Five Hundred Twenty-five Thousand Six Hundred Minutes

"Seasons of Love", the first song in the second act of the Broadway musical Rent starts out with the lyrics

Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes

Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred moments so dear

Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes

How do you measure - measure a year?

In daylights - in sunsets

In midnights - in cups of coffee

In inches - in miles

In laughter - in strife

In five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes

How do you measure a year in the life?

Aside from the fact that I love that song (and the musical, but skip the movie--totally not worth it), it seems most appropriate considering I just passed my one-year anniversary as a triathlete--June 11, 2005 was my first race (the River City Tri in Logansport, IN). To celebrate, I did the River City Tri again this year...and what a difference a year makes. It's funny--in some ways, it seems like it hasn't been that long since I crossed my first finish line...but in other ways, it seems like a lifetime. So much has happened in the past year that it astounds me when I stop to think about it...not the least of which is that I'm now less than three months away from competing in my first Ironman.

A year ago, Vardo drove about 8 hours across central Iowa, Illinois, and Indiana to race with me in my first tri--I can't imagine how God-awful boring that must have been, but it was so incredibly cool having her there with me that words fail me. I remember hanging out at the scary Super 8 in Logansport the night before the race and going through my transition stuff about 5 times (you know, because clearly I would've missed something super critical the first 4 times) -- I was so nervous that not even the beer I had with dinner settled my nerves. Vardo talked me through what to expect, etc., etc., and then we moved onto more philosophical topics -- like the crazy changes I'd made in my life. I keep a photo of me from the "before" days in my transition pack, and I pulled it out while we were talking. I'm not typically an emotional person (I think I've actually blogged that before), but I got pretty choked up...both from the overwhelming emotion that came with the realization that I had truly made a significant life change and from the fact that Vardo had driven all over the Midwest to race with me. Good stuff...except I was so fricking nervous that I got maybe two hours of sleep that night due to nerves.

I remember standing in the water before the swim start with Sue, Michele, and Vardo (Jeremy had already taken off with the first wave of racers), and Vardo leaned over and said simply, "Roehr--whatever happens, remember this--you only get to have your first race once." Of course, then the race started and I embarked on one of the worst panic attacks I've ever had...sad that it actually was while I was in the water, but I survived and eventually crossed the finish line. Vardo was right, though--I absolutely remember my first race and hope I always will. I'll write more about this year's race in another entry (think rainy, cold, and miserable...yet fun), but the whole one-year anniversary thing really got me thinking about all that's happened in the past year and, frankly, in the past few years.

It's weird to look in the mirror and not even remember who I used to be--not just before triathlon entered my life, but before Weight Watchers, too. There's a small part of my brain that remembers the fairly hopeless feelings, the borderline depression, the general malaise of life...and the part of my psyche that had actually convinced me that I was still "happy" in spite of those other things--honestly, I hope I never forget that. But, I'm OK with the fact that when I look in the mirror now, I see only the person I've become--the crazy tan lines, the kick-butt calf muscles, and, more importantly, the air of self-confidence and contentment that was missing before. That's the person I want to be...I don't want to forget the old me lest I repeat that phase of life, but I want to revel in the new me and all that it represents.

I wonder, though, what my friends and family must think--especially those I don't see on a regular basis. Surely there are some who think I've completely gone off the deep end, that I'm trying to do too much too soon, or that I've changed far too much for my own good...or maybe that's just what I think people are thinking because those are thoughts that run through my own mind on occasion. Nonetheless, I'm reminded of a statement my sister made last fall when I was talking about my marathon training...something along the lines of "You've had every day to get used to the new you--it'll just take the rest of us a little longer." I'm thinking she's probably right--that eventually the people in my life will come to know the new me...and I hope they are OK with the person I've become. At the core of my being, I'm the same...same issues, same humor, same philosophies and values...just with a few added benefits these days--at least that's what I hope. And, if that isn't true...well, not sure what'll happen then...I know that I'm happier now than I've been in my adult life, and I know it's because of the positive changes in my life. I have to think that the people I love will get that...at least I hope like hell they do...

In short, it's been an amazing year--still can't believe all that's transpired, but I can't wait to see what the next five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes hold for me!

Week 15 Wrap-Up (aka 224.57 miles of fun)

Week 15 is, by far, the longest training week I've had thus far--wasn't supposed to be, but since I moved last week's long run into the week and somehow got talked into doing two long rides this weekend, I ended up with a week that included 224.57 miles of forward motion...had I done that straight from my house, I could be in Iowa City by now...or someplace darn close to there. Yikes. It really is no wonder that I'm wiped, but still--I feel really pretty good about the week and all that it entailed.

Monday morning (Memorial Day), I got up early (still in LaPorte, IN) to do my long run--a 15-miler. Parts of LaPorte are much hillier than where I typically run, which made things interesting...and the wicked high humidity and my tired legs from the long bike Sunday made the run a pretty rough run. I haven't had to stop and walk (even to take a water break) on a training run since probably last August, but I had to take a few walk/water breaks Monday to keep my HR in check and give my poor little legs a break. Michele (who had done her long run Friday) caught up with me on her bike at about mile 6.5 or so--she brought a refill for my water bottle and ended up keeping me company on most of the rest of my run. It helped having her there--I was not in the best place mentally because I was tired, hot, cranky, and, frankly, upset with myself for having to walk, and being able to talk with her about non-running stuff was a huge help. Not my best run effort...but I got it done, at least.

After the run, Sue, Michele and I went for our first open-water swim of the season (and I gave my wetsuit its maiden voyage). We did 2.2 miles in the lake by their cottage--felt great the whole time (except for the initial "oh crap I'm swimming in a lake again and there are weeds and fish and lots of yucky stuff" feeling that I had for the first ~200 meters or so). My wetsuit works great--it was very comfortable and it didn't seem to hinder my stroke at all. I drafted off Sue for a lot of the swim (I had just run 15 miles, after all--I felt I deserved a little break), but I was pleased that I was able to keep my stroke pretty smooth and my breathing normal. We did the 2.2 miles in 1:12--not too shabby for a non-swimmer such as myself--and we were all pretty psyched.

Because we had planned to do two long bike rides on the weekend, I cut back a bit on the bike training during the week and focused more on getting my runs in. After running on Monday, I ran both Tuesday and Wednesday, too--nothing too brutal, but 6 miles each day. Then, because we needed to work in our long run for the week, Michele and I took off bright and early Thursday morning to get a 13-miler in before work. At about mile 9, I realized that I've lost my mind--not only did that make day 5 in a row of running (not something I typically do), but I basically did a half marathon before work, then had to make it through the whole work day as well. I was dragging by about 10 am...thankfully Theresa and I took a quick little jaunt up to the Caribou near work for coffee, but even that wasn't quite enough to help my cause. I totally bagged my Thursday night swim in favor of sleep...and took full advantage of Friday being a total rest day.

Saturday morning, Sue, Michele, Jeremy, and I took off on the Trek 100 bike ride outside of Milwaukee. It was an AWESOME course--great country roads, lots of very helpful volunteers, and rest stops every 10 miles (I only stopped at mile 50 and 80, but still--good to know they were there). I highly recommend the ride--and I'll definitely do it again, but will be on the lookout for the packs of roadies that kept things interesting. We each rode on our own--Jeremy and Michele both clocked in at about 5 hours for the 100 miles, I cruised in at about 5:35, and Sue followed pretty close after me. All in all, I felt good with my ride--my heart rate stayed in check the whole time and I even managed the hills pretty well. Plus, with the exception of my neck and shoulders getting really stiff, I felt great the whole way.

But, as if 100 miles in a day wasn't enough, Sue, Michele, and I opted to take part in the Udder Century on Sunday as well...although we quickly opted out of another 100-miler and ended up shooting for the 100K option (62 miles)--still a good effort, but more of a recovery ride than anything else. Surprisingly, my legs felt fine after Saturday's ride--my issues were more with my neck and shoulders (God bless Advil) and, as Vardo calls the area in question, the "mommy parts" (aka saddle area). The Udder course is flat as a pancake for the most part, and we had a good tailwind for a good chunk of the ride, so it actually was a good recovery effort (my average HR was only 64% and I still finished in about 3:40...). The last 15 miles or so were rough--again, not legs or cardio-related, but just from the sheer length of time sitting on my saddle (which I still love, by the way). Again, though, I felt good with the ride--I'm not going to set any land-speed records on the IM course, but I'm feeling really good about where my bike fitness stands these days.

So...that's the tale of how the 224.57 miles of forward motion came into being...and also the explanation for why I'm so God-awful tired (well, that and the lack of sleep thing, which I still haven't quite mastered). Great week mentally, though...even to the point where I'm thinking I can actually do this thing after all...

Here's the roll-up...

Swim: 2:26:00 / 6820 meters
Bike: 10:24:51 / 180.30 miles
Run: 6:31:47 / 40.01 miles
Total: 19:22:38 / 224.57

Week 16 Wrap-Up

Work struck again in week 16--more of the same project fun that Erin has been dealing with non-stop for the past couple of months. We had another plant start-up this week and, as we were short on available people in my group, I helped cover some of the "fun", which meant my training got all sorts of messed up. I ended up with two off days--Wednesday and Saturday both as I was at the plant both days. The good news, though, is that I was able to slide a good chunk of training into Sunday and Monday (technically week 15) as it was Memorial Day weekend.

After cramming in as much as I could during the fairly chaotic work week, I headed to LaPorte, IN on Sunday morning to do some training with Sue and Michele at their cottage. We biked 75 miles in the fairly brutal heat, humidity, and wind on Sunday (and since I didn't get there very early, we ended up doing it in the heat of the day)--it was actually a pretty good day to practice race-day nutrition (Perpetuem and Hammer Gel seem to be working pretty well), electrolyte replenishment (still haven't figured out how to take Endurolytes while actually riding, but I took advantage of stop signs, traffic lights, etc. to take them), and hydration (God bless my Camelbak...). When we got done with the ride, Michele and I took off for a 6-mile brick run--by that point, it was about 4:30 or so in the afternoon, but still crazy hot and humid. True to my form, I took off too fast, which made it a rough run...plus it's a lot hillier in that area than where I'm used to running, so it was fairly brutal. Got it done, though...and with plans to do my long run for the week and a long lake swim the next day (Monday--day 1 of week 15 instead of in week 16), I called it good...

Here's the roll-up...

Swim: 1:57:00 / 5150 meters
Bike: 6:00:15 / 102.48 miles
Run: 3:11:45 / 20.55 miles
Total: 11:09:00 / 126.25 miles

Week 17 Wrap-Up (aka Kari meets the IM Course)

Week 17 was pretty cool in that two main things happened--my great-aunt and great-uncle (who have basically filled the role of grandparents on my mom's side) celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary, and I rode part of the IM WI bike course for the first time. Clearly the wedding anniversary is the more impressive and more important of the two, but the bike ride was still pretty monumental in my little reality.

Having driven the course way back in September of last year, I sort of remembered what to expect--I knew there were some big rolling hills in the first part of the 40-mile loop and that there were some pretty crazy downhills followed by some pretty brutal climbs in the second part. But...nothing that I saw last fall actually prepared me for biking the course--memory is a pretty powerful thing, but it's a lot different behind the wheel of a car than it is with a death grip on Tack's brake hoods. It was also fairly surreal to look down and see the road markings for the course--without them, it might have just been a pretty hilly training ride, but to look down and see the blue m-dot markings drove home the point that this was the actual course.

All in all, it was a pretty good first trek out on the course. We had a pretty stiff headwind for a big chunk of the first half of the loop--unfortunately, that's where the rollers are, and with the wind, I had a tough time generating enough momentum to keep the uphills in check, but I managed to get through it. The climbs on the second half went OK as well--they're tough, to be sure, and I'm not really looking forward to finding out how the climb up the hill with the cell phone tower feels on loop #2 on race day, but I'll get through it. I had to laugh, though--as soon as we crested over the top of that hill (which, in my opinion, was the worst climb), there was one of the digital speed signs that cops use to slow people down (the ones that show you how fast you're going). I was cracking up at my whopping 8 mph speed being broadcast to anyone who could see the sign--but at least I don't have to worry about breaking the speed limit...

The day was a great confidence boost for me--even with the wind, things went well. I know I have more work to do to get ready for the two loops and the out and back portions, but I'm darn sure I'll get there...

Here's the weekly roll-up...

Swim: 3:04:00 / 8500 meters
Bike: 5:13:35 / 85.12 miles
Run: 3:50:55 / 24.45 miles
Total: 12:08:30 / 114.86 miles