Last Post Before UMCA 2014

Many of you have asked about how to track me. CLICK HERE!! (Edit: link no longer works!)

My crew is going to do its best to post updates via text. Please know that their primary job is to keep me moving, so their updates will come when they have the opportunity. Cell service can be spotty in the mountains too. 

The race is trying something new this year. There are huge efforts to have a live stream of the finish each day as well as a few points along the course. I am not sure how it works, so help each other out if there are any tricks to getting it going. :) (click above for all links!)

Here are my feelings about tracking. I LOVE reading your posts and comments! They really lift me up! Knowing you guys are thinking about me can really help me through some tough times. However, I don't like wearing the tracking devices. I find that often these cause more worry for you guys than they are intended to as they work off of cell towers. No cell service = no GPS tracker => worried you guys. With that in mind, we are going to stick to the low tech text-to-Twitter avenue. 

My feelings about what I am about to undertake continue to swing dramatically. One minute, I am pumped up and excited. A while later (like as I am writing this, actually) I will be terrified. But that's not so bad, I guess. I've always looked at it like this: "If your goal doesn't scare you, you aren't dreaming big enough!"  

I'll keep dreaming. You guys keep cheering. Together, Monday evening I will make it across the finish line! 

Taper: Rediscovering Sunday Mornings

Less than one week till race day! I hope you guys enjoyed the blog from last week. This week, I am going to focus on my taper and subsequent re-entry into "normal" life. :-)

But before I get started, I want to highlight my new logo and crew shirts!!!

A huge thank you to my momma who worked very hard on the design, as well as my corporate sponsor Solarcraft for having them printed up! 

I've been tapering for the past 10 or so days. I often hear athletes say that they hate taper time. I don't necessarily fall into that group. I am typically looking forward to a break from training by the time taper rolls around. This time, i have been in the equivalent of Ironman training since the 2nd week of December, and then going beyond that starting in May. Needless to say, I have been looking forward to the break!

But now that I've had a break, I've often found myself wondering "What do normal people do with themselves?" Especially young people without children. Don't get me wrong. I have certainly enjoyed my free evenings during the week and catching up with friends and family. It's the weekends that get me! I have been feeling a little under he weather since Friday morning. On Sunday when I woke up and was still feeling slightly puny and so I opted to skip my short workout. With this newfound free morning, I made myself a cup of tea and set up a chair in the driveway with the pup to wait for Chad to get home from his run. I read the news, browsed Facebook and Twitter, and *gasp* started writing this blog post!!

When Chad got home, we were off to a little get together a friend's house. It was nice dating up with friends that I hadn't seen in months! After, we both had a massage scheduled. I am not one to fall asleep during massages, but Sunday was the closest I have ever come. I told by therapist to work on any "kinks" he found, but that otherwise I needed to relax! I was especially sad when he finished my massage and it was time to go home!

BUT! When I got home it was almost time for our bike mechanic, Frank, to come over and help us break down the bike. Pro Tip: If you promise someone a steak and some beer (or in Frank's case, root beer) in return, you can ask for just about any favor!!

After the bike went into the box, the real packing business began! For the past week, I have been laying out clothes and gear in our living room. I'm like Santa Claus with my lists! By Tuesday afternoon, everything *seemed* in place and so we went though one last time before Chad began putting things into suitcases. I was politely asked to sit on the sofa, drink my water, and to quit helping/interfering! 

This picture is actually from Saturday.. There was more...

..and was just the start of street clothes packing on Monday afternoon!

Luggage count: 1 bike box, 1 wheel box, 1 gear bag, 1 bag of street clothes, and 4 carry on bags! 

It's past 10:30pm and the alarm goes off at 3:45am so we can catch our flight so I best be signing off for now. I will try to write one more blog post in the next few days.

But if I don't!  

Check out the Race Day Updates page for all of the latest news from Penticton. My crew will take over my Twitter feed starting Saturday morning. 

Into the Crucible

WHERE HAS THE TIME GONE?!

If I had a dollar for every blog post I've started writing in the evening or written in my head during a long  training day, I'd probably be pretty close to paying for the 3lb jug of CarboPro I just bought! Often, the words that would flow freely while pounding out the miles never came back to me when the time would come to write. So here it is almost 6 months since my last blog post! The last time I posted, it was to announce that I had gotten into Ultraman. 

It probably goes without saying that I haven't been sitting on my butt since then! Two weeks ago concluded some of the hardest training I've ever done. Several weeks in May and June exceeded 20 hours. Over one particular 10 day period, I ran over 100 miles, and cycled over 200 miles! 

In addition, I've also been planning my wedding, scheduled for October 26th! A few months ago, my mom realized the best way to get me in one place to talk about things was to sit on the sofa next to my trainer.

All of this, plus holding down a full time job and work travel schedule!

If you ever think you are "too busy" for anything, we should probably chat before you continue to make such claims. ;) 

Ultraman is 1 week. I want to update you on what I've been up to since the last time we "spoke". I will break it down into 2 parts. This first one really highlights the struggles that have come along with the training. 

MEETING MY HERO

Let's first rewind 1 week from my last blog post. I'm at Hotel Derrick. My grandmother had graciously given me tickets to listen to Diana Nyad speak. I was chatting with a few other people when Diana casually walked around the corner and introduced herself to our group. As she shook my hand, I couldn't contain myself! I broke into absolute tears! She waited for me to pull myself together, hands my shoulders. Between sobs, I finally told her how much meeting her meant to me, as well as my goal to get into Ultraman. She hugged me and wished me well,  and reminded me to have COURAGE! What was meant to be will be!

Less than 48 hours later, my invitation from Steve Brown arrived in my inbox.

DIZZY TRAILS

Rocky Raccoon 50 miler was to be my first major training day after getting into Ultraman. Going into it, I felt quite confident in my training and nutrition plan. The race begins before dawn, a line of bobbing headlamps weaving through the trees. I ran the first 8 or 10 miles with Chad before he took off like the speedy guy he is, but I stayed with a small group. By the time I was finishing my first 16 mile loop, I could tell that something wasn't quite right, but the WHAT was the big unknown. For the next few miles I did what I could to get back on course. As I hit the aid station at mile 20, I had already begun to give up. I was dizzy and cried a little.  My parents filled my bottle, and Wendy gave me a verbal kick in the butt and off I went. The dizziness eventually  As I crossed the dam at mile 23,  began to walk. I was so dizzy that the roots on the ground wriggled like snakes, and my depth perception was gone. As I walked back up the hill towards Dam Nation aid station i thought to myself, "Don't get caught! Keep walking." Then the medical guy walked up to me and asked if I was okay. After sitting down and not getting any less dizzy, I was afraid that maybe I had some sort of inner ear problem. I knew my day was done. My first DNF.

I later discovered that the dizziness was actually caused by motion sickness. Yep. From running behind someone for hours and watching the ground. Lessons learned.

DEFEATING THE CATTLE GUARD

Training picked up again after Rocky. Next on my schedule was RAAM Texas Challenge, 200 miles of Texas Hill Country climbing. 13,000 feet of climbing, actually. Then we get an email the week before the race explaining that the course needed to be altered this year (some sort of disagreement between the race and a small town along the way regarding traffic problems). Now the course was 212 miles. It rained all day, the wind howled at over 25miles per hour, and the temperatures never rose above 40. I never needed to switch from my clear night riding lenses since the sun also was MIA. My wind breaker was slicked to my skin. Eventually that *special* kind of grumpiness set in. Many of you know what I am talking about..

If you have ever ridden across a cattle guard on a bike, you know that you have to be going about 7 mph in order to make it without a nasty crash. More often than not, the hills would set me below 10mph. As I approached one hill in particular, I could see the angled ends of the guards rising up from the chip and seal. As I made it to the top, I knew I wasn't going to make it over the guard. I un-clipped. But instead of walking my bike over the guard, I buried my face in my areobars, completely defeated my the cattle guard! Chad got out of the SAG car. After some encouragement, he reminded me what I had set out to do: ride the Ultraman day 2 bike distance of 172 miles. Somehow, I got back on the bike and continued on.

At mile 175, I was done by my standards. I had stopped shivering. My chest was cold to the touch, and my core temp had dropped a further than we would have liked. So, off of the bike and into the warm car, and instantly asleep. No regrets. I had done what I had set out to do and given it everything I had. Maybe I didn't finish the race, but the takeaways from the ride were invaluable.

On Monday or Tuesday, I'll have a new post for you guys with a training wrap up. I will also be debuting the crew shirts!

BIG News!

This past Saturday, I received a bit of news that will alter the course of my life for the next several months. 

I am pleased to announce that I have been selected to race Ultraman Canada this coming summer! 

Ultraman Canada is a three day, 320 mile triathlon stage race held every summer in Penticton, British Columbia. You have 12 hours each day to complete the distance. You cannot "bank" time for one day to the next. 

Completing this race will be the culmination of 2 1/2 years of planning and preparation. 

Of course in the beginning I didn't have the slightest clue that my Monday night social running habit would lead me to go on to complete Ironman events, marathon swims and eventually to an international racing platform. 

When I started triathlons in the spring of 2011. In March I met my now fiance Chad, who at the time was in the heart of training for his first Ironman at Ironman Texas. I was about to do my first triathlon at Kemah. I remember thinking to myself how cool it was that this Ironman-to-be was even talking to me, much less interested in me. 

May rolled around and I went out to support Chad during his race. It was a tough day for him but he did manage to finish! As he was doubled over in the bushes hurling his guts up after his trip to medical, I knew that one day I just HAD to do my very own Ironman

In November of 2012 on the flight to race Ironman Cozumel, I sat in the back of the plane with my coach Wendy Hammerman and told her about my latest crazy idea: Ultraman Canada. I got "the look" from Wendy. It's a look that says a mix of: "you are crazy", "you've got to be kidding right", and "I like the sound of that".

This was to be the first of many of the same "looks" she's given me. 

The week after Christmas, I contacted Ultraman Canada to see about crewing for an athlete since crewing can significantly increase your chances of getting into a race like this. I was connected with an athlete out of Austin, Tx named Devon Kiernan. In July 2013, I met him for the first time in the baggage claim in Kelowna, British Columbia. (Yes, I met a strange man on the internet and flew to a foreign country to meet him!)

Crewing for Ultraman proved to be an invaluable experience. Honestly, the course scared me. The bike course looked like a crazy EKG! I am from the flat lands of Texas after all. Our biggest hills are the overpasses across I-10. Most importantly, I met the athletes and their crews. The caliber of athlete represented absolutely amazed me! Their resumes include finishes at Epic 5, Canadian Death Race, Sinister7, and multiple 100 milers. There was even one guy who would end up becoming the 6th person to complete all of the Ultraman events! The wealth of information these people willingly shared was invaluable, only surpassed by the friendships that were formed.

 Andrew Gale with his pacer and future UMFL '14 athlete Chris Garlington during the run portion of Ultraman Canada. August 2013

After I got home I had to do some soul searching. Was Ultraman really what I wanted to do? I would have to dedicate hundreds of hours over many months to be able to complete the race. Was I ready to take on such a race? I am only 25 after all. Most Ultraman athletes are in their 40s which is when most athlete's bodies are in their endurance prime.

I applied in October to race in 2014. I fretted for months afterwards over if I would get in or not. 

This past Saturday afternoon my fortune cookie told me what I was beginning to hope for. "The world will soon be ready to receive your talents."

A few minutes later I got an email telling me that I had been accepted into Ultraman Canada in August 2014! 

This weekend is my first of many Ultraman training races, Rocky Raccoon 50 mile trail run. I hope that I can finish in under 11 hours.