A slight break in the catch-up action...

You may have noticed that I'm crazy behind in my postings--this training thing and the whole real-life thing have taken their toll on my spare time (or, more accurately, obliterated my spare time). So, while I'm still making baby steps on catching up on the weekly wrap ups and race updates, I did want to take a little break for a real-time blog entry.

At today's WW meeting, a couple of things happened worth noting. First, I'm at my lowest weight ever (well, since junior high probably) and am now a pound under the top limit of my healthy weight range, which means I have a BMI (Body Mass Index) of 25 or less. When I started WW, my BMI was something like 41--way unhealthy--so the fact that I'm under the 25 mark is pretty amazing to me. I'm still technically 4 pounds away from what I thought my goal weight would be--may increase that by a couple of pounds, but I'm going to wait until after IM to make that call. It's also interesting to me that it seems like I actually can't eat enough these days--I haven't journalled or really tracked for the past several weeks, and it seems like I've been eating everything in sight--and yet I'm losing weight. My guess is my metabolism is through the roof these days and that I'm making the right food choices (except for the not-so-occasional bowl of ice cream)...however, my lack of normal discipline with my diet (measuring, tracking, etc.) makes me a little scared as to what will happen post-IM...but I'll wait to cross that bridge until I cross the finish line. The bottom line, though, is that I've lost 107.2 lb since August 12, 2003, and that I feel awesome about life, WW, IM, and me.

The other thing that happened today is we talked about the weight loss journey in terms of the journey and not the destination. I think one of the key things that I like about WW is that there really isn't a concrete destination--at some point, I'll hopefully hit my goal weight, which is certainly a milestone, but the tools I've gained and lifestyle changes I've made will keep me on track long after I hit my goal weight.

The whole time we were talking about the journey, though, I kept thinking about the IM journey, too--of course, with IM, there actually is a concrete destination--about 140.6 miles after the start of the race...but I think the journey is a pretty amazing part of the experience, too. Sue told me before I even registered that the journey was the best part of IM--I didn't believe her at the time, but I think I do now.

Theresa sent me a couple of quotes after the Muncie race (which I'll eventually get around to blogging about)--seems like they apply very well to the whole IM experience so far and, as such, it seems appropriate to post them here, too...

"The higher the goal, the harder the climb, but taken each day, one step at a time. The goal is accomplished, the dream is attained, and the prizes? The wisdom and strength that are gained."

"Victories in life come through our ability to work around and over the obstacles that cross our path. We grow stronger as we climb our own mountains." -Marvin Ashton

The first, in particular, hits home with me--I'm definitely gunning for the finisher's medal, but I do believe that the bigger prize I'll take away from this experience is everything I've learned about myself along the way. With less than 6 weeks to go, I can say with certainty that I am most definitely a different person than I was when I started this journey late last summer. If you're wondering what I mean, here are just a few of the things I've learned so far...

• I've learned that I have an internal drive and commitment that is pretty powerful--it gets my non-morning-person butt out of bed nearly every day to get to the fitness center or pool, and it keeps me going when things start to hurt after (or during) a tough workout.
• I've learned that, mentally, I can get through darn near anything by talking myself through it (and, on occasion, literally talking to myself--there have been several runs where I've actually cheered me on verbally).
• I've learned that it's OK to let other people help out--even my fiercely independent nature has picked up on the fact that sometimes I need help to manage through a situation or to work around my limitations.
• I've learned that time is valuable--it's been tough prioritizing training over friends and family at times, and one could argue that it's pretty selfish to do so, but I've tried to strike some sort of balance between my training demands and my relationship needs.
• And, with respect to work, I've learned that work-life balance is a pretty fine line--sometimes I do OK with it, and sometimes not as much...but I'm way ahead of where I used to be, at least.
• Most importantly, though, I've learned that I can do whatever I put my mind to. I never, in a million years, imagined I'd be doing this stuff to culminate in an IM race--in fact I thought "those people" were insane. And yet, here I sit--6 weeks away from the big day and confident that I can do it (provided things stay within my control)--all because I put my mind to it and haven't looked back since. It hasn't been easy, but I've done it--and I think that's the best part of all.

With all those learnings, it's easy for me to tell that I've changed--I think for the better...all thanks to this amazing journey--which, in my world at least, is a crazy combination of WW and IM experiences. There may have been (and will continue to be) bumps along the way, little side trips to parts unknown here and there, and a few random swear words of frustration...but I wouldn't trade any of it...

And the journey continues...

Week 11 Wrap-Up (aka Camp Ironman begins)

Work continued to wreak minor havoc with my training—things slowly started turning for the good, but still, it’s a tough balancing act between getting in my training and doing justice to that thing which pays the bills (aka my job). I missed a swim workout and ended up turning one of my runs into a tempo run just to fit it in the time I had available, but I guess it’s all good in the end. It is tough, though, to manage work, training, and personal stuff—after rescheduling about a million times, I finally managed to have dinner with my friend Catherine on Thursday (hence the impromptu tempo run to make sure I didn’t have to reschedule again).

Friday, I took the day off—more as a mental recovery day than anything else. I put my Zipps on Tack (and learned how to change brake pads—doesn’t seem tough, but man I got dirty the first time around), took care of some random stuff around my house, and even managed to have lunch with Theresa before I took off for LaPorte and the weekend that has come to be known as Camp Ironman. I got to Sue and Michele’s cottage by early evening and, after hanging out with them and the dogs for a while, we called it a night as we had an early morning 5K in Walkerton, which, although only about 30 minutes away from LaPorte, is on eastern time—I’ll never understand the logic (or, more appropriately, the lack of logic) in the Indiana time zone situation. We loaded up our bikes (we were also doing a 50-mile ride immediately following the 5K) and headed out very early on Saturday.

The 5K (and the ride) were part of the Walkerton town celebration, so there were a lot of local and area residents out and about. Michele jokingly told me that I needed to run faster than an 8:00 pace or I’d get kicked out of Camp Ironman…at least I think it was jokingly… In the end, it was all good as I ran a PR of 22:32, which translates to about a 7:16 pace—far and away my best race. I still took off a bit fast and ended up paying for it a little at the end, but it was still a solid run. Most randomly, I WON my age group--that's right, kids--I came home with hardware from a RUNNING race--who the hell knew that was possible??? I'm not complaining--I do love the hardware--but good gravy, this is me we're talking about...

The 50-mile ride, however, left a LOT to be desired. I’m pretty sure the person who did the route never ever rode the course, at least not on a bike—it was hands-down the worst route I’ve ever been on. There were about 4 miles of gravel (thanks to road construction) and about 46 other miles of crappy, poorly paved roads—a pretty crappy ride to try out my shiny new race wheels. I was more than bitter when I finally rolled back to my car…and after a quick commiseration with Michele, I took off to the cottage for a quick shower before heading to Benton Harbor, MI to check in for Sunday’s race (the Fifth/Third Firecracker Tri, a sprint race on some of the same course as Steelhead).

After picking up my registration stuff for the race, I met a college friend and her husband (Karlene and Mickey) for dinner, where I found out the awesome news that they are expecting their first baby in January. It was great seeing them—unfortunately, they won’t be around for Steelhead, but at least I got to see them for a little bit. I headed back down to LaPorte for the evening, which meant I, once again, had to get up really fricking early to make it up to the race in time (again, I hate the time zone changes!!).

The tri swim was in Lake Michigan—my first experience with it—and was a little intimidating--~2-3 foot swells and faily chilly temperatures. Nonetheless, after I figured out my breathing during a quick warm-up and officially christened my wetsuit a couple of times (and if you don’t know what that means, you probably don’t want to know), I had a pretty decent swim. The bike course was a two-loop course that was nice and flat—perfect for trying the race wheels under more normal conditions, and they worked great. There was a pretty good headwind for a good chunk of the course, though, which slowed me down a bit—my average speed was only 19.7 mph for that race. I had a pretty solid run—ended up passing Michele at about mile 1 and managed to stay ahead of her for the rest of the race. It was pretty cool, though—when I passed her, she told me she was proud of me…pretty cool to hear from a training partner, friend, and “Iron mentor”. I finished up with another Athena win (would’ve come in 2nd in my age group, too), and Sue and Michele both picked up hardware, too—all in all a good race, although it started raining just in time for the awards.

After heading back to LaPorte, Michele and I took off for the rest of our long run—we needed to pick up another 11 miles, so we headed out toward Orr Lake Road and began that process. All was well until we hit about mile 3.5…we were headed up a hill when we spotted two young guys headed our way. They both appeared to be dressed alike and were walking pretty slowly towards us—I thought at first that maybe they were teammates from a soccer team or something. When they got closer, though, it became very apparent that was not the case…they were dressed in identical drab green t-shirts, matching gym shorts, white socks, and sneakers. One of them had a pretty nasty wound on his leg, and the other had some tears in his shorts—not necessarily what we were expecting. As they passed us, one of them asked if there was a town up ahead…again, not what we were expecting. We didn’t say anything to each other until we were over the top of the hill and out of earshot—then Michele asked if I had my cell phone, which I did. When I started to reach for it, she waved me back and literally jumped out in the middle of the road to flag down a passing car—turns out there is a juvenile corrections farm not far from where we were and Michele wanted to call the authorities and make sure they weren’t escapees. The LaPorte County Sheriff’s Department is pretty speedy, as it turns out—by the time we had run about another half mile, three sheriff’s cars had passed us, with two stopping to ask for more details on what we had seen. Pretty crazy—and the fact that the two guys had apparently managed to go off-road and elude the cars had Michele and I on high alert for the rest of the run. We found out later that they had captured one of the two and that they were in for assault and robbery (Michele’s mom works at the county jail and filled her in). Pretty wild…first horses on the road during a bike ride, and now convicts on the road during a run….crazy!!

Here’s the roll-up for the week…

Swim: 1:14:52 / 3500 meters
Bike: 6:40:34 / 116.44 miles
Run: 4:08:19 / 28.05 miles
Total: 12:03:45 / 146.68 miles

Week 12 Wrap-Up

The highlight of week 12 was most definitely the Dutchman Tri and being able to hang out with Vardo—the rest of the week was pretty basic save for some pretty brutal work stuff that ended up becoming a pretty big emotional drain. Thanks to awesome friends like Theresa, Sue, and Michele, though, I got my head back on straight and kept my training hiccups to a minimum. It’s pretty awful, though, to be a non-emotional person and then have two almost-breakdowns—one in the comfort of my home and one very randomly in the fitness center…but I managed through them with my friends’ help.

I opted to bail on my long bike for the week—more out of a desire to spend some focused time with my parents than anything else, plus I figured I’d get in some good training over the 4th of July holiday weekend. I did, however, work in a 16-mile run on Sunday—basically did 2 8-mile loops around my parents’ house so I could have a built-in water break. It was still a fairly brutal run—pretty humid and it was also the longest distance I’d run by myself (all of my longer marathon runs were done with Michele) – so it was a good mental training day, too. The long run made the drive back to Chicagoland fairly rough—had to stop a couple of times to stretch my legs, but I made it back.

Here’s the roll-up for the week…

Swim: 2:38:49 / 6800 meters
Bike: 3:48:36 / 68.82 miles
Run: 5:16:46 / 33.70 miles
Total: 11:44:11 / 106.77 miles

Who Says You Can’t Go Home

On June 24, I competed in the Dutchman Triathlon in my hometown of Pella, IA. It was pretty cool for a few reasons—1) It was in my hometown, which gave me an excuse to go back and visit for the first time in about 3 years; 2) Vardo also did the race, so we got to spend some time together both before/after the race and, to a lesser extent, during the race; and 3) My parents and some family friends were there to cheer us on. Both Vardo and I stayed with my high school band director and his wife (family friends who were our backyard neighbors before my parents moved)—it was great to catch up with them as I hadn’t seen them for several years.

Driving into town on a road I’ve been on about a million times in my life, I suddenly realized how hilly the area around Pella really is…which wasn’t making me too happy with the possibility of a hilly bike route. It was also very odd driving into town for the sole purpose of competing in a triathlon—the last time I was in Pella, I had just started WW and still weighed over 250 lb, so the contrast was pretty wild for me mentally.

On race day, Vardo and I got up rather early (at least for me) and headed to Lake Red Rock to get ready. The day was almost perfect—the water temp was still wetsuit-legal (yippee), and the weather was beautiful—not a lot of wind and relatively moderate temperature. As this was the first Olympic distance race for both Vardo and me, I think we were both a little apprehensive—especially when we started seeing all of the other triathletes getting set-up. In sprint races, odds are there are at least a few first-timers and/or mountain bike riders—not so much with this crowd and their really nice tri bikes, very serious expressions, and obviously routine pre-race rituals. It was a tad nerve-wracking, but I figured the distance was more a matter of managing my pacing than anything else.

The swim was pretty uneventful—I felt pretty good through the whole thing and didn’t try to push it too hard. I actually beat Vardo out of the water, which surprised me, but she beat me out of T1. I got her on the bike again, though—and proceeded to have a strong bike leg. Turns out hill training in Wisconsin paid out dividends for me on the Pella course as I picked a lot of people off on the climbs and averaged 21.8 mph for the ride—a darn good speed for me. My parents and the Blairs made it out to one of the cross streets to cheer me on, which was very cool and equally unexpected, and then made it back to Red Rock again in time to see me pull in for T2. I took off on the run—way way too fast, I might add—and about dropped a load on the course when I checked my watch at mile 1 and realized I was running about 7:30 miles…faster than my 5K tri times and certainly way faster than I wanted to run my 10K. Stupidly, I didn’t really slow down and convinced myself the mile marker was off…until I hit the mile 2 aid station about 14:30 into my run and feeling like I wanted to keel over. Mile 3 involves a pretty good hill—not steep, but a gradual climb—and with the pace I was going, I had no choice but to walk up most of it. I saw Vardo headed up it when I was finally on the downhill and warned her that it wasn’t so fun. I survived the rest of the run with a couple more walking breaks—ended up with an 8:25 pace, which was tolerable but certainly could’ve been better had I paced a little more consistently. Overall, though, I was really pleased with my race—which was good enough to take the Athena win.

After hanging out for the awards ceremony (and running into one of the kids I used to babysit for (now married and all grown up)), Vardo headed to a wedding in Des Moines and my parents and I headed into Pella to bum around for a little while—I picked up some of my favorite Pella food treats and did some other random shopping before we headed back to Ames. All in all—great race, great day, and I’ll definitely keep that tri on my calendar for future years.