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A Win, A Sufferfest and A Disaster.
Yesterday was Ironman Lake Placid. Because I decided to skip the race, I wanted to distance myself from it. I wanted to avoid being there, thinking about it and as I tend to, harping on it a bit.
Yesterday morning, at 5:25 AM, my alarm went off. Luna and I rolled out of bed and I packed the car, heading South. One of my very favorite training buddies (who I lovingly call "The Rossinator") asked if we could move our ride-time from 9 AM to 6:30 AM. Happy for the company, I obliged and made the roadie to Redding.
At 6:35 we rolled out of Jo's house and is customary, she started pulling away from me. Jo is unbelievably steady from the get-go. Steady on flats, downhills and uphills. I settled into a pace and she and I worked together for the next 3.5 hours. Switching off who was leading, laughing and chatting the whole way.
Jo is a mother of 2 young kids and wife to the one and only, Craig. She works, she works out and yet she makes time for it all. As I vented some recent stresses on her, it dawned on me that Jo has all of that, plus more! It was great to hear her thoughts, talk everything out and more importantly, laugh.
After my ride, I made my way to the horse farm for some quality time with Cass and the fam. Luna was in her glory as all of the horses were in a schmoozy mood, rubbing and nuzzling her.
Arriving home later, I finally braved the Twitter-universe and Ironman.com to check on results. My friend Cait took 2nd overall with another spectacular run, her hubby Tim rounded out the podium with a 5th place finish, Alan put in another solid 10-hour performance and my good friend and training/racing buddy, Megan ran her way into 3rd in her age group for a 2010 Kona spot!
I was absolutely overcome with pride and admiration for my friends and competitors. Sure, I felt a little sad about not competing, but that was just it. Had I gone up there, I would not have been "racing" or "competing", which is what I set out to do.
I'll have my Ironman day in the [hot] sun at Ironman Cozumel, where I will also have the joy of hearing Mike Reilly welcome Sam Dodge across the line as an Ironman. I cannot wait... an apparently neither can Sam! He just signed up for Ironman Lake Placid 2011!