The Hay is in the Barn...Almost Too Much Hay!

Recall that I officially began my training for the upcoming 50k on 9/5. So I've trained for 6 weeks for it, and during that time I only biked around 3 hours per week. Below is what I anticipated doing for those 6 weeks side by side with what I actually did:

Now, in pencil on my paper calendar view, I'd added in anticipated walking time just to add to my totals, so that is one reason there's a big disparity in actual vs. planned. In reality, the actual running time isn't that huge--my maximum was 6.33 hours. That's not huge running. However, that represents a 35% increase in run volume over 6 weeks. That's quite a bit. That's why my legs are still a bit of a mess. But my legs will recover--what's really messed up is my mid- and lower-back. I didn't figure that out until a few days ago, but I'm glad I did so I can take care of it.

In those 6 weeks, I attended 3 Ironman races--Wisconsin, Chattanooga and Louisville! And those weekends definitely contributed to slightly overdoing things, but I expected that. But I wouldn't trade those experiences for the world! I so enjoy helping others reach their goals and providing some bright spots in a tough day.

Now it's my turn. I ran a 1/2 marathon the first week and did OK, and then I ran one yesterday and was a bit slower. I didn't expect big things, and my legs told me I am not really tapered down yet. That will happen this week in a big way! And it's my birthday week! Which kinda sucks, since it's nice to have cake and champagne and stuff on one's birthday, but I really won't be training enough to do that. I'm actually already watching what I eat (and drink) so I don't put on any weight during these next 2 weeks, and I'm slated for a big birthday bash in Vegas after the race. So it's not like I'll be suffering this week!

I got a bit nostalgic on Facebook yesterday and posted some pictures from 2010 Ultraman Canada. I was just thinking about it and how even when I did it I couldn't believe I was actually doing it. Now I'm seriously considering Ultraman Hawaii in 2018, and if all goes well and I feel I have the stamina to train properly for it (just to finish--that is all I need to do!), then I will do it. If I qualify for IMHI at IMWI next year, then I'll do both IMHI and UMHI in 2018. They are about a month and a half apart. IMHI would be a great tuneup for UMHI. I would probably just stay in Kona between the 2 races because why bother flying back and all that shit? Wouldn't that just be tits and a half? I think so!

But first I need to conquer this 50k. I'm sure I can get it done, but I don't want it to be a walking festival. I'm shooting for 7 hours which is a 13:33 pace. I think I can do that, but we shall see!

Meanwhile, the order of business for me right now is to rest as much as possible--this means sleep (and I'm sleeping a bit more already), laying around being lazy, and if I'm not feeling it in a workout, to just cut it short. But also watch my diet. The lighter I am for this next race, the better I'll do. And I could stand to lose 2-3 pounds. I am not TRYING to lose weight during taper, but it might just happen. We'll see.

I was kind of a maniac this weekend considering I should have been tapering already. I ran the 1/2 marathon on Saturday, and then I walked for about 45 minutes right afterwards. You might think walking is no big deal, but try that sometime and keep doing it after all your long runs and get back to me. Then today I was supposed to do a fun 5K run in a corn maze, but after driving 60 miles, I get there and it was cancelled due to all the rain we had last night and this morning. Oh well! So on the way home, I'm thinking I could just rest and do nothing, but the temperature was quite mild today, so after a brief stop at home, I went to Waterfall Glen and ran about 3.5 miles and walked about 3.5. I felt fine doing it (albeit not too fast running--maybe 10mpm), and didn't immediately feel tired when I finished. But then about an hour later, I was like FUCK I'M TIRED! And I could feel my quads telling me maybe I should have rested but oh well. So I stretched and rolled and poked and massaged everything thoroughly and I am now being a lazy bum.

I was admonished to mention a long-lost friend, Susan Airheart, who I met at IMLP 2009 and saw at IMLOU just last week! She's a great lady and is one of the few people I actually consider taking advice from! On that subject--I've chosen a formal mentor for myself--William Pruett--because he knows his shit about all things triathlon from Ironman on up, and he's been a good friend for over 10 years. Between the 2 of them and my coach, Nick, I think I am going to do well these next few months.

But first a 50k! In Vegas!
I'M SO FUCKING EXCITED ABOUT ALL THIS CAN YOU TELL???

Excessive Ironman Spectating

When this is most of your laundry from TWO DAYS of training and spectating, I think it means you're doing it right!

I love spectating at an Ironman race and supporting friends and strangers! However, I always end up training/exercising more than I have scheduled for myself and end up in a calorie hole the day after.

On Sunday, the day of Ironman Louisville, I took in:

• a Balance Bar (about 225 calories) and a hard-boiled egg (about 72 calories) for breakfast. 
• I drank 24 oz. of Infinit (about 240 calories) while running and walking before and during the swim (until about 8:30)
• I drank 2.beers mid-day (1 prior to driving around the bike course and one with lunch) for about 280 calories
• I had 2 fish tacos, a good number of chips and salsa, a little bit of refried beans and about 1/3 cup of rice for lunch. I'm guessing 600 calories?
• I did not eat dinner, but at the end of the day had some really good pretzels with sinful cheese dip. Let's say 300 calories.

Well that's a problem--that only adds up to about 1700 calories taken in for the day. I need at least 1800 just to survive without exercising.

The KNOWN exercise (there was more walking, but how much who knows?) that I did:

• 1 hour of running
• 1.5 hours of walking (probably more). This was the deliberate stuff that I actually measured. I'd planned on 30 minutes, but then Shelley and I walked back to our hotel from the race site.
• 19.5 miles of biking. Let's call that an hour

Let's say I burn 500 calories/hour for the running and biking and 320 for the walking. So I burned about 1500 calories that I know of. Huh. BAD CALORIES INTAKE!!! So at the end of the day, I was at least 1500 calories down. I probably depleted most of my glycogen reserves.

On Monday morning, I ate another Balance Bar and an egg, then I had a McGriddle when we stopped on the way from Louisville to Indianapolis. As I was driving from Indianapolis back home, I drank a 24-oz. bike bottle of Gatorade. I got home and felt sated and not hungry. Then I went for a swim. 2800 yards. I drank maybe 4 oz. of Gatorade. As soon as I got out of the pool, I was like hmm...I think I'm bonking. And I was. I drank some more Gatorade, showered, managed to stretch for 5 minutes in the sauna then I rushed home to eat. That was the point I realized I was physically tired, too! So while I thought I might get in a short run, I decided it was best to just bag it for the day and give my legs some rest. It's been 13 days since I didn't run, walk or bike on a given day!

Last week, I put in 39 miles of running, 20 miles of walking, 78 miles of biking, 10,300 yards of swimming and about 1:45 of strength training. Well no wonder the fuck I was bonking yesterday after spectating for a day!  I should really know better by now to try and eat even more when I am doing that. I did OK for breakfast and the big lunch, but dinner FAIL. It's just hard to stop for dinner when you are busy looking for people you know and cheering on the strangers! That's ok--it's well worth the sacrifice! Note to self: next time I do this, at lunch I will get a sandwich to carry and eat later. 

Today, I'm back on my game. I am actually tapering this week for my 50k, although I am racing a 1/2 marathon on Saturday and doing a 5k as a fun run on Sunday. I want to do well at the 1/2 marathon, even though I'm swimming 5k the day before. Such is my life! Also, unfortunately, I will be attending a funeral for a friend's son who just passed away. It is things like that that make me so grateful for the life I have.

Speaking of grateful, last Friday I decided it was time for me to knuckle down once I was back from Louisville. So today I wrote 10 things for me to do on the big mirror in my bedroom. They are probably a little hard to read:

what with the light and mirror and all. What they say are:

1. No more candy. I am giving the rest away. I really don't need it at all. See #2.
2. >Fruit which means eat more fruit. I have not been eating enough.
3. Quit being fat. Yes, I can stand to lean out a bit more. If I do #1 and #2, that will take care of this.
4. Read! I have so many books that are unread or started. I don't really WATCH much TV, but I have it on, so I will focus more on just turning the damn thing off and reading the books! The 2 I am going to finish up are "Life of a Triathlete" by Meredith Kessler and "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!" by Richard P. Feynman.
5. Go Hard! 
6. Enjoy!
7. Be Grateful
8. Love
9. Don't Give a Fuck
10. Win!

That about covers me through at least January; probably more like March! At that point, I suspect I'll be in some pretty intensive training and I should be able to cross out #1 and #3. #4 might go by the wayside, too, but the rest should remain pretty much constant.

I am happy I'm not traveling out of town for 3 weeks. Even though I'm racing this weekend, and my birthday is the following weekend, not spending hours driving and being away from home will give me some much needed rest. And I can focus more on my own training and racing. I still have planning to do before this weekend's racing, and of course, for the 50k. But that's fun stuff! Today (aside from what I've already accomplished) I get to run and bike, and I'm breaking in new running shoes. That will be fun! Of course, obsessing about races burns calories, so I'll stay on top of that, too!

Have a great day and week!

Ironman Chattanooga Training and Spectating Report - Part 2

Saturday, September 24
On this day, my training called for a 1:45 run and 1:00 of walking. Lori needed to do a short brick workout and then check in her bike and her bags. The night before, both Lori and I took a melatonin and an Advil PM, so we slept like dead people with no alarm set. I got 9.5 hours of sleep! It's been months since I slept that long!

Since it was going to be FUCKING HOT again, I didn't want to use my Fuel Belt, so I dump the Gatorade out of a 12-oz. bottle and filled that with Infinit. That would last me for about an hour or so of running and walking.

After some breakfast (of course, I was STARVING when I woke up!), Lori set up her transition area and got her bike ready, and I was all suited up to run:

Lori left, then I left. I headed approximately northeast from Karen's house. I knew it would be hilly. It actually wasn't that hot when I started running at around 8:45. It was beautiful where I was running, but I had to run on the road which I almost never do, and it was cambered, and so I had to try and switch sides of the road otherwise my legs and feet would be fucked up. I ran out for about 30' then walked up this switchback that was VERY steep! It went up onto the mountain thing, and I stopped when I was standing on about a 25% grade. I could barely walk back down! But it was beautiful. On the way back, Lori drove by on her way to check in her bike. She remarked that that was about as fast as she'd be running (I was on a hill again!) on race day. I ran back and reloaded another 12-oz. bottle of Infinit. The first part of my run was 1:00.50 running and 14:17 of walking.

For the second part of my run, I went the other way from Karen's house, as it should be more flat, although as it turns out it was an uphill grade all the way out. On either side of the road were these very steep hills and at some point I decided I needed to go up one of them just to change things up. It was fun, as at the top, I was barely running, but it was still great!

For the second part of my run, I ran 46:27 and walked 45:55. I alternated running and walking on the second part since I was on asphalt again. I knew my legs would be sore from this, but oh well! Of course, during the second part of the run it was FUCKING HOT! I think I achieved a whole new level of suntan, too!

Back at the ranch, I showered, Lori came back, and she and I went into town and decided we'd get lunch and get carry out for our dinner later so she could have all her food in early, as is customary when you wake up around 3AM the next day for an Ironman. We went to a Mediterranean restaurant, Taziki's, where of course, I ate twice as much as Lori (I had dolmades appetizer and then a sandwich with rice on the side and she had only hummus):

Lori got a salad for later and I got another sandwich (it seems I eat a lot of sandwiches on these junkets). Lori needed to get some yellow ribbon that she wanted to wear in honor of her dear son, Patrick, who sadly passed away this summer, so we headed to Walmart. When we got to the mall where it was, Lori asked me if we had time for a mani/pedi. Hey--it's HER race, we can do whatever she wants! So we parked and decided she'd get the pedi and me the mani. When we got in there, I asked if we could have a beer while we were prettied up and they said YES. So I walked next door to a Mexican restaurant, and they said they wouldn't let me take it out, so I walked some more (did I mention it was FUCKING HOT again?), then ended up walking to the Walmart where I picked up a 6-pack of Sam Adams Cherry Wheat (one of my favorite beers), and I also got the yellow ribbon that Lori needed. On the way out, I spotted one of the lifeguards from the Y and he recognized me! That made me smile (as do most things, except for certain things that don't). I gave Lori a beer and I picked the colors for our nails (neon green with green sparkles!), and we got fixed up:

We returned to the ranch where Lori had to get her final bag preparation done and I needed to get my shit together for race day! Did I mention my legs were already sore? Oh well, too fucking bad--I'm training for a 50k and that is going to be happening a lot! Here is Lori doing her final prep:

And that was all she wrote for Saturday.

Sunday, September 25
Holy shit! I swear that the way I do it when I'm in training that spectating and supporting at an Ironman is just as hard as the race! It takes much coordination, costume changes and leaves little time for food. I awoke at maybe 2:30 before my alarm that was set for 3:15. My first job was to have coffee ready for when Lori awoke. First I made mine, then prepped my own breakfast, and when Lori got up I had her coffee all ready to go. I needed to be ready to get down to the swim start with Lori, and then I would come back and run, then I would go back with my bike for the marathon.

We managed to leave on time at 4:15 and first stopped at transition so Lori could put stuff on her bike. Meanwhile, Karen went and retrieved a friend of hers to take her to the swim start. Then Karen (bless her soul she was such a workhorse for us!) came back to get Lori and me and drive us to the swim start. The race had buses for the athletes, but we were on the EXTRA AWESOME VIP SERVICE PLAN, so we got dropped off! It was so cool for me to be able to stand in line with the athletes. I made a trip for Lori to calculate about how many people were in front of her, and I guessed about 130, so she was pretty much up front. I absolutely love this picture of Lori and me in line:

Lori is wearing a pair of my earrings, and I am wearing her Ironman necklace and a tie that she gave me to wear in honor of Patrick, who was a rabid Star Wars fan. I had made a yellow ribbon thing and pinned it to the tie. Both Lori and I were sporting some temporary tattoos. Lori has some actual ones, too, but I have got her in the habit of adding a few for race day. I have a huge stash of them!

Most people in line thought I was racing, but no! I was actually a little chilly so early in the morning, but nothing I couldn't handle, as I knew it would be FUCKING HOT before long!

Time passed and soon enough, it was time for Lori to get suited up to start her day. Here she is all ready to go!

I wished her luck, sent her off, then I began making my way to the start area. I would walk down the point to point swim course, try and catch Lori in transition and maybe a few other peeps, then hook back up with Karen to take me home so I could do my run from there. Usually, I like doing my run on race day on the actual run course, but since I would be walking first and didn't yet have my bike, I needed to go back home anyway, so I thought I'd run there. Besides, the marathon course for IMCHAT is FUCKING HILLY! I didn't really need to run more hills.

The walk along the swim course was more like 3 miles, as the path alongside the river was quite winding. Here is one sample of people in the river:

The athletes, due to the time trial start, were basically spread across the entire length of the swim course! I was worried I might miss Lori in transition, so I hustled on my sore legs to get to the cramped area where people were trying to catch their athlete in transition. I finally spotted Lori but didn't get a picture of her coming in as it happened so fast, but I did catch her running to her bike because my aerohelmet is easy to spot:

You can see her kind of center with the red and white stripes on the back of her head. I was happy I saw her, and hung out a little more, but then knew I had to go run while she was on the bike and then shower and eat and show back up on my own bike!

Phew, I'm exhausted just writing this!

Karen retrieved me, and by now it was FUCKING HOT. The expected high for the day was like 95. I felt so bad for the athletes--I would have melted in those conditions, as I did in 2005 when I DNF'ed Ironman Wisconsin, that had a real high of 110 that day!

I repeated the allegedly flat part of running from Karen's house and got in my planned additional walking as well. Holy fuck was I getting time on my feet or what? But that's what happens at an Ironman. It was FUCKING HOT and I showered and got my bike onto Karen's rack and she drove me back down. By this point, I am already an exercising machine, and I am the fucking Energizer Bunny. I have to be in order to do this!

Karen dropped me off and I found a place for a brew and some lunch:

It was the Brewhaus, and it was on the marathon course. They asked if I wanted to make a sign for my people, and I declined, since I'd be biking all over the fuck place and wouldn't be holding up any signs! Lunch was delicious, especially since I knew that was basically IT for me eating until after Lori was finished! You just don't have time to stop and get and eat food because you are afraid you will miss your athlete or others!

So now I started riding my bike. It was FUCKING HOT, but I was only wearing a swimsuit (as planned) so my peeps could spot me. Plus I was wearing the Star Wars tie. I'm sure I looked like a fucking goof, but as you know I COULD NOT GIVE A FUCK.  I managed to get to the first part of the run course and camp out around Mile 5. I was pretty sure I'd see Ryan first (he being the fastest of the bunch of my peeps), and I got a nice spot in some shade with a volunteer. It was amazing I didn't vomit it was so FUCKING HOT. Finally, I saw Ryan come cruising up:

I think he was happy to see me, and why not? He looked great, and FAST! Then I had to begin the process of waiting for Lori, who I expected next. It took much longer than I expected to see her, and I didn't even get any pictures of her at this spot, because next she started telling me what to do and when (which I fully anticipated so no worries!), and I said I'd do my best, even though it was already becoming difficult to navigate around this marathon course due to the bridges and roads and paths and such. But it was my job so I had to do it, right?

At this point, it would take me 2 months to write every detail, but let's just say I managed to see my friend, Rich, and I shepherded him at a point when he thought he was going to be chasing the cutoff, but he made it, and I saw Ryan again with just a few miles left to go in his race (he did AWESOME!), then I relocated Lori and rode near her for her last few miles all the way into the finish line, and I was SO HAPPY for everyone who managed to finish this race on a bitch of a day!

After Lori finished, it wasn't too long before Rich came out of transition and I was so happy to see he'd finished and he'd done SO WELL! Karen picked up Lori and me, and we went back to the ranch. I let Lori shower first, as she is the athlete. Meanwhile, I checked my bike computer and it turns out I'd ridden 25 miles! Who knows how much I walked and ran, too? All I know is I was tired and low on calories. After Lori showered, I did, and then we cracked open the bottle of Veuve Cliquot champagne that I brought with me to celebrate:

Karen looked up a lot of results and there were a whole shitload of DNFs. So sad, but honestly, I expected it.

I will end here on a good note: I am SO PROUD of Lori, Ryan and Rich for finishing on such a tough day, and I am so honored I got to be out there for them. I think it was sometime during the marathon that I figured out another reason I love Ironman so much--not just doing it, but being there at a race--because I get SO MUCH ENERGY from it. These people give ME energy. It is the diametric opposite of people who SUCK your energy from you. That is why no matter how much training I am doing while I'm at one of these things, I feel great!

On that note, I hope you enjoyed reading this, and guess what? I'm going to do it again in 2 weeks at Ironman Louisville! However, that is not so far from home, so I will drive to Indianapolis on Saturday to meet Shelley, and then we will drive down and stay for Sunday. So I won't need to pack all my triathlon shit. I will still do a long run on Sunday, this time probably on the course, and I will be on LGL for the marathon. I am looking forward to it and I'm already tired in advance!

Ironman Chattanooga Training and Spectating Report Part 1

I decided months ago to attend this race in support of my 2nd BFF (or as we now like to say, my younger sister!) Lori, as she was racing and needed the support after one of her sons, Patrick, passed away this summer. I've supported Lori at Ironman Wisconsin twice, and she knows that I have pretty great Sherpa skills, and we would drive down together, so the trip was all set up.

A whole shitload of pictures have been posted to Facebook, so I'm not going to include them all in this post!

Wednesday, September 21
Lori flew from Denver (she now lives in Boulder) to Chicago and picked up a rental car. She stayed with her son, Jon, and planned to pick me up the next morning to drive down to Chattanooga.

I had moved my own workouts for the week around knowing that I wouldn't be doing anything on Thursday, so on Wednesday I ended up swimming, biking and running. I also needed to mow my lawn on Wednesday. Normally I would swim first thing in the morning, and I got ready to do that, but decided to go to Home Depot first to see if they could help me with a project. While cleaning out my garage in advance of Garbage Amnesty Day (you pay for 4 cans of garbage and then you can throw out unlimited amounts of crap), I found a long length of copper pipe. I decided I wanted to make it into a cube. My neighbor, Chuck, cut the pipe into 9" lengths for me, and so I need corners to connect the pieces. He delivered them to me all nice and bundled up!

I loaded my swim bag into my car and got to Home Depot around 6:15. I had fun chatting with 2 of the employees about how to do what I want to do. Bottom line was they don't have the parts I need. What I really want is a 3-way COPPER corner, but that doesn't exist, so I'm going to improvise with red PVC once I talk to a company who makes that about how I could join the two.

Anyway, I leave Home Depot and the sky is beautiful with the sun coming up, and I'm excited to get to swimming. I walk out to my car, get in and look north, and am like what the fuck is coming here? The sky was nearly black, so I check my phone and there is an ugly looking storm front coming down and we are going to get rain SOON. So I rush home so I can mow at least my back yard before it rains, because if I don't, I won't be able to do it and will need to ask my neighbor to do it. He would, but I didn't want to impose. So I get home, leaving my swim bag in my car, and I get to mowing all while looking at the approaching black clouds. For some reason, though, I wasn't scared. I would have taken pictures, but I didn't have time to stop! There was a shelf cloud, and then some mammatus clouds, and those things usually mean bad weather! But I managed to get my back lawn done (it took about 20 minutes) just as the raindrops began to fall, and then it started raining really good, and I was like PHEW! My front lawn would survive not being mowed since it had been really dry and it gets a lot of shade and never grows as much as the back.

So now I was like, OK when can I swim? I'd missed the morning lap time, but could resume again at 9:30 and basically had until 11:30. I decided I'd run first indoors since it was still raining, and then swim, and I would bike later. So I packed up run gear and headed to the Y. I ended up running 10' on the treadmill and then the rest on the indoor track. I got in a nice quickie of a track workout! I was actually running much faster than I've seen in MONTHS!  Yay for fucking me!!! After the track workout, I headed to the pool and swam my 2800 yard workout.

Then, I was scheduled for 1:30 of biking, but knew I'd end up biking during the marathon at IMCHAT, and I was now running out of time to be all packed for Thursday, so I cut the bike short to 1 hour and did it on the trainer to avoid spending extra time making a bottle and all that. Besides, the roads were now all wet and full of crap. I finished biking at about 1:30. Then I got to my almost final packing. I had all the food crap and gear crap organized. I also like my house to be relatively clean when I go away, so I worked on that.

Thursday, September 22
I woke up probably 2:30AM after sleeping for 6.5 hours. Yes, that is how I have been sleeping for almost 2 months now. I had my TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) retested, and as I suspected, it's out of whack. My thyroid is UNDERperforming again. Seems odd, right? You'd think that since I'm sleeping less it would mean I was becoming hyPERthyroid, but I know my body, and what's happening is that since I've been training super hard, my poor thyroid is trying valiantly to keep up with me and failing. Anyway, in a few weeks as I increase my Synthroid dose, the sleeping issue should take care of itself.

But I needed the time on Thursday morning to choose my training and regular clothes and get it all organized, as Lori would be picking me up around 6:30AM. I got it all done and she arrived, and she'd rented a mid-size car, so all my crap fit in there. I had clothes to run in 3 times, La Gazza Ladra, which I'd ride during the IMCHAT marathon, my wetsuit in case I decided to swim in the river, a bag of fluids (Gatorade, water, Infinint, Endurox R4), a bag of bottles (bike bottles, Infinit mixing bottles and a Fuel Belt), a bag of car snacks, a bag of dry foods (including wine and champagne, crackers, bananas, English muffins), my regular clothes and a cooler containing cheese, Coke, water, hard boiled eggs (Lori and I love those for breakfast), sandwiches for the road, and some string cheese. I also brought my skull aerohelmet that Lori planned to wear unless she found a new one at the expo. All that crap fit into the car nicely!

The rest of the day was driving. It was about a 10-hour drive, and then we lost an hour moving into the EST timezone, to get to Hixson, TN. Lori's friend, Karen, graciously volunteered to put us up for the trip. We arrived, unpacked our stuff, and then Karen, Lori and I went into town and ate dinner right next to the transition area.

On our way back to the car, who should flag me down but one of my former coaches, Rich Strauss? It was nice to see him! He was there training for Kona and supporting his athletes. We chatted briefly, got a picture and were on our way:

I ended up staying up later than I should have, but it was worth it to spend time talking with Karen about some mutual bad life shit we have experienced. I then slept really well.

Friday, September 23
On this day, my training called for a 5k swim workout and a 40' run. I was aware of the athlete-organized river swim, but decided I'd rather be away from that for the day and instead go swim at the YMCA. At 5PM, I'd agreed to meet my friend, Rich, who I met on a bike ride in July and was doing his very first Ironman at IMCHAT, at the Underpants Run, so there would be about 2 miles of running in that. Lori needed to retrieve her bike and ensure it was in working order and check herself in.

Karen dropped me off at the Y at about 7:30 or so. I had swim stuff and run stuff. I figured I'd swim first and then run about 2 miles inside, since it was FUCKING HOT and I would be running more later. The downtown Chattanooga YMCA is an awesome facility, and the people are really nice. I had to fill out a waiver form, but with my YMCA pass, I got in for free. They have a dedicated lap pool, so I didn't have to worry about when lap time was available.

I chatted with some women in the locker room and then decided to check in on someone else who was racing--Ryan--because we were maybe going to meet up in the afternoon. It turned out he would be driving in from Memphis leaving around noon, so we agreed to just meet up for dinner. I ended up wasting some time and not getting in the pool right away, and didn't start swimming until 8:20. Here is the evil Ironman-style workout I did:

WU: 800 your choice
1200 at race pace, 1' RI
3x600 30" RI at race pace and last 50 of each a sprint
1200 pull w/paddles race pace or faster
CD: 200

So it's 5200 yards total. I'm doing this workout through October and then I will begin adding yardage to my Friday swims to prepare for a 10k swim on New Year's Eve or Day. I ended up PR'ing the time it took me to do the workout! This made me happy! I got out and spent a few minutes in the hot tub, then headed to the locker room to shower and change into running clothes. I made the transition then headed to a treadmill. After I ran for maybe 10 minutes, I had to go potty, so I left my stuff on the treadmill, then came back and some guy was on my machine! I was like WTF wasn't it obvious *I* was using it? I didn't say anything and just grabbed my Gatorade and cup of coffee (YES THEY HAD FREE COFFEE IN THE LOCKER ROOM!) and moved to a different machine and finished up.

I hadn't really sweated all that much, and I knew it was FUCKING HOT outside, and that I'd be sweating like a pig, so I just left my running clothes on. I drank my Endurox R4, left the YMCA, and walked to the expo. I let Karen know I was finished and to let me know when Lori would be done with her massage and then they would both be at the expo.

I walked into the expo and what should I see but a BEER BOOTH! I was like FUCK YEAH THIS IRONMAN IS AWESOME! It was Sierra Nevada to boot! $5 for a beer! YES PLEASE! I'd already had the Oktoberfest, so I opted for an IPA that was DELICIOSO! Walking around an Ironman expo with a beer? DOES NOT SUCK! Of course, everyone was looking at me and figured I was racing, because people tell me I look like one of those people who does those Ironman things. Karen called and let me know they were on their way, and so I meandered around with my beer. I was able to get a Little Debbie bike bottle (they were happy to give them to anyone!) that I will cherish. I wandered around and saw a girl at the Zoot booth wearing MY RUNNING SHORTS, so I went up to her, and turns out it's someone I met years ago that still stalks my blog! It was hilarious! This is Kate:

We were laughing our asses off about life and where we've been and what we are doing now. I didn't remember Kate at first, but was really glad to catch up with her! As you can tell, we had a giant laugh fest!

I got a call that Lori was arriving, so I had to leave Kate and meet Lori and Karen at the bike tech area. I was out of beer, so I picked up another one. I know from all the times I've sherpaed in the past that I need to grab any form of calories whenever I can because I am going to be running low no matter how often I manage to stuff my pie hole. Besides, did I mention it was FUCKING HOT???

Yum--beer.  Bike tech couldn't fix Lori's brake issue, so we got out of there and I don't remember what happened for lunch, but we ended up visiting 2 bike shops and got Lori's bike all squared away, I bought a new pair of sunglasses ( I NEED TO BE FASHIONABLE AT ALL TIMES), and then we headed back to Karen's house to reconnoiter, and I needed to get ready for the Underpants Run. I made a plate of cheese and crackers for Lori and me, and we cracked open a bottle of wine I'd brought with me. Yum! I showered (see I told you I was going to be all sweaty again) and changed into my UPR clothes with some real clothes over them, we ate and drank a little, and headed back to town.

We parked near Rich's hotel, got out, and then met him and we began walking to where the UPR started. It was at least a mile. I felt bad for Lori (who wasn't running) that we were making her walk, but I was cool with it, and we had a million laughs on the way. Rich is a real character! We got to the running store where the run started, and Rich paid my $10 and I dropped off my canned goods donation, and we disrobed and Lori held our clothes. I think Rich and I were styling for the run:

I made that bra. It's funny that I rarely wear a bra (I have nice pecs but not what I'd call boobs), but it looks like I have proportional boobs to my frame, I guess. Of course, even at 5:30PM, it was FUCKING HOT. All the racers were laughing and we looked around at everyone and then it was time to go. We ran from the store up to the Pedestrian Bridge

and over it and then we stopped for calisthenics (jumping jacks basically), and then the leader did a thing where he asked how many were first-time Ironmen/women. Then he asked who had done at least 5, then he kept upping the number, and you left your arm up if you'd done that many. It came down to me and one guy, and I guess the leader couldn't believe I kept my hand up. Anyway, my current count is 18 and there were no women there even close--although IMCHAT would be Lori's 17th! Then there was a guy there who has done 30! Lots of people came up to me and said I was awesome and a few young women said they want to look like me! How very flattering! I try...

Then we ran back to the running store where we each got a glass of beer and a beer glass!

Wow, so the day wasn't yet over--we walked back to our car and left Rich at his hotel, and Lori and I headed back to Karen's so I could shower (AGAIN, BECAUSE IT WAS FUCKING HOT) and change for dinner.

Karen drove Lori and I to Bi-Bas's Italian restaurant, and Ryan met us there. We had a great time, and the food was great!

Just before we left, Xavier arrived with his friend, Billy. Unfortunately, we had to go, but it was nice running into them! Xavier had stayed at my house a few weeks ago when he was here to do the Big Shoulders 5k swim in Lake Michigan. He will also be doing the Double Ironman next year in Portland when I do it as a team with my friend, Brad.

Well, so that was one helluva day, right? Did I mention it was FUCKING HOT???

OK so this post is getting long, so I am going to split into 2 parts. END OF PART 1!!!