At this point, I am so far past even the thought of surrender, it doesn't enter my mind, but it is easy to be sitting behind a computer and say that. People who have done the Ironman before say there are 4 or 5 times throughout the day, at least, where people reach a quitting point. They think its just not worth it any more, they are tired, hurt, maybe even injured and nothing seems worth it at that point. This is when you ask yourself why you are doing it. At least I will. My reasons have varied from December until now. It started as a way to get back into the shape I was in while I was a competitive swimmer, then as the months wore on and I started competing, it became more of a competitive thing... Now, as I look back on the past 9 months, I can honestly say, I am doing this not only for me and those reasons I just mentioned, but I am doing this for everyone that might be affected by my determination, in any way. These people range from the cancer patients who need more funding for their treatment, the kids in Africa who do not have a family, or a home, and all of you who follow my progress and wonder if maybe, you too could do something like this. Maybe not an entire Ironman, maybe it is the Mini-Marathon next year, or a sprint triathlon, or a 5K walk for Breast Cancer. Whatever it is, I have talked to so many people who want to do something, set a goal and achieve it. That inspires me to never ever turn back, no matter where I am and how much it hurts on August 30th.
So to update you (sorry Tim for the delay in the updates), training has been extremely intense the past week and a half. Curtis and I have set this up this way on purpose, but it is easy to plan training while sitting on a couch, it is much harder to execute every morning at 5:30 AM, or right after work- dodging thunderstorms, floods, etc. But in any case, I am getting it done!
Last weekend was the longest training weekend I have had yet. After a somewhat disasterous ride of the Ironman course in June- Sarah, Jackie, and I decided to attempt the 112 miles again, this time traveling the new course which takes us up Wolf Pen to 42 and adds a few miles (we arent sure how they are going to compensate for the added milage on race day). Taking this new route added a few major hills as well, so it was a more difficult course, but we were armed with A LOT of food and water and tried to be as prepared as we will be on race day. We knew it would be a long day, so we set out at 6:15 AM to try to beat the traffic along 42 and were successful, with the exceptions of a few fed up motorists (there are more than a few run ins with cars when you are biking- please be careful of us!)... In any case, we rode the 112 mile loop without any problem or any big event and finished up 30 minutes faster (6.5 hours of riding- average about 17 mph) and a lot fresher than we did in June. The weather was about 10 degrees cooler- 85 or so instead of the 95 we rode in last time. When we were done, I felt good- tired, but still felt like I had more in me, which was the goal. We set out on a 30 minute run to see how our legs would do, and they held up fine! I feel a lot more confident after that.
That was Saturday, and I still had Sunday to go... Sunday was another long ride- 3 hours- followed by an hour long run. I had anticipated being extremely tired and sore, but I recovered quickly and was able to do a good ride, faster than I thought I would, and then follow it up with a strong run. It seems my body is adapting well to these demands!
After the long weekend, I was tired, but not too sore and I have really been looking forward to the week(s) ahead. From today, I have 25 days left. I really cant believe it! So many people have reached out to offer words of encouragement and to tell me they will be there on August 30th cheering! That in and of itself is motivation to keep going.
Oddly enough, before this Ironman has even begun, I am looking to sign up for my next event. It looks like for now, it will be the half ironman in Florida next year, in attempt to qualify for the National Championships in 2010. I didnt even know it until yesterday, but my time from Cardinal Harbour was enough to qualify me for next year, but given that it is just 2 weeks after the full ironman, I am going to defer a year and try again next year.
We are almost there!
No comments:
Post a Comment