Let the *FREAK OUT* Begin....

[Running Mommy]

Ok, since taper is officially here, now is the time to obsess over EVERYTHING!!!
Now did I mention just HOW much of a WEENIE I am when it comes to the cold??? Well take a look at the water temp at TTL- site of the IMAZ swim.... :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:
I'm thinking I better order that suit w/ sleeves and have it on hand, cause I just have a feeling I'm gonna need it!!!!

http://www.tempe.gov/lake/Water/water_main.htm

Ok, so that is my freak out obsession of the day... Stayed tuned tomorrow for the next installment...:D

[snapdragen]

Brrrrr. :eek:

Do they have a suit with legs too?:p

[tprevost]

Hey RM,

Just focus on the line that shows that the 3 year average for the weekend of the IM is 67 degrees.... you can do that!!! Go ahead and get the suit w/sleeves though because even if you don't use if for the IMAZ; you might want it for the CA Ocean swims... now I'm showing MY wimpiness (nope, you're not alone ;) ) I personally plan to have neoprene from the very bottom of my chin to as close to my toes as I can get!!! :D Heck, they've got the lodge pool at 83 and even though I plan to get in it next week to start my swimming, I am DREADING it! Our pool here at home stays at about 88 all summer (we've got a cover that keeps a lot of the heat in... sometimes we have to leave it open at night or it will get up in the 90's! :eek: )

What other details are you still working on? I'm sure I will be just as much of a worrywart so you won't hear me giving you a hard time! Enjoy the ride, Denise, you're going to be great! :)

Tracy

[vicvroom]

Do you have a neoprene cap? It helps a lot.

[AJ(lb)]

speaking of caps:
is long hair a problem with these caps?
do you have to bunch all your hair up in one or can you have a braid down your back, and just fit the cap over your head?
i am thinking of just chopping it all off.

i am officially in training! two days of jogging. i have three loops measured out in my hood. luckily, i did not think to highly of my ability and took the one just under a mile! this is definitely going to take a slow build up process. :(
i refuse to be discouraged though.

[mommelisa]

Denise - I don't know what the temp in TTL was the weekend of soma, but I think it was somewhere close to 68 or so. It wasn't that bad and I had a sleeveless suit. If you do decide to get the suit with sleeves, I'd suggest swimming with it a few times to make sure you're comfortable.

The first race I ever did, I made the mistake of not swimming in my brand new wetsuit prior and it ended up being a miserable experience!! The suit was too tight around my neck and I felt like I was choking the entire time.

btw - the freak out is totally NORMAL!! If you weren't freaking, I'd be worried about you!! :-)

[Lise]

Denise,

I fully understand. I freak out before every race about something.

I bought a full wetsuit this winter, planning to use it in a cold lake swim in a tri next September. It will also let me swim in Lake Michigan earlier in the season. I tried on a couple, and ended up with the Ironman Athena women's large. If you decide to go with a wetsuit, spend some taper time trying them on, and doing some swimming in it. The standard wetsuits leave me feeling like I am choking and unable to breathe. A 36D chest is not "standard" for wetsuits, I guess :rolleyes: . The Athena style is the only full wetsuit I've been able to breathe in. I haven't swum in it yet. I use a sleeveless, short leg wetsuit over my bra and tri shorts when I do warmer lake swims. It's much lighter weight, and not at all constrictive. It's basically a coverup for my bra!

Hang in there. Do your constructive taper activities and just take it one day at a time. :) Lise

[Trek420]

I thought we were supposed to rest and eat during taper? :confused: Once more on TE I find "whad'd I know?" :confused: Oh so much to learn.

[Running Mommy]

heh heh Trek... Actually I'm trying NOT to eat too much during taper! My body is DYING for a cherry pie right now. And I don't mean a slice.... I mean the ENTIRE pie!!! :D

So here is todays taper diversion. Some pretty funny things. 140.6 reasons to do an Ironman....

http://www.xtri.com/article.asp?id=434

[Trek420]

Running Mommy "Actually I'm trying NOT to eat too much during taper! "

Oh, I have this all so wrong :cool: :rolleyes: no wonder I'm slow. I have so much to learn :p can I get the 140.6 reasons .... on a t'shirt?

[Running Mommy]

That would make a great shirt huh? I esp. like 130-140.6 :)

[Trek420]

even though I'm not a racer I like # 98, for the look on my managers face when I told here about the Cinderella. She signed up for the gym a block away from work, went once, stopped....I'm doing the Cindy :p

[Lise]

...that you'll have to change your tag line from "Iron wanna be"! What's it going to be? Iron IS?! :D L.

[Running Mommy]

Hmmmm... I like Iron MAMA. I just might try to change my user name to that. Of course everyone from the runnersworld forum to trinewbies knows me as "running Mommy. It's been my moniker for years... Another reason why my lurker cousin was able to pick me out on this forum.. heh heh heh:p
I just might change it next week from Iron wanna be to Iron "gonna be".. whaddya think??

[Running Mommy]

As of yesterday the water temp went up a whopping 2 degrees!!! WHEEEE!! Lets pray for a massive heat wave between now and 4/9. Maybe it'll make it to 62!! ugh!:rolleyes:

[Lise]

Hmmmm... I like Iron MAMA. I just might try to change my user name to that. Of course everyone from the runnersworld forum to trinewbies knows me as "running Mommy. It's been my moniker for years... Another reason why my lurker cousin was able to pick me out on this forum.. heh heh heh:p
I just might change it next week from Iron wanna be to Iron "gonna be".. whaddya think??
I like 'em both!

What are you thinking about the wetsuit?

[Running Mommy]

THE ATLETE GUIDE IS UP!!! And it's 20 pages long!! Sheesh!
So y'all wanna guess what I'm going to be spending my morning reading???:D

Ok, so now it's getting *really* close, and VERY real! Like when I get an email from IMNA that reads "Dear Ironman Athlete" I immediately get a pit in my stomach! :p

Boy howdy this sure is different from those baby races I usually do!

[Running Mommy]

On the run course...
NO FORM OF LOCOMOTION OTHER
THAN RUNNING, WALKING OR CRAWLING
IS ALLOWED.
:p :p :p :p :p

[KSH]

On the run course...
NO FORM OF LOCOMOTION OTHER
THAN RUNNING, WALKING OR CRAWLING
IS ALLOWED.
:p :p :p :p :p

So, I guess the guy who "runs" marathons skipping... would be DQ'ed?

I have so many issues running, I thought skipping would *save* me. Guess that is ruled out. Oh well.

[Nanci]

Well, if I can't do cartwheels, I'm not going.

Nanci

[Running Mommy]

You know it's a serious race when they devote 1.5 pages of the athlete manual to hyponatremia!!! :eek:

So I emailed the girl in charge of the adopt an IM program to see if she had an inside track on when the bib numbers will be released. I'm trying to write up instructions for my classes to be able to track me. So she emailed me back that she forwarded my email to Paul Huddle the RD. How cool is that?! I'm SOOO antsy to know what my bib number is.... I don't know why? I just am.. I know, I know.... I'm a FREAK! :D

[Lise]

Not a freak! Just freaking out! :eek:

My secret race strategy involves crawling, always. Glad to hear it's legal.

Hey, now, I just remembered seeing the Blazeman roll across the finish line at Kona...under his own power...he laid down and just rolled over it. Surely that's legal?! They wouldn't DQ the Blazeman at the finish line!

Let us know your bib number, and we can start to do a numerology evaluation! I remember being happy when I got a "5445" bib for the half-marathon, because it all adds up to a multiple of three, and we know what a powerful number that is...OK, I'm a nut.

I am so excited for you to be reading the athlete guide! Is it online? I wanna see! I wanna see! :p L.

[Running Mommy]

yeah it's online. Go to Ironmanarizona.com. There is a little hot link on the upper left corner near the news section. It's a pdf. So many things to remember! OY!!
Knowing my luck I'll get #666!!!!:confused:

[Running Mommy]

Last chance to drop out...

Dear Ford Ironman Arizona Participants,

We will be assigning race numbers to the 2006 Ford Ironman Arizona race early next week. If you are not racing and do NOT wish to have a race number assigned, please let us know by return email on or before Tuesday March 28th. Be sure to include your name in the body of the email.

If you have any other inquiry, please feel free to email us at admin@ironmanusa.com be sure to include the subject of your inquiry in the subject field, it will help us route your inquiry and expedite the response.

Thank you

Marc Lees

Ironman North America

Nahhhhhhh.... BRING ON THE PAIN :mad: :mad: :mad: (mad dog race face):mad: :mad: :mad:
:D :D :D (me after I finish):D :D :D
:) :) :) :) (the color of the pretty finishers medal):) :) :)

[Lise]

If you are not racing and do NOT wish to have a race number assigned, please let us know by return email on or before Tuesday March 28th.
No WAY! :D

[Running Mommy]

I found something on the IMAZ website forum that I thought was interesting. A girl was having phantom pains so she emailed her massage therapist to see if it was the massage and this was the therapists reply. I found it quite interesting and maybe useful to us gals who "go long"

I don't think it's massage pain because you really were not that bad this time. I think it may be more tapering. Tapering...the lesser mileage and time spent exercising causes the muscles to change their tension. Not the same pounding or exertion, so they begin relaxing a bit and change their length. Each muscle fiber may change differently than the next...this change in tension also changes the pull around each joint...many times this change causes achy pain...like the flu..weird aches and pains that you never had before. This change in tension seems to trigger all the proprioceptors...including the pain receptors unfortunately. It is a very strange phenomenon. And it seems the more intense your training, the worse your taper may be...but I also have seen that the more uncomfortable taper phase, the better the race performance...so keep the faith. You may want to try upping the intensity, like we talked about, with the shorter mileage. Meanwhile, take drugs, drink wine, and this too shall pass..........