I fell into a burning ring of fire, I went down down down and the flames went higher, and it burns, burns, burns,... The ring of fire!

Holy Smokes! There’s a reason they call it the Ring of Fire! I can honestly say this was one of the toughest rides I have ever done, but I’m so glad I did it! 70 miles of brutal non-stop hills in 101 degree weather. Yep, I think I’m ready for Kona now! Seriously, this ride is not for the faint of heart. I was good and hydrated and didn’t drink alcohol at all the week leading up to this event. I carpooled to Luckenbach with my buddy Sara and her friend Mary. We all met up at 5:30 in the morning at Sara’s house for the hour and a half ride into Luckenbach. I had my alarm set at 4:40 am. God that is early. I am so not a morning person so anything before 5 am feels sacrilegious to me. Anyhow, I made it to Sara’s house by 5:30 and we were off by 5:45. We had no problems getting there and took our time getting ready. By the time we got to the start line the 70 mile and 112 mile bikers had already started so we were last out, before the 40 mile group took off. No biggie, this was not a race to me and I knew it was going to be a tough ride. I’m so glad that Sara kept me company on this ride. It’s hard for me to find someone to do long rides with and Sara is training for Ironman Arizona and we ride about the same speed so it worked out great.

I knew the first section out towards Blanco was hilly, as I had ridden it a few weeks before with Erin and crew, and this is also where I had my nasty bike wreck; However, due to my wreck, I had not had the pleasure of climbing the hardest hill on the route . Right before the town of Blanco we made a turn on Crabapple road, and there was a nasty hill. Now, I’ve ridden the Leakey hill and this one felt just as bad. I was wheezing so heavily that Sara was afraid she was going to have to give me cpr. No joke! As I came up to the hill all the other cyclists had given up and were walking it, but I was determined to NOT have to get off my bike, and amazingly I made it up that hill. Everyone thought I was gonna die, doing it, but I did it! I think one of the things that helped get me up that hill was that all of the other bikers who were walking it were there cheering me on, saying you can do it! A short distance after the hill, there was an aid station and I stopped there to wait for Sara, and it turns out that one of the ladies that was cheering me on was a former coach with the very first triathlon training group I joined before doing my first triathlon back in 2002. I was so excited to see her and she told me how proud she was of how strong I have now become. For those of you who don’t know, my first triathlon was not a pretty experience and it has taken me years to get over my fear of open water swimming. It was so nice to run into her and hear her words of encouragement. Yay! Big shout out to Gina Lardon and Tri-Zones Training.

Sara and I took our sweet time at that aid station and I reluctantly got back on the bike for the next leg of the ride. The next leg was pretty uneventful, a few more hills and neverending sun and heat. We made it to the next aid station and I wanted to hitch a ride back to the start with the dreaded SAG wagon, but it was not to be, as Sara wouldn’t even let me think about it. “ It’s only 14 more miles, you can do 14 miles”. Ah, yes, ONLY 14 more miles, ok, as I wheeled out I jealously watched about 7 to 10 people board the SAG wagons. 8 more miles down the road and we came to Eli’s Meet Rack Aid station. Hands down this was the best aid station, as there was chocolate cake on hand. Thanks Eli for taking such good care of us!! That chocolate cake really hit the spot, and Sara and I were off for the last 8 miles of our journey, and I have to say it was the longest 8 miles of my life. By this point it was over 100 degrees out and the sun was beating down. There was a stretch of freshly laid asphalt that made the experience even more enjoyable…. NOT! At one point I crested a hill to see newly laid black asphalt and another neverending hill and I yelled an obscenity at the top of my lungs. I was bonking and wanted the ride to be over. The thought of yet another series of hills on hot black asphalt was enough to do me in. Seriously, it was so hot it was dangerous, and I’m still trying to figure out how I managed to finish this ride, as those of you who know me, know that I do not handle heat well and have succumbed to heat exhaustion on several occasions. We finally finished and Sara and I ate while we waited for Mary to come in. The chicken sandwich I got at the end, wasn’t quite enough for me so I purchased one of the pulled pork sandwiches and potato chips in addition to the two beers that I drank. I told Sara that she would have to stop by Dairy Queen on the way home for me to get my blizzard fix. After that amount of riding in that heat, I can pretty much eat whatever I want and not worry about gaining a pound. This is one of the few perks of ironman training…..aside from getting in great shape….. After tough workouts like this one, I can eat whatever I want and not worry about it.

I can honestly tell everyone, that training in the brutal Texas summer is definitely taking it’s toll on me. I’m not one to advocate doing more than one ironman a year, and there’s a reason for that. After I did Ironman Coeur D’Alene in 2009 I only took 2 weeks off before hitting the training grind again and I quickly burned out . I signed up for Ironman St. George last year to be completed in May of this year and started training for it, never dreaming that I would get one of the coveted slots to Kona. I found out that I got a slot for Kona less than a month out from Ironman St. George. Had I known I probably wouldn’t have signed up for St. George. Also, had I known that St. George was going to be as difficult as it was, I wouldn’t have signed up as well; however, even though I’m starting to burn out, I’m so glad I experienced the toughness of the St. George course, because it gives me the mental will power I need to know that I’m going to be able to do Kona, and everything will turn out alright. I know it’s still 6 to 7 weeks away, however, I’m ready for Kona now!!!

Score: Redneck Trucker 1, Laurie's dream of completing Ironman Hawaii -1

Well, as I say, it's not IF you get in a wreck, it's WHEN you get in a wreck..... I have now had my second serious bike wreck, thanks to an impatient redneck in his pickup truck.

I was previewing the Red Licorice Events Ring of Fire 65 mile bike course with some RLE team mates starting in Luckenbach. We were on about mile 15 on a two lane highway when a very big tractor was coming towards us on the other side of the road as he should be when suddenly I heard shouting. I couldn't figure out why they would be shouting about a slow moving tractor on the other side of the road until I saw what they were shouting about. A big black pickup truck was heading straight at us going the wrong way at least 90 mph trying to pass the tractor. We had nowhere to go, as there was no shoulder on this road and everyone was hitting their brakes and I was trying not to crash into my team mates when I lost control and totally bit it in the middle of the road. Apparently the truck driver swerved, narrowly missing us and just kept on going. I was very lucky. I was lying there on my back in the middle of the road afraid to move, when my team mates came and got me and gingerly moved me to the side of the road while they called 911. I was bleeding from the back of my head and was extremely dizzy. The tractor stopped and several other good citizens stopped to offer help, and unfortunately it took over 30 minutes for the Fredericksburg EMT's to get to me. It's a good thing I only had a minor concussion, as I probably would have died out there had it been more serious. Both Frederickburg and Stonewall sent an EMT and fire truck, however, the city of Blanco which was only 10 miles away would not send anyone! Luckily, the hospital did a cat scan and found no damage to my head other than the four staples that had to be put in to stop the bleeding. I'm still recovering and still feeling woozy, and I do have a bone chip floating from my ankle, so my doctor has told me not to run for 2 to 6 weeks. I'm hoping that the ankle will heal quickly, as I'm not giving up on my dream to do the Ironman World Championship in Hawaii. Hopefully this will be a small set back, albeit a very expensive setback. Luckily, I do have my cobra insurance, however, I'm still going to have to pay several hundred out of my pocket to cover the hospital bills and bike repair bills. I'm just happy to be alive and to not have any serious broken bones. I often forget just how dangerous of a sport I have taken up. I want to thank all of my friends for their support and good thoughts! I get my staples out next Monday and will start up my cycling and swimming again then. Looks like I'm going to end up walking the marathon of ironman, but hey... it's not the first time, I've had to walk a marathon... and I am only getting one chance to do Ironman Hawaii.... Perhaps I'll be the lucky last finisher to cross that line at midnight!

Breakdown number 1 has arrived

Well, I was feeling that I wasn't training enough a few blog posts back, and now I'm starting to burn out again. This past week felt intense and I'm still nowhere close to where I need to be. This heat is really getting to me and perhaps my general attitude needs an adjustment. I'm starting to question why I want to do this and getting a general apathy altogether towards training. Is this normal? I don't want to get into my personal life here, but I have to admit, I'm hitting a negative spiral and I don't like it. I have no motivation, nothing to get up for, and what feels like nothing to look forward to except a very expensive trip to Hawaii by myself. I think I need my happy shot now.

Last Saturday I did a 2.4 mile open water swim in Lake Travis and I came in last place. I don't think I did too poorly with an overall time of 1 hour 40 minutes. That is only 10 minutes off of my Ironman St George time for which I had a wetsuit on, and only a minute off of my Ironman Coeur D'Alene time for which I also had a wetsuit on. I didn't realize a wetsuit could make that much of a difference, apparently it does. The swim felt like much longer than 2.4 miles and it was hard knowing I was the only one left out there. I had my own personal kayak escort which was kind of nice. I got a couple of suggestions from some people observing my swim on my stroke. Apparently I wasn't catching enough water. Anyhow, the next day I did a 43 mile ride in Luckenbach with the Red Licorice Events team. It was fun and a challenge to keep up with the group. I just have to accept that I am a slow triathlete and that I have been given a huge privilege to compete in Kona, and accept that if I'm lucky I will finish by midnight.

Two workouts a day, training in Houston, and Rednecks oh my!

Ironman Hawaii is only three months away now and my training has started to get a little more intense. My coach is giving me two workouts a day now more often and this week, I get the pleasure of training in Houston, as I'm visiting family. Boy what a difference a three hour drive makes in terms of humidity and heat. Yesterday, I did an hour long run and I burned 626 calories. This is over twice as many calories that I would normally burn on an hour long run in Austin, if that gives you any idea. Today I got the pleasure of cycling in and outside of Kingwood. I only got honked at three times for my hour long ride. Apparently, people in Kingwood do not realize that a road bike is meant to be ridden on a road and not on the greenbelt. Some guy passed me in a truck, honked at me and pointed to the greenbelt and flipped me off. I guess I've been spoiled living in cycling friendly Austin. I really hope I don't have to move to Houston for work....
I also had a lovely experience swimming at the YMCA close to my mom's house. Full of kids and kids peeing in the water. The pool was filthy and a kid peed right next to me as I was swimming laps. Nice! I don't think I'll be going back to the Y any time soon.....

According to Ironman the average age grouper does 7 miles of swimming a week, 232 miles of cycling a week , and 48 miles of running a week…..

Seriously, if the above statement is the norm then I must be a miracle! In the two ironmen that I have done, I can honestly say I did not reach that level of training and have no desire to. Does that make me a bad triathlete? Discuss amongst yourselves…

Well I wish I had more of an exciting life that I could update this blog a little more, alas… it is not to be, I lead an incredibly mundane life right now…. My days are filled with sitting at a computer looking for a job, and training in the evenings. My coach still has me in transition mode, so my workouts have not gotten ridiculous yet. The weekend before last, I actually rode more than what he had down for me. I have a private coach that writes up a plan for me daily. His name is Shawn Bostad and he runs Pure Austin Coaching at Pure Austin gym. If you are looking for a triathlon coach, I highly recommend him. The one thing that I really love about Shawn is how emotionally connected he is with his athletes.

So two weeks ago, I rode with a few Texas Iron athletes and we did the Lost Creek/Barton Creek Dam loop and I have to say it was really tough. I had not ridden the Lost Creek hill since before Ironman St. George, and all I can say is that it was hot, it was humid, and it was tough as nails….but I did it. We ended up riding about 50 miles and the whole time I felt like I was still on my 11/23 cassette. I actually double checked it to make sure I had the 12/27 on there, so I don’t know if that means that I have a long way to go training wise or if the heat was just getting to me. Anyhow, this past weekend was the 4^th of July and I will admit that I was guilty in going to parties and drinking which ultimately affected my training. I went to a really fun party on Friday night and drank a bit too much and paid for it all day Saturday. Due to the rain and me not feeling 100%, I pushed off my long ride until Sunday. I had gone out Saturday night as well, but was good and didn’t drink. One of my friends is loosely related to Willie Nelson’s harmonica player, and we went to see him play at Saxon Pub. We also, got to hear Willie’s son’s band play as well. It was fun, but for some reason, Sunday morning I had the hardest time waking up. I didn’t start my two hour ride until 11 am. Not ideal in this summer heat. I decided to just ride up and down Parmer since I was riding by myself. Going out towards Georgetown was easy, wind at my back; but coming back was a brutal headwind. This is good for me, as I need to practice cycling in strong headwinds for Kona, as I’m told the winds can get up to 50 mph there. So all in all it was not too difficult of a ride, and I tried to make up for the fact that I didn’t do my 55 minute run by doing a 1.5 mile run at 4 pm in the afternoon. …. That makes up for it right????

Oh well, we can’t all be perfect triathletes… and I’m not going to beat myself up over it. I’ve got plenty of time. Three months to be exact….. By the way, here is an interesting statistic that I pulled from the Ironman World Championship web page Frequently Asked Questions….. The average age grouper in preparing for the Ironman World Championships does 7 miles of swimming a week, 232 miles of cycling a week , and 48 miles of running a week….. My jaw dropped when I read that. I’ve come nowhere close to that in the training that I’ve done for the two ironmen that I have completed. I can say at my peak that I swam no more than 4 miles a week, rode no more than 120 miles a week, and ran no more than 26 miles a week, and that was definitely not the norm. ….

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner!

This past weekend I had the opportunity to volunteer for the Red Licorice Events Jr. Varsity Triathlon for kids and participate in the Champions Triathlon for adults and what an amazing experience it was! The highlight of this event for me was getting the opportunity to help kids as young as 5 years old participate in their first triathlon. These kids were absolutely precious and amazing to me. I remember when I was 6 years old, I was so shy, that I was afraid to ride my bike in the annual 4^th of july parade. To see kids as young as 5 years old doing a triathlon just amazes me. I was terrified of water as a child and to see how brave these little kids were about doing an open water swim, a bike , and a run all by themselves is very humbling. I had so much fun helping these kids set up their transition and cheering them on as they came back in. One little girl had a stuffed puppy in her bike basket, it was just too cute.

After the kids triathlon was finished, we had the adult version of the triathlon, it was a super sprint course, and I can’t tell you how refreshing it is to do a shorter length triathlon especially in this Texas heat and humidity. I have to admit, I was a little surprised at just how short the swim was. At first I though some buoys were missing. I believe the swim was only 300 meters, which is usually a warmup for me during my swim practice. Also, this swim was in shallow water, so there were several times where I walked through the water, Once my hands and feet start hitting the bottom while swimming, it becomes more efficient to walk in the water… Anyhow, it was fun and went by quickly, there was a short jog up the boat ramp to transition and I was off on the 11 mile bike course. It was a pretty flat course that went over the granger lake dam and back. On the way back, there was a bit of a head wind, but nothing too bad. Back in transition, I headed out for the 2 mile run, and it was a hot one. I’m just happy that I managed to run the whole distance in this heat. It must have been at least 95 degrees out, and there was no shade. I kept pouring cold water over my head at each aid station. I can’t tell you what a difference it makes to pour ice cold water over your head. As I came around the last turn, I could see the finish line and I was sooo happy, until I heard Adam say, that I had one more little loop to do before going through the finish chute. What??? So dejecting to be so close and ready to end, only to have to run another quarter of a mile. Ah well, I did it and finished, and to my great surprise, I was first in my age group!! I can’t tell you what an awesome feeling that is! This is my first time ever to win any kind of race and I tell you what, I feel kinda special! Thanks to Red Licorice Events for giving me this wonderful experience!!!

I know it’s been a while since my last post. I started my training officially about two weeks ago with a new coach and we are starting off pretty slow. This past weekend I did a 2 hour bike ride and that went well. Everything else has been no more than a 60 minute workout be it swimming, biking, or running. Most of my swims have been open water swims in the quarry lake at pure Austin gym. I have to say, my allergies have been wreaking havoc on me. I went to my doctor on Monday to see if there was anything she could do about it. She’s put me on an antibiotic as she says I have a sinus infection and we are trying to wean myself off of the over the counter nasal sprays in favor of flonase. In addition to the allergies, I also wanted to have her check my heart as I’ve been noticing a lot of heart palpitations or what feels like constant skipped heartbeats. So today she sent me to a heart doctor to get a 48 hour heart monitor . As I sit here writing this I have 5 different cords attached to my body with a portable button to push each time I feel it happen. I can still workout with this attached, but I can’t swim, so I guess that limits me to biking and running for the next two days. I’m sure it’s probably nothing, and the latest new bodily reaction to the stress I’ve been under. This weekend I’m scheduled for another two hour ride and a 45 minute run. My new coach is not out to kill me this summer, and I greatly appreciate that. I’m also changing my strategy for the marathon portion of the ironman in light of the fact that there was only a 10 minute difference in my marathon times between the two ironman’s I’ve done, in which I completely ran one of them, and walked the majority of the other one. In light of that, I don’t see the need to kill myself by trying to run the entire marathon portion of ironman when I can walk it just as fast. Pretty interesting. What’s kind of weird about it is that I ran the entire Coeur D’Alene marathon of ironman in 2009 and it was a pretty flat run course. I walked the majority of Ironman St George and it was an extremely hilly course, and the difference was only 10 minutes. Amazing! I was walking pretty fast too, so why run, when I can walk faster???? Considering I will be doing Ironman Hawaii through the lava fields in 90 degree plus heat, I think I will plan on walking it. More to come later….