I Am Ready!

Two weekends ago I had my final, longest brick: 90 mile ride followed by a 16 mile run. I have to admit, while I was trying not to put any pressure on myself, I wanted this workout to go really well. I mean, it was the closest thing I was going to get to race day and if it didn't go well I knew I'd be a mess thinking I wasn't prepared. Thankfully, that wasn't the case!

I prepped for this brick like it was race day. I completely cleared my calendar the day before and spent the day relaxing and staying off my feet. I slept fine the night before knowing I did all I could to get me ready for this workout. When I woke up on Saturday morning, I was more excited than anything to get it done. I had my good friend Dana lined up to meet me when I started the run so that gave me something to look forward to.

The goal of the ride was to stay focused, make sure my nutrition was spot on and not push so hard that I left nothing in my legs for the run. I was barely into the ride when at mile 8 I got a flat tire. My first one of the summer. I stayed completely calm and started to run through the steps in my head of what needed to be done: move to small ring, take off wheel, etc. I didn't get too much further before some guys stopped to make sure I was ok. I've practiced changing my tire and could have done it alone but I was happy to have some help knowing I was already in for a long day and that Dana would be waiting to meet me for the run. After blowing out the first tube we put on, and worried my day was over, the guys gave me one of their tubes and I was good to go in about 8 minutes. I headed back to my car to inflate my tire all the way then set out to finish what I started. This messed up my nutrition plan a bit but as soon as I started again, I got right back on my schedule.

The rest of the ride went fine except for the wind. Ugh, the wind. I know it's good practice for IMFL but man does it just suck. My legs were burning really bad for the last 15-20 miles and I was so worried I pushed too hard. I also kept thinking about the run and meeting up with Dana so I was really anxious to get this part over with. I need to remember this on race day and think ONLY about the bike while I'm on the bike. If I think too far ahead it will make for a long day.

After just over 90 miles I was back at my car and ready to go! I was so happy to see Dana and catch up on her trip to lake Tahoe. She did the Tahoe triple the weekend before (that's 3 marathons in 3 days, people!) and won 2nd female!! I like to surround myself with bad ass people. Anyway, after a quick wardrobe change and pack up of the car, we were off. I didn't think or worry about pace and just focused on keeping it steady. I felt good at the start and the thought of a long run didn't seem too daunting at all.  Around mile 8 I started to feel like I had been working out for hours but my legs held on and the steady pace continued. I started getting worried around mile 10 that if it wasn't for Dana, I might have snuck in a walk break. Not because anything hurt, but just because a walk break sounded nice. But we pushed on and at mile 13 I got my second wind. I'm not sure if it was because I realized I was actually going to finish this or what, but I felt great.

With just a few tenths of a mile to go, Dana said, "You did it Sunny D!" and I swear to you, at that moment I felt 20lbs lighter. The biggest weight had been lifted. For 6 months I waited for this workout, I stressed about this workout. This was the one that would prove if I was ready or not. I had a lot riding on it in my crazy head. As we finished, I got tears in my eyes and for the first time since I registered for this race almost a year ago, I said, "I'm ready."

As we were standing at our cars afterwards, I felt great. I don't mean I felt ok, I mean I felt GREAT. In fact, for the next few hours I felt incredible. It finally hit me around 9pm though when all of a sudden I became so emotional. Not sure if it was related to nutrition, exhaustion, or all the stress finally being over but I just broke down and started to cry. They were the good tears, though. The kind you get when you know you're Ironman ready.