Volume 32: Recovery Week and Back At It!!

 

Brandywine Falls, Cuyahoga Valley NP

    Week 1 of 20 heading to Ironman Florida!  Had a good recovery week where I was able to ride the wave of a good finish time at 70.3 Eagleman, do some hiking with Julie at Cuyahoga Valley National Park, and just take a mental and physical break from 17 solid weeks of training. But now it's game-on again.  This time for something that I've never done to date...IRONMAN.  Here we go!!  

Weekly Stats:

• Swim (3x)
• 2.9 miles (5,100 yards)
• 1:42:38
• Bike (3x)
• 57.46 miles
• 3:08:52
• Run (3x)
• 13.94 miles
• 2:20:02
• Strength (2x)
• 41:59
• Yoga (5x)
• 2:20:02
• TOTALS
• 16 workout sessions
• 74.3 miles
• 10:03:28  

Training Notes:

   

    I'm back at it! After a very successful 70.3 Eagleman, I had last week "off", where I didn't have any formal training plan.  I did get in a swim, bike, and run, along with a paddle board sunset cruise.  No yoga or strength for the last two weeks with the week leading up to the race and then the recovery week.  For my bike last week, I rode with several students from the OW Elite Triathlon Club from school.  A couple of them did not have very much bike experience and we're getting ready for the Shawnee Mission Triathlon next month.  It was good to get to know them a bit, and start gearing up for the shorter-distance races the next few months.   

    Over the last couple of weeks, I have watched as many recaps and replays from Eagleman as I can find. It's only been 2 weeks since I was there, but I can visualize each part of it.  That's one thing I can't do with my previous races, maybe that's just the passage of time, or this race I was more aware of everything around me. I'm sure it helped that I wasn't dying on the run so I could think through each part. Some of the recaps were by the pros themselves, some that think they should be pros, and some that didn't even finish.  It was pretty cool to watch the pro series recap and recognize all the parts of the race that I experienced...the difference was that the pros did it much faster than me.  Watch the pro race recap HERE to see how the folks that get paid to do this prepare and run (it is about 45 minutes).  Then there was the full race rewind for the age groupers.  Nope, I didn't get in it.  I looked.  Click on the link below to watch the short 2 minute video.  Such a great venue--beautiful landscape, water, and the town was incredible.  

    

    But now my next 20-week training has officially begun for my ultimate goal this year. It's weird to shift to something that is now another 19 weeks away.  I look ahead and see the Shawnee Mission Triathlon in July, the Matt Mason Cowboy Up Triathlon in July (maybe), Kill Creek in August, Lake Olathe in September, then....Ironman Florida in November.  I've already started geeking out on Florida's course maps, last year's athlete guide and race recaps from numerous years.  I think it's one of those things where I'm studying the race.  It's such a big scary thing that these are the few things I can control at this point.  I can do my training, I can prepare with knowing how it all works, and if I'm excited and not freaking myself out over the hugeness of it all, I'll be OK.  My finish at Eagleman really boosted my confidence in being able to finish Ironman.  I've always believed I could (or I wouldn't have dropped the money on the registration!), but two weeks ago I saw myself crossing the line after many more hours than I spent in Maryland on the course.  It's doable.  And my training plan works.  I just need to keep following that, and it was great to get back into a routine this week!      

    This week I re-tested myself for my heart rate zones in swim, bike, and run.  I think I improved (my heart rate ranges did change slightly, but overall I was faster than last time I tested back in April).  Some details I'm still fuzzy on what's what sometimes on the ins and outs of my plan, but I felt great.  This is where I'll start this training block.  I'll re-test every 4 weeks or so and just adjust my workouts to make sure I'm staying in the right zones throughout.  There are a lot of the same workouts to start, but my times and distances start going up pretty quick in the plan as I have to build up to a 4,000-yard swim, 6-hour bike and 3-hour run (I never get to the full marathon distance in training, but I've done several before so I know I can finish them--just haven't done that AFTER a 112-mile bike ride and open ocean swim...).  My first 10 weeks will be my build up phase maxing out at 11 hours of workout (before strength and yoga).  Then the next 8 weeks will be big weeks, building to race distances.  Then 2 weeks of tapering.  Then race day on November 1st.  It will be here quickly.  And to be honest, I get nervous if I think about it too much.  I have to take each day one at a time, and based off Eagleman's results, I'm confident starting out. I have a great fitness base to start so I'm only going up from here.  

   

    The hard part about the next couple of months will be the weather.  Summer is officially here and the heat has moved in.  I am sitting at 45% heat acclimated according to Garmin.  Any workouts in temps over 72 degrees gets your body more adjusted to the heat.  This morning's run before church at 6:40AM was already 76 degrees and I was soaked.  My long bikes and runs will have to be earlier in the morning due to the time I'll be out there and the weather. I will have to grind through some long, hot, humid workouts.  Might have to have Julie meet me somewhere as a mobile aid station with fresh water/nutrition.  But I do have a few gels I can use--thanks Eagleman aid stations! Sweat won't hurt me as long as I hydrate well and stay on top of my nutrition even on my training days.  But, bring it on.  I'm ready.  19 weeks to go!  

Life Reflections:

Even youths will become weak and tired, 

and young men will fall in exhaustion.

But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. 

They will soar high on wings like eagles. 

They will run and not grow weary. 

They will walk and not faint.

Isaiah 40:30-31 (NLT) 

    During my past three half Ironman distance races, I was miserable at one point or another.  Mostly on the run.  And that misery clouded the rest of the race.  Of course I signed up for further races, so I must have enjoyed it somewhat, but I was definitely tired.  I was exhausted.  My legs were cramped up.  And I didn't have much left in me.  Weirdly (or actually not really weirdly), I enjoyed every minute of Eagleman two weeks ago.  Of course my body was tired, but I wasn't exhausted.  I felt I had extra energy to keep going if the course was longer.  I didn't have cramps. I didn't faint.  One of the personal recaps I watched was of a guy who passed out after the swim and was pulled from the course.  Sad to see that happen.  I know numerous athletes were pulled from the water due to the swim conditions.  And Lucy Charles Barclay, the female pro winner said in her post-race interview that the swim was "very tough".  I didn't feel any of that in the water. I really didn't think it was that bad once I got going. I know that was due to my training, to my faith in what I had done up to that point, and the strength that my confidence had given me as I entered the water, biked  the roads, and ran the half marathon.

    And there are times in my life where I'm just tired.  Not due to physical training, but just life.  Work, calendars, trials, troubles, you name it. I don't often understand why I'm exhausted.  Maybe it's because things aren't going to way I think they should.  It might be that I don't feel valued or effective as a husband, dad or friend.  Yet I know that those are just seasons in life.  Some seasons last longer than others.  I know friends who are going through a season that seems as long as eternity, and can't see the way out or can't see that there is an end.  It might not be in sight.  But if I trust in the Lord in those times, if my friends trust in the Lord in their times, HE will give me strength to keep going.  I know that I cannot do life on my own.  When I'm on the marathon course in Florida and I can't see the finish line, I need to find the strength to keep going, keep running (or walking) and not faint.  And when I'm going through those hard times in life, I need to remember I can't do it on my own strength.  Nope.  It'll be God that gets me through.  And yet, I do have an active role in that.  I have to put all my trust in Him. And know that the training of life though God will get me through those dark and miserable miles.

Final Thoughts:

    I really can't believe that I'm on the back end of Eagleman.  And on the back end of Matthew's wedding.  If those two big events came up that fast, I can't imagine how fast the next 5 months will go.  I already have the trip to Florida planned, and I'm already excited.  But I need to temper that with being devoted to my training.   And I know I'll get to the starting line and then hear those words so many hours later...You Are An Ironman!  Can't wait.

    Thanks, as always, for following my journey.  During Eagleman, I thought about all of you who were tracking me, reading my weekly blogs, and ask me how things are going. My previous races, I didn't put a lot out there publicly.  I really did the previous training on my own--solo--and having all of you and my Everyday Ironman podcast friends along on the journey with me this time has made a world of difference!  By the way, congrats John Stevens (and many others) on a super tough 70.3 Rockford (IL) race today in the miserable heat, you did it! 

Until next week, 

   

Keep Fit, Stay THE Course, and Keep Moving Forward

18 weeks, 5 days, 12 hours, 2 minutes until the cannon goes off at Ironman Florida!

    

CPC

6/22/25

Olathe, KS