The past two racing seasons have been challenging ones, both physically and mentally. I felt due for a great season after 2008’s disappointing one. While I did have some great races and overcame some great hurdles, I feel a little disappointed about not having completed my second Ironman race.

The season started out really fun with some short-distance races. They were hard and so much faster than the pace I was used to training at. But they were really fun. I enjoyed them a lot and feel like it might be interesting to focus on short-distance sometime. As Ironman Coeur d’Alene came closer, I felt more and more ready. I don’t think I’ve ever been in that good of shape. I achieved my goal weight and I was feeling confident and comfortable on long rides and long runs (I pretty much always feel comfortable in long swims).

When I didn’t finish Coeur d’Alene due to who-knows-what (the doctors still don’t know what caused my seizure and numbness) I was extremely disappointed. While I know that it was not in my control and for some reason my body shut down, I know that it was not because I didn’t train enough. Maybe it was the cold day or maybe my mind/body didn’t want me to finish. However, the longer-term effects were pretty harsh.

After IM CDA, I jumped right into another one. I wanted to complete an Ironman. I had heard about the Desert Half Iron in Oliver and knew that it was pretty much a sure-thing to qualify for Ironman Canada. I didn’t know why that was until I was actually in the race. I have never experienced a more physically and mentally challenging course. It boasts the most difficult half Ironman in Canada. I believe it. Getting through that race was my biggest accomplishment of the season, and maybe of my life.

Once I had qualified for IMC, I felt so grateful. I knew I could do that race, I just needed to keep training. That’s when the wheels started to fall off. Training. After the Desert half I was exhausted. I got out of the habit of training and I lost my momentum. I didn’t want to go on 4+ hour bike rides, or 2+ hour runs, or even 1+ hour swims. Instead I spent many hours relaxing with friends, playing with my dogs, and drinking beer. Each day I meant to train and each day I decided not to.

In August, I did the Waskesiu triathlon and had so much fun. I broke 4-hours, which I have only done a couple of times before. I thought it was a personal best for that race, but it wasn’t. That race went better than any other race in the past few years. I felt so comfortable throughout the whole thing, even though I was working hard. I finished at a sprint and had absolutely no pain throughout the run (that’s always a feat for me). It was great. I felt strong. I felt that inspite of not training I could maybe do Ironman. But Ironman was 3-4x the distance of that race.

Well, you have already read about my decision not to do Ironman Canada. Since then I have continued to have mixed feelings about not doing the race. I’m disappointed, but relieved. I have decided that next year I am going to focus on shorter races (half Ironman distance and shorter) and do some volunteering for some local races. I am going to take some time off from Ironman. I am going to keep it in mind, but I’m not going to pressure myself. If it seems like a good idea in a couple of years, then I’ll do it. Otherwise, I’m just going to chill out about it.

This winter I am going to be doing some coaching and training and getting the rest of my life in order. I’ll keep you posted on my training!

I found out after the race that it boasts of the most difficult half IM in Canada. In a way, I’m kind of glad that I didn’t know this information going into it. Also, I now know why people do not opt to do this race as their qualifier for Ironman Canada. While it is almost a sure-thing that you will get in, you have to endure the wrath of the Desert Half IM course. This is no feat, I now know all too well.

The swim was fairly uneventful. I did have a personal best (PB) for a half IM swim by coming out of the water at 39 minutes. I did some drafting and I swam on my own. It is definitely the warmest lake swim I’ve ever done – it was 23 degrees on race-day morning, which made it just under the cut-off for wetsuits. They split us up into two heats: men under 50 in one and women and men over 50 in the other. It turned out to be all right and I only got roughed up a little bit. Well, the heats were about 200 people for each one, so it would be pretty unusual to be hit a lot from such a small number of people. I’m getting used to swimming with more people, so this race kind of nice and mellow for the start. It was two laps and I wish I would have looked at my split time. I’m sure my second one was faster than my first – I really need to iron out (no pun intended!) my race-day pre-race preparations so that I can get into my rhythm faster.

Once the swim was done, I knew that the big job was coming up. Everyone who knows me that I love bicycles. I love to ride bicycles, look at bicycles, fix bicycles, talk about bicycles, and pretty much everything to do with bicycles. I think they are fantastic machines that are super efficient and super cool to look at. However, on this particular Sunday morning, I hated being on my bicycle. I did know that this bike ride would be hard on my body, but I had no idea how mentally difficult it would be on top of that.

Let me paint you the picture of the bike course:
It’s in the dessert where plants grow sparsely without much water unless irrigated. The hills were hot and windy, no matter which direction you went. There was one flat section for about 10 km, the other 80km were hilly. The hills felt like they went on forever. FOREVER. Going out wasn’t so bad, but I was getting frustrated a little bit. I thought that it would be better once we turned around. I was wrong. Well, the flattish section was better going back because the wind was at our backs, but there was definitely more climbing coming back. I don’t know how many rollers there are, but it felt like 20. I cried once. I swore a lot. I wanted to bike off the side of the mountain just so that I could stop the torture. My body didn’t like the hills very much, but my mind hated them. It isn’t very often that I get so upset while on a bike. However, there was no way I was stopping after getting that far. That’s how I reasoned with myself. I just kept telling myself, “You can get off the bike very soon. We’ve come this far. We’ll practice hills for Ironman.” At that point, though, I didn’t even want to do Ironman. The Ironman course does Richter’s pass and the rollers, which we did twice during the Desert Half IM (once forward, once backward). My bike ride was almost 5 hours. HELL. ON. EARTH. The only other time I was so happy to be running was during Ironman Canada in 2007 when I was on the bike for 8 hours. Now I remember why: it’s the hills! NOTE TO SELF: PRACTICE HILLS!!! I live in the prairies, though, which makes finding hills kind of difficult. I needs to be done, though.

Once I got off the hills and off my bike, I was happy again. I cheered people on as they ran the 2-loop course. It was actually a lot of fun. On the bike I didn’t pee once, so I was really happy to pee several times on the run. Perhaps too often? I just looked at my official time and I spent about 15 minutes peeing. Although, one time I did not stop to go. This was the first time I’ve ever done that. I panicked at one point because I realized that I would be close to the 8-hour cut-off, but then I remembered that they added an extra half hour to this race because it is so difficult. NO. KIDDING! It was also very hot once on the run, about 35 degrees. It was a little bit cloudy, though, so it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. I took lots of water, gatorade, ice chips, and gross sponges to keep myself cooled off. According to my watch, I ran for 2 hours, 33 minutes. The official time was 2:48. I’m all right with all of it. I couldn’t believe I could even run after that bike ride. Not only did I run, but I ran at a fairly good pace [for me]. The extra bike time didn’t affect my run as much as I thought it would have. Plus, I felt great. I had no pain anywhere and my mind was clear and calm.

Also, once off the bike, I figured that I was in the clear in terms of my health. Thankfully, I was right. I did not have a relapse stroke or any problems whatsoever. I felt the best I have felt in a tri in a long time. I think I’m ready for Ironman Canada! Oh yeah, I went to the meeting after the race and they gave me a spot! So I’m definitely going and I’m really excited about it. I’m going to be trying to find some bigger hills around here. They are pretty small, so I’m just going to go up and down the ones we have many times.

My final race time was 7:42, about an hour slower than my worst previous half IM time. I was 88th out of 111 (not all finished). I was last in my new and very tough age category of 30-34 (even though I’m still 29). That being said, I’m really glad that I did the race and finished it and that I’ll be going to Ironman Canada. All THAT being said, I doubt if I will ever do that race again. It is so tough and so hot. A nice prelude to IMC, but it really kicked my butt.

I am sitting in a very cool place while outside is scorching hot. Well, not as hot as it was earlier, but pretty close. Actually, I’m in Penticton which is not nearly as hot as Osoyoos. Apparently the water was 22.5 degrees Celsius today, which is .5 degrees cooler than the cut-off for wearing a wetsuit. Whew! I have never done a triathlon without a wetsuit before. I guess there is a first time for everything!

This race is all about first-times for me. I have been really nervous about this race and was wondering what that was all about, but then it dawned on me: this is the first major race I have done that is completely self-directed. Most major races that I have done for the first time have been because a friend has suggested or coerced me into it, other than my very first one seven years ago. Also, usually I train with the particular race in mind for at least several months. So on top of all the health stuff, I am also figuring all this first-race stuff by myself… with the help of my great support-person, Tina.

We had a heck of a time trying to find where “68th street” was in Osoyoos. It turns out there is no 68th “street” and it is actually “68th Avenue!” We shook our prairie heads at these mountain folks. Once we figured out where to pick up the race package and made their map have north as the top, we were good to go.

Yesterday we drove the bike course. WOW! That is one tough freaking course. It is hot, steep, hilly, and everything else hard. I am excited for the heat, though. It has been a while since I’ve done a hot race and am hoping that it won’t kick my butt too much. A finish is all I’m looking for at this point. A PB isn’t even on the map, but I’m pretty sure it’s possible. I’m hoping to finish within 6.5 hours, which would be a PB and is very doable for me.

Anyway, I had better go walk the dogs and get ready to bed. The 4am wake-up is going to come very early. I hope tomorrow I will have a positive race report!

After spending the last several days talking to receptionists at my places of various medical caregivers, I made a personal decision that I am going to continue my season as I want. This may seem to make a lot of sense. However, after my doctor telling her receptionist to tell me that I should not race this weekend I was hesitant. I have tried for the past many days to get in to see my doctor, but she has been completely booked. I have been on the cancellation list and I have tried to get the receptionist to let me talk to my doc over the phone. No dice. Alas, I was stuck with an in-between message from my doctor from the receptionist saying that “Dr. Nave does not recommend that you race this weekend.” Of course when I ask why that would be, there is no reply from the receptionist – how could she reply for my doctor? Apparently my doc wanted me to wait for my tests to be done – an EEG and a consult with a neurologist. Ok. So I ask when those are happening. The helpful receptionist says she’ll get back to me. She calls me back to say that the office that does the EEGs did not get their fax. I couldn’t help but wonder if that was kind of like the whole “What? You didn’t receive my email?” or the “It must have got lost in the mail!” situation when in actuality you didn’t send it in the first place. They sent in another requisition and my appointment is booked for November 16th. That’s right… November 16th. That is four months from now. I would have loved to ask the question, “Is there even a point to GETTING an EEG done 4 months from now??” But again, I could not talk to my doctor. I called the office that does the EEGs and they told me that there are lots of sick children that need EEGs and that I would have to just wait until November. Oh yeah… did I mention the neurologist? The waiting list for that is 1 to 6 months… for the appointment! I’m not sure if you, dear reader, can feel my frustration that is pouring from my fingers into this keyboard, but trust me when I say that its presence is very strong right now.

It became clear that I had to make an uninformed decision. I sat in my house contemplating my choices. I had two: 1) Fake stroke symptoms and go to emergency hoping that they would get me tested right away, or 2) Just go ahead and live my life. Honestly, #1 was tempting, but I really hate the ER and I felt this pang of guilt from that woman saying that the kids are sick. So #2 won out. I talked to several close friends and my mom and sister about it. While everyone is, of course, a little bit concerned of “something” happening, they are supportive of my decision and know that I would have done it no matter what anyone said. I sent in my registration and talked to my friends in Penticton, who are letting me crash at their place. I have my support buddy booked and am pretty much ready to go. My dogs are coming with us and we leave tomorrow. Hopefully Sunday goes well and I do, indeed, break on through to the other side of my slump.