Saturday, September 30, 2006

Ten Years

It just occurred to me that this month marks my 10-year anniversary of starting my fitness and weight-loss lifestyle. Oh, I had tried in the past and made half-hearted attempts at it, but this was the first time that I actually stuck with it and was successful.

It was a fairly long process (getting started, that is) - from the time I saw Bob Green on Oprah and bought his book that day; to finally getting signed on at the company gym and going for my first workout: about a month in total. So, things got kicked off the second week of September and I stepped on the treadmill for the first time at 6AM, Friday, October 11, 1996.

Weird, you might think, to start a fitness regime on a Friday. And the Friday before a holiday weekend, to boot!

I still remember how I felt when I got off that treadmill: I thought my legs and feet were detached from my body and I felt like I was floating across the room. The redness didn't leave my face until well after lunch. But after that long holiday weekend, I was back to the gym at 6AM on Tuesday morning and every weekday morning after that for over a year. To be honest, I was afraid that if I missed just one morning that I would quit altogether and fail yet again. I was partly motivated by fear.

But here I sit (yes, alone again on a Saturday night - oops, laundry is done... be right back), ten years later weighing at least 65 pounds lighter than I did that morning back in October of 1996. My losses were not dramatic at first and I hit lots of plateaus along the way, but I'm very proud of what I've accomplished. I don't know what the stats are, but I know that it's only a very small percentage of people who have been able to maintain a significant weight loss for 5 or more years.

I started at 235 pounds. The first 20-25 pounds came off fairly quickly. During that time, I also started running and even took up triathlon in '99. But as active as I was, I was unable to crack the 200-pound mark. In the fall of '99 I decided to do something that I had been considering for some years but never had the courage to do: have breast reduction surgery. I also discovered the power of the low-carb diet and was able to shed another 40 pounds in about 4 months so that I'd be within the guidelines that my surgeon recommended for me. On the day I went in for surgery, I was down to 174 pounds. I only lost about another five pounds post-op before I started to gain a bit back. I gained/lost off and on for the next couple of years.

By January of 2003, my weight had creeped back up to 188. I started my own version of "boot camp" and was able to lose about 15 pounds in the following months. That summer, I completed Ironman Lake Placid (2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike, 26-mile run) in 16 hours and 33 minutes, weighing about 178 pounds, which is kind of where I hovered for the next 2-3 years.

Earlier this year, I finally was able to lose another 10 pounds or so, and post my "lowest weight ever" of 164 pounds. My weight creeped up a bit during Ironman training again this summer, but I was able to stabilize around 172. And I felt like my weight was distributed differently than it had been when I was at that weight before.

After my summer adventures, I allowed myself to eat and drink whatever I wanted and the other day I stepped on the scales and saw 175.6lbs. Oh, no... I've worked much too hard to get this weight off, I'm not going to let it creep back on again.

So, I took a radical approach and cut a bunch of stuff out of my diet. A friend of mine recently did a "cleanse" where he wasn't allowed to each much of anything other than chicken, fish, vegetables and rice. No caffeine, no sugar, no dairy, no wheat. Well, there was no way I could go full steam with a plan like that, so I made a couple of little changes:

1. No sugar, except where it was unavoidable (my soy milk contains sugar as do some condiments and things like that)
2. Limit dairy to milk in my coffee (no lattes, no cheese)
3. Cut way down on wheat and flour (no pasta, no mini-wheats for breakfast, no bread)
4. No potatoes, so the only "starches" I'm eating are rice and corn
5. Obviously, since sugar/flour are out, no baked goods of any kind. That includes processed treats like granola bars and the like.
6. No alcohol

Only one exception: When running, I am allowed to take energy gels, sports drinks and protein shakes (post-run), even though they contain sugar, wheat and/or dairy.

The first week has gone pretty well. I switched to oatmeal for breakfast with just a touch of real maple syrup. I was able to stay away from pasta/flour. I did cave a bit and allowed myself one low-fat chocolate pudding per day as a treat (otherwise I'd go mental).

My stomach kind of protested a bit, although I'm not quite sure why. I've never been one to have stomach issues, but I've been noticing little pains and discomforts over the last week. And the good news is that as of today I'm back down to 170lbs.

So, that is how I'm celebrating my 10-year anniversary: By re-committing myself to good eating.

Some Before & After photos:

July 1996 (my security badge photo)


















September 1996 (in Chicago, days before I bought Bob Green's book)



















September 1999 (my first half-marathon)



















November 2005 (the New Me!)

Saturday, September 16, 2006

Home alone on a Saturday night...

How pathetic am I? Yes, I'm home alone on a Saturday night, just me and my piles of boxes and stuff to sort through. I mean, I don't really have to sort through any of it right this minute, but I really have nothing better to do.

How exciting is my life? Well, I bought new white sheets today (300-thread count) with some crisp brown piping along the edge. I laundered them and they came out of the dryer in a mass of wrinkles, so I spent the next 45 minutes ironing them. Argh! I HATE ironing! I didn't bother with the fitted bottom sheet (how would you iron that anyway, what with the elastic all around the edge??), but the pillow cases and top sheet had to be done.

And I did this as my former non-boyfriend lay on my bed after popping by on his way out on a date WITH ANOTHER GIRL!! [In his defense, he came by to drop off one of my drawers that he had fixed for me since the runner along the bottom had broken off and was a big pain to open/close.]

Oh yes, I have quite the life!

So, my bed is made with my fresh new sheets. And I'll be sleeping in it alone, yet again.

[Sigh]

But the good news is that this same former non-boyfriend is taking me on a trip to D1sney in November! He won an award at work and the trip is his reward. I was very happy when he asked me to go with him. I had to juggle some commitments at work to be able to go, but it all worked out.

To be honest, I probably would have been pretty devastated had he asked one of his other non-girlfriends to go with him, although I didn't tell him that. I told him that I would of course be honoured/excited if he asked me to go, but that if he chose to take someone else that I wouldn't be mad at him or hate him. I did tell him that I'd be disappointed, but it wouldn't be an end to our friendship or anything.

I was trying to play the "all cool" card, but that's often gotten me into trouble in the past as it sometimes appears that I don't care (when I really do). I wanted him to know that I did care, but I didn't want him to take me simply out of a sense of obligation or because he was worried that I'd be mad at him if he didn't. I wanted him to take me because he wanted to share this experience with me and nobody else.

But I know that the person he really wanted to share it with is the same person who still has a stranglehold on his heart. And that person isn't me.

Thursday, September 07, 2006

Square One

I'm having a feeling of deja vu. Here I am, another race season behind me and September in front of me and I'm STILL at virtually the EXACT. SAME. WEIGHT. I was last year. Grrr.

I hate having to get back on the weight-loss bandwagon every fall. Every fall I tell myself that this year will be different. And to be honest, I did pretty well last fall, managing to shed a fair amount of weight, getting down to a new alltime low of 164 pounds.

But after another season of training for/racing triathlon, I'm right back where I was this time last year: 172 pounds. [sigh]

That said, I do know that my body composition has changed somewhat and that I am "thinner" than I was this time last year - I can see it in my face. And to be honest, I'm actually about 3-4 pounds lighter than I was this time last year. Not a major difference, but lighter none the less.

In the scheme of things, I'm not entirely unhappy with the way my body is right now. But that doesn't mean that I'm not still motivated to make some changes.

I've cut out a lot of junk food this week (except that I caved today and had an ice cream bar at break because our department was celebrating the achievements of some of the staff). But I'm still really, really hungry all the time as my body is still recovering from my race and is craving certain things and wants more volume of food. I know that if I just hold tight for a week or two things will be back to normal in no time.

I started back running again this week. Actually, I went for a 20-min run last Friday, followed by a 70-min run on Sunday and another 38 minutes last night. And I made an appearance at the gym on Tuesday for some elliptical and weights. I'm feeling pretty good (except for the fact that my biceps, shoulders and abs are BURNING IN PAIN now). I've signed up for another race in November (half marathon) so that will give me something to train for and look forward to. I just hope I've recovered enough to start back into training.

The Big Weight-Loss Lie

I've come to the realization that the scales lie and that burning more calories than you consume does not necessarily result in weight loss. Also, that if you see a 1-pound loss on the scales that it does not necessarily mean that you burned 3,500 more calories than you consumed. I've discovered this, you see, as I've seen my body weight fluctuate from 169 to 174 within a 2- to 3-day period. There is NO WAY that my calorie intake/expenditure has manifested itself in such rapid (and random) body weight fluctuations. And I don't blame it on the scales or on variations in the time of day that I weigh myself. I weigh myself unclothed daily and can sometimes see fluctuations of two pounds from one day to the next. So what gives?

The conclusion I've come to is that there are far more things going on in our bodies on a daily basis that affects how much we actually "weigh". And I'm trying not to stress myself out over those fluctuations. Likely, it's nothing more than water retention/expulsion that is causing the fluctuations. What I'm looking for now is a downward trend as opposed to a lower weight day after day. For people who are also increasing their level of physical activity, they're also building muscle mass and bone density, which can sometimes appear as a weight gain (even though they may be losing fat).

So, I'm still journalling my food (to keep me honest so that junk food and poor snack choices are more the exception than the rule) and weighing myself daily, but I'm not going to stress myself out over every little fluctuation in body weight. The key word here is: "trend". That's what I'm looking for, a downward trend. And smaller clothing sizes.

The other part of this lie is that the rate at which we burn calories does not stay constant. Calculating (or even estimating) calorie expediture is nearly impossible, even with expensive testing. The thing is, I know from personal experience that when I am training for a distance event like a marathon or long-distance triathlon that I have no chance at all of losing weight. I believe that my metabolism goes into conservation mode and holds onto all its fat, rather than using it as fuel. I think cortisol (the stress hormone) might have a role to play in that, but I have to research that a bit further.

I really wish that someone could tell me exactly how much I should eat and in what fat/pro/carb ratio so that I can lose my excess fat weight and keep it off. It's not that I'm not willing to exercise and eat well - it's just that everything I know how to do doesn't seem to be yielding results, so something must be off.

Bah! Enough about food and weight loss! I wanna just live my life and have some fun. Things I'm looking forward to this fall:

- Getting my condo in shape and building storage and an office space so that I'm not surrounded by boxes upstairs anymore.

- Socializing with friends and drinking some really good wine and hosting dinner parties at my place.

- Maybe even going on a date (or two or three), although I'm not holding my breath on that one.

[Actually, I should explain: I'm still really close friends with the guy I was seeing back in the spring, but we both decided that we wanted different things (meaning: I wanted an exclusive relationship and he did not) so we ended that aspect of our relationship. But I honestly think we are closer than ever and care very deeply about each other. He's the last person I talk to before bed every night. It's going to be hard for me to date anyone else so long as the two of us are still such close friends, but I guess we'll deal with that if and when the time comes. One of the most positive things that came out of our brief encounter was the fact that I am now more optimistic than ever about my prospects of finding the partnership/relationship that I want.]

I'm tired now, so I'm going to end this. Night, all.

Sunday, September 03, 2006

La's Ironman Canada Race Report

People often ask me, “What do you think about for 15+ hours while you’re out there during the race. To be honest, I was mostly thinking about what I would write in this report. I’d tell myself, “Oh, remember to write about this part in your report.” So here it is, the report that was 15 hours (and many months) in the making.

In some ways, the second time around is harder – harder to stay focused through training, but also harder on race day because you remember how much pain you’re going to feel. But in other ways, it’s so much easier – easier to make it through the tough times because you know you can do it. And you know that any pain is worth the feeling of crossing that finish line.

The week leading up to the race was very relaxed. My hotel was right across the street from the beach and less than 1K from where the finish line would be. One of the benefits of having done this before was that I wasn’t stressed by all the pre-race preparations since I’d “been there, done that” three years ago. On the Friday before the race I went for a drive along the bike course. Penticton has a single-loop bike course (as opposed to two loops in Lake Placid and three or more loops on many other courses). The countryside in the Okanagan Valley is spectacular! There were vineyards, orchards and horse farms all along the way. I also got a chance to see the challenging course that I would be riding on Sunday. The climb up through Richer Pass was definitely going to be a challenge, but did not appear to be impossible. And the climb to Yellow Lake seemed to be over before it even began – in the car, that is.

I had tons of friends out in BC – either as competitors or spectators. The friends who were staying at my hotel nicknamed themselves “Team Candy Ass” since they were not racing (although Emma and Lynn are previous Ironman finishers themselves). It was great to see people I knew almost everywhere I went. Penticton is a small city, so you’re always bumping into people. I had two friends from Vancouver (Melly & Craig), one old high school friend, Allison, plus tons of friends from the Toronto Triathlon Club – Neil, Jacob, Jen, Chris, Dave, Ed, Heather – plus Kathryn and Leslie, two friends from my neighbourhood. My mum and my friend, Leo, were also there to support me and cheer me on.

I tried as much as possible in the days leading up to the race to stay on “Toronto Time”, so that I wouldn’t have a hard time getting up early on race day. I was in bed by 9PM most nights and always up by 6AM, so when my alarm went off at 4:20AM race morning, I was actually already awake. I had some breakfast and then just waited until it was time to leave. I had prepped everything the night before (all my transition and special needs bags), so all I had to do was walk over to the site and put my last-minute things in place. Things always take longer on race morning than you expect as there are lineups for everything, so I was getting a little stressed by the length of the port-o-potty lineup I was in. In the end, I had plenty of time. I gave Kathryn and Leslie hugs for good luck and made my way down to the beach.

Walking through the archway leading to the beach, I started to get a little teary. It was all I could do to hold back my tears and not break down. It was all very emotional. Once I made it to the beach, I spotted Team Candy Ass by the fence so I went over to say Hi. They were all dressed up with these red/silver metallic wigs and had huge signs for me, Neil, Jacob and Ed. My sign had my head on the body of Ursula Andress (a Bond Girl from the ‘60s) that read, “Lesley as The Bond Girl” (in honour of the occupation I listed on my race entry form). I posed for some photos with my sign and said farewell to my cheering section and headed to the water’s edge.

My goggles were fogging before the race even started, so I was fiddling around with them trying to clear them when one of the lenses popped out! OMG – the race is less than 5 minutes from starting and I’m missing a lens in my Seal Mask! I didn’t panic and just calmly worked the lens back into the frame of the goggles.

The countdown began and then the cannon went off! BOOM! 2,350 competitors entered the water. I positioned myself a bit to the left and sort of in the middle of the pack. It was a bit crowded at first, but I swam a line about 25m off the buoy line, so it wasn’t as crowded over there. Some woman swam right over me (my butt/legs), so I kicked her. I mean, c’mon! If someone is in your way (i.e., in FRONT of you), then you should go around them, not over top of them. Making the turn at the first houseboat was a bit crowded (1600m and my watch said 30:45), as was the next 450m to the next turn (39:xx). After making that turn, the sun was right in my eyes, so I couldn’t see where I should be swimming. I just followed the pack and hoped they were going in the right direction. Eventually, I spotted a landmark that I could sight off – a large construction crane that was right at the beach. That really helped. I fought the urge to look at my watch after that. I told myself that it wasn’t important. As I got to the beach, the crowd had moved into the water and were standing there thigh-deep cheering us all on. I glanced at my watch as I stood up: 1:20:xx!! Woo hoo!! Goal #1 on the day was met! I figured I sacrificed some time by swimming an outside line that would be less crowded and I was OK with that.

Transition went well. I went to two male strippers (how bad does that sound!!) and my wetsuit was off in no time – they even helped me up off the ground. I grabbed my bag and ran into the tent. It was really packed, but I managed to find a chair. I changed everything so that I’d be starting the bike in nice dry clothes. I put some of my own sunscreen on (it burned on my face) but then got one of the volunteers to spray some onto the backs of my arms/shoulders since I couldn’t really reach there. I grabbed my bike and was off. I forgot to hit the split on my watch until I was already on my way up Main St., so I wasn’t sure how long I’d been in transition.

The crowds on Main St. were at least six people deep! It was like being a the Tour! I spotted Leo who took a photo of me as I went by. Then I heard another friend call my name and I gave a wave to her. Next thing I knew, I was making the turn onto South Main with a nice gradual downhill and a tailwind. The scenery here is gorgeous – breathtaking, actually. I brought a single-use camera so that I could capture some of the beauty (photos to follow). The first challenge on the bike came at about the 15K mark with a 1K climb upMcLean Creek Road. I had seen the climb during my drive on Friday and wasn’t worried about it. It wasn’t unlike the climbs I’ve done here at home. Neil passed me at the beginning of the climb. The crowds started to get thick again as we came into Okanagan Falls (OK Falls). The next 40K or so through Oliver down to Osoyoos was flat to downhill, so my average speed really picked up. At this point, Ed passed me. I did stop once along here to use the “spa” while a volunteer held my bike for me (they were all soooooo nice and helpful). By the time I made it to Osoyoos my average pace for the first 67K was 29kph. That’s just unheard of for me. But then the climb to Richer Pass was ahead of me and I knew my pace would begin to decline from there.

Richter was just as tough (and beautiful) as I thought it would be. It was stinking hot, too. I had been leapfrogging with this man named Marty along the way from OK Falls to Osoyoos. When I passed him on the climb to Richer, I said, “You’re not going to let a girl pass you on this climb, are you??” We both just laughed. The crowd support along here was great. The weird thing was that the aid station was not at the top of the hill, but part way up the final climb. I thought that if I stopped to refill my bottle here that I wouldn’t be able to get going again, so I grabbed a bottle of water and held onto it for the last climb. I then pulled over and refilled my bottle. I was pretty wiped when I got to the top, so I didn’t fully enjoy the descent that followed. This climb is followed by a series of what they call “rollers”, but I would say that they’re fairly significant climbs themselves. I passed the 90K mark in 3:35 and was feeling quite good. As expected, I was passed by several people during the bike course, but I lost count at how many people (men and women) commented on how much they liked my orange flowered jersey. At the 100K mark, this guy passed me and said, “Looking good” (or something to that effect) and then we both realized that we knew each other – it was my friend Brian’s friend, Tim, whom I’d met during a training ride in the Gatineaus back in May.

The next stretch of the course (aka, The Out and Back) was brutal, but mostly mentally. I knew that the Special Needs area would be here and that it would be at the 120K point. But this section was hot and hilly, both of which I hate. The good thing was that after all the climbing on the way in, it was mostly downhill on the way back out. At this point, I also started to have some stomach issues as well as some major chaffing in the creases of my legs that made every pedal stroke painful. I really wanted this bike ride to be over.

There’s a fairly flat section leading up to the climb to Yellow Lake, which starts at the 143K mark. I still had some liquid with me on the bike, but it was warm and salty and the last thing I wanted to drink. I saw Team Candy Ass along here and that helped to pick up my spirits, if only for a short time. The climb was brutal – mostly because of the heat and the fact that I was just exhausted. Kathryn passed me somewhere along this climb. I couldn’t drink on the climb and my eyes and mouth were full of salt and sweat. By the time I got to the aid station at the top, all I could say (yell, actually) was WATER!! I guzzled half a 700mL bottle at once and then grabbed another to put on my bike. I knew that there was maybe one more little climb before I began the descent into town. I was struggling a bit along here when I saw my friend Jennifer from Edmonton with her sign that said, “How Badly Do You Want It?” Well, that was exactly what I needed to see. I stopped feeling sorry for myself and just pressed on for the final 20K. The descent was great, but VERY windy, so I had to ride the brakes most of the way. I still managed to get up to 69kph, though. Luckily, it wasn’t too crowded on the course at this point, so I had a clear shot at the descent. Cars were not a factor, either.

As I was approaching the end of the descent I spotted my friend Chris. I was surprised that I was able to catch him as he’s a much faster cyclist that I am. He eventually caught back up to me and we rode side-by-side for a bit while he told me that he’d been having trouble with his tires all day and had a severe wobble at speeds over 40kph, so he had to hold back the entire race. That really sucked for him.

The ride back into town was great – all downhill with lots of cheering fans. I heard a runner call my name, but I wasn’t sure who it was (I later learned it was Dave from the Club). I saw Kathryn heading out on the run just as I was getting off my bike and we said Hi to each other. I hit the split on my watch and it was 7:36-something, but since I hadn’t hit my swim/bike split right away, I knew that it was off by a bit. My official bike split was 7:38:20. That was 49 minutes faster than Lake Placid. Woo!

T2 was uneventful. A volunteer came over to help, but I told her that I was fine and didn’t want my stuff dumped out of my bag. I grabbed my Fuel Belt, but it felt very tight around my stomach and was quite uncomfortable. I started my 7:3 intervals on my watch and began to run. Well, my body would have none of that, so I started walking right away. The course starts with an out-and-back along Lakeshore Drive, right past my hotel. I knew that my mum and Leo would be there, and they were. I gave my mum a big hug and said that I’d see her again in about 6 hours (when we had to do the same out-and-back before crossing the finish line). Leo ran with me for a bit, then Chris caught up to me and we ran/walked a bit together. I needed to walk, so Chris continued on, but I could always see him in the distance as he wasn’t moving very quickly.

My stomach still did not feel good. I tried using the “spa” at about the 2-mile mark, but I didn’t get any relief. You know the old limerick:

Here I sit, broken hearted
Paid my dime and only […]

You can fill in the blank.

I visited several “spas” along the way, all with the same lack of results. This was the major reason why I was reduced to a walk in the first half of the marathon. Every time I tried to run the gas in my intestines started to hurt. My pecs and abs were also sore, so running was hard on those, too.

I decided to dump my Fuel Belt early on when I saw my friends Sara and Colleen (from Edmonton) at about the 3-mile mark. I took what I thought I needed from my pack and decided to rely on the aid stations for everything else. It was a risky move (I’d never run without my own “stuff” before), but I took a chance. I got through on grapes, pretzels, Gatorade, Pepsi, ice and chicken soup. Actually, it was the Pepsi that ended up being the best thing, especially towards the end. Can’t go wrong with sugar and caffeine, eh?

About an hour into the run/walk, I met up with my old “pal”, Marty, again. We walked together for quite a while – almost to the turnaround. We were going at a good clip (we were “walking with aggression” as Lisa Bentley would say), so we actually caught and passed Chris at one of the aid stations. Marty was a 64-year old from North Van doing his first IM. Walking and chatting with him was a nice distraction. Eventually we parted ways when I said that I wanted to try running a bit (he couldn’t as he had an injured knee).

The nice thing about an out-and-back marathon is that you get to see all your friends – regardless of who is in ahead/behind. Before my turnaround, I saw Craig, Melly, Neil, Ed and Kathryn. After the turnaround I saw Chris, Leslie and then Jen. I was glad that Leslie and Jen had made it off their bikes as I hadn’t seen them all day.

There’s a fairly long downhill leading to the special needs area at the turnaround, so I decided to try running. It felt pretty good. I grabbed my bag and took a few things out, but mostly dumped everything else. The little bottles of Scope that I had put in both mybike and run special needs bags were really great as I was starting to feel like my teeth and tongue had sweaters on them from all the sugary stuff I’d been eating. I also grabbed my headlamp, but it wouldn’t fit on my head with my hat, so I wrapped it around my wrist and carried it. It ended up being a godsend out there in the dark, that’s for sure.

I saw that my time at the turnaround was 3:25 (or so) and I thought to myself that there’s NO WAY I’m going to walk the rest of this marathon and post a 7+ hour time. No way! So I figured I better start running some. The other benefit of having done this before was that I remember from Lake Placid in ’03 that when I finally did run the last mile or so into the finish, it didn’t hurt as much and was much easier than I expected. At the time, I thought if I had known that, I would have started running sooner! I kept that in mind as I began to run. And sure enough, it really did feel better to run than to walk. The only thing keeping me from running earlier was my stomach, but by the half-way point that really felt better, so I was able.

When I got to the top of the climb that I had run down before the turnaround, I spotted my friends Jennifer and Jordan (from Edmonton) on their bikes. They stayed with me for quite a while until it got dark and they had to ride back. It was great to have some company along the way. I was also able to start running again at this point. At first, I just ran the downhills. Then, I ran some of the flats. I wasn’t running by any prescribed intervals, just running when I felt I could and walking when I couldn’t run anymore. I was determined to run the final 3 miles into town since it was a nice gradual downhill.

Someone commented to me when I was power-walking that I looked like a school teacher who was marching out to the schoolyard to discipline some children! Quite the description! But mostly the comments from people were about how good a pace I was running. In the second half of the marathon I passed so many people that I lost count. When I was running, I might have actually been doing 10:30 or so per mile. I was trying really hard to do some math to figure out if I could make my 15:30 goal time and by my feeble calculations, I knew that it was possible, but only if I ran much more than I walked, so I kept that in mind.

I spotted Sara and Colleen again at the 23-mile mark, so I grabbed my Fuel Belt from them and continued on my way. I did have to take a couple of walk breaks along that stretch, but I always set a limit like a cross-walk or a light post where I’d start running again.

The final run down Main St. and Lakeshore Drive was great. I could hear the finish line announcer in the distance and that really got me going. I took one final walk break before hitting Lakeshore where I knew that Leo and my mum would be. I saw Leo first and he ran with me until we got to where my mum was sitting. She was surprised to see me so early! I gave her a big hug and a kiss and dropped off my Fuel Belt, glow stick and flashlight with her. Leo ran the last stretch with me and then left me just before the finishing chute. There was a man a few feet in front of me and Leo said, “You’re going to have to pass this guy or let him go, otherwise you’ll ruin your finish line photo.” I let him go as he was running at a good clip. As I was in the final stretch, there were two women walking in font of me, so I blew past both of them and had the finish line all to myself! All I remember the announcer saying was “Lesley T of Toronto – who lists her occupation as Bond Girl”. Sadly, I don’t remember the song that was playing.

Final time: 15:32:32! My run was 6:13, which was only 4 minutes faster than Lake Placid, but faster is faster, so I’ll take it. Overall, I was almost a full hour faster (59:45) than my first IM, so I was very happy about that.

I got my medal, T-Shirt and finisher’s hat. My “catchers” took me into the food tent and I got two slices of pizza. They offered me fruit and some other things, but I said that I’d had enough of that stuff out on the course – I wanted REAL food.

Although I would have liked to stay to see my other friends finish (Chris, Leslie and Jen were still behind me), I just couldn’t stand or sit any longer – I needed to be horizontal. Leo walked me back to the hotel and then went back to watch the finish and try to find Jen, who was still out there somewhere.

Final stats:

Swim: 1:20:52 (87/146 in AG W40-44, 1540/2352 overall), pace: 2:08/100m
T1: 9:23
Bike: 7:38:20 (124/146, 2144/2352)
T2: 10:33
Run: 6:13:26 (109/146, 1751/2352)
Total: 15:32:32 (117/149 in W40-44 age group, 1949/2352 overall, 10/12 in Athena 40+ category, 19/26 in Athenas Overall)

Although I don’t place a lot of stock in AG rankings, I thought it was interesting that I placed higher in the run than the bike! I never think of running as my strong suit, so I expected that I’d place higher in the bike, but that wasn’t the case. And my Athena ranking wasn’t that great, but it doesn’t really matter.

Overall, it was a great experience. The OK Valley is GORGEOUS and I could certainly see myself doing this race again in the future (but not next year).

At the Awards Banquet on Monday they showed the race video. Thanks to Team Candy Ass, I made it onto the video posing with my Bond Girl poster before the swim start. Emma and Lynn also made it on with their wigs, costumes and signs. Neil even made the cut as they interviewed him while he was climbing Richer Pass!

To anyone thinking that they’d like to attempt this challenge themselves in the future, I say: GO FOR IT! You will not be disappointed.

I’m going to end this awfully long report with my overall thoughts on this accomplishment and try to put things into perspective for myself. After my first IM in Lake Placid I was quite emotional at the finish, but also a little bit let down. As I was sitting in the change tent all alone I had this feeling of “Is that all there is?” This time, I didn’t have the same feeling. I guess the difference was that in my first race I perhaps expected something magical and special from Ironman that I just never found. I didn’t have that same expectation this time around. I realized that it’s fine to have a goal – even really big goals like this one – but that the true meaning comes in the weeks and months of training FOR the goal, rather than in achieving the goal itself. I’m not sure how else to describe it. Yes, I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished, but it’s not something that anyone with the appropriate training and dedication couldn’t do. I don’t consider myself “changed” or “special” in any way – which is what I expected the first time and was let down when I didn’t feel it. In the days leading up to the race everyone was parading around town in their T-Shirts advertising which races they had done. They wore them like badges of honour, almost. I deliberately went the other way and wore nothing other than my one Cervelo T and a couple of my run club Ts. Other than the participant’s wrist band (and my tattoo) there was nothing about me that would suggest that I was a competitor in this race (in fact, they often mistook Leo for the competitor and me for his support crew, instead of the other way around). I guess I’m saying this because I kind of feel a little bit like Dorothy at the end of The Wizard of Oz when Glinda says to her, “You’ve had the power all along.” And that’s very true – Ironman did not make me who I am, I already was that person and Ironman just confirmed it. So, whether your dream is Ironman, Kona, Boston or your first 5K or try-a-tri, know that you already ARE that person – achieving those other goals will only serve as external validation. Be proud of yourself, wherever you are in your journey.