maybe my clock works after all
i know i'm not getting younger.
i know my time is limited and bodies become less accommodating the longer you wait.
but when presented with the same old, predictable question, i offer the same old stock response: nope, not interested. not ready for THAT.
maybe the tide is turning though. last week i shelled out 225USD and registered for the eagleman half-ironman in june. it'll probably sell out before the end of the month – i've learned this the hard way. right now everything is bright and breezy; come May i will be whimpering and crying for my mama, making deals with god to get me in shape, to fix an injury, to wipe me away with a greasy thunderbolt, anything.
i've done eagleman before, but doing a half-ironman to finish is one thing; to be competitive is another. and one of the main draws of eagleman is that it's a qualifier for kona, the big cheese, triathlon's world championship -- which happens to be a full Ironman, natch.
as i was filling out eagleman's entry, a little voice in my head was saying what if you got one of those kona qualifying spots? what if?? i didn't think i'd ever want to do an IM, but it seems like my clock got jiggled, and now i'm actually considering it. i mean, how much longer do i have to live??
on our run yesterday morn, LAF regaled me with stories from last year's IM Wisconsin. the forecast said scattered showers. finn, it rained from the starting gun to the end of the race. twelve and a half straight hours of cold rain. bikes were crashing everywhere.
- did you ever mentally lose it?
- yeah. once. about 90miles into the bike i realised i still had a marathon to run. i mean, i always knew i had to get off the bike and run 26miles, but the reality didn't hit me until right then. for the next 20min i had a freak-out session and lost all my concentration.
- how'd you get out?
- i hit a windy section and had to focus on just keeping the bike upright. after that i was okay. i can't believe i didn't tell you this before. what about J's raincoat story? did i tell you that one?
probably, but i can't remember jack shit unless i write it down so here i am.
- no? well, you know J. he's incredibly tough, he bleeds Army, but with 10miles to go in the run he was soaked, shivering, looking for the next aid stop so maybe he could get some soup, or just drop out. and when he gets there he sees a raincoat just lying in the middle of the road. so he picks it up and puts it on, then runs really hard for the next 5min. he gets warm enough in that raincoat that he's able to finish the race. he's wearing it in his finisher's picture. he still has that raincoat.
- was it blue, the raincoat?
- no, it was clear.
- mmm. if you can get through that you can get through just about anything.
- you said it sistah.
this is how i get myself into Trouble with a capital V.
tick tick tick.
8 comments:
Sheeet, what if you do get a kona spot?
Eeeeep, I just took a gander. I need to go get my smelling salts and some strong coffee now.
what if indeed, FMC? i don't think i'd do an IM of my own volition, but if i got a spot @ eagleman? -that'd be a different story.
i got in the Way Back Machine and found my write-up of my first eagleman. i see i'm doing the same stupid shit i was doing 5 years ago. something to be said for consistency i guess.
My ankles seems fixed, or if not fixed better, enough to splish-splosh through a very fucking wet 12k this evening. Bit of a twinge in the last 2K but I slowed and made it home to stand shivering in the shower and think of Glendalough.
I read your eagleman story and I was super impressed. But tell me more about the worlds in October? Are you putting serious work in now? Have changed your diet? Have you had to cut the Jameson during the week-vile thought? When is it in October exactly?
v glad to hear the ankle healed -- must have been that balenthian thun. and well done on getting through 12K. you're still on sked; do not fret.
my race is a week after yours.
no serious work now, just LSD -- long social distance: group rides & runs with as little intensity as possible, to build base. haven't changed my diet or drinking habits, though i prob should. did you feel a difference after giving up the hooch for a year, or 3 weeks, or whatever it seemed like forever anyway.
i give you big props for training alone, aside from some romps with LGK and claire. do you have hot men to train with?? i don't dig ppl in general but morsels are good motivation...
Yeah the 12k was good,(I quite like running in the rain) especially after a break but I've got a bit of an ache in my ankle today, so I'm going to rest it up for a few more days and hit this new route I"ve got marked out on Saturday. It goes from my home to Portobello, then all along the canal right past where you were staying and back up the Dodder, it's about 16k.
I rather like training on my own and I don't really need the company to make me shift my arse. If I was out with others I might feel 'obliged' to do something where as alone I can talk myself into almost anything-and I have music, always music. Also the gays don't run and going with the paramour is like going with a tired grouchy old lady who complains about shins a lot. So nope.
Re the hooch, it KILLS me to say this, but the difference is pretty observable. More energy and more stamina, I suppose it depends on how much you drink, but I've never opened a bottle of wine and didn't finish it, but that's me, better none at all. Even now I"m pretty strict with it-and I love to drink, nada during the week and at least one free day on the weekend too.
I have to seriously start building the distance over the next 2 months, so I'm being all careful about food and hooch, and coffee and even sleeping. Sad really.
not sad -- all for a good cause. do you get massages? they're good for recovery and keeping shit balanced. (puddy kneading your thigh doesn't count.)
sigh... i kinda suspected the hooch connection. maybe i should follow your lead... AFTER the guinness following tonight's XC workout of course. rounds are on me tonite.
wish i could run with you on sat (10paces behind, natch).
No massage, me no likey to be touched.
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