Have I lost my mind to consider a HIM? (Page 68)

I have a feeling Leah is going to completely kill her previous HIM time!
 
And I'll be curious to hear about Kate's swim, she was in the water a long time... Did not seem to affect her much on the ride though!

WHOOHOO GO NUTSOS!

Yeah, I can't access either. Did they finish before the cutoff, which I think was 4-4:15 ish?

Yeah it cut out awhile ago. Seems like they should have been fairly good on time unless they couldn't run for some reason. Guess we'll have to wait it out and see.

BTW I think they had 8.5 hrs after last swim wave.

Yah, I figured they were pretty good to make it well before cutoff once on the run unless there was a major problem.
Looks like all the female age group results are "missing", someone/thing diddled with the database no doubt!

I JUST got home about an hour ago from being out all day!! I had weight watchers this morning (up 0.6..no biggie..mother nature..etc) then had a FREEZING bike ride of only 11 miles..it was really cold! Next I went to the Multisport Expo and sat in on some nutrition and strength training seminars and went to a swim clinic. Saw a friend for a bit after leaving there and headed home. Tried to log onto the Ironman website to check on the ladies but nothing coming up which is a little disconcerting but it was nice to read what everyone wrote previously from earlier today! I can't wait to hear how they did!!

Oh yeah and I met Marmadaddy at the Expo today! There was a BT booth there! I also got to try some Infinit nutrition...tasted pretty good! Not a strong flavor like Gatorade so I think I might try it out to see how I can handle it on a longer ride!

Kate: 8:27:10
Leah: 8:21:53

Wow very close times to each other!

Did you get to wave at one another?

Your placing is like within -SIX- spots!

Sweet Job. I'm very proud to be nutzo with you!

Congrats on the PR LEah!

Edited by IdealMuse 2010-03-27 8:41 PM

WAY TO GO! YES, YOU ARE HALF IRONWOMEN!
Congrats!

Wow! I just went through many (many) pages of this thread! You are all AMAZING!!! Huge congrats to the two of you who finished Oceanside today and best wishes to those with races yet to come!

Yeah Leah and Kate!

Hi everyone.  I'm home.  I'm a little disappointed in my times, but not greatly disappointed.  I met up with Kate this morning before the race and we did get a picture taken.  I didn't see her again until two times on the run.  I was looking for her at the end of the race, but I think she finished sooner than I thought she would and I missed her.  I wanted to hear how she had done, but didn't get the chance.  When I saw her on the run, she was smiling and seemed to be doing well.  Oh yes, I did pass her on the swim and was going to say something encouraging, but she seemed like she was in a rhythm and I didn't want to disrupt that.

The swim was fine.  I got kicked in the face early on that dislodged my left goggle.  For the life of me, I couldn't get it sealed again WITHOUT water in the left goggle.  I could get it sealed WITH water in the left side, but not without.  I can't explain it.  I was hoping for 45 minutes and I was pretty close to that (46:41).

The bike was, well, interesting.  The first half was glorious.  It was a beautiful day and I felt good.  I finished the first half on pace to finish well under 4 hours (like 3:50 maybe).  Then the second half happened.  The hills happened.  The wind happened.  I confess to walking up the steepest of the hills, but even with that, I finished in 4:07:30 and my goal was 4 hours.  So, not too far off.

I didn't do so well on the run and walked the entire second loop.  The first loop I did run/walk, but the run part was the smaller part of that ratio.  My goal time was 3 hours and that was supposed to have factored in fatigue from the bike and the hills.  I finished in 3:10:57.

There is no getting around the fact that this is a long distance and is hard.  My results were good enough that I will give Ironman training serious effort, but I will be honest with you.  There is a very good chance that I will bail on IMAZ.  Double today's times does it make is so I finish within the IM cutoff times, but that simple formula doesn't take into account the increased fatigue. 

I did get to meet up with Jessica (jezzieswims) yesterday and this morning.  Sorry, no pictures.  She had a terrific race, despite lingering bronchitis issues. 

My race report will have to wait for tomorrow.  I have had my lavender Epsom salt bath and dinner.  Guess what I was craving?  Nah, you'll never guess.  I was craving deli cole slaw.  Nice, soggy, non-Paleo cole slaw and Chuck was sweet enough to go to the grocery store and get me some.  It's now 7:30 and I am sure I will be in bed within half an hour.

Yes, indeed.  We are quite a nice little group.  I doubt if there is anything like it or as terrific on the internet on any site. 

And I was touched by you all tracking us all day.  Thank you so much. 

Leah -

I think you have lots of time to adjust for the time you need to pick up to adjust for fatigue... A LOT can happen in 8 months. I went from 230lbs to 186 and running not at all (aka 1 minute) to an hour and half (having NEVER run before) my first summer doing Tris. All in 7 months time. I don't know maybe I'm naive... but I think you can do it. AZ isn't as hilly as CA was too.

Anyway, I hope you do continue to give it a shot... but we obviously will respect any decision you make down the line. HIM is nothing to sneeze at and an awesome feat own it's own, and you have to make the call that is right for you. That's why we're all here right? We made that call for ourselves.

Get some rest!

Hi everyone,

I haven written here in a long time mostly due to my back problems and not having been able to train the way I would have liked to BUT I have been reading from time to time and I want to say:

CONGRATULATIONS LEAH AND KATE!! YOU ARE HALF-IRONWOMEN now

You should both be very proud of yourself and enjoy that feeling! Can't wait for the race reports!

The next day.  The part of my body that is the most sore - my sunburned and chapped lips!!!  I am stiff and a little creaky, but noting "hurts."  Except my lips and now that they have lip balm on them, they are feeling much better.  I am planning on taking it easy today and will get my peach by just walking to a local restaurant for their omelet bar (no bread and no potatoes) for breakfast. 

And then I am going to sit around all day and read triathlong/Ironman training books.  I am going to compare their different philosophies and training plans and then work on devising my own.  If I learn anything interesting regarding the different training philosophies, I will let you know.

I am not going with monthly coaching, but will get specific sport training.  For instance, I think it was here that Gail mentioned that she likes the coaching from the LA Tri people.  I looked at their monthly coaching and it just wasn't for me as it seemed too similar to what I have been doing.  But they offer a four-week swim clinic on Monday nights that begins April 12.  The timing is perfect.  The location is not, but it is only for four weeks. 

They have something called a Bike Marker Workout.  They put you on a Computrainer using a specific course for an hour and then record all the metrics.  You leave there (supposedly) with information on how to improve your biking performance.  The idea is that you go back every 4-6 weeks and ride the same course again and see how or if you are improving.  It costs $95, but considering that I went with coaching in the first place to improve biking and am paying $275 for essentially stock workouts, it seems like if I did that once a month, I would get what I was looking for and for a whole lot less money. 

They have something similar for running, but I don't think I need something like that.  They also have Private Run Sessions (they also have this for biking), in which you are "guided through a drill progression that prioritizes posture, stride length, foot-ground contact point, arm swing and more. You'll leave with 3-4 key elements of better running and recommendations on how to proceed forward in training."  As a one-time thing, that looks useful.  It also costs $95. 

Yes, Arizona is a lot less hilly than Oceanside, plus I will have my tri bike by then.  Two big pluses.  I am not going to train for an Ironman with an eye towards NOT doing it because that would be self-defeating.  I plan to do Arizona and then I plan to do one more IM in Europe someplace the following summer.  But, if I find that with all my training that doing Arizona is not going to be a positive experience, then I am open to the idea of skipping it. 

Well, that's it.  I'm looking forward to hearing from Kate.  Sometime today I will do my race report.  Good to hear from you Joblin!  And now I need to get dressed and walk to breakfast.  My the way, my weight was UP 3/4 pound from Friday morning to today.   Go figure. 

Burts Bees Lifeguards Choice - I swear by it for lip and nose protection. In fact I just bought two new tubes for the summer.

Leah - awesome job. Way to keep moving forward and finishing with your eye & mind still on bigger targets. Again, awesome. Will be eager to read your race report, and hear about your reading. The thing I've heard the most is that pace strategy tailored to the specifics of the bike course and nutrition strategy are the key components to having a good ironman experience - would you say this was the case for you too?

The Bike Marker workout sounds perfect and way more useful information wise for you.
(I could use one of those private run tutors!)

Don't underestimate the flat courses! The nice thing about rollers is that you get some rest on the downhills. On flats you have to keep pounding, but if you're properly paced won't be an issue.

Now i'm off to long walk & run a little. And more taxes. And a trainer ride (cause of course the weather is all april showery).

oh p.s. I would just like to reiterate that I am in awe of all of you doin IMs this year. Amazing, brave, powerful, and NUTSO the lot of you! And I have every confidence that you will all be successful.