Week 23: One Foot In Front of the Other

    

    One foot in front of the other.  That has to be my mantra as I hit the full marathon after a 2.4 mile swim and 112 mile bike ride.  And that has to be my mantra every day.  As I start off with this week's statistics, I completed week 1 of my 7-week race specific training where I'll be starting to ramp up the training until June....

Weekly Stats:

• Weight: 177.1
• +.1 lbs from last week
• Swim (3x)
• 3.78 miles (6,650 yards)
• 2:25:05
• Bike (3x)
• 89.80 miles
• 5:30:09
• Run (3x)
• 20.06 miles
• 3:29:06
• Strength (1x)
• 37:01 
• Yoga (4x)
• 1:33:59
• TOTALS:
• 14 workout sessions
• 113.64 miles
• 13:25:19

Training Notes:

    This was the first week of the second phase of my training for Ironman 70.3 Eagleman.  Jumped up around 4+ hours in training, and it will continue to ramp up until two weeks before the race, then I'll have a couple of taper weeks to rest my body.  This will start some workouts with more tempo pacing, some more speed intervals, and some longer workouts.  All this will still follow the 80% rule of keeping my HR below my threshold.  I'm still working on keeping my "Zone 2" workouts at that HR level.  The biking isn't that hard to hold (at least on the trainer since I still haven't been outside yet).  But the running is still a struggle sometimes.  

    I had three great swims this week, with a tempo swim on Friday.  Met another Ironman at the pool that day who completed the Florida Ironman in 2006.  The way he described some of the course, it doesn't sound like it's changed much!  I guess there's a section where you ride BEHIND a Publix grocery store. Strange. But it was good to meet another triathlete who won't mind sharing a lane if needed, which I needed to that day. It's way easier to ask to share a lane if they know what I'm working towards.  Friday morning the pool was full, two swimmers per lane.  Fortunately I got there in time to grab half a lane with him before it filled up.  Still feeling good about my swim fitness.  How that will translate to open-water swimming will be determined.  Good news on that front--Chad and I have permission to keep swimming at the pond where we've been swimming for the last few years.  The land changed owners last summer, but the new owners are gracious to let us go out there when we need to. Thanks, Josh, even though we haven't met you yet.  Thanks, Jeff, for making the connection and asking for us.  This is be invaluable as Chad and I practice in water that you can't see in, and get some wetsuit time in before our races.

    My bike rides were interesting this week.  I had three rides, each at least 1.5 hours a
piece.  On Wednesday and Thursday I was up at 4:05AM to get the ride in before heading to school.  My ride on Wednesday was memorable as I may or may not have dozed off while pedaling.  It was around 4:45 and my watch beeped and my phone announced that my heart rate was too low.  I opened my eyes and realized my legs were still going round and round, but I didn't know what was happening on the TV show (still "Lost"--literally this time!).  Hadn't quite hit my higher intensity intervals yet so I was still in the warmup stage.  I was good after that though.  It's a first, but might not be the last time I get droopy eyes on the bike.  

    For Saturday's bike ride, I was planning on going outside for the first outdoor ride of the season but it was still feeling in the 30's when I got on. Miss being outside, but glad I have the trainer to still get some miles in the books.  I jumped on the Discord chat with John Steven and John Nichols from Illinois and Connecticut as they were riding their own trainers.  Also on there was Mike Bosch from Texas.  Ashley Raines from MO  jumped on for a few minutes but then she went and ran a half marathon.  I knew I was on the bike a long time when she was talking to us, got off the chat, ran and finished her 13.1 miles, and I was still on the bike.  With about 45 minutes to go on my ride, I accidentally hit the stop workout button on my watch.  I was trying to change my course on the ROUVY app and I'm not sure what happened.  So I had to start a new workout but couldn't do the mental math to figure out where I was in my workout intervals.  So I just finished out the 45 minutes at a Zone 2/Zone 1 HR. But I got it done.  Then outside for a full day of yard work, getting ready for graduation and parties.  

    My runs this week were a lot more aerobic and cruising intervals.  I wrapped up the week with a 90-min after-church run.  According to Garmin, it was 75, but my weather app said 80.  I'm trying to do my runs in the afternoon so I can start my heat acclimation as Eagleman in Maryland will be pretty warm and humid.  And Florida can be warm as well.  This run was one similar to about a month ago and it seemed like my HR was up a touch for the same pacing.  Lots of factors including higher temps can affect that, so that's why it's important for me to work on getting used to the heat.  Also, all of my runs on the long-distance races will be later in the morning in the case of my half-Ironman, or in Florida I won't start until 2-3 hours after noon. I saw this pic that reminded me as I normally tell people "I have to do a run today".  I don't have to run, I get to run.  I'm blessed with being able to do this.

    One strength (both legs and arms/shoulders) workout and four Yoga sessions rounded out my week for a grand total of just shy of 13 hours.  I had a good week and it was good to refocus from last week's mental slide.  

Life Applications:    

Trust in the Lord with all your heart 
and lean not on your own understanding; 
in all your ways submit to him, 
and he will make your paths straight.
Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV)

    

    Back in college at Point Loma, I was an RA for my junior and senior year in Finch Hall.  My senior year, we had our RA retreat the week before school started in the fall in the mountains of SoCal.  At this retreat, there was a short "hike" to a cross at the top of a hill overlooking the valley area.  As we RA's were walking up the trail, we passed some other people coming down the path.  They had already been up at the top.  We asked "how do you get to the cross?"  Their response?  "One foot in front of the other."  Gee, thanks for that. I'm pretty sure I could have figured that out on my own, but we kind of made that a theme that we kept coming back to all year.  

    The women's dorm RA's (Wendy Phillips, I'm calling you out!) even put that on our
bulletin board--this was back in the 1900's before smart TV's took over for scrolling announcements.  Man, I'm getting old! This quote I still think about and might say for numerous things even almost 30 years later, and for some reason it came back to me this week as I was on a run.  One foot in front of the other.  Keep moving forward.  Don't stop moving.    

    I had a weird side-trip of what could be during my half-Ironman race in June. Early in the week, I had a few days when I was thinking about the possibility of qualifying for the 70.3 World Championships.  A few issues with that.  One, I would have to knock off over 1.5 hours off my PR on this distance of triathlon.  Two, I plan on swimming in my wetsuit no matter what.  The water in MD will be right on the border of wetsuit legal.  If it's 76 degrees or more, the race becomes wetsuit optional and if you wear one, you will not be eligible for age-group awards or WC qualification slots. Three, the race is is Marbella, Spain.  Yup, Spain.  And it's the weekend after my Ironman Florida.  The way this works is the winner of each age brackets gets a slot for the World Championship.  There are only so many slots for certain races and for each age bracket within those races.  Eagleman is one of those races this year.  If the winner doesn't take the slot, or is not present at the awards, the slot rolls over.  IF I put up a good enough time, theoretically enough people ahead of me could say no and it could roll to me.  Here's the rub....if my name is called, I have to say yes or no right then and there.  And pay on the spot.  So I guess number four of the issues with qualifying is that it would be about a $5,000 trip with airfare, lodging and all

the other logistics.  I had some good times dreaming about what that might look and feel like but also know it's highly unlikely.  I've looked at the times from the previous few years and I would need about 30 (or more) guys in my age bracket to say no.  But it was fun, kind of like thinking about what I'd do if I won the lottery.  But there's always a chance.  It's not zero.  But I have to just put one foot in front of the other.  Without doing that, there is no chance.  But that's not my goal, although it WOULD be pretty epic.  I'm still undecided if I'd say yes....it would be hard not to.

      One foot in front of the other. Simple. But true.  It might be "one arm over the other" if I'm swimming, or "one leg over the other" if I'm on the bike, but whole point is keep moving.  And moving forward in the direction I should be going.  I have my plan laid out, and I'm following it the best I can.  I'm working towards Florida with a stop in Maryland (along with all the small local pitstop races).  I need to be focused on that direction and goal. Just like at the RA retreat, I just have to put one foot in front of the other.  I might need to get into a trance on my full marathon at the end of Florida and just keep repeating that to myself.  No matter how hard it is, I have to keep going.  Even if I have to walk.  Every day, I have to put one foot in front of the other.  Sometimes things are going smooth. Some days I'm not having a great day but most people wouldn't know it.  Because if I stop moving and don't just forget what's now in the past, I won't be moving forward anymore.  Trials, temptations, sin, and just the challenges of everyday life can bog me down.  But I need to keep moving towards the Cross.  Stay THE Course.  I'll stumble, I'll get tired, I'll doubt.  But with the help of others like those that were coming from the top, and those surrounding me as we walk life together, I can make it.  I won't ever be fully at the Cross here on Earth, but I need to keep striving towards it. If I trust in the Lord, He will make my paths straight.  Not easy, but straight in respect to knowing which way I should be going.  In Ironman Florida (and I'm sure subsequent ones), I can get to that finish line.  And I fully expect and plan to!  

 

Final Thoughts:

    

   

This training time in the next 7 or so months will be a blink in my life and in eternity, so my goal is to Keep Fit, Stay THE Course, and Keep Moving Forward. Simple, but effective.  In training and outside of triathlon in my family, my work, and my faith.  As always, for the few of you who are following along each week (I know it all starts sounding the same every episode!), thank you.  I appreciate when you all ask how the training's going, or ask about something I said in my ramblings.  Or just tolerate me talking about it. If there was a trophy for always bringing up Ironman in almost every conversation, I could definitely win that one!!  

CPC

Olathe, KS

55 days, 3 hours, 2 minutes until 70.3 Eagleman

201 days, 9 hours, 32 minutes until Ironman Florida