An ENTIRE day of organization

This morning I got up at 7:30am and got out on my bike at 8:15. It was still 35F outside...perfect to test out my gear for the race. Outcome: I was moderately comfortable!!! Hurray!! The trick to being happy when it's 35 outside is hand warmers! (you can get them at any outdoors/camping/hunting place and they are awesome!! It takes a little bit for them to get hot, but when they do they are REALLY hot! I stuck them under my toe covers on my bike shoes and wore two pairs of gloves with them in between. My hands got so hot I had to take them out!

After this monumental success I proceeded to organize all my bags for the race. I also had to go to a "mandatory" athlete meeting at 2pm. I did learn something however: They decided that we will be getting our bike special needs bags back, so when I get hot I can take all my stuff off and know that I'll be able to put it in a bag at mile 50 or 60 or something around there. NICE!

Anyways, as for my bags....this was like planning a 4week vacation, but its really only one day, and its anything but a vacation! Here's what ended up in them all:

Pre-Event Bag
Just whatever I take off before getting in the water at the start goes in this bag, and they bring them over to the finish line for us.

Swim to Bike Transition Bag (very big bag!!)
helmet
ear warmers
head warmer
sports bra
base layer
TWD cycling jersey
arm warmers
shorts
leg warmers
2 pairs of socks
shoes w/ toe covers
2 pairs of gloves
wind breaker w/ zip off sleeves
hand warmer packets
chamoi butter
deoderant
tissues
towel
sunglasses

Bike Special Needs Bag
some back up food in case I drop anything
extra tube for my bike
(this bag will be more useful to put clothes in later)

Bike to Run Transition Bag
shorts and long tights (I couldn't decide)
long and short sleeve t-shirt (again...I couldn't decide)
race number belt w/ a pocket holding electrolyte tablets and 3 Accel Gels
socks
shoes
Ace bandage and picture of the wrapping method for my ankle
hat
tissues
velcro strap for my GPS watch

Run Special Needs Bag
2 more long sleeve shirts (one cotton, one technical)
gloves
electrolytes and 3 Accel Gels
Firefox light for my waist band
warm hat
extra Ace bandage
extra socks
Aleve
warm running pants

Post Race bag
big warm jacket
sweat pants
warm hat and gloves
compression sleeves

You think thats enough stuff!?!? Jeezz..

Oh, I also left a pair of shoes near the swim exit, because it quite a ways from there to the transition and its going to be 40F in the morning, the water is 65F. I'm not running it bare foot, I won't be able to feel my feet when I get there!!

Here's the chaos that has taken over my living room:


While I'm going on about my planning, here is my nutrition plan for the day:

Breakfast (enough to feed an army...or a soon to be IronWoman!)
bagel with cashew butter (480 calories)
perpetuem with a banana mixed in (360 calories)
low fat chocolate milk (180 calories)

No, those aren't options, I'm eating it ALL, for a grand total of 1020 calories, about 3.5-4hrs before the race.

After that I'll drink some more Perpetuem (260 calories) about 1.5 before the start, then drink about 100 calories of Heed 10 minutes before jumping in.

Bike
0-20min:water (let the tummy settle)
After that, during the first 3 hours each hour I'll take in 260cal Perp, and one Hammer bar. The rest of the race will be just 260cal Perp each hour and 2 gels when ever I want them. (I'm taking 7 servings of Perpetuem with me)
Total Calories: 2680

Run
I'm carrying electrolytes (Elete...more sodium per tablet than Hammer Endurolytes has), and Accel Gels (because of the protein...help the muscles to not break down).
The rest I'll get at aid stations. The plan is 2 gels an hour, two Elete tablets, and as much Heed as I feel like I want, and water. That will get me about 250-300calories an hour, and about 350mg of sodium per hour.

Dinner
BEER AND PIZZA!!!!!!!!!! and water and Recoverite and aleve....

I also checked in my bike at the beach transition today as well as my changing bags. I'm sitting here at 7:20pm the night before my first ironman, and I'm relatively relaxed...is that good or bad? I guess by tomorrow night I'll know for sure.

The result of hours of work:

My bike, with cues for aid stations and mile markers that I like taped to it (Yes, I was an A student, don't laugh at me)

My bike all clean and pretty ready for the big day

All my bags, full of all my stuff

My clothes laid out for the morning, with my swim stuff next to it,
and yes, my pink PT's Grille socks...gotta represent!

All my new stuff

This week I acquired some new toys! First I got a lighter and more ventilated helmet, its about 40g lighter than my old one. Apparently, over 120miles that makes a difference on your shoulder and neck muscles. The ventilation difference in awesome, check them out:

above: old helmet below: new helmet

I also FINALLY sucked it up and bought some nice sunglasses to protect my eyes from all the glare on the road, and stuff flying up at me. I got them at the mall for $155. That's a steep price but I got a lot for it: 2 sets of lens (dark tint and dawn/dusk tint), a hard case, a bag, cleaning cloth, sport strap, a regular strap, and the frames are really good quality. They also come with a LIFETIME warranty!! I'm stoked about them.

I am also trying out a new seat this week. Its been very popular with the local triathletes so I figured I'd give it a try. I was fine with my old seat for a long time, but then this past weekend I rode 120mi and I was really uncomfortable. I'm trying to get lower in my aero bars so I think the pressure of leaning over like that is making me uncomfortable. Enter, the ADAMO GEL SADDLE!!! (I'm test riding it, haven't paid for it just yet....got to make sure it's going to work first! I'll write a review in a bit.) My old seat is the one on the left. It had a cut out, but the nose just wasn't working out for me. Look at the Adamo from above:The only problem I foresee so far (I've only riden 20mi on it), is that the front is a lot thicker than my saddle, so I can't pull my knees in as much....we'll see...

My last new accessory for the week is a pair of arm warmers that I scored for FREE! My friend Misty (one of my idols, she is a multi time Ironman) gave them to me, because she had two pairs and the mornings are cold now. That is a picture of the logo on them, I'm not sure who makes them but they are super comfy and nice and warm...I'm in love!


THINGS I'M THINKING I NEED BEFORE THE RACE:

1. Compression tights for the "run". They will help all my tired muscles, but especially my shin and calf on my bad leg. Either this or I'm going to wear compression socks or sleeves. I truly think this stuff helps. I ordered compression leg sleeves (as an alternative to always wearing the socks I bought) two days ago. The sleeves are made by Zensah, I didn't get pink ones, I just got white ones. (Trying not to stand out more than I already do!)

If I get tights it will probably be the CW-X StabilyX tight. I'm thinking of tights, only because by November 1st it will probably be too cold for me to run/walk in shorts. I don't really like the idea of wearing tights, but if they help me then I'll get over it....

Check them out here: Compression tights

2. New running shoes...its just that time.

3. New chain on my bike. My chain and cassette were replaced on 7/9/08, now the chain has a little over 1500miles on it. Time to replace it. Chains are like changing the oil in your car. If you don't change the chain regularly then when you do you have to change the cassette too....if you like spending lots of money go for it....

4. Leg warmers for the bike ride. That way if I get warm I can roll them down and take them off quickly! Way better than long bike tights, that locks you into wearing them for all 112miles.

5. Good thick socks for running and riding.

I'm sure there is more, I just can't think of it right now.

The past 2 weeks...in a nut shell

A lot has happened since I last sat down to blog. I'll try to start from the beginning.

LAST WEEK
My training went pretty well. I got my act together and completed my runs on the elliptical machine. On Friday (8/22) I did 12-13miles on the elliptical!!! 2 HOURS!!! Pure mind numbing torture...but I felt better when I was done. I also visited Dr. McGraw at Active Care Chiropractic a few times. He diagnosed my leg pain (shin/calf pain) as a "peroneal nerve entrapment". In english that means that my peroneal nerve which runs down my leg from the knee to the foot is being pinched but the muscle around it. So, every time I run the muscle swells, pinches harder and the nerve sends signals to me by causing me lots and lots of pain...nice nerve I have huh? Here is the notorious peroneal nerve: (click to enlarge)
Besides my normal struggle with yet another running injury, things last week were good. On Sunday (8/24) I went on my first long ride with a group! I felt completely special to be riding with the likes of Billy Curry (Ironman and BIG surf hero/legend) and Jim Mincher (Ironman and owner of Two Wheeler Dealer, also amazing surfer). The ride was awesome. I ended up with 95miles and learned some new bike routes in the area (up HW17, 210 and 53 to Burgaw and around back to 421). It was beautiful countryside, and with the exception of one small patch, the roads were super smooth.

Sometime last week I also finally took that Cateye double wireless computer off my bike. I was SO tired of watching it lose signal and tell me I as riding 2mph with a cadence of 0, when I was definitely going at least 18mph with a cadence of 90!!! Argh!!! I replaced it with a simple WIRED computer: Cateye Strada Cadence...
All the wires (as seen above) aren't the best BUT it NEVER loses signal and its dead accurate when I compare it to my Garmin GPS watch. I'll take that!

THIS WEEK
Still having trouble with my leg, Dr McGraw is working on it, I'm stretching and icing and wearing my new compression socks EVERY night! (I sleep in them)...check these bad boys out:

how sexy are they!? haha

Dr. Martin at New Hanover Foot & Ankle (podiatrist) also got in my fancy new orthotics this week so I got those on Tuesday...take a look...

new ones - rigid sole, higher arch, deeper heel cup =
more arch support for my MASSIVE archesold ones - more cushiony, soft orthotic, arch isn't as high = less stable = more pronation

Dr. Martin also gave me a compression sleeve to put on my leg when I'm running to help keep the muscle from rubbing on the bone and help keep blood circulating in the area. You can obviously run in compression socks but you get a lot of wierd looks...the sleeve somehow is more acceptable in public? Don't ask me....here it is...
Also in the news this week I bought a water bottle mount for my saddle so that I no longer have to ride with a camel bak!! I can now get about 50miles in before I have to stop for water! I haven't tried using it yet but it sure looks like I mean business sitting there on my bike! This way no matter how far apart the aid stations in B2B are I'll be all good.
They YMCA is closed for its annual repairs this week so my swimming has been suffering. I swam the docks (1.65mi) on Tuesday but thats been it for the week. Thursday it was thunderstorming outside...I had good intentions, and today (Friday) I had a rough morning and didn't go. I should have. While on that subject....
RUNNING UPDATE
I've been struggling mentally with all these running injuries lately. I took 3weeks off running after that 14mi run, because it was honestly too painful. My leg hurt just walking.
Finally on Tuesday I was cleared to try running, but I was SO scared that I just did 1.5mi on the treadmill and when it hurt just a bit I stopped. Dr. McGraw told me to try outside because your biomechanics are changed on a treadmill, so on Thursday I tried again. I went outside and did 45min. I ran 8min and walked 2. I had some pain, but it wasn't terrible. My thought though is that I have to run 26miles 2 months from now, if 4 hurts, even a little bit, then 26 is out of the question...am I right?
I proceeded to become very depressed about this (so characteristic), skipped my swim on Friday morning, as I mentioned, and sat at the computer from 5:30am to 7:30am researching the peroneal nerve and how to treat nerve entrapment. I got some serious education in those two hours...stretches, nerve flossing, strengthening exercises, ART (Active Release Therapy), surgery etc, etc, and then I found....ACUPUNCTURE!

Garmin 205/305 quick release (bike to run)

Anyone training with a Garmin Forerunner watch needs to know about this. I used to just run with my watch and ride with my Cateye (wireless) cycling computer on my bike, but I started to notice that my bike ride distances just didn't seem accurate. I started rigging my Garmin to my bike, next to my Cateye just for a comparison and I was amazed at the difference. Over a 1.5 to 2hr ride it wasn't a big deal, but for example on my 4hr ride last week my Garmin (which is GPS...highly accurate) read 72 miles, the Cateye read 61miles!! Whats up with that!!

Anyway, I have decided enough with the Cateye, no more wireless crap that loses its signal and what not. I bought this....

It's a quick release kit so that you can easily mount your watch to your bike, then unclip it from the bike mount and clip it to the velcro wrist strap in seconds!! Completely elimating the need for a bike computer or wasting time trying to get the watch off the bike and onto your wrist. Garmin is genius!! I just ordered mine. ($20!!) All the online reviews are very positive, I'm excited!!

The only function the Forerunner 205 doesn't have is cadence (rpms). So I'm going to get a small cheap WIRED computer from the bike shop that has cadence and strap it on next to the garmin clip on my bike. People with the 305 can get a cadence accessory for their watch, but the 205 isn't that fancy. I guess I could sell both the 205 and the Cateye and upgrade...hmm...

White Lake Pictures and race belt tip

Here's me at White Lake......



Birds Eye View does an awesome job of photographing these events. They've never missed me in a race before. I should probably order pictures one day to show my support.

If I can figure out how to set up an online photo album these will be available in a bigger size, but I'm new at this stuff so it might be awhile.

Oh heres a good race tip:
Buy a race belt with buttons not the little plastic slide things. As you can see I'm holding my number in the run picture, because as I went to turn my belt around the plastic thing that holds the number on came flying off and then some guy yelled at me that I'd get a penalty if they couldn't see my number!! So i ran through the finish chute holding it, and then bought a new belt with buttons from Athlete3.

Liking the R&R week

I'm definitely enjoying the rest this week. I think I've probably gained some weight...not good. I'd still like to lose 10 lbs and be 125. I'm probably somewhere like 135-138 right now, but I'm not about to check. I'll check when I have a solid week of training done...Anyway I'm still in disbelief that I finished that race so well! It feels like it was all a dream.

This week so far I've just been doing my 2 swims a week that I do with the YMCA triathlon club and I've run once (yesterday)...that went suprisingly well...only 3 miles and very slow. But my goal for the next 6 months is to stay injury free. So I'm going to bring my running way way back and build up slowly. I'm probably going to run a total of 10 miles this week, and build from there. I also started doing these yoga videos by Flexible Warriors, it is in partnership with Spinervals. They are great! I bought all 3 in the Yoga for Triathletes set. There are segments for before and after workouts and also sport specific segments for swim, bike and run. Its awesome! This is part of my fight against injury!! I have also decided to write my own training plan for the Beach2Battleship Iron Distance race. I have been using generic plans from Triathete Magazine's Essential Week-by-Week Training Guide, and they are great. They have worked so far, but I feel like I need to pay really close attention to my running mileage and factor in more yoga time. Writing my own training plan will allow me to really focus my workouts on my weaknesses. So I'm using the book I mentioned above and Joe Friel's Triathete's Training Bible to help me. I'll post it when I'm done.