IM Moo

Thanks to everyone for reminding me that caring, compassion, and community are also c words. I’m so touched by the support and encouragement offered by people here and elsewhere in my life. Your words really do make me feel better. I appreciate the stories others have shared about beating cancer and other challenges. I’m working towards joining them. I also know that there are so many that worked just as hard and didn’t make it or are struggling. Sometimes we are just dealt a crappy hand and it doesn’t have anything to do with how hard we work or how good a person we are. Cancer sucks. I have every reason to believe that I’m going to be around for a long time, so I shall suck it up and be thankful that modern medicine has so much to offer someone with my diagnosis. Honestly, in many ways I feel like the luckiest person I know.

So, what have I been doing since the “dreaded phone call”? Well, goofing off as much as possible, of course! Should we skip Ironman Wisconsin? No, way! It was great to head out the door and think about something else. Of course, I didn’t have to actually DO the Ironman, so maybe that was easy for me to say. We got there on Friday afternoon, Mike checked in, and we promptly forgot the athlete meeting. Whoops! I guess we had a lot on our minds. Luckily, this is Mike’s second Ironman so he felt okay about it. On Saturday, we drove the bike course and tried to rest as much as possible.

On Sunday, it was time for the race. Mike did just fine. I’m sorry, was that anti-climactic? Maybe that is a good thing. For a laundry list of reasons, Mike used the “less is more” approach to IM training this time around. Translation:  He didn’t train as hard as last time. His swim was fine with a time just a few minutes longer than his Florida time. The bike was incredibly hilly, and although he did fine on the bike it just took too much out of him for the run. After the first six miles on the run, he settled on a fast walk. He ramped it up to a run for the last half mile and came around the corner running and looking good. He was smiling at the end and felt fine. He finished in 14:34 and, although he feels like he can do better the next time, I am really proud of him. He’s a regular person working a full-time job and raising two teenagers. To me, he’s my awesome athletic husband with calves of steel who can do anything he sets his mind to. Maybe there is another IM Florida in his future.

After watching the swim, I found the local Arboretum and went for a run. After a trip back to the hotel for a quick shower and sandwich, I went back to the race to watch some more and volunteer. I worked the first shift at the finish line, which put me up close and personal with the winners and other elite athletes. As each one came across, I was part of a team that gave them a shirt. The thing that surprised me the most was the size of the athletes. I probably saw the first 250 finishers cross the line, so most of them were men but I did see the elite women, too. In general, the men struck me as extremely compact. Many were not very tall and they were all incredibly lean. While they were certainly strong and sculpted, they were smaller than your typical professional athlete. The women were more diverse. Some were teeny tiny and some were statuesque. All of the athletes had fantastic bodies that any mere mortal would envy. The other surprising thing was how many of them felt sick right after crossing the finish line. I didn’t see anyone puke, but many were bent over while they thought about puking. Some had to sit down right away and some looked terrible. The winning male and female both looked fantastic right afterwards and had no trouble shaking hands and doing interviews.

Right after I got done with my shift, I hustled to the half marathon point and saw Mike make the turn. Then I settled to wait for the finish. Here he is after the race:

 Since we’ve been home from Ironman, we’ve been preparing for my surgery this week and continuing the goofing off agenda. I’ve still been running every other day and lifting weights. I decided that running 20 miles wasn’t necessary, but I did get in 8.5 miles yesterday. Today Mike and I did the Minneapolis Bike Tour with some friends. We had a great time and it was nice to get out on the bike one more time. Here we are afterwards:

It was pretty cold for a bike ride, but I had my heart set on saying good-bye to my bike for a while. We piled on the clothes and I talked my friend’s ear off the entire 36 mile ride. It was a great day and I’m glad we didn’t let the weather discourage us.

Where to go from here? I’m no longer training for the NY Marathon, but I’m lining up for my own private marathon. I appreciate everyone getting out the cowbells and cheering for me along the way. I’ll be running right up until the last day and then I hope I’m out and walking again soon. It must say that I’m a runner somewhere in my file because everyone knows I’m anxious to get back at it again as soon as I can. I know it’s going to be a while. I’m counting on everyone else getting out there and having a great time so that I can read and hear all about it. I’m sure it won’t be very long at all until I come up with something to blab about, so I’ll be back at the keyboard in no time.