Size isn't everything

After a recent trip to our local sporting goods store to purchase a new swimsuit (my old swimsuit was starting to show MY true colors), I discovered that I was considered to be an extra large woman.

Let me preface this with the fact that I wear size 10 pants and a medium in tops. When I pulled several swimsuits by Nike, TYR, and Speedo off the rack to try on, I pulled only those that had a size of 10 or 12 (as most women know, sizes can vary from one maker to another).

Much to my surprise, neither size fit. In fact, I wasn't even able to pull the swimsuit over my thighs. Talk about DISGUST. Disgust because I actually have lost 5 pounds since I've started training so that makes me thinner, right? Disgust because I wear a size 10 pant so there's no way in hell that I'd need to wear a larger size swimsuit. Disgust because I thought such reputable labels would have true sizes.

So, I put back the 6 swimsuits that I just tried to try on. I look for the next size up, a 14 (GASP).

Apparently size 14 is the LARGEST size that is made by at least TYR (i didn't research Nike or Speedo) and the largest size this sporting goods store carried of the Nike and Speedo suits. I was in disbelief to say the least. I couldn't believe that if i was 10 pounds heavier, that I'd basically not have a swimsuit (or at least would have to specially order it or something...what do other athena women do in this case?)

I just looked up the suit on TYR's website. Size 14 is the largest they make a swimsuit for and it's considered an XL. (Size 9/10 is considered Medium and Size 11/12 is considered Large)

So I did end up with a nice fitting XL TYR reversible swimsuit (it's black on one side which makes me look thinner : )), despite being disgusted with the way the suits "ran really small" as far as size goes. That's a term that women hear a lot when buying clothing. It's really quite frustrating to try clothes on with the same size # only to find out that some of the sizes run small...I actually don't think I've ever run into the reverse problem, where the sizing runs large...what a great day of shopping that would be! To buy a size 8 that fit me perfectly.

Until then, I'll continue to believe that size doesn't matter whether I'm buying new clothes or doing my next triathlon. At least I'm tri-ing it!

So What's With the Name?

I'm sure you stay awake at nite, pondering the question "Why Iron Oxide?" So I will answer it now so you can get some long needed rest...

I've recently discovered triathlon podcasts. Never even thought they existed but boy am I glad that a few people have taken time out of their busy lives to entertain and motivate triathletes!

To name a few that I absolutely LOVE to listen to: Get Your Geek On Triathlon Podcast with Iron Will and Iron Kahuna, SimplyStu, and TriGeek...

So I have been absolutely hooked on Get Your Geek On---they make me laugh, they inpsire me, they remind me that I am not alone, they keep me going when I don't want to train because it's too damn cold outside...and they have also inspired the thought within me of doing a full Ironman. Their podcasts are powerful. (THANK YOU Iron Will and Iron Kahuna!!!!)

So I told my hubby about the podcast and mentioned that they have inspired me to try an Ironman someday...I also mentioned that in order to do it right, I'd need to come up with an Iron nickname to make it official (just like they have)...So while we were mountain biking several weeks ago, we tossed around a few names, then my husband says "What about Iron Oxide?" (He's hilarious---he comes up with the wittiest stuff sometimes---okay, a lot of the time...)

And so the name was created. As far as when I might do an Ironman...well, probably not until 2010 so at least I'll have done 2 half-ironmans by then.

For now, I'm loving training and I'm REALLY looking forward to doing my first half-ironman on August 10th. Good Nite!

Slipping Up

So this blog is probably not what you're expecting to see from a triathlon training blog. But because I'm such an honest person, I didn't want you to think that training for triathlons is all fun and games...actually I hate to admit it but I had to take 3 days off from training for a special reason...let's just say i've had intestinal "slippage" for about 3 days straight...it's been FUN!! basically i ate some very rich fettucini alfredo (it's not my hub's fault...but he did make it and my bod can't handle a lot of butter apparently) last tuesday then had stomach pains for the next two days, then thought i was getting better but my intestines were IRRITATED with me so everything I ate aggravated them...especially from friday nite thru sunday morning...finally i had to get to the bottom of this (no pun intended) so my wonderful hubby took me to the med clinic sunday morning and the doc said i needed to drink fluids (not beer or wine or liquor unfortunately) for 24 hours then eat BRATs (not little kids or bratwurst but Bread/Rice/Applesauce/Toast--the diet of IDEAs=> Incontinent Degenerative Elderly Athletes)....so today i'm finally able to eat semi-normal food....so i'm hoping everything "goes" okay...and maybe tomorrow i'll get to run, no pun intended. (Sorry this is a run on sentence but i do as i see fit)

The Challenge

So I was flipping thru the latest issue of Triathlete magazine (April 08) admiring the beautiful curves of the Specialized tri bikes. I used to have a Cannondale MultiSport tri bike but sold it in TN when I discovered that I was terrified of going down steep hills on a tri bike (tri frames tend to have an "aggressive" posture causing you to lean over the handle bars in order to save your quads for the run). I hadn't really entertained the thought of getting another tri bike until I saw how cool some of the new tri bikes are now.

My hubby enjoys bikes (actually he is more like a bike addict...) so I shared the eye candy. In particular, I commented on the SWEET Specialized Transition Comp which is somewhat out of my price range but worth dreaming for...and in return, he responded with a Challenge: If I take 1st place in my division of the half ironman, he'll buy the bike for me.

Hmmmm...How SWEET would that be? So the Challenge is ON! Start saving your money, Honey!

Training for the Training Plan

Training officially started on March 24th!!! WooHoo!!!

So the last two weeks have been interesting. I decided to train for the first week of training. I know, sounds silly, right? Well this is a big event in my life so i didn't want to fail in the first week of training. Makes sense, right?

This year marks my 40th birthday-WooHoo!!! Every decade, I've made it a point to do something crazy...of course when i turned 21 (okay somewhat of a decade...two decades i guess) i went bar hopping...when i turned 30, i got certified in scuba diving (and have seen manta rays in Hawaii and some pretty cool turtles and fish...great experiences!)...so now for my 40th i've decided to do my first Half Ironman!

I am so excited to have this opportunity! To be healthy, have a supportive husband, and have time to train in beautiful Colorado is something i'm very thankful for.

So for the highlites of the "Training for the Training" weeks:

- First day swimming = I did the warm up set of 100m front crawl, 100m pull, 100m front, 100m kick in about 20 minutes. Felt great and thought "Wow, that wasn't bad! I rock!!" Until i found out from the lifeguard that the length of the pool wasn't 50 meters...it was 25 meters. ARGH! So basically i was done after 30 minutes of laps which equated to about 1/3 of my intended workout.

- Later that week, I got up at 5am and hit the road for a 40 minute run...didn't expect to see too many people, but here in Colorado it's not unlikely to see 5 or so people pounding the pavement in your neighborhood...i ended up seeing 10 within a half hour---pretty cool! That was highly motivating for me...i felt like i wasn't alone...

- During the next week, my hub and I went on my planned 60 minute run after work around the neighborhood. Something I'm realizing is normal for Colorado is STRONG winds! Seriously we were running in, with and against at least 30 mph winds...BUT we persisted...just like Rust.