Been a couple days since my last blog post so here's a quick update of what's been going on in my world.
Had an awesome weekend, got in a pretty decent run on Saturday morning with the LU Crew, ran mostly with John O. and we (ok mostly John) shared some interesting stories from past training days. It was a smaller group with lots of people busy with races, life and various other things. Afterwards I headed home picked up Lucky and headed back out for a quick jog around the neighborhood, I've been neglecting my buddy with running lately and I wanted to get a couple more miles in to hit my goal for the day so it was a good chance. Later on played some catch with the football out in the yard with the boys, before jumping on the trainer while they ate lunch. Caden had a t-ball game @ 1:00 and Deanna was shooting pictures at a wedding so it was a busy afternoon, we had dinner with Grandma Marilyn, it would have been her and Grandpa's 61st anniversary on Saturday and I think she really enjoyed the company (and the distraction) that 2 of her favorite great grandson's can provide. I ended up missing out on the LU Torchlight Parade but spending time with Grandma seemed like the right choice and I'm glad we go over there.
Sunday I got out early for a bike ride before Church, service this week was outstanding. The message was about living a life of Integrity and one of the biggest take aways for me was the comment/definition that Integrity is when your actions match your beliefs. This is something I have really been struggling with over the last year or so, I have felt a change in my life in the last few years, more so than just the physical transformation that I've gone through but also a mental and spiritual one as well. One of the reasons I am so passionate about my involvement with Live Uncommon is the "Give Back" and how our Race Team is helping some truly worthy causes. This has been one step of a journey for me to live a life of integrity and so far it has been an awesome one. The message from Church really identified and put a label to what I feel like I have been missing in my life, and then more I learn and understand hopefully the better person I can become, and the best example to my sons of what they should aspire to be as well.
Had a great swim Monday morning, one of those where I just didn't want to get out of the water and could have just kept going, but I needed to lift weights and I had already completed my workout. I have a big swim on Wednesday and I hope I have that same feeling then too. After work it was so nice out (it had stormed earlier in the day) when I got home a wrangled up the boys and Lucky and headed out for a jog around the neighborhood. The boys rode their bikes for the first 2 miles with me and then they wanted to run a bit so we ran up and down the block for awhile before heading back inside for dinner. After dinner we played Xbox Connect, Deanna got a fitness game through work that is a blast to play. Speaking of my lovely wife she and some co-workers have just started a fitness challenge at work and she got up early Monday and did a work out plus walked nearly 2 miles at lunch, I am proud of her and I hope she sticks with it, so far she is doing great she also joined me early this morning to walk on the treadmill while I rode the bike trainer, 2 days in a row plus I think she is planning on walking again at work today, AWESOME!
That is pretty much all for now, Caden has T-ball tonight then I'm heading out of town tomorrow for 2 days for work...
Until next time...Do today what others won't, so tomorrow you can do what others can't.
Tuesday, June 05, 2012
Monday, May 28, 2012
Saturday and Sunday
Saturday I lifted the self imposed ban on running I had placed following Bluff Creek. I have been having some flare ups with my knee again and after 2 consecutive weeks of racing so it was a good time to shut it down for a few days. I was able to get in some extra work in the pool and on the bike this week which was good and also helped the recovery process after my first triathlon.
I got up early on Saturday and rode my trainer for 30 minutes before eating a waffle and heading out to meet up with the group for a run. Maybe running 10 miles wasn't the smartest thing to do for my first run in a week, maybe I was just still sore from a hard couple of weeks of training and racing, maybe I was fatigued from a long stressful week dealing with the loss of my grandpa or maybe it was a combination of it all but this was not a good run for me at all. It started off ok, 5 or 6 of us met up with the early birds, Chad, Aaron, Katie and John who had been out since 4:30 and we headed out but not before waiting just a few extra minutes to see if Jay would come flying in on the moped ready to whip off a few miles. Jay had run with the Leadville guys the day before, what had originally been planned for a 20-26 mile run with them turned into a 48 mile trip from Davenport to West Branch.
We all stuck together for the first couple of miles which is unusual but it was nice, everyone paid their condolences for my loss and I talked a little about things with Ann and Aaron. It is really nice to know that I have such good friends even though running may be our only link to each other.
Aaron and Chad turned back early and thats when the group divide up into 2 groups with me kind of stuck in the middle. I ended up running the rest of the way alone, which wasn't really a bad thing except that I was struggling a bit towards the middle and then again at the end. When I made it back to Crow Creek Ann and Aaron and a couple others where still there and then the other group showed up shortly after. I mentioned how much I had hated that run and even commented that was the kind of run that made me wish I was still 300 lbs and playing World of Warcraft. Someone commented, and I can't remember who now, that I still ran 10 miles and that put things back into perspective. By the time I was half way home I was so filled with endorphins that what had been a horrible run was now just another 10 miler in the books.
Sunday I slept in after hanging out late Saturday night watching UFC, so I got my bike ride in after church. It was hot and windy which was the perfect excuse to just stay in on the trainer but I knew even a good ride on the trainer wouldn't be as beneficial as a bad ride outside in the elements. The ride started off great I headed north towards Cordova along the bike path, my plan was to go out 25 and turn around. What I didn't realize was how strong the wind was at my back and how much it had picked up in the hour and 15 minutes heading out. When I finally turned around I was confronted with the realization of what I was going to have to deal with, what had started off as 8 mph winds had turned into 18-20 mph winds with gusts of 25-30, I was in for a long ride home. What took me an 1:20 to go 25 out took me 1:40 to come 25 back, it was miserable and brutal and I thought about calling Deanna a couple of times to come pick me up, but I just couldn't do it, I kept thinking about how I couldn't quit and in life sometimes we face adversity, how we respond to it is the true measure of what we are made of. I suffered through it sometimes moving at just a crawl but I was dedicated to relentless forward motion and I made it home eventually. Later on me and Deanna watched the movie "Facing the Giants" and there is one part where the coach of the football team challenges his star player and the leader of the team to death crawl blind folded, and he passionately pleads him to "Give it best" and "Negotiate with your body to find more strength". I feel like that is what I had had to do earlier on my ride, I kept wanting to quit but I kept willing myself to go forward, kept negotiating with my body to find a little more strength to keep moving.
After sleeping in this morning I tried to get on the bike trainer thinking I would get a few miles in but my legs just didn't have it in them, today is a good day to rest, which is just as important sometimes has hard work. Maybe I'll get on later this evening after the cook out and birthday party we are going to this afternoon. If I don't though I won't let it bother me.
Until next time...Do today what others won't, so tomorrow you can do what others can't.
I got up early on Saturday and rode my trainer for 30 minutes before eating a waffle and heading out to meet up with the group for a run. Maybe running 10 miles wasn't the smartest thing to do for my first run in a week, maybe I was just still sore from a hard couple of weeks of training and racing, maybe I was fatigued from a long stressful week dealing with the loss of my grandpa or maybe it was a combination of it all but this was not a good run for me at all. It started off ok, 5 or 6 of us met up with the early birds, Chad, Aaron, Katie and John who had been out since 4:30 and we headed out but not before waiting just a few extra minutes to see if Jay would come flying in on the moped ready to whip off a few miles. Jay had run with the Leadville guys the day before, what had originally been planned for a 20-26 mile run with them turned into a 48 mile trip from Davenport to West Branch.
We all stuck together for the first couple of miles which is unusual but it was nice, everyone paid their condolences for my loss and I talked a little about things with Ann and Aaron. It is really nice to know that I have such good friends even though running may be our only link to each other.
Aaron and Chad turned back early and thats when the group divide up into 2 groups with me kind of stuck in the middle. I ended up running the rest of the way alone, which wasn't really a bad thing except that I was struggling a bit towards the middle and then again at the end. When I made it back to Crow Creek Ann and Aaron and a couple others where still there and then the other group showed up shortly after. I mentioned how much I had hated that run and even commented that was the kind of run that made me wish I was still 300 lbs and playing World of Warcraft. Someone commented, and I can't remember who now, that I still ran 10 miles and that put things back into perspective. By the time I was half way home I was so filled with endorphins that what had been a horrible run was now just another 10 miler in the books.
Sunday I slept in after hanging out late Saturday night watching UFC, so I got my bike ride in after church. It was hot and windy which was the perfect excuse to just stay in on the trainer but I knew even a good ride on the trainer wouldn't be as beneficial as a bad ride outside in the elements. The ride started off great I headed north towards Cordova along the bike path, my plan was to go out 25 and turn around. What I didn't realize was how strong the wind was at my back and how much it had picked up in the hour and 15 minutes heading out. When I finally turned around I was confronted with the realization of what I was going to have to deal with, what had started off as 8 mph winds had turned into 18-20 mph winds with gusts of 25-30, I was in for a long ride home. What took me an 1:20 to go 25 out took me 1:40 to come 25 back, it was miserable and brutal and I thought about calling Deanna a couple of times to come pick me up, but I just couldn't do it, I kept thinking about how I couldn't quit and in life sometimes we face adversity, how we respond to it is the true measure of what we are made of. I suffered through it sometimes moving at just a crawl but I was dedicated to relentless forward motion and I made it home eventually. Later on me and Deanna watched the movie "Facing the Giants" and there is one part where the coach of the football team challenges his star player and the leader of the team to death crawl blind folded, and he passionately pleads him to "Give it best" and "Negotiate with your body to find more strength". I feel like that is what I had had to do earlier on my ride, I kept wanting to quit but I kept willing myself to go forward, kept negotiating with my body to find a little more strength to keep moving.
After sleeping in this morning I tried to get on the bike trainer thinking I would get a few miles in but my legs just didn't have it in them, today is a good day to rest, which is just as important sometimes has hard work. Maybe I'll get on later this evening after the cook out and birthday party we are going to this afternoon. If I don't though I won't let it bother me.
Until next time...Do today what others won't, so tomorrow you can do what others can't.
Monday, May 21, 2012
Bluff Creek Triathlon Race Report
Sunday was my first ever triathlon event and even though I was devastated with the news of my Grandfather's passing on Saturday, I was encouraged by Deanna to go ahead and compete and in hindsight I'm truly glad that I did. Not only was it a good day race-wise but it was very therapeutic as I thought about my Grandpa a lot that day.
I want to say thank you to Aaron, Chad and Jeff for helping make it a great first event for me, it was comforting knowing I had others there to rely on in getting prepared for the race and share the experience with. You also helped make what could have been a really terrible day a little bit better with good camaraderie and providing me with just the escape I needed to help start the healing process.
We headed out a little after 3 for the drive up to Ames to pick up our packets, after some evasive driving due to some interesting driving like one person coming to a complete stop on the highway to make an illegal U turn we arrived safely to packet pick up. We got registered, looked over course maps and checked on rules for the race and then decided to hit up Pizza Ranch for a nice big pre race meal. Now I'm pretty sure a group of 4 guys has put a beat down on a Pizza Ranch buffet a time or 2 but I'm sure it's not every day it gets worked over the way it did Saturday night. Surprisingly it wasn't even any of the 3 guys who would be competing as Clydesdales (aka over 200 lbs or as I call it the Fat Guy division) but the svelte, lean, mean 150 lb professional triathlete did the most damage. After 3 or 4 or 5 rounds with pizza, salad, bread sticks, cactus bread and ice cream we finally tapped out and headed off to find our hotel in Boone.
When we arrived we found our hotel to be located a mere 1/4 mile from the local speedway which was hosting a race that night, to say it was loud was an understatement we were all a little concerned about getting sleep, but much to our surprise the Super 8 must have accounted for the speedway when it was built because we found it considerably quieter in the room than outside.
We some how managed to cram 4 guys, 4 bikes multiple bags of all the stuff you need for a triathlon into a tiny room with 2 beds. I was perfectly fine taking a sleeping bag on the floor, Chad was smart enough to bring along an air mattress for himself and Aaron and Jeff each took a bed. I feel bad for Jeff he had been battling a cough and was overly concerned about keeping us awake and even though we all assured him he wouldn't bother us he did end up sleeping out in his car at one point. He said it actually was better for his cough since he couldn't lay flat, I know the only time he woke me up was when he left the first time and he had to step over me to get to the door. I was out like a light 5 seconds after the tv was turned off and slept very well all things considered. I woke up around 4:30 and got up shortly after to go find some coffee and get started with the day.
After a good breakfast which consisted of a peanut butter and nutella sandwich with 2 cups of coffee and about 16 oz of my own special chia fresca blend I was ready to head out. After getting parked and unloaded we made our way to the transition area, I wish I had taken more pictures to document but I didn't, oh well. I had a pretty decent idea of how I wanted to lay out my transition area to get me in and out quickly and I think it worked pretty well. Me and Chad took off for a brief warm up run and then made our way back to get in our wet suits and line up for the bus ride over to the beach for the swim start.
Swim
I was honestly most afraid of the swim, I hadn't done any open water swimming and I wasn't sure how I was going to react hitting the water with 50 other people all fighting for the same area to swim. My goal was to let everyone go and just stay out of the way, but as we were running in I couldn't help but get in the mix of things. I was crammed in to start and it was a little unnerving at first, but after awhile I was able to find some clear space and I just swam. Well much to my surprise the reason I was in the clear is because I was drifting off course and heading on the inside of the buoys that we were supposed to stay on the outside of. When I lifted my head up to spot I realized I was to the right and I could see a canoe heading my way to instruct me to move over, I immediately hung a left and got back on line. I was able to stay right next to and slightly behind another swimmer and just followed his feet the rest of the way. I remember at one point this guy has got to be getting tired of me slapping his leg but I really had no where else to go and I wasn't fast enough to pass him. I was really surprised at how calm I remained during the swim, it went a lot better than I had expected and I feel a lot more confident about my swimming now than before. Once I made it to the boat dock I exited the water to make the run to the transition area, it was quite a hike up and honestly I think the run from the swim to the transition area wore me out more than the swim itself. My transition went perfect I took my time but with a sense of urgency, got my helmet, shoes and sunglasses on grabbed my bike and was off.
Bike
The bike portion started off with an incline out of the transition area so it was a little slow starting but once I hit flat ground I was able to build some steam. There was a strong cross wind that was slightly in our face as we went out and it did make for some tough stretches, I got passed by a number of riders, all of which had fancy tri bikes, only a couple of people on road bikes passed me and I eventually re passed all or most of them. Once we made the turn around the wind was more to my back and I was able to pick up some speed and able to pass some more people. For the most part the bike was uneventful went very smooth, I did think a lot about my Grandpa and that helped to power me through some of the tougher parts. After making my way back into the transition area it was time for the run, I dropped of the bike switched shoes and was off.
Run
My legs felt surprisingly good coming off the bike, and I was very happy that the first 1/4 mile or so was on dirt/gravel, I love running off road and wouldn't have minded if the whole course was like that, but unfortunately it did turn to pavement. Going into the race I was most confident about the run, and I knew that I could pick up some time there. I immediately passed some people as they were getting there legs under them and just kept picking up steam. Once I made it to the turn around I opened it up and started to fly (by my standards of course), I was able to pass a few more guys and had one last person in my sights as I made it back on to the dirt portion. As we rounded one last turn the volunteers yelled at me to go catch that guy and I took off on a mission, as I got closer to him I saw the age group number on his calf read 60 and I thought to myself I can't let a 60 yr old beat and I made a final push to pass him and sprinted the rest of the way to the finish to cross the line at 1:22:55. Afterwards the 60 yr old congratulated me and commented that I sounded like a freight train running him down, I replied back Well I kind of am a freight train, and told him how I saw his age and thought I have to pass this guy. It turns out he was the 60-64 age group winner and from Bettendorf.
I ended up taking 3rd in the Sprint Clydesdale division, Chad took 1st place in the Sprint Clydesdale, Aaron dominated the Olympic Clydesdale and took 1st, and Jeff took the overall in Olympic distance. All in all it was a great day for the LU crew, 3 top spots and everyone took home hardware.
To say that I am pleased with my performance is an understatement, I went in with no goals other than to survive the swim, finish the race and maybe go under 1:30. Not only did I take 3rd place in my division but I finished in the top third overall for all sprinters. It was a great first race, I may have set the bar a little high though but I'm doing this because its fun not for a medal (don't get me wrong the medal is cool). Can't wait till June 16th for the Quad City Tri hoping everything goes as good there. Took today off from training, planning on hitting the bike and swim hard this week while I give my legs a break from running, they need it.
Until next time...Do today what others won't, so tomorrow you can do what others can't.
I want to say thank you to Aaron, Chad and Jeff for helping make it a great first event for me, it was comforting knowing I had others there to rely on in getting prepared for the race and share the experience with. You also helped make what could have been a really terrible day a little bit better with good camaraderie and providing me with just the escape I needed to help start the healing process.
We headed out a little after 3 for the drive up to Ames to pick up our packets, after some evasive driving due to some interesting driving like one person coming to a complete stop on the highway to make an illegal U turn we arrived safely to packet pick up. We got registered, looked over course maps and checked on rules for the race and then decided to hit up Pizza Ranch for a nice big pre race meal. Now I'm pretty sure a group of 4 guys has put a beat down on a Pizza Ranch buffet a time or 2 but I'm sure it's not every day it gets worked over the way it did Saturday night. Surprisingly it wasn't even any of the 3 guys who would be competing as Clydesdales (aka over 200 lbs or as I call it the Fat Guy division) but the svelte, lean, mean 150 lb professional triathlete did the most damage. After 3 or 4 or 5 rounds with pizza, salad, bread sticks, cactus bread and ice cream we finally tapped out and headed off to find our hotel in Boone.
We some how managed to cram 4 guys, 4 bikes multiple bags of all the stuff you need for a triathlon into a tiny room with 2 beds. I was perfectly fine taking a sleeping bag on the floor, Chad was smart enough to bring along an air mattress for himself and Aaron and Jeff each took a bed. I feel bad for Jeff he had been battling a cough and was overly concerned about keeping us awake and even though we all assured him he wouldn't bother us he did end up sleeping out in his car at one point. He said it actually was better for his cough since he couldn't lay flat, I know the only time he woke me up was when he left the first time and he had to step over me to get to the door. I was out like a light 5 seconds after the tv was turned off and slept very well all things considered. I woke up around 4:30 and got up shortly after to go find some coffee and get started with the day.
After a good breakfast which consisted of a peanut butter and nutella sandwich with 2 cups of coffee and about 16 oz of my own special chia fresca blend I was ready to head out. After getting parked and unloaded we made our way to the transition area, I wish I had taken more pictures to document but I didn't, oh well. I had a pretty decent idea of how I wanted to lay out my transition area to get me in and out quickly and I think it worked pretty well. Me and Chad took off for a brief warm up run and then made our way back to get in our wet suits and line up for the bus ride over to the beach for the swim start.
Swim
I was honestly most afraid of the swim, I hadn't done any open water swimming and I wasn't sure how I was going to react hitting the water with 50 other people all fighting for the same area to swim. My goal was to let everyone go and just stay out of the way, but as we were running in I couldn't help but get in the mix of things. I was crammed in to start and it was a little unnerving at first, but after awhile I was able to find some clear space and I just swam. Well much to my surprise the reason I was in the clear is because I was drifting off course and heading on the inside of the buoys that we were supposed to stay on the outside of. When I lifted my head up to spot I realized I was to the right and I could see a canoe heading my way to instruct me to move over, I immediately hung a left and got back on line. I was able to stay right next to and slightly behind another swimmer and just followed his feet the rest of the way. I remember at one point this guy has got to be getting tired of me slapping his leg but I really had no where else to go and I wasn't fast enough to pass him. I was really surprised at how calm I remained during the swim, it went a lot better than I had expected and I feel a lot more confident about my swimming now than before. Once I made it to the boat dock I exited the water to make the run to the transition area, it was quite a hike up and honestly I think the run from the swim to the transition area wore me out more than the swim itself. My transition went perfect I took my time but with a sense of urgency, got my helmet, shoes and sunglasses on grabbed my bike and was off.
Bike
The bike portion started off with an incline out of the transition area so it was a little slow starting but once I hit flat ground I was able to build some steam. There was a strong cross wind that was slightly in our face as we went out and it did make for some tough stretches, I got passed by a number of riders, all of which had fancy tri bikes, only a couple of people on road bikes passed me and I eventually re passed all or most of them. Once we made the turn around the wind was more to my back and I was able to pick up some speed and able to pass some more people. For the most part the bike was uneventful went very smooth, I did think a lot about my Grandpa and that helped to power me through some of the tougher parts. After making my way back into the transition area it was time for the run, I dropped of the bike switched shoes and was off.
Run
My legs felt surprisingly good coming off the bike, and I was very happy that the first 1/4 mile or so was on dirt/gravel, I love running off road and wouldn't have minded if the whole course was like that, but unfortunately it did turn to pavement. Going into the race I was most confident about the run, and I knew that I could pick up some time there. I immediately passed some people as they were getting there legs under them and just kept picking up steam. Once I made it to the turn around I opened it up and started to fly (by my standards of course), I was able to pass a few more guys and had one last person in my sights as I made it back on to the dirt portion. As we rounded one last turn the volunteers yelled at me to go catch that guy and I took off on a mission, as I got closer to him I saw the age group number on his calf read 60 and I thought to myself I can't let a 60 yr old beat and I made a final push to pass him and sprinted the rest of the way to the finish to cross the line at 1:22:55. Afterwards the 60 yr old congratulated me and commented that I sounded like a freight train running him down, I replied back Well I kind of am a freight train, and told him how I saw his age and thought I have to pass this guy. It turns out he was the 60-64 age group winner and from Bettendorf.
Until next time...Do today what others won't, so tomorrow you can do what others can't.
QC Distance Classic Race Review
Getting ready to write up my race review of my first Triathlon I remembered I completely neglected to write a race review of the QC Distance Classic, so here goes.
Race started off pretty well, I was running with a buddy from LU, Jay G. who had a pretty similar time goal. The first mile was pretty quick and a little deceiving since it is a gradual downhill slope. Mile 2 starts with the only uphill section and I felt pretty good chugging up hill, for some reason I like running uphill. At this point Aaron M. and Chad U. caught up and passed us, I knew they both had more aggressive goals for this race so I was happy to follow them for awhile and hopefully pick up some time on my goal. This may have been a mistake, somewhere around mile 3 when we were hitting 7:45 pace and Aaron, Chad and now Jay were all pulling away from me I realized I was not going to be able to hold that pace for another 10 miles and I had to make a decision to just let them go. Luckily for me at this point in the race there was a lone port-a-john and even though I didn't "need" to go I decided to stop anyway, that would allow the other 3 to move far enough a head that I wouldn't see them anymore and I could just run my own race. As I was diving into the port-a-john I heard someone yell out "No Josiah, don't stop" I didn't realize it was Nick and Katie, other LU running mates till I passed them a little later on a down hill section.
After making our way down to the District and we lost all the glorious tree cover it started getting warm and I was starting to feel it. I was 5 miles in and felt like I was starting to lose it and might mentally break. As I was heading towards Sunset Marina Katie passed me and asked how I was doing, I told her I had felt better and I was getting hot, she ran just in front of me for a while before taking off. I was joined shortly after by Nick as we were getting into the marina, and it was just in time too. Nick kept me company (and kept me moving at a good pace) while he told me how he had recently proposed to his girlfriend down at Sunset Park. The combination of Nick's company, the shade of tree cover again, and 2 water stations really revived me and as we hit the 10 mile mark I was suddenly feeling very good again and started to pull away from Nick, he encouraged me to get going and I did.
A little after mile 10 I could see Chad just up ahead as he was pulling over to the side under a tree, as I went by him I tried to give him some encouraging words, Nick saw him too and stopped to talk with him. I guess he got light headed and his heart rate shoot up real high. Later after the run we were talking about it and he figured he didn't carb load enough the days leading up to the race and he was just out of fuel. He still managed to finish strong which is a testament to his drive and determination, had I been in his situation I may have called it a day.
The last 2 miles I ended up running with a guy who was training for Ultra distances and was running his first road race, we chatted a little and fell into a nice rhythm. At the 12 mile marker I told him I was going to turn it up and finish strong and he said he was going to try and keep up. I passed a number of people on the last mile, some who were moving pretty slow and even walking, digging deep for the last little bit to get them to the finish. It's always amazing to see people push themselves beyond their limits to keep going, to keep putting one foot in front of the other dedicated to relentless forward motion.
Rounding the turn back into Augustana and making the way onto the track I kicked it up a notch and was ready to sprint to the finish in the last 200 yards but right in front of me was a trio of women who had all clasped hands to finish together and I wasn't going to ruin their moment by being an ass and sprinting around or through them for a couple extra seconds off my time. I coasted across the finish line in 1:43:45 for a new PR shaving nearly 7 minutes off my time from last year. I was very happy with my performance, not because I set a PR, but because at one point when I was feeling pretty awful around the 5 or 6 mile mark I had thought about quitting and just calling it a day. Looking back on it now, it wasn't anything physical that was going to make me quit, but it was a moment of weakness mentally that almost convinced me that physically I wasn't capable of doing it. I have found with endurance sports that being mentally strong is just as important, if not more important than being physically capable. All the training in the world won't do you a bit of good if your mind convinces you to quit or that you can't do it. Oh and it helps to have friends on the course who come along at just the right moment to carry you through the rough miles too...
Until next time...Do today what others won't, so tomorrow you can do what others can't.
Race started off pretty well, I was running with a buddy from LU, Jay G. who had a pretty similar time goal. The first mile was pretty quick and a little deceiving since it is a gradual downhill slope. Mile 2 starts with the only uphill section and I felt pretty good chugging up hill, for some reason I like running uphill. At this point Aaron M. and Chad U. caught up and passed us, I knew they both had more aggressive goals for this race so I was happy to follow them for awhile and hopefully pick up some time on my goal. This may have been a mistake, somewhere around mile 3 when we were hitting 7:45 pace and Aaron, Chad and now Jay were all pulling away from me I realized I was not going to be able to hold that pace for another 10 miles and I had to make a decision to just let them go. Luckily for me at this point in the race there was a lone port-a-john and even though I didn't "need" to go I decided to stop anyway, that would allow the other 3 to move far enough a head that I wouldn't see them anymore and I could just run my own race. As I was diving into the port-a-john I heard someone yell out "No Josiah, don't stop" I didn't realize it was Nick and Katie, other LU running mates till I passed them a little later on a down hill section.
After making our way down to the District and we lost all the glorious tree cover it started getting warm and I was starting to feel it. I was 5 miles in and felt like I was starting to lose it and might mentally break. As I was heading towards Sunset Marina Katie passed me and asked how I was doing, I told her I had felt better and I was getting hot, she ran just in front of me for a while before taking off. I was joined shortly after by Nick as we were getting into the marina, and it was just in time too. Nick kept me company (and kept me moving at a good pace) while he told me how he had recently proposed to his girlfriend down at Sunset Park. The combination of Nick's company, the shade of tree cover again, and 2 water stations really revived me and as we hit the 10 mile mark I was suddenly feeling very good again and started to pull away from Nick, he encouraged me to get going and I did.
A little after mile 10 I could see Chad just up ahead as he was pulling over to the side under a tree, as I went by him I tried to give him some encouraging words, Nick saw him too and stopped to talk with him. I guess he got light headed and his heart rate shoot up real high. Later after the run we were talking about it and he figured he didn't carb load enough the days leading up to the race and he was just out of fuel. He still managed to finish strong which is a testament to his drive and determination, had I been in his situation I may have called it a day.
The last 2 miles I ended up running with a guy who was training for Ultra distances and was running his first road race, we chatted a little and fell into a nice rhythm. At the 12 mile marker I told him I was going to turn it up and finish strong and he said he was going to try and keep up. I passed a number of people on the last mile, some who were moving pretty slow and even walking, digging deep for the last little bit to get them to the finish. It's always amazing to see people push themselves beyond their limits to keep going, to keep putting one foot in front of the other dedicated to relentless forward motion.
Rounding the turn back into Augustana and making the way onto the track I kicked it up a notch and was ready to sprint to the finish in the last 200 yards but right in front of me was a trio of women who had all clasped hands to finish together and I wasn't going to ruin their moment by being an ass and sprinting around or through them for a couple extra seconds off my time. I coasted across the finish line in 1:43:45 for a new PR shaving nearly 7 minutes off my time from last year. I was very happy with my performance, not because I set a PR, but because at one point when I was feeling pretty awful around the 5 or 6 mile mark I had thought about quitting and just calling it a day. Looking back on it now, it wasn't anything physical that was going to make me quit, but it was a moment of weakness mentally that almost convinced me that physically I wasn't capable of doing it. I have found with endurance sports that being mentally strong is just as important, if not more important than being physically capable. All the training in the world won't do you a bit of good if your mind convinces you to quit or that you can't do it. Oh and it helps to have friends on the course who come along at just the right moment to carry you through the rough miles too...
Until next time...Do today what others won't, so tomorrow you can do what others can't.
Saturday, May 19, 2012
Tragic News
Came home from my run this morning to find my wife at the top of the stairs on the phone crying and I instantly new what was wrong, my grandpa had passed away sometime earlier in the morning.
To say I'm heart broken is an understatement, next to my mother my grandpa Byard was the person I had the closest relationship to growing up, he was my hero and my idol.
I'm still in shock and trying to process everything right now, but it's hard.
I love you Grandpa, you will be missed.
To say I'm heart broken is an understatement, next to my mother my grandpa Byard was the person I had the closest relationship to growing up, he was my hero and my idol.
I'm still in shock and trying to process everything right now, but it's hard.
I love you Grandpa, you will be missed.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)