Monday, August 27, 2007

A Leetle Change of Plans

I'm in the final countdown until my A Race - The Lake St. Louis Long Course (Oly distance) and starting to feel that antsy, anxious, "Oh My God, I Wish I'd Trained More", pre-race buzz. To try to keep it all in perspective, I've spent some time focusing on life "After The Race". It helps me to remember that there will be other mountains to climb and other races to run (or swim bike run).

One of my major Post-Race goals is to run a marathon. The original plan was to do the Space Coast Marathon in Cocoa Village, FL the Sunday after Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, due to financial and time constraints, that is out. However, we've got a fab Plan B. Memphis Marathon and Half Marathon, Dec. 1. We've got our hotel reservations and our training plans. We are psyched. Notice I say we. I'm running the full and Hubby is running the half. In fact, I'm think I'm going to have to start referring to Hubby as Tri-Hubby. He went swimming without me again this morning, is still riding the Blue Hornet to work and - are you ready for this, ladies and gentleman - we just bought him a Trek Alpha SLR 1200 Aero.












Yep. Its a tri bike. Am I a lucky girl, or what? One of the things I fell in love with about Tri-Hubby was his willingness (eagerness even) to try new things, to consider ideas and adventures he'd never considered before. Given the fact that I'm always finding some new rabbit to chase, this is a quality I admire and am incredibly grateful for. I'm looking forward to whatever new adventures await us on our Tri-Journey. Before you know it, we'll have Princess and Boy Genius training with us too!

Meanwhile, LSL looms on the near horizon. And I'm a little askeert. Maybe a lot askeert. I set this goal months ago - because I didn't like hearing people call the Sprint Triathlon, my original goal for this season, a "mini-tri". The sprint didn't seem like a tall enough mountain to climb - and I wanted to climb a mountain. While the Oly is hardly "long distance" compared to what many of you do, for me its certainly sizeable. I'm looking at 3+ hours of racing. And I'm pretty sure I can do it - but I'm not totally sure. I guess that's what makes it my mountain. I know it will also make the finish line, should I be fortunate enough to cross it, that much sweeter. So, I'm breathing deep, I'm trying to trust the training I've put in and I'm letting taper do its thing. Oh. And I'm eating carbs. A lot of carbs. Hopefully, my uniform will still fit.

Finally, I want to give a shout out to those who competed at IM Louisville yesterday, especially my teammates Brad Baum, Kevin Jokish,and Curtis Brooks and my friend Sally, who blazed a sub 12 hour finish! I admire each and every person who toed the line - however the race went for you, you are my heroes!

8 comments:

Jane said...

I think you'll do fine. I think we'll both do fine. You've got swimming down, and you run like the wind and have a super fast bike. Just have a goal of finishing it. That's my goal! I'm going to walk some the 6 miles in the end if I have to.

Kim said...

you are going to do GRRRREAT!!! you will finish and you will finish STRONG :)

Carrie said...

Oly is plenty far and you'll do great because you're so fast!

21st Century Mom said...

An Olympic distance event definitely counts! It counts BIG! I started to dis the Oly until I realized it is all I really want to handle now and it is a tough race because you feel compelled not to hold back - ever. That's what makes it hard and what makes it fun.

I know you can do it. You have trained for much more and your training will meet your opportunity to produce a fabulous result - success!

Please send your hubby a warm welcome your hubby to the crack house from me.

Danielle in Iowa in Ireland said...

Having followed your training and secretly thinking "damn, this girl is training a lot more than me," I think I can confidently say that you'll finish just fine!

Anonymous said...

Did someone say Crack?
Count me in!

Michelle said...

Askeert.
I love that word!

As to the sprint tri being a "mini tri", I think that is totally unfair. If you don't feel like you're going to puke at the end of a sprint tri, then you weren't going hard enough. Tell 'em that next time you hear such a comment.

Your upcoming Oly.....No Problem. You are focused and determined. You've pushed forward with well thought out plans. Go get it.

Lori said...

I can totally understand the nerves, but I think yours are misplaced. You have done your work and will kick that Oly's ass :) That is awesome that hubby got a new bike!