Call me an Ironman

While training for my Ironman people with whom I shared my aspiration seemed to have trouble with the event being called an Iron"man". The typical response would be ... "you mean Iron"woman"... right?

On Sunday when I approached the starting line for this event, men and women alike were sent off in one wave start to began our 140.6 mile journey to the finish line. Drive, determination, desire and perseverance were the common characteristics each athlete shared.

In my world, being an Iron"man" has nothing to do with gender and everything to do with courage. Please, feel free to call me an "Ironman".

My race report will follow!

Tupper Lake 1/2 IM Race Report

I haven't been as good about posting the last two month. Far to much going on between training and switching jobs.

I raced the Tupper Lake Tinman last Sunday which was the last big training event before our taper started for Ironman. Here is my race report and a few pics from the event.
It’s been 8 days since Tupper and with Ironman looming my mind has been racing. For peace of mind, I can’t procrastinate writing this race report any longer…

For the most part my Tupper Lake ½ Ironman seemed uneventful – that is until I had an opportunity to reflect upon the experience and what mentally was going through my head.

Sunday, June 22nd - Drop off Little Miss G… at TOGA for a tune-up. After the 100 mile ride she was dirty so I figured they could clean and tune her up for Tupper Lake. Besides for being tuned-up and cleaned I wanted TOGA to switch my wheels for Emeka’s race wheels and switch out the 12-27 he had on his race wheels for the 12-25 I have on my regular wheels. Why the switch-a-roo? Because I was trying to determine what to race Placid on. Simple… right?!$%^*& More to come on that at a later date and time.

Wednesday, June 25th – Pick up Miss G at TOGA so that I could test drive her with the race wheels Thursday morning at practice. Before bed, I top off the air in her tires so that I don’t have to in the morning.

Thursday, June 26th (the @ass crack of dawn) – Get up and put all bottles, ect on my bike that will be there on race day and head out the door. Before I left my building I notice that my front tire was flat. Crap! No time to change it now. I take the wheel off my bike, run up 6 flights of stairs and grab my other wheel. I wasn’t happy about this but at least it wasn’t the rear wheel. I put my regular wheel on and get to CP as fast as possible.

Perplexed at to why my front tire was flat I started to worry about my lack of familiarity with the race wheels. I get through the workout fine and all seems to be working (must say that the bike wasn’t shifting quite as well as it did pre-tune up but I chalked that up to TOGA doing the tune up and not Will from Road Worx). At the end of practice I ask George about the tubes needed for the race wheels since I’d have to contend with the flat tire on the front wheel when I got home. Really… how hard could it be… I’ve changed a tire before.

Feeling a little anxious about this, I immediately attempted to change the flat when I got home. After punching the spokes three times and cutting my knuckles each time, I emailed Emeka to see if there was some secret to getting the tire off the rim of his race wheels. Confused as to why I had a flat he called me and walked me through the putting of air in the tire since they were new tubes used only once. He made me aware that the valve on these tubes could be unscrewed in two places which could have been the cause for the leak. I filled the tire with air one last time since I couldn’t get the tire off the rim and left for work. The goal was to see if the tire held the air.

No luck… the tire was F.L.A.T. when I got home. Now what! I still wasn’t able to get the tire off the rim. Emeka graciously came up to my apartment to help me change the tire. Boy did I feel like a dumb blond. I’m happy to say that Emeka had just as much trouble with the tire as I did. Phew. We get the flat fixed and fill with adequate air and hope for the best.

Friday, June 27th – 6:00am up and at’em. Front tire still had air so all was good on the bike front. I had an appointment with Conlon at 6:30 since my right calf has been bothering me since our 20 mile run. At this point I wasn’t sure what was in store for me at Tupper. Would I be able to finish the run? Only time would tell. Since I was “working from home” I had the rest of the day to get packet for the weekend and chill out.

Before bed on Friday night, I confirmed with Heather our travel plans and told her I’d give her a call around 4:50am.

Saturday, June 28th – 5:00am Call Heather. Voicemail. No biggie, I figured she was in the shower. I hopped in the shower to wake the body up and then gave her a call around 5:15 to make sure we’re on schedule. Still no answer. Hummm… very odd. I call her home phone. Voicemail. Ok, starting to worry ever so slightly so I call Keri. At this point I’ve called Heather 3-4 times and I’m starting to have visions of her lifeless body on the floor of her apartment.

Keri picks up. Phew. Rationally, Keri assures me that Heather was more than likely still asleep and tells me she’ll call her too. Phone rings. It’s Keri. Still no answer on Heather’s end… Oh, wait a sec. My other line was beeping. It’s HEATHER! Thank God. =) I click over and apparently her cell was in the living room and her bedroom door was shut. Ok, only 20-30 minutes behind schedule. Not that our schedule was set in stone but Heather and I sort of wanted to ensure we made it to Lake Placid with plenty of time to unpack leisurely, prepare for the race and be in bed at a reasonable hour.

We make it to Tupper Lake by 12:30pm, pick up our race packets and then opt to head to Lake Placid because of the rain. With the team only meeting at 3pm for a casual pre-race swim we didn’t want to hang around in the rain.

We make it to Placid by 1:30pm grab lunch and then head to Northwoods. After a less than smooth check-in we were told that our room wasn’t quite ready so we grabbed our wetsuits and bikes and went down to Mirror Lake. WOW! What a difference a month makes. The water was beautiful.

Back at the hotel by 4:30pm we decide on dinner at Mr. Mike’s. Dinner was quick and uneventful. Keri, Heather, Suz and I talk a little about race plans and looked up other Lifer’s race results from years past at Tupper. Surprised that that the coached hadn’t sent out anything more formal to help us devise a plan for this race, I sort of resorted to the “this is just another workout” attitude.

Sunday, June 29th – Race Day

Heather and I were up at 4:30am and ready to roll in record time. We were on the road by 5:15am and in Tupper no later that 6am. We had plenty of time to get our stuff to transition, come up with a way to guard our running shoes from rain and visit the Port-O-Jon numerous times.

I was surprisingly calm! Before Timberman, I was a ball of nerves. What was going on? Hummm… could it be that the distances we were going were so familiar? Oh well. It was just another workout. Right?

I headed over to the swim start with Keri, Heather and Jim and jump in the water quickly to acclimate to the water temperature. The water was nice. Not too cold so I didn’t have to worry about the frigid water panic attack.

We coral into our age group and watch the first two waves head off. Ok… it’s my turn. Into the water the 30-34 males and females go. I position myself up at the front to claim my space. The first buoy is pretty visible so this is where I’ll head to first. The gun goes off and we start swimming. There was nothing really overwhelming about the this swim start but mentally I make myself aware of where people are around me and what they are doing. Mistake. I start to panic. What the “F”! I’m now breathing every stroke. Crap. I calm myself down and focus on long strokes and gliding through the water. The buoys aren’t as easy to see as I thought they were going to be so I follow the crowd. By the time I made it to the turnaround, I was hoping to have found my swimming rhythm. Not so much. Getting from buoy to buoy took much more energy than I anticipated. I swam as far as I could to shore before standing up and starting to peal off my wetsuit. By the time I made it to land I was glad to be done. It wasn’t an awful swim but it didn’t feel great either.

Official Time - 35:26 – 100m splits 2:58

I get back to transition, struggle with getting my wetsuit off my calves and hope that the volunteers on race day don’t have any issues stripping my wetsuit off of me. Socks, bike shoes, headband, helmet, sunglasses… check! Grab bike and off I go.

My heart rate feels high. The numbers are blinking on my HRM so I know that my heart rate is above 160. Ok… focus. Breath. This is just a workout I tell myself. I try to settle in but never get 100% comfortable on my bike. Everything seemed very laborious. Mentally where was I? I pass the first Aid/Water Station. I didn’t give much thought to grabbing water because it didn’t appear that I needed any. My watch was programmed to beep every 15 minutes to remind me to eat/drink. To the best of my ability I drank my nutrition when the course profile allowed me to.

My bike nutrition plan was my Infinite which was 917 calories. Note – this was my second time using it. The first time I used the Infinite was for the 100 mile ride I did the Sunday prior and it seemed to work well then.

I tried to keep my eyes on people in front of me and use them to pull me forward but every time I hit a hill I felt I was getting pulled backward. Arg. Batman needed Robin. When was I going to see Anne? Finally. I see her. She looks like she’s having a great time. Blah! Not me. But I keep trying. I get to the turnaround, grab a bottle of water and fill up the aero bottle. Wow! I didn’t need that much water. Was I not drinking as often as I should have been?

I keep riding and now I’m starting to see more Lifers. I stay as focused as I possible can and I start to anticipate those who are going to be passing me shortly. In no particular order… Scott, Parks, Bill, Philip, Adam… and Ross. As Ross goes by he touches my lower back and says “Good job… keep it up.” Did I really look good?

At this point I’m aware of Emeka and the car he’s driving. He catches me a couple time on film and my face feels like stone. I didn’t want to smile or acknowledge him. I’m serious and lacking any kind of personality. Why was this?

I make it back to transition and hear Stella yell out…”Katie, you look dehydrated. Drink some water!”. Was I dehydrated? Did I not drink enough? Did my bike nutrition not work. I only took in 80% of my bottle – 733 cal. The weather sure changed since the beginning of the race.

Official Time - 2:55:31 19.1 miles per hour

I change shoes, put my race number on, grab my gels and visor and I’m off. Ugh! The stomach… It feels like lead. I grab a Gatorade on my way out of transition to get calories back in me since I stopped taking in calories around mile 40/45.

By the time I made it to the first hill I was walking. I had a cramp in the lower left part of my stomach and wasn’t sure if I was going to vomit or not. Ok… here goes survival mode. My mind is racing. Breath. Try to catch your breath. Lower your heart rate. I get to the top of the hill and start running. My plan is to make it to the next Aid Station and then go from there. Still not feeling any better, I take my HRM strap off and put it in my back pocket. At this point all I want to do is run comfortably. By mile two I take a gel because I know I need it and I also know that I need to practice taking in calories when I don’t feel like it.

I see Emeka somewhere between mile 2 and 3 (I think) and give him my HRM strap. At this point I know it’s going to be a long run. I start to think about DNF’ing. How does my calf feel? Is it ok? “Do nothing foolish”, I think to myself. Wait… what am I doing. My calf doesn’t feel great but it’s ok to run on. Why am I thinking of bailing? Because it hurts? Because my stomach doesn’t feel good? Well, this is exactly what could happen on race day. I have to keep going.

So, with that said, I take it one mile at a time. I could use a Port-Jon but there’s none in site and there isn’t any area on the side of the road for me to crouch. The next best option… pee on myself. Why not? I do it in my wet suit. So, hear goes. Will people behind me be able to tell? I hope not. So for the next 2-3 Aid Stations I’d stop, walk, pee and pour water over myself. Boy am I lucky to have holes on the bottom of my running shoes.

By the time I made it to mile 6 I was back. Ok, not totally back but back enough to run with a little more pep in my step. I see Adam Lake ahead of me and catch up to him. He’s not looking so hot but I get him to run with me for a bit. The trail running was sort of fun and a nice reprieve from the heat. I’m in the final stretch of the run and determined to catch people as I get closer to the finish line.

Wanting to finish strong and redeem myself from the first ½ of the run, I pick up the pace once I the finish line is in site.

Nutrition – I took 4 gels with me and ended up using 3 of them.

Official Run Time – 2:07:28 9:46 mile

Total Race Time – 5:43:39 A PR for a ½ Ironman.

Although I was happy with my finish time and the fact that I didn’t give up when I felt like crap I’ve had some time to think about this event and reflect on my attitude going into the race. I was much too casual about it. The race wasn’t just another workout. It was a test of the mind and body and I didn’t test either. I stayed in a zone of comfort for fear of failure and didn’t trust my training or my level of fitness.

Sunday, July 6th – Ironman is now 14 days away and I’m starting to doubt everything. From the shoes I’ll wear to the cassette on my bike. I went to TOGA today to have them put the 12-27 cassette on Emeka’s race wheels so I could test ride it and see if I’d be able to distinguish a huge difference in gearing.

I was able to wait while they switched the cassettes out and adjust the derailleur. When the bike was done Jose started to wipe it down for me as I told him my dilemma of figuring out the 12-25 or the 12-27 cassette. He looks down at my rear wheel and says well… that’s a 12-25 on there now. I say… what do you mean? I just had them change it for me. They were supposed to switch my cassette from Emeka’s race wheels to the cassette that originally was on Emeka’s race wheels which was on my regular wheels at the time.

Feeling like a total idiot I now had to have them take the bike back down and put the 12-27 back on the race wheels because they NEVER did what I had asked them to do in the first place. So, it appears that I raced Tupper with a 12-27 and then road Placid on Monday with a 12-27. CRAP!

Looking back at Tupper I’m even more confused now since I wasn’t aware that my gears were different. Fricken TOGA! Or more importantly Fricken Katie! You thought the cassette didn’t look familiar and that’s because it wasn’t!

Reflections:

- Don’t think… our movements are programmed at this point.
- Feel the glide through the water, the tick of the peddle stroke and the deliberate 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 of the run.
- Don’t trust your bike shop. You should know what it is that you’re asking to be done to your bike and be able to intelligently check/inspect the work done.
- Have fun!
- Remember why you started the journey.
- Don’t loose the focus.

Brooklyn 1/2 Race Report

With more than 12 half marathons under my belt, in the words of Ramon Bermo, “I’m no Rookie”. I knew exactly what to expect from this race since it was my third time running it.

What I was a little more uncertain of was a challenging yet realistic race goal. My fastest recorded ½ marathon was a 1:50:01 in the Staten Island ½ Marathon in 2006. I email Mike Conlon to get his input and he told me I should shoot for a 1:45. A five minute difference from my fastest race but I felt it was doable. 8:01 pace. Sounds good to me!

I new I wanted to get a good night sleep leading up to the race so I had some pasta and salad for dinner and was in bed before 10pm. I sent my alarm for 5:45am (more than 7 hours sleep) to give myself enough time to putz around in the morning, have a cup of coffee, eat a banana and get to the van pick up spot by 6:55am.

I headed out the door around 6:30am and had enough time to leisurely walk to the corner of 34th and Lexington while eating my PB&J (typical pre-race/workout meal). We get to Brooklyn in record time thanks to Heather since she arranged a van to take a bunch of us to the race start. What a relief avoiding mass transpiration. The morning was off to a good start. The weather was perfect for racing, my nerves were calm and I was ready to do this.

With plenty of time once we got to the race start there was time for multiple trips to the Porto-Johns before our stuff had to be dropped in bag check and the gun went off. I had a light blue bib number (8:30 pace) but went up to the light yellow (??) corral with Lynn and Amanda. Being up at the front of the crowd certainly help. There were quite a few people but nothing impossible to maneuver around.

Mile 1 ended up being 8:05 which for the most part was right on target of what I wanted my first couple miles to be. I felt relaxed but aware that I didn’t want to go out too fast and not be able to sustain my pace for the entire race. I hit the turn around and Amanda and Lynn were still with me. No words are being exchanged between the three of us but it was certainly nice to have the company of fellow teammates. Now that I was running the opposite direction on the boardwalk I wanted to look for people I knew coming the other direction but remember being told that crowd scoping can waste energy and I didn’t want to expend any unnecessary fuel.

I pass mile marker #2 with a split of 7:50. Ikes! I’m speeding up. Not what I wanted to do. I don’t freak out because I’m feeling pretty good and my heart rate is in check. I can tell Amanda felt good as she makes her way through the crowd and off the board walk. I’m trying to stay conservative so I scope the crowd for people I feel are maintaining a steady pace.

Always aware of my pace and those running around me, I make it to Mile 3 with a split of 7:53. Still faster than my targeted 8:01 pace but I go with it. I take an Espresso Love Gu since I haven’t had anything to eat since about 7am. This was a little earlier in the game than I typically start to take in calories but felt it was appropriate given the faster pace.

As each mile goes by I’m more and more impressed with the pace I’ve been able to sustain. This is crazy!!! I’m starting to think about my pace and the fact that I’m ahead of my 8:01 targeted goal. Interesting I think to myself… if a consistent 8:01 pace would bring me at 1:45 I’m starting to realize the possibility that I may beat my goal time. Knowing that the hardest part of the races is that last 3 miles I continue maintain the pace I’ve been at for the first half of the race.

Mike Conlon passes me around Mile 7 and notices that I’m ahead of my plan. He reminds me of what’s to come and tells me to stay within a 10 second window of my target pace. One step in front of the other… counting at times 1-2-3-4, to remind myself of my cadence I head into Prospect Park. I take another Espresso Love Gu to ensure I maintain my energy for the last part of the race.

Remembering that the hill is still ahead but knowing I only have 3 miles left to go – it’s time to kick in an extra gear. I think we pass mile 10 right before the beginning of the hill. Keri Stone passes me looking strong and reminding me that the race isn’t over yet. I keep my eyes on her back as I climb the hill and focus on maintaining my form. Mile 11 my split is 7:46 – sweet! I felt strong going up the hill (thanks Scott and Ross for making us run them).

I’m almost there… ensuring that I leave everything I have out on the course I start to focus on the backs of other runners and try to pick them off one at a time. My legs are starting to feel a little lactic burn so I know I’ve done my job. Passing Mile 13 with a split of 7:42 I’m please that my efforts are resulting in negative splits come the end of the race.

Hell yeah! I finish in 1:42:35. Faster than my 1:45 goal. I’m elated… proud… pleased with my effort. However, I think I’m more amazed at the strength I’ve gained while training with TriLife. What a huge improvement from my fastest ½ marathon. It’s nice to finally see a recognizable change in my fitness and strength.

For reference, the Brooklyn ½ Marathon was my very first ½ marathon.

Mile 1 - 8:05.3

Mile 2 - 7:50.6

Mile 3 - 7:53.8
Mile 4 - 7:43.1
Mile 5 - 7:50.9
Mile 6 - 7:58.1
Mile 7 - 7:54.6
Mile 8 - 7:52.5
Mile 9 - 7:50.1
Mile 10 - 7:51.2
Mile 11 - 7:46.1
Mile 12 - 7:30.9
Mile 13 - 7:42.3
Mile 13.1 - 0:47.4

Ironman Is...

Complements of Heather Whitaker-Maloy on April 1st...

• Going out for burgers when your company provides soup and salad for lunch.
• Patiently waiting while your teammate plunges the toilet. And not even thinking that's weird.
• Giving out gold stars to your co-worker for the detailed description of the 2 awesome miles he ran on the treadmill.
• Continuing to thoroughly enjoy your meal as your teammate graphically explains his/her GI issues.
• Explaining that your workout at 5:30 means AM not PM, and "Yes, the marathon is still 26.2 miles" and"Yes, it's 140.6 miles....all in one day."
• Honestly admitting that a trip to Stop and Shop is the highlight of one's Saturday.
• Watching the sun rise over the valley while the rest of the world is soundly sleeping snug in a warm bed. And knowing you're the lucky one.
• Sometimes remarkably like being a 1950's housewife. Laundry, laundry and more laundry. Groceries, groceries and more groceries.
• Your definition of reality TV is the Weather Channel.
• Thinking that a 2 hour run is next to nothing, but 2 hours of couch time on a Sunday is an eternity.
• Eating dinner standing in your kitchen, while you stretch...more than twice a week.
• Wishing excel had a better system to calculate hours, minutes and seconds....and the ability to calculate pace!
• Laughing to yourself when you overhear a co-worker describe her lo-carb diet as you shop for Carbo-Pro on the internet.
• Hoping that your IT department doesn't check your internet history and find the searches on saddle sores, black toenails and cures ingrown hair.
• Digging deep to find some digity on that last Godzilla repeat and discovering that there's a old demon inside waiting to chase you up the hill...or there isn't a demon and you're all alone with your just heartbeat ringing in your ears. And that either way, it's really hard. But you still get to the top...
• Contemplating the logistics of a nap in your office bathroom stall.
• Being lost without your training plan. Really. Lost.
• Answering the question again, "Oh, an Ironman! Isn't that the one in Hawaii?" Remembering back to when you started triathlons, people asking, "Oh, a triathlon! Isn't that the one in Hawaii?"
• Secretly hoping that no one asks about the bathroom facilities on the bike course, because you'll have to explain how you plan to just pee in your shorts.
• Learning anatomy and physiology through your own injuries.
• HR, BPM, MPH, ITB, MTP, WTP, IM, HIM, PSI don't make you say, "What?!"
• Getting teary as you imagine your cheering section on race day.
• Getting tearier as you imagine your teammates cheering for you on your last lap of Mirror Lake Drive.
• Controlling the fear of race day and also controlling the fear of the emptiness and loneliness that you know will follow.

Ironman is only 110 day away!

Endurance Events

I can't believe he is over a week old and I haven't made an official announcement celebrating the arrival of Nolan Riley Lingle. The little man was born on Wednesday, March 26th at 1:17pm. What an amazing experience it was to share with my sister. I was an official leg holder so I got to witness the sheer agony and bliss of child birth. Oyyyyy!

While Sarah was in labor I kept thinking… you have to remember this… the girls will want a detailed report, blow by blow. Why should child birth be treated any differently than running a marathon or completing a triathlon? A full detailed race report needed to be completed post baby!

Well, let’s just say that that didn’t happen. I’ve committed what I saw, what I heard and what I smelled to memory (yes, child birth has a very distinct smell)… believe you me. But the feeling of true happiness and joy I felt while holding my nephew made all the other stuff I saw earlier seem insignificant. It was this experience that led me to believe that what comes after the baby arrives far outweighs what a woman goes through during labor.

Call me crazy but there are many things about having a baby that seem pretty similar to what I may experience on IM day.

• Labor can last for hours… so will my Ironman.
• As much as I think I'm going to smell like roses, I know I won't. Labor certainly didn't!
• Both labor and an Ironman take a certain amount of energy leaving one exhausted by the end.
• There will be a certain level of pain and misery followed by great satisfaction and a sense of accomplishment.
• The probability exists that I may say mean things to people I love because the pain is unbearable. Sarah certainly bit her tong.
• After many hours of ShotBloks, Gu's, Gatorade and other endurance sports drinks I will fantasize about my next real meal. All Sarah could talk about was donuts.
• If the going gets tough on event day, I'll tell myself that I will never do another Ironman. However, I know there is a high degree of probability that I will - the same way a women will have another baby!

Reality TV... Really?

Friday afternoon I got an email from Heather that said, "This has you written all over it. Will you apply, please?"

ATTENTION NEW YORK AND BOSTON MEMBERS: CASTING CALL FOR ADVENTURE SEEKERS

A film crew has contacted Ladies Who Launch in search of potential candidates for a reality-based adventure television show for a major cable network. They are looking for diverse, amateur marathon runners, ages ranging from early 20s to late 50s. Candidates must be willing and able to run multiple marathons within a three-month period (running to finish the race, not to win). This opportunity involves extensive travel (dates not yet determined). The casting calls are currently only scheduled for NYC and Boston.

Submission requirements:

• Photo of yourself, attached as a jpg
• Note previous marathon experience
• Include a short paragraph detailing your running motivations (why you run, your best and/or worst experiences, anything else of interest, etc.)
• Include a video of yourself: Use either your cell phone or digital camera and state your name and why you want to be a part of this project.

Deadline: Sunday, March 9

Was Heather right? Did this have my name written all over it? Hell yeah! I mean, I run marathons and I like challenges so why not. What would I have to loose? So, with the help of my agents, Heather, Ann and Sabrina and my camera man, Emeka, we put the needed submission requirements together over the weekend.

Here you have it...

The video

So, I'm 31, single, in the best shape of my life and have all thefreedom and time in the world. Not such a bad place to be, right?Ok… well, not all the time in the world but certainly enough freedomto allow myself the opportunity to train and complete enduranceevents.

My journey into the world of endurance sports began in December 2002,when I registered for the April 2003 New Jersey Marathon. I decidedto train for this event with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Teamin Training program and committed to raise at least $2,000 for cancerresearch.

Signing up for this event changed my life.

Since my first marathon in 2003, I have completed 5 marathons,numerous half marathons, sprint and Olympic distance triathlons andone half ironman triathlon. I have met and have been embraced by manyfriends though these experiences - amazing women with whom I've sharedmiles and memories. Most importantly, these experiences have alsoallowed me to grieve the loss of my mom who passed in the spring of1995 after her battle with cancer. I was 18 and suddenly became thefemale care giver to two younger siblings.

When I started running marathons it was never about me. It was aboutmy mom, and about keeping her alive somehow. If I could run more,train harder or raise more money it somehow would bring her back; whenit didn't, I felt defeated. I continued to run marathons, and when Ididn't achieve the time goals that I had set for myself, I was moredisappointed than proud of my accomplishments. I couldn't allowmyself to be happy simply crossing the finish line of anothermarathon. It wasn't until I stopped pressuring myself to attain acertain time goal that I finally found what it was that I was runningfor… myself!

Sure enough, after this realization, my fifth marathon was a charm.Four years into my marathon career, at the 2006 ING NYC Marathon, Ifinally attained my sub-four hour marathon time goal. When I crossedthe finish line, I didn't know whether to cheer or cry. I had finallyachieved something for me! It was honoring my mom that inspired me topursue marathons but it was my determination that mentally, physicallyand emotionally got me across the finish line.\

Through the miles, I've been able to reconcile the loss of a piece ofmy youth due to a sick parent and find the inner child within me.Running makes me feel young, as if I can do absolutely anything. Itjust so happens that I am currently training for my greatest marathonyet… 26.2 miles following a 2.4 mile swim and 112 mile bike – I'm signed up and training for the 2008 Ford Lake Placid Ironman. I havean angel with me every step of the way cheering as I continue toexperience life and live it the best way I know how... by challengingmyself to do things that others may not consider possible.

Marathon History

• New Jersey Marathon - April 27, 2003, Finish Time 4:27:49
• Marine Corp Marathon - October 26, 2003, Finish Time 4:09:58
• ING NYC Marathon - November 2004, Finish Time 4:23:06
• Chicago Marathon - October 9, 2005, Finish Time 4:07:30
• ING NYC Marathon - November 4, 2006, Finish Time 3:58:45

Head Shots

I'm not sure what the next step is in the process by my info was sent in before midnight last night. If nothing else it was fun putting this together.

Thanks friendies for all your encouragement, support and time. If I do get accepted, I'm sure there will be a time that I want to curse your names for putting me up to this.

For your listening pleasure

For some, music is a necessity when exercising. While I'm not an advocate for listening to music while running and biking outdoors when Coach Ross offered up some of his favorite sports music selections, I thought it would be fun to publish an iMix of some of his favorites for others on the team to easily access. For those of you who know Ross, please keep him in mind while listening to these selections. I added a few other songs that Heather and I like so that I could get the playlist to 2 hours. Hopefully this will help ease the pain of riding on the trainer or running on the treadmill.

Without further ado I introduce my iMix inspired by music selections from Ross Galitsky: Iron Cocktail

ENJOY!