I am grateful

Grateful

I know many of you have food/eating issues like I do. Talking with another blogger this morning really got me thinking about this area of my life. I have made a lot of progress in this area but still have a long way to go. And I am not immune to backsliding.

I am grateful that I have not been bingeing. I still over eat on occasion, but have not had my head stuck in the refrigerator in a full-blown binge in a long time.

I am grateful that I have not hit three fast-food drive through windows in a row because I’m full yet starving, in a very long time.

I am grateful my health is returning and that I get the privilege of participating in triathlons.

I am grateful for my family and friends.

I am grateful for the incredible friends I have made in this community.

I am grateful for not stuffing down my emotions with food. I can’t tell you how many tears I have shed lately. It is so different to role with the emotions instead of stuffing them down with food. (I didn’t realize how sensitive of a person I am).

I am grateful for you (damn, there go those tears again)

The New Me

I've been Simpsonized! (Thanks Elayne!)
Get Simpsonized

Inch by Inch

Just got back from riding around the lake and I moved my average up again, to 10 mph. Would have been faster but there were a ton of walkers and I had to slow down a lot. 5:00 am is a much better time to ride, but sleeping in was so nice! 10 mph is not fast, but I am slowly getting faster and it seems a lot faster than 8 mph!

My goals for next Saturday's Iron Horse Triathlon are: to have fun, to meet fellow bloggers, to finish, and to average 11 mph for the bike. It's a super sprint so it will be a good workout but not too overwhelming. I will get Sunday off to rest, then Monday it's back in the pool for 1900 yds and some walking. Then I have 5 weeks to get ready for Glenwood's long Sprint - 825 meters in this pool:
(yes, that is me rounding the bouy in front f the guy in red).
then 15 miles on the bike (only a slight downhill grade the first half and of course slightly uphill on the way back - no hill of death!), and then 5 miles walking.
Have a great weekend and train hard!

The Day After

Yesterday I was really down about my weight and was very emotional and tired. But instead of stuffing the feelings down with food, like I usually would, I just experienced them and didn't eat over them. I am very happy about that small bit of growth (even though I was a basket case).

Had a 55 minute bike ride this morning and rode around the lake, very peaceful. Did 9 miles for an average 9.8 MPH. Up from my average of 8 mph. Not fast but an improvement! Watch out Mary, I'm gunnin' for ya!

Tonight is a short swim of 400 warm up, 2x300 moderately fast for the main set, and 200 cool down.

back in the pool

Kelly and I swam last night and of course she wanted to race. So we raced but the condition was no kicking (which I love anyway). Well I smoked her at last! I was breathing every 8-10 stokes and really blasting away. But then of course, we had to race with kicking and I could see her steadily pull away, leaving me in her wake! Some day Kelly!

Only 11 more days till the IronHorse Triathlon! Sounds so cool, doesn't it! The shirt should be cool too! (Don't tell anyone how short it is, shhh!). But it should be fun as there is a fitness division in addition to the competitive division and the race director (per Jay), is really into getting ordinary folks out doing this thing for health. That should be very nice!

My weight went back up a few pounds and I'm frustrated again, but I know I must hang in there and be consistent. Work is overwhelming and I was pretty depressed today with the job and the weight and felt like a truck had hit me (sore everything), so I took the day off at noon and am going to watch movies with Kelly and chill out.

See ya!

Yay!

Got my new orthotics from the Foot Mechanic on Tuesday. Feels like I'm walking on golf balls! I wear them a little more each day and already I can tell they are going to make a huge difference as my right foot is already getting better! My left foot is still sore but there is a little progress already! I am hopeful!

I also got back down below 400 to 399 today, yippee! Had my follow up CT scan done on my kidney yesterday and tomorrow I get the results and hopefully the medication will be melting the stone.

Next race is the Iron Horse Triathlon in North Platte, Nebraska on August 4th. I am going to do the super sprint which is a 200 yd pool swim, an 8 mile bike and a 2 mile walk. Will get to meet up with Jay and KT!

Kelly wants to get back in the pool and start working again, but she wants to wait until next year to race again. That is fine with me, I'm happy she wants to keep training!

My co-worker Brandy finished her first tri last Sunday and is hooked! Now I have someone in the office to talk tri with! :-) The days will go by faster!

Friday's workouts will be 1200 swim and a short 30 minute bike. Saturday is walk 15/bike 20, four times in a row, and Sunday is walk 1:20 in the morning and spin for 30 minutes in the afternoon.

My coach sent me a great article on Open Water Swimming, if you want a copy, please e-mail me at dkn747@yahoo.com

IM Lake Placid this weekend and Jeremy and Shelly re both racing. Will be fun to watch. Have a great weekend, train hard, and enjoy your friends and family!

Ironman?

IRONMAN

Can I do it? Can I tri?
So much effort, should I even try?

It’s deep and meaningful,
I need to find out,
How far can I go?
Can I be so disciplined?
Who am I?

So much to learn, my life is busy,
I’m tired, I’m sore, I’m injured.
Is it worth it, this Ironman path?

The road is so long,
Hours and hours of swim, bike, run.
Being accountable, being teachable,
Training, training some more.

Learning about myself,
Making incredible friends along the way,
Highs and lows, tears and laughter.
The journey so far, even though short,is worth it.

Once there, what will I do?
Will it be bittersweet when I reach that finish line?
No, I will be enriched beyond what I had at first hoped for!

I will find new challenges, perhaps a double!

(Special hugs to Mary, Megan, and Jayme for your inspiration!)

New Triathletes!

Kelly, Mike, and Laura can now say they are Triatletes! One of the best feelings in the world, I think!

Please visit them! I'm so proud of all three of them! (tears of joy!)

you also have to read IM ABle's Friday the 13th post! An incredible read that brought even more tears!

Soon to be . . .

There are four great people doing their first triathlons this week! My co-worker Brandy is doing the Danskins on Sunday, Mike and Luara are doing their first tri on Saturday, as is my daughter Kelly!

Now that's exciting!

Cornman Race Report

First off, thanks to all you tri-bloggers who helped me have the right attitude! I was psyching myself out Saturday. Sunday morning I was much more relaxed and confident.

Before I get to the actual race, I have to talk up the Iowa and its people! I have never seen so much CORN! Holy cow! We must be one corn eating country! The town there the race was was having their annual Corn Days Festival. Corn cook-offs, corn for sale, corn here, there, and everywhere! The people were really friendly. Here are a couple photos, including the world famous Matchstick Museum where the guy builds huge models out of matchsticks and glue:




I got to meet Krissy and Danielle briefly before the race, I wish I could have talked with them more, they are really nice! I didn't get a pic of Danielle :-( They both finished and Danielle took second in the Athena category! Way to go Danielle!



On to the race:
The Swim: The water was 83 degrees and it was starting to get hot. It was a 500 m swim straight out and back. I started in the second wave, I think it was 30-39 men and all Clydesdales. I let most of the swimmers get out in front then started swimming. Nice and easy, focusing on rotating fully for my breath so as not to lift my head and then pressing down on my chest to swim down hill. I took my time and was shooting to beat 16 minutes but I just missed it, swam 16:45. Got out of the water and was not dizzy like I was in Topeka. I actually passed two Clydes in the water! I felt totally comfortable in the open water.


T1: Walked into transition through a lot of sand and mud. Now I know why people take those little buckets of water. After I finally got the mud and sand off my feet, I couldn't get my socks on. I struggled and switched to some others but I spent about 10 minutes or so in transition. Then my sunglasses were broken! But a little duct tape fixes anything! (I carry some in the bag under my bike seat). Downed a short bottle of Heed and 10 Endurolytes and headed out on the bike.

The Bike: The first mile was small undulations and then the back side of the hill of death! Krissy and Danielle both passed me at that point. I had a goal of riding my bike up that hill further than at least one other person - goal met! People were either in Granny gear or walking the bike up it (and it was the short side of the hill!). Then once at the top I jumped back on and let gravity do its thing! 38 miles per hour! I was a bit nervous having never approached that speed on a bike before! Then it was up another hill and then "rolling hills" that gradually went up hill overall into the town of Gladbrook. By the time I got to Gladbrook, everyone had passed me. Saw the ladies on the way back and lots of supportive people (and lots of Clydes!). The towns people were still out when I rode through, guarding intersections and sweeping off gravel. They got a kick out of my asking them if I was still in first place. Then it was back towards the park with "rolling hills" on a gradual decline. (Rolling hills? A hill is a hill, what's this "rolling" crap?)LOL. On the uphills I lowered my helmet and looked at the 4-5 feet of pavement ahead of me and just kept churning. I was not going to look at teh crest of the hill and start thinking about how far it was. Then poof! I'd be at the top of another hill! I also took 5-6 Endurolytes every half hour and drank 9 scoops of Perpetuumm on the bike. I threw my chain twice. I was followed in by the sag wagon who kept me clear of traffic.


Got back into T2 and total time for the bike was 1:42:14. I wanted to come in under 2 hours so I was very happy with my ride. I rode as hard as I could, it just isn't possible to go that fast with 150-200 extra pounds. But look out next year! I'll be gunnin' for some Clydes!

T2: Feet felt good so I thought I should try the walking. My girls really wanted me to finish so I sucked down some GUs and more Endurolytes, grabbed a bottle of water and off I went.


The Walk: The first mile was incredibly tough and I was wondering if I should have just bagged it after the bike. It was so hot! At the 1/2 mile point it was back up the Hill of Death! The long face of the hill! As I was starting up the incline two Clydes in an SUV pulled up, gave me a bottle of the coldest, best tasting bottle of water I've ever had, encouraged me and I was off again. Up, up, up that freakin' hill! The sun was beating down and the GUs had not kicked in yet, I was feeling pretty weak. Then just as I was about to top out, there was the 1 mile sign! That really boosted my spirits! The next two would be so much easier than the first mile and I knew I could make it!

At the bottom of the hill one of the Division of Natural Resources guys (DNR) had a cold bottle of water for me (the first aid station was down). He followed me in his van and controlled traffic. Many racers were leaving and waving and yelling good things. Then I finally hit some shade. I felt stronger and picked up the pace for the second mile. Then I passed by this one house where the family had water and a hose, which I of course took advantage of when they offered to hose me down! Man that felt great!

I kept on going and with about 3/4 of a mile to go one of the volunteers, Kathy, started walking with me. Nice lady, she got away before I could get a photo with her. The the race director came out on a Gator and jumped off with couple cold bottles of water and walked in with me. Very nice guy - Todd Eipperle.



He and his wife Julie ran a very classy race, well organized. I finished way after everyone and Julie still had a killer lunch waiting for me! Then as I was nearing the transition area Becca and Kelly ran out and walked in with me! It was great! The timing guy was there waiting and I clocked in at a total of 3:49:38, which was great as I made my goal of finishing under 4 hours! My walk time was 1:35:52.



I found out I was tougher mentally than I thought I was. It was a very tough course and a very tough day. I finished, and of course I cried at the end (okay, I'm tough yet sensitive). I was very overcome emotionally like I was last year at Glenwood. I had set the bar higher with a tougher course and tougher conditions, and I had just cleared it. I am so happy! Nebraska IronHorse Mini-sprint is next up in August. Kelly's first tri is this Saturday, that will be so cool!

I am so stiff and sore that I'm going to bed! Luv ya all!
Duane

I made it! (The full tri!) Thanks for all your encoureagment! I love you guys!
Full report with pics Monday night or Tuesday morning, we're still on the road back.
See ya,
Duane

OMG! Just drove the bike course and I wonder what the heck I am doing here! I have a newfound respect for you guys and gals and your abilities on the bike and hills. This is a lot worse than Topeka was. As we were driving the course in the car, my daughter Becca said . ."Dad, you're so screwed!". Kind of rough talk but she was spot on, I think. I am in the second swim heat so I'll have a bit more time to bike. I was hoping to do the bike in under two hours, but I believe tomorrow I am not worrying about any time limits. I don't care if everyone is gone or not when I get there. I didn't know Iowa had hills like this. Maybe it will take me many breaks and 5 hours, but that's alright with me!

One of the guys at registration said they'd be done after two hours and I told him I'd be out there more than three and he said no way. I said probably closer to 4 hours and I don't think he believed me. I asked him if there were many DNFs on the bike and he said no. He said the swim is where most of their DNFs happen. 500 meters? I think I can float that far! The swim heats go off every 3 minutes with 50 people in each heat, about 400 athletes total. He also said they don't start the swim until 9:00 am so people don't have to get up so early and drive. LIKE I CARE ABOUT THAT IN JULY! IN IOWA! A 6 am start time would have been much nicer! :-)

And of course, if I can do the walk/run course (foot, etc), we have to go up the hill of death again in reverse. I think I may organize a Triathlon next year for obese people and brand new exercisers. Something short, encouraging, and FLAT!

Thanks for all your encourgement and support. I just love you gals/guys!
Duane

What On Earth Am I Doing?

Mallie has redesigned my blog and so a great shout out for her! She is raising money for a great cause and will re-do your blog for a very small donation. Check out the job she did on Jodi’s blog too.

We are off to Iowa in a few minutes. Why did I choose Iowa in July? Obviously I’m no rocket scientist. I must have thought I would be a lot thinner by now. I have two choices (I ruled out not going as I must face my fears?). I can attempt the whole race or turn it into an Aqua-Bike duathlon. The decision will be made during the race with two main factors influencing my decision.

The first factor is of course my foot. It is healing slowly and yesterday felt pretty good, I think I could have walked a 5k. The second factor is the heat and humidity. I am really worried about heat exhaustion or heat stroke. Living in Colorado, I am not used to humidity; Topeka really zapped me a few weeks back. Accueweather has the following forecast for Sunday’s race:

Sunday, Jul 8

High: 93 °F RealFeel®: 94 °F
Partly sunny, breezy and hot

I am going to make sure I am properly hydrated to start with. After conferring with my nutritionist, I will be taking 6-10 Endurolytes per hour. I will start taking them the day before as I will be sweating a lot then too. I will be salting my food, eating bananas for potassium, and hydrating well, as we travel across Nebraska and Iowa.

Before the race I will have a salty breakfast and a banana and some Endurolytes to start things off, and maybe some Lara bars. If I am sweating just waiting around, I will start taking the endurolytes and drinking water.

In T1, I will drink HEED and take 6 Endurolytes. On the bike I will have 50 oz of water with me and I will have 9 scoops of Perpetuem with water also. I will take 3-5 Endurolytes each half hour. I hope to complete the bike course in less than two hours. By that time, it will be about noon (why do they start the first swim wave at 9 am? Why not 6 am or even 7 am?).

Then, if I continue on with the walk, I will take some GUs with me and another bottle of water, keeping on with the Endurolyte supplementation and hitting the aid stations for water and whatever else they have. I will pour any water and ice I can on me to help cool me down. I hope that is enough to keep me as cool in that heat and humidity. I will probably have my temp checked after the bike to see where I am physically if they have any med people around, I don't want to jeopardize my health.

My stomach is really tied up in knots this morning, I need to breathe deep and know that I cannot control certain things. I have put in the training and if I take care of my nutrition, then what ever happens will happen. I need to see the bike course and the “killer hill” and make it my be otch (hopefully).


I do look forward to seeing all that corn, going to the Corn Days festival, the Matchstick Museum and hopefully meeting Danielle and Krissy. Hope you all have a great weekend and I will have the race report blogged Monday afternoon. Thanks again for all your encouragement!

The Foot Mechanic

I hope this isn't black magic (right Pirate?)but I feel hopeful that my feet will get better soon (not soon enough for Sunday, but soon).

Not much to say, will just post the photos and stuff. The photo with the color in the feet, mine are the bigs ones and the line is a measurement each 60 milliseconds of where the pressure is. The small feet on the right are how the pressure is supposed to transfer. The orthotics will be milled with the computer information and are supposed to make my load transfer mimic the ideal pattern. I was impressed and it seems like a better idea than taking molds of my screwed up feet and hoping that fixes my feet!

You Bloggers Rock! ( My Tentative Decision)

After sleeping on it (10 hours - yes!), reading your comments, and conferring with my coach, I have come to a tentative decision. Since my foot feels better this morning, I am going to attempt the race. I will be icing my foot several times a day, doing some gentle stretching and massage, and staying off my foot. Since it is taper week, I will only have one more short swim and a couple short bike rides, I will skip the walking this week (does that mean no chores around the house? Becca! Kelly! I need you to . . .) Evil grin ;-)

I will also be careful when I'm on the bike because I think I know how I hurt my foot. I noticed yesterday that when I am not pedaling, I extend my left leg to the bottom and put a lot of pressure on my foot in order to take pressure off my butt, kind of standing on the pedal. I think this is the problem. Bolder would say it's all about the bike, but I think it's all about the butt!

If I go, and I think I will, unless my foot just gets really bad, I will attempt the swim and bike then decide at that point if I can do the walk. If nothing else, I will get more open water experience and get to bike a hilly "challenging" bike course. Yesterday's ride was a short loop I did over and over so I could focus on hills, little as they were. My thighs are burning so I think it was a good workout.

Nervous about the hills? Yes! Especially after Danielle's post!


Thanks everyone for your support, you all are really great! And if you have not climbed on board yet for the IM CDA, give it some thought, it's going to be a great time!