4:57am Race Day Morning

4:57 AM

Saturday August 16th, 2014

I just had to write down some thoughts since today is the big day. My alarm went off at 4:45 and it feels like Christmas morning. I am so excited. Not much can get me out of bed at 4:45 am, but Triathlon is one of them.

I feel calm this morning, I'm ready. I have put in all the hard work leading up to this for 9 months, the hard part is over- and now I can just enjoy the race.

As we fell asleep last night I was telling Kathy what todays race means to me, and I want to share it here;

Todays race is very symbolic for me. It symbolizes everything I have been doing with my life the last 9 months. Triathamom has been the object in my head for 9 months that I have been working towards, that I have been getting healthy and fit for. It symbolizes all the hard work and dedication I have committed to for the past 9 months, and really its a symbol of finishing one leg of my lifelong journey.

When I cross that finish line I complete the first chapter of my life where I made a change. That finish line for me symbolizes the close of that part of my life and the beginning of chapter 2. The journey has started, and chapter 2 will take me some amazing places in the coming year.

I predict the next chapter will include at least 4 triathlons in 2015, with continual health and fitness.

The finish line today symbolizes for me a lot of blood, sweat, tears and the hundreds of countless hours I have dedicated to getting my mind and body ready for this event. It symbolizes all those training workouts I did when no one was watching, when no one was holding me accountable for what I was doing with my time.

When I cross that line today I can put my stamp of approval on the last year of my life, knowing I did my absolute best everyday and with each decision I made leading up to the race. I am excited, I am nervous and I'm betting that by the time I get to the swim start I'll be nervous as hell.

Until then.....

Picking up our race packets and bibs at Orang Theory Fitness on Friday Night

Kath Carbo Loading

The Moment of Clarity

I would like to speak to the "Ah ha" moment.

That moment when the fog clears, the sun comes out and all of a sudden you see your goals right in front of you, attainable and ready for you. It's a moment of clarity, as my friend put it, where the B.S. and excuses are over and it's finally time for you. 

I was having a conversation with an old friend today. She has recently decided to give up caffeine. Red bulls she was having on the daily and she decided that she's had enough and doesn't want to be a slave to caffeine anymore. 

The first few days were pretty brutal for her, and she sent me a text saying;

"It is supposed to hurt this much at the beginning?"

And today, she sent me a text saying;

"Did you have a sense of clarity?"

Clarity. The Ah Ha Moment. The answer to both of her questions, was yes. Yes, it hurt so much in the beginning. Letting my body detox from all of the crap I was putting into it for years was hard, it hurt and all I wanted to do was fall face first into a pizza and diet coke. It hurt because my body was going through withdrawals, I had headaches that I could no longer remedy with diet coke and my comfort was and had been food. So yes, it hurts bad in the beginning. I think if it didn't hurt, it wouldn't feel like such an accomplishment once the fog cleared.

Yes, I had a moment of clarity. About 2 weeks into eating clean I felt like the darkness over me lifted. It was like I could see myself standing in front of myself a year later (from when I started) and I could actually visualize what I would look like and I was wearing a lot of spandex (my wife can already attest to the fact that it's basically all I wear now). 

In all seriousness though, I could see myself as an athlete, competing in races and being my best self. I realized then that the power of visualization is incredibly powerful. It pulls our universe towards those visual goals and makes them a reality. 

When I'm in the pool I have my best moments of clarity. There is nothing more peaceful than the quite of the water as I swim laps. It's there that I visualize myself, swimming in an Ironman, calling myself an IRONWOMAN. It's there that I visualize myself at my goal weight. 

For me, once I had that moment of clarity, I haven't looked back. It was the moment I (for lack of a better phrase) "Drank the Kool-Aid" of wellness for myself. I realized it was possible, it was no longer an" if", but a "when." 

Many people comment on my iron will power, when it comes to food and training. Yes, it's will power, but the will power is powered by something much deeper. It's powered by the knowledge of "I can, and I will" it's powered by that moment of clarity where I could see myself, an athlete, standing in the sun a year from then. It's powered by the drive to be better than I was yesterday and to be my best self. It's powered by those millions of small decisions I make every day that take me one step closer to my goal. 

The will power. The Drive. The Strength. The Kool-Aid are all powered by that Moment of Clarity. And that's the moment my life changed. Forever.

Have you had your moment of clarity? If so, share it with me in the comments- I'd love to hear from you!

6 am swim with a side of bike rack

This morning my alarm went off at 5:45. As I rolled over to turn it off I immediatley began grappling with myself about all the excuses in the world not to go. I turned back over in bed and I realized that I could either get up and swim, or spend the next hour in bed thinking about how I should have gone swimming. So with that I got up, slipped on my swim suit and was out the door. Thanks to last night Becca (the version of me from last night) who had the foresight to pack the gym bag and have it ready to go.

I was in the pool by 6:20 and, as I'm tapering my workouts right now, today only called for a 20 minute swim. Now, call me superstitious, but I swam 700 meters and got out of the pool. Lucky Number 7 is going to help me annihilate the race on Saturday. It felt really good to stretch my sleepy body in the pool. There's nothing like jumping into a cold pool early in the morning to wake you up. 

This Morning Swim at Steiner Spots Complex

As soon as I got home I decided to try installing the new bike rack we purchsed. I assembled it last night, now it just needed to be fitted to the hitch. I was pretty impressed with myself when a few minutes later, the car looked like this;

Let The Games Begin

Paddle Boarding, Kath's 30 for 30

Over the weekend Kath and I rented stand up paddle boards from the University of Utah Outdoor Recreation Program. They offer low rental prices on pretty much any outdoor equipment you can imagine, it's fantastic. 

We decided on paddle boarding, because it is part of Kathy's 30 for 30 bucket list. More on that later, keep reading.

She and I opted for the inflatable paddle boards, since we weren't' sure how we could transport full size ones on our car.

* For the record, inflatable is the way to go. Once they are blown up they are sturdy and surprisingly heavy, just like the regular boards.* 

Sunday morning we drove up to East Canyon Resevior and found a great spot off to the side of the road to park. This meant we didn't have to pay the $10 fee to have beach access from the road, but it also meant we had to hike down to the beach....

Upon first inspection the trail down to the beach looked fine, but then we remembered all the equipment we had to carry. Well, when there's a will, there's a way and we found a way.

The beach isn't THAT far, right?

Let's do This!

Well, after a very treacherous hike down, and after only a few "F" words we made it to the beach a little discouraged and disheveled. We rolled out the paddle boards and felt even more deflated (pun-intended) as we realized it was going to take us years to blow the boards up. 

So with grumpy attitudes we got to work, and to our surprise they both inflated within a matter of minutes. Our day and our marriage was saved!

Pumping, not just for nursing women anymore!

We spent the rest of the day out on the lake, which we had practically to ourselves *note, see no one behind me in this pic* The only thing that was missing was food- we didn't think we would love it so much and stay all day. We fueled with bananas and almond butter, and dates wrapped in coconut all day. Oops. Regardless, we both mastered standing up and paddling. We also paddled on our knees and occasionally rode around them like they were our own personal canoes. It was a riot and I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Me

Kath

We're Doing It!

The reason we decided to try paddle boarding, having never done it before, was because of Kathy's 30 for 30 bucket list. She decided about 2 weeks ago that she wanted to accomplish 30 different and varied tasks before her 31st birthday which is November 7th. 

The list includes items such as;

• Eat at a Michelin Star restaurant
• Compete in a Triathlon
• Paddle Board
• See a Broadway Play
• Meet with a Financial Adviser

etc....

I really admire this idea and I admire Kathy for thinking of such an awesome idea, following through with it and really setting some challenges for herself in the next few months. Not everything on the list is easy to do, and not all of them have to do with entertainment.

I believe it will help make Kath's 30th year the best yet, and she'll enter 31 being a more well rounded, well versed individual. Go Kath!

A Beautiful Day At Brighton

Saturday Kathy and I woke up early and headed up into the cool mountain air. We drove up to Brighton Ski Resort-in Big Cottonwood Canyon and met our friends Shay and Dave for a hike around Mirror Lake. We got there a bit before they did so Kathy and I had the chance to walk around in the crisp air and enjoy the scenery.

We stopped in front of the general store and cafe and while we were sitting there we saw a beautiful bull moose walking around. He vanished into the trees before we could get a picture. 

When our friends arrived we did two laps around the lake, enjoying the fresh air and the smell of the mountains. It was truly a great way to get up and get going on a Saturday morning. 

Mirror Lake

Me and the Mrs.

The Crew, Kate, Shay, Me, Kath, Dave and Holland

I didn't have to do my triathlon training that day either, since I'm now in "Taper-Mode" with one week left til race day. So a nice leisurely hike around the lake was just what the doctor ordered. A great start to the weekend, indeed.

Meeting Dean Karnazes

**Continued from the Day 7, Thank Heaven Post**

So there I am, on my way to Salt Lake Running Company at 8:30 on a Thursday night. To my surprise, it was packed when I got there. There was a line of people all dressed in running gear. (Go figure!) Without looking too closely I thought that maybe they were all there for race packet pickup for un upcoming race this weekend. 

I looked around at race belts for a few minutes, selected the ones I wanted and headed up to the cashiers desk. He hadn't seen me shopping due to the amount of people in line at the front of the store. He said, "Oh, I'm sorry, we're closed down for the night." He must have seen the confused look on my face, the "then why are there still so many people here?" face, because he promptly said, "But Dean Karnazes is here signing autographs!" 

Dean Karnazes is known as "The Ultramarathon Man" and sure enough, I turn around and standing at a podium signing posters and books is Dean. Well,  you better believe I ran and got a poster and waited in line to meet the legend himself.  For those of you unfamiliar with dean, he made history in 2006 when he ran 50 marathons, in 50 states in 50 days. He has also WON, not raced, but WON the infamous BadWater 135 ultramarathon. A 135 mile race through death valley, in the middle of July. 

....AND if that's not impressive enough, here's the real kicker, he has won the Badwater 135 TEN TIMES. TEN TIMES.

So I waited in line, listening to this guy give running advice to those who were asking for it, making conversation with everyone and having a great time. When it was my turn, he smiled and said hello and began signing my poster. I told him how I have just gotten into running within the last 6 months, and how I would eventually like to do a 50 mile ultramarathon. (specifically the Pony Express Ultra). 

He took that into consideration as he finished signing my poster;

And here's the icing on the cake, Dean looked me in the eyes and said, " I have no doubt you will (run a 50k), You have the fire in your eyes!" and with that he shook my hand. 

It was an amazing experience for me, to meet such an accomplished athlete. Just another stamp in my passport on my journey to becoming an Ironman.

Day 7, Thank Heaven

Today has been quite an eventful day. It's day 7 of my 6th Whole 30, so one week in and filling incredible. It's amazing how almost instantly, my body feels so much stronger a day or two into Whole 30. I don't feed my body much crap when I'm not on Whole 30, but I can tell a drastic difference when I'm 100% strict with myself.

A week or so ago a friend of mine posted on facebook that they were selling their indoor Kinetic bike trainer for $150 bucks. I thought longingly about the trainer for a long time, only to find out that it had been sold.  As luck would have it (for me!) the sell fell through and it was once again up for grabs. So Kathy, being the amazing wife she is, told me we could think about it. 

Well, Kath happened to be reading an article online last night about how to be your best triathlete self, and the article stressed the importance of being strong in the bike portion. Kath instantly looked over at me and said, "You should see if that bike trainer is available" 

24 hours later I drove away with the trainer! 

Also today I had my weekly physical therapy appointment. Today was the day I have been waiting for since June, the anti gravity treadmill day. Since I am getting so much closer to my triathlon, my physical therapist is beginning to test my strength with running. 

I arrived at P.T. and first he did some grafting on my leg and ankle, where they take coco butter and rub it on your leg and use metal tools to "rub ya down"-the purpose being that the irritation it causes promotes platletes in  your blood to rush to that area and begin repairing the joints, tendons and muscles in the irritated area. This in turns promotes healing of the part of your body that is injured.

Next we headed over to the anti gravity treadmill. Which looks like this:

Photo courtesy of Kearny Hub

You put on a special pari of running shorts that have a zipper at the top and then you step into the center of the treadmill and they zip you in. The machine is turned on and it calibrates to your weight and begins filling with air. You feel your body weight begin to rise and it takes as much of the weight of your body off your ankles/feet as the P.T. sets it to. It was a really cool feeling. Then, sweet victory, I got to run!

I haven't run since June and today, on the Alter G machine I ran for 20 minutes without stopping, no pain and it was just like I had never taken a day off of running. Tomorrow, Monday and Wednesday my physical therapist is going to have me come back and do the alter g machine again and again to see how repeated running sessions feel on my ankle. With any luck I could be running across the finish line at my Triathlon, instead of walking. 

After 2 1/2 hours of P.T is was dinner time, and tonights dinner was delicious Paleo Orange Chicken, Broccoli and green onions. 

After dinner, I decided to hit up REI, as I need to get my hands on a good running belt for my race number. REI is quite literally my favorite place to shop, and I joke the the outdoors, training and fitness is my religion, so going to REI is going to church. REI Church.

My Salt Lake REI, I looked like a creeper taking this photo tonight.

I did't have any luck with race belts, but they did have training axles for my indoor trainer. You replace your rear axle with the training one to avoid scuffing yours up. So armed with my training axle in hand I decided to make one last stop at Salt Lake Running Company, to see if they had the running belts I was looking for. 

....Because the rest of the story is so good, it deserves it's own post. See my next post for what happened next. 

Day 6, Cycle Bitch.

Today is Day 6 of Whole 30.  Breakfast was chicken tortilla-lesss soup with a dollop of Guacamole. 

photo courtesy of Paleo Comfort Foods, I ate my soup too fast this morning to even remember taking a picture.

After work I went and picked up my mom at work and she and I headed to a local park to have lunch together. I had Bora Bora fireballs, green beans and black olives for lunch. It's so nice to still be able to have lunch out and about, but eat the food that I've prepared at home. 

My mom and I had a wonderful time catching up. She wanted to know a lot about Whole 30 and Paleo. She asked a lot of questions about eating clean, and why certain things aren't allowed on Paleo and/or Whole 30. It was fun to answer all of her questions. She mentioned that she want's to read "It Starts With Food." 

I'm feeling excited that my mom is showing some interest in the program, I know she'd rock it, if she decides to do it. 

My mom works really close to the bike trail I love to ride on, so after lunch I hit up the bike path and put in a 12.22 Mile bike ride, with an average speed of 15.5 MPH. 

This was an out and back ride.

It was a great workout, and a beautiful ride.

Dinner tonight is Tuna fish lettuce wraps with roasted asparagus and a mix of roasted sweet and white potatoes.

Finished Product

Brush with olive oil, salt, pepper and bake at 425 for 15-20 minutes

Cube, brush with olive oil, salt, pepper and bake at 425 for 30 minutes.

Day 5- Kitchen Closed

Today is day 5 of my Whole 30 and so far I'm going strong and feeling great. 

Have I wanted chocolate every single day? Yes. 
Have I actually had any chocolate? No.

Did I have a random craving for a whole can of frosting tonight while watching reruns of 'The Office'? You betcha I did.

However, gone are the days that I dwell on those cravings and let those moments run the rest of my night. I have a good friend, Gini, who is doing her first Whole 30 with me right now. She lives in across the country from me but we text daily and keep each other updated on how we are doing. 

She has a really cool philosophy that I'm going to share with you. 

So Gini is (was) a late night snacker (like most of us, including me). Her sugar cravings really hit hard in the late evening after dinner. So, during her whole 30 she has a "Closing the Kitchen" policy. After dinner is made and lunches are packed for the next day, she does the dishes, turns off the lights and 'Closes the Kitchen' for the rest of the night. 

I think this is BRILLIANT! If I tell my brain (or maybe even say out loud to myself) that the kitchen is closed- I'm finding that I don't think about food after dinner. Armed with a bottle of ice water I settle into my book, or to work on my blog. 

Tonights blog writing looks a lot like....this......

Totally easy, not hard at all to blog with a 17lb cat on your chest with her tail covering your eyes.

Triathlon Training- T-Minus 2 weeks

This morning I went out to Stansbury Park, in Tooele UT. About a 45 minute drive from my house. Stansbury park is the perfect place for Triathlon training because you can jump in the lake, then cycle and run around the city which is relatively flat and rural.

I swam once around the lake, a distance of about 500 Meters. I toyed with the idea of doing another lap around, but the water is so smelly that I had to get out. Beautiful, but smelly. 

That spec is me. 

Once out of the water, I headed to my transition area that I had set up right outside our car. I wanted to practice my transitions as best I could without being at the actual race. 

Once I got my shoes, helmet and sunglasses on, I took off for a 13 mile bike ride. I did a few loops of the same route, because I'm not too familiar with the area. I was able to get some good speed in, and felt the burn in my quads.

Once the bike was done, I hit the road again. This time for the walk portion. I am in the middle of healing from an ankle injury, so I am not cleared to run at the moment. I was still able to have a great 3 mile power walk and when I made it back to the car I was beat and thirsty!