Kitsap Tri Babes

June 24th 2010 - 8:58PM
Dear Tri Babes . . . Well, we must be here in Idaho - I saw my first "elk on Parade" and had to wind
my way past a stuffed racoon to get to my table at a lovely dinner establishment called "Shooters!"
The cabin we are staying at is "fab in shag!" The bikes even have their very own room! My
pre-race nerves are currently manifesting as a left eye twitch and has turned my right eye into an
itchy leaking faucet! More details tomorrow . . .

June 25th 2010 - 10:53PM
Whew . . . who can stay nervous when surrounded by 1500 men with shaved legs?! Packet pick
up went well. My magic bib number is 2590. You can use this to track me on Sunday. I rode 25
miles of the hilly section and was shocked at how doable it seemed when the wind was not
gusting at 40mph and the rain was not blinding me as it was in April when we were here to scout
the course! Jerri Kaesar was kind enough to direct me to a youtube video called "Chinese grannies
ice swimming." This definitely helped me put on my BGPs and so armed, I ventured into the 61
degree water today. I was quite pleasantly surprised. No brain freeze and after a mile of
swimming my hands had warmed up! VERY doable! I'm off to bed. Lots of gear organizing to do
tomorrow I am still waiting to be infused with the spirit of the M Dot (the Ironman logo) but at least
my eye has stopped twitching!

June 26th 2010 - 7:40PM
Highly successful final prelim day. I got in a short run and survived the 80+degree heat; took
another successful swim - cold schmold NOW the concern is the chop! I got all my gear bags in
the proper place and got my bike racked. It is always a little disconcerting leaving one's bike but at
least I handled it better than the woman who tearfully bid her "sweet Clementine" adieu! Blissfully
all the twitching and leaking has subsided and I have entered the "hypercalm" phase of "do or do
not young Jedi, there is no try." Insyead of worrying, I am now whining: "I don't want to get up that
early"; "it's gonna be a long day"; "I'm gonna be tired"; "it's going to hurt!" You KNOW it's a warped
world when whining is the sought after state! Well . . . all that is left to do is clip my nails and (not)
sleep! Thanks for all the pink power . . . I'll need every last ounce! Talk to you on the other side . . .
Lisa Be too self-absorbed to be clever!

June 27th 2010 - 7:59AM
Mass Swim Start

June 27th 2010
Swim time - 1:29:58

Bike Split 1: 34 mi - 2:05:06 - 16.31 mph
Bike Split 2: 56 mi - 3:45:31 - 14.9 mph
Bike Split 3: 22 mi - 1:25:25 - 15.45 mph
Bike Total: 122 mi - 7:16:02 - 15.41 mph

Run Split 1: 0.90 mi - 11:07 - 12:21/mi
Run Split 2: 7.47 mi - 1:33:07 - 14:10/mi
Run Split 3: 14mi - 1:45:50 - 16.12/mi
Run Split 4: 21.75mi - 1:52:34 - 14:31/mi
Run Split 5: 26.2 mi - 1:30:14 - 20:16/mi
Run Total: 6:52:52

Total Time: 15:57:39

To track your Iron Turtle click here. Lisa is bib number 2590.

June 29th 2010
Dear Tri Babes,
WOW! I have finally had a chance to just LOOK at my email inbox (not read things yet, mind you,
just LOOK) and your support is overwhelming. I can't tell you how important it is to me. I honestly
came the closest I have ever come to not comPLETing on Sunday. By mile 60 of the Bike, I knew I
had nothing left for the marathon. Since I was doing so well on the bike, I pushed myself to my
VERY BEST Ironman Bike time EVER!!! But, the first half of the marathon was sheer and utter
torture. I was dizzy, overheated, unable to eat or drink properly and truly miserable. David hooked
up with me at about mile 12 and rode his bike beside me for a mile or so. I told him that I was
seriously considering stopping at the 1/2 marathon marker. He reminded me that I had 300 women
"thinking pink" and asked me if it was REALLY, TRULY necessary to stop. I told him that I would
see how the Hammer Perpetuum that Dane had prepared for me and left in my "Special Needs"
bag went down when I could get to it at mile 14. If it went down well and helped, I would
continue; if not, I was done. Luckily two good things happened: 1) I realized that my soul DOES
have a price -- and that price is a 16 ounce bottle of Hammer expresso Flavored Perpetuum; 2) A
guy named "John" in the 65-69 age division hooked up with me. We power walked the 2nd half of
the marathon together and kept each other going. He took my mind off my stomach woes and
having to answer his questions jolted me out of my dizziness. We were able to be an objective
monitor for each other making sure that the other was getting enough fluids, fuel, etc. Neither of
us ended up in the medical tent -- hooray. (Although acoording to Dane, that is what I SHOULD
have done: left it all out on the course and gotten it back in the medical tent . . . no thank you, Mr.
Sixteen Year Old.)
It was an amazing event. The "Spirit of the M Dot" began infusing me once I got to the race start.
As I entered the mass of participants pre-race I teared up like I always do -- the sheer energy is
amazing and truly profound. The swim was the most physically brutal I have ever encountered.
Don't worry, I learned A LOT about what we have been doing RIGHT at Tri Turtle Tri -- so you will
NOT encounter this there. And, neither Danskin nor Trek nor Black Diamond are structured the
way this swim course was. So, now that you do NOT have to worry, I can honestly say . . . it
was like aquatic cage fighting. Truly, it was a combat zone. And, I'm not the only one who thought
so. All day long, the first thing racers would say to one another was "could you BELIEVE that
swim?!?!?!?!?" The good news is, I seem to be an aquatic cage fighter at heart!!!! I LOVED it and
would start spontaneously giggling every so often just because I was having so much fun duking
it out. My swim time was about 5 minutes slow but . . . oh well . . . In hindsight, I do think that even
though the cold temp did NOT bother me at all (it felt good, actually), it DID serve to deplete me of
energy. I began cramping on the 2nd lap of the swim and continued to cramp more and more as
the day went on. I also think that the sheer physicality of the swim combined with the adrenaline
surge required to survive took more energy out of me than ever before. (I know, I know, I could
have trained more and therefore been better prepared.)
The first lap of the bike course was glorious.When I realized how ON-TRACK I was for a decent
(for me, of course) bike time, I was ecstatic. Physcially, I was already beginning to struggle on the
2nd bike lap -- cramps were starting in my gluts and radiating down to my ankles, my Cliff Block
Shots were NOT going down well, and I (mistakenly, hindsight being 20-20, of course) filled my
bottle cages with Gatoraid but it wouldn't go down so I was left riding 15 miles with no fluid until I
could get some water at the next aid station. The heat and sun were unrelenting and the hills
cruel. But, the scenery was amazing -- pristine lake on my right dramatic rock cairn cliffs on my
left.
You already KNOW how the marathon went . . . but who cares . . . because Lisa J. Ballou, YOU
are a 5 time IRON(wo)MAN!!!