dream a little dream.

so. i've promised my pelvis and the one's who love me and hate to see me suffer, that i would take some time off of running. initially i said 3 months (why not?!). then that has slowly decreased to two months, a month and a half, a month.....ummmm...... i'm ITCHING to run. i've been dreaming about running! i love running. i am trying to remind myself though, that running pain free (in a month or so....[hopefully]) will be much better (and i honestly can't imagine running pain free...???) than running now, and continuing on my painful running journey. my ankle is also sore and swollen and purpley from the ironman so i guess i need to at least wait until THAT resolves, and maybe until i finish my antibiotics and stop coughing up my lungs....ok, ok, you're right. i can wait. :) speaking of dreaming though, last night i dreamt i was going to do another ironman this weekend. it was scary and exciting. in my dream i really thought after a weeks rest i was going to be good to go........too bad i'm sick, i thought. mind you i haven't done more than walk a few miles since the big dance. :) in the dream i also thought why did i think hillary biscay (www.hillarybiscay.com) was so crazy for doing this, what's the big deal? ha ha. :) i'm funny in my sleep.

i promise a race report will be next........(i'm at work...ssshhh!)

race day.....not race report

i already have the "morning of" and swim portion of my race report ready to go, but it is saved on my laptop, and i don't have my laptop with me. i do, however, have time to give you a taste of my race day...hopefully this update will be just enough to satisfy you and keep you interested to read the more detailed stories in ironkatymoe-land.

being that it is almost a week since race day happened. my perspective may actually be a bit skewed towards the positive, but what i do remember of the day is the FUN i had for 10 hours and then the un-fun, hellish, near-death-pain that ensued for the next 2 hours and 15 minutes. from the ten hour mark on, as Steve Prefontaine would say, "it was a pure guts race". what i mean by that is i was soooooooo "done" at that point, the only thought i had energy for was..."go". that little word is all that kept me, go-ing. :) so, one could imagine that the immediate post race feelings towards ironman in general were NOT pleasant ones, and i couldn't remember for the life of me why i ever considered participating in things like this.

luckily for me i had wonderful supporters who took care of me after the race. brett got my bike and bags (something i would not have been capable of this year). i almost passed out/threw-up a couple of times on the way to the car. i couldn't even bear the thought of Gatorade after the race, let alone food, all i could think about was closing my eyes. the hotel room brought it's own challenges. such as shower or bath? the idea of standing was AWEFUL, but i wasn't able to physically get down into the tub and i knew i wouldn't then be able to get OUT of the tub. instead, i just stood there staring at the bathroom, hoping i would just become clean by standing there. sadly, i had to use my last ounce of energy and bathe myself. on a positive note, the hot shower loosened me up a bit and i at least found enough energy to walk to the bed.

i was still really sad about not feeling GREAT for the whole race, as my first and foremost goal is to finish feeling good. i felt like i really let myself down and didn't race "smart". i analyzed, worried, and thought about it, pouting for a long time. then brett looked up my splits for the day.......i started to get interested. after hearing that ALL my times improved (except the marathon, i wouldn't let him tell me my marathon splits) i started feeling better about the day and remembering that i DID have a lot of fun for most of the day. finally, i let him tell me my over-all marathon time. 4:30-something......oh? that's not bad!? then, i let him break it down for me. obviously i ran a little TOOOO fast the first half. i would have NEVER run that fast on purpose.......i was just trying to run how i felt, and i did feel GREAT off the bike. overall, i have nothing to be sad about. it was a great day, and i had great times, i only wish i hadn't run myself into the ground by mile 16. :)

my wonderful family bought me a my own pizza after my shower since, i was too nauseated after the race to consider eating the provided post-race grub. by 11pm, food sounded ok. i fell asleep soon after two pieces were down, but woke up about every two hours (each time my body made me move, and the sharp pain of movement woke me up) and ate a couple more pieces, by 8 am there was only one piece left (gross). :) my attitude was already WAY better and i was thinking about my marathon and how, "next time if i run smart maybe i can break 12 hours". yep, i said it. the challenge is out there...........

brief update.

so.....


1. i finished. 12 hours and 15 minutes.
2. did better than last time by about 32 min.
3. the last 2 hours were the worst of my life thus far.
4. i ate almost an entire pizza between the hours of 11pm and 6am this morning.
5. i can barely walk.
6. i can't wait to do it again!!


more updates to come......yes, even my fingers are tired.

Day 3: Anxiety Strikes

day three is here. there are a lot of good things about day three, for example, day three means race day is tomorrow, it means my bike and transition gear is all sitting at the race site ready for me. it means my family and brett are in town and pumped. it means i got lots of phone calls and emails with well wishes today (thanks Llanos family!!) it means i have an excuse to sit still and "relax". it means i get to eat a lot for dinner tonight.

day three has some negative attributes though, unfortunately. day three also brings with it the fact that i had to spend hours today getting my bike and transition bags ready, i narrowly escaped a few anxiety attacks during this process. luckily scott decided to play "baby got back" and my dancing/rapping really helped calmed me down. day three means i probably won't sleep well tonight. it means i have to drink a ton (i can't even count how many time's i've peed today). it means i have to wake up around 4am tomorrow. it also means i have to race for approximately 12.5-13 (hopefully) hours tomorrow.

i'm going to be tired, plain and simple. i did, however, remember to buy top-ramen this year....as i cried last year because i didn't have any after the race and that is (of course) ALL that sounded good. i have my zoot compression tights on and my feet are up as we speak.

the race should be great!! it looks like there will be a high of 80ish degrees....warm but not anything i can't handle. on the bike 80's not too bad actually, and i will probably start my run around 3:30pm so i will only run in the heat (as the sun goes down at 5:22pm and it gets coooool then) for a couple of hours. no big. the bike course is 3 loops so about 37 miles each, so i get to see all my fans a bunch through out the day. my mom said, "so you go about 20 mph?". if you round up, yes. :) no mom, about 16-18 mph so each lap should take me just over 2 hours.

i'm honestly so excited for them to watch the swim start. it is sooooo beautiful right at sunrise waching the 2,000 swimmers in the glass-like water (i'm hoping glass-like, ok?) all start swimming at the same time. there is a picture perfect view from the bridge we start under, i told them to get there early to watch me start from up there!

i have my pink running dress ready!! agh. we are required to wear reflective gear on our run clothes in case we are finishing in the dark (which will be me). i cut little hearts out of my reflective tape and put them on the back of my dress. hey, if i have to be reflective i want to be cute too! ;)

i guess that is it. i'm just going to chill out tonight, maybe watch some inspirational movies. :) eat some great pasta..............and then before i know it it will be game time and i'll be choking down my oatmeal. :) can't wait to tell you guys about it!! thanks for all the thoughts and prayers!!!

Arizona Day 2

well, here we are, day two of our interesting ironman arizona "vacation". day one, as previously stated, was filled with cleaning, organizing, unpacking, registering, grocery shopping, dinner making, more cleaning, and then the motivational GI Jane to put us to sleep.

this morning we all got up, had some breakfast and coffee and headed down to the water at Tempe Town Lake. (this isn't really a lake btw). the water was colder than i expected and choppier than i expected due to the fast winds blowing through this morning. hopefully lea is right, and these winds are just blowing in the cool air for me on sunday. she has also reassured me that there won't be any more wind sunday as the cool air will already be blown in. :) thanks lea.

as i entered the water this morning i had second thoughts about wearing my sleeveless wetsuit, as it felt REALLY cold, but once i got warmed up a bit, i think it is going to be perfect. i'm not looking forward to the madness of the swim sunday, but am looking forward to the one loop swim. hopefully i will be able to find clear water and i won't have to battle people the entire time as i did in coeur d'alene.

today i got my bike out and put my new hydration system on the back. it took me about an hour with the lovely assistance of mr. scott, who always has the perfect tools for me. i typically just try and do all bike maintenance with my multi-tool i carry on my bike (that doesn't work for most things fyi). my bike rode nicely on my little "trial ride" and my hydration system definately looks fast! :)

mentally i've been pretty relaxed. my body is getting antsy. the swim and a short jog helped me feel better and relax a little bit. the pre-race anxiety is like nothing else and i'm mostly worried about that TERRIBLE feeling of anxiety on race morning more than anything else. :) well, i have to go shower to get ready for the athelete pasta dinner tonight!! thanks for checking in, i will try to post again tomorrow!! :)

ARIZONA!!!

so we made it to Tempe, AZ today for the IRONMAN. YAY! we left fresno last night or this morning at 2am. my friend scott likes to drive at night apparently. :) they picked me up and we were off. i slept for about 4-5 hours in the car (not too shabby) and it has set me up for planning an extra early bedtime tonight!! getting set for early mornings this week ie: 4am wake-up call race day. our rental house is not so nice.....so lea and i have been cleaning like crazy......while getting stuff ready for dinner. we decided on burgers tonight. tomorrow AM we are planning to swim, then hang out at the expo, bike some of the run course, grab lunch, get some downtime, work on the bikes, and then head back to tempe town beach for spagetti welcome dinner. we bumped into some other fresnans here today. it was nice. every one is SO SUPER FIT! well, i have to get back to my chores, i bought a candle and febreeze for my bedroom and have already washed the sheets!! (yes it's that bad). i will try to update tomorrow. :) i hope everyone is getting excited for SUNDAY!!!!

quick. i'm supposed to be studying.

i just wanted everyone to know i didn't die while tapering for the big race NEXT (gasp!) sunday! i am, however, as-close-as-i-have-ever-been/probably-going-to-be an expert in pediatric oncology. have my "certified pediatric oncology nurse" exam tomorrow morning at 8am (double gasp!). i'm really good at procrastinating AND my study skills are a little rusty, so please send me some good luck thoughts (starting now please). as far as my body goes.....i probably ran a little too far last weekend at the "1/2" marathon (i actually ran about 18 miles, oops!). my foot is a little sore.......but my other "injuries" ie: pelvis, SI joint etc. are feeling ok......so i'm rearing to go-ish. i have my packing and transition/special needs bags-lists typed, saved, and emailed to myself (yup, i'm that lame). my new hydration system, a.k.a water bottle holders that should actually attach to my new saddle without zip-ties, should be arriving today. i have my outfits for racing all picked out. look out arizona! ok. back to studying. i will update throughout the week though! agh! i can't believe it's here. i leave wednesday evening. whooo hoooo.