Finding Love For The Bike....

So...here's my first blog!! Yay!! I've had this blog for several months now, just actually haven't written anything in it so here goes...

I am currently in the middle of training for my second Ironman, Ironman Texas, and am super stoked to be going back to race on the same course as last year - hoping for a huge PR!! Right now I am really excited to be participating in Hillary Biscay's triathlon camp with my friends...last year I was totally in awe of seeing all the posts of camp from my coach, as well as Kris and Shelly, two athletes I would see again at Austin Camp a month later and was thinking to myself, who are these amazing athletes? I want to be as fast as them!! Little did I know our paths would continue to cross, and they, along with some other friends pertinent to this story, would inspire me to tackle Ironman #2...but I digress because in order to understand how big of a deal it is to me to be invited to attend this camp this year, you would have to understand my previous journeys, and the constant battle with the bike along the way...

I am a fish, plain and simple.  I always have been, always will be.  Water will always be my element.  My friend Herb even started calling me the Human Fish, and when I saw that my friend Orissa had me saved in her phone under that name, I couldn't help but laugh  -there truly is no place I'd rather be than in the water.  So where did it all begin?  Junior year in college, one of my teammates (super fast, could swim circles around me, it was inspiring to be able to swim in her lane on a daily basis), she asked me if I wanted to do a sprint triathlon with her, and of course I said yes!! Except, "Houston, we have a problem" - I have NEVER ridden a bike before!! I don't mean I rode one when I was young and just have to get out and remember how its done, I mean never, ever had I ridden one!! So, here I was, 21 years old, learning how to ride a bike a few weeks before my first triathlon ever - it was so frustrating, and scary!! Then began the hate relationship I had with the bike.  I did complete that first tri, but I had a death grip on the bike the entire time, and I was seriously afraid of being on the bike...how would I ever do longer triathlons if I was afraid of the bike...how would I do an Ironman one day???

So I dabbled for years after that first triathlon in 2001, mainly training in spin classes or on a trainer, and just riding the road on race day - not a good recipe for getting more comfortable on the bike...then something truly amazing happened...I was inspired to take it up a notch.  I am always telling my high school swim kiddos I coach to step outside their comfort zone, to believe in themselves, and chase their goals relentlessly without fear...it was time for me to do the same.  So, I went to Coach Dawn for a half-ironman plan, and I was off and running...my very first half-ironman in Austin was everything I hoped it would be, my 2nd out there not so much since I crashed (did I mention how much I dislike the bike?)...when I finally decided to tackle the big one, the full ironman, I knew I would need all the help I could get!!

Coachie was awesome, I was now getting biweekly plans, and was riding longer than I ever had before, but I was determined not to let the fear of the bike hold me back.  Austin camp was a crucial point during this time, I was really struggling on the bike (no surprise there), and was way behind the rest of the group, when Coachie dropped back and was yelling at me to get out of my head, to get mentally tough, and to finish this ride.  Yes, I did shed some tears that day, it was one of my toughest rides up to that point, and I really just wanted to get off the bike and be done with it.  But the lesson I learned from Coachie that day was crucial for the bike and the run at IMTX, which was by far one of the best days, with lots of highs and lows, lots of sufferfests and smiles.  My swim was spot on, my bike I made it through (although stopping WAY too many times), and the run started off great but that last 8 mile loop was definitely one of the low points of the day, just fighting my body to get through the next mile.  Of course the finish was pure elation, and not long after finishing I told my hubby that I would like to do another, although I was initially planning it would not be for  couple years, but life's full of surprises....

So here we are, IMTX round two, after my friends Kris & Aixa signed up, and then  my other friend Jenny wanted to do one, so I said "heck, why not?"  This second journey has been so much fun, and I have learned so much more about myself (and the bike) along the way.  I have had some amazing hilly rides and crushed them (thank you Brian for the "click, click, click"), and have pushed myself outside of my comfort zone on the bike multiple times.  The first big 80 mile hilly ride we did, I finally found myself up front which was just crazy to me because I do not consider myself a fast cyclist, so it was definitely a turning point.  The following weekend it was a wet 90 miler, which was another "outside of my comfort zone" ride because I am very nervous to ride in rainy conditions, but I could hear Coachie say as I debated not doing that ride that day, "but what if it rains on race day? how would you handle it?"  Touche Coachie.  Finally, my friend Jenny (super fast Cat 1 cyclist and high school swim buddy) took me out to skyline on a hilly 80 miler, and that, coupled with the other stellar rides, really helped me to enjoy the bike more than I ever had before...it also helped that skyline was 22% grade (yowza!!) and I had never climbed anything like it before...what a confidence booster before camp!!

So...here I am at camp with my roomies Kris and Aixa...we are enjoying the downtime now but in a couple hours camp will begin, the camp I saw through pictures last year I will get to experience first hand this year on my second ironman journey!! Can't wait for the sufferfests to begin!! :)