What a way to start 2012

I have to start with last year 2011 in order to talk about this year 2012.

Last November, I signed up to do Ironman 2012 here in Phoenix. Everything was going great. my training was on schadule, and all was right in my universe.

Then Jan 25,2012 hit like LIGHTING. The company that I worked for, for the past 13 years decided to restructure itsself. Which ment I was out of a job.

The question at that time was OMG what do I do now.

The Answer: I've always wanted to do what I loved, but I had the day job. NOT anymore! So I stepped out and researched for the rest of Jan.

By feb 21, 2012, I turned 50 and had done all the leg work to start my own business called: One on One with LaVerne. The sole purpose of this business is to assist other ladies in reaching their goals, no matter what they are. To give them that one on one touch, thats needed so badly for them to stay true to themselves.

I went public on Feb 25,2012. thus far I have help 3 ladies reach their goals. One of the Ladies will go for her goal on September 2, 2012.. Thats to ride a centre (100 miles) in a day.

I just returned from Ohio where I spent 30 days working with a couple on creating a new and healthier lifestyle for themselves. To follow their store go to: http://oneononewithlaverne.blogspot.com/ and look under Just Move with Tami and Dave.
I will continue to post updates through out the month about their journey to a new lifestyle.

As for my journey.. I'm back in Phoenix and still on track with my training for Ironman 2012. I'm still working on growing my business and helping other reach their goals while developing their inner person. To checkout my website go to www.oneononewithlaverne.com or click here.

Thank you for your support in the past and in the future
LaVerne

One More Time,

I signed up to do the Ironman 2012. so the training has begun. Today was my first long base mile ride.. It felt good. The only thought that stays on my mind is will my knees hold out on the run... I guess we will all find out.

My New Grand Daughter River Ajaya

River 5 days old and glade to be here











Me and River














River at 1 hr old


My daughter Khylia and Her daughter River

my grand daughter

My Oh My...

Here I sit, 3 weeks to date since I went for my goal. I got up this morning and went for a 3 mile run at White Tanks trying to keep my mind clear. The run was good, but on the drive home my mind went rambling again. I've got to keep busy because I can't fight back the tears. I still struggle to understand them. I enjoyed the journey of Ironman, so why the tears?


On November 21, 2010 7a.m. the adventure of my lifetime started.

Swim:

I hit the 60 degree water with all the other hopefuls, except the water didn't feel that cold. It felt good. A little hard to exhale once I put my face in, but other than that it was OK. Twice I had to tell myself to relax, enjoy and stay with the pack. My internal furnace kicked on at the turn around, I was burning up, so I had to pull at the kneck of my wetsuit to let the cold water in(ah yea). My swim was pretty good, 2.4 miles in 1:47 min.. I find that time funny because when I sign up I asked My swim coach if he could get me where I could swim that distance in 1:45..... not bad.

Coming out of the water I was a bit surprised that I could run, although I could not get my arms out of my wetsuit "Thank God for the strippers" or my race might of ended there:).

Bike:

The first loop of the bike was a bit painful, I guess my legs were colder than I thought. I found myself standing a lot, shifting my weight from right to left trying to relax the muscles in my lower back and legs, telling myself, all the while "you've got to relax and get comfortable","Come on you can do this". Coming through the Ladies bike station at the turnaround on Shea was great. They were so pumped and I fed off of their energy, and was able to shake some of the pain I was feeling. At the turn around on Mill ave, after seeing my daughters and hearing their voices I was able to shake off the discomfort.
At the start of the second loop, is when I noticed that I was in Grannie gear,"I thought how did I get, in this gear?" I knew with coach wind being so strong, I would have to push the big ring. This would be the only way I could power through him. I switched to the big ring in the front and the 3 ring from the bottom in the back, and my speed went from 13mph to 19mph on the way out and from 11 mph against the wind to 15 mph against the wind on the way in. Yes, this hurt, but only for a bit:). I found that I could maintain this effort for the rest of the second loop and all of the third loop. I had never been so glad to get off my bike:). Bike time was 8:09. This was a hour over what I had planned, but I beat the cut off by 45 min.

Some of the thoughts that were going through my head on the bike:
wow, my swim felt great.
man, this loop sucks.
OK, who invited Coach Wind?
What? Coach wind brought Three new assistant Coaches(cold, rain and sleet).
OK,.. Bring it,
Is that all you got?
Why did I say that now cousin Gust had to join the party?
I guess to be an Ironman this year, I have to pass all your classes. That's cool.
This is just another Training day.

The Run:

I started the run in the negative as far as my legs and time. I had trashed my legs on the bike,to get through Coach wind and his assistant, but it's all good, because you can't get to the run unless you finish the bike.

Once I got off the bike, I noticed that my legs felt heavy, I went into transition and asked if I could borrow a sit for a quickie :), I changed my shoes and put on a new pair of gloves and grabbed my arm warmers. I had done the math, I only had 6.5 hrs to run 26.5 miles.. I knew I needed 7 to 7.5 hr to achieve my goal. But I also knew that QUITTING was not an option. My new plan was to try and make up as much time as I could on the run. I left the transition area knowing that I would have to run walk as much as I could and if that did not work to walk as fast as I could. My first mile was 18 min, so I pushed harder and at the second check point I was at a 16 min. mile. I was very happy when I reached the 13 mile point and had gained 15 min on my 1/2 marathon time. I told myself, you can do this, Just..Keep..Moving.
The best part of this run was to see my daughters and my son on the walls as I went up Curry for the second time and then to see them down by the boating dock on my way to the Rural bridge. They had only words of encouragement, and I needed them badly.

I had missed getting my special needs bag with my fuel for the second half and had started to wonder if I would finish but, I kept moving forward because that's what I do. 'You have trained for this,"so lets get it her done'. This is what I kept telling myself. Mile 15, mile 16 then at mile 18, I noticed that I could not walk a straight line and when I stopped walking I would walk backwards (that was a funny feeling because I could not stop myself). I would have to lean forward to get myself moving forward. I guess I was tired :).
.
Well, my journey ended at 11 p.m. on the Mill Ave bridge with 6.2 miles to go. The Ironman Director asked me one question, "Can you run a 10 min mile?" I said, "No sir, I never have", which lead to the request for my chip. All I could say was OK.
I went down to the finish to see a few friends come in. It wasn't the ending that I had hoped for but, in the end it was a great day.

Ironman is a mental game. The body will respond when trained to do so, but the mind has the final say. I guess that's what the tears are for. They're for the ' I wonder if I could of finished. They are the anguish of not finishing and they are all the emotions that come with the pursuit of a goal, finished or not. There has to be a end.

I completed 134.4 miles of a 140.6 mile course
Not bad for a Days Work

Thank you

for

all your support

A Year of Miles...

I started this journey at the end Of November with a clean slate--
starting with zero miles for November. These are the miles per month that I have tracked using Daily Mile and my training log.
Nov 2009 = 0
Dec 2009 = 347
Jan 2010 = 430
Feb 2010 = 582
Mar 2010 = 505
Apr 2010 = 539
May 2010 = 524
Jun 2010 = 508
Jul 2010 = 579
aug 2010 = 587
Sep 2010 = 577
Oct 2010 = 578
before Ironman
Nov 2010 = 309
Total miles for the year leading up to Ironman 5400
Total time in hours for the year leading to IM 1521.6 = 63.4 days

Upon completion of Ironman, I shall have 5540.6 miles.. How sweet.

My Ironman BiB # 2655

Wow it is really real....
I have my Bib number, so I guess that there is no backing out now. :)
It was just yesterday that I was standing in line with everyone else, with my eyes set on the 2010 Ironman. It was 5:30 am the day after Ironman 2009, with the excitement still running through my veins from the night before, I was there waiting to sign up, to make my mark on the journey to the 2010 Ironman. That was almost a year ago and in two weeks, I will find out if I have done everything that I can to achieve this goal. The excitement is still running through my veins, every time I think of the start of the race I get excited, I can hear the Ironman song, I can feel the energy coming up off the Lake from all the athletes in the water awaiting the start. I can still feel the explosion of force once the horn blows, and the water go from calm waters, in to white water.
To watch the mass narrow into a funnel-like shape as the swim progresses, to see the faces of the swimmers as they are helped out of the water, some have smiles, some are very cold and have a slight smirk on their face. And then there are those that have the "I am done" written all over their face. My heart goes out to them, I stand there with tears in my eyes because I can see and feel the hurt pouring from every part of them.

Then to see them coming out of the bike transition pumped up, their adrenaline is high and they are moving so fast. If you watch them its as though they are paddling to something that is so exciting. If you ask them to explain it they could not find the words, but one by one they all set out to reach it.

I stand and watch them coming back in from their last lap. Some beaten up by the wind, some with blood on their faces, some with scraped knees and bruised bodies, but they still move forward to the Run...
The run is the hardest part to watch, because I know that they have been in motion for at least 10 hrs, and every muscle in their bodies are asking them "What are you doing? Are you crazy?". Some of them will answer "Yes, I am", and will continue to push on. Some will not say anything, but you can see their answer on their faces as they pass. I have seen runners come by with that same smile on their faces as they had at the start of the race, some will have a smirk, and some will be talking to themselves. But all the while they are moving toward that goal, the finish line...

I have worked the finish line for two years, I have caught many friends and strangers as they cross. I wish I could say, I can relate to the looks on their faces, but I can't-- some with no words just smiles, some don't know their shirt size or if they want their picture taken, some just stop, and don't know what to do next.
Some just break down and cry with joy and some just pass out. They have given it their all, and they have nothing left.
But the ones that stick in my head and heart are the ones that turn the corner with just a 100 yds to go and the clock strikes 12, Those are the ones that I cry with. Those are the ones that I still find myself crying for, when I think about the sacrifice that they and their families have made for them to become a Ironman.

So you are wondering why do I want to do this?