Hurtles

Jump, Jump, Jump. .. I feel like I’m always jumping over hurtles. Clear one in life and God puts another in your way. I just hope that it makes us stronger.

I’ve been reading a lot of blogs out in blog land and it got me to thinking: Do these people know how much they may influence another life? Do they know how many people start the day by reading their thoughts?

I read a blog a few weeks back from a lady who lost her husband and sometime speaks about it. I could feel the pain as I read her words. I went home that night and treated my wife a little better; heck I am trying to treat everyone a little better. I told my wife about the blog and how I was feeling bad, it felt like I had lost a love one. I have really struggled with this feeling of helplessness. I visit the blog daily and have on a few occasions started to write a comment to tell her I understand and I feel her pain, but how could I really. My hurtles seem small compared to hers.

I got my swagger back!

I got my swagger back is a song by Will Smith that I like to listen to while I run. The Fresh Prince raps happy and puts me in a good mood.
Last night was swim night and it we were told it would be another continuous swim. We were given the choice of 500, 800, or 1100 yard swim. Me being the sissy I am picked the 500. I really wanted the 800 but got confused and jumped in with the wrong crowd. We started and right away I knew I made a mistake, these folks were swimming real slow. I made my way tro the front and never looked back. I finished the swim and the coaches said to keep going so I did. I ended up swimming a 750 and felt like I could have gone all night. I felt good again; slipper smooth and moving with each stroke. The rest of the workout after we completed the continous swim was good also. We did a set of 100's that felt good. I think I may have figured out my stroke again and it all goes back to the drills. It also helped to stop thinking and just swim because my body knows what to do if my brain would shut up (see the post below).

Tripping over my brain.

I’ve discovered something this weekend, I think too much. The team training session was way on the other side of town and the in-laws were in town so I skipped. I know that’s bad but I did it and I have no regrets, well some. I did get out on my own for a quick ride. It felt good to just jump on the bike (old Pokey) and just go. I didn't try to ride fast or ride far I just went out the front door and rode. It felt good to just go at my own slow as can be pace. I didn’t think, I just took in what was going on around me.

I went to the park on Sunday and did the same thing, just ran. I think I have been tripping over my brain lately when it comes to training, if I just stop thinking and enjoy the moment things are better. So for now I'm going to just live in the run, swim, or bike session that I’m doing. Seems simple, we’ll see after tonight’s swim.

Just Keep Swimming!

I like what the fish in Finding Nemo had to say “just keep swimming”. I say it a lot when I’m struggling. It’s funny how a cartoon can keep me going from day to day. I have been really discouraged lately because the training is not going well. I try to tell myself to just keep going, keep swimming and you'll break through and get out of this funk. The cycle starts with a bad training and then I don’t want to train and that leads to more bad days of training and I can’t seem to get out. I need to just shut up with the whining, suck it up and train harder like when I was young and full of energy and I think that is what I will do. Starting Monday!

Water , Water, Everywhere

And I drank a lot! Monday was swim night and we got a surprise. They changed the pool over to long course. That means that instead of swimming 25 yards to a wall you now swim 50 yards before you have a wall to grab. I'll reserve judgment on witch on is better for a while. It's hard to not be able to grab on but it makes the sets go faster. It's seems a lot easier to swim up and back for 100 yards then up, back, up back. I still seem to be getting slower with every swim. The good news is that I’m getting slower on the bike and run also. My hopes of winning the Tri over slowing fading!

Wednesday night we had a bike lesson up at REI. The Tri coach for Team in Training (Mark) put on a clinic and taught us some little lessons about how to maintain our bikes. We even learned to change a tire. I have changed a few tires in my lifetime but I now think I can do it in under an hour. We had a bunch of the new tri team in attendance. Most were women training for the Iron Girl Tri. It felt kind of good to see people that were just starting, I felt like a pro compared to these folks. They should mix the 2 teams on some training sessions because I feel like I could help answer some of the stupid questions that the seasoned team members don’t even think about anymore.

Faster then a speeding turtle

Here is the Saturday training group. We did not have an official training but a smaller group got together closer to home to go for a ride and run. About 1/2 of us went for a 20 mile ride and 1/2 did even more. I was with the slower group of riders and I was holding them up big time. I’m so slow that they had to stop and wait on me several times. I'm amazed at how easy people go by me on the bike. I hope to one day ride as easy as they do. This ride did have hills including a couple of big ones and at one point I wanted to get off of the bike and walk up the hill. I'm proud to say that I made it 20 miles and then ran another 1 and 1/2 miles. I'm not proud to say that I'm still feeling the burn 2 days later.

This guy just goes fot it! It gets me pumped every time I watch it.

My Kid Rocks!

Big news --- Sammy, my 12 year old son is going to compete in the Meek and Mighty race that is the day before my race. The race is Swim 200 yards • Bike 5.4 miles • Run 1 mile. He began is training last week when I put his bike on my bike trainer so he could get in some pedel time. Stacie informed me that he rode for 1 hour and 15 minutes and then ran on the treadmill. He ROCKS! He will have no problem completing his race (not like his dad who may die). Things come easy to the boy and that worries me. I think it's making him lazy. When he applies himself at school, sports, music, or anything he is a standout but he seems to feel OK just being OK. Sadly he's a little version of me but he still has time to grow out of that.

No Turning Back

I have had bad, I mean real bad training sessions lately and seriously thought about backing out of my upcoming race but.... last night I committed. Well, I re-committed. Team in Training has a date that you must tell them go or no go. Go means that you are going to continue training and more importantly raise money. You have to commit to rising the money or come out of pocket yourself. I'm a little under $2000 away from the goal now so I'm a little nervous. Stacie is starting to raise money for me now so I think I'll make it to my goal but the thought still drags me down as I train. I also figured it's going to cost me about $1000 to have Sammy and Stacie go to the event with me; add that to the equipment cost and this thing is expensive. Oh well, it will be so worth it in the end and I’ll be a healthier person to boot!

Why Not.

My wife started a blog so I thought I could also. I'll try to keep you update on my quest to do St. Anthoney's Triathlon on April 27th of 2008. I have joined Team in Training to help me with my training but also to raise funds to help cure the disease that took my fathers life.