Inked

It's tradition for participants to celebrate their Ironman finish by making it permanent and getting the Ironman tatoo. It's a pretty big deal, and it's pretty much expected, plus, I'm pretty sure finishers are secretly more than happy to permanently brag about their accomplishment. I never tried to fight it, I knew that if I finished, I would HAVE to get the tatoo. I'm not really a tatoo/piercing/being-an-individual type person. Give me a Gap cardigan and a pair of chinos and let me blend in to any crowd, I don't even have my ears pierced! I don't do accessories, I don't wear jewlery (minus my wedding rings), I wear a potatoe sack most of the time (aka hospital scrubs) and I'm not into bright patterns and colors, I just like good old classics in black, white or pink. So would it be shocking to say that I am the owner of not 1 but 2 tatoos!!! It's my secret little rebellion from my otherwise very normal appearance.
My first tatoo you would never see unless I showed you....
My second tatoo - the Ironman!

The day after the race in 2007, I pre-booked and pre-paid an appointment in White-Trashville, and as a family, we all went to enjoy the experence. As you can see, it was one of my dad's proudest moments!

I would be lying if I didn't say that the three minutes it took to get the mirco-tatoo made permanent were, in fact, more painful than the entire 14.5 hours of painful endurance that I accomplished the day before! Extremefully painful!

I had a hard time fully committing to the tatoo... The real Ironman Canada tatoo is the IMC symbol, which has the ironman surrounded by a red maple leaf. I just couldn't do it. What if I ever chose to wear pink (which I do most days!), it would clash with my tatoo! Also, image if for some God-forsaken reason I got chubby one day... I would not want a visible Ironman tatoo somewhere screaming of what I used to be (however, I hope that never happens!). Lastly, I did the race in over 14 hours, to non-ironmaners, that's amazing, but to my fellow ironmans... that's not really something to brag about. It would sort of be like someone bragging about their 5 and a half hour marathon. Not that it's not an amazing accomplishment.... but...

So, I just got the little Ironman symbol, and I got it tatooed below my ankle bone. In this case, it can be covered by shoes/socks if necessary, it won't clash with any particular colors, but I can also show it off and wear it with pride when I want to. The final result:

I guess now that I have it, I don't need to go through that again this year... I've had some suggestions on adding to it, perhaps having my time tatooed below it, or perhaps the years that I did it. I think I'll just leave it as it is. I've spent enough time in the tatoo artists chair for one lifetime...

As for other news, I just finished an extremely intense training week (well, I have two more days to go, but all the big workouts are done). Which means, after 3 of the most intense weeks I've ever accomplished, Sunday officially commences my recovery week!!!

My mom, Auntie Rosie and I were all planning a training week in Penticton this past week. Unfortunately, we got forest fired-out. It sucked, I was pretty disappointed, but I guess there is no stopping mother nature (or stupid campers who smoke...whatever it was), the highway from Kelowna was closed and it just wasn't worth attempting the alternate route (long drive!). I was disappointed to enjoy the beautiful Okanagan, partake in some great wine, see AR, and have a nice drive with my mom. But most of all, I feel a bit of anxiety to not have a chance to bike the race course. It's been two years, I'd really like to refamilarize myself such things as Richters Pass, Yellow Lake, and the 7 Rollers from hell... we'll be in Penticton 4 days before the race, so the best thing I can do is drive the course (once, maybe twice), I hope that's good enough.

On a very positive note, I did my dreaded 200 km long ride (only one for the whole training season!) yesterday, followed by a 34 km long run today and preceded by a 4000 m swim on Tuesday (so pretty much an ironman in three days). The ride went great! I averaged almost 28 km/hr, which is great for me, and I did the bike in a faster time than it took me to ride the bike portion of the race in 2007. I was pretty proud! It was stinkin' hot (great for training!), and I biked a lot of hills, so I felt satisfied that it was the best training I could possibly do. I felt fine the whole time but I did have to lie down in the dirt beside my car when I finished for about 10 minutes before I could head out on my 30 minute Brick run (I was a wee bit light headed). I think I paid for it all in my run today! It was pretty painful, and perhaps a good reality check for what I might feel like on race day (plus, it was another hot day and I think I had a mild case of heat stroke). I think the only negative thing about doing an Ironman for a second time is actually knowing what if feels like to start a marathon after biking for 180 km. I liked it better the first time when I thought my strong running background would make the run seem easy (clearly, I know better this year!).

I guess that's all for this week. I'll thoroughly enjoy the rest and relaxation next week (which isn't really that much of a break, but at least I can pretend). Only 6 more weeks till the race!