The dawn of a new year.  New hopes.  New dreams.  New resolutions.  New goals.  Back in my 4-H days we lived by a motto: To Make the Best Better.  Pretty good words to live by and great words for starting a new year.

For me those words have significant meaning coming off of 2015.  Last year I broke just about every personal record possible, including both 70.3 and 140.6 finish times.  It was my best year to date.  By a long shot.  So what does 2016 hold?  Hopefully making the best better.

Last year I maxed out at about a 230 FTP on the bike.  I would love to see that be closer to 250 by mid year and up into the 260-270 range this fall.  So once again I’ve turned to Sufferfest to bring the pain.  Their plan has you ride six days a week with three hard rides and three easy / recovery rides.  I’ve been experimenting with it over the last few months to see what happens when I drop the recovery rides.  I still worked out on recovery days, just not riding.

Instead, I’m attempting to build a better run base this year.  My bike mileage more than doubled from 2014 to 2015 and as a result my bike performance increased dramatically.  This year I’m hoping to do the same with the run.  I took a hard look at several different training plans and the one that interested me the most was by BarryP over on Slowtwitch.  His plan calls for running six days a week with ratios of 1/2/1/2/1/3.  I started it out in January with runs of 3/6/3/6/3/9 and it seemed to work well with the Sufferfest rides.  I used the 3 mile runs coming off the bike on M/W/F and then do the longer runs on T/TR/S with a rest day on Sunday.  Since then I’ve worked up to 4/8/4/8/4/12.  I’m doing almost all of my running at a low heart rate / slow pace for now.  I went back and looked at two comparable 8 mile runs, one last September and one last week.  Since then I’ve managed to drop my heart rate from 155 to 140 while holding just under a 9 minute pace.  Good stuff.

Oh, and for the swim?  I’ve been trying to swim once or twice a week just to keep up some fitness.  Once I get my bike and run where I want them the swim will be the last frontier.

This week is race week.  We’ll head down to Galveston on Friday for the 70.3 race on Sunday.  After a few months of training I’ll finally find out if it’s paying off.

Here’s to a great 2016.  I hope you hit all of your goals and smash a few PR’s along the way.

Ok, here they are.  My final thoughts on IMFL and the conclusion of the 2015 season.  For anyone interested in the Garmin file you can view it here.  Enjoy.

TAPER

Generally when training for a race like this you hit your peak training 2-3 weeks prior and then spend a few weeks tapering off.  During that time your durations and intensities slowly decline.  The primary goals are to simply stay healthy and stay loose.  Unfortunately in my taper I managed to do neither.  The run at the end of the first week produced a blister that wound up taking the skin off the front half of one of my toes.  Six years of running with not a single blister and here I was less than two weeks out from my first competitive Ironman and my toe was blown.  I kept it bandaged for the next few weeks hoping that the skin would completely heal.  I was still able to do a few bike rides on the trainer and get a few swims in but I managed only one four mile run during that time.  Finally on the Thursday before the race I went an entire day with no band aids.  Everything felt fine.  Friday I went for a practice swim with the team and it still felt like it was holding up.  All systems seemed to be a go for race day.

RACE DAY

I got up around 2 AM in order to get some calories in my system.  I caught one final nap before the 4 AM alarm went off.  Luckily there was not a lot of preparation to do as pretty much everything had to be done and checked in the day before.  I mixed up my bike nutrition, grabbed my wetsuit, air pump, and special needs bags, and off Sarah and I headed to meet up with the rest of the team.

It was announced that morning that the official water temp was over 77 which meant wetsuits would be optional.  For those competing for podium spots wetsuits were out.  For me the decision was a no-brainer.  I’m faster and more buoyant in a wetsuit and I was about to swim a half mile straight out into the Gulf of Mexico.  And I was going to receive the same medal at the end of the day.  So me and 1,600 of the 2,500 athletes decided a wetsuit was the best option for having a great day.

SWIM (1:33 / 2:06 per 100 yd)

I headed down to the beach and met up with Jason and Katy at the CTF tent.  Much to my surprise they were both in wetsuits which was a change of plan from the night before.  It was nice knowing I’d be going into the water with some familiar faces.  I could tell Katy was a tad nervous.  The breakers coming in were probably as big as I had seen, well over the heads of the non-wetsuit guys as they entered the water.

The time finally came for the rest of us.  There was a long corral set up with the faster folks towards the front.  We were near the back and that was perfectly fine with me.  I was glad they had split up the wetsuit swimmers; instead of 2,500 swimmers going into the water at the same time it meant only 1,600 of us were.  That means my chance of getting punched / kicked / trampled / etc were…better.

The three of us waded into knee deep water.  The initial breakers were about chest deep.  The floor dropped for about 25 yards before we made it out to the sandbar.  And that’s when it got crazy.  I looked up to see a breaker coming that was well over my head.  I ducked and dove straight into it.  I came up to see Jason to my right.  But no Katy.  We both turned and saw her pop up 10-15 yards back and trying to catch her breath and straighten her goggles.  For a split second I saw a look of terror in her eyes, but it immediately turned to “ok, how do I do this?”  Jason coached her to dive through the breakers which she immediately proceeded to do like a boss.  We cleared the final breakers and I finally told her “just follow my feet” and off I went.  For the next few hundred yards I could feel her fingers on my toes.  At some point near the end of the first stretch I no longer felt them but I knew at that point she was good to go.

I finished my first lap and ran up on the beach to cross the timing mat.  I checked my watch and my time was 45 minutes, exactly what I was hoping for.  I grabbed a cup of water and rinsed the salt out of my mouth and back I went for round two.  I made it through the breakers into the flat water and was off.  Much to my surprise I began passing some of the non-wetsuit swimmers this lap.  I attribute that 100% to my wetsuit and not my swimming abilities.  Between the buoyancy of the wetsuit and the salt water I pretty much just had to stroke to move forward; staying afloat was not a problem.

I finished the second lap and made my way up the beach.  I came out of the water feeling much better than expected.  I could tell my day was off to a great start.  And now it was time to really have some fun.

BIKE (5:30 / 20.3 mph / 160 W)

My bike ride started out with a little more excitement than I would have liked.  The roads were not closed so we were sharing them with vehicles.  There was a decent bike lane / shoulder so that is where most of us wound up riding.  Around mile three there was a lady riding ~20 yards ahead of me.  I could tell she had entered the blind spot of a small, slow moving truck.  She began to pass the truck just as he decided to make a right turn.  As he started to turn into her I yelled at the top of my lungs, simultaneously locking up my brakes and fishtailing my bike.  Luckily he saw her at the last second and managed not to hit her while I kept from laying my bike down.  I caught up with her to make sure she didn’t get clipped.  She was a bit upset but otherwise fine.

From there the ride went north out of town and then finally east to begin a 50 mile loop.  Around mile 30 I ran into Jason and David, two of my training buddies from Burleson.  These two studs both did the swim without a wetsuit so my hat’s off to them.  Both seemed to be feeling great and having a good day.

As I neared the halfway point I realized I had a decision to make.  There was a bag waiting for me there called a special needs bag.  You get to pack it ahead of time for things you might be needing (extra nutrition, blister kits, etc).  I was feeling good and realized that there was nothing I had put in the bag that I was needing.  The problem was that I was not the only one that had put something in the bag.  I had seen that morning that Sarah and the kids had dropped a few notes in there to encourage me.  Though it would cost me a few minutes, I decided there was no way I could not stop and acknowledge what they had done for me.  I pulled over and a volunteer had my bag ready.  I reached in and sure enough found three notes.  Each one was perfectly written and reflected their personality as they encouraged me to keep on going.  I’m so thankful to have a family that supports me through the crazy endeavors I pursue.

On the back half of the bike my power targets started getting harder to maintain.  From time to time I glanced at my heart rate.  I had hoped it would peak in the high 130’s but it was drifting into the mid to high 140s.  I opted to continue staying as close to my power targets as possible and ignore the heart rate.  In hindsight this may not have been the best choice.

The last 30 miles of the ride were through an area where it had rained just minutes earlier.  I did not get caught in the rain but there was water on the road.  It was enough to completely soak my socks and bike shoes in a matter of minutes and I still had a good 90 minutes to go.  My feet never dried out the rest of the ride.  Luckily no blisters popped up as I finished the home stretch.

I arrived safely back to the transition area.  As much as I absolutely love cycling I was glad to be off the bike.  It was time to find out how much I had left in the tank.

RUN (4:59 / 11:25 min/mi)

Based on my run training my goal was to begin the first five miles at a 10:30 pace with a heart rate in the mid 130’s.  Keeping my heart rate low would ensure I didn’t run out of gas over the next four to five hours.  Shortly into the run I saw a sign that said “I’ll bet you wish you had your bike back now.”  Touche.

By five minutes into the run my heart rate was knocking on 150.  My legs were feeling fine but I knew I had better call an audible or it could be a really, really long night.  For the next two hours I struggled to keep my heart rate below 150 as my paces slowed to around 11.  Coming into this race my absolute best case scenario would have been to break the 12 hour mark.  My swim and bike times had set that up to be a real possibility; as the miles came and went that possibility slowly began to fade.  By the half way point of the run I realized that today it would not happen.  While it was disappointing, in many ways it was also liberating.  It meant that I could run the back half and simply enjoy what was left of the day.  My body was tired and the last thing it wanted was to be tested at that point.  I retrieved my Red Bull from my special needs bag, took a minute to enjoy it, and read the notes from my family and NF Hero Denver.  My cheering squad was there in full force; I took a moment to say hi and then set out for the final 13 miles of the day.

My run pacing did not drop off significantly on the back half but I did start taking my time at the aid stations.  I caught Jason and Katy and took a minute to chat with them.  They were tired but in extremely high spirits.  We exchanged encouraging words and high fives and off I went to finish up the day.

At long last I turned the final corner and started down the finisher chute.  I couldn’t really see the finish line, just glaring bright lights as I neared.  The music was jamming and the crowds were cheering.  Kids were holding out their hands for me to five them as I made my way down the chute.  And then, with one final step, it was all over.  Six months of training.  Twelve and a half hours of racing.  All completed with one final step.

I met up with Sarah, Mom, and the kids.  They were all crazy excited for me.  While I had missed the twelve hour mark (12:27) I had clobbered my officially declared goal of 13:08, the Kona finish time of Pro Bowl football player Hines Ward.  We took some pictures, I had a brief massage, and then we all headed back to the room for a fantastic spaghetti dinner.  After dinner Sarah and I returned to the finish line to cheer on our final team members as they concluded their day.  It was a great ending to a truly spectacular day.

POST RACE

Sunday it rained all day long.  What a difference a day makes.  Had it been like that Saturday I’m not sure I would have raced.  That’s a good way to wreck your feet.

We spent a good part of the day over at Wonder Works, an indoor amusement park / museum.  The kids had a blast.  I did except for the stairs.  Oh the stairs.

We loaded up the car Sunday afternoon and Monday made the drive straight through back to Texas.  In the end I’m glad we spent Sunday recovering instead of heading home.  It was great having a day to just relax.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Ironman Florida was probably one of the best racing experiences I’ve had.  If you’re considering this race and are on the fence don’t waste another second.  Go sign up now (if it’s not sold out).  I was extremely apprehensive about the swim.  I had heard the stories of lost Garmins and goggles due to excessive contact.  My experience was nothing but positive.  The new rolling start format made contact pretty much a non-issue.  Between the buoyancy of salt water and a wetsuit you’ll be fine even in choppy conditions.  The volunteer support was as good as I’ve seen at a race.  On the run course there were almost too many aid stations (if that is possible).  Coupled with the fact that my family got to spend a few days on an amazing beach and we did it all in the continental US, I’d give this race an easy A.

I have to say one final thank you to those that made this race possible for me: my amazing wife and kids, my Team Denver training crew, the entire CTF team, Coach Bob, and everyone that donated to CTF.  You made 2015 an amazing year for me and I am forever grateful.

So what next?  At this point I remain committed to doing an Ironman at every age between 40 and 50 assuming my body continues to participate.  IM40 was Cozumel.  I turned 41 in September so that means IM41 is now complete.  That also means I have until September 19, 2017 to complete IM42.  I promised my family no full races in 2016.

For the moment I’m simply celebrating the fact that I crossed the finish line of another Ironman.

Ok folks, I’ve promised it all season.  Today I finally had a chance to sit down with my NF Hero Denver and shoot a quick video.  Denver’s the reason I’m here.  He’s the reason you donated.  He’s the reminder that there is currently no cure for NF.  And now you can meet him.  He was kind enough to let me do an Ask Me Anything.  So without further ado…

Well, it’s done. As of today my training and fund raising for Ironman Florida are complete. Since May 11 I’ve logged 2,445 miles and over 240 hours of training. Through donations by generous folks like you I’ve raised $5,500 for the Children’s Tumor Foundation. The work has been done and now all that’s left is a race.

At 6:15 on Saturday morning I’ll take off swimming straight out into the Gulf of Mexico. It will be the beginning of what I expect to be a fantastic day. As of now the forecast looks spectacular. The only remaining wild card at this point is a blister on one of my toes. I’m hoping it’s 100% and ready to go come Saturday.

I want to take this chance to say thanks to every one of you for being part of this
journey. I honestly would not be stepping up to a start line without you. From donating, to helping with the kids, to simply encouraging me along the way, I cannot thank you enough for what you have done. Throughout race day thoughts of your selflessness will help get me through the hard hours I’m certain are coming.

To Denver, thanks for being my Hero. I realize I do a lot of crazy things simply by choice but I know that you have to live with some stuff that you didn’t choose. You are truly inspiring and I sincerely hope that the dollars raised eventually lead to a cure for NF. Until a cure exists keep being strong and inspiring folks to help find one.

To Jason and Katy, thanks again for introducing Sarah and I to CTF. While I have Couch and Kurt to thank for introducing me to triathlon, I officially have you guys to thank for introducing me to Ironman. If it were not for you I probably would still be thinking about doing my first. And now here I am doing my second and I completely blame you (again). I couldn’t ask for better folks to train with. You guys are awesome and I’m thankful for the friendship that’s developed over the past few years. Best of luck on race day.

To the rest of Team Denver (Kody, Chandler, and Couch) thanks for sharing the journey. You guys continue to be an inspiration. I’ve enjoyed the time we’ve spent training and getting to hang out. You guys are gonna kill this race.

To the extended CTF team, it’s been great getting to know all of you via Facebook.  I look forward to finally meeting you and to seeing a ton of blue kits out on the course race day.  You’ve put in the hours.  Now go out and enjoy the day.

To Coach Bob, thanks for getting me here. I feel more than prepared. Once again I fully expect to do something I previously though impossible and I owe it largely to your training.

To Sarah, Jackson, and Morgan, thanks for putting up with hours and hours of training. I promise no Ironman next year (at least no full ones). You guys have been more than supportive and have done it generously and graciously. I love you guys.

To Mom, Dad, Melissa, Pat, Aiden and Eli, thanks to you guys as well. You have gone above and beyond time and time again. I’m blessed beyond words to have such a great family.

As always, I’m thankful that God continues to bless me with good health and the ability to do insane things to my body.  To Him be all glory.

I’ll post a few times between now and race day.  We’ll be leaving Texas on Tuesday and hopefully arriving in Florida Wednesday afternoon.  Stay tuned.

Redman 2015 (A Tale of Two Runs)

This past weekend me and four others from the CTF team headed up to Oklahoma City for the USAT Long Course National Championship hosted by the Redman Triathlon. This was my third time to Redman and it remains my favorite 70.3 course. The guys there put on a great race for both the athletes and the spectators. It’s a top notch venue.

I had several goals going into this race. First and foremost was to stay healthy. I’m still six weeks out from Ironman Florida and I wanted to use the race as a tune up to validate that my racing abilities were where I thought they were. I didn’t have any particular goals on the swim; my swim goal is usually “just survive”. On the bike I had done several training rides at different efforts to figure out how my body would respond. A month ago I thought I would be looking to hold down 195 watts for the ride. In the past few weeks I’ve been able to put down some pretty good times at 175-180 and felt decent when finished. So that became my bike goal. My primary goals for this race came on the run. This race would be my 5th attempt at this distance. I had yet to complete the run without walking. I’ve probably learned more in the past six months about how to pace a race than in the past five years. Taking that knowledge into Redman the goal was not only to run the entire distance but to negative split (ie speed up on) the back half. Doing that would mean keeping my heart rate low the first lap so that there was some tiger left in the tank for the second. If I could do that I would know that I had paced the previous four hours correctly.

With this race being the national championship, the top 25 in each age group had the opportunity to qualify for the 2016 world championship. After doing the math (like 100 times) I had concluded that my best case finish would be a 5:30. My final goal for the day was to execute my race and if that was enough to go top 25 then great. If not, I still would have achieved my best race ever by 20 minutes. I knew that the competition would be tough. And man did that turn out to be the truth…

PRE RACE

I worked a half day Friday morning and then Sarah and the kids picked me up and we hit the road. I dropped them at the hotel and then headed to the race site to check in. Everything was well organized and I got in and out fairly quickly. I headed back to the car, grabbed the bike, and took it out for a final test ride. As I put the front wheel on I noticed a nick in the tire. I had rented wheels for the race and they had shipped directly to me from the previous renter rather than heading back to the shop for inspection. It wasn’t deep, but it also wasn’t what I wanted to see going into the second most important race day of the year.

I checked my bike in and decided to try and find a replacement tire. The vendors on site didn’t have one. I called the nearest bike shop and they had one in stock. And they closed in thirty minutes. And it was rush hour. So off I went on a mad dash. Luckily I made it in time. Nothing like a little drama to begin race weekend.

From there it was off to dinner with the team. We met up at BJ’s Brewhouse and had a great time over a great meal. Lots of laughs were exchanged, we talked a little shop, and from there it was off to make final preparations and wind down for the day. I decided to drop the family off at the hotel one last time and head up to switch out the tire. The bike mechanics were still on site and knocked it out in about five minutes. I could rest easy that night knowing that I was going into the day with no remaining issues.

RACE DAY

Race day for me began around 2:30. I got up and had a light breakfast to get some calories in the system. Breakfast for this race was some oatmeal and a recovery drink. I knocked it out and headed back to bed for one more nap.

Around 4:30 I got up to officially begin the day. I prepped my nutrition for the day, met up with Kody and David, and off we went.

Things were pretty uneventful on site. The weather was ideal – low winds (less than 5 mph) and temperatures in the low 60’s. Once everything was prepped we headed down for the swim start.

SWIM (44 minutes, PR by 3 minutes)

The entry into the water at Redman is kind of surreal. There’s a boat ramp you walk down into chest deep water between the start buoys. All the while there’s a bagpipe player off to the side going to town. We received the 10 second countdown, the gun sounded, and off we went. I managed to settle into a comfortable pace without getting too worked up which is rare for me. While I’m more comfortable swimming in open water than in years past it still can get in my head. Luckily I managed to keep my mind out of “I wonder if I can touch?” mode and in “shut up and swim” mode. About ten minutes in my goggles started to fog just a little. It was not so much that I couldn’t see the route, but I could tell that a few guys were walking (ie it was shallow enough to touch) so I decided to take a 30 second break to clean them out. I got them situated and got going again. From that point on there’s not much to tell. I checked my watch at the half way mark and was right where I wanted to be. I knocked out the back half and up the boat ramp I went.

BIKE (2:35, PR by 16 minutes)

I made it in and out of transition fairly quickly and got going on the bike. This is where I expected to have the most fun of the day. My bike training this year has been solid. I had several great rides recently so I came in feeling confident. I kept my watts just below 175 for the first 10 miles. Once I had settled in I stated taking in my nutrition to fuel for the run. The course wound out of town and into the country. I’m not a great technical rider so the long straightaways were definitely to my liking.

I wound up doing some cat and mouse chasing with a few guys. The one I remember distinctly was 20 years older than me. It blows my mind knowing I’m giving it my all and guys in their 50’s and 60’s are still outperforming me.

I expected my bike time to be between around 2:40. I made it to the half way point and decided to check my pace. I switched screens on my Garmin and the first number I saw caught me off guard. I was at the half way mark in 1:13. I had to do a double take. On some of my best training rides I averaged 21 mph on 178 watts. I was riding about the same watts here but averaging 21.7. I decided to try to hold down the same power on the back half. Doing that should leave me just enough energy to get through the run.
I had passed riders off and on throughout the day but between miles 40 and 50 I saw nine months of training pay off like never before. It was at this point that I started watching for others in my age group, knowing that it was possible that a top 25 finish could depend on whether I hung with them or let them go. I passed two of them in the final stretch. Finally it was time to run. Game on.

RUN (1:56, PR by 11 minutes)

Again I got in and out of the transition area quickly and the run began. To be quite honest the first mile was a little disheartening. My game plan for the day was to keep my heart rate relatively low (under 140) for the first three miles. That meant roughly a 9:30 pace. Most of the guys that were coming off the bike with me were solid runners and blew by me with paces in the 7 and 8 minute range. I had to keep reminding myself that one of my chief goals for the day was to simply execute my race and if it was not enough then so be it.

Over the first six miles I deviated slightly from the plan. One of my favorite quotes as of late comes from the great Iron Mike Tyson: “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth”. I opted to let my heart rate come up into the 150’s earlier than expected. It was not a huge deviation and one I was comfortable with.  Ultimately I didn’t want my heart rate into the 160’s util the back half of the run so I was still ok there.  I hit the midpoint of the run at mile 6.5 averaging a 9:12 pace, roughly 10 seconds faster than anticipated.

–brief interlude–

If you’re lost in numbers at this point let me make a quick side note about why this matters. My previous best run in any 70.3 race came on this course two years prior. On that day I came out hoping to run an 8:45 pace for the entire run. Not once did I consider or even look at my heart rate. I managed to hold that pace for the first 7.5 miles not realizing that my heart rate had crossed into the 160’s at mile one and had continued to climb steadily since. It was around mile 7.5 that something happened that had not happened before and has not happened since. I got light headed. Like really woozy. I stopped at the first aid station I came to and started drinking water immediately. Over the next five miles I continued to do a run / walk combination as my body recovered. Looking back on it now it’s plain to see what was going on. After five hours of activity my heart rate was approaching 180, the maximum recommended for my age. And I was still an hour from the finish line. My body let me know it was done.
I’ve since learned the importance of keeping a lower heart rate for endurance events. In order to be fast on race day you have to train to a point where you can maintain fast at a low, comfortable heart rate. I’ve only recently been training with this philosophy but it’s already paying dividends.

–resuming race report—

As I started the back half of the run I knew it was test time. I read a quote not long ago that said “a 70.3 is simply a 10k with a 63 mile warm up”. I let my heart rate head into 160 territory as my pace dropped to around 8:30. I lasted a few miles and started to feel it. It was getting hot now as the clouds were gone for the day. I continued doing what I had done since mile one – taking cold water from every aid station and dumping it on my head. My stomach did not like the increased pace or heart rate and started tightening up so I backed off the pace slightly. When I hit mile 10 I knew that I could last for a final 5k. My heart rate leveled off around 163 as the final miles came and went. I saw Sarah and the kids cheering as I came down the chute and crossed the finish line.

I had been so caught up monitoring my heart rate that I really had not paid any attention to my overall time. There was no question I had beaten my previous best of 5:51. I flipped through a few screens on my Garmin and my jaw hit the floor when I saw 5:21. I honestly could not believe it. I had high expectations coming into the day but not once did I think they would begin with a five and a two. To say that I was elated does not begin to describe it.

POST RACE

After cooling down for a bit I decided to make a trip to the massage tent. When my turn finally came I lay down and some of the worst pain of the day began. Seriously. There was not a muscle from my neck to my lower back to my calves that didn’t hurt when poked on.

We got a few team pictures, packed up the bike and gear, and called it a day. One thing that stinks (literally) about days like this is that you have to be out of your hotel before the race is over. That means no freshening up for the drive home. Luckily Redman had partnered with the YMCA for the weekend. I was able to stop in and grab a shower before hitting the road. We stopped through and grabbed a burger and made the trip home back down 35.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Despite my stellar finish I wound up finishing 40th in my age group. Am I disappointed? Not in the slightest. Two of the top five overall finishers were in my age group. A top 25 finish for me would have required a 4:56 overall. That’s insanely fast. My hat’s off to the 39 guys that came in ahead of me.

I’ve said I before and I’ll say it again – days like this are not possible without the efforts of so many folks. There was a sign on the run course that said “if you’re still married you’re not training hard enough”. I owe a huge thanks to Sarah and the kids for tolerating the training this season. I plan on taking next year off from the 140.6 distance. The time demands are huge for a family.

I’ll say thanks again to Coach Bob for the plan he put together for this year. I continue to do things I did not think were possible and I largely owe it to the training he’s provided. I also have to say thanks to the guys and gals over on TexAgs.  Thanks for sharing both your victories and defeats (all the while killing my work productivity).  I’ve learned a ton from you all.  And congratulations to PUTU for qualifying for 2016 worlds even with losing 16 minutes due to a flat.  Chuck Norris sleeps in PUTU pajamas.

To the entire CTF team (Jason, Katie, David, Kody, and Jason) you guys continue to be an inspiration to keep getting better. Couer d’ Alane in 106 degree weather? Yeah, done that. Boulder for a first 140.6? Yeah, done that. Running a 13.1 mile training run at an 8:30 pace? You guys (and gal) continue to remind me that hard work pays off. We are all going to rock Ironman Florida, there’s no doubt in my mind.

Lastly, it would be foolish of me to think that this life and good health are not a gifts from my Creator.  The older I get the more I cherish and am thankful to be able to do the things I do.

So what’s next? Monday. Rest day. Tuesday it’s back to work with a two hour ride. It’s a not-to-subtle reminder that the journey is not over yet. Six more weeks and it will be. The next three weeks will be without question the most difficult three training weeks I have experienced in my 41 years of existence. I have no doubt in my mind. But as Coach Bob has said before, “thank me in November”.

It’s the final countdown!  Seven weeks from Saturday I’m doing this!  Parts of that statement thrill me.  Other parts of it scare the pants off of me.  Namely the thought of jumping in the water and swimming a half mile straight out into the gulf.  Twice.  Yikes.

Training is really coming together.  I’ve had some pretty solid rides over the past month.  Last weekend Jason, David and I went down to my favorite riding spot in West.  After riding 70 miles we jumped off and ran 15.  I feel like for the first time in five years I finally know how to pace myself so that I’m feeling strong deep into the race.  It’s amazing to go back and look at prior races knowing what I now know.  It’s easy to see why I wound up blowing up on the run time and time again.  If I can manage to come out of the water feeling fresh I think I have a good handle on the rest of the day.  The number one goal for the next seven weeks is to simply stay healthy.

This week Jason and I got out in the open water for the first time this season.  I had my usual anxiety issues, but they were pretty mild compared to past years.  I’m hoping to get out one or two more times this week to work out the kinks.  Yesterday I had a great 85 mile ride and this morning I had a rare chance to get out and run with my wife.  The rest of the day was spent with the usual routine of church followed by a (way too) quick trip to Stephenville to see my family.  I turned a whopping 41 years old today and they were gracious enough to take the time to celebrate it with me.

Next weekend I’ll be competing in my first long distance race of the season.  Five members of the CTF team will be heading up to Oklahoma City for the USAT National Championships.  The forecast as of today looks fabulous.  I had my best time ever on this course two years ago and I’m really hoping to smash it yet again.  I feel like my training going into it is as solid as I’ve ever had.  I certainly realize that there are a hundred things that can go wrong on race day, especially at this distance.  However, if the day goes off without any major issues, it has the potential to be a very good day.

In fund raising news I have 48 days left to raise ~$2,000.  If you have been intending to donate to the Children’s Tumor Foundation, well, there’s no time like now to do so!

Finally, in week two of the CTF Aggie Pick’em, all four points went to the house (boo!).  Luckily in week three we had some winners with Montgomery picking up two points and MePo picking up one.  That puts Montgomery out in first place with Endo BC AG, OldAg93, and MePo now in a three way tie for second.

Thanks for your continued support.  Stay tuned for next week; I’ll try to get a race report out on Sunday.

 

It’s been an exciting few weeks around here on many fronts.  The kids have started back to school so we’ve begun settling into the fall routine.  Now if the weather would do the same.

On the fundraising front I launched an Aggie Football Pick’em for CTF.  The idea came from the great minds of the Health & Fitness board over on TexAgs.  In a little over 10 days we managed to raise close to $1,000 for CTF!  That puts me right at the $3,500 mark, leaving 62 days to raise my final $2,000.  I’m feeling pretty optimistic at this point.  As always if you would like to help me get a few dollars closer you can do it right here.  And congrats to Endo BC Ag, Montgomery, and OldAg93, the winners from week one.

On the training front things have been insanely busy.  Training time is consistently over 15 hours a week at this point.  I have to say a huge thank you to my family for letting me do this and being so supportive.  Only eight more weeks and it’s all done.

I’m feeling pretty good about my training times and efforts.  My swims are runs are still slower than I would prefer but I’m ok with it.  My bike remains strong which is my ace in the hole at this point.  The only trick is going to be not over-biking on race day.

This weekend a stomach bug threw me a little bit of a curve ball.  I was able to get my 80 mile bike ride in on Saturday.  On Sunday I was scheduled to run 18.  I had begun having “issues” around 4 PM on Saturday night and into the evening.  Sunday morning I was still feeling a bit off kilter but decided to give it a shot.  Around mile 2.5 that shot ended up in the toilet, literally.  I decided to try one last time and finally by mile 5 called it quits.  I’m hoping to give it another go in the morning, we’ll see what happens.

The end is now in sight.

The past week was a recovery week which is both a good thing and a bad thing.  It’s great in that my body gets a chance to recover.  After finishing the training block leading up to this recovery week I could tell my body was needing a chance to recover.  The week still consisted of three swims, two runs, and two bikes, but all were at much lower duration and intensity.  Saturday was a team ride with the entire crew that’s headed to Florida.

Ironically my six mile run to end the week pretty much did me in.  I think it was a combination of weather (hot + humid) combined with not fueling well for about 48 hours.  I have to get out of the habit of slacking on nutrition during recovery week.  In hindsight it’s probably when my body needs it the most.

This week it’s back to two-a-days.  Lots of long, hard workouts.  In some twisted way I’m actually looking forward to it.  I’ve gotten to where I like to challenge myself and I know whatever work I do now is money in the bank for Florida (now less than 11 weeks away).

Speaking of money, I launched a new incentive to give to CTF this week.  I combined my fundraising efforts and love of football to bring you the Texas Aggie Pick’Em Benefiting the Children’s Tumor Foundation.   For every $25 you donate you can choose a square in the pick’em.  Squares will be used throughout the 2015 Aggie football season to determine a grand prize winner.  You can find out all of the details and donate here.

Thanks for your continued support!

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.