IMLP Bike

Go here for my pre-race and swim race report

BIKE - 7:02:20

So I hopped on my beautiful pink camo Roo and joined the other bikers out on the course.  I felt good.  My legs felt good.  I let all the speedy bikers, mostly dudes, pass me on by and I just kept spinning my legs.  You have to climb out of the town for about 10 miles so I took it easy and just spun up the hills.  The bike course was crowded and when we got to the screaming 10K descent to Keene, a TON, and I mean a TON, of slower swimmers but faster biker dudes FLEW by me!  Now, I'm not scared of the descent like some people, but with all the men passing me I took it easy and stayed to the right switching in and out of my aerobars.  I got  up to 38 mph, which isn't that fast considering some can get close to 50!

After the descent, I enjoyed the scenery and the rolling flats of 9N. The sun was shining and the sky was blue.  I kept up on my nutrition eating my peanut butter & pretzel bars, gu chomps, Perform drink and water.  I felt awesome and my legs felt even better.

The out and back was pretty uneventful and when I made the right hand turn on route 86 I knew there was a lot of climbing to get through in order to get back to town.  Again, I let people pass me on the hills and just spun up in my easiest or 2nd easiest gear.  There were lots of people out cheering on 86.  My favorite and maybe the strangest one was a farmer cheering us on with his two goats... yes, goats!! I yelled to him, "I like your goats!"  he replied, "Me too!!" Heh

As I went past Whiteface mountain along the 10 mile stretch of false flats I felt so strong.  This particular part of the course always defeated me mentally in training, but not today.  I conquered that part and just simply felt great.  I looked at my Garmin and noticed I was WAY ahead of my predicted time schedule of 3:30 per loop.  At that pace I was probably going to finish the first loop in about 3:10.  But of course, something has to go wrong on Ironman day, right?  Well, right before climbing three hills called the three bears, I heard a BAM!  My rear tube exploded!!  Oh sh&t!!!!

I hopped off Roo and started to get down to business in changing my flat.  I carried 2 spare tubes and 2 CO2 cartridges with me so I was ready.  I was super proud of myself, I changed that flat in just 9 minutes!  I hopped back on Roo and went on my merry way to climb the bears.

Even though my flat set me back a bit I was really happy with the way I handled it.  Climbing the last Papa Bear hill, it's like you're riding in the Tour De France.  People lined the street, cheering, singing, dressed up as dancing bananas and just make you feel like a rock star.  It was awesome!

Heading back into town I decided to skip my special needs as I saw there were a lot of people that stopped and I didn't want to lose any more time.  The only thing I had packed was an extra tube and CO2 but I thought for sure my flat troubles were over.  Yeah, big mistake.

As I rode through town I knew where my cheering squad was and when I went zooming by I caught them by surprise!  I was still about 10 minutes ahead of schedule even with a flat.  I tried to tell them I got a flat but they were cheering so loud I didn't think they heard me.  Again, I felt like a rock star!!

I headed out on my second loop and I felt good again.  BUT, disaster struck for a second time.  As I was descending the hill out of town by the ski jumps I heard thump, thump, thump, thump.... oh Sh&t... my rear wheel is flat AGAIN!!  ARGH!  I stopped at the intersection of River Road and debated with a volunteer on what to do.  I thought maybe I messed up filling the first flat with the CO2 and knowing I only had 1 tube/1 CO2 left should I change the flat again?  Or just fill it up with the remaining CO2 to see if it was user error to begin with?  I chose option B.  Let me spare you the suspense.  Option B was not the right answer!  As soon as I filled it up I heard the dreaded hissing noise!  F&CK!  Now, I had a serious flat and no CO2 to fill it up with!

I decided to take a gamble and try to ride it out to the next aid station which was supposedly a mile away.  I hopped on Roo and rode as fast I could up the hills out of town until I could no longer ride on my flat tire.  I stopped, got off my bike and I still couldn't see the aid station in sight.  Ok, then. I guess I'm walking my bike. I walked my bike about a half mile or more to the aid station.  Riders were passing by thinking I was walking my bike up the hills but I set them straight.... SECOND flat people.  I need bike assistance.  Argh....

I finally saw the aid station and a volunteer met me.  I told him what was going on and he walked me to where a pump was.  I started changing my tire when the bike mechanic stopped by.  He took over and changed my flat in no time.  He gave me an extra tube and CO2 and sent me on my merry way.  I thanked him profusely and happily got on my bike.


I literally rode for about 15 seconds when I heard BAM!!!!  My friggin' tube popped AGAIN!  The bam was so loud the bike mechanic heard and I promptly burst into tears saying the F word over and over again.  He told me it would be ok and he took off my rear wheel and replaced it with a new one!!! Huh??  Yes, the bike service was so great that they travelled the bike course with extra wheels in case of this very scenario.  Again, I thanked him like my life depended on it.  And again, I got on Roo and pedaled off.  This time there were no loud BAMS or THUMPS or HISSING noises for the rest of my bike ride.

I can understand getting one flat during a race, but THREE??? During my first Ironman???  I was seriously being tested.  Despite the tears, I got through it with the help of the on course volunteers.  So what's a girl to do when the entire race field has passed you by during 30 minutes of flats?  Ride like hell!!

I bombed down the 10K descent with more aggression since there were less riders around.  I put Roo in the big ring and pushed on the flats.  I rode with a chip on my shoulder.  Looking back, and maybe even during, I knew this was a dumb idea.  Why try to make up time when I have a marathon to run afterwards??  But I wanted to nail the bike course and punish it for the 3 flats it gave my Roo.  Punish it I did.  And I LOVED every second of it.  I was passing people all over the place, all the slower riders I should have been way ahead of were now just little blimps of my bike radar.  Catching them and passing them one by one.  It was awesome.

When I got to Whiteface Mountain, I still felt great.  I knew not to blow up my HR and I kept it well below 150 the entire ride.  So as I was climbing one of the false flats I caught up to two girls that passed me while I was walking my bike.  They were shocked I caught up to them.   I was too!  I told them my story and then passed them again :)

The bears came and went and before I knew it was I riding back into town.  I was wondering if my family & friends were getting worried since my second loop took so much longer than my first.  I passed my cheering squad with a fist pump and felt great!

Despite 3 flats I finished 112 miles in just over 7 hours which was in my estimated long range for race day.  I was happy about that but I couldn't help but think what I could have done without the flats.  I bet I would have come in around 630/635.

But there was no time to be disappointed.  I had a marathon to run and a finish line to cross!

T2 - 4:40

I dismounted my bike and the first thing that came out of my mouth was "Man, my ass hurts!!"  The dude next to me agreed!  I handed off my bike to a volunteer, grabbed my run transition bag and ran into the changing tent.  A very helpful volunteer helped me get myself together.  I got more sunscreen applied and I had to pee very badly.  During my ride, I could not pee on my bike!  I tried and tried but it wouldn't happen so I stopped once on the first loop pre-flats and went in the porta potty.  Before I headed out on the run I stopped again to empty my bladder.

Now, it was off to run 26.2 miles!!  Stay tuned for the Run Race Report!

IMLP Pre-Race & Swim

One year ago I signed up for the 2011 Lake Placid Ironman and promptly reserved a house large enough for a cheering squad. We had 20 people in the house and I think that somewhat helped with my pre-race nerves. Between food shopping, cooling down the non-ac house, unpacking, cooking and eating, that didn't leave me much time to stress. That was basically Wednesday.

Thursday I had an hour ride to knock out then I went to the Olympic Oval to check in. The line wasn't too long so I got in and out fairly quickly. It was super hot out and while I took a peek in the merchandise tent I didn't buy anything. Even though I didn't doubt I wouldn't finish, I didn't want to jinx anything!

Olympic Oval & empty transition 

Friday more and more of my friends and support crew arrived. But before they got there I got in a nice 20 minute swim with my blogger buddy Jon and my new blogger buddy Emily! The water was warm... there was debate whether it was going to be a non-wetsuit swim but I felt good in the water.

Me and blogger buddy Jon post swim

Friday night was the athlete dinner. It was great to meet up with some fellow bloggers and we got huge doses of inspiration from the "voice of ironman" Mike Riley, NYC Firefighter Matt Long as well as the oldest competitors in the race... a 74 year old man and 65 year old woman!

Matt Long providing inspiration

future Ironman

Blogger Friends!

Saturday I had a short brick to do and as I was riding I heard a really annoying creaking noise coming from my pedals/crank area. I thought I had something loose in my cleat so I checked that out first. Once I realized it wasn't my cleat I felt like I had to bring my bike to the shop to get it looked at. The last thing I wanted was something going wrong mechanically on the bike during 112 miles. The mechanic took apart my crank and cleaned it out. Just like that the creaking was gone. Phew - nothing major. The mechanic said he'd fine tune my derailleurs for me and I was, like "Great! A last minute tune up." He tuned the Roo up and before I left, I test rode the bike and the Roo would not shift into my big ring! Ugh - I went back in and he tweaked it. I went back out and it still wouldn't shift! Repeat that TWO more times and at 1:45 in the afternoon with bike check in closing at 3... I. Was. Stressed. Finally a 2nd dude tweaked it and while it shifted up there was some hesitation. I told them that was fine and I left in a majorly sour mood. Not only did I have to check in my bike by 3, but my bike/run bags still had to be packed with all my gear. I rushed home ignored all my friends (sorry guys!), packed my bags and just hoped I didn't forget anything. I thought I read somewhere that we wouldn't have access to our bike/run bags the morning of the race, but of course when race day came we did. Oh well.

Once my crisis was over with it was time to relax with a little Meatballs & Motivation!! My mom made a giant vat of meatballs, sausage and homemade Jerseylicious gravy. Add some pasta, grilled chicken and veggies, our meal for 20 people was delicious!

My awesome friends! 

My bro manning the pasta pot

Mom & besties enjoying the food!

White Castle Employee of the Month Simon

Then my Dad added the Motivation with an hour long presentation that had the entire group laughing, crying and severely motivated for race day! I went to bed feeling nervous but ready. I plopped my ear plugs in and pretty much fell asleep right away.

PRE-RACE

I woke up at 4:25, got dressed and ate a bagel with butter and a banana. It's so hard for me to eat that early but I was able to get it all down. My Ironman buddy Mike and I, as well as our significant others, headed out the door at 5:15am. When we got outside the house the sun was just starting to rise. There were pinks & purples speckled across the nighttime sky, dripping over the mountains... it was so beautiful. This was the first of many times that I would think about how lucky I was to be doing this.

Heading to transition with a beautiful backdrop

So we has plenty of time to walk down, get body marked, set up my bike with nutrition, drop off special needs and hit the porta potty. Or so I thought.

getting body marked

Can you spot my yellow back?

I kissed Simon goodbye, walked the 1/2 mile to drop off special needs then found the extremely long porta potty line. Now, I have no problem peeing in my wetsuit (or on my bike for that matter) but, since I was nervous and already went #2 twice at home, I had to get #2 out again for the 3rd time. So yeah, I got in the super long line and prayed to the Porta Potty Gods I would make it in time. I was about 3rd in line when the pro's went off at 6:50.... EEK. I finally got to the front of the line, ran in, did my business and ran out. I literally ran to the start line and squeezed myself into my sausage suit.

SWIM 1:16:20

The water was 77 degrees, which is quite warm for a wetsuit swim, so if you wanted an Age Group award or Kona slot you would have to swim sans wetsuit per the rules. I knew I could swim 2.4 miles without a wetsuit but I wasn't gunning for any awards so I went with the extra bouyancy to battle the 2500 other swimmers!

Since I was super late getting into the water, I didn't have time to panic. I spit in my goggles and swam out to the middle of the start line by another pink cap aka chick. There were a ton of people on the start line and a ton of people on the beach. I was in the open water between about 20 yards to the right of the buoy line. This was a perfect spot for me! I didn't dare look behind me at all the people that were going to try and swim over me. I chatted with the pink cap lady a bit and then BOOM! The cannon went off!

I started swimming and as advertised, the lake was filled with bodies! Hands, arms, legs, bodies everywhere! It was such a rush and I did not panic at all. I was glad I was wearing a wetsuit cause there were a couple of times I got pushed under the water and the buoyancy of my wetsuit just helped me float back up. I have to say, after panicing during my last couple of open water swims, I was totally calm. It must have been the magic water of Mirror Lake!

I pretty much stayed 20 yards to the right of the buoy line and before I knew it I was at the red turn buoy. Traffic jammed up a bit but as I was heading back to shore I actually got on the buoy line. Whoosh..... I felt like I was swimming in a river! The current of 2500 people swimming the very same way just carried me along. It felt awesome! I started to see the sandy bottom so I knew I was close to finishing my first loop. I swam til my hand touched the ground then stood up. First, I looked to my right and I saw my cheering squad rocking their pink & green camo t-shirts!

Then, I looked at the swim clock. It still had the pro start time on it so I knew to subtract 10 minutes.... I saw 36 minutes - Woop Woop! Perfect! That got me even more excited about my awesome swim.

I ran through the arch, and back into the water. The water was thinned out a bit so I tried to stay closer to the underwater buoy line but it was getting a little too violent so I stayed to the right. I felt great but I did feel like I was taking a bit longer to swim the 2nd lap. Looking back at my Garmin file, I saw that the second loop I kinda weaved back and forth a bit so I think that's what added to my time.

When I got about 200 yards to the beach the swim got really rough and violent. You could just feel the energy in the water change from somewhat calm to "oh my God I need to kick super hard and thrash my way to the finish!" That point was probably the most violent for me. I got up out of the water, fist pumped to my cheering fans and ran through the arch. I was thrilled with my 1:16 time and absolutely psyched that I felt amazing, like I didn't expend any energy. That was my goal, swim strong, but keep it calm. I executed that perfectly!

T1 - 6:42

I ran straight to the wetsuit strippers and pointed at a man that I knew would take off my wetsuit effortlessly. He did and I thanked him and went on my way! Now, it was time to run the 800 meters to transition. Luckily Ironman carpeted our run and I weaved in and out of some slower running dudes. I wanted to get on my Roo, and get on her quick! I got to the Olympic Oval, grabbed my bike bag from the rack and ran into the women's changing tent. I ran near the tent exit and found an open seat. No volunteer was there to help me but I knew what I needed to do. When I was just about done a volunteer came over to see if I needed any help. I asked her to put my wetsuit in my bag and to spray me with my SPF 100. yes, SPF 100!! She sprayed me down but of course I didn't put any on my face or my legs. After a few minutes I was done and ran out to get my Roo! I called out my number and said the pink camo bike. The volunteer grabbed another pink bike on my rack and I yelled no, the pink camo one!! I wound up grabbing it myself but I did appreciate her effort! Roo and I ran to the bike mount line and we were off!!

Stay tuned for my Bike Race Report.... I had three challenges to overcome and a few tears may have been shed!

I Am An Ironman!!!

JILL AGRESTA..... 

YOU!  ARE! AN IRONMAN!!!!!

Oh yes, the Voice of Ironman has officially declared ME, yes ME, an Ironman after 13 hours and 6 minutes of one of the best days of my life!  Sunday was such a special experience that it is so hard to put into words.  It has been an entire year in the making.  Sacrifices, dreams, hard work are all wrapped up now.  It's surreal to say the least.  When I woke up Monday morning, despite my sore body, I actually questioned... Did I really do that yesterday?  Then I went on facebook and saw all the messages, the updates Simon posted throughout the day... and the photos.  Oh yes... the photos woke me up like a cold slap of water to the face.  I WAS AN IRONMAN!  I officially have bragging rights for the rest of my life!

When I started training for this I found other bloggers & websites where people were training for the same goal.  It made me feel great to know I could rely on people going through the same thing I was.  But it almost made it commonplace to be doing an Ironman.  After Sunday,  I know for sure as hell is not a normal thing for people to do!  I pulled off something very spectacular, in a spectacular fashion.  Let's just say mentally & physically overcoming not one, not two but THREE flats on my bike was a prime example of that.  But I won't get into that just yet.  I have to so much to write about and remember, that I'll split this up into different posts.  It might take me a while and they might be long winded, but I want to try and remember every detail so that when I think there is something I can't do... I'll look at this.

My day could never, ever, in a million years have gone on without the support of my family and friends. I mentioned sacrifice above and the ones I loved most were on the receiving end of it.  I sacrificed time & memories with them to achieve my dream.  I was the Queen of "No" when it came to weekends or even a night out to dinner.  But I wasn't really saying no to them.  I was saying YES to my dream. I think, after being eye witnesses to my success on Sunday, they now understand why.

So THANK YOU to the entire Team Jill Cheering Squad!!

Mom, Dad, my brother Todd, Simon my love, Kelly & Kelly (and Baby Brophy) my childhood besties, Brie & Iza my NYC besties, Paul, Melissa, Carrie, Carlos, Brendan, Debbie & Sung my lovely lovely NYC pals, Esther, James & Mike my triathlon buddies.  Mike Eng - YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!  It was very special to share this unbelievable day with you and I am so proud of you!  We did it!!

This crew of people went above and beyond to cheer for me.  

Waking up at the butt crack of dawn to see the manic swim start, creating gorgeous signs, taking photos, yelling til their their throats hurt, cowbelling and just being downright awesome!!

Looking at these photos, do I have the coolest family and friends or what?!?  When I was in a world of pain on the marathon, you genuinely made me smile each time I saw you on the run.  That was not forced, I swear on my Ironman medal!

I am the luckiest girl in the world to have such an amazing family and friends.  Again, words cannot express my gratitude to all of you, as well as my friends who were cheering for me on facebook and tracking my progress online.  I read every single one of your messages and they were unbelievable.  All I can say is I'm one lucky gal.  Thank you to Coach Jenn for taking me on and preparing me for this day.  All I need to say is three words.  I. Was. Ready.  I didn't have any doubts in my mind from the start and I physically ruled the course only because of your spectacular guidance.  Thank you!!

So official race reports will come this week but here's a look at my times.

Swim = 1:16:20

T1 = 6:42

Bike = 7:02:20

T2 = 4:40

Run = 4:36:19

TOTAL = 13:06:21

I am a feakin' Ironman!

IM Goals & Stalking Info

Woweeeeeee!  Race day is super close! EEK!  I'm actually feeling pretty good.  My taper workouts have been going well, I'm feeling fresh and my body & mind are slowly starting to sync up.  This is all good stuff.  I just have to finish out today at work then I'm off to lovely Lake Placid for 7 days - woop woop!

So how long will it take me to finish an Ironman??  Well... the big question will be answered in just 5 days!  For now... here's what I'm thinking....

TIME GOALS/ESTIMATES
A. FINISH under 17 hours and with a HUGE freakin' smile

B. FINISH with a 12 for the hour with the sun still out with a HUGE freakin' smile

C. PERFECT RACE DAY GOALS
SWIM = 1:12
T1 = 6 minutes (includes 800 yard run to transition)
BIKE = 6:45
T2 = 4 minutes
RUN = 4 hours
TOTAL = 12:07 with a HUGE freakin' smile!

E. RACE DAY RANGES
SWIM = 1:12-1:20
T1= 6-10 minutes
BIKE: 6:45 – 7:00 hours
T2 = 4 – 8 minutes
RUN = 4 – 5 hours
TOTAL = 12:07 – 13:38 with a HUGE freakin' smile!

So yeah, I have some ranges, especially on the run!  But let's start with the swim first. I've been hitting some great times in the pool and while 1 out of 2 open water swim races didn't turn out that great, I know I have the fitness to swim 2.4 in 1:12.  There are so many variables with the swim that could eat up some time... like... say swimming with 2700 other people at the VERY. SAME. TIME.  Yeah, that's the one thing I'm not looking forward to on race day, but in order to become an Ironman you have to do things that you are uncomfortable with.  I will get through it!!

I'm not too concerned with my transition times.  I like to keep it simple and I will do just that for each. If I need to take an extra second or two to make sure I have everything, I will. 

My big goal on the bike is to break 7 hours.  I've done the course at the Fireman Ironman camp in about 6:50 so depending on the weather I should be able to do this.  Two of the biggest things I need to be aware of is nutrition and pacing.  As far as pacing goes, I'll need to be patient on the first loop and let all those speed demons pass me on by.  I remember how tired I felt climbing past Whiteface Mountain on the second loop in training... that memory will keep me honest and keep me from blowing up on the first loop.  I also have to nail my nutrition and keep my gas tank topped off so that I have enough energy to run a little thing called a marathon afterwards!

Now, the big unknown.  The Run. I know if I only had to run a marathon this weekend, on this very same course, I could break 4 hours.  I know it, I feel it.  But can I do it on race day? After swimming 2.4 and biking 112??  I know my running is the strongest it's ever been in my athletic career, even stronger than when I played field hockey in college.  But who knows what I'll feel like out there.  If I fuel myself correctly, pace myself on the bike, I might be able to pull it off.  If I don't, I'm not gonna be upset... cause I will be an Ironman no matter what!!!

On to the fun stalking part... I may have been accused of stalking more than once in the past year.  Whether it's checking fellow IM training blogs non-stop, seeing what pro's are saying on twitter, checking all the slowtwitch & beginnertriathlete forums.... Now... it's YOUR turn to stalk ME!

If you're at home, go to http://www.ironmanlive.com/, click on Ford Ironman Lake Placid, then tracking.  You can enter my Bib # 137 or my name Jill Agresta. 

If you're up in lake Placid cheering you can look for swim outfit #1:

Yeah I might be hard to spot on the swim with 2700 other black wetsuits!

Or you can look for my kick @ss super speedy Roo:

Or look for my yellow & blue Odwalla Tri top!

I'm packing up tonight and driving to Lake placid tomorrow morning.  I can't wait to get up there!!  I'll try and post one more blog pre-race but I know I'll be busy up there and trying to relax. If you don't hear from me STALK ME!!  I'm going to be an Ironman on Sunday!!!!

9 Days....

The alarm goes off at 6:30am.  I hit snooze.... 9 minutes later I shut the snooze off a minute early.  Ok, it's time to get up, get my run gear on, walk the dog then go on my 30 minute run.  Wait, did I just say 30 minute run?  I sure did! I seriously cannot remember the last time I did "just" a 30 minute run.

It was a progression run where I had to start 1:15 slower than 5k pace, then get progressively faster throughout the run so the last 5-8 minutes are :15-:20 off my 5K pace.  It was a beautiful morning in Central Park yesterday.  The first time since April that I actually wore a running t-shirt instead of a tank top and hundreds of runners, walkers, bikers were enjoying the morning. I got my "pep in my step" back on this run!  I nailed the times, worked up a lovely cool morning sweat and then bam!  I was done.

So, with only 9 days left til the big day... honestly, I'm surprised I don't feel like I wanna crap my pants! I think last week's crankiness/tiredness/leg fatigueness has held off my pre-race jitters for a little bit.  If anything positive came out of feeling terrible last week, it was that - so thanks taper Gods!

It could also be that after looking back at my garmin files... I know did the work.  I sacrificed a social life, sleep, birthdays, baby showers, weekend getaways to fulfill this dream.  And I'm happy to report I only missed 4 workouts out of a planned 167!  

J-Pow's Interesting IM Training Stats from January 1st 2011 to July 24th 2011:

Length of training plan = 7 months
Days I trained per week = 6 
Full rest day per week = 1
# of planned sessions = 167
# of completed sessions = 163
# of missed workouts = 4
# of times I got sick = 3
Extra rest days due to barfing/not eating solids = 2
Long workouts I cut short = 2 
(a 3 hour run down to an hour due to dehydration from peeing out my butt for 3 days & 1 long swim cut down due to kids & old people kicking me out of the pool)
# of weddings I partied at = 1 very, very special wedding STEFFY
# of margaritas I had in Austin, TX = too many to count
# of PR's = 3 (Hook Mtn. Half Marathon, American Zofingen Du - 1st race of that distance - and Rev3 Quassy Half Ironman)
Race day age = 30
# of Ironman World Champs I met = 2
# of times I cried = I'm gonna say 7... one per month
# of freakouts = um, maybe too many to count?!?

So I have a lot on my side come race day.  I think the most valuable thing I have in my bag of tricks is CONSISTENCY.  Consistency is my key to success.  That's one of the reasons why I hired a Coach, for accountability.  I don't even want to look at how many planned sessions I missed last year training for a half ironman pre-Coach.  And I wondered why I couldn't get any faster.  I took off 36 minutes in a HARDER half ironman this year, without taper, without it being my "A" race and in the middle of Ironman training.  Consistency works for me.

I couldn't plan on getting sick three times this year, a personal record. I guess my body wasn't used to being worn down from training so much.  But I don't want to blame it all on my body... 2 out of 3 involved stomach problems (oh yes the barfing and peeing out the butt type things) which could have been from bad food! The biggest missed workout that concerned me was during Memorial Day Weekend.  That is now known as "peeing out my butt" weekend.  Being literally stuck to the toilet for 4 hours in the middle of the night will kill any chance of a 5 hour ride happening.  I also had to cut my 3 hour run short to only an hour since I was so dehydrated.  I was super worried that the missed long ride & run would hurt me in the end, but now, being very near the end, I don't feel that way.  As Coach said back then, "Big picture, Jill, big picture.  You have to look at it that way.  One missed long ride won't kill your training."  Coach was right.  It didn't.

I am ready.  I'm finally now confident enough in all the time, the training, the guts, the early mornings, the early nights, everything I put into to this.... that I AM READY.  I BELIEVE. 

It's Getting REAL Folks

I don't even know where to begin! My Ironman journey is slowly winding down (less than 2 weeks!) and I'm nervous.  Less training = more time and I've been enjoying it... but maybe a little TOO much!  This past weekend I drank both Friday AND Saturday night!  Gasp!  Oh the horror!  Friday night was a friend's birthday then Saturday night was just dinner with friends that ended at a new South African wine bar down the street.  I heart South African pinotage - the only red wine I actually enjoy - so I just HAD to indulge in a few glasses.  It was nice to see my friends again but I couldn't help but feel guilty.  My little Ironman angel on my shoulder was taunting me... "You should be home in bed by now!  I'll allow you only one glass of wine!  Four? You want four glasses??  You're gonna be sorry...!" 

I also didn't eat that well either, but I did have delicious food all weekend.  Sunday night capped it off with a Great NY Steak cooking class at the Culinary Institute.  I bought Simon this for his birthday since we always seem to mess up steak at home.  It was a good class and as a whole (10 people) we made shrimp cocktail, clams casino, caesar salad, filet mignon with a cognac sauce, NY sirloin, pork chops, mashed potatoes with truffle oil, creamed spinach and bread pudding.    And yes, I ate all of that!!!  I personally made the mashed potatoes and the cognac sauce.  Simon butchered a huge piece of filet mignon and was the searing/cooking master. 

Once crazy thing did happen though... which may have ended with burnt eyebrows & eyelashes.... So I put the oven on to pre-heat for 400 degrees.  After Simon was done searing the meat on the stove he opened the oven and WHOOSH!!!  There was a huge blast and flames shot out singing his eyebrows and long eyelashes!!!  My back was turned when it happened so I only heard it and felt the heat on my back.  It was intense!  Luckily he was fine minus some hair but he doesn't look like a freak or anything! phew!

As far as the training went, last week was one of my worst weeks of training.  My legs were just so incredibly tired.  I biked my slowest times in Central Park since I've started training and had to cut the ride 20 minutes short.  I also ran for an hour that felt like 4 hours.  My swimming went really well at least and I nailed a 4800 yard swim.  When the weekend workouts came, I was worried I would feel like crap.

Saturday was a 2 hour ride with a 1:30 run.  I rode up to Nyack & back with some friends and my legs definitely felt better.  Not awesome, but better.  To my surprise for my brick run, my legs felt AMAZING!  I knocked off 6 miles in 52 minutes and felt great.  I decided to cut the run short because it was now the middle of the day and I was just too hot. 

Oh on the ride I got a flat on my rear tire. Of course it had to be the rear one, right?? Those suckers are tricky to get off with the way the fancy aero brakes are hidden behind the frame. It didn't take too long to change and I found a piece of glass stuck in my tire. I actually just ordered new tires to put on as mine are worn down from all the training. They should be arriving this week so I'll change them out and get a few miles on them before Placid.


Sunday was just an hour run with 4x 800's thrown in.  I didn't have the same pep in my step as I had the day before and it took me a while to warm up.  But after about 2.5 miles, my legs came around and I felt better.  I also got my first sports massage of the season.  Man, I thought massages were supposed to be relaxing!!  Not so much.  I really wanted the junk flushed out of my legs and the massage therapist did just that.  I also learned that my right glute is wayyyyy tighter than my left one.  My butt kinda hurts today after all that "massaging" aka torture!  Ouch

I know this post is a little all over the place but I actually don't have much to say.  I'm nervous as heck.  I'm making lists.  Packing list, race nutrition lists, race day lists, food lists, house lists... I want everything to be as easy as possible when I get up to Placid.  I got slightly overwhelmed when I got the athlete guide & race number earlier this week.  Emails, blogs, twitter, facebook, beginnertriathlete forums all started blowing up!  I partook in that of course, but after a while I had to stop reading it all.  I was just getting TOO nervous.  It got TOO real for me!

I still feel like I have another year to train for this... nope... it's in 13 days... GULP!

and oh yeah.... I'm number 137!

Reaching New Heights

While I'm on my Ironman journey, reaching new milestones everyday, Simon is literally reaching new heights by training for his pilot's license!

Captain Simon

This works out really well because when I'm spending hours slogging away on my bike or running or swimming... Simon is hitting the skies!  Last Sunday, I got a chance to fly in a tiny, tiny Cessna 3500 feet above ground, with my Captain (ahem... and his instructor!)

A slightly nervous passenger pre-takeoff

We were *only* at 3500 feet due to low cloud cover.  Normally Simon flys at 6500 feet.  That's pretty high.... especially when you have an overactive imagination like myself.  "Is there really only a thin piece of metal between me and the ground 3500 feet below???" "What if I fall through?"  Yeah, I'm nuts.

Yes, this is the ORIGINAL Batman Helicopter from the TV series

Simon started up his old girl, the plane not ME people, and we were off!  The takeoff was actually a lot smoother than I thought it would be.  There wasn't much turbulence and after about 20 minutes of going over "What If" scenarios in my head, I finally started to relax.

The ridges of North Jersey

We flew from Caldwell Airport, NJ to Wilkes-Barre PA airport. It took about 45 minutes each way - which is pretty fast for a little plane!

Lake Hopatcong

About 35 minutes in, I was so relaxed I actually fell asleep for a couple of minutes!  It also wasn't entirely my fault... I did run for two hours prior to our flight and I was a little sleepy.  Leave it to an Ironman-in-training to fall asleep during a Cessna ride!

My view of the low clouds from the back seat

So while we were flying I got to wear a fancy headset.  It was really cool to hear Simon communicate with the air traffic controllers.  I tried to figure out what all the codes meant and I also realized that the PA air traffic controllers are WAY nicer than the NY/NJ ones.  The NY/NJ laid the smack down on some of the other pilots - it was kind of funny to listen in on. 

My Captain

The flight was a success! (obviously, since I'm still here and writing this!)  I enjoyed being part of Simon's hobby for an afternoon.  He's going to make a great pilot and I can't wait to plan some weekend trips around this!


Landed!

This past holiday weekend was my last huge weekend of training.  Saturday I had a 6 hour ride + 1 hour run on the schedule.  I decided I wanted to tackle Bear Mountain one last time before Lake Placid.  I had a feeling it would take a bit longer than 3 hours to get to Bear given all the climbing I had to do to even get there... plus the 4 mile actual climb but I really wanted to get 'er done!  I rode with my friend who's also training for Placid so it was great to have the company.  I think we made it up to the top of Bear in about 3:25ish.  Not bad considering it took forever to spin up Bear.  We refueled at the vending machines and enjoyed the 4 mile descent - weeeeee!  It's good Keene descent practice, even though Keene is steeper, faster & longer - good times! 

I felt stronger on this ride than the last time I rode up Bear and stronger than the previous weekend's 80 mile ride to the Orchards.  By the time we got back to the city, my Garmin read 96 miles so we did a shortened loop around Central Park to make it a full 100.  Then came the run.  I actually nailed my nutrition spot on and was feeling great.  So what was the only thing that did not feel so great?  The freakin' heat!  It was high 80's and sunny.  I headed out for my run up to Central Park and surprisingly my legs felt awesome!  At two points during the run, my heart rate skyrocketed to 200 bpm - um, what's going on??? I honestly didn't feel like I was working THAT hard so I stopped and walked twice to bring it on down.  I got in about 6.4 miles in one hour.  I felt really hot and tired, but really proud of my solid workout.

Sunday brought a nice 3 hour run.  I didn't leave myself much time to recover from the long brick as I finished my brick 430pm Saturday then I was up at 6am Sunday and running by 720am.  So only 15 hours between workouts.  In hindsight, this was not the smartest idea but I had plans to head out of town at 1130am for some BBQ, pool, fireworks craziness and I was not gonna miss that! 

I won't go into details about the run, so here's a little bulletpoint list
- I ran in a thunderstorm with a downpour, which I loved!!!
- I ran verrrrrrrrrrry slow.  Probably one of my slowest 3 hour runs in a very long time. 
- I covered 18.4 miles.
- My legs were tired.  They hurt.  They yelled at me on the hills.  They yelled at me on the downhills.
- I ignored the yelling and was determined to complete 3 hours
- I LOVED the rain
- I wasn't so in love with three loops of Central Park
- I finished my last long run before Lake Placid!!!

So if you made it this far through this super long post... THANKS!  and you get a prize.... a photo of my dog Olive wrapped up like a taco!!!


Olive Taco