The Wheels Are Turning

WEEKLY WORKOUTS
SWIMMING 2:45
BIKING 7:30
RUNNING 1:25
WEIGHTS :75

I'm giving the heads up this will be a pretty long post. I have a lot on my mind after last week & some things that went on this week. I've said this before, but there's really something to be said about training for an Ironman that's so much more then just the physical. Every time I feel like I'm getting to a good place in my training, something happens & knocks me off that positive pedestal. I try & appreciate the good things, but it's really difficult in the moment. After the fact though I'm able to reflect & not be so down on myself. It's not easy, but I'm trying.

After I crossed the finish line last week, I had to go back to my hotel, grab some things & then I made my way over to transition. @ this point it was probably a good 7.5 hours after the race started. There was a photographer close to the transition area waiting for people who were still on the course to take their photos. I asked him a quite obvious question, "Are there still runners on the course?" His response, somewhat snide & obnoxious, "Um, yeah, that's why I'm still out here." I felt such empathy for these athletes that in the end, they would be racing for 8 hours or so. My response to him was, "Well @ least they're out there getting it done". Seriously, these people deserve more credit then the athletes that finish in faster times. They are the ones that deserve a medal & to be on the podium. Maybe they're just not gifted athletes or they had issues on the bike or with nutrition. Whatever the case is, these athletes are out there doing what most people in the world couldn't even imagine. Most people probably don't even have a clue what a triathlon is (I know I didn't until about 5 years ago). This interaction really got me thinking about myself. Sometimes you have a shitty workout or race, but does it really matter if you're out there doing it? My legs are supposed to hurt. They're not always supposed to move at top speed. Who cares if they're not? What matters is that I'm getting the necessary training for IMLP. Like I said before, this is somewhat hard to do in the moment, but this is a place for me to keep track of not only my workouts, but my thoughts too.

Saturday I rode with the TNT cycling team. Usually before a ride Neil, the coach, will read a mission statement. This weekend there was a special guest, an AML survivor. She was on her second round of treatments after her AML came back. This is a woman who is a successful OB/GYN, who has a young son and has to battle this awful disease...AGAIN! One of the doctors at her practice is on the cycling team and he asked her to come speak. He told her about the group and she was expecting maybe 10 people. There were about 40-50 people riding. She was so moved by the amount of people who are out there training for something that will help save her life. She was so grateful for what TNT has done for her. This woman brought tears to my eyes and made me thankful for the organization that I've been a part of since 2006. This is the 1st year I haven't fundraised for TNT. I just didn't think it would work with Ironman training. With that being said, I love riding with the team because it makes me appreciate my life and what I can do, what I'm physically able to do because I'm a healthy 35 year old. I didn't have the most pleasant ride yesterday. My legs hurt, my body ached, I was hot, my stomach didn't feel right. There I was earlier appreciating the fact that I'm healthy and here I am thinking of how much my life was sucking during the ride. I gave myself a reality check and started thinking about this woman and what she's going through. I'm pretty sure chemo, radiation, stem cell transplants and any other aggressive treatments out there are worse then my legs feeling like crap on a ride. It kind of puts things into perspective, especially since I choose to do this to my body. Cancer patients have no choice. If they're not giving up, why should I because my body feels like shit?

I also thought about my coach Andrew a lot on my long ride this weekend. I have such an appreciation for this man. Not only of his talent as a coach and athlete, but as an individual too. He is always so positive and truly believes the glass is 1/2 full. I really wish I had it in me to be more like him. He is such an inspiration to me and I'm proud to say I know him. I think about how he had to drop out of IMLP with 10 miles to go because of something he thought was a leg injury. Oh and he was in 10th place coming off of the bike. This leg injury was way worse then he could've imagined, he was later diagnosed with Leukemia. A year after oral chemo put him in remission, Andrew began his journey as an elite athlete and conquered the same course that he pulled out of years earlier and qualified for Kona. Talk about never giving up!!!! Once again, how could I feel pity on myself for feeling crappy because my body is just tired? "Suck it up and just get it done Wiener!" is going to be by new phrase to myself.

My workouts this week didn't go exactly as planned. I unfortunately got the stomach flu on Tuesday and it kind of wiped me out for the remainder of the week. I only took Wednesday off, which was a run and weights, but since I really didn't eat for a couple of days it affected my energy level. I also think I might've pushed it too hard on Thursday because Friday night I started feeling sick again, which lasted through my ride on Saturday. I was scheduled to do a 4 hour ride and before I got sick I asked if I could do a 70 miler, which would add probably another hour to my schedule. Andrew was ok with that. It turns out, my body wasn't ready for 70. Between doing a 1/2 Ironman on Sunday and then getting the stomach flu on Tuesday, my body felt like a truck ran over it. It didn't help that it was beyond hot and humid out. I drank a ton on the bike, but didn't eat much throughout the ride.

There was also a slight encounter with a dog on our ride. My friend Heather and I dropped back slightly from the group we were riding with. We saw a dog about 100 feet ahead of us. It's always a scary thing when you're on the bike and you see a dog. Most of the places we do our long rides at are in the country so people leave their animals off a leash. Heather was a bike length or 2 in front of me, so she was the 1st one the dog saw. The 2 of us kind of swerved, but that crazy little shit, grabbed her by the leg and sunk his sharp teeth into her. He had her leg for 3-5 seconds (which seemed like 2 hours). Somehow Heather kicked her leg a few times and somehow managed to stay on the bike without falling. Needless to say, Heather was slightly hysterical moments after this happened. I wanted to get us as far away as possible, but we needed to stop so I could call for help and we could take a look at her leg. Luckily a group of bikers that weren't with us stopped and helped out while I was on the phone directing someone to where we were. 2 people that were a few minutes behind us are doctors, so they were able to help out with cleaning the wound, wrapping it up, etc. We called the police and they sent a fire truck, might I add with a couple of hottie firefighters. Heather ended up having to get 6 stitches, antibiotics and a round of rabies shots (8 of them to be exact). We weren't sure if the dog had tags and the police couldn't find him either. This all happened around mile 10. Needless to say, this round of excitement, put a damper on the rest of the ride. Plus I was stopped for more then 30 minutes, which didn't help my cause of my legs being fatigued.

This past week should be considered a wash for me and I'm looking forward to the big week of training I have ahead of me. I have about 1.5 months of real training before IMLP. I can't believe how soon it is. People keep asking me if I'm ready and my answer is FUCK NO!!!! I think even after I finish the race, I still won't think I'm ready. I am confident in myself completing all of the distances independent of each other, it's the putting it all together part that makes me nervous. I know that I will cross the finish line. It might not be pretty, but with the dedication I've put into this little adventure, there's no way I'm not going to finish!

Race Report - Rev 3 1/2 Ironman

If I were to name my race reports, which I might start doing, this one would be called OYE!!! St A's would be called ROUGH SEAS. Knoxville was an interesting race for me. To me, this was just another long training weekend. I tried setting my expectations as low as possible. I didn't want to go too hard on the bike and have nothing left on the run. I wanted to make sure my nutrition was dialed in. I honestly had zero nerves until we walked to the swim start,. Normally I get major anxiety and nerves days leading up to my "A race". Since Placid is really the only race I truly care about this season, I think I've put the other races out of mind. I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing. As usual, this will be a novel. Feel free to read or pretend like you did with a "nice job" reply.

I made the drive up to Knox Friday after work. Luckily I got out a little early to beat rush hour traffic. I wanted to get a swim in as well on my way up there. My plan was for there to be no traffic and I would do a quick, 30 minute swim and be on my merry way. Yeah, not so much. I hit traffic on 285 and then once again on 75. So much for that swim idea. I thought about maybe going to the YMCA right across from my hotel once I got to Knox and picked up my race packet. Then my GPS, I'm referring to her as stupid B*TCH until I come up with another name for her, took me off the highway to go on some back roads. I should've just been smart enough to stay on the highway and not get off, but I listened to "TBA GPS name". So much for that swim. There were 2 scheduled swims @ the race site Saturday morning, so I figured I would get it in then. I got to the hotel, checked in and immediately went to pick up my number. I got there just in time because they were about to pack up and leave. I picked up my packet and then I had to go over to another booth to make sure my timing chip worked and take a picture. I glimpsed at my packet and walked over to the booth. I stopped before I got there to make sure I knew what number I was for the booth people. And there it was. It was like this bright, beaming light saying "AHHHHHHHH". I am all about race numbers. Somehow in my mind I think a race number can make or break a race. Is that being superstitious or just downright silly? I'm going with superstitious. I, Pamela Robyn Wiener, was given the number 420. If you know what it means and you know me well enough, you'll understand the significance of this number. If you're still confused, go ask a stoner friend. So here I am psyched that this is my number and ready to wear it with pride. It was also a great conversation piece with the cute guys @ the booth. So I picked up my fantastic number and went to Outback so I could get a steak and sweet potato. I tend to have problems getting my protein in before a long ride or race, so I made sure from Friday's dinner through Sunday's breakfast, protein was a component in it. I went back to the hotel and got at least 9 hours of sleep. Not bad.

I woke up @ 8 for the swim. Luckily I ran into a friend from NY in the lobby of my hotel and he told me it was cancelled and there would only be and 11:30n swim. I totally thought he was messing with me, but he wasn't. So I decided to go for a ride and then I would head over to a mandatory race meeting (which really wasn't mandatory and I could've skipped), get Lucy to put her in transition and then swim. Well, this didn't exactly go according to plan. On my wonderful 30 minute ride, I managed to take a minor spill. I attempted to ride up a pretty steep hill and instead of shifting to a lower gear, my dumbass went into a higher gear and I realized this a little too late...PLOP! Poor Lucy Roo got a little banged up and she started making some crazy noises in addition to not shifting properly. Luckily I was fine. Really? Right before a race I had to do this! After the fall I decided to grab some breakfast because I needed to make sure I was getting my calories in. Funny to think I might have problems getting calories in. I do usually have a problem eating the day before a race. I then headed over to the expo area for the mechanic to look at Lucy. Unfortunately the mechanics were late, so I went to the All 3 tent for Alex to look at it. He said there was something bent on my gears, but he didn't have the tools to fix it. I honestly have no idea what the proper bike term is for what was wrong. Like I always say, I just get on the thing and ride it. Finally the mechanics got there and said there was something blocking the chain, blah, blah, blah, but they fixed it. I tested it and she was all good. I was only 45 minutes off schedule. I took a nice dip in the water. I felt a little tense on the way out in the swim, but much better on the way back (I think it was the current). Once again, no anxiety. Cool, I like that! I headed back to my hotel, got a burger and mashed potatoes then took a 2 hour nap. After the nap I met some friends for dinner (chicken, pasta and veggies in an olive oil and garlic). I came back to my hotel and was asleep by 1030. I got a pretty decent night's sleep. I think I woke up once, maybe twice, but only for a couple of minutes. My alarm was set for 5:30, but the people next to me decided gently closing the door at 5:10 wasn't necessary. This was the 1st race I've been to where transition closed when it's light out. It opened at 5:30 and closed at 7:40. I got there around 6:15 and set up my stuff. Amazingly, still no nerves. It was a little chilly out so I put my wetsuit on earlier then I normally would to warm up. My friend Carmen was right across from me in transition so I had someone to talk to. The girls around us were really nice too.

My times aren't actuals because the results haven't posted and who knows if I actually know how to use my Garmin properly.

Swim ~40:00 (was hoping for 35:00)
We made our way over to the swim start and that's when the nerves kicked in, but nothing too bad. Because this was an in the water start we wouldn't get the opportunity to really warm up. I wasn't too pleased with this, but luckily we got 5 minutes between the men and women's 1/2 wave. There were only 80 women racing, which is super small. I started somewhere in the middle and was ok with that decision. I felt pretty good during the swim. Actually, this was the best I've felt in open water. My stroke seemed like it was on point, my breathing was good and all in all, felt like this was the start to a good race. I went off course a little. I was usually a little too far left from the buoys, so I made my way over to the right a few times. I don't think that added a lot of extra distance, but I'm not 100% sure. This was the 1st race EVER that I didn't have to stop in the middle of a swim because I was freaking out, nervous, tired or whatever. I also normally don't draft in races. It's highly recommended, but I just don't feel comfortable with it. I noticed that the next wave was creeping up on me so I decided to draft on one of the guys. Yeah, big mistake. I didn't get kicked, but man did I get a mouth full of water. Damn that sucked. For that, I stopped just long enough to stop choking. I decided to do the rest of the swim on my own. I was actually very disappointed in my time. I expected it to be at least 5 or 6 minutes faster based on how I felt and how I swim in the pool. I really need to think about this race and see figure out what I did wrong. All of the signs were pointing to a good swim, but that didn't exactly happen.

Bike ~3:40 (wanted to do no more then 3:30)
It took me about 15 miles in order to fully warm my legs up on the bike. I knew going into the bike I wanted to save as much energy as I possibly could in my legs for the run. I didn't want to push it too hard, but I still wanted to ride at a decent pace. While I was on the bike figuring out my pacing I realized there are at least a dozen excuses on why my time wasn't great, but I decided there's no need for excuses. I just didn't perform to the best of my ability and I was slow. It's as simple as that, I was ssslllllllooooowwww and that's ok. While I was on my Tour De Slowville I made sure to take note of a couple of things for my race report.
The scenery was absolutely beautiful. There were peaceful streams and beautiful green trees and pretty land. It was really a gorgeous ride and I appreciated every second of it.
I almost took out a volunteer while she was trying to give me a bottle of water. I didn't slow down enough and knocked the bottle out of her hand with a lot of force.
I made sure I thanked every policeman and volunteer at all of the spots where they were giving us directions.
I also thanked the people who said on your left to me. That would be probably 3 people out of the large number that passed me. I just don't get it. How difficult is it to say LEFT?!?!? A**holes!!!
I realized that I don't drink enough on the bike when it's cooler weather out. I maybe had about 1.25 of my Infinite drink (that's supposed to be my main source of calories/nutrition) and 2 aero bottles of water. I did supplement my liquid nutrition with a couple of gels.
I also told myself that it really doesn't matter if I'm slow. At least I have the opportunity and am healthy enough to do this. And as much as I ask why I put myself through this, I really enjoy it.
Oh and I realized that through Ironman training, 56 miles seems like a super short ride.
And that is the end of today's segment of Tour De Slowville.

Run ~ 2:02 (that is such a fake number which you will understand if you read the rest of this report)
I missed the run out because the volunteer was flirtng with some chick. I wasn't too happy about that when the dude at the front told me I was going the wrong way. I probably shouldn't have, but I made sure Mr. Flirty Pants knew he screwed up. Once I got going, my legs were feeling A OK. I realized I was going way too fast for me, so I dialed it back a bit. I wanted to keep the 1st 6 miles at no less then a 10:15 pace and then I could go nutso after that. At about mile 1.5 my achilles felt a little tight, which really was to be expected after a hilly, 56 mile ride. I stopped for a second to stretch them. Then I started getting a bad pain in my arch. This hasn't happened in such a long time and I forgot how excruciating it is. I couldn't figure out what was causing this. I didn't wear flip flops for the days leading up to the race so I could avoid a problem like this. I thought maybe my racing laces were too tight or maybe my calves were just tight. I decided to loosen my laces, stretch some more and walk it off for a bit to see if maybe the pain went away. Yeah, not so much. I stretched again. I even took off my sneaker to massage the arch. None of that was really helping. At that point I thought if I have to walk this whole thing I will, but I'm not turning back. At about mile 3 the arch pain turned into hot spots. If you've never experienced this, I don't wish it on you. Your feet start to burn. Like crazy, painful, ouch, holy shit why is this happening type of burn. The burning then turned to numbness. Throughout all of this I would try and run, but it never lasted long. I remember seeing a girl at St A's running with her sneakers in her hand so I decided to do that. Why not? I started off with walking sneakerless. Then when I started feeling some relief I ran. This all lasted for about a mile or so. I put my shoes back on and ran some more. Wow, that really helped. The frustrating thing at this point was that my legs felt ok, it was my feet that weren't allowing me to run. Oh well, at least I'm capable of walking unlike a lot of people in this world. I had to make a pit stop around mile 4ish. There were no port o potties on this course so I made my way into the bushes. I think this is the 1st race I've ever peed in. I guess maybe I did drink enough on the bike. Then I got to the mile 7 water station and realized that I was only at mile 4.75 according to my watch. Crap, what happened? Did I miss a turn somewhere and had no clue??? Yes, that is exactly what I did, hence my 2:02 or whatever it was run time. I was so baffled by this and not happy. I guess that's what happens when you have number 420, you start acting like a burn out. The funniest thing is normally I forget or lose something during a race. It's been a race number, nutrition, etc. I guess this go round it was 2 miles of my run. I saw a Rev 3 person not too long after this realization and I told her that I missed a turn and I was off by about 2 miles and wasn't sure what to do. She told me to just keep going and finish. I could've gone back and run another 2 miles since I have a Garmin, but I decided against that. I'm not sure if at this point I was feeling defeated or my body was giving out on me, but I ended up walking a lot more. I would tell myself no more walking, just keep going. Every time I said this, I walked within seconds. Kind of a bummer, but it happens.

After this race it makes me want to do another 1/2 before Placid. There is one in Macon at the beginning of June and I am highly considering it.. There were definitely times during the race where I second guessed my decision for Placid. Really, why should I though? So I'm having a couple of crappy races. Does it really matter I'm not super fast? Honestly, none of it matters as long as I finish Placid. I still have a little over 2 months to go and I will get the job done. I will continue moving right along like I have been. Hopefully with a good taper and more training I will be successful during this journey.

Thanks for all of your support during this. It means a lot that you're interested or at least pretend to be.

Mini Goals, The Small Picture

WEEKLY WORKOUTS
SWIMMING 1:15 (2 days)
BIKING 3:55 (2 days)
RUNNING 2:30 (4 days with 1 brick)
WEIGHTS 1:00

Obviously the major goal through my training is for IMLP, but I've decided that I should make smaller, weekly goals. With all of the training I'm doing, there's no reason I won't cross the finish line. I think making weekly goals will make me stronger mentally and physically. I've been told by a few friends who have done multiple Ironman races that they break up the races into smaller pieces. I have one friend who made a deal with herself that if she makes it to the next water stop without walking she gets a gummy chew as a treat. Last week my goal was not to have open water anxiety. This week I tried not to brake on curvy downhills when riding. Straights I'm fine with, but I am petrified of going on downhills with a curve. Seriously my heart races and I can think about is crashing. A lot of people get a high from it and can't wait for them. I however am not one of those people. I picked the absolute wrong time to set this goal since I had an 8 mile downhill with curves galore on a rainy day. I did let go of the brakes a couple of times for a brief second. Other times I braked before the curve to slow down and prayed for the best. It's more then I've done before.

There's not much to report on my swim. The good news is my dreadful St Anthony"s swim didn't make me hate swimming. I still don't love the open water, but I wasn't afraid to get into the water. It was a recovery week, so my swims weren't too difficult.

I did my toughest ride to date this weekend called the GAPS. WOW! It sucked the life out of me, but it was awesome! There was an 8 mile climb and a 6 mile climb, with a lot of smaller, gradual climbs in between. I'm amazed at how well I did on the 2 climbs. I just focused and kept pedaling. I managed to keep my cadence up and surprisingly averaged 8 mph on the 1st climb (1,632 feet climb) and 9.5 mph on the 2nd (1,235 feet climb). Go me! The downhills were another story as I stated before. I'm working on it, but baby steps for now. I actually think I did something to my groin during this ride. I'm pretty sure it's because I had the huge climbs and then I held on for dear life on the brakes and not pedaling that I think my groin just stiffened up. I was in a decent amount of pain right after the ride and most of the night. Luckily today It wasn't too bad and I was even able to get a run in without any pain. My confidence is gaining on the bike and it's such a great feeling. I want to do the GAPS again, but next time do the harder, steeper ones. It's such an OH YEAH! feeling when you accomplish something like this.

My runs were ok this week. 2 of them were with a jogger stroller and man did they kick my ass. I couldn't wake up in the morning before work so I had to do it during the day with a kid. I guess that's my punishment for not getting up. My 30 minute run consisted of 4 10-12 second accels. How I managed to get to a 7:45 pace with that jogger is beyond my comprehension. It was tough, but I did it. Today I was supposed to have a speed workout, but after yesterday's ride I just did it at recovery pace. My legs were beat and I also wanted to be careful of my groin since I didn't know how it was going to react.

Next weekend is my 1/2 Ironman. I have 2 goals, only walk for 30 steps during the water stations and no open water anxiety. Hopefully I have a decent time, but I have to try not to think about that.

RACE REPORT ST ANTHONY'S

WEEKLY WORKOUTS
SWIMMING 2:00 (4 swims, 3 open water)
BIKING 4:15 (3 days)
RUNNING 2:35 (1 day with 3 bricks)


The days leading up to St Anthony's wasn't a typical race week. Normally there's a taper period where you minimize your activities, but you still do something to keep your body from going stiff. Since I wasn't doing this race for time and was really just practice for me, it didn't make a difference what I did to my body the days leading up. Tuesday I had an interval bike workout and Wednesday was an interval run workout. When I woke up Thursday morning my body said, "OUCH." My legs were super tight and kind of sore. I had an easy spin on the bike to do which was a good thing because it really loosened my legs up. I also got an amazing massage to loosen me up as well.

Friday when we got to St. Pete I went for a nice swim in the bay. I was amazed at how calm the water was. It was clear as glass. I felt great in the water. I wore my new wetsuit for the 1st 1/2 of my swim. I was pretty bummed because I didn't love it so much. I took it off for the remainder of my swim and was amazed at how much better I felt. Most people like a wetsuit because you're much more buoyant and usually you can swim faster. I felt too constrained in it and claustrophobic. This put me in a bit of a dilemma. I will wear this wetsuit at IMLP, so I really should wear it every opportunity I get. However if I'm super uncomfortable did I really want to wear it for St A's? Andrew told me to try it out the following day and if it's still not comfortable to go without.

There were a couple of things that I needed to focus on the days leading up to the race. Getting enough sleep and eating enough protein were my most important things to focus on. 2 nights before any race the sleep you get is very important. Usually people have a difficult time sleeping the night before the race, so it's best to be well rested the night before. I made sure I was in bed at a reasonable hour and didn't set my alarm for the morning so I can sleep in if necessary. I was able to get 9 hours of sleep which is way more then I normally get. I also made sure that I had protein at every meal. I'm not the biggest chicken fan, but now I have to force myself to eat it. I was able to get a burger and a steak sammy which was definitely a good source of protein.

Moving onto Saturday, which unlike Friday did not have smooth waters. Ugh, the water was super choppy. I'm known for a couple of things when it comes to swimming. I'm a great pool swimmer, but my time in the open water is typically 10 minutes slower then it should be because I suffer from open water anxiety. It usually takes me a little while to recover and get into my rhythm. The other thing is I am prone to becoming sea sick if the waters are rough. It's such an odd thing to happen, but it does. I've took Dramamine once before and open water swim and it didn't really help with me being sea sick. Plus it knocked me on my ass for the remainder of the day. I literally slept for 6.5 hours after taking it. I decided against taking it this weekend. During my practice swim I didn't feel sick and my wetsuit felt so much better. I still wasn't a fan of the rough waters, but I felt ok about it.

I had a 45 minute ride and a 15 minute run to do as well, both with a couple of accels. I went out later in the day and it was pretty hot. My run was slightly difficult because of the heat, but it was only 15 minutes. I then went back to my room and took an amazing 2 hour nap. I rode my bike to transition to drop it off and then went to the TNT Inspirational dinner. This was a pretty big dinner, about 500 people I think. There were 15 TNT chapters from across the country. Dave Scott, 6 time world champion Ironman, spoke at the dinner. It was pretty cool to see someone who shaped the sport speak. Even bigger then that, my friend Mike Stashak who is a cancer survivor spoke as well. There is always an honored hero to speak at the inspirational dinners and we were lucky enough to have Mike speak. He did such an amazing job adding humor, seriousness, gratitude and inspiration in his speech.

After the dinner I went back to my hotel. I went through all of my stuff for the morning and tried winding down. I didn't want to think too much about the race because I really didn't want to start getting anxious. I knew if anxiety started creeping in I wouldn't be able to get to sleep. I was somewhat successful. I got into bed, double checked both of my alarms for a 4:30am wake up and relaxed. I think I fell asleep at 11, but then was up from 2-3:45ish. That did not make me a happy camper.

My alarm went off and I immediately started drinking fluids. I wanted to make sure I was hydrated enough for the race. I had my peanut butter and bagel, got dressed, double checked my tri bag and was off. I had about a 10 minute walk to transition. I set up my transition area and then went to the swim start. I got to the water and let out a big sigh of relief because the water was calm. Hallelujah!!! My only goal for this race was no open water anxiety. I didn't care what else happened, that was the most important thing to me. Looking at the waters, I felt like this was an achievable goal. I went in for my warm up and felt fantastic. My stroke felt good. The wetsuit felt comfortable. I had no anxiety. Awesome! Let's get this race started!!!

I got into my corral and stood there with a couple of girls I know. I started in the middle of the pack, but to the right because there was some current pushing the swimmers to the left. This was a big deal for me to start in the middle. I slowly made my way into the water and didn't rush it. So the good news is I had NO open water anxiety, but that's pretty much where it ends for good news on the swim. On the way out I was fine & it was pretty calm, but like I said with the current pushing to the left. We made the 1st left & that's when it started going downhill. I was having a hard time sighting & definitely went off course slightly. I was also starting to get a little nauseous, but nothing really bad. Just enough to let me know I didn't feel 100%. I noticed my stroke was a bit off, but at that point I didn't care, I just wanted the swim to be over with. I only stopped once or twice to make sure I was on course. Then we made the last turn & it was not a pretty sight. The waves were pretty bad. No matter what I did, breathe left, breathe right, breathe every other stroke, every 4th stroke, nothing helped with me being sea sick. It was awful! I ended up breathing to the right since that was most comfortable. I was getting light headed too, I couldn't see straight & didn't feel right. I stopped a lot to try & gain my composure. I did my fair share of cursing too. It just sucked!!! Once again, the good news is I had no anxiety & that was my goal for this race. I'm pretty psyched with that. My time was 38:22. I'm pretty embarrassed by that, but no open water anxiety! (staying positive)

I took my time in T-1. There was no rushing coming from this girl. I was really just trying not to pass out at this point. My T-1 time was 4:33.

I think it took me @ least 10 miles to fully recover from the swim. I tried drinking some of my sports drink and forced myself to eat a couple of chews. It wasn't easy. The head wind was pretty strong. It gets pretty frustrating with headwinds because no matter what you try and do, you're going to be slower then you should be. @ 1 point on the beginning of the bike I was like screw this, I'm not pushing it. I even saw someone walking and thought, I don't care why they're walking, I wish that was me and then I don't have to finish the race. I eventually snapped out of that mentality and pushed myself. I felt really good the last 12 miles, which was a nice feeling. My time was 1:26:56. Initially I was disappointed in my time. I was hoping to be under 1:20. The more I thought about it I was actually kind of psyched by my time. It took me awhile to recover from the swim, there were heavy headwinds and a month ago I was struggling on the bike to maintain a 15mph average and here I finished with a 17.1 average.

I took my time getting off the bike in T-2. Once again, there was no rushing this girl. As soon as I got off my bike I felt light headed again. I slowly walked to my rack and then slowly took my time getting all of my bike gear off and running gear on. My T-2 time was 4:03. I had no idea I was that slow. I thought I was under 3:30 at least.

My run was ok. Actually, I'm disappointed in my run. I know I could've done better and I didn't push myself as hard as I'm capable of. I walked through all of the aid stations and probably walked longer then I should've. I poured water over my head every other station. It was actually overcast and not too hot, but I don't do well in any heat. My sneakers got wet from pouring water over my head and my shoe laces kept coming untied. I could've double knotted them the 1st time it happened, but I didn't. I'm wondering if I subconsciously didn't do that because if they came untied that meant I could stop to tie them. Of course once I started going again, my legs really didn't want to move too much. Towards the end of the run I ran into a friend who was cramping up big time in his legs. Since I wasn't going for time I hung out & walked with him a couple of times. With less then a .5 mile I saw my old TNT coach from NY who told me I had a lot more left in my tank so run it in & move faster (he was right). My run time was 1:03:52, which is a 10:19 pace. Yeah, I could've done so much better then that. I'm definitely capable of it. I guess when it comes to the run I would rather feel comfortable and talk to people along the way then to feel like shit.

Total time was just under 3:17:44. This is definitely not the number I'm capable of. I'm not going to lie, this was a tough race for me. It does make me wonder how the hell will I be able to do an Ironman if an Olympic was tough? I know I have 3 months of training to go and I will have a proper taper period. I have a 1/2 Ironman in 2 weeks and that race I will be trying to prove something to myself. I think I've gotten past my open water anxiety so my new goal is to push myself on the run.

On My Own

WEEKLY WORKOUTS
SWIMMING 2:30 (3 days)
BIKING 12:45 (4 days)
RUNNING 1:55 (1 day with 3 bricks)
WEIGHTS :45 (1 Day)

It seems like I've been having a lot of AHA! moments recently. I think it's because I'm spending so much time by myself training that not only am I exercising my body, but my brain too. I've always wanted to train with a group for an Ironman because I thought I would benefit greatly from it like I've had with TNT in the past. I do ride with people usually for long rides, but for the most part, every other training session is by myself. There's something about training with a group that is comforting. Plus, when you're having a crappy day training, you have other people to push you along the way. When you're by yourself it's you and only you to depend on during the ups and downs. With that being said, I actually like training on my own. Come race day, I'm on my own when I'm out there. Andrew can give me all the training plans he wants, but it's up to ME to get the job done. He is always in my head when I'm training, but I'm the one out there swimming, biking and running. I only have myself to depend on to train the hardest I can. Sure there are times when I could probably push it a little more and maybe if I was running with someone, I would go :30 faster a mile. I've been told I have multiple personalities, so I guess I'll just bring 2 of them out there when I'm running and I'll have 1 lead the way and push. This was my biggest training weekend so far. I was scheduled to do a century ride (100 miles) on Saturday and 56 miles on Sunday. I knew a couple of people doing the ride, but we never talked about meeting up. I got myself mentally prepared to do it on my own. It was at this point I realized that no matter what this is my race and I'll be doing by myself, so why not train alone? I was extremely fortunate on Saturday to meet some people around mile 30 who I rode with for the remainder of that ride and Sunday's ride. Even though I caught up with people, I was out there with the intentions of doing it by myself. That's now how I'm going to approach all of my training sessions. During IMLP I'm sure I'll end up having conversations with people that I'm similar in pace to. It happened to me last season @ Augusta on the run and the bike. The bottom line is it really doesn't matter if I'm solo or I have a group when I'm training. If I have people to swim, bike or run with, great. If not, I know I am capable of doing it by myself too.

I had an easy swim on Monday and a kick ass swim on Friday. I did 1 arm drills and sprints on Friday that were tough, but awesome. I felt pretty sluggish on Wednesday. I just felt like my body didn't really want to move. It was one of the few swim workouts that I didn't feel 100%, but that's fine. You can't always be on top of your game.

Biking, oh the week of biking. I think Lucy Roo and I finally see eye to eye now. This was the 1st week of Ironman training that I felt like a decent cyclist. Even if I wasn't going fast, not once did I get frustrated. There have been several adjustments made to my bike and boy were they obviously necessary. It has been a huge improvement from the past few months. AHHH!!! Last Tuesday I was supposed to do 4 hill repeats and I only got 3 1/4 done. I was kind of psyched that I did as many as I did considering the trouble I've had on the bike thus far, but I was also disappointed in myself that I couldn't push myself a little harder. In my training plan this week it was written FOUR hill repeats. Before I got out there I made a pact with myself that no matter what I was getting up that mountain 4 times even if it killed me. Guess what???? I'm still here and not only did I get up that thing 4 times, I did it 1.5 minutes faster per climb. Now onto the century. WOO freaken HOO!!!! I actually felt fine out there. The weather ended up getting pretty hot and there was a ridiculous amount of wind going against us, but when I was done, I felt pretty damn good. I did hit a wall around mile 75 and wow was it not pretty. I just didn't want to be out there anymore and I wanted the wind to go away. I quickly got out of that frame of mind and finished strong. My 100 mile ride turned into 106 miles after a short detour of getting lost. I came home and took and ice bath which I think really helped my recovery. Our plan for the 56 was to just take it easy. There were times my legs were tired, but for the most part my legs had no idea I rode 100 miles the day before. Once again WOO freaken HOO!!! This was exactly what I needed!

I didn't have much running to do this week. My big run was a 45 minute interval run that knocked me on my ass. I was pretty dead by the end of the run. I wish my legs felt fresher, but they didn't. As Andrew said last week, it was my legs reminding me of Kennesaw mountain. Thanks legs, I don't think I really needed that reminder. I also had a 10 minute run after my ride yesterday and a 30 minute run after today's ride. The 1st mile today was tough. My legs were moving super slow. After that though I felt kind really good. The last portion of my run was surprisingly fast. I'm guessing it's because I knew it was coming to an end.

One of the things I really need to focus on is my nutrition while training. It wasn't until I trained for my marathon in 2007 that I found out my stomach doesn't really love this stuff. I might be giving TMI, so stop reading here if you aren't curious. I tend to burp A LOT and LOUD when I bike and run. On occasion when I burp, I regurgitate liquid. Most of the time I have no idea this is going to happen, but I'm guessing it can't be a good sign. I'm pretty sure my stomach didn't love the liquids I put in it this weekend so now I need to come up with something different. I was going to try and stick with a strictly liquid plan on the bike, but I think I might need solids. I tried Infinite, which a few people I know use. If this hadn't happened before, I would think it was the Infinite. The flavor was slightly strong, so I'm not sure if there was too much sugar in it for my stomach. It's hard for the body to digest any of this for that long of a period working out. I just need to come up with the right equation where I don't get sick.

Ok so fun story, well @ least from my perspective. In October of last year my longest ride ever was 78 miles and was done @ Hard Labor Creek with the TNT cycling team. The century ride yesterday was around the same area as HLC. Well when I hit mile 77 yesterday, it was almost in the same exact spot that I finished my 78 mile ride last year. It didn't really hit me until a few miles later when we stopped. This isn't a normal place I ride. In fact, I had no idea we were even in the same area. I just thought this was kind of cool and it made me smile when I did realize it.

A week from today I'll be racing St. Anthony's Triathlon in St. Pete. My only goal for the race has nothing to do with time. I would like to get through the entire swim without any open water anxiety. No matter what else happens, that's the only thing I care about.

Bye Bye Times

WEEKLY WORKOUTS
SWIMMING 3:30 (3 days)
BIKING 7 (3 days)
RUNNING 3:35 (2 days with 2 bricks)
WEIGHTS 1:15 (2 days)

This week I had an epiphany. Normally I'm so worried about my times & how fast or slow I am. I was in the pool and there was some crazy fast dude, with the best flip turns I've ever seen. By no means could I or would I try to keep up with him. It was @ that moment I realized it doesn't matter how fast I am, as long as I get the job done. Some people just have the gift of speed and I am not one of those people. Yes I want to do the best I can, but the only time that matters to me this year is 16:59:59 since the cutoff for Ironman is 17:00. Obviously I would like to finish my Ironman in less time then that, but as long as I hear "Pamela Wiener, you are an IRONMAN!" that's really all that matters. With that being said, not worrying about my times during training and even races I'm doing prior will be difficult for me. I'm a competitive person by nature, so this is going to be a difficult task, but I'm going to try my hardest not to. I was at an event this weekend where Rich Strauss, founder of Endurance Nation http://www.endurancenation.us/, spoke about Ironman racing. The one thing he kept coming back to is how people blow it on the bike and are so concerned about their splits, then get to the run and walk most of it. He told us that we should race the bike we should, not could. It totally makes sense. There's a marathon to run after a 2.4 mile swim and 112 mile bike. You need to have as much gas in the tank as possible.

I had some great swims this week. I did race distance on Wednesday. I definitely felt tired when I was done, especially since I had 7x25 sprints thrown in there. It was good to know I got it done and I still had a lot left in me afterwards. Friday I did 10x50 sprints. Now that kicked my ass, but in a good way. The swim is the least of my worries when I'm training. I just need to keep a positive outlook and convince myself that I don't have open water anxiety.

All I can say is holy hills for my bikes this week. Andrew had me do Kennesaw Mountain hill repeats. It's a 1.2 mile, 16% grade hill. I was supposed to do 4 of them, but only managed to do 3 1/4. It took me about 15 minutes to get up each time. I didn't care how long it took me, I was just happy when I reached the top. I ended up switching my ride and run this weekend. I had a 5 hour ride to do. I was hoping to get in 70 miles, but only managed a little over 65. I went out with my friend Mark and man did we do a hilly course. It was pretty challenging, but a great ride.

My runs were tough this week. Andrew said that it was my legs reminding me of Mt. Kennesaw. I had 6x.5 mile intervals on Thursday and by the end, I was walking after the intervals, which weren't super fast to begin with. Then Saturday I did a 12 mile run, with some decent hills and 6x10-12 second intervals as well. My legs were definitely feeling everything on Sunday. Nothing a good ice bath couldn't cure!

Reflecting

WEEKLY WORKOUTS
SWIMMING
BIKING
RUNNING
WEIGHTS

This week I did a lot of thinking about when I 1st decided to do a triathlon to where I am now. I'm embarrassed to say this, but about 5.5 years ago I had no idea what a triathlon was. I met a girl who told me she was doing a swim, bike, run thingy with a group that raised money for cancer. My response, "Are you kidding me? That's insane. No way I could ever do that, nor would I want to." Pretty amusing considering I've done 7 events with the organization that raises money for cancer and now I'm doing the ultimate triathlon, an Ironman. I remember when I decided to do a tri, I told anyone and everyone I came in contact with that me, Pamela Robyn Wiener, was going to train and race in an Olympic Distance Triathlon. My how time flies when you're having fun. I don't even really enjoy racing. In fact, I do this mainly because I enjoy training and the friendships I make. Luckily I found some great training partners every time I've done an event. My 1st season was great because most of my training partners were people who had never done an event so we went through everything together from the beginning. Man was I such a novice. I didn't drink on the bike for probably the 1st 4 months when I rode. Dehydration was a better option then taking 1 hand off my bike to drink. My friend Richard actually became my water bottle catcher once I finally decided drinking was a necessity. The amount of bottles I dropped was kind humorous. He would be so proud of me now if he saw that I now reach behind my seat to grab a bottle. It's pretty cool to see how I've grown over the years.

Once again it was a recovery week. This every 4th week break is fantastic. I ended up missing a swim workout on Friday. The day got away from me and I wasn't able to make it to the pool. I was kind of bummed, but it happens. Saturday my workout was an Olympic distance training day. I was supposed to do a 45 minute swim, with a 1x1500 1st and then bike and run. Unfortunately, the kind folks of swim aerobics took over the pool when I went for my swim. I ended up doing the bike and run 1st. When I did the swim, my time for a 1500 was 24:03. Not bad.

We lucked out with weather this week. It was a little too hot for me considering it was just 30, but I managed. My body will need to adjust a little more when training though. My bike for the Olympic was 25 miles, with 6-10 and 20-25 riding as fast as I could. There were portions that were pretty windy. I rode on an extremely flat course, which has been different then every other ride this season. I did it in 1:23:48. I was hoping for something a little faster, but honestly, I can't be too upset with that time. Other then that, my bikes were just an ILT and 30 minute spin this week. Next week will be a killer of hill repeats and a long ride. I'm nervous, but excited for the challenge.

My 1st run of the week was for :45. I ended up doing it with a jogger and a 1 year old. Holy crap was that brutal! I seriously thought I was going to die. My pace was extremely slow and I was beyond winded. Good news is it was a damn good workout. When I did my run with the Olympic, it was pretty brutal. I ran it in 58:12. That doesn't include the times that I stopped to stand under shade or to drink. I also had 3, 1 mile as fast as I can sprints. Those sprints didn't last too long or get too fast either. I'm not sure whether it was the weather, dehydration or hammering it on the bike, but my legs were dead. The TNT marathon team was out there with jugs of Powerade so I was able to get a couple of glasses from them. Plus, I ran into my friend Stashak who was riding his bike and luckily he gave me some fluids also. Lately I've been running with a bottle of water, but today my water was too hot from sitting in the car while I biked. I wish this run wasn't as tough considering I have an Olympic Tri in 3 weeks, but I was out there getting this workout done. It doesn't matter how long it takes me as long as I do it.