superb day!

I had a very good day today. Very very VERY good! I think it's the rest week. I have physically and mentally recovered from my big 4 week block! I have a duathlon on Saturday and I am so ready to rock the shit out of it!

I woke up at around noon (please keep in mind that I am not sleeping until the afternoon because I am super lazy - I am working overnights!) and checked facebook/email in bed via my ipod touch (addiction, anyone?). I saw emails and facebook posts with photos of our NEW UNIFORMS! They had arrived! We have been waiting on these uniforms since like February so you can imagine how excited everyone on our team is! I was so excited that I could barely fall back asleep! I picked mine up when I met with Mary at Starbucks (more on this later) and they are frickin SWEEET! Not quite lime green/blue, more of a kelly green/blue, but they are sharp looking. I tried all of the pieces on when I got home and everything fits really well! I ordered a tri top, tri shorts, jersey, running singlet, and arm warmers. I do think I am going to order a jacket because I saw Mary's and it's REALLY NICE! I will post photos when I get some good ones.

Before all of this uniform trying on happened, I had to do my swim test. Our swim test is 2x400 yds at max effort. 4 weeks ago I did it in 6:12. Today, I did it in 6:02 (actually the first one was 6:09 and the 2nd one was 6:02). Holy FREAKING 10 second improvement!! I am shocked and psyched and stunned! As much as I dread swimming every Tues/Thurs I will NEVER skip a swim (I've only skipped 1 swim since I started in January anyways) because it's obviously working! I am feeling better about the Ironman swim distance; I am still a little worried about the mass swim start because I tend to panic in situations like that (it took me an entire season of triathlon to calm down during the swim). But I was on a serious high from the swim test, and I went to Starbucks to meet with Mary just because I had some questions and whatnot.

She answered my questions which were mostly about what was coming up training-wise, training camp, and Tinman (because they are a week apart). I am still a bit worried FREAKING OUT about my nutrition. I am ok on the bike but still not so much on the run. Mary told me today that she thought I was the type of athlete who would "continue racing with shit running down your legs"(her words, not mine). Now I know that this is disgusting and probably you people don't want to hear about this. Believe me, I know it's gross. But we are triathletes. We strip down to our underwear (and beyond) in public, we pee on ourselves while clothed going 20 mph on a bike, we drink out of water bottles that get washed once a year (maybe that's just me), we shoot snot rockets, and we have GI problems in 12 hour races. You race for 12 hours eating nothing but freaking Gatorade and gels and tell me what happens to your body. So don't judge me. I have GI issues. Everyone knows that. Lots of Ironman athletes struggle with it because your disgestion slows way down when you're racing for that long. And believe me, it SUCKS. I am doing my best to figure it out so that I won't have issues on race day. We're going to work on incorporating some longer runs after long rides so I can see how my bike nutrition affects my gut on the run. But when the time comes, I would rather finish the Ironman covered in my own crap/vomit/something else disgusting than not finish. Not finishing is much, much worse.

I have no shame. I am ready to race.