What a Great Day!!!

Yesterday was one of the best days I have had in a long time. Can you remember the last time a bunch of small things went right to make your day awesome? Yesterday was that day for me.
As most of you know, my wife is a Personal Trainer. I have just recently completed my personal training certification and will be starting that journey soon. In an effort to become more familiar with the ways of the trainer, I decided to take my wife’s core and upper body class. The class started yesterday and will continue for four weeks on Tuesday and Thursday. I also saw this as an opportunity to get into the habit of using the early morning hours for Ironman training. The class is at 5:30 AM.

The alarm went off a 4 AM. I need to get one of those alarm clocks that is the shape of a baseball. You can throw it across the room without damaging it. The impact will activate the snooze alarm, and you will have to get out of bed to find it the second time. It would be an understatement for me to say I am NOT an early morning person. I am not grouchy in the morning, I just can’t get up and going. I would rather sleep until noon. If sleeping were an Olympic event, I would take home the silver. My brother, Rodney, would take home the gold.

The class was small, with just six total participants. Being that this was the first class of eight, I knew it would be the easiest class to get everyone warmed up and back into the routine. However, I did not expect an easy time. My wife is hard core and wants people to get the most out of there workouts. Most of my concern was from my lack of core and weight training. I can run for four hours or bike for ten, but I haven’t worked my core or done any weights since last October. I dare not admit how long it had been before October.

The class was awesome! I was in some pain, especially from the plank, but was feeling great. If you have never done the plank, you should give this a shot. You are basically in the pushup position, but resting on your elbows instead of your hands. You pretty much hold that position until your body starts shaking violently and you want to throw up. Take a master of pain, like my wife, and she can come up with a hundred different variations of the plank for real fun. I loved it so much; I will be attending all eight classes.

My plans after the workout were very exciting for me. I planned to head to another gym and take a nap in the sauna for about thirty minutes. I love the sauna. I had not been in the sauna during the early morning hours. I was concerned that it might be crowded and too hot. I don’t like the sauna to be too hot. I like to warm up slowly and enjoy the nap. I also don’t like sharing the sauna with other people. Its not that I don’t like people, I just don’t like naked men in close proximity of my napping zone. I have enough concern for other people that I choose to at least wrap a towel around me when I go to the sauna. I really don’t understand the desire to run around naked in a public environment, especially if you don’t have a "Publicly approved" naked body. Even worse is the naked guy who plops down beside you in the sauna, on the higher bench, and spreads his legs. This puts certain obscene objects at eye level. I get to the sauna to find it hasn’t even been turned on today. On top of that, no one joins me in the sauna. I had the slow warm up and the sauna all to myself. It was a great nap.

I had a rough day at work the day before, so I was hoping for some work miracles. I won’t bore you with the work details, but it was one of the most productive and pleasant work mornings I have had in a long time.

My younger brother, Rodney, calls me about 10:30. He is in town for a dentist appointment and would like to go to lunch. I am game, so we plan to go just after 11. I don’t get to see my brothers enough, so this is a rare opportunity. However, I know there is one problem. Rodney doesn’t believe in eating healthy. On top of that, he believes in quantity. He will only eat something green if someone hides vegetables on his meat lovers’ pizza. I quickly start running down a list of food options that could minimize the upcoming damage to my diet. We run through the list, and nothing really appeals to him. He has an epiphany, and decides we need to go to Hooters. This is bad; I love Hooters hot wings, curly fries and cheese sauce. This situation is made worse by the facts that I have not been to Hooters in forever, I worked out early this morning and I have only had 250 calories for the day.

We arrive at Hooters and grab a table. Before I move forward, I must clarify; I go to Hooters for the Hot Wings, not the Hooters. This is the only place I can get all drums. I don’t like the regular hot wings, they don’t have enough meat. They also have some of the best curly fries on the planet. Believe me; I take my eating seriously, now that I have changed my eating habits. If I am going to splurge, I am going to make it count. Now I will admit, I don’t mind and cute girl in short shorts serving me food, Is it just not the reason I choose to go to this restaurant.

When I come to Hooters, I don’t even need the menu. I order the same thing every time. I order a twenty piece all drums with curly fries and cheese sauce. Rodney makes the same order. This should be a fun outing. Rodney had a root canal an hour ago and the entire left side of his mouth is still numb. I promise to inform him when a river of sauce is dripping down his chin. I am sure you are all aware of how promises go when a sibling is involved.

The waitress delivers our food and madness begins. Keeping true to my old habits, I go for the curly fries first. I had actually thought about ordering three orders of curly fries and no wings. The fries are awesome! I move to the wings, and they are almost as tasty. We start devouring the wings like we haven’t eaten in days. The most challenging part of eating at Hooters is trying to not have sauce all over your face or stuff in your teeth every time the waitress comes around. I think this the universes way of playing a nasty trick on guys to think they have a chance to get frisky with one of waitresses. I am sure your chances are killed when you smile at the waitress with sauce running down your face and stuff stuck between your teeth. I can just see some guy in that situation winking at the waitress and saying "How you doing"?

Our waitress seems to be spending a bit more time on Rodney’s side of the table. The ladies have always thought he was a cutie and have given him a bit extra in the flirting category. I could give you a few examples of his cute charm, but I fear those long lost moments should be left in the past, especially the one in Dallas on his 21st B-day.

Rodney is faithful married man. That doesn’t mean that a man doesn’t enjoy a moment of flattery from a cute waitress. After a few repeating flirtatious moments, he starts to get that half embarrassed, half cocky smile, that a man gets when a women is flirting with him and not the other guys at the table. He has forgotten that the left side of his mouth is numb and that I don’t always keep my promises. The waitress returns to fill our drinks one last time. By this time he has some courage and decides throw some boyish charm her way. At this point, he has relaxed a bit, and his left lip is starting to sag. On top of that, there a nice stream of wing sauce running down the numb side of his cheek. He smiles at her and is telepathically asking, "How you doing". She obviously spots the cheek and the sauce and starts to retreat to my side of the table. I lean over and inform her that he has some mental issues and this is the first time he has been out of the hospital in weeks.

Funny, we didn’t see her again until it was time for the bill. It was a great day!

The Orange Quest

I have spent the last couple of months scouring the earth for apparel to match my CARVE team triathlon kit. The way I see it, I have three choices. I can be boring, colorful or hideous. Of course, I chose hideous. I figured, hey, if I am going to be in pain I might as well add some humor to the situation.

As you can see by the pics, I have found the shoes and the sunglasses. I am having no luck finding and orange hat. Well, I can find an orange hat, but not a dry-fit orange hat that I can race in for 5 hours of running at the Ironman. My wife is going to attempt to dye a white hat. If that doesn't work, I will just go with a white hat and the orange sunglasses. If I can find the orange hat, I will more than likely go with a neutral color for the sunglasses.

Hey, the bright orange can do two useful things for me. I can blind the competition as they pass me and the orange should make it easier for the medics to find me passed out on the side of the road during the run.

I took the first step into my future career this week. I completed a Personal Training certification. It was a very intense and detailed test by ISSA. Being in the Technology field, I have been taking certification test for years. I was a bit surprised, and happy, with the difficulty of the exam. It is nice to know the industry is improving the quality of their professionals.

My wife became a PT a couple of years ago, and she loves it! She now works out six times a day for at least six days a week, sometimes seven. She doesn't really work out that much, but she does workout a lot. I think her arms are more defined and bigger than mine. Several of our friends refer to her as "Pipes" or "Guns". She is part of the reason I looked into being a personal trainer. She really enjoys her clients and what better way to spend a day than at the gym?

I won't be trading in the dress shoes for running shoes just yet, but I hope one day to be able to be involved in fitness full time. We have some great ideas and some big plans, but it will take time. I should be able to start training clients in a couple of weeks. I am actually a bit nervous about it. I spend most of my day dealing with computers. It will be quite a switch to deal with humans. There is a big difference in knowing how to do something and showing someone else how to do it.

I had a great nutritional breakthrough with a friend this week. I was enjoying one of my HMR meals when my boss walks in. He ask about the meal and mentioned that he wanted to lose some weight. He had quit smoking a couple of years ago and put on a few pounds. He knows I am in to fitness and has watched me drop almost 40lbs in the last year.

He is a lot like me, in the way that you can't push me to do something. I have to hear the right words or have something catch my attention to get me motivated. I ended up giving him a few meals and recommending he try one, or even two, for lunch. At 230 calories meal, he could easily eat two and cut his lunch calories in half or even by 75%.

He liked the meals and ordered a stash for himself. He has lost several pounds in the last two weeks. He sat in my office today and started talking about counting calories. He had never counted his daily calories and was shocked by the number of calories he was consuming. He thought he was doing the right thing by eating a salad and soaking it in Ranch. After all, it was a salad, it should be healthy. Little did he know that salad had more calories and fat than a fast food cheeseburger.

He seems to be excited about this new discovery and motivated about losing weight. It made me feel good that I could help someone in a positive and healthy way. Maybe this Personal training will be easier than I thought.

The Dentist and the talking Ducks

I had a Dentist appointment today. Like most of the people on the planet, I don't find going to the Dentist a pleasant experience. Luckily, today was a routine cleaning and a fitting for crown on a root canal I had a few months ago. The fitting couldn't be that bad, right?

The cleaning went as planned. I had the usual muffled conversation with the hygienists. It is amazing they can understand the gibberish we speak when their hands are stuffed into our mouths. At the end of the cleaning, the DDS will make a brief appearance to check things out. He is nice guy with a great sense of humor. After checking me out, he instructs to move to another room so we can start the crown work. He ask if I wanted some gas to relax. I quickly ask, "Are we doing something that I would need gas"? He laughs, says no, and says he just wants me to be relaxed. I believe him and head for the next room.

I settle into the chair and promptly accept the gas. I must admit, I love the gas! After a few minutes the DDS and his assistant show up. The first thing he does is crank up the gas. I find this odd, but dismiss it as he changes the subject to more humor. He is a duck hunter and has a few pictures of ducks on the ceiling. He ask me to let him know if the water in the duck pond starts moving or if the ducks start talking to me.

The gas has started to kick in and I am feeling pretty good. I start to see two sets of hands hovering above my mouth. Looks like they are about to get busy. Out of the corner of my eye, I see the big needle used to numb your mouth. Wait a minute, what are we doing that requires this much gas and a needle. My fear increases as I see a second and third needle enter my mouth. He turns up the gas and they leave the room.

I am very high at this point and half of my face is numb. The return and start to go to work. I have learned how to zone out and not think about what they are doing. I stare at the duck pictures and notice the water is moving. Should I report this to him? Heck no, I don't want to take any chances of feeling pain. More time passes and I see one of the ducks head move toward me. This is kind of freaky, but I am not about to say anything that will get my gas turned down. I am suddenly hearing other voices above me. You have to be kidding, the duck is talking to me.

"You missed your run yesterday and you have only swam once this week".

I am not going to talk to this duck. Who does he think he is, my trainer?

"If you don't run on Thursday, your legs are going to hurt as bad as they did last weekend."

I know, I know, I will run tomorrow. I can't believe I am talking to the duck.

"You ate Ice Cream yesterday and have only lost 2 lbs this month. You are behind schedule."

Hey, I am getting back on track, ease up. I just started training again.

"You do realize you have an Ironman in 7 months. You can't train like last year and finish."

That's it, I am through talking to you. I am closing my eyes and you will go away.

After an hour of construction, they release me. I am no longer high, but I feel like I have a slight hangover. Half of my face is still numb, so lunch should be fun. Maybe I should use the numbness as an excuse not to eat. After all, the duck is right about everything.

Back in the Groove and Loving it!!!

I am alive again! I can still bike, run and swim without having a heart attack.

You really don't appreciate a long rest period until you get a couple of weeks back into training and start to feel normal again. Those first couple of workouts really hurt and make you wonder if it is all worth it. Fortunately, the body has a good memory and only makes you suffer for a couple of weeks.

I had a more methodical rest period at the end of 2008. I had a great year, lost a lot of weight and was more fit than ever. As I finished my last race in early November, an MTB race, I knew I needed to start winding down and giving my body a break. Putting and Ironman on the schedule for 2009 really changes your focus.

I put the small tire bikes on the rack and grabbed the fat tires for most of November and December. I did a lot of casual riding in the woods and some easy running. Well, as casual as MTB will let you be. A casual MTB ride is still a good workout. I finally figured out how to ride in the dirt without ending up on my back. That really made riding a lot more fun.

December arrived and I decided to do something crazy. I decided to stop exercising for two solid weeks. No swimming, running, biking, core work or weights. I was good the first few days but started to go crazy the second week. I was counting down the days until our annual club ride on New Years day. I would actually walk by my bikes and drool. I longed to be back on my bike or even run. I never thought I would miss running.

I have put in almost 100 bike miles, 21 run miles and an hour and a half of swimming in the past two weeks. I feel like a million bucks. My body is rested, injury free and I am very motivated. To my surprise, the hardest thing for me right now is to not overdo it. I am spreading out the workouts and taking it easy.

I had one of the best runs of my life last Saturday. I call it the "Marianne" run. Marianne is a super runner who will get up at 4 am to run to make sure she doesn't miss it that day. She runs because she loves it and is very good at it. I have never been good at running or loved it. I guess shedding almost 40 lbs will make you enjoy running. I did a few short runs the last two weeks and decided to do a longer run last Saturday. I decided to run in my hilly neighborhood. I was shocked at how good I felt and ended up running 10 awesome miles.

This weekend should be a great weekend. I plan to do a 14 miler on Saturday and a 40 mile bike on Sunday. This is the base period so it will be slow miles so I don't hurt myself.

If you are resting or just getting back into the workouts, don't get discouraged. Your body really needs to rest and you will get back to normal before you know it. Oh, I forgot one of the most important parts. The holiday weight gains are already starting to disappear. We have a great year to look forward to!!

Holiday Stuffing and End of the Year thoughts.

If you took a thousand random pictures of me in December, they would look like the picture above. I have been stuffing my face at every opportunity. To make matters worse, I have been resting my body for most of the month with a full 10 days with no activity.

As we all know, the balance of calories in and out have some unwanted side affects on the body. I steered away from scale most of the month. I checked it in the middle of December and today. To my surprise, the damage was not as bad as I had anticipated. I came away with a gain of 6 lbs. I may not have gained allot of weight, but I have felt horrible all month. I actually miss my clean diet and fuel.

The month was not a total loss. For the first time in three years, I am rested, relaxed, motivated and injury free. These were my main goals for December. I knew I had to be at this level to begin the Ironman training.

I started exercising last week. I have been on my MTB several days last week and this week. The first couple of rides were horrible. I felt heavy, sluggish and I am fairly certain I was sweating sugar from all of the sweets I have been eating. One of the side affects of not maintaining a balanced diet is fluctuating blood sugar. The result has been sugar cravings galore.
The rides this week were much better and I had an awesome 2.5 hour MTB ride yesterday. I almost felt like my old self. My legs were strong, but my cardio is a bit weak. That is to be expected from a long layoff. I got back on the treadmill this week to get my legs moving. I will start outdoor running this weekend and continue my preparation for the Marathon in March. I am so ready to get back to real training.

2008 was a great athletic year! For starters, I finally lost weight. I ended up almost 40lbs less than 2007. I finished my first Half-Ironman and completed a Half marathon in less than 2 hours. One of the most exciting things of 2008 was the fact that I finished those events without much training. I was dieting so I didn't have the full energy and power I plan to have next year.

2009 should be an awesome year. I plan to lose another 15 to 20 lbs by April 1st. This will allow me to be near my high school weight and allow me to train and race hard the rest of the year. I have three big events next year. I will start with my first marathon in March, then a 24 hour ride with Geo to support Arkansas Children's Hospital and finish out with the big daddy, a full Ironman. I have several events and goals scattered throughout the year, but those are the big ones.

I have a very important goal that I have been able to reach every year since I started it. The goal is to enhance the friendships I already have and create several new ones. I have always been blessed with an abundance of friends. I would like to take a moment to thank all of my friends who shared 2008 with me. I hope we can continue to share good times and share our friendships with others.

I wish you all a great 2009!

Ironman Louisville - We are so there!

My wife and I have decided to do an Ironman event next year. We are taking the plunge and going for the 140.6 at Ironman Louisville on August 30th 2009.

For those of you who don't keep up with the Triathlon world, this is the holy grail, the grand daddy of them all, the life changing event. Believe me when I tell you, this was a big decision and was not an easy decision.

I call my wife while on the way home from work. We chat about what to grab for dinner and the usual, "how was your day", chat. Toward the end of the conversation, she mentions that our good friends, Jo and David, are doing the Ironman Louisville. David is a seasoned Ironman competitor, but this will be Jo's first Ironman. We started our Triathlon adventures around the same time as Jo, so I was getting that "left behind" feeling.

Rebecca and I had worked out our Ironman plans last year. We both decided we would do our first Ironman together when we turned 40. That is still three years away, so there was no pressure, until I heard Jo was taking the plunge. Truth be told, for the last few months, I had been slowly moving our Ironman plans up a year at a time. I had already convinced my wife we would look at doing and Ironman in 2010. She was not against the idea and I had confidence in my abilities to persuade her to participate.

We decided to eat out and headed over to Schlotzky's. During the entire ride and meal, I was a focused zombie. All I could think about was doing the Ironman. I had convinced myself I was ready to start the journey. However, I had one big issue. My wife and I planned to do our first one together. She immediately started telling me that is was fine with her if I took the plunge. She was definitely not doing it next year and would still target 2010. Being a man, I really didn't believe her. We had the same conversation ten times in the next thirty minutes. I finally decided to believe that she didn't mind me doing the event with her, but I didn't really believe it. Women never really say what they mean.

I went upstairs to change clothes with the idea of signing up when I was done. I came down the stairs and my wife immediately informed me to sign her up. I was a bit confused. I then noticed her cheeks and face were red. Oh crap, I know what that means, crying was involved in the decision. I walked over and gave her a hug and told her I wouldn't sign up. I didn't want to rush her and it was important that we do this together. She told me she had made up her mind and I need to sign her up right now before she changed her mind. I am husband, must obey.

We both hovered over the computer as I signed us up. I was more nervous signing up than I was starting an event. We were both nauseous after the sign up was complete. There was just something crazy about signing up. It made everything final and signified a complete change in our training mindset and lifestyle. This is big time stuff. You can do minimal training and complete a half-Ironman, but a full Ironman takes dedication.

We are going to stick to our holiday training plans. We will redo our yearly training plan for next year and have it ready by January 1st. Not only do we have redo our training plan, we have to redo our family plans and our daily routines. We have to get the house where we want it and a ton of other tasks we need to complete. Training for an Ironman takes a lot of time and energy.

We both have blogs and will routinely provide updates. This is going to be an awesome journey with friends. As I have always stated, the training journey with friends is the best part of an event. To all of our friends, we are going to need your companionship, your courage and occasionally a shoulder to cry on.

Stress Management

The holidays arrive bearing gifts of stress!

Why do holidays have to be stressful? Holidays should be about spending time with your loved ones and enjoying time off. We shouldn't be battling the inconsiderate shopping crowds, traffic and hustle and bustle. We shouldn't be up cooking all night, only to load up and travel to three different cities to visit relatives the next two days. I don't want to sound like a scrooge, I love the holidays, I just don't like the hustle and bustle. Why can't my wife and I just set on the couch for a couple of days and eat bon bons in front of the fire?

As we all know, this holiday season is more stressful than most. Our country's financial and job loss situation make this a very difficult time for everyone. I have always tried to find a way to manage my stress. The majority of the time I can use exercise to wipe away my stress. However, we have stressful times that move outside the boundaries of our normal stress management procedures. Last week was one of those times.

I reached a point last week where I did not want to exercise at all. I was eating crap, feeling sluggish and completely unmotivated. Naturally, this amplified all of my stress. I had to find a way out of this stress loop and get back on track.

My youngest brother is a hunter. He will hunt anything that moves as long as as he can eat it. I call him to brag about a new bike and he calls me when he has a new gun. I may wear spandex in public, but he thinks camouflage is fashionable for any occasion. I try to hunt with him at least one weekend a year. I am not big on hunting, but it gives us some much needed quality time. My brothers and I are very close and we don't get to spend much time together. Besides, maybe some time in nature will clear my mind and reduce some of my stress.

Last Friday night, we pack up the camouflage and headed to South Arkansas for a weekend of fun in the woods. We arrived at our destination around 1 AM with plans of being in our deer stands by 6 AM. Not getting much sleep did not bother me nearly as much as knowing the temperature Saturday morning was to be around 23 degrees. I had every piece of warm bike clothing I own, under my camouflage pants and jacket. Surprisingly, I wasn't a bit cold. As far as the hunting goes, I saw over 50 deer that weekend but didn't even take a shot. Being in nature and watching the deer run around seemed to be helping my stress.

The deer camp is actually the house of a good friend of ours. He and his brother live across the street from each other out in the country. They are both divorced and have daughters. When ask why they are divorced, they will both tell you some version of their wife not being able to fish or hunt and they had to let them go.

Their daughters, however, are excellent hunters, even the 9 year old. We stayed with the brother with the 9 year old. I had a first class lesson on how a 9 year old girl can run the show. I guess it is somewhat comforting to know that women are born with certain traits and it is natures plan not some evil plan they develop as they get older. I had no idea that a 9 year old girl was so proficient at sarcasm and ordering people around. Truly, women are the more intelligent species.

While chatting with the 9 year old, I noticed a couple of guitars and a drum set by the TV. I was immediately informed she was in charge of this equipment and would allow me to join in the fun if I so desired. I couldn't see myself spending time playing Rock Band, but I would participate if it made her happy.

She turned on the equipment and ordered me to take over the drums. Her dad would be the lead guitar, my brother would be the backup and she would be the lead vocals. I have extremely good hand eye coordination so it only took a few minutes for me to get the hang of the drums. I was mildly entertained and started to relax. As time went on, I started to enjoy myself and loosen up. The next thing I know, we have a house full of people singing and dancing. I have been on the drums for over three hours and all of my stress has disappeared. Who knew that this silly game would wipe away all of my stress. I had a blast, although I will admit there is something inherently wrong with a 9 year old girl singing Hotel California and The Joker.

I returned home refreshed and longing for a good run. I guess I am back to normal, well, as normal as I can be.

Winter Training

We are closely approaching winter, well, an Arkansas winter. An Arkansas winter could be 75 degrees one day and 35 degrees the next. Even worse, it could be 75 in the morning and 35 by the afternoon. We spend most of the winter with our pockets stuffed with arm warmers, leg warmers and other warm clothing. The rule of thumb is to carry a lot with you and be able to remove anything you start out wearing.

Winter time also marks the end of long daylight hours. This reduces every ones training time and forces us to perform unspeakable things like riding the trainer, lifting weights and core training. Fortunately, I have enough warm clothing to avoid the trainer as much as possible. Unfortunately, there is no way to get out of weights and core work during the winter. I know it is necessary but I would much rather be on my bike.

I did my first chest, back and core workout Tuesday morning. My chest and back are sore but my core is in the most agony. Did you know you use your core when you are typing? Oh the agony. I climbed out of bed a 4:30 am and stumbled to the coffee pot. This is not a misprint and I have a witness. Rebecca, horribly shocked, witness my early morning stumbling. If you know me, you know that I like to have a plan for everything. I started training for my early morning rise a couple of weeks ago. I started getting up at 5:30 and started the day with coffee and music videos on VH1. I would set around for an hour then proceed to my normal work day routine. This brutal training routine help me prepare my body for the early morning workouts. (Don't tell anyone, but I felt really good after my early workout. I may one day reach Jedi Master status).

I decided to change up my winter routine this year. I have all but retired the road bike and spent considerable time on the MTB. I will still do Wednesday hill training and weekend fun rides on the Road bike, but most of my harder training will be on the MTB. It is a nice change of pace, killer workout and just plain old fun! I have been on the MTB around a dozen times in the last three weeks. I have gained some much needed and long lost skill and balance. MTB is so much more fun when you don't have to worry about killing yourself on a jagged rock. I am actually training very hard right now. I will do the sport class at a MTB race in Hot Springs in two weeks. The sport class is 20 miles of fast single track. There are a few technical spots and some climbing, but most of the course is fast. I have no aspirations of finishing above the middle of the pack. Actually, a middle of the pack finish would be great. I am hoping my end of the season fitness from the 70.3 will help me toward the end of race. I will give a full report after the race.

Tomorrow is another 4:30 rise and shine. Summer will not return fast enough for me.

70.3 - The Sticker is Mine!!!!!

I have finally achieved Jedi status! After two failed attempts, the sticker is mine.

My wife and I hit the road on Thursday morning. The Austin Ironman Longhorn 70.3 was just four days away. I like to arrive at the destination of a big event a few days early. This gives ample time to relax, enjoy the process and survey the course. When possible, I like to stay a couple of days after the event to further enjoy the relaxation. We took two additional days off after the Ironman Kansas 70.3 and found it very relaxing. Since this was the end of the season and a huge event, we decided to take the entire week off after the event. Neither us has taken extended time off in a long time. We were looking forward to some much needed downtime and some sight seeing in Austin.

I don't know if it was the importance of completing this event or the shock to my brain that I was about to take eleven days off, I was not my usual anal retentive self. I normally start packing for a Triathlon several days out. I didn't start packing for this trip until the night before and didn't finish until about an hour before leaving town. Even more out of character, I didn't test ride my bike with the race wheels. I couldn't help but think I was forgetting some equipment or losing my focus.

Race morning was a typical race morning. Everyone was up early and dealing with the usual race jitters. However, I noticed my wife's race jitters were a bit worse than normal. Parking at was about a half mile from the race site so we had to ride buses from the parking lot. My wife had the expression of kid on her way to the first day of school and she looked terrified. I tried to calm her nerves but was not making very much progress. I deiced to let her sort out her feelings and wrote if off as race jitters. Little did we know about how this day would end. I can honestly say women's intuition now scares me.

The race site was buzzing with activity. There were over 2300 participants, but it seemed like 10,000 people were at the site. I am a very relaxed guy on race day and nothing really bothers me. I can't image what was going through my wife's mind as she organized her transition area.

With this many people racing, there would be sixteen swim waves going off two minutes apart. I was in the fourth wave so I didn't have to stand around long. I am not a fast swimmer, but I am a very strong swimmer. I can maintain an steady pace and keep a fairly straight line. I know I can't swim fast, so I prepare for a long journey of mind wandering and full contact swimming. Tons of people pass me in the swim with several of them having unpleasant experiences. Being a strong swimmer, and a big guy, it is not likely anyone is swim over me or move me around in the water. I had more people attempt to derail me on this swim than any other swim I have done. I had a lady swim all the way up my back and hit her chin on the back of my head. Without missing a stroke, I looked back to see if she was OK. I thought I was going to have to turn around and rescue her. A very stubborn guy decided he was going to swim right through me to get closer to the buoys. Each attempt became more aggressive and I became agitated. I am not easily agitated, but I can be quite unpleasant if you get me to that point. After several minutes of this behavior, I decided to plant my right elbow to his forehead. Needless to say, that was the last I heard from him. The swim was a bit short, but my time would still have been a good seven minutes faster than usual. I had gotten off to a good start.

The bike is where I let the big dog eat and enjoy myself. I have noticed the majority of Triathletes, at every level, are average cyclist. Coming from a cyclist background, I usually have very good times on the bike, even at my higher weight. The bike course was extremely congested. Cyclist were stretched out from the yellow line to the edge of the shoulder, it was madness. One of the worst things about racing with average cyclist are their average knowledge of riding in a pack. You should always be as far right as you can be so you don't impede the faster riders passing on your left. I am a big safety guy. Being the club president, and leading group rides of fifty people or more, safety has to be my main concern. To my surprise, I found myself going over the yellow line to pass the crowds. Even worse than that, was my average speed. Through the first twenty miles I was averaging twenty-two and a half miles per hour. That is faster than I average on the sprints. I must have gotten caught up in the moment and was concentrating too much on getting away from the crowds. I knew if I didn't slow down I would be toast later. The crowd started to clear out at around mile thirty. My speed had started to go way down, much further than I wanted it to. The wind, the rolling terrain and my early pace had already done the damage I had hoped to avoid. My legs were toast. It was going to be a long thirteen mile run.

I started the run with some surprising enthusiasm. Even though my legs were toast, I had several celebration points. I had a good swim and a descent bike time. More importantly I had not had any cramping and my energy levels were good. By this point of the Ironman Kansas, I couldn't bend over to put on my running shoes. The current pain I was experiencing was child's play to that pain. The run course was a tough six mile loop with two miles of dirt trails on each loop. There was a huge hill, Quadzilla, on the trail section. The pain of running up that would only be surpasses by the pain of running up it a second time. The run course had its good points. The rest stops were awesome and had live bands. I have never seen as many spectators at a race as this race. The run course was lined with hundreds of people. It seemed like everyone was cheering you on and handing out wet rags to throw on your neck. It was by far the best supported run course I had every experienced. I never really relax at a run course until my wife passes me. I always worry about her making out of the swim. She is small thing, so she is like a small fish in a big pond of piranha. She passed me at mile seven. I gave her a high five and told her to finish strong. I had started my walk run procedure so it would still be a while before I crossed the finish line. I was very happy at this point in the race. My wife was safe and I was going to finish. My only remaining goal was to try to run enough to finish in under seven hours. I would have to some painful running, but I thought I could do it.

I ran the last one hundred yards to the finish line. I mean, hey, you can't walk across the finish line. I looked at the clock and smiled. I had finished in under seven hours. I hobbled across the line over to the section where they take your timing chip off your ankle. It is really great that they have people to do this for you. Bending down would be a big mistake. I had my medal around my neck and a big smile. I looked around for my wife. I knew she had finished before me and would be waiting at the finish line. I looked for a few minutes, but didn't see her. She must have got tired of standing around and went to the team tent to rest her legs. I reached the tent to receive high fives and congratulations from the crew. I took of my shoes and slipped on my flip flops. One of my friend then ask me a question I was not prepared for and made me feel a bit sick to my stomach. "Where is your wife"?

I looked at them in disbelief. I quickly pointed out that she had passed me at mile seven and I had not seen her after that moment. She had surely finished at least thirty minutes before I finished. One of our friends, Gary, immediately took off in a mad dash for the medical tent. I grabbed a bottle of water and started to gather my thoughts. Moments later, I could hear someone yelling my name. Gary was running at me in a full sprint waving for me to come running. My wife was in the medical tent and was in bad shape. They were preparing to put her in an ambulance and get her to a hospital. I hobbled as fast as i could after Gary. I could hardly walk, I was in pain and very hungry and thirsty. It is amazing what adrenaline will do for the body and mind.

I arrived at the medical tent and nearly went into shock. My wife was laid out on a stretcher surrounded by medics and a doctor. She had an IV in each arm and an oxygen mask covered her nose. I can't tell you how pitiful she looked. I quickly bent down by her side. She looked up at me with those big eyes that were full of fear and tears. It was all I could do to stay calm. I grabbed her hand and calmly told her it would be all right.

I could hear them calling out her blood pressure numbers and had to ask them to repeat those numbers because they couldn't be real. Unfortunately, they were real, sixty-six over forty-four. That wasn't the worst part of the problem, her oxygen saturation levels were low and were not rising. I had recently seen this problem with my mother, who had a bad lung infection. I knew this was bad. The doctor informed me they were waiting on an ambulance.

Our friends were now around us figuring out what they could do to help. Jo and David were going to load up our bikes and gear and get my Xterra back to the hotel. I have mentioned this several times but it is worth repeating, you can not underestimate the value of great friends. As we stood around waiting on the ambulance, I heard the doctor say my wife's blood pressure was rising and so was her oxygen saturation levels. We were not out of the woods, but this was great news. As the gang heard this news, we all started to relax a bit. Gary leaned over to me and stated this will be really funny in a couple of months and someone should get a picture. I looked at him like he was crazy.

The ambulance arrived and they loaded her onto another stretcher. At this point her vital signs were looking good, but they wanted to play it safe and continue with the planned visit to the emergency room. I looked to the left and saw David snapping off several pictures of Rebecca on the stretcher. What was I saying about friends? The paramedics were very nice and accommodating. The driver would relay me information from the guy in the back. We were looking very good now. Her vitals were really looking good. We stayed at the hospital for around four hours. The visit wasn't all roses and made me very glad they sent us to the hospital. Rebecca received almost four bags of fluid. The diagnosis was a heat stroke.

Rebecca had finished the race and was waiting on me at the finish line. She decided to run to the ladies room and felt dizzy. She had walked over the medical tent to get some help. Luckily, she made it there before she passed out.

We arrived at the hotel that night and ordered pizza. We were all hungry and exhausted. Rebecca and I stayed in Austin another three days and relaxed. We tasted the local flavor and and some fine dining. I awoke in the middle of night several times that week. I couldn't help but stare at my wife sleeping peacefully beside me. Life will beat you up on occasion, but in the end, Life Is Good!!!!!!

Half Marathon - Personal Best

It was a brisk 43 degrees Saturday morning. This was quite the contrast of the 90 degrees at the Ironman Longhorn just a few weeks ago. Rebecca and I had decided to run the Soaring Wings Half Marathon in Conway. This event benefits a Christian home for children in Conway. I believe this was their first year. This was an awesome event! The course was great, the rest stops were great, the finishers metal was great and finish line food was awesome! Rebecca and I will make this a regular event. Mark your calenders for the third week of October next year. The website is www.soaringwingshalf.com.

The race started at 8 AM so we planned to arrive just before 7 AM to pickup our packets and timing chips. The online registration showed around 600 participants, so this was going to be a nice sized event. We got checked in and ready to roll.

I had some fairly lofty goals for this event. As most of you know, I have lost over 30 lbs this year. In addition to that, I have done more run training than in the past. We trained for the Ironman Longhorn with the plan to move into the Marathon training for the LR marathon in March. Even though this was a spur of the moment decision to do this event, we were physically and mentally ready.

Earlier this year, at the LR Half, I ran with a time of 3 hours. Two year ago, I ran the LR half at 2 hours and 35 minutes. In my mind, with the weight loss and the training, I was convinced I could do this half marathon in under two hours. You read that correctly, I was hoping to do the race in under two hours. I only told a couple of friends this number, and they thought I was crazy. One of my good friends, Hboo, even gave his prediction of a 2:09 finish. Make no mistake about it, for me, that would be a phenomenal time, but I wanted the gold standard of a sub two hours. Another one of my friends, Jo, thought I was crazy as well. She would later tell me her and another friend were discussing my goal and getting a slight laugh. I can just hear them saying, "Oh that Chris Irons, he such a funny guy".

I had a solid plan. I planned to start out with the 1:55 pace group. This would allow me to get a jump start and allow me to drop back to the 2 hour pace group if I needed too. If all else failed, I knew I had to have a pace of 9:09 per mile to get below 2 hours, I had my garmin ready to roll.

I joined the 1:55 group at the start as planned. I was running along trying my best not to look at my garmin. The pace felt great, but I knew the number would scare me If I looked down. I made it two miles without looking at my garmin. We had averaged 8:41 for the first two miles. I snarled a bit but decided to give it my best. Just after mile 3, I had that bonking feeling. I had a great dinner the night before and some pancakes for breakfast. I had consumed plenty of food, but my blood sugar seemed to be in trouble. I didn't bring anything, other than water, with me. A volunteer was handing out sport beans at one of the rest stops. I couldn't get to them in time, but two ladies next to me grabbed some. They didn't like the taste and were considering throwing them away at the next stop. I quickly volunteered to dispose of them. They handed them over and I inhaled them. That seemed to help a bit, but I needed more. I was in trouble.

I hung with 1:55 group until mile 6. I could have stayed with them a bit longer, but this rest stop was handing out Roctane Gu Gels and I needed some crack. I grabbed three packets, a Gatorade and decided on a porta potty quick stop.

The right turn past this rest stop was downhill and I needed it to get moving again. A half a mile later, I was in a race car. My blood sugar shot up and my legs decided they wanted to move. I settled into a 8:30 pace. This course had several inclines and a couple of small hills. I blew up the next hill at 8:20 and found myself running just over an 8 pace on the flats. I was a bit confused. I was not putting out that much effort but was blazing a trail and passing several people who had been in the 1:55 group. I decided to let my body guide me and run whatever pace it would allow me to run, no matter how fast it was. From mile 7 to 10 I was a different person. I would see the pace as low at 7:55 and as high as 9. The important thing was my average being 8:50.

I reached the 10 mile marker and started telling myself there was just a 5k left. How many Triathlons have a done and just had to suffer through the 3 mile run? I can kick in the pace and finish this out. I was already doing the numbers and figuring out what pace I need to finish in under 2 hours if I had to walk. It was then that I had tough talk with myself. I will not be walking I will be picking up the pace.

I keep passing mile markers, 10, 11, 12. At mile 12, my legs decided to let me know they were in some pain. The last half mile starts with a big downhill ending with a flat finish. That downhill nearly ripped my quad muscled from the bone. My legs were screaming, but I was not going to let them win. We were going to finish strong. I picked up the pace as I rounded the corner to the finished line. I looked up at clock and couldn't keep from smiling. I crossed the line at 1:56:24.

They removed my timing chip and gave me my medal. The medal was very cool and heavy. I walked back to finish line to watch other finishers. I took off my shoes to let my feet relax. That is when it hit me, my wife has not finished yet. I had actually finished a running race before my superhero wife who is a great runner. I looked at the clock, she still had two minutes to finish in under 2 hours. Under my breath I started repeating, come on baby, come on, where are you. There she was coming around the last corner. I looked at the clock and she had 45 seconds to finish. She was going to finish in under 2 hours. She crossed the line at 1:59:30.

It was an amazing morning. We both had personal best and finished in under 2 hours. (Don't tell anyone, but I think I like this running stuff).