I'm back!

Ok, so I haven't blogged for 10 months. Did life completely stop after my Ironman finish? Of course not!! But, it's like the whole tree falling in the woods thing....if no one reads this is it worth writing? I think it is. I read it, I write it, and I LEARN! I learn so much about myself, about my relationships, about life. It helps to give me a little clarity when most of the time my brain is MUSH! So yes, I've decided...it's worth it!
Now, how to catch up on 10 months! :-O
Life continues to roll forward with all of it's ups and downs. After the IM, I struggled, not surprisingly, with post-race depression. Fortunately it didn't seem to last too terribly long, maybe a month or so? Physically, the first 10 days were a little rough, but thankfully nothing major. I had tightness in my chest and shortness of breath for about a week. Also I had issues with pelvic pain and pressure and urinary tract discomfort. Infection was ruled out and there was no bleeding. Just soreness from all of the pounding. I continue to have pelvic soreness, especially ofter hard efforts, but it has been improving overall. I took 3 whole days off(:-O), then just started to swim, then slowly got back to base. Then I registered for Boston...and apparently I waited too long.....registration was CLOSED! Complete mental breakdown! Fortunately I had booked the hotel room with Marathon Tours and was able to get in by using their open slots....WHEW!
I started to train in January. Mentally I was in my happy place! Physically, not so much!!! Lots of pelvic pain and right hip/groin issues. I babied myself, training easy. I tried yoga and ....gulp....MASSAGE!!! These really helped. I managed to stumble through the training, then got sick with a bad bronchitis 2 weeks from the race. I was thankful I had two weeks to try and get over it, but I definitely was not 100% on race day. And actually, the race itself went MUCH better then the first! I still had visions of trying to qualify for Boston AT Boston, but the pace just wasn't there. So I decided to take it easy and ENJOY! And I did. AND....my quads didn't start screaming until mile 22....MUCH improved over 2008!!!! I ended up running 3:55, just 2 minutes slower then 2008!!! I'll take it!
Since then I've vamped up my training to tri mode, although I did run the Madison half marathon Memorial weekend. Only 6 weeks out from Boston....the soonest I have ever raced after a marathon! The weather was so hot and muggy, they closed the marathon course at 4 hours. It was 91, dew points were near 70. AWESOME! I love the heat! HOWEVER, at mile 10, I was incredibly thankful to be running the half instead of the full! Even I was HOT! I finished in 1:55, and was 26th out of 280 in my age group!
Today I'm recovering from my 3rd race of the season. (My plan for this year is to race every month until September, and then sign up for the big dance in 2011!!) It was the Wisconsin Triterium, and I did the Olympic distance. I've never done this one before. It's a small race, about 170 athletes. It's all about the loops! It's a 3 x 500 meter swim. You have to get out of the water, run around a tree, and get back in the water! THAT was interesting!! ;-)My swim was 36 minutes, much improved over 50....but still one of the slowest. I'm getting NEAR the ballpark anyway!!!! Then it's a 2 loop bike, a lot of it on the IM course. ONG!!! It was so hilly and technical....Big gears to granny gears and back...in the blink of an eye! I didn't have a strategy for the course other then I wanted to push the bike leg to see how I could do, then really test my legs during the run. Mission accomplished!!!!! I only averaged 15.5h mph, and I was sucking wind on the hills big time. Definitely room for improvement! I thought for sure my run would completely suck. My legs were VERY tired, even though it was only 26 mile....JEEZ! The run is 3 x 2 mile hilly loop, with one big hill. By the 3rd time up that hill my legs were jelly and my stomach was lurching. I simply REFUSED to walk! I will never improve if I don't learn to suffer. I felt like I was running 10 min. miles, but I kept looking at my mile splits in amazement. I averaged 8.24's!!! WHAT??? I was the second fastest 10k I've ever run, and that's including the stand alone's!!! My body simply likes to run off the bike. Thank you again body, for hangin with me!!!!!
Now the reality....I was feeling so proud of myself....until I saw my placing in my age group. 9/10 in the swim....no surprises there except I wasn't LAST!! ;-) 7/10 on the bike....UGH....and 6/10 on the run. I know I shouldn't compare and mess with my head in that way, but I can't help it. So, I've been doing a lot of self talk, and I'm now feeling very satisfied and THANKFUL! Thankful that I had the opportunity to push, learn, and grow, and come out of it sore and tired, but intact! I suffered through many moments of doubt, including a dicey 3rd loop swim where I was getting PUMMELED by the wave of guys that started after me! It's ALL good!! This week I will TRY to recover quickly, and keep on rolling!!! The next race is the Pardeeville sprint in 3 weeks!
Other then some changes in my swim training, including a try at and open water swim class which started 3 weeks ago, that's the 10 month training update! Next up....the 10 month family update! LOTS of drama there. Life can be described in a myriad of ways, but I would NEVER use the word BORING!!! :-)
Enjoy this day!!