Preparing for the Big Day

Of course I am referring to the Royal Wedding.   I am sure Kate is nervous Nellie as she is about to get married in front of the world, and lay claim to some kick ass jewelry and a new title.

On the triathlon front, I too, am a bit of a nervous Nellie.  In honor of Kate and Will, I'm thinking I, too,need to follow some traditions to ensure a good race. So with me I will have:

• Something old:  That would be me.  In the old lady wave, starting at 9:20am.  2nd to last.  Likely to be the last to finish on our team.  
• Something new: Technically, I should have nothing new on race day.  But I have a new wetsuit (swum in 2 times) and hope it brings me fast swimming speed and no rashes in unsightly places.
• Something borrowed: Energy from my team, our honorees, and my friends who are battling cancer.  To quote Steve Perry, "You're My Inspiration."
• Something blue: My watch is blue.

A partial Team Awesome in Paradise!

In perhaps a more fruitful approach to preparation, my friend Diana, who is professor of exercise and sports, had me write down two lists.  One with all of my fears.  And one list of the accomplishments I've done that will give me confidence on race day.  One is decidedly longer than the other.   But the idea is to focus on the accomplishments and all the work I've done to get to the race, which should help calm me down.

Fears:

• Getting the Swim Panic.  (I have had this in every race to date.  This involves freaking out, being unable to breath, thinking I can't swim, rolling on my back and floating, and then a long hard talk with myself.  Then pulling it together and finishing the swim.  Every damn race.)
• Letting the wind defeat me emotionally.
• Blowing out my legs on the bike.
• Getting a mechanical issue I cannot fix myself (that would be fixing a flat.  And fixing a flat.)
• Not finishing the bike fast enough and getting pulled off the course.
• Having stomach issues on the run.
• Being the last one to finish on my team, or the race for that matter.  A distinct possibility for a slow poke like me.
• Getting overheated, dehydrated, bonking, etc.



Practice Triathlon 




• And of course your everyday, general bike crashing fears.

Positive things:

• I completed a half-ironman distance, a bike century and a marathon last year.  I can endure long events.
• I've run a lot of hills this season and have felt mostly good on the runs.  My last 13 miler felt great.
• During training weekend, I rode the course and completed it.  (albeit it was very hard.  but this is a positive stuff list, so scratch this parenthetical comment) I know what to expect and when.
• My nutrition has generally worked out well this training season.  No serious bonking.
• I have pretty pink running shoes.

Oh, and the most important!  I am racing to save lives.  I've raised $3000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, which was my personal goal. But there's still work to be done.  If you would like to support me, please do contribute to my fundraising effort. Thanks to everyone who has helped me all season.  I will calling upon you in my dark times on the course!  Xoxoxo.

Will, Kate, Panic and Updates.

This morning, I woke up feeling pretty good about training.  We still have several weeks before the race and I felt like everything is within grasp if I just apply myself a little longer.  Being all confident and all, I ignored the email in my inbox about this weeks training and went straight to one entitled The Royal Wedding Update.  (Yes, I get updates about important news events like this.  So what?)

I am, sadly, very excited about seeing ol' Will and Kate walk down the aisle.  And I'm a little torn apart by the fact that said event is on the same day as Wildflower weekend.  (I'm working on some scheme to download it to my iPad and watch in the car on the way down there.  Pack the tissues, Eileen!)  Anyhow, the interwebs are all abuzz with their upcoming nuptials.  "William is apparently nervous.  The blessed event is only 22 days away."  *eyes come to screeching halt* WHAT?  22 days to the wedding.  That means 22 days to my race.  PANIC PANIC PANIC!

Now suitably in the proper frame of mind (panic), I realized that this is peak training week, and I really don't have very much time left to prepare.  And the fact that my plantar fascitis is rearing its ugly head, and my tailbone injury is haunting me one again, are all legitimate reasons to freak out.

I've calmed myself down since this morning by reading more about the Blessed Event. And I'm starting to see that I've done all the trainings to the best of my ability.  Though  I am nursing a bit of an injury, I went to see the amazing Dr. R who has gotten me through all of my endurance events so I am sure he will get me through this one.  And I do actually still have 3 more weeks of training, which I will definitely be doing diligently (after today, 'cause I'm skipping training right now. Shhhh.)

I am still pretty unsure about my ability to finish this race, but you know what could help?  A donation to support the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.  I'm just shy of my goal of $3000.  Can you help me cross the finish line?

Anyhow, you probably don't want see any more pictures of Will and Kate (or maybe you do -- download the app!).  But here's a quick trip down memory lane of some recent trainings.

Running in the rain with Team Awesome.

We do goofy things like simulating a mass swim start.  My friend Todd swam on top of me and push my head down under the water.  Thanks, Todd!

Here we are being crazy by swimming in the SF Bay.  53 in the water.  49 outside.  Neither terribly pleasant.

This little guy got freaked out by all of us splashing around.

 

That's me looking frozen with the red and white caps on.

This is down at the race site.  We did a practice swim that took an eternity.

Last weekend we had a brutal swim of 3000 meters followed by a 12 mile trail run that include 670+ of these puppies.  It makes me sick just looking at the photo of them.  Ouch.

This is one of my teammates. But this is what I felt like after the run.  Except maybe I was stuffing chocolate chip cookies in my mouth while on the ground.