Are You Ready for Ironman?

I've been getting that question asked a lot lately. Of course, depending on the context, I could answer that question in a myriad ways. 

Q:  "Are you ready for Ironman?"

A1: "No, I still have two more months! Of course I'm not ready you nimrod!"

A2: "Hell yeah I'm ready! Why would you even ask?! Do you think I'm a wuss?"

A3: "Physically, I'm ready...I've got no injuries and I'm feeling strong. I am woman. Hear me roar."

A4: "Mentally, I'm ready...This ain't my first rodeo after all."

A5: "Ready? Are you kidding? Are you ever really ready? Is a couple ever really 'ready' for parenthood?"

A6: "If by ready, you mean ready to get this damn thing over with so that I can get back to a normal life and talking about non-tri things all of the time, then YES I am ready."

A6: "If by ready, however, you mean ready to put my goggles, bike and running shoes in the attic forever, than NO I'm not ready. I'm going to need those things for a while. I've kinda grown attached to those." (or they've grown attached to me)

I think the answer to the question changes on a minute-to-minute basis. If the race were tomorrow, I could do it. In one respect, I'm ready. However, the next two weekends are going to give me a ton of feedback to see just how ready I am.

Tomorrow, a group of us are heading down to Johnson City for a 100+ mile ride in the Hill Country (notice I said "hill"). Afterwards, I have to hop off and run for an hour because I didn't get a chance to do my brick workout last weekend due to the MS 150 debacle.  I'm actually looking forward to this as I love this course and a few of us are packing a picnic and doing some wine tasting afterwards. It's all in the rewards, right??

On Sunday, I'm running 18 miles and thankfully my legs are feeling pretty good right now. Let's see what happens after Saturday!

 

Next weekend, Hubster and I are heading to California for the infamous Wildflower Long-Course Triathlon. Known as "The Woodstock of Triathlon," this three-day festival attracts over 7,000 participants in a weekend of racing including Olympic Distance, Mountain Biking and Half Ironman races.  Of course, we're doing the Half-Ironman distance. The two main things I hear about this race are that #1 It's a ton of fun because everyone is camping and chillin' out  #2 It's friggin hard as hell!   Woo Hoo...What a combination. Hungover and sleep deprived triathletes racing on a hilly course. Could be interesting!!

My plan for Wildflower is to simply practice Ironman pacing. 16.5-18 mph on the bike and sub-9:00s on the run...no age group placing aspirations, no qualifying hopes and dreams, just simply practice for the Ironman. It has been said that if you complete Wildflower, your Ironman should be a piece of cake. Ha...We'll see about that...

One thing is for sure, though...I'm ready.