Volume 9, Week 8: Finding My Community

 "Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble".

Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

We can all use community like this!!

    Happy New Year!  As I reflect back on this year and anticipate the upcoming year in my training, having a community is key.  Both in this sport of triathlon and in life. So why is community important?  Stay tuned after my weekly stats...  

**If you're on Instagram, come check out my new Ironman training Instagram page--I'll be posting pics and thoughts throughout the week.  Find me at @Scubycop_Ironman**

    Weekly Stats:

• Weight: 180.7 
• +1.4 lbs from last week (YIKES)
• +.1 lb from start
• Swimming: (none this week)
• Biking: (4x)
• 49.13 miles
• 3:14:27
• Running: (3x)
• 16.96 miles
• 2:33:32
• Strength: (2x)
• 1:45:06
• Yoga: (x2)
• 1:00:58
• Cardio: (x2)
• 1:04:55
• Totals:
• 13 workouts 
• 66.09 miles
• 9:38:58

    This week was a bit different than normal due to the Christmas holiday.  Too many good meals and a routine that was thrown out the window didn't help at all with my weight.  Went up 1.4 lbs avg from last week and .1 lb over my starting in November.  That'll go back down when I get back to a solid routine with lunches, dinners, etc.  I still am getting stronger and faster, so this one thing doesn't worry me at this point.  I'll get there.  

    The pool was closed for lap swims in the afternoons due to students being out of school, so I decided to take a rest for the swim this week.  I did some "kickboxing" cardio instead, so I still got a full body workout instead of the swim. 

 On my bike, I continued with my Across America virtual ride on my smart trainer.  I am currently "in" Barnesville, OH (646 miles into my "trip").  I rode 4 times for 49.13 miles with 5,171 feet of total ascent. Took my bike in to get a tune-up and much-needed new parts, so hopefully will have it back late this week. So I'll have to make up for the bike somehow.  Might just do more yoga.  I'm OK with working on my functional flexibility.

For my running, I completed 3 runs for a total of 16.96 miles.  For Christmas I received a new pair of Hoka Mach X2 running shoes.  They are more of a racing shoe than my training shoe I've been used to the last 6 years.  Not sure if it's completely the shoes, or just my mind, but my pace picked up with no more effort given.  I saw sub 9-minute miles over the last two runs of the week compared to the first run of the week before Christmas.  Love the shoes (thanks, Julie!) and foresee good running times with them in the months to come!  

I got my normal strength training in like normal.  At the beginning of November, before I officially started, I wanted to see how many pullups I could do.  I was able to do 4 assisted pullups (using a bungy style cord that assists your body weight), and over the last 5 weeks I have been using bands to mimic a pullup exercise, strengthening my back in preparation to be able to do good pullups.  This week, I went back to the assisted pullups, and was able to do 8 assisted pullups 6 times during the workout.  So I'm definitely getting stronger.  I can also see improvement in my pushups and other exercises, as well as in my flexibility from doing my yoga workouts.   

I feel like I'm definitely on track for where I want to be as I look towards the start of my true training plans.  Those will start on Feb 8th, with a 16-week plan to gear up for Ironman 70.3 Eagleman in Maryland on June 8th. After Maryland, I'll have a 20-week plan leading  to my Florida event in November.

Lessons Learned:

Something outside of the "Community" I've really been thinking about this week is how I need to approach my training on a daily basis.  I saw a portion of a sermon online this week where the pastor was comparing your faith to being in the gym.  Those who are the most successful in their goals in the gym go home and daily eat the right things, treat their bodies right, and get the correct rest, fully allowing their bodies to get stronger from the gym workouts, therefore "taking the gym with them".  In contrast, most people use their gym time (even great workouts) as an excuse to eat whatever they want, not get good sleep, and abuse their bodies outside the gym. This counteracts all the work they put into their time in the gym.  The same is true for life in the church. I can go on Sundays and then take my faith with me all throughout the week, or I can use my few hours a week in church to justify whatever I want to do throughout the week.  I don't want to counteract my gains in my training for Ironman, and I definitely don't want to just go through the motions in my week because I "got my church in on Sunday".  Just something I'll be thinking about this week as I strive towards doing better in my nutrition/eating.  And how I approach my devotional time and time spent in prayer and Bible study. I say this as there is a Costco apple pie calling my name from the basement fridge!!

Reflections:

    Community is a large factor in my success (both past and future) in triathlon.  One of my first communities in this journey were the guys seen in this picture (pic from 2014). Eight of us from College Church met almost every Saturday morning for many months at the parking lot in front of Cook Center at MNU.  We'd run either north or south on Indian Creek Trail and get in many miles of training runs.  Many great conversations occurred, we kept each other accountable for doing our runs (and showing up on time--although some showed up without shoes on!) and we dug into the previous week's (or the upcoming week's) sermon points.  There might have even been a time where an un-named pastor hid in a port-a-john along the route so he could jump out at the right time.  (All this time, I secretly hope we were a lot slower in the run that he expected up to that point-- not sure how long you were in there, Pastor!) We conquered Eric's Hill, and we all finished the KC half marathon together.  

Finding the right group of people to bounce training plans, ideas, dreams, and general complaint sessions off is important to me.  Also being a part of a group that I can rely on to be at the starting line, whether that means for a training run at 5AM on a Saturday, actually running alongside me in a race, or supporting me from short- or long-distance by rooting me on while spectating at a race from the beach or outside the transition fence, or watching my athlete tracker online.  It can even be just following along and reading this blog and giving me encouraging words when you run into me.  Communities come and go, and I now have others I train with, call for advice, or bounce ideas or dreams off of them.  I've reached out to a friend of a family member who is a pro triathlete and coach, and he gave me some good simple advice and confirmation that I am on the right path (thanks, Dave, for the time you took just to text me back!).  In my short time in triathlon, I have never heard a negative word to a fellow triathlete on the course--every word spoken has been an encouraging word, of support to keep moving, or at the minimum a laugh about how much we were suffering.  We're all in this together.  I'm thankful for my community, including those I don't even know yet....I'm dialed into a podcast called "Everyday Ironman" where I'm learning a lot, and know that if I reached out on the FB or Instagram page, I would get a positive response. Although I don't actually know anybody I've heard on the Podcast (yet!), they are part of my triathlon community.  At least I see them in that way.  We're all striving for the same thing and have a passion for this adventure. Thanks to all those who are with me on this--Chad K, friends and family who have come out to spectate and cheer, and those who are reading this right now.  And for those who will come into my training world over the next 10 months.  I couldn't do this thing without you.  

Triathlon is an individual sport--no one can help me along the way physically.  It has to be me.  I have to swim the distance, bike with my own force on the pedals, and use my legs to propel me forward on the run.  However, it is also a team sport.  Training together, racing together, and having folks cheering me on is what gets me through a race.  No matter where I finish in a race or no matter how it's going at the time, knowing I have a community keeps me going.  It keeps me accountable to do what I need to do to be successful in the next short-distance race or to get me across the finish line in Panama City Beach after 140.6 miles of surf and turf behind me. 

Outside of triathlon, I need community to thrive in the other aspects of my life as well.  My family, friends, and church are a huge part of keeping me moving forward.  I can have faith and a relationship with God individually.  In fact, my relationship is VERY personal. God knows me more than anyone on Earth, since He is the one who made me.  And He guides me in my understanding of Himself and is always seeking after me, no matter which way I'm running--towards Him or away from Him.  There's no where I can go without Him knowing right where I am.  So it's very individual.  But there's also a "team" aspect to my faith.  Being a part of a the larger community at church, smaller community in small groups and in Bible studies all lean into this team idea.  Even though my relationship with Christ is very personal and individual, I couldn't (and wouldn't want to) live without others that can cheer me on in my faith.  I get energized on Sunday mornings from interacting with others that share the same passion for Christ and for serving Him.  I get my gas tank filled up on Thursday nights during our weekly "Men Through the Word" night, reading the Bible then discussing what we just read.  I get encouragement from texts, emails, and personal interactions.  The church isn't perfect.  Mine isn't.  And yours isn't either, I would bet.  But we can be a community that still encourages, supports and accepts each other right where each other is in life and in their walk with Christ.  I have a dream of living my life on a island on the tropics where it's just me and Julie.  Nothing to do but enjoy life, nature, and the beach.  Three problems.  Julie doesn't like the beach (that much), I hate coconuts, and I truly couldn't do life without my community with which I've surrounded myself.  So thank you to my large and small groups--College Church as a whole, Covenant Community class, "Men Through the Word" Bible Study, CCN Safety Team, and all of you who I've built relationships with over the years.  I love my community.

Ecclesiastes says (as you saw at the top of the blog). "Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble".  We aren't made to live life alone.  As a dude, I don't ask for help very often and often try to do things by myself.  That's a dude's nature and mine for sure.  But I need a community of others, in life and in triathlon.  If I am alone during training, and I fall (hopefully not off the bike at 18 MPH), I could be in real trouble.  So it goes if I fall in life and am trying to do it alone. I could be in dire straits without others to lean on. But if I have others to help me up, I can get to the finish line. 

  

So, Happy New Year!  I can't believe that 2025 is now just over 54 hours away.  I'm hoping to have some exciting news in the next week or two, but I don't want to say what yet until I get some confirmation.  It's triathlon-related, but that's all I'll say for now.  I know, ending the year with a cliff hanger....  Thanks for being a part of my community just by reading this blog.  

Keep fit, Stay THE Course, 

and Keep moving forward.

43 weeks, 5 days, 12 hours until I attempt to outswim the sharks at IM Florida!