Sometimes It Is Just About The Finish!

Many times through my training schedules, I have either read or been told that the race is often more about the journey to the finish line than it is about the finish. Now I get what they are saying, and I have probably even muttered those words to people before, but sometimes its not about the journey.

Sometimes it is simply just about finishing.

This applies to a race, to a training run or just about anything you do. Just finish Baby!

Many times in my running career (yeah, I know that sounds weird but...) I have simply just wanted to quit, to just stop and go home. The mental battle is toughest thing about endurance sports in my opinion. If I can get those voices out of my head that tell me I am tired or that it is too hot, then I win! It is easier said than done.

People still ask me about Ironman and how hard it was. I used to say that it was the toughest day of my life, but now I answer them differently. Now my answer is this, that was the longest day ever. The reason it was so long was that it was a lonely day. I had a lot of time inside my own head. A lot of thoughts bouncing around (although now, I do not remember half of them). During an Ironman, you are thinking about the journey to the starting line, you are simply thinking about finishing. You are thinking about getting off that bike and how good it will feel to walk, then you are thinking about finishing that run. I do not remember a time thinking about the journey... until well after it was completed.

On Saturday, my wife and I lead a running group. As I was running with a guy, he said something about how running was a journey, which I do agree on 100%, but I also know that sometimes, you just have to finish. It's about getting through when you aren't sure if you can or if you even want to anymore.

You still have to finish to continue the journey!

Sorry about the song, but I love this video

My Top 5 Reasons for doing an Ironman 140.6?

Why??

I get asked this question a lot after I tell people the distance of Redman.

Usually I come up with some stupid answer in order to get out of that conversation, because I understand how daunting a task this seems, but as I am deep into the heavy miles of my training plan, I have had a lot of time to think about different things, and a lot of those times I think, "Why am I doing this? It's crazy!". So this post may ramble or it may drag on, but I have my 5 top reasons for doing Ironman.

1. The Ultimate Test- Right now, I can not think of anything else that is going to test a 41 year old former athlete, physically and mentally like Ironman will. I know am pretty sure I can handle the physical part, but mentally am I tough enough to grind it out? Yes, I know it will hurt and I will be sore, but that is part of it. The two go hand in hand, either I can do it or I can't. Either I can make or I won't. Physical and Mental challenge.
2. I Enjoy it- I really do like to swim/bike/run. I joked with my bride that I wanted "Ironman finisher" in my obituary when I die, but honestly, no one else is going to care if I finish one or not. No one that cares about is going to change their opinion of me because I could run far. For me, it is a time with no cell phones or emails, time for my thoughts and a way to fight off old age.
3. To Be an Example-  I want my kids to see that their father set a goal, and he worked his butt off to achieve it. I know my running has not trickled down to my kids yet, and it may never, but I know they know that dad is getting up and training before they ever got out of bed. I want them to know that in life, you have to be willing to get up early and work and sacrifice personal time to achieve a goal.
4. The Finish Line- I have about 4 different versions of how I think the finish line might look like when I cross it and how I will react to it. I know my 1st marathon finish was extremely emotional for me, so I imagine this will be also. I know people say the last .2 of a 26.2 mile run is the hardest, but I think that .2 will be the sweetest! I always hated people saying "the race is the reward for all the training", but this is going to be epic when I hit that line.
5. The Self Discovery- Now I don't mean to sound like some hippie loving tree hugger, but I think I have discovered a lot more about myself training for this than I would have if I weren't going for it. I have discovered a lot about myself, which may be another post coming up. I am mentally tougher than I though, but am I tough enough? I am more dedicated than I thought, I mean who gets up at 4:45 to get a run in before church?? I discovered I am also an early morning kind of guy!  Who knew? I have learned that I can use these natural God gift abilities I still have to motivate others.

I could go on. I didn't mention the tattoo, or the finishers gear I could rock at local races. I didn't mention the fact that people think I eat a great diet (which I don't! Shhhhh) I didn't even mention the part about people automatically assuming I am a fast guy (which I am not, but I guess it is all relative). There are many reasons people take on challenges, some we can understand, others we can't. So basically, if I asked every racer on the course why they were doing it, I guarantee I'd get 100 different answers, and I think that is what makes this sport so great!!!

One Workout At A Time...

That is the way I am approaching Redman 140.6. I am not really going to focus on my week's workouts, because frankly, that wears me out just thinking about it. Lately I have only been looking for the next day to plan out my workouts and it has been good. Good for me physically and mentally! I am finding out that that there is more mental involved than most people tell you about.

It has been hard trying to find time to get everything in. Even some mornings when I feel like I wake up early enough to run or swim, it turns out that other commitments have me cutting things short. And that is frustrating. Since when is getting out on the road at 5:45 to run, not early enough to get in your miles? It just happens that my long runs are scheduled to happen on Sundays. As you know, I live in Memphis and it gets very hot during the day, so my only alternative is to either run early morning or treadmill it. There is no way I want to treadmill it for over 10 miles. I also place a high value on going to church on Sunday mornings, which starts at 8AM, so I need to be done running by 7AM to get ready and to help the kids get ready for church. So, I can foresee my running starting at 5AM in the near future. Which is nothing to look forward too!

One Day at a Time...

It is not hard for me to get early anymore, but it is a hard balance between getting to bed on time and getting up early. Sometimes I ride at night, usually after the kids go to bed, so it is normally after 9PM.  so riding for two hours and then getting up at 5AM to run is not good. No Bueno!!! So I have to be smart and plan it out somewhat, but planning out my week does not work for me.

July and August need to be strong months for me. I need to start hitting 4 hour rides, 3 hour runs and 90 minutes swims. Everytime I start to get worried about the race, I can look at the calendar and know I have enough time to get where I will will finish, but I have to take it one workout at a time!

***Since it has been awhile since I posted a video, here is a good motivational video:

I Found It! It was right Outside!

I had been in a funk of sorts over the last week. I had a lot going on with work, I had some traveling to do and I was nursing a sore hamstring, so that gave me permission to slack. I had tweaked my hamstring at the last trail run 10K on a Sunday and I self diagnosed that I should rest it for awhile. So I did nothing (except for my crunches) for a couple of days and then the day I went out of town, I did a measly slow 3 miles. The hamstring felt fine by then.

I got back Thursday night and life was still hectic with family obligations and basketball games and play practice and tennis tournaments, it was just one of those days where everything is happening at once. So it took some planning to pull it all off. It also made for a long day. My head told me to ride my bike when I got home, but my body screamed "BEDTIME". My bed won.

Friday is a scheduled rest day every week, so I continued with that and didn't do anything. The kiddos were gone to a Disciple Now weekend at church and Granny was keeping the little guy, so me and my bride took off and grabbed a room at the Memphis Hilton. We slept in till 10:00 the next morning!  HEAVEN!!!!

So anyways, I knew I had to get back on schedule, back to my training plan. My plan called for a 6 mile run that day. I really had no desire to go, but I literally forced my self to go (after I finished watching the Daytona Nationwide series!  Did you see that crash at the end of the race? Crazy!) It probably took me 30 minutes to get ready, cause I was in no hurry. When I say I had no desire to go, I can not emphasize how much I did not want to run that day! 6 miles sounded like a lot to me that day, so I decided to break it up, thinking that would make it easier. We are lucky enough to live near a walking trail that is not used by many. I literally can run 3.2 miles on it without having to hit the road for more than 1/4 mile. It's great! I decided that I would run this twice, rather than trying to run all around the neighborhood trying to hit 6 miles. The main point of this was to trick my brain.

This actually worked for me. The first loop went by fairly quickly, and as I made the turn for the 2nd loop, I started thinking to myself that now is the time to start getting serious. If I want that sub 2:40 Olympic triathlon time, I have to start hitting it. I have to start being more intentional about my workouts. This actually turned out to be a better run than I would have imagined it would have been before I left. And it carried over to Sunday with my bike. I had a good, strong ride while watching the Daytona 500.

I think the spark to my motivation was just getting outside on a beautiful Memphis day and running. I really had zero expectation besides just finishing the run and getting the miles in. Also I understood, that there are going to be days where a run is simply that, just a run. It is not going to be fast, it is not going to be made up of a workout, it is going to to be hard to get motivated to get out there, and I guarantee there will be a race sometime this year where I want to give up and walk it in.That is where this run will come in handy, that run is what will get me to the finish line. It did not take me long to be glad I was out there running.

One week away!

My half marathon is one week away, so I guess you could say I am in a taper phase. I admit that I really do not know how to taper properly, but I am cutting the length of my workouts back, but trying to keep the same intensity. Today I went out and did 4.4 miles in 36.45, so I kept about an 8:22 minute mile, which I was happy about.

But during my run, you'd never know it. See I am one of those people. One of those that feels like I train for a race better than I race it. For whatever reason, I don't know. I start getting those doubts, the "I can;t run that far" thoughts, even though I have done it before. I get the "no way you can beat 2 hours" thoughts, even though I have hit 12 in 1:55.

See, my race plan is to stay under 9 minute miles. I know if I were to run 9 minute miles exactly, I would finish in 1:57 or so. So every mile I run, I judge it by how close I am to the 9 minute mark (9-18-27-36-45). Today at the 4 mile mark, I was at 33:40, which would give me a 2:20 ahead of schedule zone, which I then start thinking that it is not enough, so I push myself, which ultimately leads me down a path of running out of gas!

So anyone who tells you that triathlons, or marathons are purely a physical sport, I would disagree. It is as much or maybe more of a mental fight than anything else to me. So hopefully, I can not listen to the voices of doubt, but instead reach down and pull out those night runs, those 20 degree runs, those 101 degree runs, you know those tough ass runs you hated, and use those to push through any "bad" thoughts and finish strong.

I will most likely get one more run in my BROOKS ADRENALINE GTS 10 shoes this week, and then after Wed, I think I am just going to rest the legs and prepare to crush that 2 hour mark!

So I am Racing this weekend...

I have my first triathlon of the year this Sunday. The Rebelman Sprint Triathlon down at the Ole Miss University campus. I should be excited about it, but for some reason, I ain't.

I am not nervous about it because I know I can handle the distances (400 meter swim, 21k bike, 5k run). I actually think I can do pretty good at the times, and I expect to be competitive. So I can't really say why I am having trouble getting excited about it.

Have you ever planned something in advance and you look forward to it, but the closer it gets to you, the less you want to mess with it? I seem to get that way a lot. Sometimes I wonder if I am better at the training part of triathlons than I am at the racing part.

Today my oldest son asked me if I got scared before a race. I thought about it for a second and I told him no, I do not get scared, and here's why...

All those mornings I got up and hit the pool, all those nights I ran the streets with my headlight in the cold, and all those late night trainer rides I did over the winter gave me the confidence that I can complete any race I will sign up for this year. I know physically I can do it.

I just have to get ready mentally and that is the tough part!