More Time In The Running Shoes...Lots Of Time To Think

If you can imagine it, You can achieve it. If you can dream it, You can become it.

Well, it has been a couple of weeks since I last posted. Really, it has been pretty much work, train, eat, sleep...repeat - not a lot of news to report.

I rode the tollway this past Saturday again. This time I managed the hydration a little better. But it got hot really early... actually, it probably started out that way! Sunday I managed my 2nd longest run distance, 12 miles, and this coming weekend will be doing my longest-ever run (I should say run/walk), 14 miles of wonderful heat. Yup, we will be up and moving by 5 in the freakin' am just to beat the heat! I am really happy with the new running shoes though, and I think they make a big difference. I think I am running less on my heels with these. Saturday will be a 5-hour ride, so I will likely ride from the house again and maybe ride up to at least Hutto on the tollway, then back down, likely at least to 183. 

Tonight I am planning on a swim across the lake, and will use the pull buoy to simulate wearing the wetsuit. Kristi, my LoneStar finisher friend, volunteered to kayak for me, so hopefully I won't get run over by the sailboard fanatics. Should be a fun evening. 

Work has been the stressor these last couple of weeks, or maybe "non-work as a possibility" might be a better way of describing the issue. I was told by my company of four years that when my contract (that THEY wanted me in) expires at the end of the month, so does my employment. Not exactly what I had planned, but I guess I had better get something lined up. I have had discussion with a few recruiters, so we will see how it goes. I may be swinging a hammer or paint brush in a week or so... but I really didn't need this issue at this point in my training!

Oh well, what fun is life if you don't have any challenges, right?

 

Did I mention I don't like running?

“Remembering you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose" -- Steve Jobs 

This past month's training totals came as a bit of  a surprise to me. I don't believe I have ever run this much in a month. Almost 100 miles! Wow! Not too shabby for the Plodding Elephant, huh?

July Monthly totals:
    Swim:       15990.42 Yd - 6h 40m 54s
    Bike:        415.02 Mi - 23h 17m 54s
    Run:         98.75 Mi - 19h 12m 02s
    Strength:  7h 30m 

This month should be a challenge - it is so freaking hot! I admit a lot of my miles these past couple of weeks have been on the treadmill. But now comes the time to start getting up at zero-dark-thirty on the weekend to get the run in before church, and to establish my outdoor running pace on longer runs. Last weekend was a 10-mile run and this week will be a 12-miler... yippee!

This past Saturday I rode on the tollway with another IMFL-training friend. His daughter was playing volleyball in Lockhart, so his plan was to ride to the game and then come back with the family in the car. So I rode with him from near home almost to the south end of the tollway. Our outbound ride was steady pedaling all the way, averaging about 15.7 for a little over 2 hours, and it seemed like we were always climbing. But as soon as we split up and I turned around to come home, I knew the ride had just become a whole lot better. With the descents of all the mini-hills we had been climbing and a pretty decent tail wind, the return trip was only about 1hr 25mins. Awesome! What a blast! And the tollway shoulder going north was quite a bit cleaner than the southbound side for some unknown reason. I stopped for a Gatorade and a water refill up north and then tooled on into the parking lot where I had met up with Mike. 

My new sleeveless wetsuit came in, so hopefully I will make it to Barton Springs soon... family stuff got in the way a couple times, but I want to get into the water pretty soon.

Looks like the Ironman folks might be getting involved in our "Racing Hearts" documentary...more on that later.

Rubber side down, folks!

I'm All In !! -- and that's a GOOD thing!

“When we are motivated by goals that have deep meaning, by dreams that need completion, by pure love that needs expressing, then we truly live life.” – Greg Anderson

Today was THE day... the last day that there would be any chance of being pulled from the Ironman Florida race. Today was my annual cardio stress test (isn't it kind of ironic how much we stress about a stress test, beforehand?) and my last visit with Dr. V before the race in November.

Well, suffice it to say, you know things are okay when the doctor walks in and talks about 6 other things before he even mentions the test results - pretty much like this:

       1. how is your daughter?

       2. any grandkids yet?

       3. you have a girlfriend yet? you need somebody to watch over you.

       4. did you see the plaque hanging in the waiting room? (the one I gave him last year after theTriple Bypass Ride in Colorado)

       5. looks like you recovered from the bike wreck.

       6. you are drinking enough water when you exercise, and getting the salt?

       7. and then, FINALLY - "oh, the test was perfect... but we expected that, with all the exercise, right?"

So, yeah - I got a "good luck with that Ironman thing!"  and that was that. See, I think the further down the list the test results fall, the better off I am.

I also had the opportunity to finally give him the Cardiac Ironman t-shirt I had printed, and it was fun to watch his response when he opened it up and read the front and back. He thought it was pretty funny when he read the part about my heart being built and re-built... "you should give Dr. Baptiste one of these, too"  (I do have one for Dr. B as well - just have not been over there yet.)

All righty then! We are completely in for Ironman Florida, no questions asked...

I love my doctors!