End in Sight

Here goes... first post... and so near the end of my Ironman training. September 10th is the big day and I'm so excited and scared and... confident. I printed off my little training plan from BeginnerTriathlete and stuck to it like glue. Now I feel good. I feel like I'm ready for anything. Just as long as they let me race...

I just found out - at least I'm almost sure I found out - that athletes need to register and do packet pick-up on Friday. I thought it was Saturday. I wouldn't have known but was surfing and saw on BeginnerTriathlete that all IMs require a 2-day prior check-in. I sent a question to the IM Wisconsin contact email and got a nasty reply stating that I wouldn't be allowed to race unless I picked up my packet and registered from 9:00-11:00 AM. Hmm... guess I'm still not sure on the DAY that I need to show up. Am I missing communications from the organizers? I got a volunteer email, but that's it. And the schedule on the website says nothing about packet pick-up. Anyone out there in the know?

Also, what next? What are you doing after this? Training for Ironman has been such an all-consuming project. How do you top it? I was truly a newbie on my bike and nutrition. I've learned so much! My longest distance prior to signing up was Olympic, although I was first a runner, so I've done marathons. Then I did a half-IM this spring just to try out nutrition and pacing. I looked at my list from the beginning of the summer and "purchase aerobars and front hydration system" were where I was at! My wetsuit was new to me. I have became (way too) intimate with Clif, Gatorade and Gu. For the first time in my life, I've chafed. I just REALLY found out about (read: bought) CO2 cartridges & pumps last week. I have a race belt now, quick laces (not yet laced into my shoes), a heart rate monitor, a tri suit and Endurolytes. And I know how to use all of it. What a learning curve.

But I'm also amazed at the training distances. This is actually the first triathlon I've followed a training plan for and it has challenged me. Now with the longest distances done, I grow nostalgic, but I remember grumbling though those 5 & 6 hour bike rides thinking - now why am I doing this again?? Turning around yet again to pick up the mesh water bottle plug as it popped out. (Now I have that down too - ask if you want to know how to rig yours up so a) your mesh doesn't pop out and, b) you can purchase just the Profile Design bottle and not the mounting bracket.)

My long runs were mostly OK - I was happy just to be doing them because my knees very nearly forbade it. Even now I'm taking plenty of ibuprofen to get me through to Ironman. Plus, running has always just felt good to me. At my half, I remember popping off of my bike and thinking, "OK, now I'm where I should be. I was born to do this."

But, ugh, the long swims... anything over an hour and I should make sure I do it with my masters swim class! I remember a 2-hour session out on open water that I thought would never end. How come I'm such a clock-watcher when I swim but can run without time ever occurring to me? I say that on the heels of a very satisfactory 1-hour swim today. I tried my wetsuit for the first time in months and absolutely loved the feel of it. It took me 6 1/2 minutes to swim a distance that I swam yesterday (wetsuitless) in 8 minutes, so that helped too - knowing that I was going faster. Get a wetsuit! Just for the joy of it.

Hmmm... that about does it for my first post. Happy training!