Marathon training is going well. Over the past few months I have been on the sidelines hurt. I struggled thru the Augusta, Ga 70.3 with no running under my legs for 6 weeks! Yesterday I completed a great speedwork set (3x1600) @ a very fast pace of 6:38 (well fast for me, not others that I know).
We had a great small group discussion at our house last night. God continues to bless our group with great spiritual direction. The six week series is about being "content". In today's world, we are so focused on keeping up with the Jones'. To that point, Hollywood even created a movie right here in Alpharetta called "Keeping up with the Jones'"!
It's my belief that God has given each of us unique skills, talents, and gifts that we should all use wisely. If someone wrote you a check today for $1 million dollars, or $2 million, would your life drastically be so much improved? No. Why? Well, you see all of the struggles that we go thru is building a morale character and a solid foundation. Without that solid base, or foundation we would not be able to deal with the pressure of that sort of money. Just my two cents for the day. 13 miler tomorrow...should be fun!
Friday, October 16, 2009
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
ING Miami Training is Underway!
I have been thinking of what Marathon would be next since I was injured. Just off a great and exciting weekend in Chicago to see Stacygirl kick some butt at the Chicago Marathon, I was very excited to get back and start my training.
This is my first week at training. It's Tuesday, and I have not started to run. In fact, no physical activity in 4 days. I will try to sneak over to Lifetime today @ lunch to get my tempo run in on the TM.
Overall, I am so happy for Stacygirl and her amazing accomplishment of 4:37. I know that she was a bit disappointed, but I was not. I was so proud of her for all of that training on her own. Here I am trying to give her some "inspiring words" before the marathon, and turns out she was the one who inspired me. I had told her that at any point, I would jump in and pace her on into the finish. She did not want my help as she did all of the training on her own and wanted to complete the marathon on her own. Wow! I am lucky to have her a part of my life.
This is my first week at training. It's Tuesday, and I have not started to run. In fact, no physical activity in 4 days. I will try to sneak over to Lifetime today @ lunch to get my tempo run in on the TM.
Overall, I am so happy for Stacygirl and her amazing accomplishment of 4:37. I know that she was a bit disappointed, but I was not. I was so proud of her for all of that training on her own. Here I am trying to give her some "inspiring words" before the marathon, and turns out she was the one who inspired me. I had told her that at any point, I would jump in and pace her on into the finish. She did not want my help as she did all of the training on her own and wanted to complete the marathon on her own. Wow! I am lucky to have her a part of my life.
Monday, June 1, 2009
Macon 70.3 Race Report
After 16 weeks of training I felt that I was ready to rock Macon. Most multisport athletes say that year number two is the year that you see the most improvement. I guess that is somewhat true for me, and somewhat incorrect. Here is my story....
On Friday 5/29, Stacy drove me over to my coach's house which is about 6 miles from my house. Thankfully, I was able to ride with Brian's family down to Macon. My dog is blind, so now one of us normally has to stay behind with the dog to keep her enviornment the same. The plan was for me to ride down with the Balmes family to Macon, and Stacy would get up early the next morning and wish me luck prior to the start of the race. The ride down was fun, I got to get to know Brian's awesome kids, Erin, Riley, and Ben a bit more. We went straight to the park to check our bikes in and check into the race. We got to check in about 2:00 pm, and it was very hot already.
Check in went well. Brian and I then decided to swim out to the first temporary bouy to get a feel for the open water. The lake in Macon (Lake Tobesfokee), was georgous! The water felt great, and we had heard that it would be wetsuit legal (74 Degrees)! Yes-this means about 3 min. faster swim for me at that distance.
We left the park and then went to check in at the hotel, and I had about 1 hr before dinner @ 6:15 at Carrabbas. I went to the pool there and had the ipod to my favorite "chill mix". Got a shower, shaved down, and off to dinner. At dinner I had grilled chicken pizza. I have to say I was a bit dissapointed with the choice. I had my best training day of the year a few weeks back at Tybee Island and had pizza the night before. This pizza was NOT what I was looking for. I had a bit of heartburn the next morning, and I was pissed!!
I got to bed @ 9:30 and the plan was to leave the hotel @ 5:30....
Race day - Saturday, 5/30!!! Slept good, and got up ready to roll. The hotel coffee was horrible, and I did bring my bagel & p'nut butter for b'fast. So, that was good. Hit the bathroom and was ready to roll. Then...I hit my toe on the hotel room desk, and that hurt like hell! Go fiture, the one day that I did NOT need to do that, I DID. It started to turn red/blue as soon as I did it..Shake it off and moveon.org.
Patty drove us to the race, and Brian and I were both "in the zone" We had our ipod's on and my music of choice was Disturbed, and I am sure that Brian had something similar rocking. Got set up and heard the offical word that we were wetsuit legal, and you could hear the other competiotors cheering! Found my buddy JC, and the three of us when down to the swim/beach start for a little warm up swim. When I got back, Stacy was right there waiting on me with her cup of Starbucks and cheering me on! I was starting to get worried that she was not going to get there in time, but she was there! Bryan's wife, Patty, took some pictures of all of us. Also, my buddies Paul and Rebecca came down to say good luck. It was probably the most relaxed that I felt for a start-ever!
Swim - This was a clockwise out and back swim. The swim portion was awesome. I swam a 35:27 (on my watch). This was about 10 min faster than I thought I would swim!
T1 - Pretty good. No issues.
*
Bike- OK. Nice bike but got my finger stuck in the spokes..That hurt.
*
T2 - OK, but forgot my race number belt and had to go back and get it.
*
Run- The run was very hard. I felt strong, but my stomach would not allow any more...I would run an 8:42, and then a 9/:50, and then a 8:50, and then a 10:30..
Overall..5:45. not so bad.
On Friday 5/29, Stacy drove me over to my coach's house which is about 6 miles from my house. Thankfully, I was able to ride with Brian's family down to Macon. My dog is blind, so now one of us normally has to stay behind with the dog to keep her enviornment the same. The plan was for me to ride down with the Balmes family to Macon, and Stacy would get up early the next morning and wish me luck prior to the start of the race. The ride down was fun, I got to get to know Brian's awesome kids, Erin, Riley, and Ben a bit more. We went straight to the park to check our bikes in and check into the race. We got to check in about 2:00 pm, and it was very hot already.
Check in went well. Brian and I then decided to swim out to the first temporary bouy to get a feel for the open water. The lake in Macon (Lake Tobesfokee), was georgous! The water felt great, and we had heard that it would be wetsuit legal (74 Degrees)! Yes-this means about 3 min. faster swim for me at that distance.
We left the park and then went to check in at the hotel, and I had about 1 hr before dinner @ 6:15 at Carrabbas. I went to the pool there and had the ipod to my favorite "chill mix". Got a shower, shaved down, and off to dinner. At dinner I had grilled chicken pizza. I have to say I was a bit dissapointed with the choice. I had my best training day of the year a few weeks back at Tybee Island and had pizza the night before. This pizza was NOT what I was looking for. I had a bit of heartburn the next morning, and I was pissed!!
I got to bed @ 9:30 and the plan was to leave the hotel @ 5:30....
Race day - Saturday, 5/30!!! Slept good, and got up ready to roll. The hotel coffee was horrible, and I did bring my bagel & p'nut butter for b'fast. So, that was good. Hit the bathroom and was ready to roll. Then...I hit my toe on the hotel room desk, and that hurt like hell! Go fiture, the one day that I did NOT need to do that, I DID. It started to turn red/blue as soon as I did it..Shake it off and moveon.org.
Patty drove us to the race, and Brian and I were both "in the zone" We had our ipod's on and my music of choice was Disturbed, and I am sure that Brian had something similar rocking. Got set up and heard the offical word that we were wetsuit legal, and you could hear the other competiotors cheering! Found my buddy JC, and the three of us when down to the swim/beach start for a little warm up swim. When I got back, Stacy was right there waiting on me with her cup of Starbucks and cheering me on! I was starting to get worried that she was not going to get there in time, but she was there! Bryan's wife, Patty, took some pictures of all of us. Also, my buddies Paul and Rebecca came down to say good luck. It was probably the most relaxed that I felt for a start-ever!
Swim - This was a clockwise out and back swim. The swim portion was awesome. I swam a 35:27 (on my watch). This was about 10 min faster than I thought I would swim!
T1 - Pretty good. No issues.
*
Bike- OK. Nice bike but got my finger stuck in the spokes..That hurt.
*
T2 - OK, but forgot my race number belt and had to go back and get it.
*
Run- The run was very hard. I felt strong, but my stomach would not allow any more...I would run an 8:42, and then a 9/:50, and then a 8:50, and then a 10:30..
Overall..5:45. not so bad.
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