Blog

“Done’s”

I have to admit that I’ve been struggling to find inspiration for this blog recently. I remember when I first started writing, everything I was doing was brand new and, as I’ve written before, I saw everything I did as another item to check of my preparation list. I counted hours and miles and used a red pen to check off each workout on my weekly calendar. As time went by, it has become much more routine – going out for a two or three or four+ hour training session on a Saturday isn’t a big deal, it’s just the way I spend Saturday morning. I always know what’s my training schedule looks like, but I’m not so concerned about it anymore; I just check what Coach John tells me to do, and then I do it. Some of my workouts are more remarkable than others, but they’re so deeply embedded into my daily life that they normally don’t stay with me for very long.

But then I start thinking about the ultimate goal here. When John and I met last fall, I wasn’t hiring him because I wanted to get in great shape. I wasn’t hiring him so exercise would become part of my daily life. I wanted a coach to help me train for, and put me in a position to complete, Ironman USA. I’ve done everything he’s asked, but here I am, less than seven weeks away from the big day and I’m finding it easy to slip into thinking about the things I haven’t done. I haven’t ridden enough hills. I haven’t run longer than a half marathon since the NYC Marathon last November. I haven’t swam enough 800’s or 1,000’s. I haven’t pushed myself enough on my indoor rides. I haven’t, I haven’t, I haven’t…

But what good is that negative thinking going to do me?! No matter what I’ve done during the last ten months, I will always find things I haven’t done and ways to improve, but is that what this is about? No way. For me – someone who’s not in this to win it – this is about the process – and what I have learned, and will learn, about myself throughout it. So, in an effort to stop dwelling on the haven’ts and the could’ves, this post is dedicated to the done’s and the completed’s, crushed’s and even the absolutely killed.

Here is a partial list of my “done’s”:

• I’ve completed a 112 mile bike ride;
• I ran a marathon – and qualified for Boston;
• I’ve improved my half-marathon time by over 5 minutes;
• I raced a half ironman in about the worst conditions I can imagine and came in 11th overall (and second in my age group);
• I’ve improved my 1,000 yard swim time from 17:21 to 15:34;
• I’ve gone from a place where cycling was a race-day liability to where I look forward to getting on the bike because I love pedaling strong and fast;
• I survived a mind-numbing 4 hour indoor ride on my trainer – and put in nearly 70 hours on the trainer since January 1;
• I’ve helped raise nearly $9,000 for CAF;
• I’ve become proficient with basic bike maintenance and tuning – this week I even successfully removed a spacer from my headset, which is something I never would have even considered trying a year ago;
• I’ve gained the confidence that I can push myself further, faster and harder than I ever thought possible;
• I’ve learned that there really aren’t limits to what I can achieve;

  and last and most importantly:

• I think (and hopefully my lovely wife would confirm) that I’ve done a pretty bang-up job balancing Elizabeth and Charlie time into the whole equation.

Tomorrow morning I’m heading up to Lake Placid for a hard-core training weekend and to check out the swim, bike and run courses. I’ll hopefully have a few more “done’s” to add to the list after that trip.

Apologies for a very self-serving post, but it did make me feel better!

Here are some new pictures of Charlie for your viewing pleasure (taken in Wainscott last weekend):

Bike – June 1
Time: 1:30
Average heart rate: 128
Indoor ride

Run – June 1
Distance: 5.5 miles
Time: 41 minutes
Average heart rate: 142
Course: West Side Highway/Financial District/Tribeca
Conditions: Hot, humid

Swim – June 2
Distance: 4,300 yards
Time: 1:40

Long Brick – June 3
Bike distance: 70.4 miles
Run distance: 7.75 miles
Total time: 4:35.24
Average heart rate: 131
Course: Bike to Montauk, around east end; Run to beach, around Wainscott
Conditions: Warm, clouds and sun, sorta humid

Bike – June 4
Time: 30 minutes
Average heart rate: 114
Indoor ride

Bike – June 5
Time: 1:30
Average heart rate: 122
Indoor ride

Run – June 6
Distance: 12 miles
Time: 1:30:30
Average heart rate: 151
Course: West Side Highway north to 120’s
Conditions: Beautiful, high 60’s, sunny, some wind