It's 9:30 pm on Sunday the 29th of June - 3 weeks from today at this moment I will be out on the run corse at lake Placid - it will be dark - and I might (ok I will) be trying to find everybit
of strength I have to finish.... I'd like to finish by 11pm but like I have said from day one .....

I want to finsish and if it is 30 sec. before midnight - I still want to finish.....

This week was weird... I started my blog and that really got me thinking so much more about the actual event. Not that I have not thought about it a ton ...... but now I am thinking about the day...the journey the accomplishment and how to get the most of every minute of the experience. This by all accounts will probably be my only ironman so I want to enjoy every minute that I can.

3 weeks - last week was a recovery week and for those of you who have never trained for a endurance event I can tell you - it is much needed rest and exhaustion all at the same time....
all of the sudden 30 minute runs hurt and exhaust you ..... 45 minute flat rides seem like hours or hills.... really you just want to sleep and not do anything. However, you still have to keep to the schedule and suck it up !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


This week is a small build week and then it is all taper to the race.
Monday I will run 60 minutes, Tues. I will ride 60min and swim the same, Wed. run - Thurs - ride and swim again... Friday is our off day ( the 4th of July as well ) Sat we run 2 hrs... for me that is 10 miles and Sun. we ride 60 miles....

I'M WORKING ON MY RACE PLAN THIS WEEK...... WONDERING WHAT I WILL NEED TO DRAW FROM WHEN THE GOING GETS TUFF ??? I DOUBT THAT IS SOMETHING I WILL SHARE PRIOR TO LP BUT WHEN I FINISH I WILL FILL YOU IN.

****** getting more nervous and emotional each day **** I'm scared as hell but I'm told that that is normal and good.... still it is a challange to stay positive and not be overwhelmed.

24 days

All the photos -
I guess I wanted to post what I think is my support team and show that in the end
we still have fun.... even when the race is hard or the cause is heart breaking.

Someone ask me yesterday - How I got started in TRIATHLON....
It all started in 2004 when Paula Braxton persuaded me to sign up for a Olympic Distance
triathlon to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society... I thought it was crazy
and I was so overwhelmed at the idea of swimming a mile, riding 25 and running 6.2 but the cause was worth it and I figured I had nothing to loose. As some of you know my life at that
time was a bit out of control and I was really having a hard time. So I signed up and dug in !!

Just a side note - if you ever think you might want to try to do a endurance event but your scared and don't know where to start .... go to www.teamintraining.org and check it out.
I truly believe that "TNT" saved me from falling apart in a time where it would have been easy to go the other direction it gave me a healthy alternative and made me believe in myself again !!

Now - the photos

Stefanie Mastos ( Beckner ) My best friend from Junior High and high School - She has made me laugh on days that I totally wanted to give up...she's my drinking partner and she and her husband "Hot Diggity Dave" are making the trip to Placid to cheer me on and I am so thankful to them for that......

My Dad and I - No explanation needed however I will tell you that when I told him I was doing a IRONMAN - he told me that I had to have been switched at birth !!!!!


Arlene Klauber - is a amazing woman who I have become close friends with over the past several years. She has been a honored team mate of mine as well as a team participant. She is battling returning cancer after being in remission for 9 years and she has amazing spirit and will. Every time I think I can't I think of her !!!!!

Team Pink - My bestest of bestest group of friends. The women and men who keep me grounded (Heidi) and encourage me even when I think I want to qive up.(Steve)

COACH BRYAN - Bryan has was my TNT coach and our official Team Pink coch for Timberman 1/2 Iron.... he IM's me off the legdge at least once a week.... and he just has twins that are destin to play BUCKEYE FOOTBALL some day !!

Jenni Banks - The uber athlete in my life - the one who makes everything seem EASY but always finds time to help me when I need it ~ she has taught me so much about the sport from riding technique to bike maintenance she is the one I go to for it all. ( Thanks Jen if you read this)

Team in Training - My St. A's team this year - a great race and a such a good group... they were very patient with the fact that I was training for the IRONMAN and not always doing the same work out.

The boa's and the plunge - Just making a point that I'm still having fun !!!!

Bart & I at St. A's - OK so this is personal - I beat him and I PR'd the race ( personal best )
now it was his first race and probably my 13th or 14th but I still beat him and I know that drove him mad so I had to post that picture !!!

Mooseman - this picture was taken before the most miserable race I have had to date....
water was 60 degrees - my feet froze while swimming and the air temp by the time I was running was in the 90's - all I can say is it SUCKED !! but I finished !

25 days and counting

Ok - so I thought about doing this months ago - and then really didn't think I had much to say or much anyone would want to hear....



Hell, most of the people I hang out with don't really think I'm insane in fact they have either done a IRONMAN or they are planning to do one ~ so in my silly little Northern Virginia crowd I am just another person training to compete in a IROMAN event.....

So now I am 25 days away from finishing my goal - crossing the finish line and becoming a IRONMAN - The past several weeks have been a true test of my ability and patients. I have questioned myself on more than one occasion and I have wondered it I can actually do this....
I can say with out a doubt that it is a mental test as well as physical and some days I am scared as hell but others I feel amazing, proud and like I can do anything.

Many of my friends who don't train for triathlon and with a group of people that are amazing athletes have ask me so many times - what do you do to train ??? How many hours .....
This past weekend was our last "BIG" training weekend. On Saturday I ran 20 miles and it was the longest run I had ever done. It took me a little over 4 hrs and it was hard. I finished and I was so proud of myself when I was done. Then on Sunday we rode 122.5 miles ( I did a bit over 125 due to a little back tracking I had to do) The ride took a bit over 8hrs. Yep - your reading correctly 8 hours on a bike seat - can you say FUN ??? NOT !!!!! Now let me put that into race day perspective...... 12 hours and I won't be near the finish line. Actually I will only be about 8-10 miles in to my MARATHON ---- marathon are you kidding me I'm doing my 1st marathon at the end of a 2.4 mile swim and 112 mile bike in the Adirondack mountains..... funny ha !!!

Now - that said ...YES I'm scared and yes I am freaking out a bit. However, I will tell you that Monday morning I woke up, felt great only a little soreness and thought all right you have made it through the hardest part. You have trained ~ You have worked hard and now you are going to recover and tapper and be ready to conquer the most incredible experience of your life so far.
( what does that say about my life ??? that will be a question to be answered after the finish line)

I will try to post every few days - what I'm doing ...... and thinking. I hope that you'll find it interesting and if nothing else you'll enjoy the journey with me a bit.