Wednesday, September 24, 2014

After Shocks

A few days have passed since Ironman Lake Tahoe. After they announced that the race had been cancelled, we were told to wander around to the various places where we had dropped off all of our gear the day before to gather it up. When I picked up my running clothes bag, they handed me a t-shirt and medal that said "finisher" on them.

And I was like, "EASIEST IRONMAN EVER!"

Seriously guys. Sign up for an Ironman that gets cancelled last minute sometime. They give you all of the proof you need to show others that you did it, you don't have exercise AT ALL, and you can eat as much ice cream as you want in the next couple of days.

The smoke blew in and covered the whole area by early afternoon. It was clear that cancelling the race was the right decision, although disappointing for everyone. I think they just cancelled it mostly because they didn't want the smokers to have an advantage. Because what kind of message would that send to the children?


Ironman sent out an email the next day telling us they were going to open up a few spots in some races that will be happening over the next couple of months and that they would allow us to use our Tahoe registration to try to get into these races.

I hoped to register for the Arizona race, which is about two months away. I sat at my computer, constantly hitting refresh until the registration opened. I clicked with lightening speed. And I was already too late.

Hundreds of people must have been doing the same thing to try to snag one of the 50 spots that were opened.

I should have included computer clicking endurance workouts in my Ironman training. THERE'S JUST NEVER ENOUGH TIME.

My options now are to carry this year of training over to next summer. And oh my gosh. I have a mini anxiety attack every time I re-realize that.

I know you guys are sick of hearing about Ironman. WELL I'M SICK OF TALKING ABOUT IT. You have no idea how much I looked forward to finishing the Tahoe race and then getting one of those Rascal chairs and spending the rest of my life rolling around Walmart picking out fabrics and CDs that are on sale for a dollar.

BUT WE CAN'T ALWAYS REALIZE OUR DREAMS WHEN WE WANT THEM.

I'll keep you posted on what I decide to do. A decision I'm putting off for a few days as my head continues to clear.

For now, Nic and I are biking through the vineyards in Napa and Sonoma and having a really nice time. Unfortunately my finisher medal keeps getting caught in my front wheel every time I lean down.

~It Just Gets Stranger

21 comments:

  1. That's got to be extremely disappointing. But at least you didn't die!! I can't imagine doing all that training for another year... If there's ever an Iron Man in Middle Tennessee (I have no idea, as I am a lazy slob) you can crash at our house. I promise to attempt to not do anything creepy. Promise. Even though I feel like this comment in and of itself is creepy. I'm sorry.

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    1. We live in Murfreesboro, about 30 min south-ish away from Nashville.

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    2. Sarah, do you know me at all? Why would you think being creepy would not be a selling point?

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    3. Touche.

      Expect to wake up to us standing over your bed, mouth-breathing. Possibly meowing.

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    4. I'm a Sarah and I live in Knoxville. Maybe you could do a Sarahs Across Tennessee Tour and crash at each of our homes. Note I said crash AT, not crash INTO.

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    5. AND you spell it the right way. *high five*

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    6. Whaaaat? I'm a Sarah in Kingsport, Tennessee! The "Eli Tennessee Sarah spelled the right way" Stranger tour totally has to happen now!

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    7. Destiny! Carpe Sarah, Eli, Carpe Sarah!!?

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    8. I am also a correctly-spelled Sarah. Although I am not one of the Tennessee Sarahs (I live in Washington, but hey we have great mountains, and the ocean, and it's beautiful to bike/hike/camp I MEAN NOT CAMP JUST BE OUTSIDE here).

      I vote Eli has a Stranger Sarah Tour, in which he hops about the country visiting fans named Sarah. None of those incomple h-less nonsense Saras (sorry I'm not sorry).

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    9. The Sarahs win the Internets. I am NOT a Sarah, but I approve this message.

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  2. There's one in Chattanooga Sunday.

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  3. You should do the one in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho! It'll be in June next year, so it's a way off, but totally worth it. Coeur d'Alene is the best place in the entire world (not biased at all, I just grew up there), although the water will probably be a little cold for you. But like I said, totally worth it just to be in Coeur d'Alene.

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  4. If you want to bike down to San Jose we can hang out!

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    1. I second this, with a pit stop in Oakland to hang out with me. But wait, Oakland is made of drugs and prostitution. NOT THAT ELI KNOWS WHAT ANY OF THAT IS, CATHIE. So, maybe I should just come down to San Jose too......

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    2. OMG Jen LMAO … you win best comment ever!!!

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  5. At least you're enjoying your post-race recovery time. How did Tami take the news?

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  6. You should go back to Tahoe in a few weeks after the smoke has cleared and do the race in its entirety for yourself. You already have the finisher medal and t-shirt. It would be like doing the race but without having to worry about running into all of those other people (honestly that would be one of my biggest concerns when biking or swimming). I realize it's not the same thing as doing it on race day and feeling all of that positive energy, but you have everything you need to do the race right now. It just feels wrong for all of your training to go to waste.

    Call Bob and Cathie up, tell them to get out of their responsibilities for another three days in October, grab Nic and drive on back to Tahoe and do the race!

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  7. I hope things work out. I have the St George marathon in a week and a half and this is the first time I feel like I've ever had an semblance of an anxiety attack. I'm crossing my fingers that all goes well, because honestly, I don't think I could ever nor would ever want to do this again.

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  8. Why don't you go back to Tahoe and do it yourself. After all the work you put in you should at least do the track. I know it won't be exactly the same s the race but you will still have done it.

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  9. I was very heartbroken when I first heard about the cancellation. I had a few friends at that race and I knew you were going to be there too. I would have been devastated if something like that had happened at my race so I can imagine how you all felt. I know Ironman gave some great options for finding another race so hopefully you find one that works for you. With that said, I hope you choose to do Tahoe next year because I'm about to go sign up for it!

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