Well, the last week has not been a very productive training week by any stretch of the imagination. I started last week off on Monday with an AM swim (as usual) and Tuesday was a scheduled rest day. I didn't feel all that well on Wednesday morning when the alarm went off, so I skipped my Wednesday swim.
When I went to bed on Wednesday night, I told myself that if I felt well enough, I would go the the gym and do a treadmill run Thursday morning. So, when the alarm went off Thursday, I felt OK and I headed to the gym for a 25 minute treadmill run. I didn't feel 100% while I was running, but definitely better than the day before. Needless to say, at about 1:00 Thursday afternoon, I started feeling bad and at about 4:00 the fever came. It got up to about 102.5 that night. It felt like the flu, but a doctor's visit Friday morning confirmed it was not.
As a result, I made the decision to take the whole weekend off no matter how I was feeling.
I returned to the pool this morning and had a pretty good swim (12 x 100 yards at 1:50/100 pace with 00:30 rest per 100)....light intensity with plenty of rest considering I was coming off of some sick days. It felt sloppy at times, but it felt good to be back in the pool. I'm looking forward to a bike ride tomorrow.
For all of you have have already donated to my Walt Disney World Marathon fundraiser, you'll be happy to know that the official DAY 1 of my training for that race starts 3 weeks from today. I gave myself a harsh dose of reality earlier today by mapping exactly how far it is to run 18 miles, one of the longer training runs I will do in December (I will actually do a 20 miler, also). For those of you that live in Jackson, that's the distance from the front door of the hospital at UMC to Walmart in Flowood AND BACK!!! For those of you living in Monroe, if you were to leave running north from the end of Forsythe Extension where it meets Hwy. 165, 18 miles would be behind you about the time you got to the first gas station in Bastrop (or from Ray's Pege in Monroe to Calhoun). Reality definitely sets in once you look at it on a map. Anybody want to voluteer to stand at the finish with a beer during my training runs.
So, what can I say about this challenge before me? I welcome it. I look forward to raising money for congenital heart defect research in honor of Cain (and the other CHD children I have been hearing about lately from Cain's mom). I look forward to honoring our fallen Special Operations Warriors by raising money to send their children to college. I look forward to testing myself, both physically and mentally. There are times when I think I may have gotten myself in over my head. Then I can look at my son and daughter and realize that there are parents in this world who have lost a child to a heart defect and never get to experience the joy that I get when I walk into my house at night and both of my kids' faces light up with big smiles and Jenna Kate runs over yelling "DADDYYYYYYY" and gives me a big hug. There are children who have lost parents to war who deserve help with college...such a small sacrifice for you and I since their parent gave everything for us. Looking at it this way really puts into perspective why I am doing what I am. I'm not a runner! Never have been! In fact, I've always hated running and I might be the slowest runner you've ever seen. But, I have to do it for those kids!
If you can help me with my fundraiser, I would certainly appreciate it if you would just consider it. If not, please tell a friend. It doesn't take much. A lot of small donations go a long way!
Monday, August 31, 2009
Monday, August 17, 2009
Thursday, August 13, 2009
I think I can, I think I can.....
Before I get into the blog I just want to remind readers that I need help raising money for two great charities. Click on the following charity names to visit the fundraising pages.
I got another lesson in humility last Thursday (seems like these lessons are coming pretty often). I went for a group bike ride with the Mississippi Heat Triathlon Team , which I joined a few months ago. It was my first group ride, and boy did I feel like I had gotten myself in over my head quickly! We met at Soulshine Pizza in Madison and headed out towards Pocahontas. I left with the first group knowing that I would definitely get dropped fairly quickly. Boy, was I right about getting dropped! The group quickly reached 21+ mph. I lasted almost 3 miles at the back of the line before, slowly but surely, it became harder and harder to stay close to the wheel of the rider in front of me. Before I knew it, they were out of sight. So, I kept riding and joined another group of riders that were following behind. I had a better time keeping up with this group. They were averaging in the 18-20 mph range, slightly faster than I normally ride; but, I was able to keep up for most of the ride- at least until we came to what seemed like one of the mountains that they climb in the Tour de France. The triathlon team president, who had hung around to ride with me, warned me about it. I definitely underestimated it. I should have known coming down the hill when my bike computer said I was going 39 mph that it was going to be a MAJOR undertaking getting back up this mountain!
So, about 19 miles into the ride I started my climb and it didn't take long before I knew I was in trouble. I tried shifting gears to make the ride up easier, but as the pedals got easier to turn the hill got steeper and before I knew it, my heart rate was 198 bpm and I was going about 5 mph up this hill. I tried to stand up, but nothing doing, my legs were toast. So, at this point, I had 2 choices. The first option was to stay seated and keep pedaling until I could no longer pedal and risk falling over because I wouldn't be able to clip out of my pedals. The second option was to bow out gracefully and make sure that I could get my foot out of the pedals without falling over in front of everyone. So, I did it. I put my foot down. As one of the other riders passed me, she (her name was Stephanie) said something that that made an impression. She said, "You will never forget this day as long as you live!" I think she's right and I think that's a good thing!
I learned a couple of things during that failed climb. The first is setting myself up for success. Since the group was moving a bit faster than I normally ride, it would have been wise to be a bit more conservative on some of the easier climbs that I had been a bit more aggressive on. The second was that I have a long way to go before I'll be able to stick with a group of experienced riders. I'll never forget forget putting my foot down on that hill!
So, in light of failing to climb that hill, I set out to beat it a couple of days later after I got a map of the ride from one of the triathlon team members. I did climb that hill. I told myself that I was going to celebrate at the top, but I didn't have the energy to do so. What a great feeling of accomplishment to go back and make that climb after failing my first attempt.
This weekend I plan to go back and do hill repeats on that hill until I can't do them anymore! What better way to get better at climbing hills.
Running has gotten a little better over the last few weeks. Swimming was great for a few weeks, but I think I had a setback in my last swim session.
I got another lesson in humility last Thursday (seems like these lessons are coming pretty often). I went for a group bike ride with the Mississippi Heat Triathlon Team , which I joined a few months ago. It was my first group ride, and boy did I feel like I had gotten myself in over my head quickly! We met at Soulshine Pizza in Madison and headed out towards Pocahontas. I left with the first group knowing that I would definitely get dropped fairly quickly. Boy, was I right about getting dropped! The group quickly reached 21+ mph. I lasted almost 3 miles at the back of the line before, slowly but surely, it became harder and harder to stay close to the wheel of the rider in front of me. Before I knew it, they were out of sight. So, I kept riding and joined another group of riders that were following behind. I had a better time keeping up with this group. They were averaging in the 18-20 mph range, slightly faster than I normally ride; but, I was able to keep up for most of the ride- at least until we came to what seemed like one of the mountains that they climb in the Tour de France. The triathlon team president, who had hung around to ride with me, warned me about it. I definitely underestimated it. I should have known coming down the hill when my bike computer said I was going 39 mph that it was going to be a MAJOR undertaking getting back up this mountain!
So, about 19 miles into the ride I started my climb and it didn't take long before I knew I was in trouble. I tried shifting gears to make the ride up easier, but as the pedals got easier to turn the hill got steeper and before I knew it, my heart rate was 198 bpm and I was going about 5 mph up this hill. I tried to stand up, but nothing doing, my legs were toast. So, at this point, I had 2 choices. The first option was to stay seated and keep pedaling until I could no longer pedal and risk falling over because I wouldn't be able to clip out of my pedals. The second option was to bow out gracefully and make sure that I could get my foot out of the pedals without falling over in front of everyone. So, I did it. I put my foot down. As one of the other riders passed me, she (her name was Stephanie) said something that that made an impression. She said, "You will never forget this day as long as you live!" I think she's right and I think that's a good thing!
I learned a couple of things during that failed climb. The first is setting myself up for success. Since the group was moving a bit faster than I normally ride, it would have been wise to be a bit more conservative on some of the easier climbs that I had been a bit more aggressive on. The second was that I have a long way to go before I'll be able to stick with a group of experienced riders. I'll never forget forget putting my foot down on that hill!
So, in light of failing to climb that hill, I set out to beat it a couple of days later after I got a map of the ride from one of the triathlon team members. I did climb that hill. I told myself that I was going to celebrate at the top, but I didn't have the energy to do so. What a great feeling of accomplishment to go back and make that climb after failing my first attempt.
This weekend I plan to go back and do hill repeats on that hill until I can't do them anymore! What better way to get better at climbing hills.
Running has gotten a little better over the last few weeks. Swimming was great for a few weeks, but I think I had a setback in my last swim session.
"I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed." -Michael Jordan
"If you ever get a second chance in life for something, you've got to go all the way" -Lance Armstrong
"If you ever get a second chance in life for something, you've got to go all the way" -Lance Armstrong
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