Half Iron Training

My base training has now started for a Half-iron race. I will need to build up my run speed, continue the progress that I've been making on the bike, and work on swimming form. I will likely start in a formal training plan either 20 weeks or 27 weeks out, but for now, I just need to make it a point to get my workouts in regularly. This may be a task, seeing that I have a very pregnant wife and will have a baby boy either late September or early October. I guess I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. After a post-race period of laziness, I completed a 6 mile run Wednesday morning, and another 6-miles this morning. I plan on giving my legs a rest tomorrow and doing some lifting. I do need a more formalized plan even for my endurance building period. I guess that'll give me something to do this evening.

Mountain Lakes Race Results

See results here...my numbers are down in the Male 25-29 category

http://www.onlineraceresults.com/race/view_plain_text.php?race_id=10060

I finished 52/59 in my age category and 440/498 among all the men. Not earth shattering, but I finished my first race, so get off my back.

Mountain Lakes Triathlon Race Report

On August 8th, I finished my first triathlon. While I had competed in a few duathlons and 5k's, I had never entered a swim, bike, run event. I would soon learn that there had been a reason for this.
Alisha and I headed to Guntersville on Friday evening to meet up with two other couples, the Williamsons and the Mortons. We met at the race site to pickup our packets and then to enter a strenuous evening of race preparation. This preparation basically consisted of a dinner of fried seafood at Top of the River on Lake Guntersville, followed by a Dairy Queen run and playing xbox until midnight. We stayed at a house on the lake and had a relatively short trip to the starting line.
We departed early the next morning to setup our transition areas, and get body marking. After checking and rechecking my bike and transition area, I warmed up with a short swim in the lake. Alisha got there just in time to give me a good luck kiss before I entered the chute. My race number was 297, so I was fairly close to the front of our staggered starting line. The first racer hit the water at 7:45am, followed by everyone else in 3 second increments...all 900 of us.
I had not really prepared for the swim as much as the other portions, which I thought would be okay since I'm a decent swimmer. I was, however, unprepared for an open water swim with this number of people. In the pool, I never got kicked in the face or water splashed into my mouth when I came up for a breath. Getting a mouth full of water when trying to breath turned into an issue, and after about 200 yards, I realized that it actually was possible for me to die. I had to stop once and grab a buoy while returning the lake water that had been deposited in my lungs, courtesy of the adjacent swimmer. I finished the swim in 18 minutes; in the pool, I had timed myself at 13 minutes, so this was a big delay.
Upon exiting the water, I realized that I had forgotten to start my watch at the beginning, so I had no idea what my total time would be. T1 was relatively fast and I got off on the bike with no major issues. About 1/2 mile down the road, I did realize that the energy chews that had previously been pressed onto my handlebars were all gone. I later found the only one that hadn't fallen completely off; it was squished into my glove and sticking my hand to the bars. Other than that, the bike ride was smooth. The course had some substantial rolling hills, but I still managed to hold an average speed of 19mph.
I pulled into T2, pulled on my running shoes, and hit the run course. The run course was very flat, but as soon as I hit it, my calves began to cramp. I stopped at every water station to hydrate and stretch. The cramping eased some, but I thought that my delays on the swim and the cramping had thrown me totally off of my goal time, which was 1:45:00. I finally finished the run, fairly winded, and saw that my total time was 1:47:12. Missed my goal by 2:12. The frustrating thing was that I probably could've made this if I had started my watch and known what my time was. Oh well, lesson learned.
I didn't die, and I finished close to my goal. That's a good day in my book. As soon as I crossed the finish, Morty asked me if I was going to do the Half Ironman in Florida next May. Why not, I've got nothing else planned!

Self Discipline

"If only I had the willpower to ________." How many times have you made that comment to yourself. I know that there have been times when I wondered why in the world I simply couldn't force myself to follow up on my goals; to make myself execute my life plans ruthlessly. If you've felt the same way, you're not alone. Even during the periods of time when I have been the most committed to my goals, there would still be days and weeks where I would falter. In Romans 7:15-20, Paul says

"I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate. But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good. So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.

And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature.[a] I want to do what is right, but I can’t. I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it."

(New Living Translation)


Apparently we're not the first generation to struggle with this, and it's not limited to our fitness struggles either. In recent times, I have been much more successful in sticking with a healthy lifestyle, but have still not been as good as I would like to be as a husband, an employee, or a child of God.
My Pastor preached a sermon series on becoming disciplined, in which he stated that "trying hard" was not nearly as important as "training hard." I don't like getting out of the bed at 5:00 every morning to run or bike or swim or lift weights. If I leave it to myself to simply try hard to do it, I will continue to fail. If I can make it a habit, if I can train myself to do this such that it feels as natural as eating and drinking, then I can succeed. Now is the training period. It is the time to teach my body and mind to behave the way that I want them to. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Heel and Crank Duathlon - Huntsville, AL

So the 4:30am alarm clock tone was the signal that day one had arrived, and I was on my way to a new challenge. On this particular Sunday, I ran and biked in my first ever Duathlon. It was a short distance race, but a great way for a fat, slow guy to start out. The race consisted of a 3 mile run, 16 mile bike, and another 2 mile run. During the first run, I tried to start out at a comfortable level that I could maintain for the entire run. About a mile and a half into the run, I thanked God for the untied shoelace that he gave me and stopped on the side of the road gasp for oxygen.
As I started back, I began to drop in the ranks. My pace slowed as I was passed by a thirteen year old girl in pigtails. Next was a soccer mom. Next was a guy who was much fatter than I and about ten years older. I pushed myself on and gasped just to make it into the transition area.
I got on the bike and began working the kinks out. It felt different and refreshing. My ankles and calves that had been begging for relief finally got it and gave me a chance to show off these monster quads I've been working on. I knew my cycling segment would be much better, as that's where most of my training time was spent, but I didn't realize how strong I had gotten in this respect. I began to pass the people that had blown me away on the run. I made up substantial ground before I had to dismount from the bike and embark on the second run. I had a few more pass me in this stage, but the second run was shorter and not quite as severe.
When it was all said and done, I finished a respectable 67th with a time of 1:33:22. This was quite a way off from the winning time of 54:29, but it just goes to show that I have tremendous opportunity to improve. It felt great to finish and have my wife, Alisha, there to support me. I counted the day a success, and for the first time ever, considered myself a competitive athlete.