1650 Inspiration

     Was able to get over to the Aquatic Fitness Center the last 2 days and get some pool time in.  M had taken the kids there the other night while she swam and my son decided he was going to time himself on the mile.  I am fully aware that he is faster than me on a sprint basis.  This 38 year old body is not made for speed, but I have counted on the endurance that I have built to edge him out in the longer swims.  I swam the 1650 this morning and clocked a time of 33:45.  Slow by most standards, but I have only been swimming for about a year and a half.  Now the down side.  B has only been swimming since May of last year and he was able to swim a 23:05 in the 1650 the other night with his mom.  I guess the gig is up.  He makes it look so effortless.  
     On the biking front, I made the decision to switch over to clipless road pedals from the SPD mountain clipless ones I had been using for the past 2 years.  Many say they are easier on the feet during long rides and provide a better platform for power when pedaling.  I opted for the Forte CR150 pedals from Performance over the Shimano 540's due to cost.  The Forte stuff I have used so far has worked out great.

     Enough with the technical bike jargon.   The runs for the marathon training become shorter as does the time before the race.  I am trying to eat well and rest up as the race is next Saturday.  I view my body as His temple so I try to eat as clean as possible (not always easy or desirable).  Nevermind the fact that I have to be gluten free, taking this view on my eating has definitely made me healthier.  By clean I am referring to the chemicals in foods, preservatives, artificial sweeteners, and or overall benefit of the food.  Having said that, I have my downfalls. Watching the 2010 Kona Ironman, they document a guy by the name of Lew Hollander.  The most profound thing he said during the entire segment was if you want to be active and healthy at 80, you better make darn sure you pay attention to what you are doing at 40.  Lew does not eat anything he can't identify the parts to.  I think there is a lot to be said for this when you consider the plethora of processed foods we see in todays stores and pantries.  Just something to think about the next time you head for the fast food drive thru.  Oh yeah, Lew has finished the Kona Ironman every year for the past 20 years. He is 80 years of age.  One word, inspiration.

C10M and other stuff

     The week went by fast.  Missed one of my short runs, but no biggie, recovery was more important.  Made it out on the bike on Wednesday with M for her long ride of the week (although I ditched her early to head back and work on the dog fence).  I fit in a swim on Thursday which felt great.  Sometimes the pool (and hot tub) are just what I need when training seems to beat me up.

     This week has felt especially long for some reason, even though I am technically tapering.  Some might ask,  when you have a week like this, "why do you continue to train when it makes you feel bad."  I mean its not like you are going to win or anything, or am I?  I am 38 years old and clearly not in as good of shape as most of the 20 somethings, or 40 or 50 somethings I race with for that matter, but my goal is simple.  I race and train so others will look at me living my life as a Christian and a follower of Jesus and say "man I want to feel like that".  "I want to have that energy."  "Maybe I should look into this Jesus guy and check him out".  That is the victory for me.  Somebody may read one of our shirts or visors while racing and decide in a very low point (and there are plenty of them) to reach out to God.  Someone who has never even considered this before.  God is there when you need him and oddly enough God shows the grace to be there even when we don't think we need him.

     So yesterday was the start of another race season for M and I.  It is the largest co-ed race in town (Womens 4 miler obviously is largest but I am excluded from that one).  The Charlottesville 10 miler supports around 2500 racers and a load of spectators.  

This is one of the funner medium distance races I have done.  People out all over the course to support, even though it was a balmy 40 degrees at the start (a stark contrast to the 80 degrees we saw last week).  M and I stayed together on this one and enjoyed the training run.  Ended up running a smooth pace and finished at 1:32:53 by my watch.  It was great fun and may have added a new member to our FCA Endurance group in the process.  Always a good thing.  Random pics from the week for fun.

Who would have ever thought those little black boxes we carry around would come in so handy

So close yet so far away

CYAC weekend

     It was a big weekend in Rock Hill, SC for the CYAC swim team from Charlottesville.  To say they won the Regional YMCA meet is an understatement, they handled it in dominating fashion.  Their point total was 3600 with 2nd place being 2600.  Their were 33 teams participating from 5 different states.  These kids work very hard day in and day out and deserve all the credit in the world.  B had a fabulous meet and took home 3-1st place, 4-2nd place, and 2-3rd place medals in individual events and 2-1st places in relays.  He was all kinds of jacked up (along with his mother).  Wish I could have been there, but work duties superseded.  B and P do great at swimming, but I am quick to tell them to make sure they thank the one that has blessed them with these talents.  

     We literally have been in the swimming world for less than 9 months.  I have not figured out yet if CYAC is just that great of a team or whether the entire swimming world is like this (I think its the former).  My kids have learned a lot about how to support someone else when they need it, and all the parents of other kids genuinely want your kids to do well.  It certainly brings back memories of T-ball for me, when I can remember parents cussing at their kids from the stands and yelling at the coaches (what a stark difference).  Swim team has been a wonderful atmosphere for kids to learn what it means to be a team player. B & P's coach spends time each week teaching them, not only swimming, but values that they can use in life.  What swimming coach does that?  B's teammates did awesome as well and all the boys are always yelling for each other.  Its exciting to have your kid find something they truly love and want to do more of it to get better.  It is a great outlet for their energy and has taught them to manage their time.

     As far as weeks 16-18 of marathon training go, the runs are all short from here on out.  Taper mode will last the last weeks til the race. There are mostly 5 mile runs with an 8 and a 12 sprinkled in to maintain some semblance of a long run.  These longer runs will make sure the long twitch fibers are still firing efficiently.  

Local Fame

     If you are a Charlottesville cyclist, you are probably familiar with the name Ben King, or at least you will be soon.  His name did not pop up on my radar til last year when I ran across this article.  Ben is a local guy out of North Garden (just south of Charlottesville) who many think could be the next Lance Armstrong.  However, you would never hear him say that.  This feat of winning the US Pro Road Title is quite remarkable in the cycling world.  If memory serves me right, he is just 21 years old and is the youngest rider to ever win this title beating the likes of Levi Leipheimer, George Hincapie, and Chris Horner.  All of these are names you routinely hear during the Tour de France every year.
     To switch gears a little, what is so remarkable about Ben King, along with his cycling skills, is the fact that he is a self proclaimed Christian.  At the age of 21, he has put his faith out there for everyone to see and hear.  He lives in a world of cameras, interviews, Lance Armstrongs and a Radio Shack sponsor, yet he is more than willing to give thanks to God and to talk about how blessed he is in front of all these people.  What makes it so easy for him, but so hard for others.  Take a listen to this interview with Ben after his race that is up on the FCA website, very impressive.  I only hope I can run into him on the road someday and thank him for his willingness to stand up for his faith in a world that makes it so hard.
     Only managed a couple pics today of what I run with on my long runs.

I always feel like I get a lot of weird looks when I am running around with bottles on each hand.  Most runners think that its too much extra weight.  Most non-runners think a couple things:

1.  You must be a little weird to need 2 bottles of water to go for a jog (yes, but not for regular jogs)
2.  You are crazy for running that far that you would need all that (yes, go on)

The fact is I am used to it and that is what I am comfortable with.  I have tried the waist belt and hate it and its easier to carry these and refill them along the way than to stash bottles all over the city before the run (yes people do this).  The last of my long long runs went OK.  I am officially in taper mode.  My legs were hurting before I started from the bike the other day, so I hope that is why I had a lot of pain today.  Miles 13.5-17 were brutal and I was trying to talk myself out of cutting the run short.  I managed to slog back to the car
and breath some life back into me with my chocolate soy milk.  Hopefully by Monday I can update you on B's YMCA Regional swim meet in Rock Hill, SC.  He swam today and preliminary data looks awesome.  Go CYAC.  Later

Lake Anna Ride - Kinetic

     We had the car loaded early today.  I was fortunate enough to have a day to go with M to Lake Anna and ride the Kinetic Half course (or 41 miles of it anyway).  Part of the course doubles over itself so we just did it once.  We had to keep it short so we would be back for kids after school and so Scooby wouldn't go crazy.

     I was thinking the fog would be burned off by the time we got up there as it takes just shy of 1.5 hrs to get there, but nothing doing.  We headed out as the fog was lifting though, but it was frigid.  Within a few miles the fog was freezing on my gloves and M couldn't feel her fingers or toes.  We ride on.

     The scenery was nice but not as nice as the roads around Charlottesville.  It was much flatter, which made for quicker riding.  

     You always see places like this in central Virginia if you take the time to travel the back roads.  One of the best things about biking is getting to see places and areas that most people never see.  Tons of farms, stables, and huge fields were on the landscape today.  No wildlife to speak of, but a fair amount of roadkill (no pics though, maybe next time).

     As M pulls away from me on the straightaway, here is a great look at the Virginia landscape around Lake Anna.  I must say I am usually very prepared for rides on roads I have never ridden, but today was not one of those days.  I took care to print off the ride the other day, but managed to leave it in the car.  No worries, I can usually remember the roads once I look at them on the map, this is where I got into trouble.  I managed to add a total of 6 miles to this ride with 1 wrong turn and 1 missed turn, but we made it back unscathed.

     Here is a great view of the beach/lake from up on the road.  If you are one of the many people who are participating in the Kinetic Sprint or Kinetic Half this is where you will swim.  It's a great venue.

     As I rode today there was one thing that kept entering my mind.  Many of the houses are small, old, and by the commoners standards, run down.  I went on 2 mission trips a few years ago into the mountains of Appalachia and the biggest things I learned from these 2 trips was to never judge a person for their present situation.  As a Christian you accept a person for who they are in the present.  You accept them as they are, not for what they have done in the past.  We are not given the luxury to judge, that will be left to someone else much bigger.  This has been, and continues to be, a very tough lesson to keep in mind.
Later

Big Weekend

     I thought for one of last weeks runs (Friday) I would show you part of the city I live in, Charlottesville, Virginia. This was a great day to run about 50 degrees and a little breezy. Not feeling too inspired about the pics, but here they are:

Started here at Riverview Park

River was insanely high from downpours night before

Part of trail blocked off due to high water

What you get when a roller coaster mates with a hot air balloon
i.e. The Charlottesville Ampitheater

End of Downtown Mall

One of my usual pit stops and a CVille mainstay!

Other end of Downtown Mall

Done for the day and if you do a lot of running or biking get one of these. One
of the best investments I have made.

       After the run it was off to the Christiansburg for B's Virginia Age Group Champs.  We went because my folks and sister live nearby, so free place to stay.  B did awesome and scored a AAA time in the 200 IM which was one of his goals.  We teach him to be humble, so I will boast for him.

       I feel very fortunate to be able to spend these times with my immediate family (mom,dad,sister and her family) so they can see my kids grow up and have memories to share and reflect on.

     It was also nice to see M get to run with my sister on Saturday.  I had a boring weekend with 2 short runs.  My excitement for the week to come in training may be getting on my bike to ride the Kinetic Half course with M and my peak long training run on Friday.  Thanks for reading, will touch base later in the week.

     

Training Music

     Christian music has made a huge impact on me, so I thought I would share some of the songs I use in training to get me through the tough spots.  Not all the videos are the greatest, but its the best I could find.

Josh Garrels "The Children's Song"

TobyMac "Made to Love"

Third Day "Call My Name"

Skillet "Awake and Alive"

Fireflight "Desperate"

Switchfoot "This is Your Life"

Skillet "Hero"

Josh Garrels "Zion & Babylon"

Fireflight "Unbreakable"

One Republic "All the Right Moves"

(Ok not Christian but a great song and had to include it)

     Guess I could go on for a while.  I hope these work, I have never posted videos before.  As you can tell there is quite a variety of music.   Sometimes I like the methodical rhythm of the slower Josh Garrels stuff and other times I need that crazy heavy stuff to get me going.  Hopefully you will find something here you like that you have never heard before and maybe listen more.  

     Got my long run tomorrow, but only 12 miles woohoo!  Feeling cruddy the last few days so I opted to skip one of my shorter runs in lieu of more recovery time.  Most people fail to realize how important recovery is and how important a role it plays in making you stronger in training.  Maybe I will put something together on it sometime, maybe not, who knows.  I will try to get some photos tomorrow to liven up the place.  Later     

Sacrifice

     Since it is almost the season of Lent, I have been thinking a lot about sacrifice.  I had already mentioned that I just finished a book called Radical that deals with how we as Americans glorify consumerism and wealth and measure our success by them, when in all reality God measures it much differently.  The American Dream is alive and well.  We spend countless hours saving, investing, checking 401k's and retirement accounts to make sure that our future is SECURE.  God's plan for us was, and is quite the opposite.  You have only to look into the 4 books of the Gospel to see this.  Taking the Gospel at its word, we should be sacrificing (ooh theres that word) all that we have for those that need it and for those that don't have. It is stated very plainly in Matthew 19 16-28 if you want to check it out for yourself.   All of us can give more and it is certainly not easy, but giving more is not what God is asking us to do.  He is asking for us to go a step further, because to please him requires SACRIFICE.  I say all this tongue in cheek, as I have a lot to learn from the Gospels and am trying to grasp these concepts myself.  It is easy to give more, but to sacrifice and make it hurt is a whole different ballgame.  This applies to our time,ourselves, and not just to money.
    
     Sacrifice shows itself in a lot of other faces of my life as well and I often relate it to training.  I spent 2 years of my life dealing with a sickness that made me feel awful.  I decided I needed to utilize this concept of sacrifice and started triathlon training.  I think I said once before that I was spurred into triathlons by my sister.  She had done them for a couple years prior and that in itslef was a great inspiration.  I had run periodically in the past, but not for more than 3 miles or so at a time.  I mountain biked a bit in college just like the next guy, but I wold not have called myself a biker.  I started running again in April of 2009 and to be able to punish my body after it had punished me for so long felt good.  I picked up biking again in May 2009 and started swimming in July.  Swimming was a challenge.  I spent all winter swimming 3 times per week to get up to the point where I could swim a mile at a time nonstop.  Some people think I am crazy, but to me it feels good to sacrifice some of  myself when I am out on the road or in the pool.  I spend a lot of those hours reflecting on that Sacrifice and what it must have felt like for Jesus to give his life for us in the way that he did.  It gives me strength.  It will do the same for you if you let it.
    
     I am in another recovery week.  I had a short 5 miler on the treadmill last night and was able to get home from work in time to get my 8 miles in tonight, albeit in the dark.  I know running in the dark is unsafe (especially for women) but I love it.  I left my house at dusk and my the end of mile 2 I was wishing I had a toboggan.  I had my headlamp on and an LED blinker on my back.  I highly recommend it and when it turns hot out you will thank me. Just 2 more 5 milers and a 12 mile on Thursday or Friday to finish up week 15.  If you are into cycling Paris-Nice is on Versus this week.  I can't wait to get back on the bike next month.

Tour de Fairmont

       M and I set out on Friday morning for our long runs of the week.  I am so proud of her and her dedication to the training. I remember not too long ago when a 10 miler for her was daunting at best and yesterday she rattled off 11 and was making me look bad. As running goes, some days you are in a groove and it just feels easy. Some days, however, a 3 miler feels like a marathon.  I finished the 20 miles I had set to do and got to see parts of Fairmont I had not seen in probably 20 years.  Passed a lot of old friends houses, ran my old paper route, even stopped for a refill in the hospital where I was born. 

     We spent the evening replenishing our fuel stores and scarfing down Muriales with M's family.  I had to use my own gluten free pasta, but it is the sauce that makes it great anyway.

     Scooby had his usual problems with his daily duties because of the rain.  It's always tough when you are away from home and nothing smells familiar.

     Finished up my last 5 miler of the week in the rain tonight, watched WV beat Louisville, then headed out to Fairmont's best kept secret.....Valley Worlds of Fun (imagine Chuck E Cheese with bowling, rides, and laser tag).  A weekend of fun in Fairmont and back to CVille today for more rain it appears.



post 20 miles

B & P ski balling at Valley Worlds of Fun