Phone Test for IM USA updates. 1234 GO HOLLY GO!

TAPER MADNESS...

Let's just start this post by telling you that you are "LUCKY" that you don't work with me.  Because I have no tolerance for "Bull_Sh*t" at this time.  It makes "Customer Service" which is a good 50% of my job - difficult to manage right now.  I have very little interest in being polite, kind and gracious and jumping through extra hoops to correct mistakes that my customer should have caught on PROOF #1, 2 & 3!  I don't have time to read minds and I have gone from having "too little energy to care" to having "so much energy, I don't want to sit here and waste my time!"

All of this demonstrates, according to my other triathlete friends/teammates, that I am exactly where I need to be in my "Taper" for IRONMAN Lake Placid.

The shorter workouts are hard - last night's 4 x 1200's left me on the verge of re-tasting my peanut butter sandwich from an hour earlier.  BLAH!  But I got it done - 1200 at a 10:00 pace.  I guess post-IRONMAN I need to revisit all the reasons (EXCUSES) I have for not being able to run a sub-30 minute 5K because the speed is there when I try to access it.

My "Bike Legs" are present and accounted for.  In the last week, I have felt so strong on the bike and my average pace is confirming it.  I am climbing and riding faster in Zone 2.

Now with the short workouts, comes a lot more "Mental Prep."  I have been spending time thinking about Race Day, formulating my Race Plan and finding good CUES to get me through the "DARKNESS" that I have been told to expect around hour 7-8 of the bike.  

I have also been envisioning my transitions - From SWIM to BIKE , from BIKE to RUN and the all important "FINISH LINE moment."  Even now, thinking about these moments gets me all Emotional and put the Butterflies in overdrive. 

Still working out the "Flight Pattern for those darn Butterflies...."

Life is GOOD! 

17 Day until IRONMAN Lake Placid...

Living STRONG!

Montclair Tri Photos...

SWIM!

BIKE!

RUN- FINISH!

Maybe I should have had that extra skin removed from my arms and thighs when the plastic surgeon offered! LOL My legs look like the legs of a 70 year old!  SHEESH!! 

Still the smile and the thumbs up say it all - "No MORE DNFs!"

LiveSTRONG!

3 Weeks....

I was looking at the calendar for work purposes when it hit me....

IRONMAN Lake Placid is 3 weeks from this coming Sunday. (July 5)

OMG! Now I am sitting at my desk with butterflies going nuts in my tummy...

RR: Montclair Triathlon

Last Race before the Big Dance...or HOW TO TOSS THE DNF MONKEY OFF YOUR BACK!

Monclair Triathlon - June 21, 2009
1K SWIM/18M BIKE/ 5M RUN
2:44: 23

This would be my last race before IM Lake Placid and after two DNFs this season - I wanted to shake the DNF Monkey off my back once and for all. Met up with Team Z at 5:30AM to pick up my race packet and get the day underway. Saw Debi B. pre-race - looking cool and relaxed - and said "Hi!" Got into transition and got settled and headed out to the water.

SWIM: 28:04 (no wetsuits, water 80F)

Debi B. and I were in the same wave - LOL - but I never saw her until we were out on the bike course. I'm guessing she was hitting the shore as I was hitting the turn bouys. But I had another fantastic swim and another new experience. Wave 4 (women 40+ and Athenas) went off and I had seeded myself mid-pack - and THERE I STAYED UNTIL THE TURN BOUYS! I was a combination of "I feel good / what are all these people doing around me/ get out of my way" It was great until the turn bouys when I really got to experience what it is like to be in the midst of the swim - what a bunch of nuts! I saw more feet and felt more hands and bodies than I have ever cared to experience and I was dreaming of open water. I actually stopped for a moment to let some of these yahoos go by because I was tired of getting my feet pulled and having to dodge other feet. Lesson learned - clear water means losing the draft - I'm sure I was slower on the back half but I was happier in general ...Guess I have to just get used to crowds!

So serious coming out of the water...LOL

T1: 3:24 - A little long in T1 but I wanted to get my socks on straight.

BIKE: 1:09:01 (15.6 mph)

Whheeeee! This was a 3 loop bike course of gentle rolling hills - DOWN - UP - DOWN - UUUPPPP - DOOOWWNNN - nearly all aero, all the time and big chain ring - It was fun and I had a good time passing some of the guys on the descents cause I have hips/booty to spare - of course they always passed me back on the climbs...LOL. Saw Debi B. again as she flew by (I estimated she was already on lap 3 cause I never saw her again until post race.) and took the time to say "Hi Holly! Looking Strong!" I shouted "Debi, You can Do it!" cause I could - LOL - but she was already gone. All in all - fun bike course, done in a flash..

T2:2:22 - almost slipped down the hill - recovered - changed shoes and out I go...

RUN: 1:01:33 (12:15 pace)

Okay - I had a specific goal for the run - practice my IRONMAN plan. 5/1 RUN/WALK intervals at a 12:00 mile pace with the goal to finish the race feeling like I could have run 21 more miles if I had too. I know, the bike was only 18 miles but I wanted to be able to feel my pace, stride and be good with it. The run course was two loops that followed part of the DOWN and UUUUPPPP of the Bike Course with a left turn into a neighborhood that brought us downhill back to the park for a second loop. The biggest surprise on the run was the start of the second loop followed a hiking/single track mountain bike trail for about 1/4 mile through the woods. Off-Roading in Triathlon = Wild Fun! I had a great time slip-sliding down hill through the leaves. Took at GU at the start of the second loop and kept to the plan.

Big Smiles for the finish line!

Finished the 5 mile run feeling like I could run another 21 at 12:00 minute miles (after having run 4 miles less than 10 hours before ) and officially TOSSED THAT DNF MONKEY off my back.

4 weeks to IRONMAN Lake Placid...

Still FOCUSED. Getting EXCITED. Feeling GOOD. Living STRONG!

Another LiveSTRONG Moment!

Totally Awesome!

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Life is Good! LiveSTRONG!!!

For Helen...

CANCER to 5K lost a teammate this past Friday. After a year of fighting hard, enduring clinical trials to get her recurrence under control; having a successful bone marrow transplant and recovering only to have cancer rear it's ugly head again, Helen is gone.

What can I tell you about Helen? Young (early 20s), vibrant, beautiful smile, beautiful face, beautiful laugh. She took life in stride. Helen had to take a break from College to fight her cancer diagnosis and when we were training together, she would show up on Saturday mornings after a long shift as a hostess at a popular local Irish Pub (in high heels) and run with the group. (in running shoes, thank gosh!) Even her complaints were good natured - How is that for "attitude with a smile"?

Helen's fight with this 3rd recurrence was incredibly hard on her. Several CT5K Teammate had chosen to run the recent Survivor Harbor 7 race on June 14th in support of Helen.







A close family friend and fellow CT5K teammate told me, when she saw Helen last week and told her "You ran 7 miles Sunday and did a great job!" - Helen smiled and laughed a little. Helen had just been moved to Hospice care on Thursday, so to have her gone on Friday afternoon was shocking and sad.

But Helen left on her own terms - it bears reapeating over and over again:

Having the courage to decide when to stop treatment is one of the bravest and most powerful things that a Survivor and their families can do. Helen's courage is another powerful example of what it means to LiveSTRONG.

I told the team in a brief email on Saturday afternoon: "Helen has moved on, beyond the struggle, beyond the fight - on her own terms - down a new path. Next run or walk you take, take a moment and remember our teammate Helen and smile and give your finish everything you've got - show the world how you LiveSTRONG! Helen would want it that way."

So on Saturday night, myself and fellow CT5K teammates Jessica T. and Paula S. went out and ran the Potomac Twilight 4-Miler Run.

Potomac Twilight 4-Miler: 42:34

They started this race an hour later this year to eleviate some of the "heat" from last year and that seemed to help but it was still pretty hot at 7PM. I took the pace out easy since this was going to be a "fun run" and supposed to be Zone 2 all the way. Got to see Paula and Jessica several times (two loop - out/back course), which was nice because they are faster runners than me. Spent my time watching other people start/stop - sprint/walk around me in the back of the pack while I just focused on maintaining my race plan and a steady pace until we hit the last water stop.

I decided, in honor of Helen, I was going to pass as many people as I could in the last 1/2 mile. I just slowly picked up my pace - passing runner after runner, many of whom were now run/walking or slowed down due to the distance/heat. With about 600 feet to the finish line (straight-away) I passed a woman in lavendar who had just started walking and a guy in red who had been constantly in front or behind me sprinting and then having to walk the entire race. I was determine that these two would not pass me. Woman in Lavendar started running as I passed her and I let her pull ahead just a little and then got right behind her. As happened every other minute for the last 3.5 mile RED DUDE blew past us at full sprint. I knew that there was no way that he was going to last at that speed for another 500 feet so I eased out from behind Lavendar Lady and eased the pace up focusing on "just a little bit faster" in my head. With about 200 feet to go and Lavendar Lady well behind me, I passed Red Dude as he blew apart from his latest sprint and kept the pace up to pass 2 more runners before crossing the line.

5 minutes off last year's race time - that one was for Helen!

Rest in Peace, Helen. My thoughts and prayers with your family and friends. You will live on forever in our hearts.

Nothing like a little of the wee "C" to bring you back down...

I heard the news today.
It came out of nowhere.
I wish I could run away,
but where would I go?
Is this my destiny?
Something so unfair...
What will become of me?
God only knows.

And they say the road to heaven might lead us back through hell.
Maybe tonight, maybe tomorrow,
we will win this fight and bury this sorrow.
We're so alive, still holding on, not ready to die,
so we LIVESTRONG.

(lyrics and song - WideAwake)

I've been ALL IRONMAN, ALL THE TIME these last two weeks but this week has served to remind me that there are bigger battles going on every day.

First I got a call from Melanie, telling me that she was going to have to put down our cat Jasmine. Jasmine is your typical cat - LOYAL to only ONE or TWO (Melanie and myself) and always suspicious and on guard. She was the crankiest, meanest, nastiest cat I ever co-owned.

Melanie brought her home as a ferrel kitten from her job as a Park Ranger when we were roommates in 1994 back in CT.  When I moved out, I took Jasmine with me (she was not very nice to other cats either...)  Jasmine and I were together for 8 wonderful years until 2000 when I found myself having to move locally here in the DC area.  The rental market was tight and moving with a cat was proving very difficult - so I call Melanie, who was living on the other side of the beltway and asked her if she would take Jasmine.

I cried like a baby the day Melanie came to pick her up.  I knew she was going to be well loved but I felt like I was giving up a child. (I really love my pets...each one.)  Within a month, Jasmine was happy and content and would barely give me even a pur or a walk-by when I would pet-sit for Melanie when she was out of town.  I felt better - I knew Jasmine was happy.

Jasmine lived with Melanie for the next 10 years - even making the long move to Texas.  That is a lot to ask of a New England-born cat! But according to Melanie, Jasmine kept her personality in tack right up to her last years - only mellowing slightly.

Jasmine was diagnosed with Breast Cancer that metastasized to her lungs.  I didn't even know cats could get breast cancer...

REST IN PEACE my sweet, evil kitten!

Last night I got another call from a friend telling me that a mutual friend who has been battling a reoccurrence and in and out of the hospital for the last year - has been released from the hospital to go home and into the care of hospice.  Things have progressed to the point where the Doctors can no longer do anything more.  

I makes my heart ache to imagine anybody ever having to hear those words but I know that being at home with family and friends is the best place for my friend to be and I completely respect the decision that has been made.  I pray that every moment is filled with love, laughter and happiness for the time that is left for my friend and the family.

This morning, I was lurking around - catching up on some more friend's blogs and learned that another friend and blogger was just informed of a reoccurrence.  This friend is one hell of a dynamic guy - a FIGHTER in the truest sense of the word and while the news that he was going to have to start chemo again is still fresh in his mind, he is already making plans and taking action.  He is primed for the FIGHT - that is a LiveSTRONG attitude if ever there was one.

It's been a while since I got this much "cancer" news in less than 24-hours.  It's sobering and quite frankly it simply pisses me off! Not the news but the cancer itself.  Nobody is free from the grips of cancer.

1 in 2 Men and 1 in 3 Women will develop cancer during their lifetime.

560,000 Americans are expected to die of cancer THIS YEAR.  That averages out to more than 1,500 people a day.

(source: American Cancer Society)

But as long as we are all willing to continue to FIGHT and live life on our terms - at least we know that we truly Live STRONG! Make sure you tell your friends and family how much you love them today... Life is still Good - Keep Living STRONG!