As I limped around the house today, Jim and Daniel were in Augusta laying down personal bests in a Half Iron. Jim’s flowing hair crossed the finish line at 5:27 and Daniel’s bouncy locks (in his first 1/2) dropped in at 5:31. Needless to say, they and I are pumped.
Jim said the conditions were perfect and the course was “easy” but I say anytime you power your own body for 70.3 miles over 5 and a half hours, your accomplishment is legit. That said, I’m starting to understand where he’s coming from. And even Daniel said, “I had no idea my body would be able to hit some of those splits.”
The capability of the body is truly mind blowing. I have always trusted its ability to heal and go the another inning or quarter or round, but never have I understood the literal interpretation of going the extra “mile.”
What starts with 60 second running intervals quickly turns into 5 minutes, then 10, then 20, 30, etc. If you would have told me I would EVER run for two straight hours and finish a 1/2 marathon, I would have called the loony bin. That seemed so impossible, I can barely put it into words, but the question is why? I watched Country Music Marathons for 6 straight years, even made videos for a few, and for some reason it never dawned on me that I TOO could do what many overweight, un-athletic, and even very old people were doing. Running 13.1 or 26.2 miles.
There had always been a disconnect with running (and let me tell you that running was the entire piece of any triathlon puzzle for me). It always seemed so hard (and still does) to me, but building slowly and being a part of a group tricked me. I have always been athletic and while I never saw myself as a runner, tons of others did. I started to believe.
I was off to the races, literally. I kept putting another challenge in my sights and kept hitting those targets. Each time my confidence grew and while the 1/2 marathon was quite a quest, it wasn’t until I did my first Sprint Tri that I felt like I belonged. Total time was nearly an hour less than the my 1/2, but it was the combination of events and the strength of how I finished that made me stand up and take note of what was going on. I just did the seemingly impossible and not only was I not tired, I felt great.
That said, the Olympic Distance intimidated me, mainly because of the swim. And since I’ve rehashed this a bunch of times, the very fact that I completed the swim, carried 20 mph on the bike, and finished the 10k without pain gave me enough confidence to sign up for Ironman Wisconsin.
They say write it and it will come true. And while I’m quite sure these stories will bore the fuzz off of many lips, I have to keep going. Looking ahead at new targets. Why do we do that? I think it’s more than because we can, it’s because if we’re not growing, we’re dying.
Today’s Diet:
Breakfast – 2 cups of strong ass coffee from Barista Parlor, scrambled eggs, 2 sausage patties, french toast, water at Mitchell’s Deli
Dinner – Grilled fish, steamed spinach, pickle, too much bread!
* Injury Update: I iced my knee for the whole Wisconsin/Nebraska game last night and considering the outcome, I should have been icing my head. The knee is still a little tender, but I will likely take at least a week off from running and focus on yoga, upper body and core work, along with swimming.