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Ok, so the title of this blog implies that my other OilMan races may not have been successful which is not what I mean to imply at all!
November 2010 was my first half ironman and I'm so proud of that race. I executed everything as planned. I had a really solid swim, ok bike and ok run. When I finished, I felt fantastic (minus the cuts & bruises from tripping on the run course). I had an awesome experience and was so very proud of my finish.
November 2011, I went into this race feeling like a PR had to happen. I mean, I was more experienced now and I had done IMTX. My swim was slower and not that great, I had a bike PR and my run was slower. I was a few minutes behind my 2010 time and when I crossed the finish, was very disappointed I didn't PR. Not to make excuses or anything, but a lot went on last summer and as I look back now, it's pretty clear my head wasn't 100% into it. Hindsight is 20/20 and following IMTX, I think a longer break from racing is that my body really needed/wanted.
Here we are...November 2012. I'm going into this race very well trained. Dare I say I'm better trained this year than I have been the past two years? Yes, I dare! I'm better trained. I've done the work on myself as well. This morning, I am 5 pounds BELOW the target weight Chase set for me (to hit next week). I am 23 pounds below where I was when I started with Chase and 30 pounds below where I was in July of this year. What does all this mean? It means I have a lot less of me to drag around on that run course!!! All joking aside, I feel fantastic and I've got some confidence back that seemed to be slipping away ever since IMTX.
There are no guarantees a PR is waiting for me tomorrow. As I mentioned before, there are only a set number of things I can control on race day. How I execute is the most important. Who knows what Mother Nature will deal us tomorrow. Who knows what might happen from a mechanical standpoint. What I do know is I have visualized this race repeatedly and I've thought about what I'm going to do during each leg. I have a plan and I have a backup plan. I've thought about what I will tell myself when I want to slow down and walk. I've thought about what I'll repeat to myself over and over during the swim. I've thought about the profanities I'll surely mutter on the bike course as we're faced with the inevitable head wind right as we hit the hilliest part. Yep, I would say I'm set to execute better than I have in a long, long time.
I am so very excited for tomorrow regardless of the outcome. It's going to be a great day. IMTX becomes more real after tomorrow. I will have a short "break" from training the rest of November & December (all this means is that I won't have as long of workouts in the pool and on the bike but I will be getting ready for the Houston Half Marathon in January). I will also be starting the maintenance part of my weight loss efforts. My body is going to have a nice little rest before hitting it hard for IMTX 2013.
Happy November!!!!
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| Getting ready for my swim warm up. |
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| I think I would still feel like a stuffed sausage even if I lost 50 more pounds!!! |
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