The final week

This is it!!! This time next week, I'll be running somewhere along Skaha lake (hopefully at this point on the way back!), and I'll have already completed my 3.8 km swim, and 180 km bike. Looking at the forecast, chances are that I'll be sweating my buns off in 30 + degree heat as well. I really can't believe it's so close, I can't even believe that I'm one week in to my two week taper!
There are moments when it hits me, and so does the anxiety, this is really a huge deal for me, a personal goal that I will be so proud to accomplish. I know I've done it before, and for people who do Ironman's year after year, maybe the accomplishment diminishes over time. But for me, the 2nd one is just as big a deal as the 1st one! I suppose I've already completed a huge portion of the whole experience, the training - but I still can't believe that on Thursday I'll enter the registration tent and get my very own athlete's wristband. Craig and I have been talking about it a lot this week (not sure if he likes it or hates it, but at least he humors me), and we've come to the conclusion that I would be crazy if I wasn't nervous/anxious. I wonder if even the pro's - like Jasper, for example, still get nervous. I bet they do, because no matter how good you are and no matter how many world championship titles you've won, it's still an Ironman, and that is still the ultimate challenge in endurance athletics. So, I guess it's completely normal that I'm a little stressed out, and resolving to that decision almost makes me less stressed out, if that makes sense.

I like to be extremely organized, so I have devised a plan for the day. I am well aware that ANYTHING can happen on race day, and chances are that my "plan" will be nothing like the way that the day actually occurs, but I can at least pretend to be in charge:

Pre-Race:
I am going to eat my dinner the night before on the earlier side. This will allow my body to fully and easily digest everything, and also make it possible for me to have a snack before bed. I'm going to be lights out by 9:30, with the hopes to be sleeping by 10, generally I don't have too much of a problem falling asleep. Craig will be forced to sleep on the floor to ensure that I have no annoyances or disturbances during my sleep (just kidding - but he will get a very boney elbow jab in the ribs if he so much as peeps during the night).

Race Morning:
I think I'll be up by 4:30 ish to start getting in all of the millions of calories that I will be attempting to force into my guts. I probably won't actually have to get going until 5 ish though, so I think Craig can just bring me breakfast in bed. I'll be drinking and eating as much as I can in the morning (well planned out high carb - low fiber meals). If history repeats itself, this couple of hours will be the most high-emotion for me. I remember being extremely anxious, stressed and nervous the morning of the race in 2007, but also remember feeling really excited, proud and relieved that I actually made it to the start line (a pretty huge accomplishment in itself!). If this is the case, I'll have to be extremely cautious with my digestion because nerves and my bowels have a very intimate relationship. I think I would rather sacrafice a few calories in the morning to save myself from the quad workout of multiple squats overtop of a port-a-privy! Also, if history repeats itself, my dad will do what he does best, and he will be more stressed out that I am.

Swim:
Even though Coach Carolyn is a faster swimmer than I am, my plan is to start with her, wherever she plans on going. I am definately a believer of "seeding yourself accordingly" - in fact, my biggest pet peeve are slow runners who think that they should start as close as possible at the front of the pack during a road race. Don't they know that they are going to annoy all of the stronger runners that they elbowed their way through before the race started, as well, they are just going to be passed by these annoyed-stronger-runners, which, in my opinion, sucks. Getting passed sucks! However, in this case, I'm really hoping to get in Carolyn's draft for the race (although I don't think my luck would ever be good enough - but here's hoping anyways!). Most of all, I didn't get a chance to start IMC 2007 with Carolyn because she wasn't racing that year (too busy training for the World Championship in October), it would be neat to start with her as she's been involved in my entire triathlon life. I think Carolyn usually starts off to the side, which is much better than starting right in the middle of the pack, in my opinion, probably the same as being on the front lines of WWI.

T1:
I'm definately taking the time to pee, or else it will come back to haunt me early on in the bike! Even if the line up is 4 hours, it's worth it! Otherwise, both my transitions in IMC 07 were approximately 7 minutes, which is slower than it could be, but faster than a lot of people, so I'm happy to stick with that.

Bike:
In many peoples opinion, the race shouldn't even start until 60 kms into the bike, when you reach Richter's Pass, so it is always recommended not to take it too fast or too hard for the first third of the bike. It's pretty flat, so it would be easy to hammer through it, but that would be dumb because I would totally pay for it the second I turn the corner after the Husky station and see the never ending hill that I have to climb, which I like to refer to as Satan's playground (aka Richter's). I'm going to set my 10 minute alarm on my watch to remind myself to take a drink from my aero bottle every ten minutes. If I don't have the alarm, it will be when I'm passed out from dehydration that I remember to drink anything. I'm also going to eat a Clif Block or couple of Sports Beans (jelly beans for sports - best invention ever!!) every ten minutes. I'll be drinking Eload Endurance - doesn't taste that good, but it will be worth it cause it has the best digestable and usable sugars, as well as a ton of electrolytes. I'm going to drink water at the aid stations (if I need it) which will help me survive the sugar overload taste. I'm also going to cut up a bagel and a couple of Clif bars to snack on along the way. In my special needs bag, which I get at 120 km, I think I am going to put two oatmeal cookies in it (I love cookies!!!), and couple of different options of bars (clif bar, granola bar). Who knows what I'll feel like, but chances are, I'll have eaten the cookies in about 2.5 milliseconds. I'm not going to put any chocolate in my bag because I'll be tempted to eat it, and that's probably not a good option at that point. I'm hoping that I don't have to stop at all before the 120 km point, but chances are I'll have to have a bathroom break before then, and I am incapable of peeing on my bike (although highly recommended to me by a number of people). I just can't, don't know if it's physical or mental or both, but I can't.
After Yellow Lake, the last 25 km (or something like that) are all down hill - best part of the ride!

T2:
If I could make some suggestions to the IMC administration, it would be to add a full service spa and shower to T2. I would use it, and I wouldn't care how long it took! Just kidding - the biggest goal is to not get sucked in to T2 because I know I'll just want to sit down and rest. The longer I'm there, the harder it is to get started again. I am planning on changing, even though my tri suit would be fine to run in, I know that at that point it will feel so nice to freshen up! Plus, I prefer to run with sleeves (tri suit is sleeveless) because when I sweat a lot (and if it's 30 +degrees, there will be A LOT of sweating), I can get chafeing in my armpits (which I like to refer to as chub rub).

Run:
I'm pretty nervous about this part because even though I would say I'm strongest as a runner, it's going to be A LONG time before I even get to the run! Plus, heat affects me the most on the run, and the first part of the run will probably be the hottest part of the day (late afternoon), however, considering that it is late in August, it will get darker earlier, and probably cooler than a July evening. Too hot, then probably a bit too chilly. Like all marathons that I run, I'm going to run 10 and 1's (as in, run 10 minutes, walk 1 minute). This is the Running Room method (which I was a participant in for my first marathon and then an instructor of for many years), I really believe in it. In the numerous marathon's I've run, I've zoomed past people that don't stop for their walk breaks, and I've still run 3:30 marathons (which is a pretty decent pace). I get my run special needs bag half way, 21.1 km, where I will definately be indulging in my chocolate bar. At that point in the race, I don't think it's going to give me any negative effects and it might just be the boost that I need! Otherwise, I'll be carrying my fuel belt with more Eload and sports beans. For the second half, in 2007 (after about 11 hours of hardly eating or drinking anything due to cramps) I started drinking Pepsi at all the aid stations (I think aid stations are every mile or maybe every second mile). If I have to drink Pepsi again, then it's a good option. I'm hoping to just stick with the 10 and 1's the whole way, but if I need to (hopefully not), I'll maybe go down to 7 and 1's or 5 and 1's. We'll see, but my biggest goal is to not stop running at all (except for my chocolate bar break and regular scheduled walk breaks). Of course, no matter how I feel, you can be sure that I will be running down Lakeshore Drive with my head held high and a look on my face saying "I could keep going, I'm not even tired!". Then I'll cross the finish line and promptly collapse into the nearest volunteers arms.

It might not be the perfect plan (ie: chocolate bar in my special needs bag), but it's my plan, and I'm stickin' to it!

On a more humerous note, some people at work were asking me how everything was going for my race and when it was. Someone else piped up from across the Nurse's station to say she has a friend who just completed an ironman. She was very proud to announce "Yup, she did it in 2 hours!!!". Either her friend is a genetic freak, or perhaps she got an Ironman and a Sprint distance triathlon mixed up. I didn't want to sound totally snobby (umm, slightly different type of a race), so I didn't correct her. But I REALLY wanted to.

My mom, sister, nieces and I meet AR in Penticton on Wednesday, everyone else joins us Thursday and Friday. I'll be sure to update again before the race!

This was at the end of our holidays last week... I could have stayed another week though!