Typical Ironman Training Weekend

Friday night we had an IMAZ group dinner at Berryhill's and had a very good time. I think we all needed to hang out away from bikes and running shoes. Shellie and I put together goodie bags for everyone and I think they were a hit. They included light sabers (full You Tube demonstration here) with the following poem attached:

Hi! I am your trusty new light saber
And am here to do you quite the favor.
When the desert sun departs,
And all that is left is the dark
I will be here to light your way.
IMAZ will prove to be a very long day,
But the force will surely be with you;
And you’ll prove to be more than you ever knew.
Put me in your special needs for the run
And I will provide all sorts of fun.
When your spirits are low or the road gets tough,
One flash from me will be more than enough.
For I have an undeniable way
To make you smile the pain way.
And when your journey is finally through,
Raise me high in the sky, for now the Ironman is YOU!

They also included little baggies of Starburst Jelly beans labeled "Victory Beans" with a good quote on the back, another little baggie with pepto and advil in it, lots of candy, a small tube of sunscreen, a glow bracelet, and I don't know what else. I had been planning these surprises for quite a while so I was excited to finally get to give them out to everyone.

Saturday morning Shellie and I set out on a long run 30 minutes before Randy and Laurie set out on the same route. We were planning to run 16.5 miles and ended up doing 18. That never happens, but we had an awesome run. The weather was great, the route was good, and the company was awesome. Neither of us had run more than 13 since the marathon and were very pleased to see we still knew how to "run long." Afterwards we stuffed our faces at Le Peep and debated going to Twin Lakes (a scuba lake in Manvel) to do an open water swim. Keep in mind it was 50 something degrees outside. I told Laurie she was crazy and shouldn't go. Randy said he wasn't going, but Laurie said she was going to go. I got home and the weather was soooo beautiful I wasn't sure what to do. So in no time I find myself on the phone with Robin and Laurie while digging through my bathing suit drawer and shaking my head. I'm glad I went though. The water temp was probably around 60 and with a wetsuit it wasn't that awful. I think if nothing else, it provided quite an ice bath. I was just happy to be outside and happy to be in such good company. I stopped by Sugar Cycles on the way back and was really impressed with the shop (it was my first visit).

Sunday was another typical day in the wind. Ugh. Shellie and I packed up at 6:30 with Liam in tow to head to Galveston to ride 100 miles in the wind. As we headed down there, we cursed daylight savings because it was still pitch black at 7am and we all lost an hour of sleep. Apparently my slow grandma driving also almost caused Liam to fall asleep at the wheel when he was following me so had to detour to Starbucks to wake back up. Oops. Over 20 people or so showed up to ride anywhere from 20 to 112 miles for the day so there was a lot of company at the start. Then there wasn't so much after a while... Thankfully Greyhound caught up with me around 20 miles into the ride and stayed with me until he headed home at mile 60. Lisa was driving sag support which was just fabulous! Greyhound and I stopped at a gas station around mile 52 or so for more water and the obligatory junk food re-fill. Ding Dong's were my fuel of choice. I actually only ate one of them though. The wind just plain sucked and each time I rode over San Luis Pass my life was in more and more danger. Last week I almost ended up getting blown into the Brazos River. This week I almost got blown into the Gulf. Such fun times! My last 30 miles were straight into the wind which just wasn't fun at all, but thank God I came up on Robin at mile 85 and she rode in with me. She was doing 112 miles, and looked great! We packed up and went to stuff our faces with burgers and amazing fries at a joint on the Seawall and headed home.

I'm a bit jaded after yesterday's ride. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that it was century #3 for me in as many weeks. I'm riding better than ever before, and I need to be happy with that - I think I'm just too tired to see it right now. The people I got to spend the weekend with were just wonderful. They are who I spend most weekends with these days and I am grateful for their friendship. They are what make this sport so awesome and worthwhile. It would be a pretty lonely life if I had to do all this stuff by myself. I'm looking forward to a much shorter bike ride next weekend and will be running the Seabrook 1/2 Marathon on Sunday as part of my longest training run (20 miles). Lots of my running buddies will be there, so it should be lots of fun. Now I have to somehow make it through 5 days of work. Ugh.

(sorry for the awful spacing. Blogger and I apparently aren't getting along today. It wants to space everything its own way despite the fact I have put nice pretty spaces in everytime I have edited it, then I publish it and boom, back to ugly. Oh well, I don't have to patience to fight it anymore right now. Maybe later today.)