Mass Swim Starts! How Much Fun!

Have you ever ran for 2 days?

Well, I couldn't sleep much last night. I had missed my early morning workout, and kept thinking I needed to head out on a run. I had a busy day at the office and lots of kid duties in the evening. So I found myself laying in bed thinking about all sorts of things. Most of the time, once i hit the pillow, I crash. This night, I felt like I wouldn't fall asleep for days. So instead of laying there with insomnia, I opted for a run.

Since it was only January 7th, I couldn't really skip a workout, so I went out into the wild! During my late night adventure (or 2 day run), I realized that it was going to be epic. Snow, ice, wind, and lots of crazy wild animals make for an epic adventure in my mind. I call it epic so I sound tough! Anyhow, I think this was the first run in which I began on January 7th and it ended on January 8th. It wasn't really 48 hours, in fact it was only 2 hours, but still covered 2 days in my mind!

All in all, it was nice to be the only one on the road, other than the dead possum, deer, and wild dogs. I look forward to my next great adventure, you know the workouts that you will always remember!

Jim, if your reading, kind of like our rain soaked run in Granville!

Patience....Great Quotes I stole from the Web

Life requires patience and focus. Ironman training requires patience and focus. It's early in 2009, but a small goal of mine this year is to find more patience.

“Patience is waiting. Not passively waiting. That is laziness. But to keep going when the going is hard and slow - that is patience.”

“Follow your heart, but be quiet for a while first. Ask questions, then feel the answer. Learn to trust your heart.”

“The two most powerful warriors are patience and time.”

“Patience and fortitude conquer all things”

Treadmills

Well, I am very thankful for having found an awesome steal on a treadmill. I plan to pick it up in the next day or so.

It is a Precor and appears to be used very little. I think this could be the best thing I have purchased in a long time. Most families have probably purchased treadmills and have found out that they become more of a clothes hanger or perhaps the ugliest piece of furniture in their house. For us, I know this baby will be used, used, and used.

I know most folks will say, get out in the crappy weather, run on the road, dirt, etc....Well I will plan on doing that as well. This is just a nice addition for the times when I have to be at home and can't leave the house. For you single folks, pros, or folks without kids, a job, etc just wait. Someday you will understand.

Coming back from an injury (MAF Related)

I have lost a ton of fitness since IMKY. I knew this was going to happen as I was down and out of it quite a bit.

Prior to Ironman Kentucky, I was swimming, biking, and running on average 20 hours/week, with quite a few bigger weeks (big weekend training...fri, sat, sun). Last year, I did have an initial setback prior to Ironman Lake Placid, and had to cancel the race and take 10 days off. This was from my my Med Express incident (heart cath, asthma). During this injury period, I did loose quite a bit of fitness. Once I became healthy and able to train my initial MAF field tests showed a much slower pace/mile than before my injury. Fortunately with only 10 days off, it didn't take me long to get back to where I left off. I credit this to Chuckie and a few weeks of hitting it pretty good.

After Kentucky, I was down and out of it on a lot of levels. I didn't want to see a pool, bike, or even my Newtons. I hated Ironman, I hated working out, I wasn't eating and quickly dropped a bunch of weight. I had a few people tell me I looked like a cancer patient. I wasn't physically injured, just a combination of burn-out and other things. Well it has taken me a long time to get back into it, but I am happy to say, things are going quite well with training. Im doing the bare minumum, but compared to 3 weeks ago, I am at least able to ENJOY it again. This is KEY.

So fast-forward to my latest MAF test I did. WOW. I was running 10.5-11min miles at my MAF HR. This is an eye-opener. I am not concerned too much about it, as I will get back to it, but I was shocked at how quickly your engine can erode. On the flipside, it was a break that was needed for me.

Happy Turkey Day and Happy Training.

CK

Check out this climb!

Stolen from KP. Thanks Dude.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82pktbqNJSg

Weekend Ahead

This picture is a turtle that we shot (not literally) on our trip to the Big Island. The darn thing looks dead. Your not allowed to touch the turtles (protected animals), but this one was alive and well. He is so wiped out from swimming in the rough surf he needed a break. I think at certain times of our life, we can all relate to the turtle.

This weekend should be straight-forward. Clean the house, paint the trim, wax on, wax off, side by side, make sure Xmas lights work, and watch the OSU game. Oh and I guess I will try to squezze in a bit of stress relief:

Friday the plan is to run.
Saturday the plan is to swim and bike.
Sunday the plan is to ride.

Monday the plan is to look back and see if I was able to complete a nice 3 day block.

Cross your fingers!

Oh, and yesterday I did run. I ran very fast. So fast I forgot how far I went, and how long it was. Much like the turtle.