at least I didn't shoot myself with a nail gun...

I haven't talked about my crotch in a while because that would be weird I didn't do any 6 hour rides after training camp until the actual Ironman, so it had over a month to recover before the race. I will give an update though, in case anyone is curious.

I have what I will refer to as: Ironman crotch.

Without going into a lot of details (because even I have a limit to the gross things I will share with the general public) it involves a lot of chafing. Ouch.


Anyways.....

I am bored. I don't know what to do with myself when I am not training. I sit around, I eat, I watch movies.. it blows. Seriously it's only been 5 days and I can't take many more like this!

I am sooo ready to get going on my Syracuse 70.3 training, however I know that I cannot start just yet. I know my body needs to recover from the Ironman and that it's going to take more than a week. My legs are finally feeling almost back to normal. I just really want to have a good race in Syracuse (ugh.. yes I am already eyeballing a PR of under 5:16.. seriously I just cannot help myself) and I need to be out training in order for that to happen!

BUT recovery first, train later.

I have to go to a family reunion at my parents' house this weekend. This will entail explaining what an Ironman is over and over again to my relatives. I've already been instructed to bring home various Ironman trinkets such as my finisher's medal, race gear, photos, etc. I know my parents are proud but it's going to be difficult to explain to a bunch of family members what exactly an Ironman is, and more importantly, WHY someone would do such a thing! I love my family, but they are definitely kind of crazy - I have an uncle who brings a different date to the family reunion every year and a cousin who shot himself in the leg with a nail gun.

Nail gun victim or not, it would be even harder to explain to a non-triathlete why I would ever have to utter the following sentence without having some sort of medical condition: "Mary! I didn't shit my pants!" Because I did say that to my coach - with friends and my parents standing there - immediately after finishing the Ironman.

I doubt anyone in the Harding family would understand what could possibly motivate someone to continue running with GI-related issues.

I just really hope that my dad didn't capture that particular conversation on video camera...

honesty

After I posted my race report on the team google group (it's basically a forum), a friend and teammate Matt Kellman read it and commented, "Over the past three years I've read a lot of race reports, this may be the most honest report I've ever read. I love it!"

Apparently, over the years, I have developed into the "emotional girl who wears her heart on her sleeve." I have never understood why people hide their feelings away. What good does it do? I also absolutely HATE lying. I really think I may be one of the most honest people in existence.

It bothers me to no end when people cheat, lie, steal, etc.

Case in point, when I arrived in Lake Placid on Wednesday evening, it was late, cold, raining, and my parents were hungry (I was hungry too!). I was scheduled to swim for 30 mins but I skipped it. I planned to do it on Thursday. However, I also had a bike and run scheduled for Thursday. Thursday arrived and the weather was less than ideal - it was raining. I texted Kim to see what I should do (she was driving up to Placid with my coach). They told me to drop my bike ride, because I needed to drop a workout. But then the weather turned and I wanted to make sure my bike was shifting ok, so I went for my 40 min ride and then my 20 min run. Later, I swam with Adam. Thursday night, I went to a team dinner. Mary asked me which workout I dropped. I said "none." Apparently, they had seen me riding my bike and were curious whether I'd lie about dropping a workout.

I don't lie.

I don't see the point. If I lie to my coach, how do I expect her to do her job? Seriously, if you have to lie because you are ashamed of what you are doing, then just DON'T DO IT!

I know that I am an emotional person and I have tried - and failed - to hide that about myself. It's just not worth it. I am not ashamed of the emotions I felt during the Ironman. I am not made of stone. I get upset when I cannot execute a race correctly. I get frustrated with myself when I can't live up to my expectations, but instead of hiding those feelings away, I talk.

Ask me anything.

:)

Ironman Lake Placid Race Report

It is Wednesday and I've had 3 days to soak up the experience of Ironman. I am finally feeling human again, and I finally have internet access so it's time to write up my RACE REPORT! (Also, I can almost walk down stairs like a normal person)!!

The first thing I want to do is thank everyone who has supported me for the past year of training. At times I may have been cranky, selfish, a bad daughter, and a bad friend. Sometimes I feel like I do not deserve the friends and support that I got during the race. My parents were there cheering for me and supporting me for the duration. My coach was there coaching TWELVE athletes through the race. I had Train-This friends/alum., creepy blog friends (haha), as well as the other TT athletes doing the race, and countless others at home tracking me online! All in all, it was a fantastic support system that I could not be more grateful for!

That being said..

Lake Placid is NUTS during Ironman week. People wearing compression socks are everywhere, there are bikes worth thousands of dollars, the parking lots to the bike shops are packed. It's just complete insanity. Ironman is all about waiting in line. I waited in line to register. I waited in line to buy merchandise. I waited in line all freaking weekend!


Thursday I registered, got my gear bags, bought some Ironman goodies, did my workouts, and went to a Train-This dinner at Don and Chris's, the original bromance brothers of Train-This. I also bought a spare tubular so that I would have mine for the bike and Kim's spare in my special needs bag (aw how adorable, Kim and I both ride identical tiny bikes with 650c wheels).

Friday I can't even remember what I did other than the athlete banquet which was really fun! Oh, and I drank 2 beers: one courtesy of Matt Kellman and the other, Ultra Adam.




Saturday I had to get my bike ready to go and pack of my transition bags. I had a minor meltdown about whether or not to rack my transition bags on Saturday. The athlete guide says it's mandatory, Mary said that you can bring them in Sunday morning. I'm more of a "follow the rules" kind of girl so that freaked me out. I talked to Ken about it and I calmed down. I wound up taking my bike AND my bags in on Saturday to rack them. The morning was stressful for me and I was glad to get it taken care of and get out of town. There's just too much going on, too much traffic, and it was freaking me out. I watched American Flyers in my condo with Ultra Adam during the afternoon (this was good as it took my mind off of the race for at least a little while) and then I packed up my special needs bag and got everything else ready for the morning. I barely slept at all on Saturday night.

I woke up at 4:00 am on race day to eat my breakfast of protein shake, banana, and 2 fig newtons. I also had to gather up my nutrition. I took a shower because I wanted to at least START the day feeling clean! I took the shuttle into town at around 5:00 am. I had to put my nutrition on my bike and retape my tubular onto the back of my bike because the duct tape fell off overnight.

I got rid of all of my extra clothes and took my special needs bags to Mary where I met White Hot and ran into Jeremy, Glenn, Rae, and several TT athletes. I felt excited, calm, happy. I walked over to the swim start.

Swim

There were people EVERYWHERE - in the water, on the shore, wow! Mary wanted me to start on the right. I actually started more to the right side of the center, a few rows back from the front. It was a good choice. For as terrified of the mass swim start that I was, I was calm and not freaking out at all. The cannon went off and I started swimming. I tried to swim as passively as possible i.e. no grabbing legs, no elbowing anyone, I just let the chaos happen. It was surreal. I was PARTICIPATING IN A FREAKING IRONMAN! I angled in towards the turn buoys and went around them, and got on the cable on the way back. I could feel a MAJOR tow along the cable, people aren't joking about the whirlpool effect in the Lake Placid swim! I was out of the water and running across the mat to jump back in at around 31 mins. I hopped right back on the cable and let the current suck me along. I swam very easily. The time flew by and the next thing I knew, I was DONE. I ended up with a much faster swim time than I thought I was capable of which was a GREAT way to start the day!

Swim: 1:07:04

T1

It's a long run from the swim into transition. I laid down and a guy yanked my wetsuit off of me. I ran through a HUGE crowd where I saw Kim and Travis yelling for me. I grabbed my bag and ran into the women's changing tent which was fairly empty. We (we being me and my volunteer) got my socks and shoes on, helmet on, sunglasses, bib # and salt pills were grabbed and I was out of there. I actually ran right past a volunteer and grabbed my own bike.. force of habit I guess? I also ran past the sunscreen volunteer and I was wearing absolutely none. Whoops!

T1: 5:32

Bike

I was freaking PUMPED to be on the bike. The bike is fun, it's fast, and I love it! I saw Mary and Ultra Adam a little ways out of transition. I knew I had to take it easy on loop 1. It's hard to do. I was surrounded by men that were flying past me. It was hard to let them go! It rained a little on the first loop. I peed twice on the Keene descent (once on each loop). On the 9N section I started getting passed by teammates: Jochen, Jackie, Kellman, and Don all passed me on 9N! It was nice to see them and see that they survived the swim! Loop 1 went really well and I was back in town with a split of ~3:05. I saw my parents in the Train-This tent, I saw some other random people. I felt like a freakin rockstar riding through town because it's lined with fences and there are people EVERYWHERE!

The 2nd loop.. was harder. The big climb out of town that I didn't notice on the first loop seemed to take forever. The downhill was still fun, as was 9N but I was getting passed by more and more people which was discouraging. By the time I started climbing on 86, I was tired. I had a very low point climbing past Whiteface where I wasn't sure if I was going to make it to the top. I was in my small chainring the entire ride back from that point. I was worried that I had screwed up my bike pacing on my first loop. But I got pumped up again after climbing Papa Bear because of all of the spectators and coming back into transition. My nutrition for the bike was spot on - it went exactly like I had planned it.

Bike: 6:23:59, 17.5 mph

T2
Threw the bike at a volunteer, hobbled into transition and got my running shoes on. I have never been so happy to see my running sneakers! I dropped my salt pills exiting transition and ran back to get them. I made sure I had a volunteer apply sunscreen on me because the sun had started to peek through the clouds. I couldn't have asked for better weather for race day - 70s, cool, overcast - it was PERFECT (which led to KILLER race times).

T2: 3:44

Run
Immediately after exiting transition I saw some of my blog friends, Mandy and Jon. I heard them yell my name and I know I made eye contact, but it's hard to tell if people actually knew me because my bib had my name on it in giant letters. It's cool having lots of people yell your name but it makes it hard to distinguish friends from strangers when thousands of people are all screaming at you! I figured out who they were like 20 minutes later. But I appreciated the cheering! I believe both of them signed up for IMLP 2011 and I plan on going and cheering for everyone next year!

Anyways, I was psyched to be running and knew that the finish line was close (relatively speaking). For some reason, I had this thought in my brain that the Ironman marathon would be easier than a regular marathon. Really? Don't ask me why I thought this. The marathon was difficult from mile 1. I had side stitches/cramps from mile 1 to the end. At the start of the run, I was easily on pace for a sub 12 hours finish - I needed a 4:15 marathon to make it. Halfway through the run, I had kissed that goal time goodbye. I tried everything to stop the cramping: salt pills (I seriously took like 40 on the run alone), Powerbar Perform, pretzels, water, cola.. nothing worked. I gutted through at a sub 10 min/mile place for a while and then my quads were just.. done (maybe around mile 18). Just like what happened in the Philly marathon. Aerobically I felt fine. But with the cramping and the quads, I was screwed. I just kept slowing down. 10 minute miles, 11 minute miles, 12.. etc. Seeing Train-This teammates on the run was a life saver. I yelled at everyone I saw. I yelled that they looked great, or to keep moving. I tried to motivate and it turn, it motivated me.

I saw my friend Greg at the aid station near the turnaround. He was great - he cheered and told me I looked strong. I think I yelled profanities at him multiple times, such as "this f$*&ing blows" and "I feel like SHIT." I had SUCH a bad attitude on the run. Luckily, Greg did not let my bad run hinder his choice to register for IMLP 2011! At around mile 20 I started to get really upset and emotional. I knew I wasn't going to make my goal time (and Mary's estimated finish time) of under 12 hours. I was near tears and slightly hysterical and had to walk to try to calm down. I was upset and disappointed with myself. I was worried that Mary was going to be disappointed in me (perhaps Ironman makes people slightly delusional???). I was walking DOWN the hills because going downhill made me cramp up more (this is normal for me) and my legs felt like they were going to buckle. I just wanted to be done. Actually I REALLY just wanted to walk but I wouldn't let myself (other than through aid stations). I saw Kim right before turning to go up the hill for the out and back on Mirror Lake Drive. She made me feel better - Kim is such a good cheerleader and friend! Travis and my friend Adam were also in that area before the big hill.


I finally made it to the oval. Jeremy and Glenn were working security for transition and they both gave me high fives. It was great to see their smiling faces! I zipped up my tri top (hahahah) and made my way around the oval. I crossed the finish line and Mike Reilly announced "Alexa Harding you are an IRONMAN!" I couldn't help but smile! I got a medal around my neck, my finishers shirt and hat. I saw Mary and Ultra Adam in the corral and I went around to find them, and found my parents also.


Run: 4:38:37, 10:38 min/mile


I thought I would be more emotional after finishing an Ironman but I wasn't. I guess I can chalk that up to being somewhat of a perfectionist - I am never happy with my results and always strive to do better. I am not sure what caused the cramping in the marathon - perhaps pushing loop 1 of the bike too fast? I am going to chat with Mary about it after everyone has calmed down from Ironman and after I've had some time to think on it.

However, I am over it. I finished in 12 hours, 18 minutes, and 56 seconds. I am a freaking IRONMAN!

Total: 12:18:56
13th in AG!

if you want to follow me during IRONMAN!!

This post is for those of you who are going to be in Lake Placid volunteering/cheering OR those of you who have a vested interest in the race but are at home. Regardless of whether you are going to be in Lake Placid or at your computer, this is how you can find me in a crowd of 3000 athletes or track me online!

(I say this assuming that at least SOMEONE will want to do either of these things!). I know I have some "creepy blog friends" (as Mary likes to say) that are going to be up in Lake Placid volunteering! I can't guarantee that I will get to meet any of you but I would like to if possible! (And I really don't think any of you are creepy). :)

If you are at home on your computer and you want to track me, tune into IronmanLIVE (or I think you can just go to www.ironman.com) and punch in my bib # 2352. By doing this, you will be able to see my split times as I progress through the race. I think they also may stream the race live, however this normally concentrates on the pro field.

If you are in Lake Placid (either volunteering or spectating) I will give you some pointers on how to find me!

I am wearing my triathlon team's kit. It is a kelly green top with navy blue shorts. There will be a number of us wearing this on the course, but only 2 girls. The other girl is significantly taller than me (I am really short) and will probably be ahead of me! On the bike, I ride a black and gray Cervelo with pink handlebar tape. On the run I will wear a white hat.

This is what I look like!

and now I am down to 2 :(

To the jackhole who stole my mountain bike out of my basement:
I hope you rot in hell. and I hope you enjoy riding a ladies 15" turquoise bike with a pink seat. and I hope you have SPD cleats you bastard. If I ever see you riding my bike down the street, I will tackle you. Actually I will chase you down the street screaming "I AM AN IRONMAN" and then I will tackle you at full speed. And while I may be short, I am solid, and you will hit the ground, and it will hurt.



Goodbye pretty bike :(

I know my bike was turquoise and at one point it did have a kickstand, but it was my first "real" bike that I got as a birthday present from my parents when I was living in Syracuse in 2007. It was a Specialized and I loved it! I did my first triathlon on it, I mountain biked (and fell down a lot) on it. I rode it around the city. I did an off-road duathlon 3 years in a row on it which I can no longer do because it is gone. Because of this bike, I fell in love with triathlon. It being stolen makes me feel like I have been violated, and like part of my soul was ripped away.

It is safe to say that I am upset. And PISSED.

This was the 3rd bout of bad news that I got today and was by far the worst of the three things.

So now I am sad, and I may have cried over my bike. I was already in a sour mood and now I am just miserable.

Summer of Love

Yesterday I had the pleasure of going for a 30 minute recovery run. I live on Park Ave., which apparently is the "Greenwich Village" of Rochester, if you can even compare Rochester to the Big Apple (doubtful). Usually I do these 30 minute runs down Park because there are lots of people to look at. So I was running and all I kept seeing were these rainbow blurs (I didn't have my contacts in). Apparently, it was the Gay Pride parade! I am pretty much oblivious as to what goes on in this city. I had to ask someone the other day what the local news station was (he didn't believe that I didn't know, but I really didn't). So I went up a block to run just so I wouldn't have to constantly dodge people.

Now I am all about gay pride. I am probably as liberal as you can get without actually liking politics (thinking about politics just makes me sleepy). I'm pro-gay, pro-choice, anti-Bush, anti-war, pro-feminism, etc. If it was 1969 I would be twirling around in a meadow, wearing a long skirt, probably stoned out of my mind. However, it is 2010, I was born in 1984, and the phrase "drugs kill" has been burned into my brain since the age of 7. I was so terrified of my parents yelling at me while I was growing up that I didn't try any drugs and didn't drink at all. I missed my curfew once and got grounded for months. I am still terrified of my parents getting mad at me (note: my parents are not mean to me, I just absolutely hate yelling confrontations with ANYONE). Maybe this is why I have yet to tell them about my 2 Ironmans next year.

Buuuut, they read this blog, so hi Mom and Dad, I am doing 2 Ironmans next year! P.S. One is in Idaho, the other is in Wisconsin.

So while I was running, I saw people dressed up to support the gay pride parade, and I saw the church groups there to protest it. And this is why I cannot get on board with going to church. Or being religious. I can't deal with the haters. I am agnostic and this is because I refuse to believe that a god would allow so much hate.

I would like to insert a plug right here. I am not gay. I like men. People seem to have the wrong idea sometimes because maybe I like to ride bikes, and maybe I don't wear a lot of dresses, and perhaps I was (for the most part) single from the ages of 21 to 25. And I am now single again. Just to reiterate, I like men!

Anyways. I promise this is the only post like this that I will make. Seeing the pride parade just made me think about things. But in general I do not judge, so carry on!

swimming backwards

Since I missed a swim this week due to bad weather, I decided to do the Sawbellies 2 Mile Open Water Swim Race today in Canandaigua Lake. I swim in this lake all the time (as much as 2x per week recently). I figured it would be great practice for Placid and fun to socialize with teammates. There were several TT members doing this race. Ken, Joe, Jochen, Jo (a Syracuse girl who I just met today), and myself. Imagine my surprise when the normally calm Canandaigua Lake had some major chop (it was really windy out). The 2 mile course was 2 loops of the buoys where you had to get out of the water and run across the timing mat, and then dive back in, just like Placid!

This is my race recap. I got pummeled in the face with waves for 1 hour and 14 minutes. The end.

It should not take me that long to swim 2 miles. I am annoyed. I know I shouldn't care. I do not come from a competitive swimming background. My swimming background is: swimming lessons as a child, lifeguard training, WSI training, reading Total Immersion, and 2 months of masters swimming. That's it. I swam without a wetsuit and it was really choppy. But man, I was SLOW. Oh well.


I want to talk a little about my IMLP race plan. I'm not going to divulge it. It's private. Mary sent it to me and it's for Mary's eyes and my eyes. But I will say that it is not very "set." What I mean by this is that Mary did not tell me to split particular times in each leg. I have more of a range that I am supposed to be within. My overall goal finish time is actually a quite broad range. She specifically said that for me she wanted to stay away from tight timelines (perhaps this is just because I am new and this is my first Ironman, but I think it's more than just that). Now I don't know what anyone elses plan looks like because those plans are for those people's eyes. But I think this shows just how well Mary knows me. It's honestly pretty crazy how well Mary knows me, since I have been working with her for less than a year.

Mary knows that I am a "numbers girl." I stare at my Garmin trying to hit a particular HR. If she told me to go split such and such a time on my bike, I would probably kill myself trying to hit that time, even if the conditions were slowing me down.

We have been working on "racing naked" (as I like to call it!) and so far it has really worked for me. This means I race by perceived exertion and by feel. For races, I lose the HR monitor. I don't even look at my speed on the bike. I only check my pace on the run in the beginning and that's so I know if I need to slow down. So I will be racing Placid equipped with just a watch which will show my overall time, a computer on my bike to show me my overall bike time, and my Garmin on the run so I can keep track of my pace early on. That's it. No powermeter, no megabattery life Garmin for the entire race, no heart rate. I don't want to get lost in data. I want to race. I know and trust my body more than any piece of equipment. That is what I will be paying attention to on race day. It worked for Tinman and the mini-Mussel, and I have faith that it will work at Placid as well!


Also, check out Mary's blog post for today, where she is profiling all of the IMLP athletes! Today it's myself and Matt the speedo boy! :)