Volume 12, Week 11: "Bandit"

 "The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My 

purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life."

John 10:10 (NLT)

The Bandit of Cunningham

Just got "Bandit" back from the shop--glad to be able to get back on the saddle.  Today will be the story how she came to be and how she got her name.  As always, here's my weekly stats for the last seven days to start it off....

Weekly Stats:

• Weight: 177.2
• +1.0 lbs from last week
• -3.4 lbs from start
• Swimming: (2x)
• 2.84 miles (5,000 yards)
• 1:51:15
• Biking: (2x)
• 33.95 miles
• 1:56:12
• Running: (3x)
• 14.94 miles
• 2:21:11
• Strength: (2x)
• 1:24:19
• Yoga: (x1)
• 19:10
• Totals:
• 10 workouts
• 51.74 miles
• 7:52:07

    This week was a little down with my distances and times.  Not too much lower, but not as high as what I've been doing normally.  Late nights, making sure I got my rest, and other calendar priorities all played into the lower numbers.  I got into the pool twice this week as normal.  Was able to get 5,000 yards in total.  On Monday, I swam with Chad, and did a 250 yard warmup, then four 500-yard intervals, and wrapped up with another 250-yard cooldown.  My four 500-yard intervals I tried to keep up race pace and saw them in the low 1:50's per 100 yards (that's good for me!). Even saw a 1:49/100 yard pace in my first 500.  Happy with that.  On Wednesday, I got back into the pool and was planning on going long and slow for 4,000 yards, but I started feeling a cramp building in my right hamstring.  Wasn't sure I could finish out the last 1,000 and 500 yard intervals without it locking up, so I just cut it shorter.  As long as I'm getting at least the 70.3 swim distance in (2,112 yards/1.2 miles), then I'm good for now.  

    I got my bike back this week after a couple of weeks at the shop. Ended up getting a new chain, new cassette, and big and small chain ring in the front.  Also a full tune-up and cleaned all the components.  I've ridden this bike for over 6,100 miles and am supposed to replace the chain around every 2,000 miles.  Oops.  I was still riding on my original chain.  Which caused some wear and tear on my other components so it was better to get them replaced.  Now I know, and knowing's half the battle--Go Joe! (If you know you know....)  I did the recumbent bike on Monday morning early at the community center, then hit my smart trainer on Wednesday.  It was good to get back in the saddle and resume my ride "across America".  

    I did three runs this week.  On Tuesday I ran at Heritage Lake where the paths were cleared.  But it was 19 degree wind chill on the run.  Love being outside even when it's cold. Thursday I ran the same route but it was shorts and light long-sleeves for a 50 degree run.  Big difference.  Then on Saturday, it was -5 wind chill outside with 30mph winds.  So it was onto the treadmill for the morning.  At least there's Netflix. 

    Normal strength workouts for the week, but only one Yoga session.  No excuses...just didn't get them done, so I'll be getting those in this week.  

    Overall, I still feel good.  My swims are getting faster at the same effort, my HR is coming down on my runs at the same paces, and my bike is back!  A couple more weeks then the 16-week training begins for 70.3 Eagleman.

Lessons Learned:

Blue Betty, RIP

    This week's lessons learned stem all the way back to October of 2016. I had been training for IM 70.3 Arizona in Tempe for 20 weeks.  I was riding a 2000 Cannondale R3000 road bike with clip on aero bars that I had picked up at the local bike shop for a great deal.  When I bought it, it looked brand new and actually even still had the little spikey things on the tires. The single owner before me had purchased it new in 2000, rode it a couple of times, then decided he didn't like riding on the road.  So he hung in up in his garage for the next 14 years before trading it in for another bike. Then it became mine.  I dubbed it Blue Betty (not very original but I didn't have a good story for a name). I rode that bike through several shorter triathlons then was planning on finishing my first Half Ironman on it.  But it was not to be.  

    On the drive out to AZ from Kansas, we stopped overnight in a small town at the home of a family friend.  We got in late that night, and didn't think too much about my bike (and Julie's) on our bike rack.  This a very small town--dirt roads, one or two traffic lights at the time--and it never occurred to me to take them off the rack.  Fast-forward to early the next morning and someone had decided to relieve us of our property.  Robbery!  Thieves! Hoodlums!  The bikes weren't locked onto the rack, so that was my fault, but still!!!  I even had footprints and bike tracks until they hit the paved road and then no more clues. A police report, some obvious anger and frustration, then some anxiousness on what in the world I was going to ride for my race in 72 hours.  

    It was Thursday morning as we resumed our drive west with an empty bike rack.  Needless to say, I wasn't sure how this was going to play out.  We called my mother-in-law in AZ and asked her if she could track down a bike for me to ride the 56-mile course in Tempe on Sunday.  I told her via broken cell coverage that I didn't care if it had a banana seat and streamers on the handlebars.  A hard rule in triathlon is NEVER try something new on race day.  Whoever started that rule was talking about new gels, a new routine, maybe new shoes.  I don't think they were thinking about riding a brand new bike for the race.  But it's what I was going to have to do.  Here's where the story gets crazy....           

By the time we go to AZ that night around 9:30 or so, she had not one, but two bikes that were possible replacements for Sunday's race.  My in-laws already had a bike in their garage.  It would do. But there was another one that I had to go take a look at on Friday.  This one was from a guy who had completed the full distance Ironman Arizona the previous year.  He was out of town, but said I could get into his garage, and use the bike if it worked and anything that I might need for Sunday.  Since my bike had special cleats for my bike shoes, I was going to have to figure that part out as well.  When I go to his house, he had his bike AND a pair of bike shoes that "just so happened" to be my size. 

    This bike was a Valdora Black Pearl triathlon bike, what felt like a million dollar upgrade from my old 2000 Cannondale road bike. I had never ridden a true triathlon bike before (the gear shifters are in a different place than what I was used to and the whole set up is a little different than a regular road bike). But he was the same height as me, so this seemed like the perfect fit.  I rode it for 4.4 miles just to get a feel for it.  I had to adjust the seat post by an inch or so but that was it.  The shoes fit well, and this was the bike I was going to ride for about 3 hours two days from then.  All of this in just over 24 hours from the time I realized someone in small town Kansas decided they needed a faster ride home than walking in the middle of the night.  I finished the bike course on Sunday in 2:53:52, with an average of 19.1mph.  This was easily over 2mph faster than I'd been riding on my Cannondale in all of my training.  The bike?  Adrenaline?  Flat bike course?  I'd say a combination of all three!  Thank you, Adam, for your generosity for allowing a random dude into your garage to ride your bike.  But that is the triathlon community culture.  We all want others to do well and will help wherever we can.

Reflections:

    To finish the story, I filed an insurance claim and explained the state and quality of the bike I had stolen from me.  To get as much as I could from the insurance company, I used an example of finding a 1964 Ford Mustang in a dusty barn with only 5,000 miles on it--change the oil, replace the tires, and clean it up and you have a basically brand new old Mustang.  Since I had the original receipt from my bike's first owner, the insurance company gave me the original paid value from 2000!  I wasn't expecting that, but was thrilled (I was hoping for about half of the original cost for the claim...).  With that money minus my deductible, I was able to get my brand new Cannondale Slice tri bike with no money out of pocket, and get what I needed on it to make it race-worthy.  Clip on pedals and cleats, bottle holders and a few other accessories all paid for.  So thank you, you bandits. Although you caused me some stress and anxiety on the second part of my drive to my race, you also allowed me to get a new bike.  I would love to have Blue Betty back, but I'm pretty sure it's forever in the bottom of a farm pond somewhere.  Now I have The Bandit of Cunningham, AKA "Bandit", named for the infamous thieves of that early Thursday morning.  And she's been good to me for over 6,100 miles so far: two more half distance races, and numerous short distances.  And this year Bandit will take me to the finish of IM Florida.  So I thank you again, you who left footprints in the dirt as you rode our bikes away. You don't know how much I actually appreciate you.  Weirdly.

    I love telling this story since I had to overcome a huge obstacle on my way to get my finish at 70.3 Arizona 2016.  I am often reminded of God's goodness to me.  He is always wanting the best for me, and His love for me is all about giving me a full life, satisfying and rich (according to the verse in John). I don't have to do anything but accept His love and believe in Him.  Through that belief and acceptance, I should act as an ambassador for Him through my words and actions. But it does not mean that everything will go smooth.  The thief (Satan) wants to come to steal and destroy me.  The bandits in small town, Kansas didn't care how it would affect me when they took our bikes from the back of our van, but the biggest thief does care. Satan wants me to not walk in God's Word, and wants me to ignore God's plan for my life. I can let him steal my joy, my happiness, and my confidence in God, or I can fight through his attacks knowing that God has my back if I turn to Him.  It can be easy to let circumstances, situations, or people try and steal what is important to me.  My reputation.  My status. My confidence in who I am.  But if I'm strong in what I truly stand for (God), then all of those other things just don't matter.    And sometimes we need others who will step in and give of themselves to help us along the way.  Whether it is to loan a bike to a complete stranger, or to sit and listen to a friend vent, or just be a constant presence through tough times, god will put others in my life.  We aren't supposed to do life alone.  Triathlon is a personal sport, pushing ourselves to a finish line.  But along the way, the triathlon community helps out. Life is also a personal sport--we each have to live our own life--but as we strive towards the ultimate finish line with a relationship with Christ as our goal, the faith community will be there to help us out. 

 Oh yeah, Julie got a new bike out of the deal too.  So we both made out like bandits because of the bandits and now I have Bandit.  

    Two weeks left in January.  Hoping for some warmer weather to get outside.  Until then, I'm trying to learn to like the treadmill more (or dislike it less?).  Thanks, as always, for following along.  I appreciate all of you who ask questions about my training, comment on my blog, or just open and read a little of my ramblings each week. 

Keep fit, Stay THE Course, and Keep moving forward.

T-Minus 410,922 minutes (+ ~13 hours) until

the finish line...