180: EVERYTHING IS ILLUMINATED.... AND EVERYTHING HURTS!!!

looking at the countdown clock is startin' to make me nervous and excited all at the same time!!! it's now officially 180 days, 6 months until Ironnman Brasil. DAMMIT!!!! i recall Bold mentioning that nothing really serious happens until your at 112 (one day for every mile on the bike), so i'm feelin' pretty good about the extra 68 days i'm depositing into the Bank of Ironman.

waking up today, i'm HELLA SORE!!! the swim, bike and run part haven't even been very hard or long yet. so far i've just gone for time. the weight training is kicking my ass for sure, though, and this week i kick it up another 5% of my 1rep max. and i say BRING IT ON!!! it's that good kinda hurt, the hurt that tells you you're gonna come out the other side of this ready to take on anything coach might throw at me. like the climbing that's coming. of all 3 disciplines, it's definitely the cycling that i sucked at and hated the most when i began doing triathlon. for most it's the swim, but i grew up in the water and at the beach, so i love big, choppy surf. it's my only advantage over you cyclists. in my first sprint tri, i came outta the water in 11th place, and then EVERYONE AND THEIR GRANDMA PASSED ME ON THE BIKE. it really pissed me off and made me never wanna ride again, but now i gotta say i'm loving that bike, and i now love climbing. i love it so much that i want this bike to climb with instead of my tri bike. it's like surfing. you gotta have a quiver of boards for all breaks and conditions. so now i want a new road bike. let's see what santa brings in my stocking this year. hee hee.....

last week i also got a great surprise from Iron Mom Jenny who i've just recently met through this great world of tri bloggers. first, a big congrats to her for completing IM Florida earlier this month AND for defending her athena title!!! when i'd read in one of her posts that she'd done IM Brasil, i wrote to her and asked if she had any advice or could impart any of her knowledge to me. well not only did she do that, she sent me her photo album from her trip!!! oh man, it looks so beautiful!!! I WANNA BE THERE NOW!!!! so just the extra little boost i needed to help me visualize where i'm gonna race. thanks Jenny!! and if anyone else knows anyone who's done Brasil, please let me know!!!

on another great note, my fellow tri club member and recent Kona finisher, Oliver Martin, emailed to let me know he's throwing his hat in for Brasil as well!! YAY!!! now i'm not going alone!!!

yes yes, it 's a good day. day 180 and off to the pool........