Ironman Canada : You pay money to do that ? Says one of my senior residents i work with:)

So I was thinking about this race, and thinking i may not even blog about it. But it was so much more than a race that I want to get that down on paper ( paper?) Looking back at my other Ironmans, bc really for ME at least I dont just sign up for an IM bc it's there. Of course number 1 ( 2011 IMMOO) was bc I had done the other distances and I wanted to see what this IM thing was. No intention of doing another. haha. Ya, well....Race went well but at that point I had no clue on the fuel thing and that 20 gels later and too much salt ( since then i know i dont need extra NaCl) would leave my marathon in the GI distress file. Lets just say I didnt feel so hot after that run. Rich, having complete faith in my health : " Nah you dont need an IV." Then the next day...having been up all night " you should have had fluids..." Whopsy.

WHOA i cant walk but i am happy, till i suddenly nearly fainted

Ironman 2 came sorta unexpectedly. Yes I did sign up so it wasnt Active.com divine intervention. 

I remember the day, it was a WED that Rich walked into the kitchen and told me he had been down to Mayo and his cancer had come back. He had spots on his lungs. From there things pretty much got all tornadic in my life and somehow i signed up for another Ironman. IMMOO 2012 was going to happen and while i think Rich was scared for me ( since I really didnt feel so HOT after the 1st) but he also was 100% supportive since it was something I was doing for me. It was mine. As the days, and months went on with his cancer progressing, and the oncology visits and chemo and all that goes into taking care of him it was evident that i NEEDED to have something that had nothing to do with cancer, and his health. That may sound sorta distorted, but in hindsight and even after the race I saw how i was better able to care for him bc I had taken time for me. Pick your hobby, but mine was Ironman. Granted he did ALMOST all my rides with me, and when i tried to drop out he said " WE have trained hard for his, WE are going." and we did. But in 2012 i was not in a good " mental " place before that race. or during. or after. Rich died about 2 weeks after that race. 

Super Fan!

Way better than 2011! 

I realized that going into the swim crying and feeling weak was no way to hang out with 3000 of my best friends. Nobody had tissues. So i shut that emotion down and swam. Of course it cameback on the bike. Longest bike ride EVER.

So my point in writing this is that I came to Canada in a good mental place. Ya some physical stuff but dont we always have that hanging over us? I was ready to face IM again but I just wasnt ready to do it in Madison bc the emotions were still pretty fresh. Granted it was a year ago that i signed up, and having conquered Whistler I am really proud that I went back in. It was a good idea to go someplace different for me, get some new memories. And I will say that being 100% mentally ok for an Ironman made it that much easier and enjoyable.

Ok I will write an actual race report next, I promise:)