BIG DAY is fast approaching

WOW. I freaking leave in 2 days. So much has to be done before then, and all I really feel like doing is nothing (i.e. resting). I'm getting my hyper taper energy, but its always at the end of work at 24 hour fitness. Weird.

I have had SO MUCH on my mind these last few days. Originally I was supposed to move apartments tomorrow...that's right, the day before I left for the race. Well, when I say move, I mean GET MOVERS. But it looks like we may just be moving buildings within our complex, which means I can push the move back until after the race...Thanks goodness!!

Other than moving, bills bills bills have been bombarding me. I am currently working two jobs, which when I get onto a normal schedule will probably have me working every bit of 45-50 hours per week. But for now, its not enough. It's just hard to concentrate on this race knowing how much money is going into it, when I can't even afford the necessities!

But aside from all the stress of normal living...I am getting excited for race day. Once I'm on the road Thursday, I will feel much better and much more focused on it. So, in honor of the BIG DAY coming up, here are a few things I'm looking forward to in my post Ironman life (in no particular order):

1. Getting my hair done! It hasn't been done since March, mostly b/c of the $$ issue. I look AWFUL, but at the same time when your hair is under a helmet 67% of the week, it doesn't matter much.
2. Eating like a normal person.
3. For that matter, sleeping and overall acting like a normal person.
4. Not having to train past 4pm on Saturdays (unless I start at 3pm).
5. Having the energy to clean my apartment on a regular basis.
6. Not having to rest going up a flight of stairs due to leg fatigue (at least not as often).
7. Reconnecting with my friends.
8. Weightlifting again, how I want to do it.
9. Playing things that don't involve a pool, a bike, and running shoes.
10. Not waking up hungry at 3am.
11. Not crying in the middle of a 115 mile ride.
12. Not talking to annoying people at creepy gas stations 40 miles from my apartment.
13. Stay awake all day for once.

There's about 63 more things I could add, but I won't bore you. Stay tuned!

Junior's Ready...am I?

If you look closely, they're Ironman brand glasses...cause that's how we roll.

Bib # 174

I guess its official....I'm going to do/be an Ironman.....

Who told me to sign up for Ironman?

I dont know if you know this, but I'm 9 days out.

WTF

Product Plug

Obviously this will increase sales for this product by at least 148.7%. Scientifically proven.

First off, I enjoy frozen vegetables. I mean, come on. What could be better than vegetables (good for you and delicious).....frozen (so easy all you have to do it heat them up...no washing, no nothing). Back in the day (ok, so like 4 years ago), I used to steam vegetables on the stove EVERY NIGHT, with my favorite kitchen product:

Does anyone else think this is cool? I used to just get it out of the cabinet and open it...close it...open it...close it...etc. It's just fun.

Cooking with this got old...there's the time it takes to steam the veggies (10-15 min). Sometimes I'd get impatient and end up eating partially cooked frozen veggies. Not good. Then there's cleanup. If you didn't clean right away (which I usually didn't because I was so impatient to eat), then the veggies would dry to the sides of it.

So when I found this product, it was my lifesaver:

What could be easier?? Put frozen veggies in bag. Push buttons on microwave and 3 min later, you have perfectly steamed frozen veggies! Cleanup? Pssh. What cleanup? Just throw it away! I thought nothing would be easier.

Until tonight. Even though the Zip and Steam bags are super easy, sometimes I'd end up putting too many veggies into the bag. There wasn't a great way of eye-balling the amount I was putting in. However, my NEW FAVORITE PRODUCT takes care of that for me:

HOLY MOLY. So now let me get this straight...all I have to do is remove bag from freezer, put in microwave, and open bag? Perfect portion size?! And it takes about half the time as the Zip and Steam bags?? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!

*Side Note* I'm an easy to please girl...if you can't tell.

So now I'm set for life on vegetables. I highly recommend this product, and to the Birdseye company: When you see a dramatic increase in sales, you can send a cut of the check to me. Thank you.

Conversations with a gas station attendant

Last Saturday was my last HUGE workout before IM. It consisted of a 45 min swim, 6 hour bike, and a 45 min run. My own little triathlon.

Went for my swim. It was decent. Nothing spectacular. Since I had swam the day before, my shoulders were quite tired, but I ended up doing 2350 yards.

After lagging around a bit at home, I finally got out on the road at 10am. I can tell when I prepare myself mentally before a huge ride. It makes a HUGE difference. I was ready to go. I did the same route I did the last long ride, but cut out the loop through Arlington. It ended up working out perfectly for my time. About 30 miles before arriving back home, I made my last stop at a small gas station in Moscow, TN. The name should give it away. I always get stares walking into a little gas station in my riding gear. And I ALWAYS get asked "Is that your bike out there?" or "Have you been riding?" The smartass in me wants to say "Nope, I just like to drive around in bike shoes and a helmet, just in case I see a bike on the side of the road that needs to be ridden........here's your sign". That's for my dad.

Anyway, this time, not only did I get that question, but I had quite the interesting conversation with the Gas Station attendant. He probably doesn't get out of Moscow much. Went something like this:

Dude: Looks like you've been riding. How far have you gone?
Me: (looking at my Garmin) I'm on mile 60.
Dude: Oh my gosh! Where did you come from?
Me: East Memphis.
Dude: Wow, that's a long way!!

gee you think?

Dude: What are you training for?
Me: An Ironman. 3 weeks in Louisville.
Dude: An Ironman! Don't beat me up!

WTF does that mean?

Dude: So what is your biggest fear?

Is this in general terms? Something like death, spiders, the dark? Or in regards to the race? I'm going to go with biggest fear of the race, because he just asked about it. But seriously, will he even understand what I'm talking about? Should I really get into it? Explain in detail what my actual fear is. Or should I just say something simple and obvious so he'll leave me alone.

(Side Note: By mile 60, I'm apparently really crabby)

Me: Well, I'd have to say my biggest fear will be my nutrition going all wrong and having stomach issues or bonking with a significant part of the race left.

Dude stares at me.

Should have gone with the simple obvious answer...but hey, he asked.

Dude: That's not what I meant!

THAT'S WHAT YOU ASKED

Dude: What is your worst of the three sports?

That is DEFINITELY not what you asked. Two completely different questions. I'm just going to go with a simple one word answer so I can take my gatorade and leave.

Me: Running.
Dude: Oh, well good luck!
Me: Thanks.

I will NEVER get those 5 minutes back. Ever.

Made it home. I was pretty antsy to get off my bike. I hate that.

The run went pretty well. This was the longest brick I've done so far in this season. I usually just run for 15-20 min off the bike. To get the brick feeling out. So I was a little nervous for this run. Also, by the end of my ride, I was dehydrated, even though I drank a lot of fluids and took 2 thermolytes every hour. I can never win. After laying on my floor (and Junior licking the salt off of my legs) for a good 5 minutes, I knew I had to get out and run.

The run went SO WELL under the circumstances. I felt pretty good. I could have run longer, but didn't want to push my luck. Also, by this point it was nearly 6pm.

I was so happy with this workout. However, I think I'm paying for it now, because I woke up this morning not feeling so hot. Sore throat, headache. I slept all day. Coach gave me today off, and possibly tomorrow. She said its not unusual to get sick about 3 weeks out. You're just past your hardest training and your body is broken down. I figured that's what it is, but I just want to be READY TO GO in 2.5 weeks. I know I will be.

I can officially talk about it

My job. YES....I have a job. Shocker, I know. No longer will I be living the life of a bum (professional-yet-unpaid-triathlete). No more two-a-day naps. No more facebooking until my fingers fall off. No more visiting friends on a daily basis.

I guess I knew it was coming.

Well, I officially (as of yesterday) work for 24 hour fitness. I am a personal trainer. Let me rephrase that: I'm the ONLY female personal trainer at this location. Which pretty much makes me awesome.

I am actually excited because apparently there's a lot of people just waiting for a female personal trainer. I don't blame them. I'm a pretty big deal.

I'm really not that into myself, but I do think I'll do a really good job. 24 hour also seems like a great place to work. In September, I'll be going to Denver for 5 days for an "intro to the company" type deal. Paid for! So that's cool. Actually, they wanted to send me to an earlier class, but guess when it was? August 25-29, meaning I'd get back in town the 30th. NOT GONNA WORK. The head fitness manager said to the club manager "Oh, she can't do that, she has that thing"

That thing....that little thing...yeah. That 17 hour day, 140.6 mile journey...that little thing takes place on August 31st. Can't miss it.

Anyway. That's what will pay the bills for now. And tonight, I witnessed the power of a pretty woman (me, obviously) in an athletic setting. I was running (if you want to call it that), and I see a guy STRUGGLING a few hundred feet in front of me. Kinda looked like the type of dude that finally mustered up the will power to go out and run. He was slightly overweight, and like I said, struggling. Sweating profusely, beat red face...everything. All the sudden, he saw me. After he passed behind a tree, he all the sudden pepped up and was running. Smile on his face. Standing really tall. He passed me, gave me the biggest smile and said "good evening!" After about 10 seconds, I turned around to look at him, and sure enough, he was walking again, hunched over looking like death.

That's why female personal trainers rock. The guys want to impress pretty girls. Thanks mom and dad for making me pretty :)

Who says shih tzu's can't do anything cool?

I will not tell you how many takes this took to capture on film. But of course, when he's on camera, he won't do it!

Long run report.

After a so-so 3 hour ride on Friday, I was not really looking forward to a 3 hour RUN today. Especially, considering it is going to hit 100 degrees today in Memphis. I decided very early on, that I would get up FREAKIN early to do this run, because I did not want to be running in the heat. I thought it was funny that last night the weatherman said "Do not do anything strenuous in the next few days outdoors". Oops!

So, my alarm went off at 3:50am. I got up about 4 and was on the road by 4:30. I must say, it was AWESOME running that early. No traffic, peace and quiet, and it was actually quite cool. Well, for Memphis heat it was cool. I tried not to look at my Garmin for the whole first hour, except to check my HR. I did a pretty good job. I got to a gas station about 4.5 miles away and decided to fill up my gatorade. I was off again, and actually feeling pretty good. I took a different route than I had originally planned, but it actually ended up being the same distance. I stopped at the same gas station on the way back and filled up again.

During the 2nd hour, my hips got pretty tight, so I stretched at the gas station and it actually helped a lot. For the first 30 min of the 3rd hour, I was supposed to run in zone 3. I was a little nervous about this, since it will have been my longest run since the marathon last December. I ROCKED those 30 min. I was just in the zone, and my legs were turning over so quickly, with no pain. My HR had a little trouble getting back down to zone 1 for my last 30 minutes, but all in all, it was a SOLID run. I was motivated, didn't feel bad, and was finished with 14 miles by 7:30am. Can't really ask for a better start to the training week, eh?

SO happy my motivation was there for this run. I really needed it.