Bib # 818!
My bike is on it's way to Louisville, Kentucky and my bags are packed as I get ready to leave and take on Ironman Louisville! I've trained 10 months for this- 67 hours and 3 minutes in swim training covering at least hundreds of thousands of yards, 156 hours and 31 minutes on my bike covering thousands of miles, 89 hours and 32 minutes in my run shoes covering at least 400 miles and 20 hours of core strength totaling 332 hours and 31 minutes in training time!
Am I ready? Am I nervous? Do I have a time goal? These are the questions that I've been asked most the past few days and the answers to those questions are...ready or not..I better darn well be on the morning of August 31, 2008! Yes I am nervous! Anyone that tells you they're not are lying! It's Ironman! Above all, I am more excited than anything for both myself and my teammates who have put on a lot of hard work to get our minds and bodies trained! Training for Ironman is almost like taking on a second full time job but the rewards and personal satisfaction one gets out of it is priceless! I've lived a very structured life these past 10 months haha, you almost have to! I've hit the highest of highs and the lowest of lows and just when I thought it couldn't get any lower, it did! Fortunately, I've been surrounded by an amazing team and friends who have been nothing but encouraging and supportive!
In terms of time goal, really, all in all, I just want to have fun out there! My only time goal is to make all the time cut offs comfortably! Training for an Ironman has been a very humbling experience and anything can happen on race day! So, if I can finish before the time cut offs and have a fun day out there, I will be more than happy and satisfied! It's really why I do such a thing called triathlon and took on Ironman because it's fun to live the active lifestyle, go our on bike rides to really appreciate the scenery, run along postcard views week after week, red line our heart rates from time to time and feeling that accomplishment of being able to push through a hard workout..even with tears welling up in your eyes because of mental and physical fatigue..knowing it's money in the bank if you can get through this and check it off the list! All this, I will carry with me as I am on the Ironman course!
Above the experience and more importantly, I've been able to raise just about $10,000 to support the fight against blood cancers! I couldn't have done this on my own so thank you for the support and donations! It's not too late so if you still want to donate, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society will take your money on my behalf! Just visit the link-
Thank you for your words of encouragement and kind acts! I've been going through way too many variations of emotions for my 5'3'' self these past few days and everytime I receive an email or a text of support, I am humbled and encouraged so thank you!
For race day, my plan is to survive the 2.4 mile swim, keep my heart rate in check, fueled and hydrated during the 112 mile bike ride and just keep moving forward on the run! Following my good friend's advice who she got from another friend, I am going to "eat, drink and have fun!" You can track me on race day on the link below! I am BIB# 818!
http://ironman.com/events/ironman/louisville/?show=tracker&rid=164&year=2008
Wish me luck!
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