Well, it's official. I am putting it out there or the world to see to hold me to the grinder. I am now a registered participant in Ironman Lake Placid for July 24th, 2011. It has taken me two weeks to drum up the nerve to even start filling out the form, but then I REALLY started to question myself when asked questions about my medical history and whether it was okay to share my info with the medical staff on premises.
I think my biggest problem is that I read too much. There are too many people posting reasons NOT to do it... that one should never advance more than two "levels" in a year, or that one should prepare for TWO years before registering. Thankfully I'm stubborn and, quite possibly, stupid. The general entry was sold out the day after the 2010 race, so all that was left were Ironman Foundation slots. Hmmm... business expense and charitable donation? Maybe I can pin my company name to my shirt underneath the resuscitation order.
The application otherwise was pretty straightforward, though there were several questions asking for my background, reason why I was entering, interesting facts about myself (for which I could not find many that were fit to print), and local media outlets (newspaper and TV). The only question I felt prepared to answer (besides NAME) was about my training plan. I researched a lot of plans and decided on the Triathlon Dominator by Ben Greenfield. I researched as much as I could and simply could not find a bad review of the plan. Plus, I needed something that had a heavy emphasis on nutrition as well as training. The plan is based on HIT (High Intensity Training) and diet and goes back 9 months from the date of the event. After an email to Ben as to what I should be doing prior to the training, he recommended the off-season plan he offers (and discounted that plan from $129 down to $29). I've exchanged a few emails with him and am surprised as to how responsive he is personally. It gives me great confidence knowing that he seems really interested in you succeeding, with the goal of not stumbling across the finish line, but finishing confidently since the training and nutrition has led to that point.
In any case, I am nervous as hell today, and I'm almost a year out!!! I will be taking the next three months to revise my diet, build my "base" to the point I feel comfortable starting the plan (expectations are being able to run 5 miles, swim 1500-2000m, and bike for an hour). My run is still my weakest link, but that will also be my focus.
Also, last Friday I got a professional bike fitting done at Fast Splits in Newton, MA. We made a bunch of adjustments that put me in a much better position on the bike and saddle and I feel more confident in avoiding overuse injuries by being set up in this manner. Tilted the seat back and moved it rearward slightly, dropped the handlebars, and moved the cleats on my shoes around. Also added some spacers on my forearm rests. Now that I'm down 20 lbs it feels a bit more comfortable leaning over further.
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