Here I go again . . .

Last weekend I went to a very scary and exciting place - no, not just in my mind, but a real place. I went to Tempe, Az. Which is not only home of the ASU Sun Devils, but once a year is home to Ironman Arizona. Place where I did my very 1st (and only) Ironman.

One of "my boys" - who shall remain nameless - decided it was a good idea to go volunteer at IMAZ. Now, I had already been thinking of making the journey to Tempe in order to cheer on some of my friends from the book. And, there was going to be a book signing, too (can't pass that up!). P.S. - Order the book & read it . . . it's pretty dang good.

So, it made sense to go ahead and volunteer. I could cheer friends, hang out with my boys & get a cool free t-shirt. It's a win-win. Oh, did I mention - get to see some pros race?? That is also fun.

So, what the hell is so dang scary about going to Tempe? Well, anyone who knows how Ironman registration works knows that if you volunteer you get to have the privilege of standing in line early the day after the race in order to sign up for next year's race - the privilege to sign up & to pay $682.50, to be exact! Now, this is a great opportunity, as these races sell out fast. Those who volunteer get to sign up before it goes to the general public/online registration.

This pretty much guarantees "the volunteer" a spot for the following year.

Still not scary? What? That amount of money - hours spent standing in line - getting to do an Ironman next year???

Oh wait . . . back that thang up. Say what?? Why would a woman such as myself, who just had her 5th knee surgery, whose doctor told her running was bad for her - sign up for yet another effing Ironman?? Not a sprint-distance tri!! Not an Olympic-distance! But a full-blown, "Let's train for months & have to run & end up doing another LOOOOOOOONG-ass Ironman race!!"

Who did this to me? Whose idea was this? Vit? Pimp Daddy Jay-Z? Or was it H.R. PufnStuf and Big Dave? (my vote is those 2 SOBs)

But - cold, hard fact is that I am the culprit! I stood in that line & I paid that money - and now, I am officially signed up for IMAZ 2012.

And, I have a ton of my boys who are doing it with me. Let the party begin.

P.S.: The race sold out in less than 10 mins.

That's it for now . . .

Much Peace & Love, TracerX

The 5th time's a charm ? ? ?

Yes, a question mark. And I know it may sound bizarre, given that I've had four knee surgeries already. Three of them have been ACL reconstructions. Yet somehow I doubt that this truly is the last knee injury and/or knee surgery I am going to have.

I will say that it is getting old - the "it" being me (LOL) - that I am having this "every-other-year" knee injury that requires surgery, I think this time in particular due to the fact that I was just running on the treadmill. I was running approx. 11-min. miles when I felt a small pop and pain in my left knee.

This was not the gut-wrenching, sickening kind of "pop & pain" that I've had with the other knee blowouts, so naturally I thought not a whole hell of a lot about this incident. Three out of the four knee injuries have been traumatic in origin - the other was sheer stupidity! I mean, what 42-year-old broad races a 12-year-old track runner? Starting from a sprint position? Who does that shit? (she says, raising a hand in the air shyly, slinking back hoping not to be seen)

No trauma and no stupidity.
Now I'm just perturbed.
It's all in the genes.

The usual ensues with a doctor visit (we think it's just a meniscal tear).

I continue to train. I continue with my new addiction - Crossfit. (this is to help me gain strength for my tri's)

I have even cut back on my running and . . . gulp - I have dropped out of one of my favorite triathlons - The Santa Barbara Triathlon (long-course).

After 5 weeks of waiting it out, the pain was not going away.

Hello again . . . it is now 10/29/11 and I have since had that MRI on the left knee AND have had surgery!! A week ago. It went great!

As it turns out I tore my medial & lateral meniscus AND my ACL!! That makes #4. But I refused to go through the ACL surgery. So, just clean up the meniscus & we are done.

Another quick side note - end of Sept., I tore The ACL in my right knee. Maybe because I was favoring the left knee?? So, that made #5.

Five torn ACLs on two knees!! Three on one knee. These are great odds! I am going to strengthen my quads & try my best to take care of these wittle knees o' mine.

Enough for now . . .

Much Peace & Love, TracerX

Aloha from the Big Island . . .

So very excited to leave a damp, cold and rainy day in Los Angeles to hop on a plane for Kona. Coming to the Big Island for "vacation" - at least that's what Vit & I told our spouses - when in reality we were here for The Big Show!! In our language "the big show" is The Ironman World Championship. The mother of all triathlons . . . here on the islands. However, the original Ironman did not take place on Kona, but rather on Oahu. Okay, enough history - these posts are short and sweet, because after all, I'm on "vacation."

So, uneventful flight - layover in Honolulu - then on to Kona. NOTE: major weather change from L.A.!! Warm, balmy & breezy. In fact, one might say - downright tropical!


Car rental, hotel (Hilton Waikoloa Village) where I have to completely unpack and feel "moved in" and then it's down to the venue to see some of my friends. Ya know - Chrissie, Crowie, Rinnie, etc.

Of course none of them is around, but we did find out about a gathering that was being thrown by Macca a/k/a Chris McCormack. So, after getting our "sea legs" about town, we grab a bite to eat and head out to find this so-called party.

After giving up and getting ready to turn around, lo and behold - we see the Clif Bar flags on the outside of the house!! We have made it.

This is basically about 20 or 30 or so people hanging out, drinking beer & chatting with Macca.

I walk in and find him (like I do). I give him a copy of my book - well, the book of which I am one the subjects, You Are An Ironman, by New York Times writer Jacques Steinberg - and I sign it for him. Thanks to my wonderful friend Vit, we find out Macca is signing more books in town the next day and I tell him I will be by for a "book swap": one of mine for one of his. "Sure," he says.

It's on. So we hang out - like we do - and then realize that Terenzo Bozzone is also at the party. So I go up to him - like I do - and give him a hug (he just had achilles tendon surgery and can't race) and we chat for a long while & have a beer!

I have new friends!!!

My first day in Kona is grand so far. My hubby, Vit & I are rollin' with the big dogs. Let the party continue!!

Aloha for now. Got the Underpants Run to do - that shall be a blast.

Much Peace & Love,
TracerX

Two, two, two firsts in one . . .

My first flat tire during the race & my first (and hopefully last) DNF! I know you're asking yourself, "In which race did this occur?" and, "Say it isn't so?"

Well, my faithful followers (speaking of which - Pendong, where the hell are you???), it was Wildflower. I came back to redeem myself for missing last year and not doing the Long Course, and this is what I get?

Technically I should have stayed in bed - er, the sleeping bag. I was not feeling well at all. But because I am a-"SS" (studette or stupid) - I got up to do this race. Let's face facts, I had an axe to grind with this course. I needed to see what the fuss was all about. What is this thing they call "Nasty Grade" that I had to climb on the bike? Or how horrible is this run? Steep hills that are sooooo steep that one must walk? Ha! I say.

Or not . . . I started the race with an extremely stuffed-up nose & a very tight, congested chest. I hurt. But I could not back down. Of course I was PISSED! Why the heck did I have to get this now? Don't answer.

The swim was rough - a lot of wind. Of course it was windy & choppy. Why wouldn't it be? Me not feeling well = tough swim. LOL

The bike ride was good, believe it or not. I was feeling strong. My legs felt strong, but my chest wanted someone to rub Vick's Vapo-rub all over it. Oooh, and take off my aero bars to replace them with a humidifier. Can you imagine?

At any rate, the bike ride went off without - wait, with only one hitch: the flat tire. Cruising down a nice hill where I had to brake a bit, and felt the sickening feeling of the back tire swerving around. Luckily, there happened to be a support tech fixing another rider's flat tire - which makes me wonder: was the evil Dick Dastardly out there throwing nails on the course?? Hmmmm.

Yeah, I know it's a cartoon, but life can be like a cartoon (so says I). And, I was riding Penelope Pitstop - and you know how Dick feels about her.

Ya know, Nasty Grade wasn't even that bad. And I found out later that the support guy put my tire on and it was rubbing on the wheel some . . . so, technically that ride was harder for me than others! LOL, again.

It did hit me at mile 53 on the bike that I was feeling really crappy. I knew I was not going to be able to do the run. So, after a "come to Jesus" talk with myself and a few tears - I decided I was going to have to quit the race.

I flew down Lynch Hill right into T2 and saw my running shoes.

I decided I would just go ahead and put my shoes on and give that dang run a try (this is the "S" for stupid).

I got everything on and started to run out of T2 when I saw my saving grace, my athletic supporter, my editor . . . my husband! I ran and hugged him, crying and asked him to tell me it was OK to quit!!

He said it was OK. Lola said it was OK, too.

And that was that. My race was done. DNF.

Now it was time to go watch my Vit & Pimp Daddy Jay-Z finish this race.

I guess I will have to wait 'til next time. Third time's a charm, right? See ya next year?

You'll just have to wait and see . . .

Much Peace & Love,
TracerX