Stump Jump 50K

I signed up for the Stump Jump 50K as a training race for my planned "A" race - Pine Mountain 40. I knew the timing was not perfect, being only 3 weeks post Ironman Wisconsin and 9 weeks out from Pine Mountain, but John said it was a great race and it was only a 2 hour drive away. Since Wisconsin was a bit of a bust I was at least a little bit more prepared physically then I would have been otherwise. 

Come run the premier 50k trail race in the Southeast. Taking place on a beautiful dirt-packed trail with Tennessee mountain stone thrown in -- and with a 5000+ ft. elevation gain -- the Rock/Creek StumpJump 50k benefits Wild Trails for trail access and maintenance efforts in the Chattanooga area. 

I couldn't run for about a week while my knees healed from the damage done from my mis-aligned cleats. So that left 2 weeks to prepare. Prior to this, my longest run had been 14 miles back in August. Bottom line, 31 miles was going to hurt.

I got a bit of running done in the last 2 weeks. My new Hokas arrived and I did 3 runs in them but was concerned because I was experiencing a hot spot on my right arch. Stump Jump is a lot rockier than the nice trails we run on around here so I was worried about beating up my feet without the Hokas. Up until race day I was still waffling on whether I would actually wear them.

Friday afternoon we headed up to Chattanooga and we made it in time to check in and pick up our race packets. The race shirt was a Patagonia capilene technical shirt in hot pink - very nice! The expo looked great, lots of great vendors and good gear but since we arrived a bit late everything was getting packed up. The expo was in the park along the river and it was absolutely beautiful. The area surrounding the park was full of fun shops and restaurants. I would love to come back when we have some time to explore.

We grabbed some food and then headed back to the expo area for the North Face speaker series. The featured speaker was Diane Van Deren. Incredible woman, incredible journey. Check out her story here.

Next stop was to check in to the hotel, get our gear organized and then off to bed. I slept well since I was not nervous at all. I knew it was going to be a long day and that the course would be tough but I would get through it so I was not too worried. My only nagging problem was my shoes. I decided to go with my Montrail Mountain Masochists and take the beating.

Race morning we got dressed, packed up the car and we headed to the start. We parked and found Mike, Sandy, Leslie and Phil. First thing Phil said to me was that this course was going to make Sweetwater look flat. Joy! OK, well too late to back out. Let's just do this thing. 

John, me, Leslie, Sandy & Eva, Mike, Phil

We lined up and the race was on. The first part of the race wound around the middle school where the race began. The school was huge and we spent almost 3 miles still in the vicinity of the school. Our group stayed together but I knew this would not last long. I am the slowest and I am used to running alone on trails. I had my camel bak and my iPod so I was going to be fine. The first aid station was at the mushroom rock. None of us stopped and we headed down a steep part of the course. This would be key because we would have to come back up it starting around mile 26 and I was so not looking forward to it. 

I soon lost the group because I am a little more cautious on the downhills than the rest. Eventually I came to a swinging bridge a little more downhill and then we headed across the road and the fun started. We climbed a bunch and then headed along a narrow trail overlooking the river. It was absolutely beautiful. I brought my phone to take some pictures so I knew I would stop on the way back. For now, I wanted to keep moving while my energy was high. I ran whenever the trail was relatively flat and walked up any steep inclines. I was beginning to get hungry and looked froward to grabbing some food at the next aid station. The second aid station had snacks but no PB&J so I kept moving. I was a bit surprised since all the ultras I had done prior to this always had great aid stations with lots of real food. This is not like a marathon where you grab some gatorade and carry your gels and gus. These races take a lot out of you between the distance and terrain and you need substantial food and calories. Thankfully I had a few granola bars and gus on hand.

The next aid station was at the Indian rock house and the start of the big loop. Yay! PB&J. I grabbed a bunch of the little sandwiches and was on my way again. While on the loop I kept looking for the "rock garden" John warned me about. He sad a lot of people got lost here and make sure you always see a flag. Meanwhile I was getting hungry again. The next 2 aid stations did not have any sandwiches - only pretzels, fig newtons (yuck!) and other snack like things. Where is the real food? At GRR we had grilled cheese sandwiches. Was I wrong to think they should have more food? Maybe we do stuff different in GA? Either way I was getting tired, grumpy and hungry. 

The miles kept ticking by and still nothing I would call a rock garden until I came upon 2 ladies who looked lost. I knew we were going the right way and encouraged them to keep looking for flags and basically took the lead. The path was not that hard to follow despite the moss covered rocks and lots of fallen yellow leaves that looked like the little yellow flags. Many of the trees had markings for the trail too so I was never worried that I was lost.  The rock garden done I continued on and back to the beginning of the loop. This was the one place that had sandwiches the first time around and thankfully had sandwiches again. Yay! I grabbed a bunch more and headed back to the finish. 

On the final stretch back I passed quite a few people since I still had some energy to run. I walked through the more technical parts but anytime there was nice clear trail I ran. That was until I fell. It was narrow section of trail and not particularly "rooty" so I am not sure what happened except I went down in a  cloud of dust. Thankfully the ground was soft and I did not hit any rocks - completely amazing since this race should more accurately be called Rock Jump. I dusted myself off, stretched my right calf since it cramped up when I fell,  and kept on moving. I was thankful for no scrapes or bruises and that I did not fall down the side of the mountain. I ran for a little bit feeling good and then looked at my Garmin to check distance. That's when I noticed the crack! Apparently, I cracked the crystal of my watch when I fell. Damnit! It looked like it was still working so I tried not to get too mad about the whole thing and concentrate on finishing. 

Soon, we were back to the road, up a steep part of the trail which I navigated pretty well since I ended up passing a guy with 2 hiking poles because he was slowing me down. The trail leveled out again and then we were at the swinging bridge again. Now it was time to get back up all that steep section we came down in the beginning. I trudged up feeling not too bad and eventually I was at the mushroom rock again. Turns out it was not as bad as I had feared.  I snapped a picture of the Mushroom rock and then headed back to the school.

The trails here were nice and wide and I was amazed that I was still running. I looked at my watch and it was going to be close if I was going to make it in 9 hours. I was going to be ecstatic with a 8:30 finish but i knew it would be tough with the difficulty of the course and my lack of training, so 9 seemed pretty realistic. I pushed on and crossed the finish line with a Garmin time of 9:00:50. 

My time was not great by any means. Some lunatic finished this same course in 3:50! This race was an ultra championship race so some big talent was on hand. Based on the times of my friends and what I know of their speeds I did pretty darn good. Especially with the lack of running the past few months. The course was tougher than any that I had run in Georgia with lots of climbing and tons of rocks but I still passed a bunch of people on that last stretch. I was happy that I still had energy at the finish and felt pretty good. My calves were tight and my feet a bit sore but not too bad overall. The biggest problem was that I was hungry! The burger tent shut down just as I finished which seemed awfully early given that there were many more people still on the course. Thankfully, Leslie grabbed a few burgers just as they closed up shop.

Leslie and I rest out legs while I finish my burger and beer

Would I do this race again? Definitely! It was a great course, absolutely beautiful, wonderful people and volunteers but next time I will pack more food!

Looking forward to really putting in a lot of miles in the next few months and can't wait to run an Ultra that I actually trained for - Pine Mountain 40, here I come!

339 days

339 days until 2012 Ironman Louisville. It took me 10 days to change my mind. So, I am a hypocrite and a masochist so sue me!

The day after the Ironman we headed down to the expo so John could get his finishers s*** and I could cancel my pictures (again). Maybe I will learn my lesson next year but they lure you in with the talk of longer lines the day after the race and being cheaper before the race. At least they give you a full refund so no harm done except for your ego. Next we waited in a huge line to gain entrance to the store (never experienced this at CDA or STG) and while we were waiting John started to try and convince me to do Louisville. He said he would train with me and not do it. That started the tears. John is not a grand gesture kind of guy, nor even a small gesture kind of guy so when he says something like that I know he means it and it's heartfelt. So, I said I would think about it. 

Well, I did nothing but think about it for the next 9 days. I brooded and shed a few more tears - more of frustration than anything else, and tried to figure out what to do next. I did not want to do anything reactionary….like almost signing up for the Escape from Alcatraz triathlon lottery just for the hell of it. I knew if I did that I would get in and have to literally "swim with the sharks". Glad I talked myself out of that one. It's on the bucket list but not today. I weighed my options, talked to a lot of people who's opinion I trust and decided I needed to get this monkey off my back. I needed to drop kick that son of a bitch and make sure he never came back. The GFA Koolaid was swirling towards Arizona 2012 but I was not interested. Coach Mike said the water was cold - he looks and swims like a polar bear and nothing bothers him so if it's cold to him, I am f****d. Plus, there is the issue of travel expenses. Flights, shipping bikes, hotel costs etc etc. I didn't want to spend a ton more money on something that could all go wrong again. It's a long day and no matter how well you are prepared, anything can happen.

I have no desire to do IM Florida even though it's close. Too great a chance of red flag swims and a boring 112 mile bike ride that no one - NO ONE - has ever set an IM record on. Why not? It's flat, they should have record speeds. I think everyone ends up bored to death! Besides, I like hills! 

So Louisville it is. It's close by. There is a river swim, some upstream but most down and no wetsuit. Prior to this summer that would have bothered me but I swam all summer including a 5K with no wetsuit. Bring it! The bike course is somewhat hilly but I am fine with that. The only problem is heat. I am going to have to embrace Mr Sun and log some miles in the middle and late parts of the day. OK, it will suck but it sucks anyway, so what's a little more suffering, right? The run I don't really care too much about. It will be what it will be. Just get me off that Mother F'g bike and I will be good. I am stronger than last year so I can only get stronger and faster for the following year. 

So, here I am….AGAIN….339 days to go. Let's do this thing!

Quick update - knees are all healed, did 18 trail miles this weekend. Looking forward to Stump Jump 50K in 9 days. Bike is back home, hanging in the garage until I get over the urge to run my car over it  a few times.

Pictures from IMWI - look how happy I am!

Finally - Things to share: A hilarious blog on a first ultra. The medals at the end are the best! - http://theoatmeal.com/blog/ultramarathon

Good article on balancing your life and Ironman - it's spot on -  http://coachtroyjacobson.blogspot.com/2011/09/iron-focus-5-important-tips-for-success.html

Ultra Season

So yesterday was a big bust. I was not sure if I should digest what happened and then write about it or just spew it all out like I usually do. I have been up since 5am this morning and while I let John sleep a little more I guess I will try to capture my thoughts and impressions about yesterday.

Race morning we were up at 4am. I was able to take a nap the previous afternoon and while we got in bed at 8:00, that nap made it hard to fall asleep even with some Advil PM on board. I read for an hour and then fell into a nice sleep. Around 1:30 I woke up and then started to stress and toss and turn. Finally got a little more sleep but was up and ready to go at 4:00. We made it downtown very quickly, got parking, pumped tires and dropped off all our bags. We convened with all the Get Fit crew in Dana's room and the company helped keep the butterflies at bay. Then it was time to head down to the swim. Wetsuits were donned and we got in the water.

John's plan was to swim ahead and head toward the inside of the buoys where there would be less traffic. The canon went off and I followed John. There was a little confusion and chaos in our area but I was able to concentrate on keeping John in sight and just kept on swimming. The butterflies never got a chance to get going while I worked to keep up with John and before I knew it I was almost at the first turn. I lost John at one point but saw him again around the second turn but then he was gone. But by then I was fine. Water was basically calm except for the churning of the swimmers around me and the buoys were getting ticked off one by one. I rounded the last turn for the first lap, checked my watch and my time was a little less than 50 minutes. No problem, I had plenty of time and felt good. The second lap was relatively uneventful, lots of jockeying for position and a little flurry when the "lappers" went by but overall very uneventful. My arms were starting to feel the lack of wetsuit time by the end of the last lap and my shoulders were screeching at me as I headed to shore. I got out of the water and the clock said 1:40. Perfect! Plenty of time to get the bike course done. I was elated!

I then got my wet suit off and headed up the parking deck spiral to transition. The run up the spiral was long and annoying but finally I was in the hotel and grabbed my bag of clothes. I worked to get my bike gear on and saw that Dana and Leslie were dressing too so that made me feel great. Said hello to Dana, got a hug and headed out to my bike. 

Down the parking deck spiral and out on the course. The first bit was slow with all the twists and turns on the bike path and through some parking lots but eventually we were out on the course we drove on Friday. I felt a little sluggish at first but eventually the legs started to warm up. Leslie was feeling sick and we leapfrogged our way through most of the first loop. I would have liked to have been moving a bit faster but I knew I was still doing great on time and things were going well. The hills were relentless but we trained on hills all summer and I felt pretty good. I kept it in the low gear and spun my way up those hills passing many along the way. Things started to take a turn for the worse around mile 25-30. I started to get a nagging pain on the inside of both knees. I had experienced this before on one leg and knew this would not get better. I tried different foot positions and nothing seemed to make the pain stop. Before long every pedal stroke was painful. The 3 big climbs were excruciating but I was still able to get up the hills and still was passing people as I did so. I started to panic because I did not know if I could keep this up for the rest of the race. I started to slow down even more  and spin more because every stroke was agony. Once I passed the 56 mile mark I never saw Leslie again. 

Side note on the cleats: When I first started ramping up to big distances on the bike I started to get a nagging pain in my left knee. It would never start until late in the ride. The guy who fit John's bike helped adjust my cleats and for the first time I was pain free. Since then I have kept them in the same position and when ever changing them out I magic marker the outline of the cleat to ensure they are exact. So, a couple of weeks we got our bikes checked out by the same guy and he changed my chain and replaced my worn cleats. I thought nothing of the change since I was confident he would have replaced them in the same exact position. Since I was in taper I only did a few short checkout rides and everything felt fine. On to race day.

On the second loop another issue presented itself. My side was cramping. I had never experienced this on the bike and tried to stop and stretch when it got really bad. It was then I realized I really had to pee. Well, no rest stops seemed imminent despite pedaling many miles looking for one. Finally, I found a good place to make a quick run in the woods. Around this time a sheriff car pulls up and he asks if I am OK and he also adds that I am the last bike out there so he had to keep an eye on me. I asked if the other bikers had been cutoff  and he said no they all just dropped out. The heat was a bit too much for some people yesterday. Although it was hot, it was nothing like we had experienced in Georgia this summer and I felt good except for my knees and needing to pee. According to the sheriff the next rest stop was 5 miles away and he suggested I use the woods if I really needed to go. Excellent idea! I took care of my business and then got on my way. At the next stop I pulled out my bike tool and decided to try and mess with my cleat. I WISH I had done this when it first started. The change gave me some relief in my left leg but the right was still a mess. I had a little more spring in my step and started the big rolling hill section of the course. I did OK but the climbs were still super painful. I kept moving but around mile 80 I realized I was not going to make the cutoff. I had the worst hill section ahead of me and even if I gained some speed in the final trek back to town the last hills would have done me in. It was time to bow out. 

I got back to the start of the race, changed clothes, relayed my day to Leslie and Peggy in T2 and saw them off for the run. 

Unlike IMCDA I was not crushed. I was annoyed and resigned. There are many things I would have done differently to prepare but all in all I think I was well prepared. I worked on my swim and got so much stronger and more confident in open water. I worked with a trainer to get stronger overall. I worked on my bike and did hill repeats, technical bike courses and even conquered the Gaps! My recent runs had gone well and I felt strong. I was much more prepared for this race than my first attempt in 2010. I was nervous but felt like I was ready. The hills were plentiful but I know under different conditions I could have handled them and still had plenty of time to make the run. My energy level was good and I felt strong except for the pain in my knees. I visualized the accomplishment and stayed positive. This is why there were no tears this time. I did everything I could except for taking the responsibility to ensure my cleats were good. I will never leave this to chance again. It is too critical. 

Despite being over my experience, it is incredibly hard to watch the rest of the race unfold and see everyone you trained with reap the rewards. One training partner had a worse day then mine and had to quit during the run. He stuck it out all day but stomach issues and blisters got the best of him. My heart aches for Harry because I know how he feels. This was his first Ironman and he was so ready on all counts. Strong swimmer, biker and runner. It was a no brainer. It goes to show that everything needs to fall into place on that one particular day and unfortunately, things that are beyond your control can ultimately do you in. It's a tough, tough thing and a bitter pill to swallow.

The question now is will I ever do this again? Right now the answer is NO. I spent so many hours training, stressing and preparing for this race. The money alone is depressing. I fought off sickness, risk of injury and felt the toll it takes on your marriage. This is not a small endeavor. It consumes your life and makes you an incredibly selfish person. Sure, I would love to hear Mike Reilly say those words to me on race day. My ironman still feels like a lesser accomplishment than the hoopla and experience of the corporate IRONMAN. It is still the same distance but it is just not the same experience.

I really don't think I am cut out for this distance. Despite all that has been accomplished the bike is still my nemesis. I struggle with it and I honestly hate it most days. I wish it was different and maybe if it wasn't so hard for me I would like it more. I just don't know the answer. What I do know is that I have a 50K in 3 weeks that I am not exactly prepared for. I have not been running any super long distances but the endurance is there. The ultimate goal is the Pine Mountain 40 miler in December so Stump Jump is just another training day. Pine Mtn will be my longest distance to date. So here's to Ultra season. Let's hit the trails!

The Final Countdown

So, this cheesy song from the 80's has been playing in my head this morning because it's The Final Countdown!

Yesterday we swam in Lake Monona. The water was a little cool but not bad with the wetsuit. Nice and calm in the mornings. It gets choppy in the afternoons but every morning so far has been calm as can be. The only other concern is the huge number of participants at this race. Much more than we saw at CDA and literally thousands more than Great Floridian. It's going to be an interesting swim. After the swim, we picked up our bikes and then the Get Fit crew piled in Harry's van. We were all wearing matching Iron Kids T-shirts and looking like a pack of weirdos! We drove the bike course and all it's hills. Nothing steep or crazy like we have been training on but constant turning and climbing. We are going to be mentally zapped when we get off those bikes. I hope the rest and training will carry me and I can get through 112 miles of that crap in enough time. 

The nerves are definitely jangling this morning. I got a good 9+ hrs of sleep last night which is great since I won't get much tonight. This morning we will ride our bikes to make sure everything is good, drop off gear bags and get in one more swim. Then it's time to eat, rest, hydrate and try not to freak out too much. I am trying hard to visualize a positive outcome and forget the problems of the past. Trying not to beat myself up too much over things I could have done differently. I will be putting it all out there Sunday morning and if all things go well I will be an Ironman again.

Reminiscing

Something non IM related: A local radio station was doing a weekend tribute to the 20 year anniversary of the release of Pearl Jam's "Ten". It made me feel really old but it also brought back a lot of memories. 

That time was the beginning of my continuing obsession with Soundgarden and Chris Cornell. John and I went to Atlanta CD (an actual music store!) and I was looking to pick up Soundgarden's Badmotorfinger. One of the great things about Atlanta CD was their used pile. I was looking through the pile and came across "Ten". I didn't know much about Pearl Jam except that they were mentioned in every single article I had ever read about Soundgarden and the grunge movement. So, what the hell? I picked it up. After a couple of listens I was shocked to find that someone actually bought the CD and returned it. It was a nearly perfect album of 10 incredible songs. Badmotorfinger didn't suck either and I wore those 2 CDs out. 

The 20 year anniversary also brought back memories of Lollapalooza 2 in 1992. The main stage lineup included Ice Cube, Ministry, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers as headliners. It was an awesome show. Eddie Vedder jumped off the back wall at Lakewood and was carried to the front of the stage by the crowd. That would absolutely never happen today! John mused that we don't have the energy for all day music festivals like Lollapalooza and Ozzfest anymore. To which I replied, "Yeah, we would rather run, swim, and bike all day than stand around and drink beer in the hot sun." What has become of us?

Number 658

Number 658 – that’s my IMWI number. It’s starting to get real and so I am starting to get real nervous. The other day I was watching the 2009 athlete video and when I saw the swim it made my stomach hurt. The bike ride down the parking ramp spiral didn’t calm my nerves much either. So many things to stress about!!

2009 Ironman Wisconsin

 I know I am more prepared than I was for IMCDA but I am still worried about all those cutoffs. Great Floridian had a very nice calm and less crowded swim and very generous cutoffs. This will be me and 2500 of my closest pals fighting it out in the water with an “in water” start! I wish I knew that before signing up. At CDA I waited on the beach until the crowd started the swim and felt pretty free and clear. If it wasn’t for the waves I would have been just fine. This time I have to position myself as far as possible from the crowd so I won’t get slammed when everyone leans over to start kicking and stroking and get caught up in the washing machine. Ugh! My stomach is hurting again just thinking about it. 

I always panic a little bit at the start of any swim but so far I have successfully been able to talk myself off the ledge and get back to swimming. This race will have the extra pressure of being the area where I failed before so I know I will be extra nervous. I am just hoping for relatively calm water and being able to stay away from the pack. As John always teases – “hope is not a plan”. I don’t know how I can train any better for waves than just trying to get stronger.

The big push for training finished the weekend before last with our crazy century in the Gaps. I am pleased to say I finished all 101 miles with around 8000 ft of climbing. Wolfpen is no joke!! The first loop went well and I felt really good but the second lap started to really wear on me, especially with the increasing temperatures. The nasty little climbs became even worse and I about lost it twice. My speed started dropping dramatically as my energy waned. I didn’t think I was going to make the Wolfpen climb again but after cooling off and re-fueling at the little store right before I was willing to give it a shot. Leslie and I kept each other company with our chatting and bitching all the way up and we did it!! We really didn’t think we were going to do it at the store but the Bad Ass Bitches got it done! We texted the boys not to come get us and we would meet them at the car (this was the backup plan if we didn’t make it up). We started down the backside of Wolfpen and then the rain started. It drizzled and then poured and then stung! We only had a few miles left but the rain made us ride faster and when we were half a mile from the car the sun was shining. The boys were clueless until they saw we looked like drowned rats. It was a great feeling to be done with that horrible ride and AI am no longer scared or intimidated by “the Gaps”. I just hope it will give me the strength to finish my 112 by 5:30 pm on 9/11/11.

Wolfpen, loop 1

Wolfpen x 2 - we made it!

With the century ride from hell behind us, John and I headed to Jamaica to celebrate our 20^th Anniversary. We spent 3.5 days at Sandals Whitehouse where we swam, rested and drank a lot! We got 2 almost 90 min ocean swims in before the drinking started, including some choppy water and wave training for me. The other vacationers must have thought I had lost my mind when the whitecaps started one afternoon and I headed out with my swim cap. Again, please no choppy water in Wisconsin!! I definitely felt stronger in the ocean currents than in the past but I can’t fight large waves for long and certainly not for 2.4 miles. Here is the beautiful water where we swam.

OK, so the trick now is not make myself and everyone else around me crazy for the next few weeks. Make sure my bike and gear are ready. Catch up on a few house chores and just rest, repair and relax. Yeah right!

Sick....and Tired

Wow! Over a month has passed since I last updated my blog so this might be a bit long.

Since then I have made up for that disastrous 5K swim by placing third in my age group at the Georgia Games Open Water 5K swim. Thanks to Phil Sustar for helping me HTFU and finish strong!! That gave me a big boost in my confidence for the swim leg but I still need to "just keep swimming". The week prior to that swim I was majorly sick with a fever and congestion and runny nose that had me down and out for a couple of days. This was a wake up call that I was pushing too hard or as they say in USAT coaching, I was "over reaching". There is a fine line between good over reaching that is needed to get stronger and build endurance and over reaching that quickly becomes over training. I think I started to cross that line. Two illnesses in two months is highly un-characteristic for me. Time to back off a little and GET MORE SLEEP. 

I have always struggled with sleep. My mind is too active and it takes a lot to wind down and get to that sleepy place. Mind you I can fall asleep on the couch about 5 minutes after John turns on Mythbusters - it has happened so often that it has become a household joke. Sorry Adam and Jamie but you make me sleepy! The hard part is getting in bed and trying to get 8 uninterrupted hours. Happens about, well, never. Betty (our sweet but seriously disturbed Doberman) often wakes me up during storms or just because she is lonely, who knows? She needs more exercise and with all the training we haven't been home much. I also have so much going on trying to fit training in around my ever fluctuating work schedule that I don't have time to get enough sleep. I have been trying really hard with to make it happen and I was pretty successful last week but this week has been a bust. I am seriously looking forward to my Saturday nap since I know tonight won't be much more than 6- 7 hrs if I am lucky.

So back to being sick, 4 days later I foolishly did the Chattanooga Olympic distance tri despite many protests. My reasoning was that I felt better, I had no race experience for this year, it was a relatively short distance and I could stop at any time. I actually did decently on the swim, better than expected on the hilly bike course and sucked ass on the run (but kept moving with a smile on my face). It was probably no different than many of my other races except is was hot as hell and I had a good excuse for poor performance.

Delirious or happy - hard to tell

Following Chattanooga I cut back a bit on my training schedule. I realized 2 spin classes a week at 6am were killing me. I also realized that spinning Thur morning, working with a trainer, then doing a stacked brick that night (9mile bike, 1 mile run and then repeat) was just plain stupid going into a long weekend of training. Done. Ok, so that freed up a little time and yes I got more sleep too. Then the emotional rollercoaster started.

Two weekends ago we had a 112 mile bike ride on the training plan. We plotted out a hilly, technical course and it was a long hot grueling day but I made it though without feeling too horrible at the end. I felt good about my effort but was still concerned about making the time cutoffs given my avg speed was not spectacular. I told myself it was a training ride on an open course and it was really hot so race day will be better. I then realized while this course was hilly it was only about 4500 ft of climbing. I found out from Coach Tony Myers from ATS that Wisconsin was closer to 7000 ft of climbing. "Uh oh! Not good. Not good at all. Who the hell got me into this? Doesn't anyone look at this stuff before they decide to get everyone to sign up. What in the hell was I thinking?!! " An example of some of the rants from that weekend. OK, time to HTFU and get serious. Hopefully, it's not too late to fix this! 

That week Coach Tony mentioned that his athletes were doing a ride in the gaps to help prepare for WI and told me I should come along. Well, that wasn't going to happen for 2 reasons. #1 - I am seriously SLOW and would never be able to hang with them. #2 - The Gaps scare the sh** out of me. Well, about 10 minutes later I got an email from John saying he thought we should do the 3 Gap ride to get in more hill climbing. F** me! 

So, a few of the IronKidz (Harry, Peggy, John and I ) piled into Bumblebee and headed to the Gaps! Stephen Carhart from ATS graciously joined us on our little adventure along with Kim and Tripp. Kim and Tripp aren't training for anything but were headed to Lanier to visit a friend that afternoon so this worked best with their plans for a weekend workout. Wow, did they choose wrong! 

The Skeenah Gap course has a large climb at the beginning, some rollers in the middle and another big climb at the end. I was very concerned when we immediately started climbing knowing we still had the monster climb ahead of us. We had been riding for a little while and Stephen said there was a really nice Overlook I should see so I took that opportunity to pull over and stop. When he asked if I was OK. I replied that I seriously needed a Gu if we haven't even made it to the big climb yet. He assured me were about 3/4 through the big climb at that point and then I relaxed. OK, I can handle this. This is not that bad! The downhill was a bit nerve wracking but much better than a ride I did at Cheaha last year. The road conditions were great and I felt good. Stephen was doing some Cirque du Soleil sh** on the way down. Standing up and taking his hands off the handlebars. Sheesh, what a show off! (just teasing!) I don;t think there will ever come a day that I feel THAT comfortable on a bike. Ok, so big climb done, time for some rollers and then one last climb and done. Well, my definition of rollers is completely different than Tony's. At mile 30 there is a nice little incline that goes by a church so you can pray to Jesus that you make it up the hill. There is another fun one around mile 37 and one more kicker around 40. The rest just were little climbs and possibly one small section I would call rollers. Tony will later tell me that is what I should be expecting at Wisconsin. Cue  the ranting and cursing.

Somewhere between mile 40 and 50 Peggy has a little blackout and decides to get the hell off the bike. She's a smart cookie that Peggy. Tripp had also been battling leg cramps and and had a flat tire earlier in the ride so I think he saw an opportunity to get off the hella-coaster and he stayed with Peggy. Luckily they found some nice A/C and water to wait until we could come back and rescue them. The rest of us forged up the final hill and made it back to Turner's Corners feeling pretty darn good about ourselves. Harry and Kim both said that was the hardest thing they had ever done. Personally, my IM in FL was harder. The hills, heat and wind just kicked my ass for 112 miles. I actually felt pretty good after this ride, especially with the bag of ice on my quads. Mind you at mile 50 I felt a bit cranky and hot but after I doused my head in water I was good to go. Now, 112 miles of that sh**, that's another story.

 Kim, Peggy and Harry earlier in the ride

 Peggy enjoying that A/C

Post ride elation and sense of accomplishment was dashed with Tony's comments about the WI rollers. Much map studying and cursing was done and I went as far as to put both maps on the same scale so we were comparing apples to apples. WI still looks easier than last weeks ride but it's over 112 miles and is not to be trifled with. Here are the comparisons:

Tha Gaps DID made me feel like I had been doing at least one thing right - Hartman Hill repeats! Here is the elevation chart for Hartman Rd. Peggy, Harry and I have been riding this hill over and over again this summer and we can tell our climbing has improved dramatically.

This weekend I have a 14 mile run on tap for today, 40 mile flat and fast ride tomorrow and Acworth Women's Sprint Tri followed by more open water swimming on Sunday. Feeling good about my training right now but that can change at any moment. I do really wish I had one extra month instead of only 37 freakin' days!! That bike course and cutoff time is scaring the crap out of me. I hoped this time around would be different but it seems I am going to be sweating those cut off times again. 

Until then there is training to do. Next weekend will be really fun. John has channeled Coach Tony's masochistic mind and has a 100 mile torture fest planned for next weekend. We are headed back to the Gaps. Can't. Wait. 

Plan for next weekend - 2 loops of this - as Peggy said "Better get a bigger boat"

You finally made it to the end of this saga so I just want to share some of my latest obsessions for passing the time while in the car and during long runs:

Jay Mohr's podcast - Mohr Stories - hilarious!
Tina Fey's audiobook - Bossypants
David Sedaris - Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk

All have caused me to laugh out loud while running