Nope! I've just signed on the dotted line and committed myself to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's (LLS) Team in Training's (TNT) Ironman(r) Team. I will complete the Inaugural Ironman(r) Lake Tahoe on September 22, 2013 and I will raise $7,000 for LLS in their mission to cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families. Check out my fundraising page to see HOW YOU CAN HELP: http://pages.teamintraining.org/sf/irnmnltt13/blimxt
Hard to believe, but my training has already begun! I am now embarking on week 4 of my training with the Team! My calendar is chock-full of training schedules and events for the next
You may be wondering what in the world made me want to do an Ironman when I'm still afraid of deep water? Or you might be wondering... what IS an Ironman(r)?
An Ironman(r) consists of a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride, followed by a full marathon (26.2 miles) for a total of 140.6 miles... all completed in one day and under 17 hours!
Background: After completing my first century ride (100 miles on a bike) with TNT this past September in Moab, UT [Beautiful scenery there, by the way!]... I was looking for my next challenge. With TNT, I've completed a marathon, a handful of half marathons and 10k/5k fun runs, an olympic distance triathlon and duathlon, a few sprint triathlons, a 25k cross country ski event in Alaska, and now a century ride. Should I do another century ride? Join the Hike team? Run or ski again?
At a TNT fundraiser, I bumped into IronCoach Kristy at Sports Basement Presidio and listened to her talk to my cycle teammate (and now Iron teammate) Laura about the upcoming Iron season. Kristy is the swim coach and convinced me that with her help, I could do it! Well, honestly... I wasn't totally convinced yet. But I couldn't stop thinking about it!
"... maybe THIS would get me over my fear of deep water!" (Ahem. "Deep water" is all relative. For me, "deep water" is water that goes above my head when I am standing upright. I get scared and panic-y when my feet can't touch the bottom. I'm afraid I can't get enough air to stay afloat and in motion.)
Of course, I had other thoughts too...
"No one can see you cry in the water"
"ARE YOU CRAZY???"
"Can I do it?" "Sure I can!" "Can I?"
"Seriously?"
Then I started thinking about all of my TNT friends who Iron-challenged themselves and are proud of their experiences! A few of them didn't even know how to swim when they first joined the team!
I.
So, here we are...about to start Week 4. I am running, cycling and swimming again!
FYI: I just had my first video swim analysis yesterday. We were filmed from above and below, as well as from the side and front. So far, the preliminary results are encouraging... good swim strokes... just need to work on my breathing (don't I know it!).
In review... since I started this blog late...
Week 1: TNT Season Kick-off!
Inspirational speeches, meeting the rest of the team, get the preliminary workout schedules, get schooled at "Iron University", ... and discover all the new items (yikes!) I will be buying: cycling trainer (so I can "spin" on my own bike), IronTeam kits (jackets, cycle jersey, tri shorts?), warm weather workout clothes, new running shoes, etc. This week is dedicated to all of our Honored Teammates who have, had, or are going through their battle with blood cancer!
Week 2: Rough start doing a lot of OYO (= "On your own") workouts with the holiday season (gobble, gobble!) beginning. I'm not really good doing OYOs... I'm more of a "pack" person. I need that extra push of having other people around me, going through the same things. I like having someone to work out with. BTW, the weekend team workouts were GREAT! This is week dedicated to all my friends and family! SO THANKFUL to have you all in my life!
Week 3: Success! I did my own weekday track workout... by... myself... and I actually enjoyed it! I ran along the top area at Kezar (my knees like that surface better than the track). During the hour run, I just kept thinking about my Iron teammate David V. at our last group run. He was just happy to keep running. It didn't matter if his pace was slow. He was just happy to actually run! Great mindset! This week is dedicated to David!
I CAN do this! I WILL do this!
