome (thanks Wade and Tracy!!), there were plenty of course markers and corner pointers. The after party was great too - plenty of food, a beer truck, and best of all, they had print outs of your results when you finished so you didn't have to wait for the results to upload when you get home.

Race Day Recap by the Numbers: Beloit Biathlon (Duathlon)

2011-05-24T16:54:00.002-06:00

Well folks, I’ve been away for a while, unplugged from the bloggy life and existing on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn exclusively. I’ve been reading your blogs, many of them, but not commenting much at all since I read them using Google Reader and frankly I am just too damn lazy to click out of Reader to comment. The truth is I miss writing more than a snarky quip of 140 characters or less, but like every habit it’s hard to get back in the swing of things with regular posts. If you have ever heard me leave a long, rambling voice mail message, you should know I have more to say than can be squeezed into a Tweet. Sooooo ….. how do I get over that hurdle and get back to exercising my writing chops?

I’m thinking as a means of dusting off my keyboard and getting some thoughts documented again, I need an expectation of myself for when I should post. Since I really have 2 goals this race season, I want to incorporate them both.

Goal #1: Post more regularly to Blogger.

Goal #2: Be a faster runner.

So how to include them both?

Here’s the plan: to do a post with a short recap of each race/event this season with the number of thoughts about the event and my performance equaling the number of minutes/mile I averaged on the run. Hopefully, you will see my posts becoming more succinct, instead of getting lengthier!

Now, lets get to this race report business… This past Saturday, I did the Beloit Biathlon. It had nothing to do with Shooting or Skiing, thankfully. Here it is by the numbers:

1. One. The number of people I was faster than on Run #1 of this duathlon (120/121). Proof positive my running needs some work, yes? (On the second run I was 107/121, so a mild improvement in the rankings).

2. Two. The number of times I have medaled at the race in the past. I took home a 2nd place Athena in 2007 and 3rd place Athena in 2008. 2009 was a non-bling year, and 2010 was the year we volunteered as our SWAT volunteer race for the year.

3. Three. This is how many times Mike and I have competed at the Beloit Biathlon before this race. If you ask Mike, it was two, but he would be wrong.

4. Four. I was 4th in the Athena class for this race (of 6). And I was seriously bummed that I did not take home any hardware this year.

5. Five. Number of friends racing. It’s always good to see a familiar face on the course, and this is no exception. Mike Wolfgram, Mike Norton, Mike Wimmer, Steve Knox, Brian Morgan – they all did a terrific job.
6. Six. The number of minutes I shaved off my previous PR for this race, mostly on the bike and transitions. Yeah me.
7. Seven. I had a great bike split. Ended up averaging almost 19 mph on the bike and wound up with a rank of 40/121. I wish I could somehow relate that kind of performance to the running legs. This has nothing to do with 6, but I couldn’t come up with a post for 6. I didn’t follow the convention, sue me.
8. Eight. The number of Cousins mini subs I think I saw Mike eat. Man he loves those things. These people do the post-race snacks up right! They also had chips, bananas, oranges, cookies.
9. Nine. The best thing about this race is that it does not start until 9AM. Do you know how much this rocks? There is nothing better than a race that starts later than 7AM. I love my bed and the more time I can spend snoozing in it in the morning, the better.

10. Ten. The only thing that can top a race that starts at 9, is a race that takes place in a city that is a mere 10 minutes from town. I mean seriously, could it get any easier?

11. Eleven. The number of miles the bike is advertised as being. It is actually closer to 10. Much like the 2-mile runs, which are actually 1.65. On a positive note, it makes you look very speedy in the official splits!

12. Twelve. How many times (x 1,000) Mike told me the story of his performance and dissected every minute of the race for me. Dude! I was there, too.

13. Thirteen. My average pace per mile for this first run was 12:40. For the second Run it was 13:19. Next time I post, I am hoping to only have to come up with 11 or 12 things to write about.

Pushing the Reset Button

2010-09-20T10:57:00.001-06:00

Ironman has been done and over for a week now. It was a wonderful experience for me with lots of highlights. I shaved time off my swim and transitions and took nearly an hour off my bike from last year, allowing me to finish comfortably in under 17 hours a la the plan, even after I was reduced to a walking-only regimen a bit after the halfway point of the marathon. I smiled literally all day. Aside from the technical stuff of the details of the kick, pedal, and stride are the personal connections through the day - seeing people you know cheering you on, people you don't know calling your name (it's on your bib, but it takes a while to figure out why all these people know you), and people doing hysterically funny things that keep you going. I find myself living for one connection, one person to the next and that is what got me through the day in the high spirits I finished with. I had a blast, enjoyed (almost) every minute.
Eclipsing all of that is knowing that Mike was unable to achieve his goal for that day. He can tell his own story, it's not mine to tell. It's ironic in hindsight that everyone's encouragement and attention to saying "You'll do it this time" were directed at just me most of the time prior to race day. It was a given that Mike was going to get there and be comfortably ahead of me, I was the one who would be racing the stopping of the clock. After all, he is stronger than me, faster than me, can go longer, harder, and endure more suffering than me before breaking. I wish we had had that day instead. Had the tables been turned, it would have been easy for me to concede and support because that was the performance that was expected of me really. I can see that every mention, every picture, every "atta girl" someone sends, crushes his spirit and sends him to dark places. I am not able to experience the joys that come with the achievement because the mere mention feels like rubbing it in Mike's face and I watch him become more and more hurt and distant with each word and picture. I hesitate even to post a race report as I know talking about my own wonderful day will feel like a kick in the teeth for him. I know he is a bigger person than what I am seeing right now, but I can empathize in knowing he is still licking some fairly large wounds.
And so, with no further ado, today opens the next chapter. I am done talking about Ironman until Mike is ready to move forward. The pictures will be archived, thoughts of the tattoo put on hold, the scrapbook mementos and Finisher stickers tucked away for later, and the conversation geared once again to what is on the horizon not what happened in the past. It would be great to celebrate and relive it over and over, but it is not worth the emotional costs at this point in time.

So what's next?
On the short term, I want to continue to work on my weight and lose that last few pounds that seem to be permanently affixed to my ass. Operation Eat Whole begins again today and will hopefully be a giant success without the concurrent pressure of trying to peak my endurance training.
I've also done zero activity for the last week, unless sofa surfing counts. So tonight, weather-permitting, I will try a short run and see where that goes. We'll take it from there, but I am intent on maintaining fitness through the winter. And taking my pup for nice long walks. And finding joy in life every day, because that is what it really is all about.

Brought to you by the letter J-Wim
Fortitudine Vincimus! (Through endurance we conquer!)

IMWI Spectator Guide 2010

2010-09-09T20:53:00.010-06:00

http://www.ironmanwisconsin.com/

Spectator Guide
Wimmers Do Wisconsin -Part Deux
September 12, 2010

Mike Wimmer ~ Athlete #1497
Jennifer Wimmer ~ Athlete # 2692

Race Start: 7 AM from Monona Terrace

The Swim:
2.4 miles/3.8K (2 loop course) in front of Monona Terrace

Parking:
If you want to see the start, you’ll need to get there early (like by 6:30) There is no parking at the Terrace and parking in the downtown ramps may be tough. You can park at the Alliant Energy Center and take the free shuttle to the Terrace.

Where to watch:
There are several options here. Be aware that these areas are all quite crowded. Think early about where you want to be watching from and ease your way into position.
• from the sidewalk along the lakefront in front of Monona Terrace. (Good lateral view of the swimmers as they pass by twice)
• From the top of Monona Terrace (great view of the “washing machine” from above and there are vendors there selling breakfast items and drinks)
• At the swim exit chute (you can watch swimmers exit the water and get wetsuit stripped)
• If you want to watch the swim exit, please get there right away after the start. This fills up very fast and gets very crowded once the athletes start exiting the water.

Anticipated Finish Times:
Mike: 8:40ish AM.
Jenny : 8:30ish AM

T1 swim to bike transition:

wetsuit stripping at the swim exit in Law Park next to the Terrace building and run up the helix into the Terrace and dress for the bike. You can see this from the “grassy knoll” area. It’s packed there, so you may see us and we might not see you. Stripping is cool to watch though .
Roughly 10-15 minutes??

The Bike: 112 miles/180K start ~ 8:45AM

The course goes from Monona Terrace out to Verona where we do two 40-mile loops before heading back to the Terrace for the run.

The easiest place to watch is probably Verona at the High School aid station. That is roughly mile 50 so there is plenty of time to get there. The riders come by very quickly so it may be difficult to spot specific riders and it’s hard for riders to find you in the crowd, but it is very spectator-friendly here. There are usually area service groups that sell concessions, grilled sandwiches, etc here so bring a few bucks to eat lunch.
There is a free shuttle by the Terrace (corner of Wilson St) that will bus you to Verona. You could also drive to Verona and park by the library.

Good spectator spots on the bike course:
• Verona HS aid station (easiest to get to, bussed in and out from downtown area-see above)
• Mt Horeb HS aid station
• Timber Lane – very steep hill (the 2nd of 3 hills known affectionately as “the 3 Bitches”) This is the best option to actually see us (going very very slowly uphill) but it fills up fast and is a bit more difficult to get to. Athletes go by very slowly here and it is really easy to see them. You have to park in the residential neighborhood and walk down Timber Lane. If you want to go here to watch, ask us about instructions.
• Midtown Road- the 3rd big Hill. This is a less crowded option than

Lunch: You have lots of options here.
In Verona, you can eat at the stands along Main Street in Verona, or if you head south you’ll find some places to eat. You head up the hill to the corner of the course, there is a gas station in walking distance where you can buy a cold soda or snacks.
I recommend that you pack a few snacks and water in a backpack to bring with you. It is important you stay hydrated and nourished – it’s a long day for spectators too.

Anticipated Finish Time: 8 hours (@14 mph avg) ~ 4:45-5pm ~ This is a total guesstimate.
Mike is hoping to be off the bike by 4PM, Jenny by 4:30, but who knows.

T2 (Bike to Run Transition): roughly 5-10 minutes to change clothes/shoes

The Run: 26.2 miles / 42K ~ start 5pm-ish

The run will be more spectator-friendly than the bike. This is a 2 loop course and you should have several opportunities to see us if you move around a little. The finish line is near the Capitol. You can watch runners there, along the square, or further on down State Street. State Street is great because you see the athletes pass down and back. Once you see us running toward the Capital the last time, you will have time to get to the finish to watch us cross the line.

There will be a lot going on in this area, especially in the afternoon and early evening. Find somewhere to eat some supper; there are more options than I can list within easy walking distance. I recommend Ian’s Pizza (sold by the slice) on State Street, especially the Mac & Cheese pizza – YUM!

Realistically, we are looking at finishing the run between and 11pm and midnight, so find a place to entertain yourself, and be sure to find time to sit and rest – it’s a very long day! As the race winds down and it gets darker outside, the spectators usually start to move closer to the finish line and you probably should too. (There can be a shady character or two out there at night, so be safe!)

With all that said, anything can happen and times can be way ahead or behind. Ironman can get the best of people on the bike or more often on the run, so don’t get worried if we get off schedule.

The Winners:
The men’s winners will probably be finishing about 3:30-4:00pm. Women’s winners will likely be 45 minutes or so after the men’s winner.

Foofy Stuff:
Unless you are totally into the triathlon scene, spectating is frankly kind of boring. There is a tent by the finish line where you can make signs or you can bring chalk and write encouraging messages on the State St like “only 6 hours left” or “stop puking” or “you paid to do this??”
There is also an IM shop in the Terrace where you can look at or buy mementos or overpriced gear. Let me know if you need our wish list and sizes :)

Tracking your Athlete:
They have computers available in the Terrace where you can check the athlete tracker on http://www.ironmanlive.com/ and type in our numbers if you lose track of us – or if you can’t make it and are following from home. They are also showing it live on http://www.ironmanlive.com/ so if you can’t come and you’re interested you can watch the live feed and see some of the race and the finish line. (Be warned- we tried to use the live feed last week for IM Louisville and it was AWFUL to try to get this to work and only barely got it going before we saw our friend cross the finish line. If you use this, you very possibly might not see anything at all).

Taking care of yourself for race day:
• Wear comfortable shoes with good support and cushioning. You will do a lot of walking; flip-flops or cutesy shoes will not serve you well.
• Get a good night sleep.
• Pack a backpack with a few snacks, a water bottle, some money for snacks/meals, sunscreen, a disposable rain slicker, a light jacket for evening. Remember that you will have to carry it all day, so pack light!
• Be sure to get enough to eat and drink. This is an endurance sport for the spectators too!
• Take time to rest and relax. Find a park bench or piece of shade and get off your feet.
• Enjoy the ambience of the day ~ it can be very uplifting and exciting!

VERY IMPORTANT- We can receive no outside help so please do not help us. Do not hand us anything, including water, a jacket, hat, food, or anything. We may be suffering, but it is our choice. This could cause a disqualification. We paid good money to suffer so let us.

DON’T FORGET YOUR COWBELL BECAUSE YOU CAN NEVER HAVE ENOUGH COWBELL!!

Many thanks to Mike Wolfgram from whom I pirated the majority of this guide, with some minor adjustments for pacing as he is far faster than we are! http://ironmike08.blogspot.com/2008/08/spectator-guide-146.html

Random Running Ramblings

2010-03-31T20:54:00.006-06:00

So, took a 6 mile run today. Here are the random thoughts the marbles knocked loose:

* Ever get a song stuck in your head and it won't fall back out? It has a name - "Ear Worm". I read it in USA today. True Story. Mine today is Paranoia by Green Day.

* I have an irrational fear of Schnauzers. I saw one today on my run that barked and snapped at me and I nearly peed myself. Other dogs? All Cool. I blame the Sheridans and their devil schnauzer Ollie, who I swear might tear your arm off.
* Why do people insist on using those wimpy retractable leashes?? Like they are really going to be able to keep their dog from lunging at me or keep them from wrapping their leash cord around my legs and giving me a rope burn. A leash is meant to tether and control your dog, not to make you tiny yippy dog look like a yoyo on a string. ARGHH!

* Speaking of dogs, I am tired of coming home to a wet spot on the couch where the dogs have been licking their butt while I'm at work. Stay.Off.The.Furniture. Why is that so hard??

* I have no idea how I would ever be able to run with a running group, I am so flipping slow. I would get dropped like a bad habit pretty much immediately.

* Today, I ran 6 miles. It felt like shit, I did a lot of run/walking and longggggggg traffic stops at corners. Somehow, it was my fastest pace yet recently and was TWO.MINUTES. per mile faster than my plan's goal pace. TWO. per MILE. That is totally odd, but I'll take it where I can get it.

* Wanna make a beautician speechless? Try asking them you miss getting perms and wonder what their thoughts are. The look on their face is priceless. I have said that to 3 different beauticians lately, and they all gave me the same look. Guess that is a no.........rats.

* It's scary how close I am to having a household where everyone is over 18. really? How did I stay so young when everyone around me got so damn OLD??

* Kids are awesome. I pass this trio of 7ish year olds on the hill in front of Cozy acres most days on my runs. They are usually standing at the top of the hill racing in some form- running, biking, skateboards, etc. They are good about seeing me trucking up the hill and they wait for me to get past them before they blow the whistle and take off. It's totally cute. The last few times, they have drawn a bike course in chalk going down the hills with several start and finish lines marked and the path they drew itself has all kinds of zigzags and right angles. Anyone who could navigate that course, my hat is off to you. I personally would break my neck. :)

* Their parents are not, however. Last week, I saw a 6ish year old blow through a stop sign on a busy-ish street. He didn't look around at all, wasn't wearing a helmet, and was barefoot. I politely scolded him in my best Mom voice and said "You really should wear a helmet and shoes, you could really get hurt!". His mother walked up form behind and yelled at me, "Mind your own business, bitch." Nice parenting. Fail.

* Loving the weather. It was 78 degrees and sunny this afternoon. I ran in short sleeves and capris and was roasting. Summer, I love you.

There's Nothing Worse Than a Reformed Anything

2010-03-11T19:50:00.005-06:00

Let me just preface this with a story from several years ago. The boys and I and my sister Michele and her 2 (at the time) kids took a nice little trip to Denver to visit our other sister Tracy. Tracy had really adopted the whole Colorado lifestyle and was eager to show all her favorite places. She took us up to the top of some mountain -like up where the mountain goats live, which was beautiful, but the air was really really really thin and made some of feel pretty lightheaded and sick. We made some dumb wisecracks to Tracy about "Granolas" in reference to the folks we were meeting in the Denver area. Tracy was pissed and if looks could have killed, we'd all have been dead. Due I think to lack of oxygen, we found this really funny. She still doesn't find the humor in it to this day.

Today I went to a seminar in Pewaukee, WI for work. I don't sit still well and after 90 minutes in the car and 4 hours of seminar, when we broke for lunch and I saw the fried, breaded mystery meat and bacon sandwiches on big white buns and fries, I decided to take a pass, make myself a protein shake I had in the car and take a walk instead to try to get rid of the ants in my pants and be able to focus in the afternoon session. It was starting to rain, but I didn't care much - I had a waterproof coat and an umbrella and a change of shoes in the car if I needed it. It was nice to get out and about and I am part Iron after all, so I already knew I was tough enough not to melt from a few raindrops.

As I finished up and walked towards the entrance there was a little flock of ladies surrounding the entrance puffing on their cigarettes, including the girl who was sitting near me in the classroom. She gives me a look like I have 3 heads for walking around in the rain, and then she says "Don't you have sense to come in from the rain? You didn't even eat lunch!"

I replied by telling her that I had brought something to eat since I know I can't really eat the types of foods they usually serve at seminars. She then clucked her tongue and said, "Yeah I guess you must be all ORGANIC GRANOLA type of person."

My first response was to tell this bitch to suck it, but Tracy's face popped into my mind and the look on her face that day on our trip, and I just had to smile.

My response? "Granola is too high in calories, I'm more free range chicken." And I kept walking. Puff on, bitch.

My Grampa Klumpp is often quoted as saying "There's nothing worse than a reformed anything," and I think that's probably very true....... reformed couch potato, reformed fat chick, reformed smoker. He's also known for asking what the display model at the checkout is and when told it's a tester, responded with "I knew a girl like that once." But that's a story for another time.

I'm Loving It

2010-03-09T18:55:00.004-06:00

Well Spring is finally starting to show some sign of springing and I for one could not be happier. Training days are only headed in the direction of harder and longer (I think I just heard Lucas say "That's what she said" as I typed that....) so it's just good to know warmer days are on their way.

Things I love this week:

* watching the snow melt and trying to identify the things that are left behind. Let's face it, the snowbanks are looking a little rough and looking at them got old weeks ago. they are not pretty fluffy piles of whiteness anymore: they are full of sand and grit and trash and are more a dingy gray nasty color. As the fog, rain, and warm temps melt the snow, I like to try to identify the things that emerge from them. Last year, I remember finding the GIGANTIC-EST pair of granny panties I have ever seen. I laughed forever trying to imagine who they might have fit or how they could have ended up in the middle of a snowpile in front of Franklin Middle School.

* Feeling fast and strong on the run. I have no illusions of breaking any land speed records, but the run is on track, ahead of the goals paces set by my Runners World marathon plan, and feeling OK. The last 2 years at this time, I was struggling with IT Band issues, skating the edge of injury, and basically hating where I was in training. I am not hung up on doing well at Madison Marathon in May, just on finishing and feeling good. It is basically a catered training day for me with the big race being IMWI in September. Thinking about it that way is making me much more laid back about the whole thing. Ask me again in September how much I like running, the answer could be different.

* Daylight Savings Time. It's this weekend y'all. It makes me smile every time I look at a calendar and see it again. Longer days, more daylight at times I am actually awake - how could that go wrong??

* Being able to run at 6pm without a headlamp. I pretty much don't have a lot of choice but to run in the evening. Being able to lace up the kicks and go without bring enough light to illuminate Las Vegas is huge for me.

Things that are bugging me this week:

* With Spring comes mud. Lots of mud. And water. I am a magnet for stepping into a mud pit of super puddle and having to run squishy til I get home. My new shoes are now gray. I am not eashing them until it dries up a bit.

* I've lost about 20 pounds, but need to lose about 20 more in my mind. It cannot come off fast enough and it is frustrating me.

* People who can't be supportive or intentionally derail me. Especially people close to me. Mike has taken to making snarky comments to me about what my plans are for the evening. "How many HOURS are you planning to work out tonight?" Thanks, I know I am slow and it takes me a long time to do what I need to do. I actually have a formal plan, detailed online for you to see every day if you are really that interested. I am not just flying by the seat of my pants, but I am following a plan laid out by a coach (in a book anyhow), it's not like I am just some sort of exercise addict or I am just randomly doing a bunch of training for no reason. I'm actually kind of proud that I am starting week 5 of the plan and haven't missed a session or a goal, so be nice and lose the tone and the advice based on nothing. So basically folks, if you can't be constructive or supportive, kindly STFU, mmm-k?

Random Ramblings

2010-02-21T18:34:00.006-06:00

(Week 2 of the training plan for Ironman Wisconsin and the Madison Marathon are now done SUCCESSFULLY even! WOOT for me- my worst enemy is sticking with the plan and doing all my workouts.)

So the posts are pretty sporadic here in bloggyland, as are my thoughts while out on long runs. Today was one of my first long runs for this Ironman season so here's some insight into where my brain goes as I am out on the road.

1) Seriously, is it that hard to pick up your doggie droppings from the sidewalk? I really am not a fan of hopping over it. If you take your pup for a walk, bring a baggie. And I promise I won't ask you what's in the bag when I see you carrying it back home. Well, maybe I'll ask, but I won't laugh.

2) people- it IS important to clear your walks so they are passable. I am amazed at the people who clear about a 6 inch path. And your corners? Yes you do have to shovel those too. I know it's a pain in the ass, I live on a corner lot myself. If you don't want the extra work, don't buy the house on the corner!

(there's a theme here, it IS Wisconsin and we've had some snow y'all)

3) Running gives you the freedom to load any weird thing you want onto your ipod playlists. How else would I be able to cram Schoolhouse Rock, Leo Sayer (you make me feel like dancin), Snoop Dogg, and Toby Keith onto the same playlist?? All you gotta say is they have the right beat for your cadence and you can add any old weird thing onto the list.

4) I am trying to quickly lose that 30ish pounds that have crept back on the past couple years. I am doing Medifast 5+1 Lean and Green. Now that I am ramping up the time and distance a bit, I am skating the edge of bonking more often. I need to figure something out, it's only gonna get worse. Would it be wrong to carry lunchmeat in my pocket since it would be too hard to bring a shake (LOL)?

5) Anyone else notice that Google Reader has pretty much killed commenting on other blogs much? I love the Reader because I can easily keep track of everyone's new entries, but I also rarely comment anymore and I miss it. I also miss exploring who is on everyone else's blogroll and finding new gems to follow.

6) Funny how over 32 degrees feels like heat wave in the spring, but anything under 50 in the fall feels like Alaska. It was like 35 out today. I saw a guy on a motorcycle. With no gloves on either. WTF. Wow.

See ya soon folks. My bloggy muscles are a little rusty like the rest of me, but I hope to get back to more frequent entries.

Crossing the Bridge

2009-11-12T16:45:00.004-06:00

For the past week or so, I have watched my youngest son flounder a little bit as he tries to find himself some semblance of a life after football. Several days, I came home from work to find him ambling around the house looking for something to do or taking a catnap on the couch. I know it has to be an adjustment for him. For the past 4 years, he has been involved week-in and week-out in one form of structured athletic program or another – football practices and games, off-season lifting programs, other programs to increase speed, explosiveness, and form, and training camps. Every week had a purpose and every day had a specific goal. Someone else planned your life and you lived up to their expectations and did what they asked, you worked the program and proved yourself as a solid reliable performer.

For the last 4 years, we have watched as he has matured in to a solid, muscular athlete, a formidable presence on the field. He has honed his nutrition to maximize his muscle base. He has watched his fluid intake to stave off performance deficits. He has heeded the advice of his coaches in building muscle and strength the right way, through hard work and not synthetic hormones or chemical quick fixes. He has worked hard and followed the program to a T, and now he has reached a crossroads.
Now things have changed dramatically. No one is telling Lucas how, when, or where to exercise. He has lots of tools he can use, but no instruction anymore. This is the first of what will be many opportunities to transition from the “kid world” of taking direction from others into “grown up land” where you take the tools you have been taught along the way and find your own way in the world and trust that you have the tools and training needed to succeed.
I don’t always give my kiddos the room to show off how adult they are becoming, but I am trying to release the reins and let them fly on their own. Some days are harder than others, but you have to have faith in the universe to make itself right.

Last week it started to happen. A few days last week, I came home to hear from Lucas that he had gone running. He ran from our house to Franklin and back (just shy of 2 miles). No one prompted him to di it, he just slid on some shoes and took off. He was pretty proud of himself and posted on his facebook that he was "a workout warrior." Friday, while driving home I passed him as he took off down the hill towards Franklin. I gave him the high sign out my car window and nodded to myself with pride. My boy was running. Cool beans.

Over the weekend we talked a bit about routes, pacing strategies, building endurance. We discussed what I like to call the Pi Route, a 3.14 mile route around the neighborhood. He got lost in the description of street names and turns to take. I suggested I would show him the route sometime, not expecting him to be very interested in that.

Monday, I got home from work to find him at home, kind of antsy. Mike soon followed and Lucas gave me some needling about showing him my route. So we all got ready and off we went. I tried to explain the route to them, saying they were going to be faster than me so here are the directions. Lucas shook his head and denied he would be faster than me, but deep down I knew he would be. Lucas and Mike jogged with me a while, Lucas turning and running backwards, basically chugging it for my benefit.

Before long he and Mike were up ahead. I pushed myself to keep them in sight, able to hold about a half a block behind them for much of the way. I was determined to keep up so I pushed myself as hard as I could and kept moving. As Lucas crested the final big hill leading to home (the last 0.1 mile), I finally lost sight of him, able only to see his head bobbing up over the crest of hill occasionally if I kept speeding up a bit. As I crested the hill myself, I saw that Mike and Lucas were doubling back up that last 0.1 mile to run me in to finish. So there you have it- my boy ran his first 5K. And he smoked me, but was a class act enough to come back and run sweeper for his poky old mom.

Now I have a new goal. My kiddo has the running bug. He broke that first 5K barrier and will only keep getting faster (He did after all go from nothing to a 5K in less than 2 weeks of steady running.....). Lucas is my new pace bunny. I will work to build my own endurance and speed back up to keep him in my sights and never again lose him over the crest of a hill. It's pretty likely too lofty a goal, but just the same I am so proud to have been there for and influenced what is really the birth of a runner. He had the tools all along, he just needed that nudge to pull them out of his toolbox and figure out a way to use them. All by himself an grown-up-like.

It's ON now, pace bunny. Look out for momma.

Maybe you'll even take up cycling and swimming, then we can really play hardball!

Garmin Connect - Activity Details for First post IM run

2009-10-04T10:00:00.001-06:00

Garmin Connect - Activity Details for First post IM run

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The Easy Button

2009-09-28T18:03:00.006-06:00

SOOOO….. What now you might ask?

We are 2 weeks out from IMOO and I have just kinda been drifting through life, enjoying the unstructured nature of rest and recovery mode, perhaps a bit too much. It’s interesting what fills the hole where training has always been!

Looking ahead I have some loose plans for September 12, 2010:
a) Go faster (DUH!)
b) More run training
c) Lighten my load by about 30 pounds
d) Have just as much fun while moving more quickly

That’s it. What? You thought there would be more or more detail?? There will be, it’s early yet.
I am in the process of evaluating my options for how to accomplish a & b.
Wednesday, we have a meeting with Brent, a USAT Coach at the Sports Med Acceleration Program to talk about some strategic planning and what we might be able to do there without having to sell a kidney to finance some coaching. I am thinking more about doing a few short key training phases with him, not so much a full year of coaching and getting too spendy. Despite what my kids tell you, I am not made of money! I think we can swing it if we don’t get too out of control with our needs.

I am also combing the Internet looking for ideas for a training program to follow. Having followed one now for a whole year, I know which components were working for me and which ones I could use a different approach with. In past years’ half marathon and full marathon plans, I used Runners World training plans laid out in miles with goal paces based on my actual race times. Last year, I adapted an Iron-distance plan out of the Triathlete Magazine triathlon plan book. The problem that arose from that is that the plan was laid out in hours (time). As a slow, fat triathlete I found I really need to be told how FAR (miles) to go and not how long (time) to go. Mostly, this is because as a slave to the laws of physics (gravity, inertia, etc), I tend to do as much as the plan says and not much more. Sooooo…… if the plan says do 45 minutes of running, that’s what I do. For the 8-minute miler that means something much different than the 12.5-minute miler, but even knowing that I didn’t make an adjustment in my volume. So, to keep myself an honest woman, I need a plan measured in distance.

I have been at a plateau for while with my weight for far too long. Initially, I expected there to be a bounce back up from my all time low weight when I finished Dr Partello’s program as my body found it’s set point. I am now about 30 pounds above where I thought that set point should be and I am determined to get back there. Carrying around that extra “junk” takes its toll on my speed and endurance and it’s time for it to go away for good. We have a couple of bodybuggs (those little black things you see the contestants of the Biggest Loser wearing) on the way to help with calorie balance management, so we’ll see how that goes.

As far as the “have fun” part of my goals, Mike and I have talked a little about that too. For right now we are in negotiations with our son who works at Staples to find us some “Easy Buttons” . I am thinking maybe a little one to mount on my tri bike handlebars. Going up Midtown and Old Sauk Pass would sure be more fun …… And maybe we could carry a little one with us to the finish line and push it for Mike Riley? I envision him asking how it went, me pushing the button and the button says in its canned voice “That was easy!”

I'm Not a Cream Puff Anymore

2009-09-14T20:25:00.010-06:00

Let's get the guesswork out of the way. Yesterday I completed the Ironman Distance for the first time at IM Wisconsin. Mike and i decided a year ago to complete this race as a celebratory milestone - our 20th anniversary along with my 40th birthday. I finished the distance, but did not make the final 17 hour cutoff time. I finished up the run leg of 26.2 miles with a final time of about 17:40. Although I do not have an "official" finish time, I finished the distance, I crossed the finish line (as it was being torn down while waiting for me), I was handed a Finishers Tshirt and a Finishers medal, but I will be listed on the books as a DNF (Did Not Finish). But this day was about the journey- before, during, and beyond- not about an arbitrary line drawn in the sand somewhere in Hawaii in the 70's.

I thought I would be devastated not to make the cut off. I'm not. It may sound nuts but reflecting back, it was one of the best days of my life so far. I have been reduced to tears too many times to count in the past 24 hours, but they are joyful tears. Over and over and over, I was reminded or made aware for the first time of people that cared about us, how we were doing, and hoping for the happy ending to the fairy tale.

I could dissect my day ad nauseum for you, analyzing every little place where I went wrong or where I could have changed the outcome, and there were lots of them. I'm not going to though. I'll just share how my day went. You'll see where I'm going with this.

PreSwim:
We arrived at 4:45, pumped bike tires, stocked transition bags with last minute wardrobe changes, and dropped our Special Needs bags off at the truck. Mike and I sat at the Terrace as we had a long time to wait for the start, trying to wrap our heads around the day. We laughed alot, I could tell Mike was nervous. Soon we ran into Phil, who was also participating, and CJ, who helped Mike bring down the stress level a notch. Mike spotted my mom and sister. Outside we saw Alison too. I was so glad to see so many important people in my life and know they were there. As we headed down the helix, it was so cool to see so many people we knew. They sent a shout out, gave us a hug, waved. Alison walked down with us, Mike Wolfgram had some last minute advice. Another blogger friend, Tiffany, came right out into the mix before we got in the water just to wish us well. It was amazing.

The Swim: 2.4 miles
The swim was pretty uneventful. I was worried about the mass start, the "washing machine." It was not bad at all. There were a lot of people-think about 2400- in the water with us, but it was not long before we were spread and could find our own little patch of water. I got beat up a little at the turn buoys, but otherwise uneventful. I was swimming next to the same guy most of the second loop who backstroked almost all of the loop and tried to swim over me several times. I thought about giving him a solid punch in the nuts to get him to go away, but I just let it go. :-)
After the start of the second loop I had to contain myself, I could hardly stop smiling. Every time I caught myself smiling my google leaked so I was working the hardest at containing the facial expressions so I didn't swamp my eyeballs. Not a bad problem to have if there must be one.

Transition (T1):
once out of the water, I looked over to Mike Reilly's booth and waved at the lady we met in the gift shop (more on that later.) Tiffany and her companion stripped my wetsuit (that was an experience!!) and off I ran up the helix to the gear room. I quickly grabbed my bike bag and headed to the change room to get help from a personal dresser (how cool is THAT!). Alison was there volunteering and she quickly scooped me up and got me changed and ready. She was awesome. Once dressed and ready, she gave me a huge hug and sent me on my way.
I headed out to the bike racks and saw more folks I know- Kari (trimama), Steve Knox who took my picture with his phone, and lots of others calling out. it was hard to weed out the voices of those I knew and those who were simply cheering.

Bike: 112 miles
As I set off down the helix and out onto the course, I felt like a million bucks. I couldn't have stopped smiling if I tried. I saw Erin with her Vislas along John Nolen and tried a wave. I said out loud to no one in particular, "this is awesome- you're going to be an ironman today."
As I rode along "the stick" I was biking strong and feeling great. It heads uphill somewhat, but I was in the small chainring, determined to keep a lid on the excitement and conserve. I felt like I was doing just that. I crossed over onto "the loop" and started my first loop. The feeling was incredible. There were people set up to spectate everywhere- in driveways, along roadsides, at corners, on hills. They were everywhere cheering, ringing cowbells, clapping, some in costume or blasting music from the back of someones truck or from someones porch. False flats, the long grind into Mt Horeb, the 3 "Bitch Hills" of Old Sauk Pass, Timber Lane, and Midtown? Not a problem, I sailed up them feeling like rock star. I heard my name called out over and over; the energy was palpable and I soaked up every bit of energy from it that I could.
My performance started to turn about 1/3 of the way through the second loop. I was still happy, but I was really heating up. I was wearing a helmet I was not used to wearing and it was black and not well vented. I started taking more water, was trying to keep up the calories and stay hydrated, but it was a formidable job. After the long, long grind into Mt Horeb-ble, I was feeling toasted. Near the top, I stepped off the bike and was feeling low. A guy at the corner got out of the passenger side of an SUV wearing a Chicago Police shirt grabbed the seat of my bike and told me "Get on, I am going to help you get going and I'll push you as far up this hill as I can." By the time I started the Bitches, i was very hot and tired and was starting to worry I might not make it back in time to make the 5:30pm bike cutoff. I saw my SWAT friends on Timber lane and they pumped me full of good karma and sent me on my way. They were pretty much the last of the spectators on a hill that was filled with people not that long ago. i asked if they thought I could make it back in time, and of course they said "Absolutely!!" but I knew my clock was ticking. I reached Midtown for the last time and as I turned the corner I had already decided I was going to walk that hill, that I didn't have it in me to ride it. I looked up and saw Lucas, Chelsea, my sister Michele and brother-in-law Jeff, with my favorite (:-) and only) nephew Jacob who ran along side me carrying a sign that read "Go Team Wimmer". They will never know just how much I needed that at that particular moment. I rode that hill because of them. About halfway up I stepped down for a couple seconds to catch my breath and re-group. A lady in a banana costume came up to me and said "Get on your bike, I'm running you up this hill right now." (True story, you just can't make this shit up - lol) And so, I was escorted up the remainder of the hill by a running banana.
Once over the hill, I used that energy to fuel my determination to make it to the Terrace by 5. As I had calculated many times, I knew I had to be done with the bike course and on the run before 5:00, hoping for 4:30 and be able to run 15min/mile to be in by midnight and make the cutoff. I hauled ASS back in on the stick, every time I looked at the Garmin I was at 20-21 mph. I flew back up the helix at about 5:10 and knew I was already behind and it would take the perfect storm of circumstances to pull it off. I saw my family again overlooking the bike timing mats and I gave them a wave and took off to get my bike gear off and the run gear on. I had work to do.

Transition (T2):
Alison met me at the door of the change room and pulled off the quickest transition on Earth. I needed that and I needed her and it made it all good. suited up, I headed on the run and again saw all of my crew. I got a big Jacob hug, I saw more of the awesome signs Lucas and Chelsea had made, and I saw that the had made Tshirts for this. I headed out and to my fate.

The Run: 26.2 miles
as I headed out back into the heat I knew I was behind the 8 ball, but I wasn't going to stop until they pulled my chip and packed me into the golf cart. I saw Jeff Hahn and Mike Wolfgram who had encouraging words and advice. I heard someone shout Jenny - way to go I'm the banana!" (that cracked me up.) My guts were full of Gatorade and Shot Blocks and I was feeling iffy. As I walked everyone in the crowd along the chutes through downtown was calling my name and cheering for me. I had no clue who most of them were or why they knew me. It took a while to know that most of them were just reading my first name off my bib number, so then I was listening for someone to call out Wimmer from the crowd. I walked as fast as I could, ran until I thought I would puke, and stopped the Gatorade and switched to Coke to settle my stomach, water, lots of ice, and cold sponges into my shirt to try to counter the heat. The heat was my biggest problem, with nutrition being second in line. I knew I needed to be under 15 min miles to make it and I was doing mostly 16s. I was too hot and sick to my stomach to push it faster. as the sun started to go down, I was hoping that was my shot to pick up the pace. I began running more and walking less, but it was a struggle as the walking was tightening up other muscles. I made the cutoff for the halfway point (9pm) back on State St with a little time to spare, but behind pace to finish. I teared a little bit, but there was no time to spare for a breakdown. I drew energy from those I knew on the run course at the time (Audrey, Angie, Brenda, Tina, Tiffany, and so many others). It never gets easier to reach the turnaround, see the finish chute ahead of you and turn to go the other direction.
I had to make the turnaround at other end of the course (mile 19ish) by 10:30 or they would pull me. Alison popped up every where- on her bike, along the walkway, on the path, on State at the final push to that next to last timing mat. With Alison and others along the course I made that cutoff with about a minute to spare, no time to waste. Mike Wolfgram appeared out of nowhere and walked with me. He pushed me as much as I could be pushed and said "you can do this- you need to do 13 min miles to finish." I knew that, I also knew that I had not done a 13 minute mile all day despite my best effort. I decided I was going to try as hard as I could at that point because he was there. everything hurt, I was cramping everywhere, my guts had stopped processing everything, and I wished I would puke but couldn't. I had had to pee for 6 miles but knew I did not have anytime to stop, even for 30 seconds. Mike walked with me the whole pathway in the dark by ourselves. He talked me of the ledge and kept me focused, quietly listening to my whining and redirecting my focus. Shortly I noticed a guy on a bike following me. I kept going, but soon told him that if they were going to pull me, to decide to do it in time for me to see Mike finish. Before long, Alison appeared again. She walked with me until I was approached by an IM guy who asked what I was going to do. I told them I knew I was not on pace and was not going to make the finish. He offered me the choice of riding the cart back or finishing on my own likely without course support and in the dark. I told him I was finishing what I started. Alison grabbed my hand and walked with me, told me she was walking it in with me, which she did. I found out later she had to work in the morning and felt terrible that she was out with me, but despite my encouragement she was there for the duration however long it took.
Eventually, we reached the capital square. Out of dark from nowhere, came my son Nick, who I didn't think was coming, followed by my mom. We walked to the chute which they left partially erected for me. All my family was there surrounding the finish- my dad, my sister, Jacob, Lucas, Chelsea, Mike, CJ & Phil, and Mike Wolfgram, with Nick, my mom, and Alison. I got some love in and was handed a medal and a Finishers hat and tshirt. It was amazing.

Connections Made and people who made my day yesterday or every day:

* On Saturday, I was chatting with a lady in the ironman store at the Terrace. Mike and I shared our story with her and she started crying and gave me a hug. She eventually introduced herself as Mike Reilly's ("The Voice of Ironman") assistant and said she'd be looking for us on race day. She hooted and hollered for me every time I saw her. How cool.

* When I went through Camp Randall the last time and was still struggling to make pace, I was greeted by one of the volunteers. She said "Are you Jenny Wimmer?" and told me she follows my blog. I wish I was together enough at that point to remember her name now but it escapes me. she walked with me around the football field and really lifted me up in a down moment. Again, how cool. If you read this, thank you, thank you, thank you.

*volunteers everywhere that were the best ever. No one is getting paid, yet everyone is asking, begging really, to help make you successful. The best volunteers on the face of the Earth, hands down.

* Mike Wolfgram, who was there all day. he was there for some of my lowest moments toward the end, and he left me only to go ahead to try to help Mike make the cutoff once we knew I was not going to get it done.

* My SWAT friends who were there every step of the way. They popped up everywhere all day. Awesome.

* My family- they were all there and it was amazing. I had no idea the amount of time they spent on the course, from start to finish. Not only did they put up with the crazies of training, but they were there all day, just to be there for us. Mike's mom was posting our updates all day through facebook even though she couldn't leave North Carolina. I have not said enough about any of them here, but I don't even know where to start.

* Alison Viemeister was there from beginning to end. it started with long training days all summer long and answering endless questions and calming nerves. This weekend she was Tri-Sherpa extraordinaire, seriously. She was the go-to person for my family of ironvirgins, she collected all our bags and our bikes while we were running, she was everywhere on the course somehow, especially on the run where she rode her bike ahead of us through the whole thing, stopping to encourage us, then riding ahead to be there again. she kept Mike's mom updated all day by phone, she even decorated my driveway the night before.

* Michelle Alswager, we went to HS together, ran in the same circles as acquaintances. Through chance connections she has become a lifesaver for me in this journey.

* Blogger and Facebook pals- There are so many people I have connected with and they all seem to be my biggest supporters. I was going to try to list them all out here, but I don't even know where to start there are so many. i love you guys, you are great.

This morning, we were again at Monona Terrace killing time while waiting to find out if we could snag a copy of the Athlete DVD. as I sat in a chair overlooking Lake Monona, I started reading through the Facebook updates from the day before. I had chills and tears streamed down my face as I read though them and the comments to follow. There were people posting comments and updates that I had NO IDEA even knew who I was, let alone cared how our day was going.

There are no words to express how much it meant to me to see people I knew, to receive words of encouragement yesterday and every day leading up to it. I didn't fully realize how wide my circle of friends was until now. Thank you for supporting me and thank you for your friendship. it means the world to me.

There is always the ongoing debate about who is REALLY an Ironman- the ones who go to Kona, the ones who go sub-12 hours, and so on it goes. I am not sure where my head is at with this. I didn't buy Finishers Gear today and the tattoo is on hold. I got the tshirt, I got the medal, the told me I was a finisher, but they didn't call me an Ironman. But I think in my mind, there will always be an asterisk next to today's finish. You know when you see something while reading and when you follow the asterisk to the bottom of the page there is a statement qualifying or justifying the word or phrase? That's how this feels. I am more of an alloy- one part iron, one part aluminum. This year, there is an asterisk by my name, next year that changes. Only next year, I would prefer that Mike Reilly address me as Iron Maiden.
It's time to do work.
Thank you for seeing me through one of the best days of my life.
I have pictures to post, but that will have wait until tomorrow.

And so the Waiting Begins....

2009-08-26T19:53:00.004-06:00

So IMWI is just about upon us. The taper is beginning, the worry is setting in. I ask myself did I do enough? Did I work hard enough? Was the training plan right? Can I make the cutoffs? Can I do the work on race day? I think over my work for the past year or more and pick apart the days where I cut things short or went too slow or did what was fun instead of what I needed and wonder if it will come back to haunt me. Does anyone but me even care about this? Will anyone even be paying attention besides me on September 13th?
At this point, it is what it is, it’s too late to change things.

The Swim:
Swam the Madison Open Water Swim Challenge last weekend, which happens to be in Lake Monona on the actual IMWI swim course. It was training so I didn’t go hell bent for election, but rather wanted a feel for the distance in open water. I finished the 2.4 mile swim it in 1:43. I was hoping to be in by 1:30, so that was a little disappointing to be honest. Lets hope I can shave off some time at the big show, which serves only to give me more time on the bike. I can make this time cutoff easily, but all time spent lollygagging here could bite me later.

The Bike:
I am really sweating the bike, and I don’t know why. I have let the challenging hills of the course get into my head a little and psych me out I think. Sunday, we were supposed to get in our last 100 miler, which I was really thinking would get me a confidence boost. It was not to be however as I got called in to work and had to give up my long ride AGAIN. Now I am left wondering where I am going to fit in a hundred during my taper and if that is even possible.
The hills on the IM course are just a bitch, simply put. Unrelenting ups and downs, twists and turns that get in my head and take me to dark places where the voices whisper to me “you can’t do this” .. “it’s too hard”.. “you are a cream puff and you aren’t fooling anyone…” Dark places and dark thoughts are a definite risk here.
If I do what the voices in my head tell me to do, then getting done before the 5:30pm cutoff will be a struggle. Getting in before 4:30pm (my ultimate goal) will be damn near impossible. I think my biggest challenge will be keeping my mind right and not letting those bad boys wear on my psyche.

The Run:
I hate running this year. I am frustrated with being DFL at every running event I do over a 5K and I am just getting tired of it. There are a few days here and there that feel easy and fun, but they are far too few and far between to maintain my motivation to do it more often or better. Part of it has to do with the extra 30 pounds I am carrying around, part of it has to do with procrastinating in this discipline, and some of it has to do with me not putting forth the effort I know I should to improve. One of my biggest struggles this year is that my master plan the I adapted from the Triathlete Magazine Plan book uses minutes as a means of making workout assignments for the run, not using miles. I know for a fact that my 13-14 min/mile pace is not the norm and that this plan is probably geared more towards a 8-10 minute mile pace. And yet I am still doing 47 minutes if the book tells me to, instead of adjusting the distance to better fit where I am at and doing what should really be more like 60 or 70 minutes when it calls for 47.
Bottom line here is that if I can make it off the bike by 4:30, I can walk/slog the run in by midnight. If I am much later than that, I will have to do more running than walking. If I don’t make the bike cutoff, I can go eat some pizza and cry in my beer.

The next 18 days will be where I work on my mental fitness as I taper physically. Positive thoughts, visualization techniques and positive self-talk will abound. I CAN do this. I WILL do this. I need to believe in myself.
I’ll be reading a lot of articles and sweeping negativity out of my head.

And I’ll be enjoying watching my kid kick butt all over the football field when I need a little distraction.

IMWI 2009 Spectators Guide

2009-08-16T19:38:00.007-06:00

**I have this in a Word document, but can't seem to figure out how to post it or share it publicly. If you want the document in Word, email me and I will send it.

http://www.ironmanwisconsin.com/

Spectator Guide
Wimmers Do Wisconsin
September 13, 2009

Mike Wimmer ~ Athlete #
Jennifer Wimmer ~ Athlete #

Race Start: 7 AM from Monona Terrace

The Swim: 2.4 miles/3.8K (2 loop course) in front of Monona Terrace

Parking:
If you want to see the start, you’ll need to get there early (like by 6:30) There is no parking at the Terrace and parking in the downtown ramps may be tough. You can park at the Alliant Energy Center and take the free shuttle to the Terrace.

Where to watch:
There are several options here. Be aware that these areas are all quite crowded. Think early about where you want to be watching from and ease your way into position.
· from the sidewalk along the lakefront in front of Monona Terrace. (Good lateral view of the swimmers as they pass by twice)
· From the top of Monona Terrace (great view of the “washing machine” from above and there are vendors there selling breakfast items and drinks)
· At the swim exit chute (you can watch swimmers exit the water and get wetsuit stripped)
· If you want to watch the swim exit, please get there right away after the start. This fills up very fast and gets very crowded once the athletes start exiting the water.

Anticipated Finish Times:
Mike: 8:45 AM.
Jenny : 8:30 AM (about 90 minutes @ 2:15/100)

T1 swim to bike transition: wetsuit stripping and run up the helix into the Terrace and dress for the bike
Roughly 10 minutes??

The Bike: 112 miles/180K start ~ 8:45AM

The course goes from Monona Terrace out to Verona where we do two 40-mile loops before heading back to the Terrace for the run.

The easiest place to watch is probably Verona at the High School aid station. That is roughly mile 50 so there is plenty of time to get there. The riders come by very quickly so it may be difficult to spot specific riders, but it is very spectator friendly here. There are usually area service groups that sell concessions, grilled sandwiches, etc here so bring a few bucks to eat lunch.

There is a free shuttle by the Terrace (Wilson St) that will bus you to Verona. You could also drive to Verona and park by the library.

Good spectator spots on the bike course:
· Verona HS aid station
· Mt Horeb HS aid station
· Timber Lane – very steep hill (the 2nd of 3 hills known affectionately as “the 3 Bitches”) This is the best option to actually see us (going very very slowly uphill) but it fills up fast and is a bit more difficult to get to. Athletes go by very slowly here and it is really easy to see them. You have to park in the residential neighborhood and walk down Timber Lane.

Lunch: You have lots of options here.
In Verona, you can eat at the stands along Main Street in Verona, or if you head south you’ll find some places to eat. If you are in the mood for pizza, I’ve heard that Avanti’s pizza is quite good. If you head up the hill to the corner of the course, there is a gas station in walking distance where you can buy a cold soda or snacks.
I recommend that you pack a few snacks and water in a backpack to bring with you. It is important you stay hydrated and nourished – it’s a long day for spectators too.

Anticipated Finish Time: 8 hours (@14 mph avg) ~ 4:45-5pm ~ This is a total guesstimate.
Mike is hoping to be off the bike by 4PM, Jenny by 4:30, but who knows.

T2 (Bike to Run Transition): roughly 5 minutes to change clothes/shoes

The Run: 26.2 miles / 42K ~ start 5pm

The run will be more spectator-friendly than the bike. This is a 2 loop course and you should have several opportunities to see us if you move around a little. The finish line is near the Capitol. You can watch runners there, along the square, or down State Street. State Street is great because you see the athletes pass down and back. Once you see us running toward the Capital the last time, you will have time to get to the finish to watch us cross the line.

There will be a lot going on in this area, especially in the afternoon and early evening. Find somewhere to eat some supper; there are more options than I can list within easy walking distance. I recommend Ian’s Pizza (sold by the slice) on State Street, especially the Mac & Cheese pizza – YUM!

Realistically, we are looking at finishing the run between and 11pm and midnight, so find a place to entertain yourself, and be sure to find time to sit and rest – it’s a very long day! As the race winds down and it gets darker outside, the spectators usually start to move closer to the finish line and you probably should too. (There can be a shady character or two out there at night, so be safe!)

With all that said, anything can happen and times can be way ahead or behind. Ironman can get the best of people on the bike or more often on the run, so don’t get worried if we get off schedule.

The Winners:
The men’s winners will probably be finishing about 3:30-4:00pm. Women’s winners will likely be 45 minutes or so after the men’s winner.

Foofy Stuff:
Unless you are totally into the triathlon scene, spectating is kind of boring. There is a tent by the finish line where you can make signs or you can bring chalk and write encouraging messages on the State St like “only 6 hours left” or “stop puking” or “you paid to do this??”
There is also an IM shop in the Terrace where you can look at or buy mementos or overpriced gear. Let me know if you need my wish list and sizes J

Tracking your Athlete:
They have computers available in the Terrace where you can check the athlete tracker on http://www.ironman.com/ (click on Ironman Live and it’s in the lower left) and type in our numbers if you lose track of us – or if you can’t make it. They are also showing it live on http://www.ironman.com/ so if you can’t come and you’re interested you can watch the live feed and see some fo the race and the finish line.

Taking care of yourself for race day:
· Wear comfortable shoes with good support and cushioning. You will do a lot of walking; flip-flops or cutesy shoes will not serve you well.
· Get a good night sleep.
· Pack a backpack with a few snacks, a water bottle, some money for snacks/meals, sunscreen, a disposable rain slicker, a light jacket for evening. Remember that you will have to carry it all day, so pack light!
· Be sure to get enough to eat and drink. This is an endurance sport for the spectators too!
· Take time to rest and relax. Find a park bench or piece of shade and get off your feet.
· Enjoy the ambience of the day ~ it can be very uplifting and exciting!

VERY IMPORTANT- We can receive no outside help so please do not help us. Do not hand us anything, including water, a jacket, hat, food, or anything. We may be suffering but it is our choice. This could cause a disqualification. We paid good money to suffer so let us.

DON’T FORGET YOUR COWBELL BECAUSE YOU CAN NEVER HAVE ENOUGH COWBELL!!

Many thanks to Mike Wolfgram from whom I pirated the majority of this guide, with some minor adjustments for pacing as he is far faster than we are! http://ironmike08.blogspot.com/2008/08/spectator-guide-146.html

Spririt of Racine Half Ironman - Random Thoughts and Ramblings

2009-07-21T20:11:00.005-06:00

What can I say about SORT? This was my third Half Iron Distance event and the second time I have completed this particular course. I have been calling this a catered training day all summer, so I really didn't put a lot of thought into planning this day or strategizing. My goals for this day were simple:

* Better last years time for this course

* Try not to be DFL (That would be dead freaking last to the uninitiated, yo)

* Get an idea where I need to expend the greatest effort in the last 8 weeks of training for IMoo.

This year, we opted to stay in Janesville and commute the 80ish minutes to the expo and the race. It was cheaper than staying in a hotel getting nervous, we didn't have to leave our home vulnerable to the big ideas of teenage boys home alone on a weekend, and we got to sleep in my own bed instead of tossing and turning in a cruddy hotel bed. Although it made for a lot of time in the car, overall I think it was a good move this year. Except for the nearly an hour we spent in a traffic jam outside Alpine Valley caught up in concertgoers for the Dave Matthews Band, that was a little rough...

The race itself? Overall, I'm feeling pretty good. The swim was point to point with the current, so it felt really fast. In Google Earth, it measured 1.1 miles instead of 1.2 miles, but whatever - it was close. it will be tough to compare to last year because last year there were fog and cold issues with Lake Michigan an the course was moved in at the last minute and was way short. this year, it took off farther up the beach and ended further down the beach, so was longer than last year. The buoys were placed close enough to shore that it was about waist to chest deep through out which prompted a lot of people walking instead of swimming.

My swim wave was huge, and I mean GINORMOUS! They sent off a group of women that included all women 35 and older and Athenas. We counted up from the results that that meant our wave was over 250 women. It felt like a mob scene and I actually had to stop and collect myself 3 times when I got punched (PUNCHED!!!) in the face by other swimmers. I swam over people and swam over myself. At one point I took a forward stroke and ended up punching another lady square in the crotch.......that couldn't have felt good.

actually, i think this was a good experience because it was good practice for the in-water mass start for IMWI known affectionately as the "Washing machine." I now know I ca take a solid punch and keep going.

The Bike? I felt awesome on the bike. Sweet Lucy didn't let me down at all. I remember last year thinking people were crazy for calling this a flat course, and this year I really did fl like it was a FLAT course. There were just a couple of hills to conquer. I stayed in the big chainring the whole time and just hammered it as fast as I could.

The drafting packs I saw coming at me from the previous waves and fast riders were pretty ridiculous. I can't imagine if you got swallowed up by one of the peletons it would be easy to break free as they were big and fast. Being more toward the back of the pack, I had not a lot to worry about from a drafting POV. I lost time at the 45 mile water station when i stopped to pee, but it had to be done. Pulling up sweaty spandex bike shorts is no easy feat!

The Run? Here is where I identified my weakness as if I didn't already know. Once off the bike, i could not motivate myself to make my legs hurt enough to run. Could not make myself do it. First I was going to just walk a half mile and start running, then it was a mile, then I would take a couple blocks of running and peter out. I saw Jen Brady pass me early on starting her second loop and she was running like a freaking gazelle. I watched person after person fly by me as I tried to muster the weakest of shuffles. I knew at some point I would pass Alison, and then Mike, and then Phil so I tried to run until I saw them so they wouldn't see me walking. What happened in actuality was as soon as I saw them in the distance, I would start to run and then I would stop for a "walk break" that lasted until I saw the next SWATtie coming along and then the fake out would begin again. Pretty sure I was fooling no one but myself, but whatever.

This is a double out and back half marathon course, much like her big sister IMWI. For those that don't know, you go out a quarter of the distance, turn around and comeback a quarter of the distance, go to about 50 yards of the finish line and turn around to start the second half of the half marathon and do it all again. It.totally.sucks. Last year, I got all weepy at the turnaround by the finish line and this year was no different. I cannot express how heartbreaking it is to see the finish line and know you are only HALF done. And to make it worse, people are shouting "you're almost there" and "way to finish!" and any number of encouraging finisher phrases because they don't know you are not headed to the finishers chute.

This is where I wish I had family or friends that were actually interested in spectating these events. it would be such a lift to have some say "you're doing great, we love you, and we can't wait for you to get back here!" or better yet, to be out on the course (which is decidedly sparser once most of the field has finished their second loop) and offer encouraging words that are meaningful.

I go to a very dark place on these second lonely loops. You see a lot of people you don't know saying things that sound trite and disingenuous but are intended to be encouraging. it really does the opposite to me. I hear someone say "Looking good!" and I struggle to smile and have to stifle a "Bite me."

Once I got to the the second turnaround for the final 5K, I begin to count the number of people who are behind me and calculating a) whether I would make the cutoff time and b) how many runners were behind me, who looked like they would have started with me or after me on the swim (basically old women, fat women, and old men), and how likely they were to catch up to me and beat me to the finish. I counted 11 people behind me. That doesn't mean they were slower than me necessarily as they could have started later, but they were behind me at any rate giving the illusion of besting them.

So, the run was mostly a walk. I knew Phil was walking up ahead of me about a mile ahead after the first 5K, and I tried for a while to catch up to him, but since he is about 10 feet tall with legs up to his neck, i just could not get it done.

Funny thing:

*On the run, I stopped to use a potty at an aid station. I opened the door to find some tall guy standing at the urinal with his pecker in his hands. I shut the door quick and then had to stand there and wait, then look him in the face when he came out of the john....... Had I not been so tired I would have been able to come up with something funny to say, but honestly WHO doesn't know how to lock the door behind them in a unisex portapotty??

*one of the things I chanted to myself on loop 2 was "You can all kiss my double out and back ass." Like a mantra, over and over. In hindsight, inappropriate and kind of weirdly funny. Glad there was no one around to hear THAT!

* On my last pass through the aid station, a teenage girl held up a huge tray of Oreos. I grabbed some in both hands said "I LOVE you!" and pecked her on the cheek. Pretty likely she thought I was crazy.

What comes next:

*I was not DFL. But I definitely need to spend some time on the run miles. Apparently, not running more the 5-10 miles a week since a half marathon in May did not prepare me to run a half at the end of a HIM. Who knew?

* Ride that IM course several more times. Learn where I can turn it on and where I need to conserve myself.

*Figure out the nutrition thing for going long. I didn't eat nearly enough and had no plan for meeting my calorie needs which had a lot to do with running out of gas on the run. I wasn't bonking, but I was not fueled right either.

(We stopped on the way home at Rocky Rococos for the best.pizza.ever. Muy deliciouso, Batman.)

The numbers:

Swim:

last year: 37:25 (1219/1379- 88%)

this year: 34:17 (1107/1206- 91%)

net effect: 3:08 faster

Bike:

last year: 3:32:52 - 15.8 mph (1363/1379- 99%)

this year: 3:17:29 - 17mph (1108/1196- 92%)

net effect: 15:59 faster, moved forward in the pack by 7%

Run:

last year: 3:15:29 - 14:55 min/mi (1362/1379)

this year: 3:22:30 - 15:28 min/mi (1174/1176)

net effect: 37 seconds per mile slower, lost 7:01

overall:

last year: 7:37:50 (1367/1379)

this year: 7:22:58 (1164/1176)

net effect: 14:52 faster overall improvement, but improvements on the swim were cancelled out by regression on the run.

We got work to do - Toughen Up Buttercup!

Trek Triathlon- Pleasant Prairie

2009-07-12T15:21:00.004-06:00

JENNIFER WIMMER #1369
JANESVILLE, WI Age: 40 Gender: F

Distance: Short Course
Clock Time 01:42:03
Overall Place 1181 / 2544
Division Place 32 / 74
Swim 00:15:24
Swimrank 389
Trans1 00:04:23
Bike 00:37:40(Mph 19.1)
Bikerank: 204
Trans2 00:03:08
Runrank: 2120
Run 00:41:27 (Pace00:13:22)

Up at 3:30 AM to drive to Kenosha area (OUCH!!). Got parked, walked to the Rec Plex, set up transition and got ready for takeoff. (Special thanks to Jeff for 1-going back to the car for my sunglasses and 2- hailing the Trek rep to get my race wheels pumped up when I could only figure out how to let air OUT of them which was not really helpful.... SUPER SHERPA award goes to him, hands down!)

The 3:30 wakeup call was a problem in the pre-race "routine" ....... could have easily resulted in one of these ----------------->

but managed to overcome the feeling when I looked at the portapotty line that was easily 200 people deep.... LOL.

Swim went well, passed through at least 3 colors of previous waves and managed some trick maneuvers in noodle dodging.

Bike course? Flat and fast, finished up with the 700 number women (I was 1369). Felt like a fricking rocket, smiled the whole time.

Run? Flat course, had zero gas left, lost all ground gained on the bike and probably more. My running sucks, it is what it is....*sigh*.

Great weekend, had fun with my sisters, who did awesome! would love to do something different with them next year!

Perspective

2009-07-02T19:51:00.004-06:00

Sometimes I am left wondering about my attachment to reality. I know you are shocked to hear that (not really.....lol). I have gone from a life of relative inactivity to the opposite extreme, and yet I still find myself feeling like a total sloth when I compare myself to the people I surround myself with socially. And by socially I mean some pretty hardcore, driven triathlete type people. People who get up early to swim or workout, bike all the time, and who give you shit if you take a rest day that wasn't on the plan because you are tired, it's rainy, or life got in the way a bit. I can always seem to find a way to compare myself to these folks and feel inferior to their skill or their perseverance.

Is that really reality?

Once in a while I get a snippet of how "regular people" see me and what I do. A few months back, Mike was bantering around with some of Lucas's friends on Facebook, talking to them about how he was willing to help them organize a summer running group. Justin referred to us as "the running gods of Janesville." As in Mike and I. Running.GODS. ....... Really? My first thought was that the poor child really should get out more and meet some folks. Most days I don't feel particularly god-like. Chugging Freight Train, maybe. Not a God.

Tonight, I was kicking myself for going for dinner and postponing a scheduled run. We ran into someone who works in the same building as Mike. He introduced to his wife, who said "Oh, you guys are THE Athletes." It really took a lot to stifle a big giggle. She called me an ATHLETE! Ha! As is athletic..... as in skilled, fast, maybe nimble even....... An.Athlete. Interesting, since I really have a hard time classifying what I do as athletic. It is slow, sometimes painful, almost always slower than those around me, hardly what I would call athletic. But I guess it is a matter of perspective and what you see as your own reality. I surround myself with people I consider athletes so that I can learn from them, draw motivation from them, and hope that someday, somehow I can achieve 1/10th their speed, strength, and stamina. But to someone who has more contact with mere mortals and not superhero types? maybe, just maybe, I might qualify to be way far in the back of the pack of what might be called athletes........

OK, you can call me an athlete, but you have to use air quotes when you say it, that's the new rule.

Shutterfly | Shared Picture Detail

2009-06-06T17:35:00.000-06:00

Shutterfly Shared Picture Detail

Vocabulary Lesson

2009-05-19T20:59:00.003-06:00

Well folks, it's been a while since I've done much posting here instead of snarky comments on Facebook. Sorry for that. I brew up some great blog posts out on my long runs and rides, but somehow life gets in the way and I just don't find the time in the day to put those thoughts into the written word.

Lately, I've been thinking a lot about what people can achieve. It seems it was not that long ago that I found myself making excuses for why I couldn't possibly do things. Going for a walk with my dogs, hopping on a bike, losing 20 pounds, doing anything active or social was pretty much out. I was plagued with excuses.... too much to do for work, too much stress in my life to participate in life rather than watch, too much I had to manage for my kids, my home, my job, my yard, my everything. "I can't," "I won't," "I'll never" were integral parts of my vocabulary.

What I've learned over the past few years, is that the only thing that holds a person back from achieving anything is the restrictions they place on themselves in their own mind.

As I was running tonight, my mind wanders. I was trying to find the motivation to keep moving and found myself repeating the same idea over and over to keep going. "You can do anything for a minute," which quickly became "for a block," "for a mile," and "until you get home." I bargain with myself a lot that way, gutting it out to the next goal and then setting new ones. I think really that is the key - setting your mind on a goal and realizing that your mind is what holds you back, not your body. My friend Alison's go-to phrase in Ironman training is "Forward is a Pace" and I find applications for that mantra almost every day.

Often I find myself in conversations with people about how I got to where I am today. I don't solicit this, because really I am still a little awkward about discussing it and the attention it brings. In my mind, it really isn't so special - anyone could do it if they were in the right frame of mind. But, with that said, if someone wants to pick my brain or find motivation, I want to encourage others to achieve for themselves. People ask how much weight I lost. When I respond with the truth - 185 pounds lost initially- I start to hear the excuses. They say "I could never do that because (insert reason)..." They ask about my training, then tell me how they could never do that because they have bad knees, bad backs, asthma, smoke too much, smoked too many years, or any other of a variety of "I can'ts."

I struggle for the right responses to this. It seems rude to tell them to stop making excuses, but really that is what I feel would be in their best interests, someone to shock them into changing their frame of reference. My response is often that it's not so special, anyone could do it if they put their mind to it..... and I honestly believe it's true.

So for the future, I think my advice will be to change your vocabulary. You aren't on a diet, you are changing your lifestyle. You aren't training for an event, you are training for your life. You need to take "can't", couldn't", and "never" out of your vocabulary, it closes your mind and only holds you back from your possibilities. Change the way you look at things - think about how you could make something happen, not about how you could NEVER make something happen.

You can't run? Fine, then walk. Can't walk? Stroll! Can't stroll? Then crawl. Can't swim laps? Do the dog paddle, go water walking, or whatever. Do what you can and make the most of it, the only thing holding you back is your mind telling you to stop, or worse that you shouldn't even start. it's a in your head and how you think about things.

You've got to start somewhere so it might as well be here.

Tour de Cure

2009-04-18T21:03:00.002-06:00

next month Mike and I will be riding in the Tour De Cure ride in honor of our neice Sarah.
Here is the link to the page describing our story. (and Mike's page)

Juvenile Diabetes affects so many young lives. We want to see a cure, not just a means of managing this disease. If you can help us with a pledge, large or small, it would be appreciated. If you aren't able to help, please donate your time, write a letter to support funding, say a prayer, or whetever you can find within you to help JDRF.

IMG00042.jpg

2009-04-18T20:01:00.000-06:00

Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device from U.S. Cellular

Learning to blog from the Blackberry

2009-04-18T19:59:00.001-06:00

We just found that we can upload. Blog posts from the phone. How cool is that?
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device from U.S. Cellular

It's business time, people!

2009-04-18T18:01:00.005-06:00

What can I say? Its been a while since I have felt much like putting more than a few smart-mouthed comments on my Facebook page and really getting down to business.

I am currently in the last couple days of week 3 of Ironman training, which is going pretty uneventfully. I have managed to get in almost every workout, with the exception of a few swims which is directly related to a distinct lack of pool availability rather than a motivational deficiency.

I have missed only 1 run, which I think is nearly miraculous since I can find every excuse in the book not to run. I am not not fast by any means, but my big fat butt is out there pounding the pavement on a regular basis. At 14 miles per hour most of the time, which incidentally is about as fast as most people walk. Gotta start somewhere eh?

After reaching an all time high for my weight after my initial weight loss 4 years ago, I am now trending down again. Mike and I have our own version of the Biggest Loser Challenge going, complete with weekly weigh ins and last chance workouts. I of course relish any opportunity to create Excel spreadsheets with formulas and auto-calculations, so that was yet another way for me to put my mad computer skills to work. So far I am down 18 pounds in 5 weeks (next weigh in is tomorrow) with another 20 or so to go. I have even managed to win 2 of the 5 weeks.

I have spent the last week on vacation. We didn't go anywhere, but I needed to take some time off from work for my mental health, and Mike's mom was here for a visit. I think I am full up on my shopping quota for the moment. We had a great visit!

Today we took a short bike with several of the ladies from the tri club (Alison, Kitty, Brenda, Tawnya, and Mike and I). We did a loop of the old Janesville Triathlon route, which was a good mix of rolling hills and wind. We managed to get back to Kitty's just as it started to rain. We are supposed to go on a ride tomorrow in Brodhead, but who knows- it's supposed to rain all day. If that doesn't pan out, we will go to Edgerton to swim at the high school and maybe get in a run (I have 1800m swimming and a 10 mile run on the plan).

Monday is back to work and back to reality. Fitting in all I need to do for work and all I need to do to get my workouts in, be a mom, manage a house, take care of the pups, and managing everything else life throws at ya. It's time to get down to the business of being Supergirl. It's Business Time, Peeps!!

148 days til Ironman Wisconsin

(but who's counting??)

My mom says I don't blog enough lately...

2009-02-05T22:03:00.003-06:00

My jet-setting parents would like me to blog more so they can keep tabs on me from Central America. I am having trouble mustering up much that is blogworthy since I have entered the crackhouse that is Facebook..........

I'm working on it mom. Hopefully I put something together soon but for now I hear that I can now Facebook from my Blackberry....I'll be checking THAT out tomorrow.

2008 Totals

2009-01-03T23:20:00.003-06:00

OK, well 2008 started out pretty good, and then kinda fizzled out.

Got in a marathon in early summer which burnt me out on running for quite a while. Then came training for 2 half Irons within a month of each other, as well as a couple of other minor events just for fun.

After that came the IMWI hoopla and excitement. Next thing you know, I am just kinda sailing without a training plan and doing whatever I felt like doing, which ended up being a fat lot of nothing much and piddling around.

by the time December had rolled around and I was feeling a bit more into it, my body quit cooperating. I spent most of the month with a cold, then a cough, then what was some sort of freaky ear issue. The Urgent Care doctor that insisted that the reason I couldn't hear and that my ear was feeling like it was going to explode from pain and pressure was a wax impaction (RANT: um, WRONG! I did not get to be almost 40, an experienced nurse and mother, and a reasonably smart person by not recognizing when I need to flush my ears with peroxide instead of spending $200 have a doctor pressure wash my eardrum with his magic potion of, um....peroxide.....to get some wax out of my ears. The problem was a little bigger than that I think and it ended up resolving on it's own in the following 2 weeks).

So anyway, in a year where I was on track to far exceed the numbers form the year before, I fizzled out into a lackluster finish. **SIGH**

Final numbers:

Swim: 64.51 miles (2008: 32.93) .... 41hrs, 13.53 min

Feeling pretty good about that number. I spent a lot of time in the spring working on swimming when I was having ITB issues to rest it from running.

Run: 431.49 miles (2008: 594.88) .... 106 hrs, 15.27 min

I really lost my motivation to run this year. First injury, then I just couldn't seem to gain the ground back that I wanted to and I struggled. Alot.

Bike: 1750.23 miles (2008: 1885.7).......84hrs, 32.22 min

It got colder earlier this year so I got fewer rides outside and haven't spent nearly as much time as I needed to in the trainer as I should have I guess. I am surprised at this number actually.

Also of note here is the time I spent doing alternative cardio (videos etc), stretching, yoga, and pilates in the early Spring. The time spent there was significant as I tried to heal my IT Band, and then moving forward through the year.

Overall, I suspect the time spent (over 232 hours in 2008, and I can't get the report to run for 2007) is probably about the same from 08 to 09 as a much larger volume of time was spent in the pool, but I am still disappointed overall. Rather than kick myself, it's just time to get moving forward int he new year.

What's next:

*Take off the 35 pounds that crept back on this year (WTF!!!! Where did that come from? )

*Train for IMWI in September. I think this will also show an increase in my total mileage for 2009 as the volumes needed to be successful almost require it.

*Find a few races to do in the meantime that are fun and will keep my motivation going.

*Finsh my training plan and work the plan without finding excuses not to follow it.

Oh Yeah, in case I forgot to mention it today......

253 Days to Ironman Wisconsin!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Craig's List Mysteries

2008-12-13T20:32:00.004-06:00

What is it about Craig's List that sucks me in?

I check it a couple times a day just to see what kind of treasures I might want to buy, or for things I see for sale that might spark a memory and cause me to sell something of my own.

Frankly there is some weird stuff out there and some even stranger people selling/buying things.

*Last night, I read a posting last night. For sale was a collection of 15 headless Barbies for $10, including a picture. Um, WTF is that about? Maybe little Jimmy who hates his sister will buy it and wrap it up as a creepy little Christmas present??

*Then there was the ad for the guy who had a snowblower to give away. I can't find the ad right now but went something like this. "Snowblower to give away, tonight only. It is a giant hunk of crap and I went to blow out my driveway tonight and it doesn't work. You can pick it up from my garage at (dude's address). Knock loud since I'll be in the basement drinking. Or better yet, pick up a 6 pack and join me." That one made me laugh.

*Then there are the posts pleading for help that sound like totally fake. "I need a car but can't afford one. Can I buy yours on a payment plan?" Or the ad pleading for help for a needy family..." know a guy who lost his job and he can't provide his family with a Christmas. send me gift cards or cash and I will be sure to get them to his family." You know, I am a big proponent for charity, but come on people, do I have SUCKER written on my forehead? I donate to REPUTABLE charities, not some kind of bogus scam secret charity, thank you.

*Why do 90% of the people who post ads have ZERO ability to spell? On any given night I can see ads for "Shrits," "sirts", or my personal favorite "shits." Yes thanks, I would love to buy your used shits, thanks for asking! Some of the typos are pretty comical.

*the people who answer ads are pretty interesting too. We just a sold a bunch of stuff from our basement in the past month and some of the folks were pretty strange. There were those that acted all hot to take your item, would make arrangements to come get it then never show. Then there were the really scary folks who showed up and you had to wonder about their mental stability..... can I get them out of the house fast enough??

Well anyway I have to go. I'm sure there are some new ads posted I have to check out.....

The Marble Theorem in Action

2008-12-02T16:37:00.005-06:00

My friend has a theory about raising boys to be men. According to her hypothesis, all the marbles fall out each boy's head at puberty which is then filled with testosterone and at some time in the late teens/early twenties, at least some of the marbles are returned to that empty head, pushing out some of that testosterone and returning some common sense to their thought processes. In the meantime, a parent can only cross their fingers and pray that no one is hurt in the interim by the absence of brain cells.

Until this afternoon, it seemed as if we might be growing nearer to that moment. And then I came home from work.

As I turned the corner to reach my driveway, I see Nick walking out to the car Lucas drives with a BIG jar of bungee cords. Um, yeah, I can hardly wait to hear this one.

me: what are you doing?
Nick: the car won't start. We are going to push it into the garage to sit and warm up.
me: and the bungees are for.........?
Nick: I was going to rig something up to the steering wheel so no one has to sit in the drivers seat while we push. (Apparently, my son has aspirations to become the next McGyver...)
me: ................. uh, I don't think that's a good plan............
Nick: (shocked look) Really?
me: What was your plan if you needed to correct the steering? Or if you need to stop? Or if it starts to roll backwards as you are pushing it with the door shut and it's going to roll over one of you?
Nick: ......... uh yeah, Didn't think of that.

Plan B is formulated. I will sit in the car and steer/brake, the boys will push.

me: OK where are the keys?
Beefy: We can't use them cuz the car won't start.
me: ....?????...... How did you intend to take the car out of park to push it in the first place??
Beefy: Yeah, I'll go get the keys.

I put the keys in the ignition, the car turns right over and I drive it into the garage. The smell of gasoline is everywhere.

Beefy: How did you start it?? I tried for like a half hour and got nothing!
me: If you touch the accelerator, you flood the engine. If you leave it alone a bit, it fixes itself. The engine was just flooded, it's not magic.

I just have to wonder about what fiasco might have transpired had I not pulled up in time to avert it. I envision a drivers seat wrapped in bungee cords flipped upside down in the ditch across the street lying on top of my children. Or maybe seeking treatment in the ED for musculoskeletal injury from pushing and pushing and pushing a car that is geared firmly in Park. Wow.

IMAZ Bloggy Peeps

2008-11-22T18:38:00.002-06:00

Good luck to all out bloggieland friends doing IMAZ Sunday.

Keep an eye out for our tri-team friend Jen Brady. She will be out there kicking some serious bike ass wearing #2278. If ya see her give her a WOOHOO from the Wimmers!

39 Cents of Fun

2008-11-15T22:07:00.004-06:00

Today Mike and I got a little bit of Christmas shopping underway.

As we walked past the Halloween Clearance rack at Shopko, Mike decided that he absolutely MUST purchase the stick-on beard and mustache that was hanging from the display, marked down from $4 to 39 cents.... because, you know, he "could totally find a bunch of ways to use it." I was not sold on the idea because, um, really, how many opportunities can there possibly BE to wear a fake porn star mustache?? Halloween is over and I don't know of any upcoming Ron Jeremy look-alike contests, so I am out of opportunities...... but whatever, it was $0.39.
At the checkout, Mike places his treasure on the conveyor belt with actual items we intended to purchase and pushes the cart over by the door to rack it.
While he's gone, the 17-ish girl who checked us out whispers to me "Is he really going to wear that, like everywhere??" I whispered back, "He's done worse." She shook her head and muttered, "Man I feel sorry for you."
And I nearly peed a little laughing.

So now you know a little bit more about my life with Mikey and why my basement looks like Walmart.

My B-Fit B-Day Challenge Report: The Big 3-9

2008-10-28T19:30:00.010-06:00

Alternatively Entitled: If only little things like “Work” and “Sleep” could be taken off the table, this thing would be a piece of (birthday) cake!

For most of the things I have undertaken in recent years, I have committed myself to completing something without putting forth a lot of thought about how to complete it. My philosophy has been to give myself a goal and figure out along the way how to live up to it. The B-Fit B-Day Challenge was no exception. After reading through that first email from Roman, I immediately thought “Absolutely- Sign Me Up!” and I did. That was months ago.

Thinking through a little bit later, I emailed him and asked if I could do it early, with the intent of completing the challenge in like July or August while the days were still long, the temps were still warm, and I was training for 2 half-iron distances anyway. He said sure, but I still managed to procrastinate it until October, the month of my real 39th birthday on October 25th.
As the big day approached, I started thinking more intently about how and when I could get it slipped in with minimal disruptions to my work and home life, not sure if I would really get it done. Early in October, my son’s football team was finishing up their season, necessitating a lot of energy focused that direction. Later in the month, I had a week-long seminar to attend a long daily commute away. And the wintertime-is-upon-us blues were settling in, with windy, cold, rainy weather and shorter daylight. The bike and the run could be diced up into manageable chunks I thought after some careful consideration, but the swim was the monkey wrench in the equation. With the onset of cooler temps, the outdoor pool has been closed for several weeks and the indoor pool hours through the city are very limited, with just 2 hours available in the evenings Monday through Thursday. To me that meant that in order to meet the 24-hour timeframe for the Gold Challenge I wanted to do, I either had to figure out a way to do the swim on an evening the pool was open and then finish what I could that evening and the following day, or start the bike/run portion the night before a pool day and finish up the challenge with a swim.

My birthday came and went this past weekend, and I was in a funk. I wanted to do the challenge, but just couldn’t get motivated enough to start it off. Then the email came from Roman again, with a last call for B-Fit race reports. “There is just 4 days left to submit,” he wrote. That was the kick in the pants I needed so I started that evening.

The Report

(I forgot to take the obligatory picture of myself at the pool looking down the lane and putting on my goggles. This one will have to do ..... just go with it)

Run Leg #1:
Monday, I got home from work and quickly changed into my run clothes. I thought I might be a little insane because as I drove home there were flurries of light snow all around me, the first snowflakes of the season, and it was windy as hell outside. I dressed in my warmer gear, found some mitties and I was out the door. Those of you that know me, probably know that I am slower than snot on the run. It is my least favorite of the tri legs, and therefore I don’t spend as much time at it as I should a lot of the time. I ran my cold slow little run until it was starting to get dark outside, then I headed for home.
Run Leg #1: 5.42 miles in 1:18. (Don’t calculate my pace, just trust me that it was turtle speed)

Bike Leg #1:
Once home from the run, I got my buns warmed up, dumped the data from my Garmin into training center and changed into some bike clothes. It was dark outside, which took biking outdoors off the table, and to be honest with y’all I am not much of a snow/cold weather cyclist. One of the things I got for myself for my birthday was a cadence sensor for my Garmin Forerunner and I thought that I could test it out with this ride on a trainer and get my miles on for the Challenge at the same time.
Although there is nothing too exciting to report about a trainer ride, I forgot how nice it is to be able to hop off the bike and switch the laundry or watch TV while still getting miles in the saddle. (BTW: Cadence sensor review: It seems very accurate and was extremely easy to use. Highly recommended so far!)
Bike Leg #1: 23 miles at 1:38

Bike Leg #2:
After a quick night’s sleep, I was up bright and early to get some more bike time in before work. Watched the morning news and warmed up the Trakstand’s bearings for as long as I could until it was time to shower up and go to work.
Anyone who knows me well knows what a colossal achievement it was to get my crack out of the sack at 5:30. I am NOT a morning person, so this was a supreme sacrifice for the cause!
Bike Leg #2: 7.01 miles in :33

Run Leg #2:
After a late meeting that ran over, I hurried home to get the remainder of the run done. Thankfully it was marginally warmer than yesterday and no longer snowing, but still a bit windy. The legs were a touch sore from the previous day and morning bikes/run, so I was not speedy again today. Forward motion is still forward so I just took it easy and slogged out the last 3 1/2 miles.
Run #2: 3.6 miles in 51.32

Bike Leg #3:
What can I say about another trainer ride?
Bike #3: 9.01 miles in 35.38

The Swim:
The plan was to arrive at 6pm sharp when the pool opened and get in as many yards as I could in the 2 hour timeframe or 3 swim miles, whichever came first. Wasn't sure I could do it all in the allotted time, but gave it a shot.
There isn't much to say about lap swimming except I went back and forth lots of times. I watched the waterwalkers in the next lane (I nicknamed them the Solid Gold Dancers because they did all their walking on tippy-toes in the swimsuits with skirts). I chatted a few minutes with Alison, and a few other folks I knew there. Mostly I did lap after lap. Had a few problems with foot and calf cramps that responded well to switching to pull buoys when I had problems and it all just worked itself out.
Swim: 3 miles in 1:41

FINAL TIMES: 6:36 Total Time
3 Mile Swim: 1:41
39.01 mile bike: 1:38 + :33 + -:35 = 2:46
9.02 mile Run: 1:18 + :51 = 2:09

Closing Thoughts:
This little exercise in triathlonism, was for me a vivid reminder that I need to find a way to achieve my goals and live my vision by whatever means possible. I had envisioned doing this in one warm, sunny, single monumental day. In reality, it became a goal that I chipped away at a little bit at a time, working around my need to work and collect a paycheck and a need to sleep at night, little by little in manageable chunks, until I had it done. It was an illustration of how I need to fit triathlon and health into my life by whatever means I can and just make it work and be creative in fitting it in.
Four years ago, I weighed in at over 300 pounds and would never imagine myself displaying this amount of tenacity in reaching a fitness goal. What a long, strange trip it has been so far….. and thanks for coming along on the journey!

Many thanks to Roman for dreaming this up and making it a reality. And thanks to all of you for keeping it evolving and growing, and for motivating me to make myself better by sharing your own experiences and goals.
January 1st is all of our “Triathlon Birthdays” as we call it in my house. This is the day when many of us have to report ourselves when we register for events as the age we will be at the end of that calendar year. It will be my 40th triathlon birthday, anyone interested in completing a “Triathlon Bday” challenge in January?

My Whiny Week in Review

2008-10-17T15:58:00.004-06:00

The disruption of the week has been that I spent the week in Union Grove attending a certification course for advanced wound care. I learned a lot this week, some of it even pertained to wounds....

1) I could never, ever, ever work somewhere where I had to commute.
Many of you know that my usual commute to work is 1.75 miles. Sometimes I drive, sometimes I take my scooter, and sometimes (when there is not a lot of school traffic) I walk. This week I commuted 127 miles round trip every day. There are a million windy twisty, rural roads, which totally suck to navigate. And the Interstate is not much better.
And then there is all the dead air on the radio stations. The rate a radio station gets reception is inversely proportionate to the degree to which I am enjoying it. We'll just call that Wimmer's Law.
Is it wrong that I entertained myself by evaluating all roads and crossroads by how fun (or not fun) they would be to bike on? Come to think of it, maybe if I had biked to the class, I would have enjoyed the ride a little more.

2) Every road in Eastern Wisconsin is apparently always under construction. ALWAYS.
I went to the same place every day. I was not ever able to take the same route twice and often my way home was different than the way I got there in the morning. Off ramps and on ramps were closed with no notice from day to day. Traffic was re-routed due to construction, accidents, tree removal services, changing light bulbs in the traffic lights, ..... you name it and a road block was thrown in my way. I have never in my life been re-routed so many ways and forced to punt on directions.

3) The GPS unit is possessed by something that seriously wants to mess with my tiny head.
I was endlessly given directions that I KNEW were not the fastest or best way to go, and sometimes roads did not show up on the map, or it tried to take me the wrong way down one way streets, mostly in the Burlington area. And let me tell you that the little guy who tells you what to do has a bad case of Tiny Man Syndrome. He is BOSSY and gets really really pissed if you don't do what he tells to.

4) My family gets WAY to much pleasure from me getting a ticket.
Thursday morning, Exit 29 on I-43 was closed for construction. I read the sign the day before and planned to get off at Exit 28...... which was closed too and didn't know it. So I got off at the next exit after 29, which routed me all over the frickin place. I would through tiny town after tiny town and wound all over the place. As I pulled into the tiny town of Honey Creek (Population 50) I thought "what a quaint little town......where the hell am I? And how am I going to get back to where I need to go?"
as I pondered it, looking all over the place for signage, driving 55 mph, I noticed that the speed limit dropped to 25. I never saw a warning it would happen. As I lifted my foot from the accelerator, I saw barney Fife sitting in his squad running radar. I held my breath and as I passed by, the lights started to spin. I still had no idea where I was.
He swaggered up the car window, looking every bit like Jackie Gleason in Smokey and the Bandit, complete with the little mustache (no lie!). He asked where I was headed, which cascaded into a blubbery meltdown about how I was lost, frustrated, and just basically trying to get the hell out of Honey Creek and to where I was actually headed and was now going to be late getting to. He asked if I had ever had a speeding ticket before, and I told him truthfully I had not.
As he walked back to his squad car, I was crossing my fingers that he felt bad for the lost, crying lady, with a 25 year clean driving record.
Before long he came back. He handed me a ticket for going 43 in a 25 zone, gave me some la-ti-dah speech about protecting school kids, and said he did me the "favor" of ticketing me for 43 since he had clocked me at 44 first and it was apparent to him I was in the process of slowing down (Um, thanks. Makes no difference in my ticket, points, or insurance, but um, yeah.)
Then he gave me directions to get to Union grove. I was about 3 minutes away. Rats.
Needless to say, I have taken a fair amount of crap from Mike and the boys. Bastards.

5) The content may change, but every class/seminar is basically the same.
There are basically the same few people in every class ever.
There is the lady who asks the same dumb questions all day long. I know they say there are no stupid questions, but trust me there definitely are dumb ones. And it makes you look stupid for asking.
There is the lady that has an example to share about "what our facility does" in every situation. The story is never short, barely on topic, and just ties up my time.
There is the person who always says "YES!" when the teacher asks if we need to take a break, even if w just took one like 20 minutes ago. Really? I think we should be ok without one....
There is the person who talks to the presenter at every break using every big word she knows on the topic and inserts her opinion on everything throughout the presentation. She.Knows.Everything. which makes me wonder - if you know freaking everything and want to argue with the presenter about the content because you are always right, why did you take the class? If you know it all, you should just take the test for $75 and save your employer $4925 for the certification course! But then you would not get to show off how smart you are. (She actually asked one day "So are You lying or is the workbook lying because the workbook says ___ and you just said ___.." I think my jaw hit the floor.)
And then there is the person who just sits back and stays uninvolved, and wants to get through the day as quickly as possible, doesn't make a lot of conversation and gets annoyed more easily every minute she has to hang with all the others. That would be me. Miss anti-Social.

6) I could not do something where I had to do the same thing over and over again.
If I had to deal with all those people in every class day after day after day, I think I might poke some eyes out with a sharp #2 test pencil. Seriously. Give me a good old week on the nursing unit with something different to do every day, makes me much happier. And sane.

7) The more I have to sit still, the crankier I get.
By lunch time, I could not stand to be still anymore. Most of the days I was able to walk around the grounds for 45 minutes or so, which helped a bit, but it was jut not enough to totally take the edge off. By the time I got home I was a royal witch.
It was kind of a strange place to walk around since it was also the grounds for one of the state prisons, so I was walking around lovely brick buildings with little gardens, all surrounded by high fences topped with coiled barbed wire. Kinda creepy.

*****************************************************************************

Anyhow, the week is done and I am glad. I took my certification test today and in 4-6 weeks I fully expect to be able to add WCC to my credentials ("Wound Care Certified"). And the best part is I don't have to go to the recert class again for 5 YEARS!!!
Now I will just have to pay my ticket to Racine County as a reminder of all the fun I had there.

(I forgot to mention this but during all the fun of looking at grody pictures and learning all about sterile maggot therapy and other biosurgical interventions, I also managed to break off one of my teeth. It's a molar and it's not painful but I have managed to rub my tongue on it enough times to make the tongue bleed. Best part? I can't get into the dentist until Monday because I was too far away to get to the office before it closed ........ That's just choice.)

19 Things I Like About You

2008-09-23T16:08:00.005-06:00

1- You buy me Monsters. By the case.

2- You love to shop as much as I do. Except when we are bra and underpants shopping with your mom, then you get a TEENSY WEENSY bit impatient with the process.

3- You get genuinely excited about helping/watching/teaching your kids.

4- You are brimming with enthusiasm most of the time, almost to the point of driving me crazy sometimes..... (See #1)

5- you make me laugh. There are at least 2 weddings where you had me laughing so hard I couldn't get control of myself, including the one where the pastor looked like Mr Magoo. I think I snorted out loud. Several times.

6- You clean things. At least you clean things more often than I do.

7- You are a good cook, which is good since I am so not.

8- you know how to have fun, and how to get me involved since I sometimes don't.

9- Tech support. It's good to have an IT guy around, even if you give the heavy sigh when I am not doing things fast enough.

10- you dream big. And expensive.

11- You invent cool new phrases like "Git R Dun."

12- You understand my shoe fetish. A girl can never have enough.

13- You made an actual training plan. Not that you follow it mind you but you finally HAVE one.

14- You put up with explaining everything in football to me over and over again. And you always help me keep track of Lucas on the field.

15- Did I mention you buy me Monsters?? Big cans??

16- You put up with my grouchy mornings and crabbiness, without really pointing out what a rag I am being.

17- You are a great dad. and uncle.

18- You have great taste in women.

19- You are good to your mother and your family.

Love you MDot-i-mus. Here's to celebrating next year's anniversary toeing the line at IMMoo!

As if anyone cares....

2008-09-14T19:43:00.002-06:00

J Lo completed her "grueling" Malibu Sprint Triathlon, ranking a solid last place in her division, and ranking near the end of the comparable age group rankings.

Results are HERE

I am feeling smugly superior now.

Feeling fat, and not with a PH

2008-09-14T15:09:00.003-06:00

Iron weekend has come and gone. For the week before IMWI and the week following IMWI, I have done pretty much nothing. i think I got in 1 swim and a one hour-ish run, then pretty much nothing too taxing. Plus, I have been on the see-food diet for the past week while I was off work to use some vacation days up. I think I ate one of everything, sometimes two.

Now we are sitting on the sofa, kicking back as it has rained for like 3 solid days, and trying to work on a training plan for the next 52 weeks.

I am also working on a plan to lose the last 25 pounds AGAIN that I have let creep back on in the past year. I am feeling FAT but not in a good way. Capital F as in "F'ing Fat"...... fat with an F, not PHAT.

Tried the Wii Fit this week. Man is that fun! But my abs hurt from the balance activities so bad the next day that it hurt to breathe, let alone move. I obviously need a little more core work than I've been getting lately.

Insanity Check

2008-09-09T21:40:00.004-06:00

Pulled the trigger after this inspirational weekend...........

We waited in the rain outside Monona Terrace to register for IMMoo 2009. I literally jumped up and down once I had the completed paper in my hand.

Someone needs to remind me of that moment as I toe the line on September 13, 2009 please.

Now I have 52 weeks to get ready, lose that last 25 pounds again, and wonder WTF I was thinking when I signed up and how I probably had no business thinking it was within reach.

But I'm gonna do it anyway. Someone has to come in last and it may as well be me.

Triathlon Christmas

2008-09-04T20:32:00.004-06:00

Well, in my world it feels like Christmas......... It's IMMoo time again.
Going to this race last year was hands down one of the most fun and motivational days of my life. I felt like I swam, biked, and ran every mile right along with everyone we knew....... How are they doing on the swim? Look there's Bolder, there's Roman, everyone is out of the water........ then it was off to Cross Plains to watch for bikers.....Oh good there's Kitty, where is everyone, I hope they're all OK....... Oh look TriDummy's coming in for the finish....And Roman......and Darin..... By the end of the day, my fingers were raw and bloody from ringing my cowbell, I was sunburned, and hot, and elated, and worried, and tired, and excited, andeverything else all at the same time. I tell ya, it was exhausting! If I had $500 in my pocket that day, I would have probably signed right up for 08, I had the fever that bad.

Once again, I am glued to the pre-race coverage, checking the website, jotting down bib numbers, and looking forward to getting caught up in IM fever at Monona Terrace.

And this year, I know in advance where the fever is going to land me........ and that's right at the front of the line to race it myself in 2009.

And then I will spend the next 52 weeks wondering why in the hell I thought I had any business signing up.
--------------------------------------------------------
Tonight we started making up some signs to hold up on the course. Here's my favorite - a special request from the woman herself:Good luck to everyone this weekend! If you see any of our SWATtie buddies out there give them a hoot and a holler!

Darin Rutherford -#1048
Alison Viemeister - #2282
Kitty Cole- #2439
Mike Wolfgram - #146
Jeff Hahn - #1715
CJ Hartman - #2431
Brian Morgan - #1771
Johnny Brown - #697
Jimmy Brown - #1118
Ric Meister - #1332

It has been a pleasure to know and train with them all and NO ONE WILL BE YELLING OR RINGING A BELL FOR THEM LOUDER THAN US!

And the award for the most interesting name I came across on the list is David Klumpp #1234 which is coincidentally the same name as my uncle David who lives in Washington. It's not my uncle who's racing, but I just gotta check this guy out and cheer for him anyhow!

Who did I miss? We need bib numbers for our creepy internet friends too, so feel free to leave your bib number for us!

SWATquathon Run from Edison

2008-08-26T21:09:00.001-06:00

Ran with Mike, Jen Brady, and Tom Peterson (after SWAT swim with Alison, Kitty, Brian, Tara, and Kayla. )

Activity

Route:	--	Elev. Avg:	835 ft
Location:	Rock, WI	Elev. Gain:	+0 ft
Date:	08/26/08	Up/Downhill:	[+75/-75]
Time:	07:02 PM	Difficulty:	2.2 / 5.0

Weather:	Clear
	77 F temp; 41% humidity
	77 F heat index; winds E 13

Performance

Distance:	3.01 miles
Time:	0:40:04
Speed:	4.5 mph
Pace:	13' 19 /mi	Heart Rate:	162 bpm (Avg)
Calories:	333		176 bpm (Peak)

Map
Elevation (ft)
Pace (min/mile)
Heart Rate (bpm)
Heart Rate Zones

Zone	Range (bpm)	Time In Zone		Distance In Zone
Zone 5	167 - 185	0h 23m	59%	1.77 mi
Zone 4	148 - 167	0h 12m	31%	0.91 mi
Zone 3	130 - 148	0h 04m	10%	0.36 mi
Zone 2	111 - 130	0h 00m	1%	0.04 mi
Zone 1	93 - 111	0h 00m	0%	0.03 mi
(none)	out of range	0h 00m	0%	0.03 mi

Splits

Mile	Pace (min/mile)		Speed (mph)		Heart Rate	Elev Gain
Mile	actual	+/- avg	actual	+/- avg	Heart Rate	Elev Gain
1	12' 33	-0' 46	4.8	+0.3	148	-14 ft
2	13' 36	+0' 17	4.4	-0.1	167	+13 ft
3	13' 40	+0' 21	4.4	-0.1	170	+3 ft
end	15' 00	+1' 41	4.0	-0.5	174	-3 ft
Versus average of 13' 19 min/mile

Posted from bimactive.com

Technical Difficulty - please help

2008-08-25T19:29:00.002-06:00

OK here is the deal.
I love to upload my Garmin stuff to bimactive.com.
I figured out how to do the zip file thing, which was no small feat for me.
Now it won't accept my uploads because the zipped file size is too big.
I emailed tech support a copy of my file per their request to find the problem and send a solution. Here is the answer I got:

Hi Jenny,
The uncompressed file is too large for our servers to handle. Please split your activities into two
files and zip those and upload. Let me know how it goes.
Cheers,
jon

I emailed back asking exactly how I would do that and threw myself on their mercy to help the technically inept. Here was the response:

The way I would do this is using the Training Center software, select a date range to export that is half what
you initially created and then do the other half into a new file name. Zip both of these files you have exported
separately and try uploading them.
-jon

Yeah. I still have not a clue, can't figure it out. Anyone have any thoughts or care to laugh at my attempts?

Reflections on the Big Pig Gig - Pigman 70.3

2008-08-18T20:19:00.011-06:00

Saturday morning Mike and I headed to BFE Iowa (formerly known as Cedar Rapids) to get all signed in for the Pigman Long Course Triathlon (70.3). After taking the pups to Bonnie's, my new pet sitter - who was awesome BTW- we were off. I could not imagine a more boring drive...... For what seemed like days we wandered along Hwy 11 towards Dubuque through 3 million little towns with a combined total population of 12.

When we finally crossed the Mississippi River and got into Dubuque, I waited patiently for the scenery to change, we were in Iowa after all. Somewhere along the line, I got it stuck on my head that Iowa was flat and we were headed for downtown Pancake to race there. Illinois is pretty flat, so is Indiana, and Nebraska and a whole shitload of other states in the general Midwest area......

W.T.F. ?? I thought to myself as the terrain seemed to get hillier and hillier. Where are my flats?? You must be kidding! I watched that last couple hours to Cedar Rapids in utter amazement.

We finally arrived at the Marriot for the "expo" which was actually a place where you got your packet and shirt, and Gear West had 1 table and a rack of tri clothes to check out. Not exactly what I was expecting.

We got checked in and talked to Tri-Dummy who was still a ways away driving in with the whole family. We decided to check out the water at the lake and then drive the bike course. The water was nice. The bike course not so much. Rough roads, heavy traffic, gravel everywhre, a temporary bridge through road construction, you name it it was out there. The kicker for me was the roads. Anything paved is a highway with no shoulder, any other less traveled farm roads are gravel - no shit. Iowan bikers have gotta be hard core. I was nervous about the bike now, not so much of the hills but the traffic.

We went to supper with Blogland Superstar Tri-Dummy and his lovely wife Aimee and their kids. It was a great time, with great food. What fun! and the kids - very funny and so well behaved! It was awesome. (I do have pictures, but was asked not to post them. It DID really happen).

Back at the hotel we got ourselves together for race day. The Marriott nickel and dimes you for EVERYTHING, and provides not much - no fridge, no microwave, no WiFi (without depositing an arm and a leg onto your bill.). The alarm clock? Holy crap, it was so complicated we never did get it figured out and it never went off in the morning. Watched the marathon on the Olympics and went to bed.

Race day was there before you know it. My eyeballs pooped open at 4:40 and we got our cracks out of the sack, got checked out, and we were off to the park.

Got set up in transition quickly and found out that we were wetsuit legal for the day - SWEET. Mike and I were in the same wave which really was ideal. We got our wetsuits on and headed to the beach, hopping in to get acclimated to the water temp. We took a few strokes out and I said to Mike that we were just sitting there, where we couldn't touch, and he was NOT sinking, just floating, hoping that was the reminder that would help him calm down.

The Swim:

We were in the first wave after the elites with a single file time trial start into the water. I swam steady just ahead or next to Mike, then I got ahead a little bit and kept an eye back for him for a while longer. wasn't long til we rounded the buoy and were on the second leg of the triangle. I got caught up for a while in a pack of swimmers, then moved to the outside a little for some breathing room. I saw a big yellow buoy to my right and mistakenly thought it was the corner, swimming over to it and realizing too late that it was the halfway marker. I took a quick punch in the jaw from the swimmer I cut off to get to the fake turn buoy and kept it going. Finally reached the beach and tried to remember to take off my cap and goggles first thing so I wouldn't look as dorky in my pictures this time (you know, the important stuff....).

Up the beach to transition, I was changing and heard Mike behind me saying "I am SO proud of myself..... I just swam a mile and a quarter....I did it...." and I smiled to myself at that. How cool.

The Bike:

I took off on the bike and out of the park. I got a couple miles and realized not only was this a hillier bike than anticipated, it was also WINDY! awesome.

Mike passed me about mile 8, and about mile 20, TriDummy trucked on by me. There were several railroad tracks (a/k/a bottle launchers judging by the carnage on the other side of the tracks), rumble strips in the road, and the metal grate construction bridge was especially interesting. Everything on this course was up or down, no flats and I do think that there was way more ups than downs, although I know logically that is not possible.

There were plenty of bottle drops and the volunteers were great. I saw nothing but beverages on the bike course - would have been nice to have a banana or something but whatever.

The traffic? every bit as bad as I feared. Lots of near misses and scariness. About 8 miles from the end, there were 2 cars coming towards me from the other direction and a lady coming up behind me. Instead of waiting, she tried to swerve out around me and nearly had a head-on collision right in front of me, close enough that I was looking all over frantically looking for somewhere to bail out to. The last stretch into the park was up a long steeper hill. It was long, and getting hot, and I felt like I had a saddle sore the size of Texas. About a mile from transition, the girl on the bike in front of me starter to weave, slow down, and then just fell over in a daze. There was an ambulance right there and as I passed her talking to them, she said I don't know what happened, I just fell over......

The Run:

What can I say? As I was going out, I saw the first folks coming in from the run to the finish. I saw Jaime from Endurance House fly by me towards the finish, then a couple other EH folks. It was really hot, and I thought to myself "Put a fork in me I'm cooked." That pretty much sums it up. I ran the downhills, walked the ups (not much of either, it was a really flat course) My plan was to run 2 minutes, walk 2 minutes on the run...... which quickly became run 1, walk 3......... then run 1 walk 5, then 6, then 7, .......... then "oh screw it what am I losing 3 minutes a mile maybe to walk? Yep I'm walking, it's just too f'ing hot, I am too tired, what idiot thought this race would be fun? Oh yeah, that was me..."

There were plenty of water stops. Only 1 porta on the run course ...... ONE. I took some water here and there, and always made sure to get some ice and throw it into my bra. Then I would munch on the ice chips from my shirt if I needed one (gross, I know, but I really didn't much care at that point).

Not only did this take place on the highway, but parts of it were covered in gravel, thus creating a huge cloud of dust to walk through. As I got near the half point, I saw Mike coming by the other direction and talked a couple seconds. I was feeling OK, just couldn't run. Every time I tried, my HR just skyrocketed to 160's or higher and I could not sustain it. The turnaround was at the top of the only other hill on the course. No timing mat. .....I told the guy standing there that had I known there wasn't a mat I would have cut the course long ago. He thought I was kidding, I thought I probably wasn't.

On the way back, I decided to count roadkill on the course, since there was so much of it I thought it was a perfect way to occupy my time. I lost count at 5.89 million piles of stinky bones, guts, and fur. Then I started trying to figure out what animal or reptile they used to be.

Got back to the park, way later than planned, but I finished. I mustered up a slog for the last half mile through the finish to save face (like I fooled anyone :-)

What was left to eat? warm yogurt and brown bananas, yummy. They must have had pizza judging from the dozens of empty boxes in the supply truck, but none left for me.

The Good:

- Got it done

- Got to spend an enjoyable meals with the TriDummy family. They are great!

- Swim was awesome, perfect water, nice course, felt great

The Bad:

- Hilly bike, awful roads. I was scared to death or getting hit, flatting out, or falling over the entire time.

- Forgot about chamois butter......nuff said.

- my run plain sucked

- Hot, hot, hot. Absolutely NO shade on the course which definitely took its toll.

- i forgot to strip off my bike clothes for the run, so I ended up wearing my tri shorts, topped with my heavy shebeest bike shorts, a heavy sports bra, a long tri tank, and a sleeveless bike jersey. I was a tad overdressed for the run.... duh.

Would I do the Pig again? The shirt was cool, and we are apparently being sent a really cool original print with our finish picture mounted on it. Despite that, I will never be back to BFE Iowa to race. No Way.

Would I do another 70.3? Yeah, I think I would. I do like the distance and I knowingly sacrificed a lot of bike fitness, and a TON of run fitness to focus on the swim. It was just what we needed to do or I never would have seen Mike toe the line in the first place. So, yes I would do it again, but not without spending more time and effort on biking, running, and bricks.

The goal for the next one would be to arrive at the finish line before the pizza is all gone and before the massage people have packed up. Or at least have someone save me a slice...... sounds like a good job for a sherpa- any volunteers??

Random Olympic Thoughts

2008-08-12T21:28:00.002-06:00

Michael Phelps is simply amazing. A God.

Dara Torres - Rock star mom swimmer. Love her.

If they call that Thorp guy "the Thorpedo" one more time I am literally going to vomit in my mouth.

Women swimmers are strangely built - no boobs, no neck, giant pipes. They could be men with nail polish and glitter shadow. But they are much neater swimmers and cut the water much more cleanly than those messy boys.

The Chinese gymnasts - they all look like 7 years old and were taken from their homes to start training at like age 4....... what is the deal with that?

When is track and field on? I am ready for some running races. And the tri team.

Favorite Lines from today's ride (almost forgot)

2008-08-10T19:36:00.003-06:00

* "well, I think you named your bike." - Brian "Captain" Morgan. I was chanting the F word to myself as I hauled my big butt up the last ginormous hill towards the terrace as my quads screamed in pain.

* "You are just 8 shades of F'ed up today." -bigmike to me as I reached under the seat for the navigation thingy to get us to the great Dane for lunch and somehow gave myself a huge charlie horse in my neck.

Biting off more than you can chew isn't always a bad thing

2008-08-10T18:23:00.005-06:00

Today we biked 1 loop if the Ironman Wisconsin course with Alison, Brian, and Jen, who are all on the cusp of an Ironman event (Brian and Alison are doing Wisconsin, Jen is doing Arizona). They have spent lots and lots of saddle time in the past few months, and while I started on a level playing field with Alison at the beginning of the summer, they are all far and above my abilities at the moment.

So of course when Alison suggested we do the IMWI course, I said sure, of course, love to. I have never done this course before but assumed it is much like everywhere else in Wisconsin I have ridden, so how different could it really be? Should we do one loop or two? Mike's response was he would rather do 1 loop (63 miles), but if we did 2 (85 miles) he and I would do an extra 15 somewhere to make it an even 100.

Fast forward to this morning. It was cold....I had on a tank top and bike shorts. It was chilly at 7am, but we hoped to warm up a bit as we went forward. Right from the start I felt like I was struggling. I was at the end of the pack, hanging on for dear life and more often than not I was falling off. We went up and down a ton of hills right from the start. Flying down hill on Whalen Road, I was smacked square in the mouth by some sort of mammoth bug that left me with a welt on my lip and bug guts on my teeth. They tasted awful. By the time I got to about 7.5 miles, I had nearly convinced myself that I couldn't do this today and I was going to turn around and nap in the car until everyone up ahead of me got back.

Problem: I realized Mike had the car keys. Rats, guess I keep going.

Thankfully for me, Jen doubled back a couple times to ride with m and offered up some encouragement. (She is a wicked fast biker by the way.) I was glad she scooped me up, it made a big difference to have someone turn around and realize I was still back there when everyone else was quickly biking out of sight.

Problem: I had no map and was constantly worried that I was going to be lost somewhere on the side of the road in BFE and no one would notice I was gone.

I kept running through what was going on ....... why was I going so slow? Why was I working so hard and not able to keep up? I had no explanation and was feeling just plain outbiked.

About mile 28-point-something, we pulled into a Kwik Trip in Mount Horeb felling just grouchy, bitchy, and hungry. I hadn't had anything to eat along the way yet, I was working too hard to keep up to even think about eating a bar or popping some beans. When I came outside after using the potty, Mike is messing with my bike. Uh, honey, you have been biking with your front brake on. So, I guess that explains some of the question of why am I putting forth so much effort and going nowhere. Here I thought I just sucked. Come to find out I only kinda sucked and had my brakes on.

Well, the front wheel was free-er after that, but my legs were feeling cooked. There were some nice screaming downhills coming up, some of them kind of technical with twists and turns. There were also plenty of hills. I got up the first of the Bitch Hills, but ended up walking at least a part of each of the last 2 hills of the Bitch Hill trio.

I was never so glad to get off my bike and be done as I was today. I was outbiked, overconfident, and underprepared. But I did it, and it's ta-done. Now the question is, would I be able to add another 50 miles to that loop and follow it up with a marathon?

Lessons Learned the Hard Way Today:

* IMWI bike course is way hillier that I gave it credit for and it totally kicked my ass. I need to get my butt on my bike more and spend plenty of time on hills, especially those ones I hate on Johnson Road.

* Um, check to make sure your bike is in proper order before you climb on and take off. Biking with your brakes on is flipping hard!

* Take your allergy medicine before taking a 4 hour ride in the country, past hay fields and farms. Makes for a much less snotty day.

* Chamois butter just makes your hiney feel greasy. And when you stop to pee you end up wiping it off the important parts anyway.

* I need to spend less time in the pool and more time on the bike and the run if I want to have a prayer of finishing in 17 hours.

* Bring a map so you can get back to the car if you get dropped!

* I bit off more than I can chew, but I made it through to the other side. Next time I will be ready.

Save the Ho Ho: Cycling Shorts Review...... Part 2

2008-08-07T19:46:00.003-06:00

I have now had the chance to try a couple more pairs of shorts since my first post about this, so here is the the low down on the last 2 pairs:
Pearl Izumi Ultrasensor Shorts: First off, why do they call themselves Pearl Izumi? Their logo looks like IQ, so I am always calling their stuff IQ instead of Izumi, then no one knows what the french toast I am talking about.... Anyhoo, these shorts really were great. The pad was comfortable and it held up to the long ride well. As with every pair of shorts I own, they were tight around the leg opening because of the elastic, making some very unattractive leg bulges. I am CERTAIN it is all about the shorts and has nothing to do with my chubby flabby legs. (Don't burst my bubble here of you know what's good for ya).

DeSoto 400 Mile shorts: These were the first shorts I bought and the last to arrive. The shipping was free and I got my money's worth on it I guess. These shorts had the thinnest pad (the Century Pad) and were every bit as comfortable as the other 3 I tried. I haven't yet had a chance to to take them more than 20 miles, but they get 2 thumbs WAY up for the short test drive. I put them on after swimming (it's always a treat to try to get into spandex when you are still damp/wet from swimming), and they were fairly snug, but not the way the Trashy Cat shorts were -tight- but rather like they were trying to compress things and support, a lot like a good girdle or a pair of Spanx. Best of all, they don't have that elastic band around the legs, the legs are open which is what makes the 5 pairs of DeSoto tri shorts my favorite tri-shorts for short distance rides. These shorts had a back pocket, a deep mesh pocket you could fit a lot into - a phone, a sandwich, a camera, and perhaps a small dog. The downside to this pocket is it is very deep...... and bottoms out pretty low like you could pretty much fart all over whatever you put in that pocket. Not that I did. Or would admit it. That wouldn't be dainty, and I am so all about daintiness. Now here is where my decision was made. I was riding out Tripp road towards Footville on Tuesday and Alison rode up behind me and said "I don't normally check out people's asses, but those shorts make your butt look really narrow. I didn't recognize you." So there you have it. DeSoto wins, my butt looks narrow..........DING DING DING DING DING ......WE HAVE A WINNER!

SWATquathon Thursday

2008-08-07T19:32:00.004-06:00

Tuesday we did the usual Tri-Out at Rockport (only a couple more left - WAHH!). Wasn't a big turnout, but it was a nice night ad a good moderately hard workout. I got eate alive by a couple of really big mosquitoes or small birds - not sure which- on the run ad the bites have been itching like CRAZY ever since.

Tonight, Mike and I went to Rockport for the SWATquathon (or Surf-n-Turf depending who you talk to...). Got 1100 meters in and a little over a 5K run. Mike went up ahead on the run with Gary Clark who I think was trying to kill Mike but he seemed to be holding his own. I was feeling pretty good on the run tonight, not like FAST mind you but good. I even ran up Rockport hill all the way, which I never do and it felt pretty good.

Sunday we are biking the IMWI course with Alison and I think Darin, not sure who all else is going. I have never done the whole course, just bits and pieces of it, so that should be interesting!

So T-10days to Pigman. The water temp is 80 per Mike, so not wetsuit legal..... still haven't decided if I will wetsuit it anyhow which will disqualify me from awards (award for what? slowest chubby lady??). I can swim. I can bike. I will TOTALLY be faking the run. Don't tell anybody though..... I want them to think I know what I'm doing!

What the French, Toast??

2008-08-03T19:59:00.004-06:00

My sister commented that to me recently- Cracked.Me.Up. I have said it like a million times this weekend.

Should have been a pretty strong week for me this week. I held back on the bike because I knew I had the century on Saturday so didn't plan a lot of biking the rest of the week.

Got a Tri-Out in on Tuesday with SWAT. Showed up for a SBR night to find that Rockport was closed due to a poop accident in the pool (wasn't me- I swear!), so we did an hour bike instead of a swim and looped back to pick up any stray riders for the regular 6pm bike and Mike, Brian, and I drove over to Edison to swim instead of doing another longer hot bike that the rest of the group did. We came back to the park afterwards to try to pick up the SWATTies for the transition run, but ended up doing it by ourselves. It felt wrong to do the bike first, weird.

Thursday, we had planned to do the Aquathon (Swim-Run race) in Madison in the evening. CANCELLED due to blue-green algae in the lake, which is apparently toxic. What's a little poison between friends anyhow? Well, Alison and Mike cooked up our own little SWATquathon and we met up at Rockport for a swim, followed by a little longer run. It was kinda fun and I think we are going to make it a regular Thursday night adventure!

Planned run several other days, but frankly it has been so flipping HOT this week, I tried to wait out the heat after work and didn't get a lot done, except for the Tuesday Bike-Swim-Run, and a Swim -Run Thursday.

Saturday, we were set and ready for our first real century ride. We packed our bikes, We packed our gear. We packed some snacks. We packed the chamois butter. At 0500 everyone showed up in our driveway to caravan over to Elkhorn and ride a quick 100 miles (well not really quick....)

............ and then the phone rang. Day nurse called in sick and they couldn't find a replacement. So instead of riding my first century, I went to work for a 12 hour shift on top of my already completed 40 for the week (for free! I love being salaried!). I sent Mike on his way with the SWAT caravan and bummed on it all day, wondering how he was doing and worrying about him in the heat. I just knew without the boss around, he would probably fall off the edge of the earth or something.

So basically this week became just another rest week, with all my best laid plans going to shit right quick. Next week I need to kick it into high gear and get some serious miles in so I can take a taper week before Pigman.

Also cracking me up this weekend:

After Mike was done with his bike yesterday, he called me on the way home to give me an update. Went like this:
J: well how did it go?

M: OK, yeah it was a long ride. I'm just driving home. (groan) Oh man, I have to shit.

J: Do you need me to let you go?

M: No I'll tell you about the ride. Man, I gotta go, like right now. Anyway, it was a long ride. I had like 10 flats. Man there isn't like a McDonalds or a gas station anywhere around here.....

J: Are you OK?

M: Yeah, fine. Yeah, it was fun...... I am going to end up crapping my pants. Oh I remembered where I saw a porta. I'll talk to ya later.

CLICK.

It was really OK that he hung up. I was laughing so hard, I would have wet my pants and needed to find a bathroom too.

Save the Ho Ho: Cycling Shorts Review

2008-07-28T21:20:00.004-06:00

TMI Alert: If you don't want to talk girly parts and sit bones, stop reading here. Consider yourself warned. :-)

So this summer, we have spent several long days in the saddle. Last summer we rode 20-30 miles 4-6 days a week. This summer, we are riding less days but longer distances, usually 40-60, with a 100 miler coming up this weekend. The extended sitting time is taking a painful toll on the lady parts area. About mile 30 lately, I start to consider maybe standing up for the last 20 or so miles of my ride to avoid sitting down any longer. I think it is boiling down to a problem with my shorts or a problem with my seat. Since I have been OK with the seat until the ride gets longer, it seems like the shorts are the best route to try fixing first.

A few weeks back, I read in Bicycling Magazine about some shorts called Trashy Cat Satin Shorts. They were rated as the best shorts under $100. So since the experts recommended them, I started there. Fit: REALLY small, like almost too tight small. I know I've put on 15 pounds since last summer, but yeah WAY WAY WAY tighter than they should have been. Comfort: Okay, but still some discomfort near the end of a long ride. Binding around the legs was uncomfortable. Bottom Line: They were OK, but not that much different that what I already had and would order a size up from what I would normally order. Um yeah, fat girls REALLY don't like to size UP...

So the research continued. Next up was a pair of shorts called the SheBeest SB Ultra D Shorts. I tried them out this weekend and they were really comfortable. The Century Stretch Pad gave good pressure relief and I had no real discomfort. Disadvantage: The pad is bulky and may not lend itself well to triathlon running, unless of course the expectation is you run in a diaper. Overall a good long distance short, but may cause some chafing later on the run.

Other pending reviews: I have also purchased a pair of Pearl Izumi UltraSensor Shorts (women's version with the 3D Elite chamois pad) and a pair of DeSoto 400 mile Shorts. I'll let you know how that goes. I suspect nothing will be perfect, but may each have their purposes.

I hope so. Changing saddles would be a much bigger ordeal for me. Too.Many.Choices. WAY.TOO.MANY.TO.CHOOSE.

All I really want is a pair of shorts that does make me feel like my ass could eat my seat...why is that so hard?

Happy Sweet 16 L.Dub!!!

2008-07-28T14:32:00.009-06:00

16 years ago today Lucas joined our family and life has never been the same. Through the years, he has brought us a lot of joy and laughter. He has bled us dry of money for new clothes and high tops to match every outfit, miles and miles of driving to practice, games, movies, and ...... yeah lets not even get into the groceries thing. I wouldn't trade one single minute!

I hope your day has been great and wish you many, many, many more happy birthdays. Wish Beefcake a happy birthday!

Now I have to go and find my lucky license plate socks for his Drivers test tomorrow......

Spirit of Racine Triathlon 70.3.... The race report

2008-07-20T20:17:00.004-06:00

Saturday we headed up to Racine for registration and bike racking. It was icky and spitting rain, which made me nervous about race day, so I tried not to think about it and cranked up the tunes...
We went to the expo to pick up our packets. I had packed several options for race apparel, but while we were there I bought one more pair of bike shorts, just because you never know....
We checked into the hotel, ate some bad pizza at Rocky's (I didn't know it was even possible to have BAD Rocky's, but I guess it is), and headed down to North Beach Park to get our bikes racked. I was glad to see that Mike and I were racked within a couple rows of each other to make it easy to see that we had been in and out of transition and keep track of each other.
After racking we headed down to the beach to check things out. We had intended to swim - we brought the wetsuits but forgot the swimsuits. I was game to go in anyway with the bra and underpants as a suit substitute, but Mikey vetoed that. I didn't cry about it. We walked down to the shore to find a lot of nervous folks trying to brave a dip in the water. We saw lots of blue lips and shivering - YIKES!
Walking back to the car, we ran into KT, who we had invited to room with us after hers fell through. After a little chitchat, we went our separate ways so she could get her stuff done and get to the hotel to get settled.
Mike and I went to dinner at Infusino's with the SWAT folks, while Kate went to supper with some friends. Dinner was great - Orange Roughy, baked potato, and salad (and soup I didn't eat). Too much food for next to nothing (our bill was $15 for more food than we could eat in a week)- the theory of the night was maybe there were mob connections or something. Who cares - it was awesome!
We went back to the hotel where I could check the lake temps repeatedly. We messed around a while, then Mike got to sleep with two women, which is not as much fun as you might think... :-)
We were up at 4:30 and got ourselves ready. Breakfast, packing, and down to the lake to get worked up about the race.
We were set to go off at 7:24 (Mike) and 7:27 (me), which was quickly delayed an hour as we were socked in with fog so dense they had to move the buoys closer to shore and wait for it to lift some. We milled around the beach trying to get psyched up for the swim. Official temp: 56 degrees, warmer than last weekend but still colder than what we can get from the kitchen tap. I waded in the water on our way to the start and was happy to note that it felt a lot warmer than the last time I was in it. I was focused on keeping Mike from freaking out, so I spent a lot of time framing our conversation in positives which kept me from focusing on freaking out myself. The last thing I remember before we were all in the water was looking at Alison and saying "I have no business doing this - is it to late to rethink it?. I must be the stupidest f'ing person alive." And then we were off.

The Swim:
It was cold, no doubt about it. We were able to touch the ground for most of it which was both good and bad - lots of people starting and stopping and walking. But when my hands went numb and when some chick powerkicked me in the ribs, I was able stand up and recover. The stroke was ugly. I did some freestyle with my face out the water (OMG cold) some breaststroke, and some other screwy strokes to keep my head up and warm. The first quarter mile was take-your-breath-away cold. About halfway down the beach I caught up with Mike. We swam together a while, then I got a little ahead and then I lost him. The last time I remember seeing him I stood up and was walking backwards in the water trying to find him. he waved when he saw me looking and I turned around to see the last buoy. I swam around it and in to shore. I think I was 35 minutes from shore to shore plus a staggering walk up the beach getting my bearings back. I watched for Mike to come into transition and was just buckling my shoes deciding that I was waiting until I saw him before I left so I wouldn't worry. And then there he was. I ran out and gave him a quick hug, and then got my bike and took off.

The Bike:
This felt a lot like the bikes we ride around here all the time. It was not nearly as flat as I was expecting, but I was able to stay in aero bars for much of it. I haven't taken near enough bikes by myself this year and I found myself waffling around between self-pep talks and telling myself I was too slow, couldn't do it, whatever. The last 15 miles or so my left foot was burning an numb, something new and different.
I need to work on another combination of seat and shorts - my HoHo was a hurting mess (thanks Kitty for that phrase).
Garmin has me at 3:32 for 56 miles. It felt faster, but it is what it is. I haven't been on the bike as frequently as I did last summer and I can tell.

The Run:
Getting off the bike was a treat. I thought I was going to fall over going under the arch back into transition. I was still bike woozy after getting my running shoes on so decided to walk the first half mile to get my bearing. I still couldn't feel my left foot much and when I did there was a great big cramp in it. I walked up the hills, the few that there were, and I did a run 2 minutes, walk 2 minutes pattern for a while.
That's about where the run went to hell on the express train. As I got feeling back in my foot, I felt like I had a marble in my shoe, right in the middle of the ball of my foot. I bet I took my shoe off to try to clear that non-existent pebble 15 times. The more I ran the worse it hurt, so I was doing a LOT of walking, trying to go as quickly as I could. I knew if I didn't keep moving under 15 minute miles I wasn't going to make the cutoff. So, I walked quick, ran what little I could and kept at it. Emotionally it was wearing. I was hot, sunburned, and tired. When I would see someone coming that I recognized I got all teared up, not sure why. I took water at all the aid stations, ate my sports beans, and filled my hat and bra with ice to try to keep cool.
I thought I had a handle on things until I got to the halfway point, where you can see the finish line and then have to turn and go out on your second loop. That started a pity party as I walked down the road trying not to cry. I saw Darin and he asked how I was doing and I started crying. I was definitely not "TRI'ing for fun" at that point and was thinking about punching the next person who asked me if I was having fun yet (The back of the SWAT shirt I was wearing said "SWAT TEAM we TRI for fun" ). Pretty soon Kitty ran up beside me and walked with me a while. I had thought I saw her finish, but really she was going out on her second loop too. We walked a little while together and that really helped me out. I kept at it trying to run/walk. End result was a pathetic run time of 3:13, 45 minutes slower than my stand alone half marathon time.

End result: I made the cutoff with about 25 minutes to spare. So I am happy to have made it, but I can see I have work to do.

On the way home I checked out my foot. The "marble/pebble" I was feeling was a huge blister forming on the ball of my foot, like an extra toe growing out of the bottom of my foot. Part of my foot is still numb yet now. here is my theory in retrospect: I put my run shoes on with numb feet and the sock was wadded up under the ball of my feet, creating (or maybe exacerbating?) a blister. I think maybe there is some nerve impingement somewhere in the foot, given the persistent numbness and the type of foot pain I was having, like knives cutting through my foot.

Boneheaded things not to do next time:
- I forgot sunscreen. I have some wicked bad sunburn. I feel like I am on fire.
- Find better shorts. My ass hurts.
- change socks between the bike and the run. I think it would have made a big difference in preventing pain
- Focus on running between now and pigman.
- I continue to be frustrated by the number of people we knew were there and never saw- Erin, xt4, Megan, Ironpol, Running Jayhawk, etc. I would have loved to have met these folks in real life and have some awkward weird meeting with folks we blog with. I do that at every event - it makes me feel like an idiot for missing these opportunities.

The good stuff:
- KT was a great roommate. Awesome.
- We did it. It was harder that I thought it would be, but we did it. And made the cutoff with time to spare.
- No real nutrition issues despite not planning it too well or practicing it much. I just went with what has worked in other events and kept the water coming.
- I did finally pee for the first time since about 6 am, about 5pm when we stopped to change clothes and buy cold drinks at Piggly Wiggly. I was beginning to convince myself my kidney had shut down, so that was good.
-There were at least a dozen people behind me at the finish. Wasn't last...
- The spectators and volunteers were great.
- As usual the SWAT folks lifted me up when I was down and mad me feel better. I am so thankful to have that great bunch of people in my life. THey are simply awesome.

Pictures and race results should be forthcoming. I am just too tired now to work all that out.

The SORT ice cream headache

2008-07-19T20:28:00.002-06:00

Uh yeah. The water was still cold. ...... 50 degrees at the time we were there on the shores of Lake Michigan where we will swimin the morning.

I see blue lips in my future.

Spirit of Racine Triathlon 70.3.... Are we ready to rumble?

2008-07-16T19:36:00.006-06:00

The big SORT weekend is upon us, the first of two scheduled half iron distance races.
So what have we done to alleviate our nervousness about the distance? Hopefully enough.

THE GOOD:
We have
* biked big (50+) every week for several weeks
* I put together a plan and tried to work it logically. (Mike poked fun at the plan.... we shall see who laughs last....)
*Swim, swim, swim swim. Lots of laps and drills in the pool, several trips to local lakes for OWS practice.

THE BAD:
As per my usual, I have not logged nearly enough run time. Why because I hate it. I love it, but I hate it if that makes sense. When I run, I am totally frustrated that my overall speed get slower and slower all the time. Last night during a particularly slow feeling stretch of road, I actually welled up with tears of frustration. I want to go faster, and yet I am slower this year than at any time last summer. Pisses me off and makes me not want to run. Seems like an exercise in stupidity to keep doing something with no improvement.

This Week's Final Tweaks:
* Sunday while we were in the neighborhood for Danskin, we tried to pre-swim the swim course. The beach is gorgeous, the water is clear. Oh and the water temp was 53 degrees. 5 minutes of swimming in it yielded numb feet and hands and a wicked ice cream headache. Now we added insulated neoprene swimcaps to our ensemble. Hopefully that does the trick.
* Used Danskin as transition practice and saw some small details I need to focus on to make that more streamlined.
* Tomorrow we are going to do the July Aquathon (swim/run race) as practice so Mike gets in a group open water swim and some wetsuit practice.
* Watch the water temps obsessively online, bringing out a little OCD.

I have not done nearly enough to plan my nutrition and work everything out in practice.
I have done the work to prepare and am feeling pretty good about my foundation.

SO WHY AM I STILL SCARED???
There are time cutoffs. I thought this was a race til your done race. Nope. TIME. CUT. OFFS.
Swim in 1 1/4 hours? not a problem.
Off the bike by 1pm? I don't see an issue.
Complete the run by 3:30? Crap. I am totally shitting bricks about it.

What can I do about it now? Absolutely nothing now. So I will give it a whirl and see where I land. If I don't make the cutoff, I guess I have something for Pigman next month.

Keeney Girls Do Danskin 08

2008-07-16T15:09:00.021-06:00

Saturday morning we were fresh and ready to take off for our weekend in Kenosha for the Danskin Sprint Tri.
(Michele, Tracy, Jacob, and Jenny).

We arrived at the Expo Center to register and rack our bikes. Michele quickly lost interest in mike snapping her picture every 5 seconds and found ways to entertain herself.

My mom and Isabel patiently waiting for the fun to start.

Jeff and Mike entertained each other at the expoby taking pictures of Jeff's Prefontaine mustache.

After a quick night in the hotel we were off bright and early to get to transition to set up. Here we are getting ready to pick up the shuttle bus.

This year's Christmas card picture.

Tracy bought a razor Saturday night but we aren't sure what she used it for.

Proof positive I can't ever seem to shut my big mouth, even while trying to stuff my big butt into a wetsuit.

Screwing around waiting for the start of our waves.

I am one of the yellow caps busting the through the pink wave before us. Which one am I? Couldn't tell you. Probably the one who looks the fastest if I had to choose....

Thumbs up to Mike on the bike, coming in hot on Hubba Bubba.

Tracy going out in the bike.

Jwim smiling because the run is almost over!

Tracy (red hat) about to cross the finish at her first tri! WOOO HOOO!

I really don't have a lot to say about Danskin. My intention there was to get a practice run at transitions, especially with a wetsuit. That went pretty well. Things I needed the reminder for:
- lay out everything on the transition mat. I forgot to lay out my glasses for the bike and spent a ton of time digging through my bag for them, easily 2 minutes off my T1 time.
- unbuckle the bike shoes, untie the run shoes. Duh. I never seem to think about this. I hate standing there untying double knots and fighting with the bike buckles.
-turn on the garmin and set it up before the race starts. trying to switch to "bike" when you remember 2 miles into the bike kinda sucks.
- body glide the neck to prevent the wetsuit hickey. Ow.
-arrange a meeting spot beforehand so everyone can find each other. (Or if someone if standing 10 feet away from you, tap them on the shoulder and make sure they know you are there, since I didn't see anyone and others apparently knew where I was, at least until I took off to find them.... )

Time was OK, but that wasn't really my focus. Got in an open water swim with a group and I held my own. Got some practice with sighting the landmarks, which was harder than I anticipated. I think the swim would have been faster if I could have swam straighter instead of wandering form right to left to middle to left to middle to right. Could use some practice yet.

Both my sisters completed their first tri, which is huge. They did great and I hope they had fun. Big high fives to Michele and Tracy. YOU ARE ROCK STARS!

Mike got some great pictures of Tracy during the race. I wish I had more pictures of Michele from the actual race. It was hard to pick her out of the crowd since it seemed everyone there had the same outfit on as she did. I didn't even get to see her finish even though I was right there specifically waiting for her. Somehow I missed it and I am mad at myself for that.

Taking Strategy Suggestions

2008-07-09T21:30:00.003-06:00

So, I am fully in taper mode for the upcoming HIM in Racine in 11 or so days.
I am kind of at a loss as to how to manage the weeks between my first HIM and my second, 4 weeks after the first......
I have a base. I would like to keep it, work on my run a bbit more for speed, and be ready for the next one with adequate rest after the first and before the second.
Suggestions anyone? Willing to listen to your thoughts!

My Current Ear Worm

2008-07-07T20:26:00.004-06:00

Any idea how many words you can substitute for mountain in this song? Mike does.

Wanna make it worse? Here you go. You are VERY welcome!

Weekend Update: The Slow Lady and the Sea

2008-07-06T19:14:00.003-06:00

Oh I love me a long holiday weekend, especially one where the weather is B.E.A.UTIFUL.

Thursday we got home from work and Mike and I took a time trial pace ride over our usual 25 mile course. As usual the Hill Goat served me up a biscuit with gravy although it was a pretty quick pace for this hilly bit of biking. (He is such a show off). We followed it up with a 2+ mile transition run, uphill both ways, or at least it might as well have been.

Friday, we were planning to do the Milton Optimist Club 10K, which we did last year too. When the alarm clock went off, we threw it across the room and went back to bed. For.3.hours. God it felt great. We got up and headed out to Lake Ripley to meet some of the SWATties (Tawnya, Martin, Kitty, and family) for our first real open water swim in the suits. With all the flooding around here, there is no boating on the rivers around here and "no wake" on many of the lakes. Not this one. Which meant that like every boat and jet ski in southern Wisconsin was on this lake, or felt like it. There is a nice beach that is bordered with buoys, probably about a 1/4 mile swim to go from the first buoy around to the last. or more if you have a problem or two sighting and zigzag all over the place. the waves were WICKED and slapped us around pretty bad. I actually was feeling pretty good about the whole deal, since I doubt that in real life racing days that we will battling giant boat waves, so it was good good practice. Then again, the 70.3 in 2 weeks in Racine will have the swim in Lake Michigan, so we may be closer to reality than we bargained for. At any rate, we got in, we did it, and we conquered our open water panic attacks and pushed through it. Yeah, Wimmers!

Lucas took sweetie pie to the fireworks and Mike and I took Nick to see the movie Hancock with Will Smith. It was really great, about a flawed superhero.

Saturday we got up early to head towards Kenosha and Milwaukee for a Mikey mission. Mike wanted to try some 2XU tri shorts and top but didn't want to spend the cash until he could try them on and make sure they would fit. So first we headed to Triathlon World in Kenosha. What a joke. the store was tiny and if you were not a small or XS, you were shit outta luck. AND they had not a lot of any other inventory of other stuff and the salesgirl knew..... like nothing about anything. A very disappointing experience. So then we headed over to Hales Corners to Wheel and Sprocket bike shop over by Milwaukee. If you get the chance to head that direction, that shop is AWESOME!! It's huge, it has a huge tri apparel section and the sales stuff totally knows what they are talking about. The girl we talked to had done all the HIMs we have coming up, could offer advice, and had good insight into what we needed. It was great. I found a couple things on clearance (tri shorts, a sleeveless jersey, etc) and Mike got a new pair of gloves.

Funny story: While driving around looking for these places, we were talking about what cute towns we were driving through, but that they all kind of smelled weird, like hot tires. Weird, hmm? so when we stopped, we realized that the stinky town smell was really our wetsuits warming up in the back seat of the car......... Duh.

On the way home, we stopped again at Lake Ripley. We got in a 30 minute swim and finally gave up since the waves were even higher than the day before and we were plain getting beat up. Plus, I forgot my swim cap so the first lap I swam with my hair over my goggles and couldn't see anything. Then I took Mike's swim cap and i kept panicking that something happened to him because I couldn't see him without the bright blue cap on. we finally gave up and went home, but again it was good experience with tough conditions.

Today, we got up early again for the SWAT Sunday Goober McChicken ride. We did 50 to Beckman Mill and back, a hilly and challenging bike. we have Greyhound to thank for the Goober McChicken name. Mike, and Alison, and I have been riding about 50 for the past few weekends. One of the rides I called some jerk who did something rude (I can't remember exactly what..... honked? drove fast past us? wouldn't yield us a lane? yelled something stupid?). I called him Goober McChicken. the name comes from a series of greyhound's posted about dealing with a rude police officer he named Officer McBreakfastTaco who knew little about cyclist's rights and how to observe them. I don't know Officer McBreakfastTaco personally, but I have met his long-lost cousin Goober McChicken on the road a time or two. So anyway, we started calling our Sunday 50's the Goober McChicken Ride. Thanks Greyhound.

In the evening we took a quick lap swim at Rockport Pool, nothing much just 1000 yds of stroke work and form.

Help me join Team AthleteFocus.com

2008-07-04T22:40:00.003-06:00

Go here. Tell them Jwim sent you. I am shamelessly seeking your help in getting a girl some sponsorships!

Happy Birthday Tracy!!!!

2008-07-03T15:50:00.004-06:00

So my baby sister Tracy turns (I think) 32 today. Hope your day is great!

Stop over and show her some bloggie birthday love ....... don't let the infrequency of her posts fools ya, she really is alive and kicking and coming to visit in just a few days.

Weekend Update: The Horribly Hilly Half Hundred

2008-06-29T17:03:00.003-06:00

Friday morning, Alison and I did a 25ish mile bike ride. I always enjoy having someone to hang with on the bike so I was glad she called and the rain held off while we were out there. Here are the details.
Later Friday, Mike and I rode the school bus to Middleton to chaperone the Parker linemen to All Pro Lineman camp. The boys were good and we were able to get in a run on the track at Bishop O'Connor Center. The track there is not great -dirt and gravel- and not maintained well so there was a lot of ruts and plant life on the track making for a challenge. I was doing my own bastardized version of the Galloway method (running 3/4 of each lap and then walking the last 1/4), stopping a few times to watch the BeefCake in action on the field when I could find him. I got in just short of 6 miles (my goal was 8) before I felt a little tweak in the left knee and decided to stop and stretch, calling it day. They ate their half of a Rocky Rococo pizza to celebrate the end of camp (Thanks Coach Dye!) and we were on the way home.
Saturday, we took a rest day and got ready for the SWAT party that we hosted at our house. It was a lot of fun to get together with everyone and Mike makes a killer beer brat. Pictures can be seen here.
Today we took a long bike with Alison. We wanted to do 50ish miles of something different, so we looked up a route on MapMyRide.com that went through Cooksville, Evansville, and Magnolia Bluff. Holy Moly - it was about the hilliest ride I have ever done. I rarely get off my bike with jelly legs and I was feeling the hills for a couple hours afterwards. Not only was it suck-the-life-out-of-you hilly, it was also pretty windy and thought for a while a rain cloud was going to pour on us but it held off for an hour or so after we got back. And as usual, now that we are done, I can say it was a good ride and I'm glad I did it.
Went to Madison in the afternoon (since the rain ruled out a good OWS) and picked up some replacement pads for my tri-bars, an aerobottle for my beloved Hubba Bubba (that's the Diva, not my hubby), and a couple other miscellaneous things - Suit Juice, etc.
Thought we were going to Rockport for some evening laps but when we got there it was closed, I'm sure because it was coolish today and sprinkly/cloudy. It's funny to see Mike all jazzed up to swim and then pout because he couldn't......... who'd have thought THAT would ever happen?

Laissez les Bons Temps Rouler!

2008-06-26T09:16:00.010-06:00

Been a few days - sorry about that.

The 100K Rotary Pie Ride:

Click the title link to view the route & stats.

This was an awesome ride as usual, made even more fun by doing it as a group with SWAT. The Rotarians do an awesome job with this both times I have done it and the weather was BEAUTIFUL, sandwiched between days and days and days of thunderstorms and gloominess. I was a little worried that we may run in to trouble with flooded or impassible roads (as much of Southern Wisconsin these days needs scuba gear to pass through) but the roads were fine. we started early, so we missed much of the heat of the day but we hit most of the aid stations for cookies, pretzels, and fruit!The route is challenging with plenty of hill work, and the last 20 miles of hills was also into a stiff headwind (blech). It was my longest ride of the year and it went rather well, with only one minor windy patch about mile 50 where the wind and the hills sucked the life out of me and I got a little whiny and tearful. Once I figured out my slowness at that point was due to gearing and made some adjustments all was well with the world again and we were rolling.

Tuesday Tri-Outs:
Our summer group workouts with the SWAT Team have started again. There have been 2 of these so far, glad to be rolling again! This is just such a great group to be a part of, they are so much fun! We also got to finally meet Mike and Sherry in real life after doing like tons of the same events and never crossing paths. It is always nice to meet new folks with like interests! This week was a small group of riders, so Darin tricked us into adding an extra 5 miles or so onto our bike, which by the way was 5 miles of life-sucking hills. Once back at the park, we took a short transition run to Pizza Hut, sniffed the air around the building and headed back. Our usual run route through the bike path is underwater so this has been our alternate route, which works for me because it bypasses the biggest hills of the route.

Whitewater Well Bike (A/K/A the Mutual of Omaha bike route) :
last weekend, Mike and I rode this 50 mile route with Alison. Honestly, I thought I had taken this route before last year with Janet. I kept waiting for something familiar and it just never came, but what did come was the realization that what I was really thinking of was the Whitewater LAKE route. No matter - both routes are pretty and fun so we enjoyed the scenery. We saw turkeys, pheasants, foxes, herons, woodchucks, chipmunks, red tailed hawks, a couple of dogs that didn't chase us, and a lot of dead stinky stuff on our ride. it was very rural and deserted for much of the route, which made for good wildlife watching and very little traffic so we could ride a s a small pack and chat a bit. We didn't set the world of fire speedwise, but that wasn't really the point either.

Nick's graduation party:
Last weekend, we hosted Nick's grad party and had a perfect day for it. Sunny, breezy, and dry after a brief AM shower, couldn't have asked for better weather for an outside party. We got to spend time with family and friends we haven't seen much lately and get caught up. Even our friends from Iowa showed up near the end and we had a nice long visit with them.
It was kind of funny watching Nick talk to the folks that came to his party. Socializing isn't really his thing, so he made an attempt to talk to everyone but it was obviously not particularly comfortable for him. It is a good life skill to learn so glad he had the opportunity.

Swim Bricks:
The weather here has been a little soggy lately, so we have used the opportunity to get some serious swimming time in, and Mike has actually been itching to get in the pool every day if he can. Most of our days have been at Rockport pool (a 50M Olympic size outdoor pool) with some other days at Edison Middle School pool (25 yd) if it's rainy. One of the nights we showed up at Rockport as they were closing because someone puked in the pool. Uh, yeah.....gross.
We are following almost all of our swims with a 2-4 mile run afterwards. That whole brick thing kind of bums me out, I do a lot of run/walking as my legs cramp up more than a normal run but it is getting better. And my IT band has not bothered me much at all since my 2 week hiatus from running after the marathon fiasco, which is awesome. I have been reading up a little on the Galloway method and trying to work that into what I am doing to see if that makes any difference in what I am doing. So far I am liking it, although I think I have probably bastardized the method enough that it might not make a huge a difference in my speed. Time will tell I guess.

This week:

The end of this week we are chaperoning the bus for Beefcake and his teammates at All Pro Lineman camp. We did this last year too and it is in a good area for exercising. It's at Bishop O'Connor Pastoral center in Middleton area and they are not far off the IMWI bike course and they have a nice dirt track where we can get in a nice long run.

I think it's kinda funny that they want me to chaperone the bus.....for the O line and D Line. These are pretty big boys, like all 250-300+ pounds of muscly testosterony man-size boys. What exactly would I do if one of them got unruly?? girly slap them?? Yeah right.

Saturday night we are hosting the SWAT Team for a cookout. It really is just a ploy to maintain the current level of cleanliness for my house and to get rid of some of the lifetime supply of potato salad and pulled BBQ pork I have left from the grad party. Anyone hungry? Stop by, we've got food!

Yes I am still alive, thank you for asking.

2008-06-13T16:10:00.002-06:00

I guess it's been a few days since I posted - sheesh! Time sure flies!

Things I have done in the past few weeks:
* graduated my oldest son Nick, complete with screaming, yelling, cowbells, and confetti. Now comes the preparation for the party next weekend. I really need to practice my cartwheels for that....
* Did some swimming at Rockport pool in my wetsuit to get used to it before taking her out in open water. I figure the initial wetsuit application and the initial OWS should be 2 distinctly separate panic attacks. We sure looked funny donning those suits on the pool deck. There were 2 ladies in skirted swimsuits sitting in lawn chairs that I think nearly wet themselves watching me try to shimmy my fat ass into that rubber nightmare. What a hoot! Now THAT we should have videotaped....
* Had a great bike ride on the Beckman Mill Velo Club route (45 miles) that was a great ride with Alison and Mike.
* Went to our first Tri Club Tri-Out on Tuesday and got some swimming in the wetsuit again, and then took a group ride resulting in 3 total flats. And many mosquito bites while standing roadside helping the flatters. Ouch,
* Did some additional swimming during the storms at the Edison indoor pool. Tried out my Zoomers which by the way are the best flippers ever. Big congrats to Mike on his first swim night ever over a mile.
* While swimming at Edison, took video footage of our swim strokes. When reviewing the footage, I coincidentally discovered how much of my white butt my new swimsuit exposes. I won't be posting that video clip, thank you very much.

What's coming up: Saturday: 100K Rotary Club Pie Ride. This ride features 63 miles of rest stops with cookies and Gatorade (martinis at the last one) and you take home a pie. So yeah, it's win-win.
Sunday: Fathers Day cookout, likely to be indoors.
next weekend: Nick's graduation party, preceded by the mountain of cleaning that must be done to prepare. my maid is so fired.
Lots of watching the weather and flooding to try to figure out when and where I can get a workout in between raindrops and flash floods. In case you haven't heard, we are all a little bit soggy up this way. it has been a challenge to say the least!

37 Days til Spirit of Racine - our first Half Iron Distance event!

Reflections

2008-05-28T20:24:00.002-06:00

It has been a few days since we finished up the marathon and I've been a little quiet, reflecting back on the experience. Originally, I had wanted to find out if this was the stuff I was made of. Because I know that I want to try IMWI next year, I felt like I had to do this, to know what it felt like to go this distance by itself, to know what it feels like and to assimilate it into how I wold think it might feel to go this distance AFTER having swam 2.4 and biked 112 miles.
I had a very specific progression in mind for my year this year. First, the marathon, followed by two HIM distances (SORT and Pigman) in relatively quick succession, all completed prior to going to IMWI with the intention of feeling solidly like I have the fortitude to successfully complete that particular journey next year. Sure there are some smaller fun events I have in mind, but those are really my A races and objectives.
I think the reason I have been so introspective the past few days is that I feel like I shortchanged myself. I have spent weeks, months really, trying to work a plan to get me across the finish line in 5.5 hours or so. That's not lightning fast, but a respectable enough time for a first attempt.
My plan started in January, carefully mapped out with tempo runs, long runs, speedwork (that makes me laugh a little to write that....... speed...it's all relative I guess.) and all the things I needed. So many factors contributed to not fully working it - blizzards, cold, family crises, and finally nagging injuries I brought on myself trying to ramp up too quickly towards catching the end of the plan and being ready. Sometimes just plain laziness get in the way. The end result is that I failed my plan, and I don't feel like I gave this race the best I had. I disappointed myself.
One of the things I have found in the past couple years of getting to this point is that triathlon is about competing with yourself. That means training for and with yourself, and competing towards the goals you have set for yourself when you toe the line. I am comfortable, probably most comfortable, doing these training things by myself, alone. Sure I enjoy taking a bike with a friend or going to the Tuesday Tri-Out for SWAT, but really feel like my most productive days are those where it is just me on the road or in the pool working on my own personal goals and having that time in my own head to clear out the stressors from the day. I enjoy spending an hour, or sometimes two or three hitting the road alone.
Does all this take away from my time with my family? Really I don't think so. For me it boils down to planning. If I have somewhere to be to be there for my kids, I need to figure out something to be able to meet my needs and theirs too. Let's be honest- these boys don't need or want me around them 24/7. They need to know I am there for them if they need me, to provide enough groceries/meals to sustain themselves, and then for me to get the hell out of their way and let them live their lives. most days they barely notice that I get home from work, let alone to say much more than hi or to have even a 15 minute conversation with me that I don't initiate. They are on the verge of adulthood- they don't need me breathing down their neck all the time, they just need some guidance from time to time when they start to wander off the path. I think there is room for me to get my "Me Time" in and still be a good mom. Scratch that - a better mom who is happy and healthy and hopefully setting a good example. I can make excuses about how I need to give p that time to offer it to my kids, but that would just be making excuses. Life happens, and you have to arrange your training plans around it so that you can balance them both. Pirate says it alot and it's the truth, "The more you do, the more you get done."
So anyway where as I going with this?
Oh yeah- I've been in a funk a little bit because I don't feel like I gave it my best effort, all that I could have done. Some of it was training, some was injury, but there was a part of me that made a choice not to push myself.
So no commitment yet for sure, but i am thinking about doing it again. If not this year on another course, then the same run in 2008. For me. Smarter, faster, and more satisfying.
In a masochistic kind of way, i kind of liked it. Not so much at the time, but the process of getting there and getting it done.
Life is a process, and this is only the first of many steps. This wasn't just something I checked off my To Do Bucket List as ToDone.

Wake Up Call

2008-05-26T08:54:00.005-06:00

Here is just a little slice of what life is like when you live next door to the high school. It's Memorial Day, the day after you finish a marathon. You plan to sleep until noon. Then you look out your bedroom window to see this go by at 0900:

Yep. It's the Parker HS marching band warming up for the parade.

Before they moved the parking lot, there was a buffer field area between us and them. No such luck anymore, they march right past our backyard playing Anchors Away on the tuba. Semper Fi.

This morning I am trying to figure out how I slept through that gorilla beating me p with the Tokyo phone book. If I could lift these stumps that used to be arms to touch my head, I am pretty sure I would find that my hair even hurts.

The knee still feels a little tweaked, but not as bad as I had anticipated, so maybe this is in the realm of normal.

When I got up this morning and came downstairs, Mike was typing away at the puter. Putting together a plan for HIM training. Another wake call I think. Yep, now we're serious.

A few more random thoughts about yesterday:

- I can see how someone would go to some very dark place out there alone, especially if they were falling apart. Wow. Glad Mike was there with me. Focusing on keeping him well kept me out of those places for sure. No time to feel sorry for myself, it was Nursey Cheerleader time (sounds like some sort of fantasy porn movie doesn't it).

- I need to work on some speedwalking for IM, keeping a pace that can be a placeholder until I am recovered enough to run again and make up time.

- Why did all the road in Madison slant upwards so sharply from the curb to the road? The whole outer half of every running lane was like walking the pitch of a rooftop. Sucked.

- the support stations and the fans along the roadside in Madison were THE best ever. Wow. They were great.

- And best of all I am up 3 pounds from yesterday morning. After going 26.2 miles as fast as I could. That is just sick and wrong. Burn 3300 calories, and gain weight. Poop.

- I can't figure out why my hands got so puffy by mid-race. They looked like mottled red and white sausages. Huge. Better today though. All the salty Gatortang, Sports Beans, Shot Blocks? Pretty sure I had a lot in common with Lot's Wife in the salt department anyway.

A Report of Sorts

2008-05-25T19:54:00.003-06:00

So here is the quick and dirty race results for me from the Madison Marathon:
bib number: 2234
age: 38
overall place: 1189 out of 1191
division place: 59 out of 59
gender place: 455 out of 455
pace: 15:08
10k: 1:17:50
half: 2:54:52
mile 18: 4:14:35
chip time: 6:36:35

I went to bed nervous last night. It was hard to get to sleep with my heart pounding so hard.
Got up at 4:30am, ate a little oatmeal and yogurt, got dressed, left instructions for the boys how to get to the finish line and we were off. We arrived off the shuttle bus onto the square an hour before the race and we walked around and stretched. I think we were the first bus and I headed right to the porta to deposit my breakfast Diet Coke while there was no line. Mike was looking for anywhere to slip into and warm up (those businesses on the square are no dummies - they know if they open at dawn, racers with no money will hang out in their store and not by anything. So... nothing was open). We ran into Alison from the SWAT team just before the race and got a quick picture in. I believe that is when Mike commented I had a Carrot-Top thing going on. Nice.
We were off shortly thereafter and were pretty much last right from the gun. No worries, we were going to take it slow, shooting for 12-12:30 miles for the long haul. The plan we cooked p as the final version in the car went something like this: Run easy pace for the fist 5 miles, keep it p if we can through the first 10, then run 7 minutes and walk 3 thereafter With the ultimate goal of getting to the finish line between 5:30 and 6 hours, which coincidentally was when they planned to close the course. We were going to stick together, fully envisioning some walking if my knee went south.
So the first 3 miles, we managed to pass 3 people. At the mile 3 aid station I had to pee and wait in line which lost us those 3 people. I ran to catch up to Mike who was walking and waiting for me. We ran pretty much the whole first half and at the half we had made up enough time to be about 15 minutes ahead of schedule. It felt surprisingly good. Mike and I had high fived at every mile marker. mike was thanking everyone for volunteering that he saw. He took his coat off his shoulders but left them in his sleeves about midway to the half-marker. For some reason he was running then with his thumbs up and the half-off coat made him jerk around like Elaine dancing on Seinfeld. I thought I might lose an eye so I moved over a ways in the lane.
After the half marker we were averaging a 13:20 or so mile. With some cushion I wanted to walk a little while, but we walked fast. I don't know who the masochist was designing this course, but it felt like the hills were all on the second half. It was hilly, or at least felt hilly. We decided early on to walk the uphills to save power and energy. So we started walking a lot more in the second half. it still felt pretty good for a couple more miles. We passed a few people and were slowly gaining ground, still on pace.
This course was interesting. it was like a hodgepodge of all the courses we were used to running in Madison all mashed together. So it was familiar which was good, but I also knew kind of what was coming. Like those sucky hills through downtown to the Stadium (crazylegs) and that windy sucky patch through the Arboretum (the 10K route by the zoo).
I was feeling like we were starting to pick up the pace a little and I looked at mike and he was white. Said he didn't feel good so we slowed to a slower walk pace. That was our turning point, where we went from singing "The wheels on the bus go round and round" to the point where the wheels completely fell off the bus and started to crash. he went from feeling like barfing to trying to walk it out, then decided he needed a porta like NOW. We asked one of the bike cops who were circling behind us if they knew where the next bathroom was. they asked someone, who said in like a mile as we entered the Arboretum. Like 2 miles later we got there. I kept telling Mike if he needed to he could slip into the woods along the road and take care of business. I even volunteered my shirt sleeve. He decided no, since we were being followed by the hearse (an SUV driven by a Dane County Sheriff) and 2 police men on bikes, all about 5 feet behind us. They had slowly moved onto us as the last runners as the others we had passed gave up and hitched a ride back. Mike didn't look good heading into the pot. He was white as a sheet, stripped off his coat and water belt and chucked them on the ground. I waited what felt like forever. Just as I decided he had probably died on the toilet and I was going to break in, out popped a new man. We were able to run/walk for a mile or 2, and then we were just done. My knee had stiffened up and I just couldn't take the downhills running. Mike was cramping and hurting and we just decided we were going to walk it the rest of the way in, intent on finishing. That last few miles from the Arboretum to the finish were just an exercise in mental toughness and tenacity. With the cops behind us, we overheard them tell like everyone at every intersection, "Yep, they're the last ones, you can pack it up." Thanks guys, that's really working for my morale. I was getting pissier by the minute. people walking by or passing on their bikes saying words of encouragement just plain made me want to punch them. obviously, we are being followed by a hearse so quit telling me Good Job! It's not helping me and just makes me ornery. We passed a couple people somehow. One girl went to the bathroom. Then we passed a guy with "5:00 pace team" on his back...... I guess the wheels fell off his bus too. So the hearse followed them for awhile and got off our back.
The walking got harder and harder for Mike. i tried to walk up ahead and see if that would help him pick p the pace, but he was really just cooked. We toughed it out and just set to cross the finish whenever we got there. We passed one guy washing his motorcycle in his driveway who hollered "Keep going! You all get the same medal!" I stifled a "Bite Me." The chick we passed way back sucked it up and in the final mile shuffle jogged up ahead of us a few hundred feet and then walked ahead of us. If she hadn't been so damn nice, I'd have been pissed at her but hey I would have done the same thing so I let it go. I texted Lucas to let them know we were really close and be watching. Mike was cooked and obviously in pain. From somewhere he was able to gut it out to the finish. as we were getting towards the last few hundred yards, he said "I think I might need to go to Medical at the end." He looked rough. Just before the chute, we saw Nick and Lucas sitting on a big cement block waiting for us. They chatted with us and asked how we were doing. Then we headed in for the finish. The guy with the mike wanted to interview us. Mike said no. I again stifled a bite me. we crossed the finish and we got a medal and a warm bottle of water. The lady said there was food and massages around the other side of the tent. She lied. They were all packed up and and pulling down, not so much as a fricking orange to nibble on.
We finished. It sucked, but we lived. And the 5:00 pace guy came in behind us so we were not DFL.
We got home and inspected our wounds. My knee hurt in anything but neutral. My big toe hurt under the nail, and I gleefully stripped off the polish, sure I had earned my badge of honor - the coveted black toenail- or at least a good blood blister, but nada, nothing but pink nailbed. Rats.
We ate some Red Robin, and DQ sundaes, and headed for the hot tub, all of which were the best ever.

The Good:
- I was so proud of Mike today. That was tough and he was hurting for a long time. I know he thinks he disappointed me somehow, but whatever I couldn't be prouder.
- My kids were there for the finish. I can't tell you how motivational it was for me to keep going knowing they were waiting. And to see them there at the end - the best.
- It's done and we are members of the finishers club.
- I know I can do this again. Smarter and faster.

The Bad:
- It hurt. We both got a healthy dose of respect today for the distance. I will definitely pay more attention to doing ALL of my long runs.

I probably have more witty repartee to share, but I am tired and going to bed so it will have to wait for tomorrow.

You know you've missed my pictures, So here you go!

2008-05-24T14:11:00.015-06:00

This morning we got Lucas off to his drive time for Drivers Ed, then headed to Madison to pick up our race packets at the Expo.

Here is the free stuff (minus all the stupid flyers and discount cards). Not much, but we DID get a free cowbell!

Here' the shirt. Tech tee. Cool. The back says finisher so I can't try it on til the race is over. Bad mojo and all that. Mike is pouting because the XL is none too XL.

We found a few things to buy. Here is the graphic on the shirts we bought to wear tomorrow. Pretty sweet.

Yeah. They pretty much saw us coming a mile away. Picked just a few necessities- new lucky Balega socks, the brat shirts, a pair of Race Ready compression shorts for me with a pink zip case for my Fuel Belt to store some of my favorite paper products tomorrow, a gel flask for Mike and the new Caffeinated Sports Beans and some Shot Blocks.

After the Expo we headed up to the Capital Square for the Farmers Market. There was lots of good stuff to eat, and freaky people to watch- Granolas with blond ratty dreadlocks and tie dye tshirts, Bible thumpers preaching the Apocalypse and shaking signs around, and some sort of impromptu anti-war musical/play on the lawn of the Capital building. We ate some yummy stuff but the only thing we brought home was a free bumper sticker for Beefcake's new car. He was thrilled by the way. We stopped at this great nursery on the way home and picked up some great flowers for the house.

Here are the 2 ginourmous hanging baskets for the back deck. What I like best? Petunias are pretty hard to kill. Important stuff for my house.

Big planter for the front step. Matches the siding.
To the far left, we got some hanging bags full of wave petunias to hang from the lights and you can see the planter too on the right. Rascal's rock garden ready to bloom any time now. Looks great with the construction backdrop from the Parker school renovation wouldn't you say?

One of many artsy fartsy shots. I'll spare you the rest.

The very first Clematis bloom of the year form the trellis. There's like a hundred more ready to pop.

Proof positive the Mike "I'm not grouchy" Wimmer always looks grouchy and always says he's not. Always.

My 2 favorite dogs chillin in the back yard, Daisy and Maddy. Also known these days as Fanny Fat Ass and Betty Big Butt.

Well here's a new one (ladies only)

2008-05-23T21:25:00.002-06:00

First things first- if you have XY chromosomes, click here.

There. that should occupy them for a while. We alone now? Good.

So........... now that's it's just us girls, here is my question O the day. When you do a marathon for say, 5-6 hours, where do you keep your spare ....... feminine products without sweating them all up before you need them? Never been an issue before, guess I've been lucky.

I'm thinking duct tape spare tampax to the back side of my race number.... would that be stupid? I'm open to suggestions here ladies, help a sister out!