Chapter 49: RACE WEEK!!!

 

    Race week is here!  This is a mid-week episode since the weekend was WAY too busy to get it out ahead of leaving for Florida.  Then it's been busy this week too!  But I'm here.  It's cool and EXTREMELY windy, but the sun came out today and the wind is supposed to lay down in the next couple of days.  T-minus 3 days.  

Weekly Stats (for last week):

• Swim (3x)
• 3.0 miles (5,275 yards)
• 1:46:00
• Bike (2x)
• 76.45 miles
• 4:30:52
• Run (2x)
• 9.38 miles
• 1:35:01
• Yoga (4x)
• 1:40:03
• TOTALS
  
• 11 Activities
• 88.83 miles
• 9:31:56

Training Notes:

    Race week. One year ago that seemed like an eternity away, but here I am.  This past week was horrible in the mental world, as I was trying to prepare to leave, to pack, and to get all my work stuff in order at the school.  It was also a taper week, which just is a lower volume of workouts.  I was supposed to be around 60% or so, and that's probably pretty close.  Nothing to really note on most of the week.  A few swims, a couple of runs and a couple of bike rides.  For me, really, it was to keep moving.  I started running short of motivation a couple of the days but kept at it and the time kept piling up.  It still really felt low volume (which it's supposed to), but I felt good throughout.  

   

    After being extremely blessed with great weather for all of my long bike rides on the weekend the last 6 weeks or so, the weather turned on me last Friday.  Cold and rainy with wet roads did not thrill me for a "short" 3-hour ride with 30-minute run after.  So I had to do the ride indoors.  There's always a "but".  And here it is...But I was able to connect with Ashley, John, and Jon on the Discord channel and ride while talking with friends.  So it made the world a better place for at least those 3 hours. 

    I wrapped up my first taper week and headed into the rest of the weekend.  I finished packing and Julie and I headed south and east first thing on Monday morning. 

Race Week Goings-On:

    

    Julie and I were driving to Birmingham, AL the first night, about 11 hours before stops.  It turned into a little over 12, but we were able to stop in Bolivar, MO and grab a coffee with Ashley Raines.  Great time together as we're both on the hook for big events this weekend.  She is running the NYC Marathon on Sunday, so I'll be cheering her on from my wheelchair!  

   

    We got into Panama City Beach yesterday afternoon, checked into the condo which has a view of the pier and swim course from the balcony.  Cloudy and overcast, but when we went for a short walk on the beach, the water was as smooth as a lake with just small rollers at the shoreline.  THEN....today....

    A storm front blew in, and the wind picked up just a little. To the point that I received a "Gale Warning" alert on my bike computer 10 minutes into my shakeout ride.  And the gale winds were blowing right at me.  And sideways.  From the left, from the right.  Super slow for 17 minutes out before I made my turnaround, then it only took 13 minutes back to the condo. I had already done a short 35-minute run (which I was supposed to do yesterday) along the run course.  I was planning on swimming in the Gulf today, but the water is red-flagged for dangerous conditions.  I'll try and get into the Gulf tomorrow.  If it's still not good, the pool at the complex is plenty big for laps.  So I'll do that if I need to. There will be a practice swim on Friday morning, and the weather looks like it will start cooperating again beginning tomorrow.  

   

    Today I processed through Athlete Check In, with bib #433 as my lucky number.  Got some decent swag and all the materials I'll need for the weekend--swim cap, bib, timing chip, stickers for my helmet and bike, and the bags which will hold my bike and run transition gear and my special needs items on the bike and run courses.  I attended the swim course tips meeting, and the mandatory athlete briefing so I am now all fully prepared for all the ways things ca go wrong!  Nah, pretty straight forward.  Nothing too much different than what I've done before, just twice as long.  The bags are new to me, but I watched and learned when I went to Chattanooga last month.  
Tomorrow Julie and I are going to volunteer at the Athlete Check In in the morning, giving out wristbands, scanning the athletes timing chips, and giving out the swag.  It'll be fun talking to so many other athletes from all over the country and world. Now it's just organizing and putting the final details together tomorrow so I can be ready on Friday for bike and bag check in and the official open water swim practice.  

     Time to rock and roll.  I'm really not nervous.  I'm breaking the race down into small manageable mental pieces:  Get to the next red turn buoy.  Do that again.  Do that twice more.  Focusing on each 5-miles on the bike to get my nutrition in.  Do that 22 times.  Run to the next aid station in one mile.  Walk through it.  Do that 25 more times.  Then I'll be done.  Easy.....

    This week on my daily calendar, a quote by Martin Luther King was on one of the days.  "Focus on the step in front of you, not the whole staircase". Perfect.  140.6 miles is daunting.  But totally manageable if I'm focusing on the the next 900 yards, 5 miles, or 1 mile. 

Daily Life:

"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing."

II Timothy 4:7-8

    

    On Saturday around 8 or 8:30 PM, I will be crossing the finish line with the words, "Chris Curtis, from Olathe, Kansas... You are an Ironman!"  A year's worth of planning, training, dreaming, and prep work will have come together at the finish line.  All through the year, my goal has to been to finish strong.  To prepare myself for that finish line and to hear those words.  

    Madi Hayes once again came through with a final devotional in our team meeting on Sunday morning as she wrapped up the "Run the Race" mini series.  In II Timothy, Paul writes that he battled the race of life, got to the finish line, and kept the faith throughout.  And the Lord will award him AND all the others who stayed faithful the crown of righteousness.  My Ironman medal and finisher's hat and shirt does not compare by any means to this crown that the Lord placed on Paul's head eventually and will put on me as well at some point in time.  

    There are so many parallels here though.  Paul wrote a lot about races, running, competition, and exercise.  He used the ancient Olympics and other sporting events as a way to describe the Christian life and walk.  And throughout this year of training, that has come to life for me.  I've been more centered in Christ, have become a better person through what I've learned, and have been blessed to be able to sit here and type about all of this while overlooking and hearing the surf (yes, it's still very large) as I prepare to do an incredible thing on Saturday.  That is not lost on me. 

    As much as I talk about Ironman--it's the opposite rule from Fight Club--I try and stay humble to the fact that this is special thing that the Lord has allowed me to do.  And on Saturday, when I hear those words, I want to think ahead to the other words I long for at the end of this race of life:  "Well done, my good and faithful servant".  Those words will mean so much more than what I'll hear on Saturday evening.  

Final Thoughts:

    

    I still have a couple of days to go. Have some organizing to do, prep work and resting and fueling.  But it's getting oh so close.  I'm soaking up each moment of this week--with Julie, the views, the sand, the atmosphere--so I can fully appreciate the day that I'm about to have.  For only a few more days (at least for this journey), I have to do just five things:

Show Up, Keep Fit, Stay THE Course, 

Focus, & Keep Moving Forward

    Thanks for following along on 49 blogs, countless Instagram and FB posts, and being polite through HOURS of unsolicited Ironman conversation.  Not sorry.  

CPC 

Panama City Beach, FL

10/29/25

58 hours, 52 minutes until Ironman Florida