Six weeks since my last post.  I barely remember July.  Where has the summer gone?!?!

I mentioned in my last post that the next few weeks would be somewhat disruptive to training. Well, they were, and it was a blast. The last weekend in June my dad and I made a trip up to Oregon. I had never seen the Columbia River area and had heard great things about it so the two of us packed up and headed out. We spent a day white water rafting, a day driving and seeing the sights, and a day fishing the McKenzie River. Luckily the trout were biting. We had a great time despite the record heat wave and managed to catch up with some old friends (Ben and Lana, thanks again for hosting us!  And Rob, great job getting us to the fish and navigating shallow water.  You sign up for that race yet?) I managed to sneak in a run one morning just to keep my training alive but mostly used the time to relax and enjoy some great scenery and company.

 

The next weekend I met up with Sarah and the kids in Phoenix for July 4th. They had been to California to visit family so I flew out to meet up with them for the weekend. While Oregon was hot it was nothing compared to the 108 in Phoenix. We mainly hung out in or near the pool but also got in some mini golf and some great food. It was great to simply unwind and spend some time with my family.  I got one run in there as well (that made three states I ran in over 10 days) and man it was a hot one.

The next three weeks were more or less back to a normal routine with one more trip thrown in at the end.  We met up with my parents and my sister’s family for a long weekend floating the river in New Braunfels.  It was a great time hanging out with them and letting the kids spend time with their cousins.  I am absolutely blessed by the family God gave me and am thankful for them more than they will ever know.  Luckily training was lighter that weekend.  I took the bike trainer with me and managed to work in a 90 minute bike and an hour run.

These past two weeks training was back with a vengeance.   Last Saturday was a long, hot three hour ride.  I headed down to Granbury to do an organized ride, the Blazin Saddles.  Needless to say my saddle was in fact blazin before it was all over.  That was followed by a two hour run later that evening.  The two combined pretty much equaled half an Ironman (minus the swim).  Seeing how we are now half way through training it seems that all is right on schedule.

Today I headed over to Rockwall for the Hot Rocks 100k.  At 7:30 I started with a completely frozen bottle of water behind my seat.  When I stopped one hour later not only was it no longer frozen but the water wasn’t even cold.  Welcome to the Texas summer.  I had a really strong ride and followed it up with a four mile run.  Needless to say I’ll sleep good tonight for sure.

 

July was probably the first time in my six years of triathlon that I actually had the thought “this isn’t fun any more”.  I remember Katy hitting this point last year so I knew it was coming sooner or later.  Maybe it had to do with training in and out of vacation.  I think a lot of it had to do with having a coach and a training plan and feeling like missing a scheduled workout was a really, really bad thing.  It’s crazy the unwarranted pressures we can put on ourselves in any aspect of life, not just training.  Couple that with the heat, crawling out of bed at 5 AM when I’m still exhausted from the workout less than 12 hours ago, and it’s easy to comprehend where those emotions come from.  The good news is those have passed (for now).  It’s amazing how having one great workout can completely change your emotional outlook and get you back on track.

Oh, and an update from Iron Cowboy – he did it!  Unreal.  50 Ironman distances covered in 50 states in 50 days.  Talk about emotional ups and downs.  If you’ve not looked him up you really need to.  That guy will inspire you to do the impossible.

Lastly, I need to get back on a fundraising kick for the Children’s Tumor Foundation this month and try to get over the $3k mark. If you would like to help get me there and support a fantastic cause you can do so here.

I should be back to posting more regularly in August.  Stay tuned, it’s about to get fun.