SINGLE DIGITS

I am making my way through my taper. It felt like I had plenty of time until the race and now suddenly the countdown is in single digits. There has suddenly become a shortage of hours in the day.

Over the past week, I have gotten alot of great advice. With several friends that are Ironman triathletes, I am blessed to be able to ask alot of questions and get alot of great answers. The common thread to all the advice is that there will be some very low,tough, and challenging moments where you want to quit. To make it through those moments and keep going will get me to the finish.

My emotions have all been positive I feel mainly excitement like you do before Christmas. All the waiting and preparation is almost done. There has been alot of work,time, and effort to put into one day. But that one day, I know will be life-changing because the training already has changed my life.

My son, Bino, handed me a folded note that he wrote today and wants it packed it my running shirt. On the outside is written -"Open this when you need it". I know that note is something that I will forever cherish. This is a photo of him today enjoying Halloween-----


Waddling on Halloween with one week to go........

SELFISHNESS

Last weekend was my last big weekend before my taper. It consisted of a 17 mile run on Saturday and a 100 mile bike on Sunday. I felt great and relieved that training was winding down. I was overwhelmed by the emotion when I got off the bike.

What happened this week, my first week of tapering, surprised me. I spent most of the week worrying about details of the trip, House's post-surgery health, work, and other things that were out of my control. On Wednesday evening, I went to bed not speaking to anyone including House. I spent all day Wednesday upset that the trip to North Carolina and everything going on currently should be about me and no one else because I am the one doing an Iron Race!

On Thursday morning, after a great swim with Snips, things came back into perspective. I was angry at being selfish. I felt stupid and petty. After a day at work in which I took care of a 38 year old with Stage 4 lung cancer, I came home and talked with House. I think all the emotion that I was experiencing was a kind of taper anxiety. Maybe I was beginning to look for excuses either not to do it or not to finish. House told me that for the next 2 weeks I need to be selfish to be ready to have the best day that I can.

I know that all the hard training is in the bank. There is nothing I can change at this point in time. Now focus on the final race prep and in 2 weeks from today I will be out there.

Waddling with 2 weeks until Beach 2 Battleship........

NEWS

• House is home from the hospital. Recovery has begun.
• Last big training weekend before taper-time. Saturday - 4 hour run. Sunday - 7 hour bike

Waddling to bring it on...........

SURGERY UPDATE

House is still in the hospital recovering from his surgery on Monday. It was a tough one for him. 7 years ago, he severely fractured his talus bone in his ankle. Now the osteoporosis has created a hole in his ankle. Because of his age, he is too young for an ankle replacement since they only last 10 years. To delay having to do this he had reconstructive surgery. They took bone and bone marrow from his pelvis and mixed it with a ceramic material and surgically fractured his tibia and injected the material into the talus bone. Now we wait and watch for it to grow and repair. Hopefully he will come home maybe tomorrow. Pain control has been the biggest issue.


Thanks for all the prayers and the 2 home cooked dinners that were delivered by friends.














I have been getting my training in early in the morning. This weekend is scheduled to be my biggest one then I taper. I am so ready !


Waddling at the hospital...........

Brrrrrr.....

This year's Chicago Marathon was different in many ways. The most noticeable was the temperature. It was 37 at the start with wind and clouds. This year also because of training for an Iron distance race, I did not sign up. My running buddy Snips did sign up though. In my training plan, I needed to have around a 15-16 mile run. Thus I started the race with Snips with the plan to exit the course around mile 16.

It was different to be at the starting line and taking in all the excitement with no plan for finishing. I envied all those running their first marathon. I remember the butterflies that I felt, the doubt of what the day would bring, and the thought that today would be life changing. Never would I have guessed that I would ever be training to be Iron. What a gamut of emotions spinning around.

Snips and I ran along, chatted and took in all the excitement. She was running so strong. The crowds and parties were smaller this year due to the cold. The enthusiasm was unchanged. At times, I felt drawn to run the entire thing but that didn't last long. At mile 16, I gave Snips a hug and off she went with a smile. I knew she was getting stronger by the minute. She ran to a PR which was 13 minutes faster than last year.

I did not stay for the parties and celebrations. I grabbed the train and head for home to spend some time with House before his surgery today. This will be his 7th surgery in a year. Because of the osteoporosis from his fracture to his right ankle years ago, it has fractured and the is a hole in his Talus bone. Today they are taking bone marrow from his hip and they will re-fracture his ankle. They will reconstruct his ankle with a ceramic frame and bone marrow. It will take months to know if it is successful. The goal is for him to be healed enough to travel to North Carolina for my race. All prayers for him are appreciated.

Training is still important but not a priority. I will get as much in as I can when I can. I was blown away yesterday when I returned home to find that Iron Snoopy had dropped a meal off at my house for when I needed it. Wow, words could not describe my appreciation. How lucky I am to have her as a friend.

As I sit here in the waiting room, it actually brings life to a stop for a few hours to catch my breath for the weeks ahead.

Waddling, waiting, and praying.................

WEEKEND AHEAD

This weekend is the Chicago Marathon. I did not sign up because of ironman training but I will be running. My friend Snips is running it for the second time. I plan on running the first 16 miles with her. The weather is forecast to be a balmy 40 degrees. What a change from the past 2 years. The excitement in the city is unbelievable.

Tomorrow, I will be glued to Ironman Live to watch Kona. I actually know someone there this year and I am so excited for Adrienne. Not only does she get to race, she was given Jon Blais's ashes to spred on the course by his parents. The experience seems overwhelming to me.

Only 4 weeks left until B2B, training is going well. I would like to do 1 more 100 mile ride before the race.

Waddling into the weekend............

TIME IS TICKING

With race day being 5 weeks from Saturday, the hands on the clock seem to be moving faster. There is not enough hours in the day to fit everything in.

Training is going good. I am finding myself achieving workouts that I felt would never be completed. I have 2- 100 mile rides in the books. My long run this weekend is between 14-15 miles followed by another 100-miler the next day. There is a tiredness in my body that I have never experienced. It is good but makes me restless at night. My mind is constantly searching to make effective use of every minute.

My biggest obstacle is concentration and focus. I have tried to minimize distractions and surround myself with positives. I am taking control of what I can and accepting what I cannot do anything about. I have learned more about myself that I have ever imagined and there is still a ways to go.

The other obstacle was finding out that I had metabolic syndrome and was insulin resistant. This led to me hooking up with nutrition coach Lisa who has taught me alot and helped me to a 24 pound weight loss since June 1. This was life changing.

I am sure once this journey to Beach2Battleship ends on Nov. 7, I will have much more to share.

Waddling.....................