Countdown To The Capital

Holy crap. It's already race season again.

I feel like I literally just got done running Twin Cities Marathon, and now, boom. I'm going back out into open water. And into uncharted territory with my 2017 multisport race plan. I will be doing the big show. A full Ironman.

When I signed up for Ironman Madison last year in September, it felt like this season was still lightyears away. And now my countdown calendar is informing me that I only have 99 days to get my shit together and to race a full 140.6 miles.

I have been slacking on the blogging for the last year, which was partially intentional, and partially me just putting it on the back burner. And if you know me, you know that this year was a real doozy for me.

Filed for divorce. Check. Moved back to Minneapolis. Check. Started a job as bartender/general manager of a bar in the cities. Check. And then to cap it off, started training for the longest race I have ever done in my life. Check.

To be honest, training has been an absolutely amazing distraction amid the swirling chaos that was my life for the last 6 months. I don't know how many other people feel this way, but going out and hammering out some miles on the bike is always the fastest and most productive way to clear my brain out. I mean, it's more productive than going to the bar and slamming a few beers at least.

And that brings me to a change I have made this year in my training. While I have always had that nagging devil on my shoulder we call addiction, this is the first year that I can with absolute certainty say that I do not need alcohol or drugs to make me happy or to satisfy anything in my life. Which for a person who has worked the last 15 years in a bar to say, is shocking. Most people don't realize how much addiction of all varieties runs rampant through the service industry. We do such a hard job, with long, thankless hours, and a lot of the time we find that the best way to self medicate is to take advantage of the product that we have so readily available to us. But this year, with such a large goal looming in the near distance, I know that my mental and physical strength is going to be what gets me through that day. And I don't need anything getting in the way of that accomplishment. So now I have chosen to spend the summer being the person who is clutching a LaCroix or coffee instead of the gin and tonic or Deschutes Fresh Squeezed I would have previously had, while out and about. Which I am totally cool with. Because I do still let myself have fun and let loose from time to time. But lets be real here, with all the training I am doing (and will be doing) I rarely get a moment to go out and socialize.

Now this coming weekend will be my triumphant return to the Graniteman Olympic Distance Race out in Buffalo, MN. This was actually the very first race I ever did back in 2014. I did the sprint distance that day, and I knew from the moment I walked through transition that morning, that I was hooked. Now looking back, I can laugh at the fact that I was racing on the heaviest, most ridiculous aluminum monster of a bike imaginable. Or that I struggled so hard to get my wetsuit off, and literally thought I was dying on the run. It's crazy to think about that first race you ever do, and how far you really come as a person and an athlete from that time on.

That day in 2014 I did a 1/4 mile swim, 12 mile bike ride, and a 3.1 mile run. And I would have never in a million years thought that only 3 years later I would be training to do a full Ironman Race. I remember even saying to my coach Mike, I will never do a long distance course. That just sounds terrible.

And to be fair, 140.6 miles still sounds terrible. But it sounds exhilarating. And terrifying. And exciting. And so damn gratifying. And every single emotion I can think of. Because doing an Ironman is going to be one of the single greatest accomplishments of my life.

So this year as I embark out on the Minnesota multisport race circuit, I am feeling strong, hopeful and ready. I have done the training and put the miles in. I have even changed my diet a full 180, and I am down 20 pounds from where I was at that very first race in 2014. Which may not sound like a lot, but as someone who has struggled with eating disorders and body image issues since I was in my early teens, this is monumental for me. I am comfortable in my skin for the first time since probably ever. And it doesn't hurt that I am a little lighter on the bike, and my running has never been better. I got to feel the effects of that at the Gear West Duathlon 2 weeks ago. I knocked a full 6 minutes off of my 2016 race time! Despite the mud and rainfest that we endured that morning.


So thank you to my coach, Mike Ladendorf. Who is always looking out for me, and guiding me to be as great as I can be. And who always has poignant words of wisdom like, "Party till you puke." and "Go really fucking hard." Which those things actually are my favorite mantras to remember on race day. He has made me the athlete I am, and I am so grateful for him and the support I have from Final K Coaching services.

I also want to say thank you to my friends at Flyfeet running, and the amazing family I have been accepted into over the course of the last 8 months with them. I am stronger than ever, and I can do things I never would have dreamt to be possible. I mean, I still hate burpees and the dynamic mode on the treadmill, but I'll be damned if those things didn't make me ripped as hell this year! I even knocked out a 5:55 mile at the Twin Cities One Mile Race.

So with only a day away to get ready for Buffalo, my mind is clear and I have my goal for the day set.
I am going to go really fucking hard and party til I puke.

I'll see you all at the finish line.