Tuesday

Good morning! How was the long weekend for you? I had a good one, measured in different ways. Since this blog is about my endurance athletic life, then that's what we'll talk about. I will say training for Ironman is difficult.

The workouts are tough, but tougher is maintaining a balance between the workouts and the other things that are far more important. I vowed from the beginning to not let it affect my ministry, and, I think, I have kept that vow. I have had to cut other things, which I'm not crazy about, but we are in the home stretch now. I think we have 6-7 more weeks of hard training and then begins taper.

The long weekend was a pretty good one for training. Friday Rand, Jim, and I swam long. Rand and I did the Iron distance of 2.4, while Jimmy went ahead and did the 3 mile workout. My 3 miler is coming up. I will have to find a good time to do it. I did this 2.4 miler about 3 minutes faster than the first time, so I was happy about that.

Saturday I had (soft) visions of doing a 20 miler. I was still feeling Thursday's 100 mile ride and Friday's long swim, so I didn't know how the run would go. I took off around 6:30, knowing rain was on the radar. I did 7 and went back to grab a quick drink and a gel. The plan was to do another 7 and then decide if I would go on. It was very humid but pleasantly cool.

On my way out to the Amish Super 2, I was feeling pretty good but the sky was growing more ominous by the minutes. Then I saw it, the deal breaker for me: lightning. I continued on for about a minute before turning back to town. Before I could get back the rain came and came pretty hard. I kept going. My shoes were soaked, so I made the decision at about the 12 mile mark I would go 15 miles.

I did not really need 20 at this point, though I wanted it and would have done it if dry. I was fairly pleased with the run, though all of my running is about a minute per mile slower than I wish. Part of that is coming off my double hamstring problems, but now it is more trying to manage one training event in such a way it does not hurt the next one too much. This, to me, is one of the arts of training for Ironman. It is about managing fatigue. I like the challenge.

Sunday afternoon several of us gathered at Kenray for another swim. I went 1.6. Why 1.6? Because it gave me 5 miles of swimming for the week, of course! The swim went OK, not great. I still have lots of work to do.

Yesterday Rand, Roy, Jim and I gathered at church at 7:30 to ride. Several of us have conflicts tomorrow evening, so we decided to do our usual workout today, on Labor Day. We had a decent ride, rolling out on 337 at 20 mph and coming back around 23 mph. The southwest wind was significant. After the workout I did some things around the yard (see above about cutting things out) before a family cookout.

If you look carefully (click on picture to enlarge) at the photo above, a screen shot of my Beginning Triathlete log, you can see my August totals, as well as yearly totals. I am pleased with the swim miles and bike miles. My running miles are low, due to injury earlier, but I am increasing them now.  OK, this turned out to be a longer post than I planned. Oh well... Have a good day!

Friday

Good morning! It's Friday! It's going to be a busy one for me, since I took yesterday off. Oh well, it's all good.

Yesterday turned out to be a great day of training, just like we hoped it would be. Jimmy was delayed a little, so we got started around 7:45, which was fine. The morning temps were cool but the humidity was high. We made our way south and west, extending the Amish Super 2 by turning west/right at the end.

By the time we got to Orleans we were looking at 13.5 miles. Time to head east for a while, like all the way to Campbellsburg. Then we went south, like all the way to Fredricksburg. There we were sitting on 46 miles. We had not stopped and didn't stop then. With depleted water supplies, we rolled into the gas station at Campbellsburg with 63 miles.

It was our first and only stop of the day. We got water, Gatorade, and a small break. It took 10 minutes to do all that. Then it was time to head west for a while, which was the best direction of the day. There was a very small wind out of the east, but still it helped.

All in all it was a pretty uneventful day. We only average 16.5. Jimmy didn't feel good for quite a while. Then when he started feeling better, I was feeling the heat/humidity. It was pre-pre-bonk stuff. Didn't even get close, though. I was able to manage and finish in an upright position. We rolled into the church parking lot at 100.1 miles.

On the ride we worked on our nutrition/hydration plan. I drank 110 ounces of water and Gatorade, mostly water. I consumed approximately 1000 calories but burned 2500-3000, I think. Both are on the low end of what I need to do, so I have more work to do in that area.

After a little break and some real food, I headed out to Kenray Lake. Jim was there with KJ to go fishing. Jim brought his swim gear, just in case it would work out for him. I jumped in and took off. I did a mile in a fairly decent time for me (38 minutes). The water was really warm. It felt good on the old man's tired body.

Brent V showed up to swim, right as I finished. I offered to fish with KJ so Jim could swim. Jim got a mile in, and I think Brent did too. I got home and we had a nice meal of salad and spaghetti. It was a nice day of training for Ironman.

Today? I think there could be another swim in the works, which would be great! I want in the water as much as possible between now and November 1. I know Kenray is not the Gulf but comfort/confindence in the water, that comes from being in it, should carry over, I hope.

Thursday

Cora is growing up so fast!

Good morning! How are you on this new day? Good, I hope.

Today is going to be a big day, at least that's the plan. I have another unusually busy weekend, and since I am supposed/need to take a day off during the week, I am taking today off from my usual activities. I confess it feels a little weird taking Thursday off, but Jimmy does it! Every week! 

Oh well, you don't need or want to hear my inner struggles with responsibilities, guilt, unmet expectations, the impossibility of doing everything, etc.; you probably have yours to - ha ha. Back to today - yes, the good Dr. Jimmy and I are going to have a great day of training.

Our plan is to roll out at 7:30 for a 100 mile ride, wandering around, moving toward Fredricksburg, collecting miles as we go and come back. We will have to do a few side trips to get 100 miles, but we can do that. We want to minimize stops today, more closely simulating the Ironman ride. We will have to stop for water at some point, however. The weather should be pretty decent today, a little cooler and hardly any wind.

After the ride we plan to head to Kenray for a swim. It's been a week for me, so I am eager to get back in the water. I will probably do a mile and plan on the Iron distance of 2.4 miles on Sunday afternoon. 

Yesterday I did another little 5 miler. They are going fine, but they are slow. I know my Ironman marathon is going to be slow too. I am thinking about doing my first 20 miler this weekend. I will have to see what time constraints I have, along with how I feel.

Have a great day!

Wednesday

Good morning! I hope you are well on this new day, another gift from God.

A run is calling me, so I will try get this out quickly. I ended up with a little over 29 miles last night, 21 less than my hope, but I am thankful to have those miles. The rain was a major player last night.

My plan was to roll out at 4:30, but I had trouble getting out of my office. I was already a little behind, and at this point, since I watched the radar for a while, I knew there was a good chance of plans changing. I decided to get what I could get before everyone else arrived. I started about 4:45 and did a few loops around the edge of town, carefully watching the sky as I went.

It was clear storms were rolling in, so I headed back to church a little after 5. Roy was there waiting. As soon as I pulled under the carport, the rain started. Roy came in the building. We chatted and watched the radar. Jimmy called to ask what was happening. I told him I thought it would stop. The problem was the storm cell didn't want to move. It rained hard for a long time.

Jimmy arrived, as did Troy and Tim the Elder. It was still raining at roll out time. Tim the Elder, the wise one, went home. After a little delay, the rain got lighter, and the radar revealed a window of dryness just north of us. I said, "Let's go!" We did. Just north of town the roads were dry and the sky clear. We did a couple of loops on Dixie Highway and came back. I had 7 pre-ride miles to add to the 22 we did together.

Afterwards Jim, Roy, Troy, and I gathered at Wendy's. John H came to join us, so we got a lot of good Ironman stories and information. It turned out to be a pretty pleasant evening. Today is another 5 mile run. Tomorrow Jim and I are planning to do another 100 miler, my 9th of the year.

Tuesday

Ironman Eyes?

Good morning! How are you on this day, a Tuesday? I am looking at 74 degrees. Hmmm, something tells me my run, which will start in the dark, is going to be warm and muggy. Oh well, at least I'm not doing Ironman today. I'm still amazed with what I saw on Sunday -- people competing in tough conditions.

I took another rest day yesterday. I spent some time with John on the marathon course Sunday. I wasn't expecting to do that, but it turned out to be a pretty good workout. That coupled with a late night/early morning arrival home, short sleep, and a busy day led to a logical decision to rest. It felt good.

Today will be a busy one. I am going to run 5 miles soon, and then I am loading a semi with/for Bryanstville Hunger Relief Project. After that I will squeeze in a few things before heading to Loogootee to meet with a good friend about our work in Honduras. Then a little more work before hitting the bike for a pre-ride, followed by the "official" ride at 5:45. I am hoping for another 50 miles this evening.

The ride tonight, I think, will be sparsely populated. I know John is out, as is Jimmy. We'll see who shows up for what. It is going to be hot and humid.

Watching Ironman Louisville was a good experience for me. It gave me some confidence, but/and it scared me as well. It's a good, healthy fear, the kind that will motivate me to work hard over the next 7-8 weeks before tapering.

Have a great day!

Monday

Iron John getting it done

Good morning! I hope you are off to a good start today. I am up and at it, taking it as it comes.

After church yesterday I made my way to Louisville to watch John Heatherly compete in Ironman. I got there and found it, no surprise, hot and humid. I checked in with several friends who had been there from the beginning.

They reported John did well in the swim and was doing well on the bike. I waited at the transition area for everyone, including John. It was fun to watch people coming in off the bike, 112 miles, after a 2.4 mile swim. Most of them looked pretty good. A few were in trouble.

John came in after a good ride. He switched his bike shoes for running shoes, along with a few other changes, and he was off on the run. It was about 3:30 when he took off. It was very humid and hot. John persevered through it all and finished a little after 10 p.m. It was a long, hot marathon, but he did it!

"John Heatherly, You Are an Ironman!" The words everyone who trains for these things longs to hear! Congratulations, John, great job!

Experimenting with LSD

See the humidity?

Long Slow Distance! I have been telling myself and a few others that I would do 16 miles today. I need to start upping the run miles, and a 16 miler would push me to 31 for the week, a respectable Ironman total.

I knew I needed to start early to beat the heat, so I think I got off right around 6:15. It was very dark, so I decided to run down main street to the railroad tracks and then turn west for a while. It was a decent plan. About a half mile into the run, the negotiations began. What negotiations?

The humidity was amazing, so part of me, Reasonable Quitter, started saying, “You know you really don’t need 16 miles, 10 would give you 25.” It continued as the tenths of the miles slowly passed, “You know in this kind of weather, it really is not doing much good. Five miles would give you 20 for the week; just look at it as a rest week.”

My inner Wannabe Ironman (WI) countered, in a kind diplomatic way, “We’ll let’s wait and see. Let’s do 5, go back to the car, get a drink and decide.” Reasonable Quitter (RQ) continued to quietly make the case for 5 miles. WI remained silent, looking ahead, slowly plodding along, dripping sweat from soaked clothes.

We arrived back at the car, and WI told RQ to shut up. “We’ll go out and do 5 more and then evaluate.” RQ pouted after saying, “fine.” You know what? As the sun rose, and mercifully was blocked by the clouds, the humidity dropped some. Suddenly WI was tricking us into doing 6 before going back to the car. “If we get back with 11, then we can add 4 for a nice 15 OR we could just do the full 16 by adding 5.”

The last section is where things got really tough. It was around 80 and humidity was really bad. WI said, “This will be good for working on mental toughness!” He was pretty excited. RQ had given up, so I had to go with WI.

My pace slowed as my heart rate climbed. This is where the experimentation started. I was watching my heart rate go from the 130s for the first 5 miles, well into the 140s for the next 6, and now it was climbing quickly through the 150s and 160s. When it hit 170, at around 14.5 miles, I decided to walk until it fell back to 155. This happened pretty quickly, so I would then run again for a few minutes, watching 155-169, stopping again at 170.

I think it was good practice for the Ironman marathon. Hopefully it will not be anything like these conditions, but it was good to experiment with my heart rate on a long slow distance run. The overall pace was very slow, but that's ok for today.

Man, I feel for John H. It is going to be so tough in Louisville tomorrow. I am saying some serious prayers for him, his safety, and his ability to handle the conditions. I believe in the power of prayer and believe he will succeed.