A response to the question, "Why are you doing this?"

[...] "What I think drives us to seek out great challenges is that it is a choice that we make for ourselves. We don’t have control over the day, but we have control over our decision to pursue this epic journey. We all, for a variety of reasons, chose to wade into the lake with 3,300 other people to undertake something that the typical person would call 'crazy'.

But no one in this room has a burning desire to be, 'typical.' That is not why you do an Ironman. You do an Ironman because you want to reach the stars. And you want to do it the hard way. Because that is what makes it special."

-Jordan Rapp

2011 IM Canada Winner

Saturday taper, 9/1/13 2-hour bike

Does anyone else think a 2 hour bike ride  with 25 minutes in zone 4 is crazy the week beforehand race and during my taper?

I'm about ready to freak out. 

Shouldn't I actually be doing easier workouts during this taper?!

I rode at TCS again today on the trainer and decided to ride the simulated Madison course which may have been a bad idea for my "freak out factor" but I figured I'd ride the stick again outbound to refresh my memory of those hills.

Weather-dependent, I may meet up with my friend Sarah for a leisurely bike ride on my hybrid bike to Evanston for lunch.  I need to clean off that bike, pump the tires and oil the chain since I haven't ridden it all year and with this morning's rain and her Kid Rock concert experience last night, I'm not sure it'll happen. 

After my ride, I'm headed to Element  to buy some handbag tape and U-can nutrition for the race. I went there a week ago Sunday, but they were closed for to the Chicago Triathlon. Then after that, I'm headed to home and down to Hyde Park for a vet visit since my pretty 16 year old kitty isn't eating her hard food and I want/need her to feel better before I leave for Madison!!!

Friday taper, 8/30/13. Rest & bike shop for adjustments

To tell you the truth, I am not even sure what's workout program said to do today because I decided it would be a rest day in any case.   I honk it was a 2.5 mile swim. 

I worked in the suburbs in Friday and our office was closing at 2pm and I also decided that I wasn't going to work after 2pm either- when I normally would do so. (I did end up creating one weekly report during the evening and sending it out around 9pm, but I just didn't want to worry about it anymore & I was proud of the work we accomplished!)

After a meeting in Downers Grove, I took my lunch hour to head to the bike shop for one last once over. So glad I did this!!  I had been having issues with what I thought was my front derailer, but there were several other issues to fix!!

I asked if we could put my bike on the trainer so they could take a look with my full weight in it. I had explained this issue months ago and they told me it was "fixed" with the adjustments but it was still happening. The chain no longer was dropping (thank God!), but shifting in the front was soooo difficult!  After he told me that I need to push further forward to shift (I was literally pushing with ALL MY FORCE & I'm not weak), he decided to have me peddle and he shifted while I was on the bike. A light bulb went off (for him!) and he checked and my shifter was broken. It's been this way for at least 6 months. Since I honestly know very little about bikes, up until then, I let the mechanic tell me it was "okay" and I'm so glad that I kept pushing with my gut feeling!!!  

Also, we put on two new tires (I found a hole in my front tire with the tube visible!), all new break pads and removed a few extraneous items from my seat area. 

The only issue with the shifter is that it's a warranty part and they had to order it. With the holiday, they probably won't receive it until Tuesday or Wednesday and I leave for Madison on Thursday evening!!  There is a lot going on and that needs to happen between now and then so it does stress me out a bit but I'm so glad it should be fixed for the race!!!!!

This coupled with my planned tire changing lesson on Sunday should help me feel better about the bike!!  My teammate and friend, (& big individual donor!!), Mary asked her son-in-law if he'd be willing to help me learn as he's a bike tech professionally and he agreed. He lives out in Naperville so I am going to go out there Sunday morning and then also see Gramps at the nursing home afterwards since I'll also be out of town for the race during his birthday. 

When was

the last time... You did some thing for the first time?

it is happening again for me 9 days from today.

Wednesday taper - 1 hour ride & 15 min run 8/28/13

Wednesday I got into work very early (before 7, or close to it) to make up for the afternoon before when I had to leave a bit early for my chiropractor appointment.  I always like getting in early because I get a TON done before everyone else starts showing up.  The majority of our corporate office is really accountant-types who are working on properties all over the country and they generally arrive around 9 am.  The big boss is an early guy, so that's been advantageous when I need to follow up with him on projects with less distraction.

I headed out around 4:45 pm to get to TCS for a compu-trainer ride again on the Wildflower course.  I felt good and the ride program was okay.

Warm up
5 minutes zone 1
5 minutes zone 2
3 minutes zone 3 build
Then:
4x
10 minutes zone 4
30 seconds standing sprint
1 minute easy spin

I followed this with a 15 minute run at an 11 min/mile pace which felt "easy".  I think these are both good signs for my taper and my resting!  I am feeling more confident about the run!!  Yeah!  Swim and run... check!  Bike, though, I'm still nervous. I couldn't sleep this morning around 2:30 am worrying about flat tires on the bike course. I'm going to have to watch some YouTube on changing tires again and play around with my tire.  I'm not sure the next week is enough for me to learn to change it well.  I'm also still worried about my front derailer.  I'm going to see if I can hit up Greg at Deerfield Cyclery again during lunch tomorrow since I'll be in the suburbs in the morning.

Tomorrow, after work, I'm headed back to see Dr. Ryan.  It may be my last visit before Ironman.  My anxiety level is truly off the charts right now.

Everyone keeps asking me, "Are you ready??"  and I just answer, "I don't know.  I have put in the training and I don't think anyone knows if they're ready until they actually do it."  How can you know you're ready to go to the Moon, if you've never been?!  I have done all the training my body could do.  I've done all the distances minus a few miles here and there.  I've got all the equipment and the nutrition plan too.

I'm going to spend a good amount this weekend organizing my bags and supplies so I'm not completely freaking out next week.

I cannot believe race day is almost here.  I'm so anxious to GO!, but also totally terrified.  I've got to beat the bike cut off and I think I can do it in any weather condition without any mechanical issues!!  Please keep your fingers crossed for me!!!!

8/27/13 45 minute run, hair cut, dinner at Bread & Wine

On Tuesday, I decided to complete the week's run.  Again, I was feeling lethargic and not really wanting to do much, but I forced myself to get to the gym before work.

I went to FFC Lincoln Park for the views and the fact that I can generally find free street parking while I'm there rather than risking the longer, paid parking after 2 hours.  I knew I had to run and just assumed it was an hour and I didn't want to rush in the locker room either.

After about 30 minutes of running, I really didn't want to run anymore so I did run/walk and mostly walk.  After 45 minutes, I called it quits without doing the workout math.  I was pleased to find that when I went to log this workout, I was only required to do 45 minutes!  Boom!  :)  Part of this run was 20 second all out sprinting which I could do around 7:30 min/mile.  That is awesome for me!!! I had a very good feeling about the run for the race and so even though I did a lot of walking, I felt good.  I need more of these "feeling good" pre-race moments!!!

Towards the end of the day/afternoon, I left work to go to see Dr. Ryan again for my ART treatment.  He said my hips are opening up well and that he's confident my knee will be totally fine for race day.  He said my mind will play tricks on my about my knee and to just push through it.  The pain will go away as fast as it rolls in and to focus on something else.  This is good information; this is a professional telling me the pain I'll feel is not "threatening" to my health or my run, so I will keep this in my proverbial race back pocket!

After that appointment, the day was over and I went north to try to sell some clothes to consignment and then get my hair done.  I've let my roots grown in WAY too long, but didn't want to spend the time or money to get it fixed until I knew I wouldn't be pool swimming so much (also going to be a factor in my decision to join MB's Masters Swim Team or not!  Seriously!).  This way, I have fresh hair for the race (haha) photos and I am feeling better about myself.

Taper plays tricks on you too.  You still want to eat as much as you have been for the training, despite training less, and you are feeling less fit and a bit fatter.  I've been told not to look at my pre-race weight at my weigh in (they do this to insure when you finish you haven't lost too many fluids).  I'm not really concerned about my pre-race weight.  It's still less than my pre-training weight!!!!  :-D  And I intend to continue to slim down post-Ironman with my marathon prep and lining up a personal trainer after that to prepare for my midlife crisis and meltdown towards the big 4-0 in 2014!!!  No issues with weight at the moment for this big girl!

It took Christopher three hours to dye, cut and style my hair and then I picked up MB for a special celebratory dinner at Bread & Wine on Irving.  I had a note from the owner from my last visit for a free round of drinks for the table AND it was 1,000 points on OpenTable... boom!!!  It was a good meal for me, but his main wasn't that flavorful and quite dry (pork)... MB had the tasting menu.  It was also SUPER HOT, as if their A/C unit wasn't working or something.  We literally sweat the entire meal and I was getting annoyed that my new 'do wouldn't hold until work the next day.  Our waitress was nice, but a little too nice, you know?  A bit too familiar.  It's a place with a TON of potential, but just keeps slightly missing the mark.  I got home at 10pm and passed out!

Monday taper, rest day 8/26/13

I had all my things to swim on Monday, but ultimately, this heat and the exhaustion building from the taper meant that I wanted to just go home. So I did!

I put on my pajamas at 5:30 pm and watched horrible, horrible television all night before I finally fell asleep.  I guess my rest day just became Monday and I'll have to work out the rest of the week!