Monday, August 9, 2010

No, I'm not Lee Majors....

We can rebuild him, stronger, faster, better than he was before... That part sounds great, but if I recall correctly, the Six-Million-Dollar Man had to fall out of an airplane and break every bone in his body before they did that....which interestingly enough is sortof how I feel this morning.

Last week was a "build" week. Not only did the volume of my training go back up, but the intensity went through the roof. Here's a tip folks- don't get a bike fit during a build week. This is a remarkably bad idea. I went from my road setup on the old Y-foil to a more aggressive Tri setup. It didn't seem like a big change sitting on the trainer at the shop, but once I did my long ride on Sunday, I sure felt the difference. The good news is I have more power on the bike, the bad news is that I am feeling just about every muscle in my body right now. Some weeks are just like that I guess. It all comes to a head at the same time.

So NBC replayed KONA 2009 yesterday, which I watched before my workout. I've gotta say, that as interested as I am in how the pros do, watching the "everyman" out there, especially those that have overcome massive obstacles in their lives like strokes, cancer, amputation (some double) just makes me realize that the Ironman is achievable for everyone, no matter your personal circumstances. My wife doesn't always get me when it comes to my tri-training. Yesterday was one of those days. I essentially said that anyone can do an Ironman, and she replied with- "Yeah, but you have to have the time". This is the semi passive-aggressive "don't train more than you already are" line she uses with me sometimes, and I get it, but at the same time, it's not the amount of time, but how you use it. I responded with- "everyone has enough time, they just don't have enough want". I think that's true. If I want something bad enough, I'll make the time for it. If that means I'm getting up at 4am for a 3 hour trainer ride, then fine. If that means I'm running on a treadmill at the gym at 9pm after the kids go to sleep, then fine. We all have the same 24 hours in our day, some just do more with it than others. Are there sacrifices? Yes. Do my kids get every moment with me that they want? Probably not. Will I end up in the hospital at 55 with Quadruple Bypass? I'm thinking not so much, so if there's a sacrifice on the front end, I think there's a big payoff on the back end.

Besides, there are ways to hedge your bets. Kyle had been acting up a little this week and I finally asked him if he needed some "Dad time", so we took the afternoon together, ran a couple off errands, got some lunch and went to see Toy Story 3. It was actually a really nice afternoon- I got off my feet, he got quality Dad time and we had a lot of fun. This is the kind of thing that I didn't have to worry about during my last run at triathlon, but I think that I'm more balanced now, and I have a better perspective on my life and Triathlon's importance in it.

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