Still hitting it....

Well I had a pretty good week of training. I did 2 mile swims on monday and friday. I got 3 runs in and 3 bike rides this week. I had a 5 hour ride on trainer Saturday and that was tough. I would say more mental tough then physical. Except my butt was screaming with pain!! I mean real PAIN!!! I kept heart rate 135 for the whole ride. Today I had my long run which was 13 miles and I kept that at 9:16 pace with some good hills. Legs were somewhat tired from the 5 hour ride the day before. Still working on fluid control and getting closer to the ideal fluid intake. T training is getting harder and harder due to winter and snow. I cant wait to be able to ride outside!!! My heart rate is dropping a few beats and allowing me to keep the same pace so that has to be contributed to the altitude tent!! That is good news. Plus my weight has dropped to 155 lbs. Keep you posted!!

Trigger pulled!!!

I guess the bullet is fired and time to bite it!!! I am now signed up and facing a tough few months to get ready for the big one. Its a tough course so it adds some pressure to me mentally and physically!! I havent decided which is tougher on me- the mental part or physical part? The mental seems a lot harder to control. It is such roller coaster ride on the mental part. I call it the "Chatter"- the mental battle of the I can-I cant-I want-I dont-I will- I quit etc. . How do you stay mentally strong when your body is saying "no more" plus a ton of other negative feelings trying to make you stop this obsurd quest!!! When you train long you have lots of time to deal with your thoughts! When you train short and fast you really dont have any time to think, you just survive the moment and get it over with!!! These long training sessions opens the door for a lot of chatter coming at you! So the task at hand is to control your "Chatter"!! How? I am learning to do that slowly. Its strange how powerful it is. You can actually change the whole mood of your workout by getting control of this Chatter!! I am still learning it and continues to be a constant challenge! Remember, natures roll in this is taking"the least path of resistance" so that is where this battle starts!! Keep you posted!!



Well my workouts are going pretty good. I am up to 1 hour swims twice a week and doing a 4-5 hour indoor bike trainer workout!! That is torture!! I am very anal about keeping track of weight, pulse, water loss, nutrtion intake etc. I lose an average of 34 oz of fluid per hour on the trainer!! So my challenge is to try and replace most of the loss fluid and electrolytes etc.

Now that I am fully committed I will keep a short log of my weekly workouts! Keep you posted!!

Have not pulled the trigger...

Well I have yet to sign up for the St George Ironman!! I have been training hard and putting the preparation needed to complete this quest of mine! I look everyday to see if there are slots still available for sign up. I hold my breath each time I look, sometimes I wonder if i secretly hope it is filled up so I cant torture myself any longer! I guess I have to just suck it up and make the decision!!!!

Training has been very tough due to the winter months. I am forced to train all indoors on the bike and swim. However, my runs I do outside due to I enjoy the cold on my runs. Not really enjoy but dont mind it. I get hot very easily so I can take the extreme cold. I dont like the slippage but I manage ok out there.

I did my longest brick last weekend. I rode the trainer (st. george course) for 4 hours and then jumped off to do a 12 mile run. My plan was to start on treadmill for 2 miles and then head out front door for rest of 10 miles. I ended up doing 11 miles straight on the treadmill (shoot me)!!!! It was tough but I just kept on going. I managed to get some hill runs on the treadmill etc. Overall it felt pretty good. I did weigh myself every hour on the bike and treadmill to keep track of my water loss. I ended up losing 4 pounds overall with a consumption of 23oz of fluid per hour!! That tells me of course that my intake of fluids is still low. I am a big time sweater!!! Lisa loves it though!! In fact I soaked 4 towels during my bike ride alone. 72.4 degrees in my bike trainer area. Well, overall my training has been good, legs are good, mental is ok, belly is big still, knees are good, so I am happy with most everything!! I guess i have to just grow some kahonies and pull the trigger!!!!! I will admit I have fear of this race. My fear is just having a stinkin injury before or during the race and all this work is for naught!! I guess I should be more worried about doing all this work and not being even signed up!!! Stupid is- Stupid does!!!!

Thanks to my wife, kids, and stepkids for there patience during my training! Especially my wife for all her help during my training runs and rides. She is the sexiest water-girl ever!! Most of all putting up with my training crankiness!!!! She thinks I have Ironman PMS!!

I rode the St George course!!

Well I am still training for the St George Ironman. I have not signed up officially yet but pretty sure I will. I rode the St. George course Dec 5th. Clint was my vehicle support for the ride. We went down Friday night and had dinner and went to hotel. I got the bike and drink supply ready for the early morning ride! I woke up at 6:00 am and went out to grab something to eat and got the bike ready for ride. It was still dark so i had to wait till 7:15 am due to the sun wasn't quite bright enough. Outside temp was 22 degrees!! It was cold. I left hotel and ventured out on the course. Clint stayed in bed to give me an hour head start!! The course was tough but very interesting. I was out in the desert all by myself. It was very quiet except for my tires on the road. There was an very interesting beauty out there in the desert. I had thoughts of being mountain lion bait at times or chased by a stray Indian dog!! I had to ride through an Indian reservation.

Well at mile 25 Clint finally caught up with me and I was very happy to have him around me!!! Before Clint arrived I had a truck pull up along side of me and he rolled down his window and I had thoughts of being shot but he quietly told me to be careful out there all by myself!!! He seemed nice about it so I assumed he was just giving me a warning to be careful out there all by myself!!! He drove off without telling me why to be careful!! So of course I had thoughts of him parked up ahead waiting to shoot me or something!! Like I said I was very happy to see Clint!!

Clint took some videos of me riding some very tough climbs. The course was mostly hilly and tough!! Due to the cold my water bottles froze like a slushy- plus my feet were numb!! I rode about 42 miles of the course which was the hardest part of course. We got back to hotel to change into running shoes and go run part of the marathon course. Clint ran with me and we ran about 7 miles. The run course was uphill the first 3.5 miles and that made the legs hurt!! I was tired when we got back to hotel but very glad I checked the course out and pleased Clint was nice enough to support me and run with me!!!

IRONMAN!! Why??

I have given a lot of thought about the idea of blogging in regard to my triathlon and running events. I have often thought blogging is just a way of obtaining attention or accolades for what we or others do in life! We must all ask ourselves this question "what makes us DO the the things we DO?" In every aspect of life we have certain reasons for performing everything we do!! Often we are all pretty good at judging others why they do things but we have a hard time judging ourselves why we really do things. Sometimes its just easier to leave the "why" out and just do it and not worry why!! But I have found that finding the honest truth behind the "why" is much more difficult due to actually having to be honest with oneself and your motives!!

So Why am I doing the Ironman?? Do you really even care?? I know Why I am doing the Ironman and that is what matters!! I will be happy to take a few accolades along the way due to I am human and will have weak moments of my own motivation etc. I love the support of my family and friends and have the greatest respect for others that have taken this Ironman journey for whatever reasons why they did it!!!!

So I will shut-up and get on with this Ironman Training Journal!!! See how I switched it from a blog to a journal!! Journal=(A personal record of occurrences, experiences, and reflections kept on a regular basis; a diary). Thanks, Eric