Week 21: The Wheels on the Bike Go....

 

Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts.

Colossians 3:16 (NLT)

    If you finished the title of the blog by singing "round and round", you had a great childhood!  And you're my people. And yes, it's two weeks in a row with a bike theme for the title. There's a reason. It was a high volume training week, so here is what I've done since Monday....

Weekly Stats:

• Weight: 177.4
• +.4 lbs from last week
• Swim (3x)
• 4.37 miles (7,750 yards)
• 2:34:52
• Bike (4x)
• 89.19 miles
• 5:33:04
• Run (4x)
• 22.85 miles
• 3:51:04
• Strength (x2)
• 38:32
• Yoga (4x)
• 1:32:58
• TOTALS:
• 17 workout sessions
• 116.41 miles
• 14:10:32

    This was my largest volume week so far.  But just like previous weeks, I took each day one at a time.  Julie left to go to Delaware for Macey's wedding shower on Tuesday, so I had the chance to go to bed a little earlier than normal each night which worked out perfectly.  I had a couple of really early morning workouts before work, but that was offset by the earlier rack time.  

    I had a great week of swimming, although I had a technology issue on Wednesday.  Somewhere I lost 50 yards--my watch got tired I guess.  But I swam 3,000 yards each on Wednesday and Thursday, and 1,750 yards on Friday.  This broke my usual swim routine of Tues-Wed-Fri.  I had to switch it up due to making sure I didn't have a double run or double bike day.  On Friday afternoons, the lap lanes close at 3:55, so when I got in there I only had 30 minutes before they pulled the lane ropes.  I ended up swimming just shy of a mile in that time, the fastest I've swam up to this point. If I can hold that pace, I'm looking at knocking about 4 minutes off my 70.3 swim time.  Even looking back at all my previous race training times, I have vastly improved my swim. But the more important thing to me is being able to sustain a faster pace (even by just a few minutes) and not exerting as much energy, keeping that for the bike.  

    This was a big bike week for me.  Tuesday I virtually rode a portion of the Eagleman bike course.  This ride had a virtual video where you can actually see the surroundings and actual course (someone has recorded the route on video and then it's uploaded into the app).  On Friday morning, I had a 90-minute ride where I had to be up at 4:15.  That's a hard time to get up and be on the move.  Even though it's indoors, its difficult to get that early morning motivation to get on the bike and start pedaling.  But I did.  But....halfway through the ride, the WiFi went out and I lost Netflix and connection to my app.  First world problems--losing wireless internet while on a smart trainer app that connects to my watch via bluetooth and simultaneously not being able to watch a streaming show where the sound is projected through the air to wireless bone-conducting headphones that sit on my temples.  How did they do it back in the day before all this technology? Fortunately, the app saved my ride and I just had to reset the WiFi when I got home from work.  Saturday was another 2-1/2 hour ride on the trainer.  I was planning on trying and getting an outdoor ride in, but the forecast had rain and wind in the morning.  So I jumped on to a group chat again with two guys from the podcast FB group.  Massachusetts and Texas were represented while we all struggled through some hard intervals.  And again, this made for a quick 150-minute ride.  Got some good answers to some questions I've had rolling around in my head too.  Love the triathlon community!  Second big thing for the bike this week was that I got new wheels!  More on that later...

   

    I knocked out four runs this week, culminating in a 90-minute run after church on Sunday.  After my long bike ride on Saturday, I did a quick 35-minute run off the bike, which helps to train my legs to get going after pedaling for a long time.  Lots of miles ahead of me, and I'm starting to do all the math in my head about what paces I can be running and knocking time off so I can get a good solid PR at Eagleman (and all my local races) and finish strong in Florida.  My run on Sunday was colder than I was expecting after an overnight storm system blew through.  I was supposed to do 80 minutes at a Zone 2 pace (9:45-11:00 per mile).  But my watch was running low on battery so I guess it stopped telling me when I was out of range.  Or the female Garmin voice in my headphones just gave up on telling me I was running too fast.  Maybe a mix of both.  But I ended up averaging 9:30 per mile for the 80 minutes with a 145 HR.  So I didn't follow the prescribed workout but had a good run anyway! It just felt good to go faster.  I can't do that every workout, and I'm still in the buildup phase, so it won't hurt me.  The meme above is what every triathlete feels like--always feels like we should be doing more....

    A couple strength workouts and four yoga sessions rounded out my week.  I feel strange saying that every week I've had a great week. I know that there will be a time that it just won't go well. So far though, I've been solid. And I am thankful for that!  

Training Notes:

    This week I got new wheels for my bike! The picture is what I felt like telling Julie (asking?) that I was "needing" new wheels.  Of course, she said yes (I LOVE YOU JULIE!!). **Note:  She was gone all this week so I didn't have a choice in washing the dishes or folding the laundry**.  I've had the stock wheels that came with the bike since I got it.  Those wheels are aluminum, so they're heavier than the carbon fiber aero wheels.  The new wheels I now have on my bike are 183 grams lighter each, or combined just over .6 pounds lighter. Doesn't sound like a whole lot, but every pound matters.  Now I just need to have the bike engine lose some more weight!  Along with the lighter weight, the wheel rims are also deeper, meaning they are 50mm deep compared to around 23mm for my originals., so just over double the originals.  This helps cut down the air resistance.  The deeper and the wheel rims, the more aerodynamic they become. I could go all the way to an 88mm or even a full disc wheel that is a solid disc with no visible spokes.  But the deeper the wheels, the more the bike handling becomes a challenge with cross winds. So I settled with the 50mm since it's a good balance.  

    Funny story though with purchasing these.  I ordered a set off of Amazon for about half the price as name-brand wheels.  Delivered on Friday last week. They had neon green accent that I thought would match my bike perfectly.  Nope.  Not even close. Way too green. So I sent them back on Sunday.  And I ordered another set of wheels to be delivered on Wednesday.  On the Amazon account it was saying I should be receiving the green wheels on Tuesday and the other new ones on Wednesday. Fast-forward to Tuesday.  I get home to a box on my front porch and remember that I accidentally asked for a replacement instead of a refund!  Doh!!  So I had to send those back a second time, this time the proper way.  Wednesday I received the new box, and those are THE wheels.  I didn't get the tires installed on them until Friday night, but once I did, they look great!  Not only are they lighter, they'll be faster (probably by a hair), but they really pop on my bike!  Can't wait to get out on them. I was planning on riding on Saturday, but the rain and wind held me inside.  Here is the final outcome with a comparison between the old look and the new....If it makes me look faster, I'll go faster.  Right?!

Out with the old...

In with the new!

Life Applications:

    The thing that kept bouncing around in my head this week is that I'm thankful that I can do this training.  There are so many out there that cannot run, cannot bike, or cannot do physical activities. It might be due to injury, sickness, or just not being able to do it anymore.  But for now, I am able.  And during every workout (or at least after I've recovered from the workout) I'm thankful for that!  I do a lot of my praying while in the pool or on the road, treadmill, or trail.  Even with headphones, I often get lost in thought and I inevitably come back at some point to remembering I'm blessed to be able to get out everyday. And I'm thankful for getting to toe the line at all the marathons I've run, the triathlons I've completed, and the races coming up this year.  

    I often forget to be thankful.  Life goes on day after day.  It becomes routine.  And I take it for granted.  I only have so many heartbeats left in life.  That's not to be a downer, just a fact. I want to use each one to the fullest. I want to use each one for my family.  I want to use each one doing my best at work.  I want to use each one doing what God has designed me to do.  (I'm still figuring that out day-by-day).  And for this season of life, God has given me the ability to train for an Ironman.  I don't know what comes after that (well, of course there will be more races...shhhh, don't tell Julie!--I know she already knows.)  So I have been heading into each day thankful for the opportunity train for and attempt (AND FINISH) this crazy bucket list item I've had for many years.  This goes back to a big part of my "why" that I mentioned in my 2nd blog about 5 months ago.  

    

    As I was contemplating this all week, I got a Facebook memory from 5 years ago.  It was May 2020, right after the pandemic hit.  Mike Reilly, the "Voice of Ironman" started putting up regular videos as triathlon (and of course the world) was being shut down.  Mike was the one on the microphone for so many races and called finishers across the finish line.  He is the one who first called a runner across the finish line with  "YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!" I had always imagined Mike calling my name at my first Ironman but he is now retired, so it will be someone else, but the words will still be there with my name attached.  In his book Finding My Voice, Mike recounts memories from 33 years of being at the finish line and calling almost half a million finishers across that magical line.  One chapter towards the end of the book details the struggle that athletes go through to get to the finish line.  Doubting. Exhausted. Battered. Delirious.  But somehow, some way, they make it to the finish line.  It could be at the 14 hour mark or it could be just before the 17-hour cutoff time. But each one put in an untold number of hours in training while sacrificing personal time and sleep, and kept moving forward towards their ultimate goal.  If you'd like to hear Mike read a portion of this chapter, here it is. I love this book (think Chicken Soup for the Soul for the Triathlete).  So many great stories of normal people completing something that only .1% of the population will ever do. Mike Reilly, "The Finish Line"

    I am daily thankful that God has given me the desire, the opportunity, and the means to get up everyday and keep moving forward. I too, will more than likely doubt myself at some point on the marathon course, I'll be exhausted, I'll feel battered, and maybe even be delirious (I hope not for any of those). But I want to finish as strong as I can with a thankful heart.  Beyond that, I'm thankful for Julie who stands by me and puts up with my crazy schedule.  She encourages me, tells me I'm doing great (when she probably doesn't understand most of what I'm talking about most of the time), and allows me to buy wheels--not to mention all the race fees, hydration powder, clothing, and on and on and on.  And thanks to all of my family and friends, who support me from behind the scenes and hold me accountable when I'm eating donuts on Sunday mornings at church.  I'm thankful for all of you.  

    One more week of the general buildup phase of my training for 70.3 Eagleman.  Then I'll have 7 weeks of race-specific training, working my times and speeds up as I inch closer to June 8th.  Just over 2 months left for this first big event of this year.  I also have the Kansas City Triathlon (olympic distance) three weeks before on May 18th.  Getting closer!

Keep Fit, Stay THE Course, and Keep Moving Forward

7 months, 1 day, 9 hours, 24 minutes until