Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Ironman Week - Day 2

Coincidence, I don't think so... I got off the bus this morning at the Boulder Transportation Center.  Walked with my bike to the light, and as I'm waiting to cross the road, a runner goes by me.  Her t-shirt caught my eye immediately and while I only saw it for a second, I was able to read every single word on it.  It said: "Ironman Coeur D'Alene 2011. FINISHER". Well, not like I read it all, but I do have the same t-shirt from last year.  What are the odds?  Made me smile and wonder if she was doing her last little run before heading out to the airport.  Wondering if she'd do it again this year.

Not sure why I've been so nervous this time around.  I don't remember it being this bad last year but maybe because I have set a bar and now I feel an obligation to do better than last year.  Well, not only that, but my half Ironman this year was exceptional... I did SO good, that I feel I gotta beat my Ironman time for at least the amount of time that I beat my previous half Ironman time.  I found myself talking to my body last night and begging it to help me with a good run.  I kept telling my body that all I needed to do was a 2 mile jog 13 times.  During Ironman, there is an aid station every mile, but I'd like to skip one each time.  I've learned over time that my body is not trained to drink water and eat every 10 minutes.  I usually do it every 40 minutes or 4 miles (roughly).  Figured that during Ironman I should do it every 20 minutes or 2 miles since my body will already be a little depleted after a long ride.  I will keep working on my strategy in the next few days, for now, that's where I stand for the run.

I went to bed last night after watching the one-hour movie of the 2011 Ironman World Championship and such amazing athletes inspired me.  While the elite athletes go there to crown themselves World Champions, not everyone is a pro.  This is the one pretty amazing thing about this sport.  Both the elite and "age groupers" (us who have a full time job, but do this on our "spare" time) share the same field.  We all swim, bike and run the same distances, on the same course and on the same day.  While the pro's get out of the water within 45 - 60 minutes, the age groupers work their way for up to 2 hours and 2 minutes (the cut off). While the pro's can bike in 4.5 to 5 hours, the rest bike in 6.5 to 8 hours.  Same with the run... the pro's get it done in 2.5 to 3.5 hours, age groupers take from 4.5 to up to 7 hours!  Still, everyone follows the same rules and have the same cut off times.  The pro's or age groupers are susceptible to the same factors that can make their days the best or the worse: nutrition, injuries, state of mind.  All is the same, although everyone has their own personal goal and reason to cross that finish line.

I leave you today with one of my favorite parts of Chrissie's book: A Life Without Limits.

A Life Without Limits by Chrissie Wellington.  My new favorite book, highly recommended for  EVERYONE!
And here's the link to the Ironman movie, if anyone feels like feeling a tad inspired: 2011 Ironman World Championship

1 comment:

  1. love the video on ironman world championships. made me cry a lot! ha especially at the end when chrissie crowns the amputee navy/army guy. wow! and the lady who was off by 4 seconds! ouch! and the old man tumbling down in the last mile of the run, yikes! love watching people cross the finish line. why do I care about these other people? I guess I'm just so excited and I want to be one of them!

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