It wasn't all puppies and lollipops. Is that even the saying? I don't know but I'm going with it. So yeah, I'm talking about my favorite topic....IRONMAN!
As I mentioned before, nobody bothered to tell me about Ironman Blues which I've now researched and have learned IS real so don't make fun of me for tearing up and getting all sad when I talk about how my day is over and I wish I had it back. In addition to the blues, there were lots of other things I experienced after IMTX that I definitely won't miss. Join me as I take you on a tour of my IMTX casualties.
Casualty 1: Toenails
Well, I may be speaking too soon. I hope I'm speaking too soon. I've heard of people losing toenails in marathons so I'm not sure why it didn't occur 
to me that I just might lose a toenail after May 21st. There are two toes that are in jeopardy and I'm just not sure how it will turn out. On my right foot, there is no discoloration at all (that I can see through my hot pink polish). The nail feels a little weird though. Kind of like there is something under it. The left foot is a different story. Their is a clear purple-ish color coming through the polish. There is also discoloration to the right of the nail. In addition to the discoloration, this nail feels very weird but is not loose at all. If I lose a nail or two, believe me when I tell you I will be painting my skin to make it look like there is still a nail there. I have no intention of going through the summer and not wear cute shoes. This weekend I'm hoping to sacrifice something to the toenail God so I can avoid having to paint on a nail.
to me that I just might lose a toenail after May 21st. There are two toes that are in jeopardy and I'm just not sure how it will turn out. On my right foot, there is no discoloration at all (that I can see through my hot pink polish). The nail feels a little weird though. Kind of like there is something under it. The left foot is a different story. Their is a clear purple-ish color coming through the polish. There is also discoloration to the right of the nail. In addition to the discoloration, this nail feels very weird but is not loose at all. If I lose a nail or two, believe me when I tell you I will be painting my skin to make it look like there is still a nail there. I have no intention of going through the summer and not wear cute shoes. This weekend I'm hoping to sacrifice something to the toenail God so I can avoid having to paint on a nail. Casualty 2: My complexion
Hate me if you want but I've never had problem skin. Maybe for a time in high school before I figured out I had to wash my face daily. My point is, I've never had acne or anything remotely like it. I rarely would break out in my teens and even more rarely as an adult. Well, about 2 days after Ironman, I had 4 zits on my face! At first I thought I had mosquito bites as there was no way I had that many zits! While I'd like to think the reason for the breakout was all the toxins in my body being forced out of me after nearly 16hrs of exercise, I think it's far more likely I had lots of clogged pores from sweating like a dog for nearly 16hrs. I'm thinking the rode gunk I kicked up on the bike and the run found a nice home on my face and went to work clogging all my innocent pores up. Gross. I found myself washing my face multiple times a day and using whatever facial "magic" I could find in my medicine cabinet. Shout out to Neutrogena & Clinique for getting my skin back under control.
Casualty 3: My feet
Yes, feet are separate from toenails. I honestly did not think I would come away from I
MTX with a blister, let alone 9 blisters! Yes ladies & gents that is 9 as in almost 10. My left foot boasted 5 blisters while my right foot got away with 4. So what happened? Well, water hoses and super soakers is what happened. Because it was so dang hot on the run course, runners were getting squirted with hoses IF we wanted to. Sign me up fellas! After getting off the bike, I was pumped to get squirted. Unfortunately, it never occurred to me that all the water would settle in my shoes. While I did pack dry socks in my Special Needs bag, I made the decision to not put them on. Slick move. When I got home after the race, I knew my feet were going to look nasty but had no idea they would look THAT nasty. I was able to pop all but 1 blister on each foot. The one on my left foot deserved it's own zip code. If my foot was a person, that blister was it's baby during the 8th month. The sucker was HUGE. I tried to pop it...took a needle and stuck it straight in and nothing happened!
MTX with a blister, let alone 9 blisters! Yes ladies & gents that is 9 as in almost 10. My left foot boasted 5 blisters while my right foot got away with 4. So what happened? Well, water hoses and super soakers is what happened. Because it was so dang hot on the run course, runners were getting squirted with hoses IF we wanted to. Sign me up fellas! After getting off the bike, I was pumped to get squirted. Unfortunately, it never occurred to me that all the water would settle in my shoes. While I did pack dry socks in my Special Needs bag, I made the decision to not put them on. Slick move. When I got home after the race, I knew my feet were going to look nasty but had no idea they would look THAT nasty. I was able to pop all but 1 blister on each foot. The one on my left foot deserved it's own zip code. If my foot was a person, that blister was it's baby during the 8th month. The sucker was HUGE. I tried to pop it...took a needle and stuck it straight in and nothing happened! Casualty 4: Most skin above the belly button
Chaffing doesn't adequately describe what I had going on after my rac
e. After the swim I knew something had rubbed but didn't know what as I didn't wear a wetsuit on top. As soon as water hit me, I felt a burning sensation. As I prepared for my ice bath when I got home, imagine my horror as I pulled of my heart rate monitor only to find it had nearly cut me through. Ok, maybe I'm exaggerating a wee bit. I was shocked to see the damage done even with having used Glide. Again, I was soaked the entire run AND I didn't reapply Glide. On top of that, I'd never worn my heart rate monitor 16hrs before so it makes sense that it did the damage it did. Tonight, I still have scars from where spots were rubbed away. Oh, and let us not forget the tender area on both boobs. What tender area you ask? Well, the outside. I don't know if it was seams in the sports bra or what but I had two spots that to this day, still look straight nasty. If I were a nude model, I'd be fired. Just to point out, I had no idea where the chaffing in the pic came from and Greg asked if I had put a cold sponge in my shirt, behind my neck. Indeed I did! Well, they clearly used the scouring sponges, hence the damage to my neck.
e. After the swim I knew something had rubbed but didn't know what as I didn't wear a wetsuit on top. As soon as water hit me, I felt a burning sensation. As I prepared for my ice bath when I got home, imagine my horror as I pulled of my heart rate monitor only to find it had nearly cut me through. Ok, maybe I'm exaggerating a wee bit. I was shocked to see the damage done even with having used Glide. Again, I was soaked the entire run AND I didn't reapply Glide. On top of that, I'd never worn my heart rate monitor 16hrs before so it makes sense that it did the damage it did. Tonight, I still have scars from where spots were rubbed away. Oh, and let us not forget the tender area on both boobs. What tender area you ask? Well, the outside. I don't know if it was seams in the sports bra or what but I had two spots that to this day, still look straight nasty. If I were a nude model, I'd be fired. Just to point out, I had no idea where the chaffing in the pic came from and Greg asked if I had put a cold sponge in my shirt, behind my neck. Indeed I did! Well, they clearly used the scouring sponges, hence the damage to my neck. Casualty 5: My appetite
Immediately following the race, the thought of food was enough to make me hurl. I knew I needed to eat so forced myself to have a pb&j sammie at about 2am. Since then, I've mainly been wanting whatever is bland. Nothing has sounded really good since before the race and whenever I do try to eat something I usually love, my tummy lets me know immediately it's not happy with me. Note to self: the pineapple jalapeno mojito last night was a REALLY bad idea.
Casualty 6: Anything I wore on the run course
Let me just tell you that the clothes I wore for the run had to be washed twice to get the stink out of them. I made the mistake of throwing the dirty clothes in the washer after the race but not washing them until Monday b/c I never went back in the laundry room. I will never make that mistake again. YUCK. I have never smelled as bad as I did that day.
So that's about it. For those of you reading this who now want to do an Ironman, I promise I will tell you about all the nasty stuff that will happen to you so you aren't caught off guard like I was.
It's time fore B-E-D and I'm hoping to sleep like a baby!
Next Post? Hmm, I'm just not sure. Maybe I'll be ready to share my official race calendar for the remainder of the year? Ooooooohhhhhhhhh. And maybe I'll have decided by then if I'm going for IMTX 2012 or 2013. Don't you just love being in suspense??????
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