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I'm as ready as I am going to be...

I have swam, biked, and run more over the last 10 months than I ever have in my life. But then again, there are a lot of people who will be toeing the line on Saturday who can say the exact same thing. I guess for me I can say my base heading into IMFL is probably twice as big as it has been for any of my prior three ironman races. I guess I will know come race day how much, if anything, that is worth.

I have ridden three century rides during the 8 weeks leading up to this race, and for me, I think that is about the perfect number. I know people do more and people do less. Any more and I'd go insane. One less and I'd still be okay, two less and I may start to doubt myself a little bit. My last century was three weeks out, right where I wanted it. My longest runs were awesome this time around, with my 21 mile run being four weeks out and an 18 mile run five weeks out (the day after the awful Lufkin ride from hell). If I can run anywhere near the pace I ran those training runs for the entire run at IMFL I'll be kicking some major butt...but I know it does not usually work that way.

As far as the swim goes, I have 45% higher yardage over the 30 weeks leading into IMFL as compared to the 30 weeks leading into IMCDA. That could set me up for a great swim or it could mean nothing at all. In the least, I hope I come out of the water ready to bike and run, not too tired from the swim. The Gulf is a tricky creature. You have no idea what you are going to get. The three times I have raced half ironmans there, it has been violent and raging, and it was all I could do to keep the contents of my stomach where they belonged. Yet, last November when I went to watch IMFL, it looked like a glassy lake. Beautiful, calm, inviting. Add in the little extra buoyancy of salt water, and you have the potential to fly there. I guess the same goes for the bike. It it flat and could be blazing fast, but the wind could also come in and have a completely different idea for me and everyone else that day. The run is the run and the sun will be down for over half of it for me, so I am not too worried about it. It will be hard, no doubt, but there will be nothing tricky or unknown about it. All I have to do is run. Sounds so simple right now but I know it will be anything but.

Anything can happen on race day. You are guaranteed nothing when you line up at the start line. Each mile you complete is another reason to be thankful, and one mile closer to the finish. I have learned to take nothing for granted on race day, and know that even the best trained, most prepared athletes are not guaranteed to have the day they wish for.

IMCDA was about as perfect of a race as I could have wished for on that day. However, that race also raised the bar higher than I ever thought possible. My biggest goal for the day was to have fun, and fun I did have. The thing is I think most of that fun was because I was doing so well. So now I find myself a little stuck...my #1 goal again for IMFL is to have fun...it is just that my definition of fun may have changed a little bit after having so much fun getting a PR by over an hour at CDA. I can say with about 99.9% certainty there will be no hour+ PRs at this race; a PR of some size though? Yes. I do want that. How could I not?
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Heather and Jeff said…
Have fun Kathleen!! I'll be watching from home and sending good vibes!
November 4, 2009 at 1:21 PM
trigirl82 said…
Yay Kathleen! I'm excited for you! Can't wait to read your race report! (You write good ones.. fyi:-))

Good luck and have fun! I'll be cheering for you up here! :-)
November 4, 2009 at 10:54 PM
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