Sayanora Amigos

The bags are packed (and I'm ready to go...)
The bike is packed.
Itinerary and other shit is printed off.
The credit card companies have been notified.
A 5:15pm acupuncture appointment for tonight has been made (...I am fighting like hell to rid of this cold ASAP).
A 2:30am wakeup call for a 3:00am cab to Logan Airport for a 5:30am flight has been set.

And away we go-----------------------

I don't think the reality of it all has really sunk in yet.

Maybe when I touch down and feel the sand beneath my toes (that will soon wedge itself into my vagina) will I wake up and realize - HOLY FUCK I'M DOING AN IRONMAN (again!)!

So look for and follow the athlete tracking link on the Ironman website which isn't yet up - and type in my last name Kaltreider or bib number 382 - to find out how I'm doing on Sunday.

And I'll do my best to post a quick update... if I get a free minute in between tequila shots and cabana boy rub downs :)

See you on the flip side!

Oh Boy Oh Boy Oh Boy

1. I am boarding a flight in 2 days at 5:30am. Holy shit. It was a whirlwind of a weekend. Saturday I slept in until 10:30am. It was glorious. 12 hours of sleep. Wonderful. I hopped on my bike for a terrible 1.5 hour spin. It was brutal. Hello Taper! I kept thinking that it would be my last trainer ride, hell my last ride in Boston for the season. But jeez, the 1.5 hours took FOREVER to finish. I transitioned to my 30 minute t-run. I felt great, which was surprising - and held a nice little 8:20 pace for the first 2 miles. Oops, I almost crapped my pants. I was prairie doggin and needed to stop running and walk back to my apartment. Oh well, had to cut the run short, but better than having an accident in the middle of the afternoon. Then the flurry of errand running began. Anna picked me up, we went to the grocery store where I bought ingredients to make an apple crisp and a gingerbread pumpkin trifle for the early Thanksgiving party later that evening. Then my flipflop broke. The flipflops I had planned on bringing and wearing the entire time in Cozumel. Fucking A. No stores have flip flops in November! Thankfully I picked up a cheap pair from Sports Authority. Also needed to pick up a container to hold the trifle, so got one from TJ Maxx. Then we went over to Arlington pick up the bike case. Thanks Jay! (p.s. his shirt was hilarious - said something about his junk and I just had to laugh). We took the bike box and went to Fast Splits for Brian to take Blue Thunder apart. We had some good laughs thinking about how much fun we plan on having down there as he disassembled my baby boy and packed him into the case. I bought some last minute items Powerbar Endurance Fruit Punch (a big fuck you The eStore.net for not sending me my order in time or responding to any of my inquiries), replacement goggles and elastic laces.

Finally Anna and I headed home. It was 5pm at this point and Thanksgiving was to start at 7pm. Well, there goes my recipe ideas. I did have time to make the apple crisp but alas, the pumpkin gingerbread trifle will have to be saved for when I get back. I quickly showered, Anna and Chaz came over for a glass of wine, and we walked 2 blocks over to Lydia's for a rockin good time of turkey, Archie's amazing mac and cheese, and delicious other goodies.

I fell asleep on the couch at approximately 11pm. Damn you turkey!

2. I managed to get most of my packing done on Sunday. I went off to Target for the last few items - Immodium, Pepto, Gas X, lots of Vaseline and Aquaphor, socks, etc. Went to Old Navy and picked up 3 $5 comfy tanktops and $3 flip flops. Score! When I got home, I put my helmet, bike shoes, water bottles, bento box, and sunglasses into the bike case. I took my meticulously piled clothes and transferred them into the suitcase. I put all the essentials in various gallon-sized ziploc bags. I checked off the items on my Excel spreadsheet print out.

I think I did a pretty good job packing and I feel like I am almost ready to close up the suitcase and the bike box. But I keep wondering - do I have everything??!!!



One thing I am thinking about is changing out of my tri-shorts after the bike. Last year I was fine in the tri-kit the entire IM. But I wonder if I would be comfier in a looser tank and some running shorts. I will have to decide on that.

3. GREAT NEWS... I was accepted into the Boston Triathlon Team http://www.bostontriathlonteam.com/!!!!! I sent in my application over a month ago, and had some pretty kick ass people write recommendations for me - i.e., el Presidente Meredith
ART superstar Grace and some other really awesome friends. Thank you everyone! So I am now part of a huge fantastic team that supports each other off and on the field, and I can't wait to don the familiar green and white tri-kit going forward (sadly I wasn't accepted in time to get a tri-kit for Coz).

So two full days of work left - and then it's go time.

Tick tock, tick tock!

Speaking of Plans...

Reading Gray's most recent blog post is the perfect lead-in into today's IM thoughts by Kim (even though the thoughts started yesterday).

Coach Jen asked for my race plan. Nutrition-wise and goal-wise. My first email to her was "is it okay to not really have set goal times?"

No joke.

Jen responds, "YES - it is okay - but do you have a general idea?"

Hmpf. Kinda.

You can't really PREDICT IM race times. You can have goals, but a marathon in an IM obviously is a lot different than a straight on marathon. So you need to take a lot of things into account.

So I started with nutrition. Cause after all, I have been dealing with this the entire season. No surprises here (although I still have NO idea if my Powerbar Endurance SunTea will make it Boston before I leave on Wednesday - I do NOT want to drink the Fruit Punch. ICK!) . I put down times and descriptions of days leading up to and actual race day nutrition in a handy little table.

Crap. That took up 15 minutes of my time. Now I really have to figure out what my race goals are.

Hmpf.

Well obviously beat my time at IMLP 2008.

Obviously.

Specifically - the run. This year's IM is all about redemption.

I collected my thoughts and tried to narrow down my focus on each individual leg.
My main swim goal is to not die. I am not sure how swimming in the Gulf, without a wetsuit and only one lap will compare to swimming in fresh water, full wetsuit and two laps.
So really, goal #1 - don't die.

The bike is another questionable leg for me. It's going to be flat. But with headwinds at times. How will the heat and humidity factor in? Will I need to take salt tabs? How will my vagina feel being in aero for 112 miles? I have never rode 112 flat miles before.
Goal #2 - stretch out legs and vagina by occasionally getting out of saddle -
so essentially, Goal #2 is - keep vagina in tack. No elephantitis for the vacation week, mm kay?

Then comes the run. Well. My run time at IMLP was 5:37. Yup, I am going to beat that this year. Sure there might be some uncontrollable factors that might make me come in at that time. But I know this year I can actually RUN and that is HUGE. When I began with Jen this year, one of my goals was to be injury free going into the IM. So away we go!
Goal #3 - take off the heart rate monitor and BEAT IMLP RUN TIME. Don't be a shlep, and keep those legs moving.

Overall, my goal is try to have as much fun as possible. This being my last IM, I want to go out with a bang, so to be honest, perhaps some of my actual goal times are a bit aggressive. I want to break 13:54 and I know I have it in me. What am I capable of? How hard can I push myself? The answer my friends will only come on Sunday November 29th.

Putting goals on paper make IMCoz seem very Very VERY real. I instant messaged my coworker/friend yesterday to tell him how I was feeling about the whole 'race plan'. I kept saying "It's really here. It's really scary to put down your goals. It's so real because it's on paper."

I pressed 'send' on Outlook, and there went my nutritional table and IM goals to Jen and
the amazing nutrition-guru Beth.

Beth confirmed everything looked okay, and we are just finalizing the salt tab/bottle switching during the bike parts.

Jen responded last night, part of which read, "I LIKE YOUR race plan - very simple, but effective. Your pace plans sound good - your goals are good - not too squishy but also aggressive a tad - which I like..."

I want Coz to be a good day. Hell, I want it to be a GREAT day. It's almost time.

***************
Good luck to my gal pal Mer who is taking on the Philly Marathon this weekend! Go get em girl!

Truckin'..

got my chips cashed in. Keep truckin', like the do-dah man
Together, more or less in line, just keep truckin' on.

Arrows of neon and flashing marquees out on Main Street.
Chicago, New York, Detroit and it's all on the same street.
Your typical city involved in a typical daydream
Hang it up and see what tomorrow brings.

Most of the cats that you meet on the street speak of true love,
Most of the time they're sittin' and cryin' at home.
One of these days they know they gotta get goin'
Out of the door and down on the street all alone.

Truckin', like the do-dah man. Once told me "You've got to play your hand"
Sometimes the cards ain't worth a damn, if you don't lay'em down,

Sometimes the light's all shinin' on me;
Other times I can barely see.
Lately it occurs to me, What a long, strange trip it's been


********************************************

I didn't go to school last night. We had a 'mock' internal audit this week and I had close to 3 hours of meetings to sit in, and then come back to my desk and do all the work I had missed when I was in that meeting. I'm also the Mayor of Proxyville. Not sure if any of you are familiar with the ole compliance world, but knowing your company's guidelines while reading extensive research papers and figuring out how to vote for your funds can be very trying. Now don't get me wrong, I really enjoy learning new things, hell, in fact, I actually like researching and reading - definitely more my speed than plugging numbers away in Excel. But the fact is that I am part of two teams at my Company and sometimes it gets extremely difficult to handle both.

I digress.

I was busy yesterday and missed school. And because next Wednesday we don't have classes for Thanksgiving, and the following week I will be in Mexico - I will not be in school again until December 9 - THE LAST DAY OF CLASSES FOR THE SEMESTER!

Flippin crazy.

Anyway, I managed to get my workouts in. As I was pulling my Sugoi running tights out of my dresser, I realized it would be a lot of work to pull on all my winter running gear, go out for a quick 45 minute run, change and drive to the Y to get a swim in. So I did what I thought was the smarter option - run at the Y.

Yup, I ran on the treadmill.

Ugh, why oh why, did I make that decision.

1. Boring
2. Suckfest
3. I don't understand why some people put the treadmill on at warp speed as soon as they get on, run for 20 seconds, and then walk.
4. I also don't understand why the same girl felt the need to run like a crazy person (Phoebe from Friends) during said 20 seconds.
5. To the left of me, I had some trying-to-be-macho guy who cranked up his treadmill to 10 and slammed his feet hard down with every step, and kept looking at himself in the side mirror. After a mile he stopped.

The 45 minutes took FOOORRREEEEVVEERRRR.

I was sweating.

I felt like I was going to fall over.

Can't believe for my last run before IM, it was going to be on a treadmill. UGH.

I headed down to the pool and the senior water aerobics class wasn't quite over, so I sat in the sauna for a bit. My swim workout wasn't really supposed to be hard. But it was. It was a bunch of sprint-like things - 10 x 100, 10 x 50, 10 x 25 - with a total of 3,250.

Sprinting 25 yards tired me. Sprinting 12.5 yards - yes 12.5 yards (during the 25 yard distances) hurt.

Ah welcome to the taper.

After being at the Y for 2.5 hours, I took my chlorine soaked body to Johnny Foodmaster to pick up some groceries, came home, and tried to start my packing.

I never know what to pack, especially for vacations. Bikinis and cover ups were the easiest section to start with. Although I need to try some of them again because some of them are too big.

Then I moved on to shorts. 5 pairs. Although 3 pair are big enough to pull down without unzipping. Hmpf. I'll pack them anyway, cause I might have a bloated belly or something.

Oops, 2 pairs are slightly dirty, they will go to the dry cleaner.

Tanks and shirts.

So I don't have many casual, wife-beater-like, tanks. Most of mine are pretty silk things that I can wear to work.

Hmpf. Note to self, go to Target and buy more comfy tanks.

Got about 10 tanks/shirts ready - and 3 of them to go to the dry cleaner.

Not sure if the night air gets chilly down in Mexico, so I should pack my most comfy pair of sweats (hell I will wear them on the plane) and a sweatshirt. Maybe a light sweater?

Dresses.

Hmpf.

Again, I don't have many casual, hang-out dresses. There is no way I'm bringing a $300 DVF dress to Mexico with me. But I will bring 3 comfy long dresses with me.

I'm skipping the skirts. Skipping any fancy shoes - in fact, the only shoes I am bringing with me are:
Running Sneakers
Bike Shoes
Flip flops (which I will probably wear on the flight)

No high heels.
No fancy sneakers.

Just flip flops.

Right?

I brought 9 pounds of laundry to my dry cleaner this morning (just the essentials - tri shorts, sports bra, a few tshirts, socks, etc.) and the few items for dry cleaning.

I think I might be all set with the vacation-side of packing.

Then I have a list of things to help me get through the rest of my IM packing.

I haven't checked a bag at the airport since I went to Australia. Can you bring baggies of nutrition (i.e., Powerbar Endurance - which can I still note, I have not received yet - looks like I might have to resort to Fruit Punch - damn it)?

Can I bring full bottles of shampoo and conditioner?

Oh, do I need pesos? How do I get pesos?

I did have one question answered - yes my cell phone will work in Mexico. I called Verizon and I am told to simply dial *228, Send, Option 2 on my phone when I'm ready to depart Boston. Then I call the US as I normally would, at a rate of $0.99/minute. My mom is pleased about this because she wants my friends to give her the heads up during the race that I am still alive.

So there you have. I'm not getting much sleep. I'm anxious and overwhelmed. Taperland is here.

A HUGE good luck to my gal Jen who is racing in IMAZ this weekend - her first Ironman. Head over to her blog to wish her well (although I know she will kick ass, cause she's awesome).

And if you have traveled to Mexico - or flown for an Ironman/HIM/whatever - and know something I don't - please let me know what to pack/what don't to pack/or anything else! Cause for the first time, I'm heading into a race alone - I know I'm not alone in spirit and I won't be alone physically in Coz (yay for Gray, Coach Liz, Trishie, Greyt Times, and my former QT2 Teammates) as well as my bestests who are coming down to watch me - (M, A, B, A, T). But the whole packing and flying alone - well is just a little overwhelming.

9 days.

Holy shittttttttt.

It May All Be in Spanish...

But I think I figured it out...

I am BIB NUMERO 382.

Some quick facts:

• There are 1,907 competitors (which is almost the overall place I came in at IMLP2008 (1541))

• 416 females

• 64 ladies in my 30-34 age group (which is almost the age group place I came in at IMLP2008 of 56/92)

Should be an INTERESTING race!

Closing the Training Chapter

The long intense workouts are done and over with for 2009. No longer will I be running 16 miles in the dark. No longer will I be riding 80+ miles in the cold/rain. Well, at least not in Boston. And not for training. For the Big Dance in Cozumel.

This weekend was the last long weekend of training and boy am I glad that shit is done. To start, I had school on Friday night. Veterans Day on Wednesday meant classes were cancelled and lucky us, we had them moved to Friday. Until 10pm. Not good times. I did go for a few beers afterwards with a few classmates, and stayed out past my bedtime. I also did pee outside which I haven't done in a while as I walked home from Beacon Hill to Charlestown; the senior citizen center's grass looked like it had not been watered in a while. I helped them out with a light sprinkler system.

My Saturday morning got off to a slow start. I slept until 10am. 10am?! WTF is 10am?! I guess I really needed the sleep. Around 10:30am I got on the bike for a 4 hour ride and 45 minute run. I knew I would be working out at this point until mid-afternoon but luckily I only had evening plans, so I didn't feel too bad about getting a late start.

I cranked up the heat and set to work. 1 hour warm up. Then I began incorporating some simulated hill riding, which I practiced in aero, and then I just started incorporating some of Coach Jen's prior workouts to help me pass the time. Once again, the terrible reality tv didn't let me down. I practiced the ride in tri-shorts to help me become more adjusted to race day, and my wooha is in pretty good shape, thanks to a few stops to add some extra lube down there.

After the bike, I transitioned to a 45 minute run. Well, it was SUPPOSED to be 45 minutes. It was pouring outside. Like really coming down. No worries, I don't mind the rain. But I mind the cold rain. And windy cold rain. I began my run and my legs felt fresh. I felt too good. For a whole 6 minutes until the crazy diaphragm / abdominal cramp came to visit. I stopped running. Doubled over in pain. No matter how much I massaged that baby and tried to stretch out my torso, it wouldn't go away. Even when I walked.

Well, unfortunately I didn't get through that whole 45 minute run. I tried, but 7 minutes is all I managed to muster through. Crap. Crap. CRAP. What is up with this crazy cramp thing when I head into a transition run?! It's fucking frustrating as all hell.

Maybe it's a good thing I only managed to get 7 minutes in; because it was raining and cold, there is much more of a chance to get sick; and at this point I cannot afford to get sick. So 7 minutes is 7 minutes.

I went for my usual biweekly appointment with ART pal Grace, who worked on that abdominal cramp for a bit. She definitely introduced some new and painful release techniques to help alleviate the pain in that area, and she brought back the usual painful IT band scraping. One more appointment with her before the Big Dance, and I should be good to go. She also hooked me up with a bunch of EmergenC packs to help avoid getting sick before I go. Yay Grace!


Yesterday I managed to suffer through a suckfest of a 2:30 run. My legs felt pretty good (for a little while) but my heart rate was a bit high, which was frustrating. I went my usual route, Storrow Drive side of the Charles and up Beacon and up up up the hills past BC Football Stadium. Thankfully on the back split I managed to drop my pace, but my legs were beginning to feel like lead weights. I was wearing new sneakers, trying out a lighter pair of Asics that I am not used to, and my feet, all Vaselined up, didn't have any blisters at the end of the run. But my right knee is feeling a bit arthritic which has never happened to me before, so I think I will stick to my older Asics for the Ironman. No trying new things on race day.

I was extremely nauseous at the end of my run. I didn't even want to drink the chocolate milk (but I did of course, duh). I knew I needed to eat, so I had some eggs and toast, but I didn't finish, and then I spent the remainder of the night tossing and turning. And now my neck hurts.

Thankfully - NO MORE LONG WORKOUTS!!!!!!

Tonight I am getting a massage over at the best place on Earth which I cannot wait for. Unfortunately my two usual masseuses weren't available so I am trying someone new, and I'm kind of hoping he doesn't abuse my body as much as Amy and David do. But then again, what good is a relaxing massage to a triathlete's body? Bring on the pain now, and feel good tomorrow, right?

I do have workouts the remainder of the week - thanks Coach Jen! but thankfully they aren't of much intensity. I need to get in the pool. ASAP, and I am going tonight after my massage.

Actually come to think of it, I have a workout every day up until I leave next Wednesday. Thanks Coach Jen! No rest for the weary!

I am one pound below my race weight but I'm hoping to drop another 4 before the 29th. Unfortunately (or fortunately?!) Saturday my friends and I are holding our annual Charlestown Thanksgiving Feast and that is not the time to drop a few pounds! I am looking forward to this year's more than the previous, because I am missing Thanksgiving altogether since I will be in Mexico. So I am in charge of desserts - why? - because I am really the baker of the group. Looking for some new recipes to try out, but I'm thinking of maybe some sort of apple crumble (or pie), something pumpkiny, and maybe a bread pudding of sorts.

Any suggestions?

So IMCoz is right around the corner, which means I am beginning to stress about the packing. I printed off a pretty intense packing list, so I will start getting my eggs in one basket (speaking of, I just ate 2 hard boiled eggs, yum) and pack a little bit each day. Gray reminded me to pack a non-swim swimsuit (i.e., bikini) - thanks for the reminder :) No more Speedos after 11/29!

I also still need to pick up a bike case from the wonderfully generous bike fitter Jay and then head over to my boy Brian (who is also doing IMCoz) to take apart Blue Thunder and help me pack it up.

So many things to do, so little time.

11 days.

Holy shit my friends. 11 days.

**************************
And now... a few of the Lupus Foundation PubCrawl Committee Pictures!

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

I typically get 9 - 9.5 hours of sleep a night. Which is a lot compared to some people.

This week I can't get enough sleep. Last night I finished a short bike workout (where my heart rate was in recovery zone, yet my legs were pushing some hard gears and screaming out for mercy) and then I showered, ate dinner, and curled up on my couch under a blanket for the remainder of the night without moving - which was for about 2.5 hours. I caught up on 90210 and Gossip Girl, and then I slogged my sleepy ass to bed, where I read one chapter of a lame book, and drifted off to sleep around 10:15pm.

When I woke up, I thought I was in la-la land from the help with some serious drugs. But I wasn't. I could have slept for 10 more hours.

My head won't stop pounding. My motivation to get dressed up for work and fix my hair is at an all-time low. My motivation at work is at an all-time low.

Really, doing anything that requires my eyes being open is a task within itself.

The thought of working out tonight makes my eyes well up and my body shudder in disbelief. Thankfully Coach Jen is still around on email this morning before she leaves to kick ass in Clearwater. I explained how I was feeling.

You are clearly fighting something.... That is how I felt before I got sick & Graham got sick. Take today off & go straight home, put your Pjs on and lay on the couch. Sleep cures everything!!! Keep sleeping...

I don't like the idea of not getting the next workout or two in - especially since I don't start tapering until Monday. But the thought of getting sick with limited time left is something I am not willing to risk. Now is not the time play Superwoman. Only on the 29th is that acceptable.

So PJs, couch, tomato soup, and sleep - here I come - just have to get through this damn work day.

************************************
On a side note, I was completely floored and honored that the Lupus Foundation saw something in me to nominate me to run the 2010 Boston Marathon on their behalf. After sleeping on it, weighing the pros and cons, I decided to give up the slot to someone who REALLY wanted to run the Marathon.

Running the 2006 Boston Marathon goes down in the books as the most inspiring and amazing experiences in my life. I still get goosebumps thinking about it. But after IMCoz, I want - I need - some downtime. I don't want to hate running. I don't want to hate training. I don't want to feel like I need to do anything. So I explained this all to Bev, a Director who I met through the Lupus Foundation last year. I just received this email from her:

Kim,
I completely understand how important it is to have balance in life. Working, going to school and trying to have a life is challenging to say the least without throwing a "marathon" in the mix. You are truly a remarkable woman and I thank you so much for all your support. I must say, this is why I love the work I do. I meet some amazing people who inspire me. Have a wonderful holiday season and I wish you the best. Good luck in the Ironman competition, Beverly

It's people like Bev - and emails like hers - that give ME the inspiration to keep on keeping it on.
Thanks for your support EVERYONE!