I arrived in CDA on Wednesday, and was greeted at the beautiful home of Marie and Tom. They've hosted a number of athletes in the past, and graciously opened up their home to me for the weekend. Their welcome mat says it all!! And the view out of my window when I woke up the next morning was a quick reminder of why I always knew I had to return...
It was 2003 when I first ventured to CDA (from Michigan) for my first Ironman, and second ever triathlon-Go big or go home, right. I got into the sport of triathlon with the purpose of racing an ironman, however never dreamed that 8 years later I would be back in CDA to race my first ironman as a professional. Back then I just wanted to do an ironman before starting the dredges of law school, and the demanding law firm life thereafter. Life sure does throw you curve balls and opportunities! Embracing this one has been a blessing and will continue to be an incredibly journey.
When people talk about the cold water, and potential cold weather that comes with this race I struggle to picture it. I was still a MI girl back then, and although I hated the cold just as much, I certainly wasn't the softy I am now. Plus, race day in 2003 brought temps that soared over 100! The problem then certainly wasn't keeping warm. Each day lake temps are rising. Slow, and still won't even reach 60, but 58 is better than the 54 of last weekend. The weather will be what it will be, just have to bundle up.
My taper for this race has been a bit out of the ordinary. I've always been honest on this blog, and honestly last week I was in a bad place. I returned from San Francisco with one goal- REST. My lactate testing proved what my body and mind were feeling....I was exhausted: physically, mentally and emotionally. Craig and Chris both concluded that it was time to
shut it down...and hard. Last Sunday-Tuesday I could hardly get out of bed. I won't lie, I was worried. But I also knew the hay was in the barn and if I could just freshen up and rest up I will be golden. I tried to tell myself that this could be a blessing in disguise and would really force me to rest. However, the inability to even get on top of the pedals during rides, or run without feeling like I weighted over 200lbs and was trudging along, did not help the psyche. I could tell Chris wasn't excited to cut so many workouts short, or all together, but he was very careful to really ask how I was feeling each and every day. Each day we reevaluated the plan for the following day, and more often than I'd like to admit this involved "day off again tomorrow" texts or emails. However, this weeks everything started coming around again, and as things stand 2 days before race day I AM READY! I am mentally recharged, physically feel I'm right where I should be and emotionally couldn't be better.
I am beyond excited to race amongst this talented group of girls. A text from Chris yesterday sums up what lies ahead for me.
Suffer fest ;-) "Sunday will be about racing, not fitness, it will be about learning to race (and suffer) different than any AG race..." I'm 100% in this and up for the challenge. It's going to be a day I know I'll never forget, so I better go out there, dig deep, push myself to new levels, and see what I can make of it. This is exactly where I belong, and I'M READY.
