Letter from the coach

I was emailing Mary about my race plan. It's good to have a time goal but I will not (I promise) obsess about it. If the weather is great, if my stomach cooperates, if there is no bike issue, if I don't cramp, if .... lots of if's. I do want to finish under 15 hours. Below is what Mary sent me last week.

The time is finally here.  You started this odyssey many months ago.  At that time, you were not sure if you were ready to take on the challenge.  Ironman was this pie in the sky goal that was intimidating. Now, you have done all the training.  You had surprisingly few bad days and even fewer missed workouts.  You handled the long hours and long distances well.  Your perspective on Ironman training has gone from intimidating to “no problem.”  And everyone tells you that the training is the hard part.  The race is the icing on the big fat cake.  They are right.  But you are still going to take the race seriously.  Here are some of my thoughts for you:

The swim:  it will be crowded.  At your pace (1:15-1:30) you will likely be in a crowd for the entire swim.  Be comfortable with that.  As you enter the water you will be very hyped up by the crowd, the pre-race music, the excitement of your fellow competitors.  You will probably not be able to avoid going out very fast.  That is okay; get rid of the early morning adrenaline.  After a few minutes you will need to rein yourself in and settle into your race pace.  It is going to be a long day, so be smart.  Keep your effort strong, but stay aerobic.

T1:  Transitions can be a good place to make up some time.  No need to dilly dally.  Grab your stuff, get into the tent, and get what you need.  Don’t rush to the point of missing something you need, but be quick and methodical.

The bike:  (6:30-7:00) Here is where you are going to shine.  You have put in many, many strong miles on the bike.  Your ride can make or break your day.  Be smart.  As you start, and as you ride the first 20+ miles you may be passed by some hammerheads.  Let them go.  Listen to your body.  Check your heart rate.  Check your breathing.  Are you going too fast?  Are you taking it too easy?  Make the adjustments that you need.  As you approach the first big hill, focus on maintaining a good cadence.  You may be half way up the hill before you realize it is the big one.  You have done bigger and longer in training.  The hardest part of the ride is the middle; not because of the difficulty of the elevation, but because your mind may start to wander.  If you fine this happening, go through a check list; see if you have consumed enough calories, check your heart rate, etc.

T2:  Again, don’t even sit down if you don’t need to.  Make sure you have the essentials and hit the road.

The run:  (5:00-6:00) It all comes down to the run.  Don’t worry; you will not be tempted to go out too fast.  Also don’t worry if your legs feel terrible.  They will recover in the first few miles.  Start with short, quick steps and keep your heart rate low.  Soon your legs will loosen up and you can stretch out your stride some.  There will be rolling hills along the lake.  If you need to walk the hills, do it.  If not, don’t push too hard on them.  Once you hit the turnaround and get your special needs stuff you will know that you are going to make it.  It is just a matter of pacing yourself to the end.

All day:   

1. Typically it is not humid in Penticton, so don’t be surprised if you don’t get sweaty.  Stay on your usual schedule of hydration.  Start early and keep drinking regularly. 

2. There will be many, many people faster than you.  Ignore them.  Some of them are truly rock stars and you will never see them again once they pass you.  Some of them are egotistical hammerheads and you will pass them again at some point in the day.  It doesn’t matter.  Run your race, not theirs.  Stick to your plan and you will do very well.   

3.  At some point (or many points) in the day you will feel bad.  Be ready for this.  What are you going to tell yourself when this happens?  You can remind yourself of all the hours you put into training.  You can think about your honored heroes of past TNT seasons, you can be inspired by your training buddies and their perseverance.  Be prepared.  Ironman is a long day and there will be some very long stretches where you may not feel the greatest.   

4. Most of all: Have fun!  This is the most important thing I can tell you.  Enjoy the moment.  Whether this is your one and only Ironman or the first of many, your first Ironman is your most special one.  Soak in the atmosphere, encourage other athletes, smile all day.  And at the end you will know the exhilaration of hearing the announcer say:  “Monika Nelwan, you are and Ironman!”

I was a little sad this morning. I found out my friend, Bill, who was supposed to race IM Canada had to pull out due to work. He's a big wig in AT&T and he had an RFP, for the cruise line business that is apparently a big part of the business, due in a few weeks and they are trying to wrap it up. My plan was going to line up with him at the swim start. It's comforting to stand besides somebody that you know waiting for the horn to go off. I didn't care if I could only swim with him for 25 meters. The hardest part is the wait. 

His advice to me was to be far from the buoys at the start. It's okay to swim further but I have more space than getting tangled with other athletes.

The Countdown Begins!

When I go on a trip, I always pack at the last minute. One or two days before gave me plenty of time to pack. This rule didn't apply to the Ironman trip. Even though I won't fly out until Wednesday morning, I had to ship the bike a week prior. I also signed up to transport a bike bag for $30. It's worth it. Sarah made a great suggestion. She said not to put anything that I can't afford to lose in that bag. I need to carry them in the carry on. I started making a list of things that I need to bring with me. It's a lot... the list keeps growing and growing. On Sunday, Elishia volunteered to come over to help.. Oh wait, actually I asked her to come over and help. I bribed her with Thai food take out :) I was a little stressed out... A few problems at the office added to my Ironman stress. I ran a couple of errands at the last minute. Finally I packed the bag that I needed to drop off with my bike.

Tribike Transport Bag

On Wednesday, I went to Cadence Bikes to drop off my bike and the bag. I met Cecil, he's 63 years young. IM Canada is going to be his 14th IM. He did IM Canada 5 years ago. He didn't have anything bad to say about the race. I also met another racer. She walked in with her bike. It was a burnt orange Felt, an older model. I said to her that I almost bought a bike like that from Craig's List. She said, that was where she bought it from two years ago. Funny, it was actually the same exact bike. It was the same size. I remember the bike had upgraded wheels. Everything happened for a reason. My hesitation was that bike had an aluminum frame, and I wanted carbon. I was glad I made that decision. Carbon was a lot more comfortable.

Bye Bye Bike and Bag! Arrive safely and timely in Penticton.

We had brunch on Sunday.

Look at how many plates Eric and Sarah cleaned up!

I've never seen Susan smiled this big.

After brunch, I went home and did more packing. This time is the carry on.

 

Irreplaceable Stuff in the Carry-on Bag

Yes... you see two Garmin's. I borrowed Elishia's Garmin. The battery life is not long enough unless I finish the race in 8 hours.

14 Days to Go

Thursday was the first day I ran again. At first, I wore the ankle support that I got from a drug store but it was too thick on the arch. I couldn't run with it. I felt fine running unsupported for 6 miles. However, I felt I needed more support for Sunday's 10 mile run, so I turned to the expert, Mary, my coach who's also a PT.

Are you sure I can run in this thing?

She used pre-tape, white sport tape and Leukotape that was really sticky. If you saw my foot, it looked like I had a cast on. It was taped up to mid-calf.

The next day we rode 45 miles. The tapes didn't bother me but after 20 miles, I felt the tape kept rubbing the back of heel and it created a hot spot. We stopped at a gas station and I was looking to borrow scissors but they didn't have any, so I bought a pair. I cut off the back side and it felt much better. I carried the scissors in my bento box. It was probably not the greatest idea. If I fall forward, they can seriously hurt me.

We got back to the car, did a 15 minute run and posed for a picture. This is the last ride before we ship the bikes to Penticton, Canada.

Lots of updates

There were so many things happened since the last post. I just didn't have the time to update my blog. After the last recovery week, we had a 100 mile ride and 17 mile run. It was a dilemma for me as far as where to ride that weekend. Cartersville suddenly became a dog heaven ride. It seems like a lot of people were tired of cyclists and started letting their dogs out more. Peachtree City was too far and I wasn't familiar with the routes at all. Silksheets.. hmmm really again? I started getting tired of the routes and hills. At the last minutes, I decided to go to Silksheets. Stephanie was riding 60 miles, she was then in tapering mode. I would ride the rest of the 40 miles by myself.  The first 50 were fine. The next 10 were harder. I didn't feel as fresh as before. The last 40 miles were haaarrddd. I started to get annoyed with my legs. They were heavy even though I used small gears and tried to keep my cadence up. Finally, I got back to the parking lot. I was one of the last 3 cars left. It was around 2PM. Hot and humid. I put my running shoes on and started running. The first 15 minutes were good, and suddenly I bonked. I could tell the difference between bonking and just tired. I didn't have any gels with me, only water. I ran back to the parking lot. It sucked. I was by myself. I drank my recovery drink in the shade. Salty sweat dripped on my face. I was pooped. This was what IM training all about. Mentally I was depleted. At the same time, I was scared. What if this happened on the race day? I drove home, ate, hydrated, stretched, rolled and slept. Tomorrow was a brand new day. I had to run 15 miles. It was okay. actually much better than I expected. The first 100 yards my calves were tight but they loosen up quick.

The following weekend was the last long ride, the mac daddy of the season, the longest miles I covered before the race day. 110 miles plus 30 minutes T-run. This time around I was back with my usual suspects, Eric, Sarah and Susan. Patti also joined us. She was training for IM Louisville. We decided to go to Jackson County Brevet ride. We did the organized century ride in June. The routes were easy to follow. It was very well marked.

J is the marking. Turn to the direction where J is pointing.

If you were wondering, why it was J, it was for Jesus. The organizer was a Christian. He lead the prayer before we started the century ride. Very cool.

Around Mile 30

Ellen sagged this ride. Around mile 30, Sarah, Susan and Patti decided to take a SAG stop. Eric and I continued riding. Before we got to this stop, we were chased by a packed of dogs. They were tiny dogs only one that looked seriously wanted to chase you. We were yelling at them and Sarah squirted Gatorade at him. They didn't come close. Eric and I rode around 20 miles or so after splitting with the group. We were chased by another dog again. I was screaming to scare him away. He stopped chasing. After that, there were a couple other times, I was chased and I didn't even see the dogs. I could hear their bark and nails scratching the pavement. It was a hot and humid day. The high was 95F. With the humidity, it felt like 100+. So, I bet it took the dogs a lot of energy to run, therefore the chase was short lived.

First stop of the day

Around mile 40, Eric and I stopped for bottle exchange. Susan, Sarah and Patti were right behind us. Since we had to add 10 miles, when we got to mile 63, we would turn around and ride back to mile 58 and followed the route again.

Patti and me after the third SAG stop

We had another SAG stop around mile 73. I felt pretty good even though it was getting really hot. We made another quick stop around mile 90. The last 15 miles or so, we were back in town. that meant riding with traffic. I got stopped by traffic light 3 times. I couldn't catch up with Patti who was ahead. It felt great to be done with the ride, now it was time to run. I couldn't skip this since I messed up last week. I sucked another gel and started running. I ran along the tree lines were, so I could run in the shade. It was a 2 and 1/2 minute loop. Boring but shaded. I was so glad that the longest ride was over.

Sadly the following day, my long run didn't go well. I had 14 mile run. Around mile 5.5, I stepped on a small rock and twisted my left ankle. It hurt so bad. I walked a bit and was able to run back to the parking lot. I had to end my run after 10 miles. I had to ice it right away. I cried a bit out of frustration and , I think, mental exhaustion too.  It was going so well and now this happened.

I iced my foot 7 times that day and kept icing it as often as I could. I swam with buoys, so I didn't need to kick. I pushed off with my right foot only. I skipped Tuesday and Thursday bike and run sessions. I tried not to get frustrated. It's not Ironman training without running into a snag. I read about ankle sprains. I bought a balance board to rehab my ankle. Considering this was not the first time, I twisted my ankle this season. I had to take this seriously and fix the problem. I found out that the cause was not weak ankle muscles but it
lacked of proprioception, which was the ability of your body to provide feedback from the ankle to the brain. After an ankle sprain, the proprioception of the joint can be damaged, leading to problems controlling ankle movements. The balance board can help 're-train' the ankle joint. The board was a simple round board with a small half shaped ball in the middle. The idea was when you stepped on it, you had to train your brain to balance your body. The first exercise was two feet, moved back and forth, side to side and circled. the second exercise was to simply balance on one foot. Lastly, do the second exercise with closed eyes. It sounded simple but not really. I could tell my balance improved a lot after 3-4 days doing it.

Balance Board

The following weekend I rode 4 hours on Saturday and 3 hours on the trainer on Sunday while watching the Olympics women's marathon. I was thankful that I could still ride. The swelling was gone. I just didn't feel to run yet. I would wait until Thursday to run.