I've signed up for the Ironman Arizona that is to be held on November 23, 2008. I attempted IMAZ back in 2006 and the outcome wasn't as I had expected. The picture above is me walking about half way into the marathon.
IMAZ was my 2nd triathlon and I went into it as an uber biker, in my mind at least. I drilled the swim and as much of the bike as I could until my stomach shut down. I ended the bike in my little ring on a pretty flat course with my stomach feeling like it was about to burst. Once I got into the transition area, my stomach had calmed down and surprisingly I could run, so I hit that pretty hard as well.
I had been struggling with some foot pain leading into the race and it was hurting something fierce. My ultimate decision came down to the foot pain, but it would have been brutal either way. It hurt worse to walk than it did to run, but I had swam and bike so hard that running wasn't much of an option.
I'm looking forward to giving AZ another crack. I don't have everything figured out but the amount that I've learned in the past year is priceless.
####
Below is my 2008 schedule...
Vision Quest, Solvang Camp
Endurance Corner, Tucson Camp (March)
Endurance Corner, Tucson Camp (April)
Wildflower
Triple T
Boulder Peak
5430 Half IM (relay)
Ironman Louisville
Ironman Arizona
With my last race being on November 23, this makes for a long season. In my opinion, this is exactly what I need. There could be some sketchy weather leading into the race, but once that race is over, I can enter the holiday season not trying to hold my training together. Instead of dealing with the stress of trying to get started in the midst of winter, I can sit back, recover, and watch the snow fall.
Currently, I'm watching the snow fall in Boulder and the training is rolling along.
Mat
