Mental Hurdle

I spent 15 minutes today thinking about how on earth I would run 13.1 miles after biking 56.7?

Today was my last official long bike ride before the HIM. 2.5 hrs followed by a 15 minute run. My bike ride was uneventful for a change. No one threw anything at me. No bugs attacked me. I had a head wind on the way out and on the way back for the first time in 5 attempts at this route a tail wind for 10 miles on a flat. YAHOO! Hitting speeds of 19 and 20 MPH without much effort. If come race day there is wind and hills I will be prepared but not happy. If there is only the one giant cliff that the race is named after to get up and no wind I'll be in great shape to battle out the 56.7 miles.

The question is how will I do on the run? Today a measly 15 min run. As I started I realized I had no music. So instead I listened to my breathing. Not smooth. Raspy if you want to call it. I still had the HR monitor on and I glanced down to see just how high the rate was. I was supposed to be running in zone 1 or 2. Which is a max HR of about 140. Really it should of been in the low 130's. I was just shy of zone 4. 149 to be exact. Now I didn't have my garmin on so I don't know how fast I was running and there is no way to tell when you are running right off the bike. Your perspective is all screwed up. I think it may be time to invest in the triathlon garmin with a HR monitor built in. Anyway, I think I was running about 10:00- 10:15 pace. But in the past I have thought that and I was running about a 9:15-9:30 pace. Once I got about 10 mins into the run my breathing smoothed out and I found my rhythm. By this time I would venture to guess I was running about 9:30. That would be great for the race. But there was no way I was going to be able to keep that up for 12 more miles. I see a walk/run in my future. I can only hope that I nail the bike portion and get the perfect nutrition plan in place. If I'm able to do that then the run should go ok. In my mind as I rode today I think I've got the nutrition where I want it. It's all about timing. I still have trouble getting my food out and eating it while biking!

The run........I have determined it will be the hardest thing mentally and physically that I have ever done. Do I dare say even harder than childbirth? Ok maybe not quite that hard. But close. As I have trained these 5 months I have even more respect for Ironman athletes. I just don't know how it's done. Maybe after a few HIM's I'll understand how the body can do such a thing.

Really did I just say a few HIM's? Well I must be more confident than I thought.

Tomorrow is a swim day and that is it until Sunday for the LITH sprint tri. A 800m swim, 15.5 mile bike and a 4 mile run. I should be done by 9 am. Goal for the race is to race hard but not too hard to damage any recovery efforts for the next race 6 days later. Last year time was 1:51:18. So let's go with anything under 1:50. I should be able to do that.

Name Change

It's over.

The time went sooooo fast.

Things are going to change.

I'm sad and at the same time very happy.

It's the last day of school.

In 4 hours I will have two middle schoolers in the house. Everyday for the next 2 3/4 months.

I love my kids, but everyday for the next 2 3/4 months and I might go insane.


I'm thrilled for them that they get some time off. They deserve it. But now I go from being Joelle 1/2 of the day to not even knowing who Joelle might be. It's now going to be "MOM!" (screamed throughout the day when someone needs something) all of the day. My kids are old enough now to be left alone when I need to get the training in and when I need to go somewhere. However, I still arrange that so they are either sleeping most of the time I'm gone or it's just a quick run out for something. Guilt plagues me when they are home. I have always been here for them when they needed something. I have never counted on family to help me raise my kids. I have been lucky enough to be able to stay home and do all that needed to be done for them. Molding them into two great kids. Giving them a very stable home life and the comfort of knowing that Mom will be there when they need it. It's been on very rare occasions that we asked family to help out. To pick someone up or to take care of another because I couldn't be where I need to be. I believe that is a benefit to my children. That staying home all these years was the best decision I could of made. But I guess now that both are in middle school it's time to start pulling away. They are going to have to figure out what to do with their days and figure out how to get to where they want to go. Bikes are a wonderful thing for that. Of course I will be doing my fair share of driving here and there just like I have been. But hopefully it won't be more.

Things will be different this year. List of chores will be made. Things will need to get done before the fun starts. Sure I'll let them slack off for a week or so. But then a schedule must start. No reason beds can't be made, rooms cleaned up, dishes done, clothes put away and the yard mowed. They have all day everyday to get the jobs done. I will not feel guilty.

These next two weeks are going to be a test for me. I huge mental test. The first two weeks of summer are the hardest. The kids get used to being around each other all the time and I get used to having them home all the time. These two weeks are the hardest for me anyway. I have a race next weekend and the following weekend. The big race being just over 2 weeks away. I'll be a mess just with that over my head. Combine that with the kids being home and I may loose it just a few times and run away when my husband gets home from work. Mentally I will need to run away to regroup and get myself ready for the next day. After the first two weeks of summer things start to smooth out and we all get into a routine. Races will be completed and a cruise will be waiting for us just 10 days later.

Summer will go by fast I'm sure. It always does.