Ok so maybe I can get another PR...

I have to submit a retraction to my last post when I said that I couldn't possibly beat my Tom King Half Marathon PR. I ran the Country Music Half on Saturday and beat my time by 2 minutes! SWEET!

I didn't get to bed until after 1am on Friday night and then had to get up at 4:45 to get dressed, eat, and down to LP Field to catch the shuttle to the start line. It was 5:45 when I got to the parking lot at LP Field and it was raining...no...it was pouring. To most people that would be a disaster but to me it was perfect running weather. Beautifully outfitted in my shiny black garbage bag I jumped on one of the city buses that took us to the start line...oddly enough that was my very first ride on a Nashville city bus in the almost ten years I've lived here. I hopped off the bus and made my way towards the front of Centennial Park. I took a stop at the Port A Johns...luckily before they had the chance to get too nasty. For the next 45 minutes or so I just sat on the wall near the McDonald's which was right next to my corral...#12. It was a great people watching area. It is amazing what some people wear to do marathons or half marathons. When they get up in the morning and put on jean shorts do they really think that there won't be massive amounts of chaffing?! ugh. I had one guy try to make small talk with me but I could decipher only about 30% of what he was saying to me. And you ask, "what country was he from?"....oh...he's from Tennesse...Shelbyville, TN. When he says "Shelbyville" it sounds more like "sheb-vl." You can see my confusion.

The race started at 7 but I didn't cross the start line until 7:25 becuase of the wave start which starts each corral about 2 minutes apart so the course doesn't get so congested. Hey New York City Marathon...you can learn a little something from Nashville...get a wave start! Once I started I knew I was going to have a good day. I can't say that my legs felt perfect but I felt good enough to really push myself. I have run the streets of this course hundreds of times so I knew the right places to really push myself so I wouldn't lose time and the areas to use the hills to my advantage. I figure if I have to carry 170 pounds around I might as well use my body mass as an advantage on the downhills. Once I got to mile 11 I checked my watch and it was around 1:37. With two miles to go I was right on target to match my Tom King time if I did 10 minute miles. I was doing 8:35-8:45 so I knew the PR was in my reach. At mile 12 near Municiple Auditorium I hauled it up the hills and then coasted over and down the Woodland Street bridge to the finish line. I crossed at 1:54:15 and then almost threw up! Yeah! I held it together though and it was worth every second! I actually ran the 5K in a time faster than I did in high school cross country...27:46...that's kind of amazing to me. Out of 21,398 total half marathoners I was number 3015. I was 920 out of 13,477 females and I was 239th in my age group which had 2950 people in it. Not bad odds at all...

All that to say I had a really good day. It's so awesome to see all of this training paying off. I never considered myself a good runner but I think I can proudly hold that title now. Coach Kathleen said to me last year at Tom King..."don't be afraid to run fast"...and that has stuck with me every time that I run. I was a vey timid runner in the past; afraid of what might happen if I actually push myself. The stupid thing is that if you push yourself and you can't hold it then you obviously just slow down. What's the big deal about that? I can't wait to see what happens at the Georgia Half Ironman...the Athena is coming and she's getting faster everyday!

A strange reality...

It is a strange reality when a short training weekend consists of running a half marathon and riding 60 miles. I'm running the Country Music Half Marathon tomorrow morning here in Nashville and I am so excited that I'll be done with the day's training no later than 9:30am. 2 hours of training....no problem!! I won't be able to beat my Tom King Half Marthon time (1:55) just because of the course being tougher and with there being so many people but it will be a fun morning either way. I'm excited for all of the first time marathoners that will be out there tomorrow. It is a tough course but the feeling of completing your first marathon is incredible!

I bought a tshirt at the expo yesterday that said "I know, I run like a girl (try and keep up)"...I was trying to make a decision between that one and a shirt that said "Toenails are for Sissies." I didn't think many people would understand that one and having the word "toenails" on your shirt is kinda weird.

On Sunday we have to do a 60 mile bike ride but after last weekend's 85 I'm happy to knock out those miles. At some point I'll need to catch up on some sleep...I'm feeling a little foggy right now.

Burnin' burnin' burnin'...

According my trusty Garmin watch that tells me everything that I've ever wanted to know about my workouts, I burned a little over 7,000 calories in the past two days just with my workouts. If I could only figure out how to teach my little Garmin how to cook my meals for me...I'd be all set.

A loonnngggg weekend...

This weekend just about ran me into the ground but luckily I'm still here ready to tackle another week full of training. On Saturday, as part of the GNAC picnic, we rode from Edwin Warner Park straight out to Puckett's, Fly, the Trace, and all the way back for a total of 85 miles. It was windy on the way out which made for a tough ride but we stopped a couple times which broke up the misery a bit. We stopped at Puckett's In Leipers Fork which is always a favorite pit stop...

Then we headed to my favorite little town of Fly, TN. We didn't stop long in Fly but after riding a couple miles on the Trace we stopped again in Fly where we met some of the locals...

...we admired some of the treasures buried in the back room of the general store...

...and we took a potty break in the "bring a friend with you" bathroom...

Never a dull moment in Fly! I think the men in the back were pretty amused by us...probably not as much as we were amused by them but oh well. The ride back was fantastic. We stopped at Puckett's again and they had the BBQ fired up and people were out eating ice cream and a lunch buffet inside. After eating energy bars, Hammer Gel, and Gatorade for 5 hours I would have donated a kidney for just a bite of what those people were eating. We left pretty quick because I couldn't stand it. Luckily we had an awesome tailwind on the way back and we pushed 20+ miles per hour the entire time. When we got back for the picnic Bert, Rolf, and Nick had waited for us (thanks guys!) and we knocked out a quick 20 minute run. We then got to pick over the leftovers from the picnic that had ended hours before...congealed pizza from hours before tasted amazingly good!

Saturday was long but I had never ridden my bike that far before so that was a big milestone. I also got up to 39 MPH on the Trace which was pretty awesome...and a little frightening. Over all we had a great ride and everyone made it back safe and sound.

On Sunday I woke up and felt like I had been run over by a steamroller. No time for complaining though because I had to run 8 miles and bike for an hour and a half...ugh. Rolf, Lisa, Julie, and I ran from Percy Warner Park towards Radnor Lake. We turned at 4 miles and headed back to the cars. The run was pretty tough in the beginning but I settled in at the end and averaged about a 9:30 mile which is pretty good considering what I had done the day before. I followed the run up with a very easy ride around Belle Meade Blvd and the neighborhoods. I took "easy" to whole other level and only averaged about 12 MPH.

Sunday night we met at Rolf's house for an awesome dinner and a planning session for the logistics of getting to Lake Placid. All the plans are coming together and it will be here sooner than I can imagine....I think this weekend moved me closer to feeling that I'll be ready though...bring it on!

Recoverite...

It's like crack for triathletes...

Just a little afternoon inspiration....

Close your eyes.

The water laps your toes and envelops your skin. Close your eyes. The masses become silent and your heartbeat thunders. You have planned for today, talked about today, trained for today, imagined today, dreamed today, and yet you still don’t know what to expect.
A cannon blows and you remember, as you dread the uncertainty and the harsh duration to come, to savor every second because in your memory it will be over in the minutes it takes to recount or reread from your journal.
Move, breathe, drink, eat. Move, breathe, drink, eat. Move and move. One hundred forty and six tenths miles. Know tenderly, intimately every fiber of your being that propels you forward only because your brain says, ‘Don’t stop.’ And don’t stop. Move, breathe, drink, eat.
Manage your day. Stick to your plan. Be flexible. Just finish. Float when your mind and body detach and watch your body move without you—pushed by the crowd, the volunteers, who lust for your finish as if it were their own.
But it hurts. And you don’t’ know for sure why you’re doing this and what it will mean when you do. And then you see it. A banner, a clock, a frenzy of applause. And you know you made it happen through whatever means and power source you draw strength from.
Ironman will trivialize past hardship and prepare you to minimize those to come. It makes dreams come true. You have what it takes to bridge aspirations into accomplishments. Crossing that line embraces self: confidence, sacrifice, reliance, invention, worth. Finishing makes you your own hero. You are an Ironman.


"What keeps me going? The thought that each stroke, each spin, each stride takes me a little bit closer to my goal. The knowledge that every breath –inhale, exhale—is a part of something bigger. Being a triathlete is my way of living in the moment."


"You reach the finish line one step at a time, one day at a time, and with the understanding that it will take many steps and many days to ensure you get there first. You achieve your goal one step at a time, focused and diligent, always moving forward." (Mohammed Ali, boxer)

No food is safe...

You learn a lot about your body in training for an Ironman. There are some things that would constitute as "too much information" for this little blog but it mostly encompasses chaffing in places that have never chaffed before. The awful thing is rarely do you realize what is going on until you get into the shower and it feels like someone is taking a hot fireplace poker to your nether-region. That folks will wake your ass up! (literally) The other thing that is surprising is the amount of food that I consume now on a daily basis. Burning 5000+ calories in one weekend will make you ravenous the week after. No food is safe....and don't you touch my food...I might gnaw your hand off in the process!

This weekend...15 weeks to go...

This weekend we went back to The Natchez Trace but this time it was for a 75 mile ride followed by a 2.5 mile run. I've never ridden my bike 75 miles! Julie, Kathleen, and I suckered a few more of our fellow IMLP teammates into coming with us so we had a big group with a bunch of people doing different distances. Julie, Kathleen, Lisa, Rolf, Stephne, Bert, Rob, Dana, Gerry, Marti, and I. It was cold and being up in higher elevation with that darn headwind made it even worse. Flashbacks of Powerman Alabama were hovering in our minds. (insert photo...cold toes!!)

The ride was pretty uneventful on the way out except for a very graceful fall by Kathleen in front of a pack of about 10 male cyclists. It couldn't have been timed better and luckily she wasn't hurt too badly...except maybe a little dent in her pride and a bruised elbow. This time we decided just to stop at the rest stops on the Trace instead of venturing into my favorite little town of Fly, TN. Kathleen and I made the dreaded mistake on the way out of saying "man this is so much easier than last weekend." And that's when the Natchez Trace Gods said "hell no!" When we turned around to come back the headwinds showed up and made the ride back pretty grueling....not to mention a few people having to deal with dropped and broken chains. We stopped at a rest area and refueled and then hauled it back to our cars. My nutrition needs some tweaking before we visit the Trace this weekend...I was completely empty at mile 60. That's not good considering at the Ironman I'll have another 52 to go, oh yeah...and a marathon.

Sunday we ran the 11.2 in Percy Warner Park. It was a gorgeous day and the run was awesome. Stephne, Bert, Julie, Lisa, Kathleen, and I knocked out a good run and Kathleen and I were quite proud when we hauled it up 9 mile hill without walking. Coach Kathleen is training us well...all of this swimming, biking, and running seems to be working!

I'll Fly away...

Last weekend Julie, Kathleen, and I rode and out and back loop on the Natchez Trace for a total of 65 miles and then we ran 2.5 miles right after that. I think that run was the epitome of a brick workout. My whole body felt like a brick. The Trace is humbling. Not only is it hilly but it is windy, lonely, and that day was cold. We did have a nice stop in Fly, TN...which, if you've never been, is a surreal kind of place. The general store in Fly is so eloquently named "Fly's" and I think they sell shot guns, cigarettes, fabric softener from 1950, and Gatorade all in the same place. And if you're in the need I think they will stuff your kill from the day as well. We had our photo taken in front of this lovely landmark by a local woman who proclaimed to us "I found me a good man in Fly that let me have six dogs." Well if that isn't a reason to move there then I don't know what is. Maybe on our next stop back at Fly I will be as lucky as her. There are numerous community postings on the bulletin board at Fly's about a "youth coon hunt" and various events that require your five year old to run around with a shot gun. I'm not sure about that but I'm sure they have a lot to say about us traipsing into the store in our spandex. The people couldn't be nicer and they are very welcoming when we stop in; even allowing us to use their bathroom in the back....which I might add has two toilets sitting right next to each other but no barrier. I don't know who is that comfortable with someone that they want communal restroom behavior but it is Fly and nothing is surprising really...