The Book of Firsts…by Nytro

It’s been a while since I’ve written. Sorry about that. I’ve been busy…what do you want me to say??? Ski season is over, so now I have more time! I’ve had some significant “firsts” in this journey to Ironman, which got me thinking… Here is a rundown. It goes without saying the ultimate first is tackling Ironman. Never done that before!

1.     I got my first all carbon road bike in February. Stared at it in the garage on weekends while loading up the ski gear to head to the mountain. Finally it got nice enough to ride! Bye-bye skis….hellooooo SuperSix! This thing is a dream. It doesn’t replace my beloved P3, but there is a place for it in my training program. More about that later.

2.     I’m running my race wheels on the SuperSix as training wheels. The SS came with crap wheels that weigh a ton and rather than buy decent wheels, why not run the awesome wheels sitting in my basement? Done.

3.     I’ve embraced the social aspect of training. I used to be the girl with her head down, laser beam focus, who didn’t see a thing around her. Not only have I learned to raise my head and take a peek around, I’ve also enjoyed training with other people. Don’t look now, but I’m having fun. Who knew? Warning: If you are participating in my training, that’s cool and I thank you, but its all fun and games until race day.

4.     I have reached the point in Ironman training where I am hungry all the time. I feel like I am eating non-stop. And my jeans are falling off! For the most part, I’m following a healthy diet, but there is plenty of room for some extras. I bought my first jar of Nutella. The tiny little one….I promise! They should call that stuff what it is – CRACK! Just today I ate inhaled an oatmeal chocolate chip cookie the size of a hubcap! It was sooo good. Thanks Erin!!!!

5.     There is milk in my fridge. Huh? Right….I don’t drink milk. I have no use for it. It doesn’t belong in my fridge. But having just unveiled #4, I must confess, I am eating Life cereal by the box. Do you find it ironic that I’ve chosen LIFE of all cereals? What’s the hidden meaning here?!?!? At any rate, I need some milk to mist my cereal.

6.     I’ve discovered an unbelievable group of tri crazies online. I never knew I could find so much inspiration and support from people I’ve never met. So happy to have found the Ironman Lake Placid group, and of course there are my teammates at www.thetrishop.com! These guys rock. Most of them are well into their race seasons and I think everyone who has raced has set a PR, so the bar is set high! Kind of glad I’m not racing against them (see the fine print in item 3).

7.     I rode my bike 70 miles Saturday. That’s the longest ride I’ve ever done. Hey…before that I was only a Half Ironman, so there was no need to be able to cover more than 56 miles. I had trained up to 65. Saturday I rode 70 miles. Sunday I was supposed to ride 70 again, but I only did 68. Call me a failure, I don’t care. I climbed the App Gap….on a bicycle…on a day after I had already thrown down 70 miles. All I can say is thankfully that SuperSix has a compact crank! I’m thinking if I do that climb 1-2 more times, Lake Placid might actually feel FLAT! No???

8.     I got my first professional bike fit on both bikes. If you haven’t gone to see Ian Buchanan at Fit Werx, what are you waiting for? I’ve never felt better on the bike. We made some major changes and in some ways my body is still adjusting, but I can already feel the difference. Check them out at www.fitwerx.com or better yet, make the drive to Waitsfield. So worth it! And if you want a bike fit, let me know….I can save you $25. Yup yup yup… Ian’s the man!

9.     I withdrew from a race for the first time. Yes, you heard correct. I withdrew from a race. It was a C-race at best and Coach Dave was asking me to run it as an Ironman Marathon simulation. Hummm….Ironman marathon pace is much different than open half-marathon pace. The race really put a crimp in my personal plans to get to Connecticut to the MUSE concert and I don’t have confidence in myself that I could follow the plan to not race in a race setting, so I withdrew. I did the 13.1 mile IM race simulation. The night before. On the track. Alone. And proceeded to go to one of the greatest rock concerts ever! Without rushing and with legs well on their way to recovery. Don’t look now, but I think I’m starting to mature as a racer. Long way to go, but taking steps in the right direction.

10. I have branched out a bit in an artistic sense. Girl who loves black bought purple running kicks!!! Hey, that’s a big deal for me considering my last six pairs of sneakers were black.

So there you have my list of first. I have continued to strike a balance between my life and Ironman. I knew there would come a time when I would have to start making even more sacrifices…and that time has come. The training volume is getting really high and aside from work, I feel like the majority of my time is being spent preparing for training, training, eating, recovering from training, sleeping, and realizing I need even more sleep.  I ask for your continued support over the next 75 days. If I decline a social invitation, please understand. If I do come out, but choose to drink water instead of beer, don’t harass me. If I fall asleep while socializing with you, just wipe the drool from my face and cover me up with a blanket!

Seventy-five days….that’s all that’s left. Thank you all for being a part of my journey. These next 75 days are going to be the most critical ones. My #1 goal is to prepare my mind and body to get to the start line on July 28^th, while remaining injury-free and maintaining some semblance of sanity. Although some of you would argue I had none to begin with. Ironman is the BOSS! This journey has been filled with self discovery, success, times when I fell short, and a list of ten “firsts”.   Three-hundred days ago I couldn’t have imagined being where I am now.  What’s your dream? What’s the one thing you think isn’t possible? Here’s the truth….The time is going to pass no matter what….so why not follow your dreams. Work toward something. Look fear in the face and show it whose boss. What are you waiting for? 

Yup, sounds about right to me… I'm hungry. Time for some Life!