I can’t believe I am at the gym for a make up swim workout on my day off? I definitely don’t want to be here today and of course the pool is packed. Typically I am very polite and sit and wait for someone to offer to share a lane with me…but not today. I walk directly over to the first lane that I see and inform the person swimming that I will be using his lane as well. In hindsight it was really a jerk thing to do…but we are all entitled to a bad day every once in a while, aren’t we?
In spite of my miserable mood I have a strong swim session. Again, I am surrounded by strong swimmers so I force myself to raise my game. It is a shame but I really do seem to swim up to or down to the level of those swimming around me on any given day. This could be bad news for me on race day. I must resist the temptation to swim fast. The saying goes that nobody has ever won the Ironman on the swim leg but plenty have lost it.
I finish the swim with a solid 1.5 miles, shower and head off to work. While at work I make a conscious effort to stay hydrated for the Media 5 mile race tonight. My plan going in is to take it easy but I am having troubling believing that this will happen.
I am running tonight with two of my best buddies Chris and Cork. A couple of other friends were scheduled to participate but were forced to back out at the last second due to injury in some cases and lack of conditioning in others. Fortunately everyone is in condition to hit the bar deck at Jocelyn’s post race.
The race is a two lap course through the borough of Media. It starts on State Street, takes you past the courthouse and then winds through the neighborhood. It seems the entire town is in out celebrating the race. Or maybe they are celebrating the first clear skies seen in this area in weeks? My guess is it is a combination of the two.
We start the race towards the back of the 1,200 person pack. This seemed like a good idea at the time but it was not. I spend the first 1.5 miles trying to get myself through the masses of people. This is nuts! I finish the first mile in about 7 minutes and 30 seconds. I dial up my pace for the rest of the race and finish with a personal best at this distance of 35 minutes even! I down play my time at the finish line to my friends Gary and Mike (there for moral support and beers) but can not believe the time I ran….7 minute mile pace over a 5 mile course. My surprise comes from the fact that the training for this program has been run at around a 9 minute mile pace. I never expected that my speed and stamina would increase so much while running at a slower pace. Who knew?
Post race we make our way back to Jocelyn’s and enjoy several ice cold coronas. There is nothing like a great race, cold beers, good friends and a beautiful night. It is said that life is a journey and not a destination; I am being to wonder if the same can be said about the Ironman? So far the Ironman training has reunited me with some old high school friends (Matt McCulley, Mike Breen, Chris Gussin and Dan Braodhurst), given me the opportunity to speak to the Garnet Valley Football Team at the request of good friend Scott Green (retro blog to follow) and motivated many others to start taking their health and fitness a little more seriously. I wonder what else this journey has in store for me?
Tomorrow calls for a 2 hour 20 minute bike ride followed by a 40 minute run, though I will most likely skip the run. I’ll play that one by ear.
In spite of my miserable mood I have a strong swim session. Again, I am surrounded by strong swimmers so I force myself to raise my game. It is a shame but I really do seem to swim up to or down to the level of those swimming around me on any given day. This could be bad news for me on race day. I must resist the temptation to swim fast. The saying goes that nobody has ever won the Ironman on the swim leg but plenty have lost it.
I finish the swim with a solid 1.5 miles, shower and head off to work. While at work I make a conscious effort to stay hydrated for the Media 5 mile race tonight. My plan going in is to take it easy but I am having troubling believing that this will happen.
I am running tonight with two of my best buddies Chris and Cork. A couple of other friends were scheduled to participate but were forced to back out at the last second due to injury in some cases and lack of conditioning in others. Fortunately everyone is in condition to hit the bar deck at Jocelyn’s post race.
The race is a two lap course through the borough of Media. It starts on State Street, takes you past the courthouse and then winds through the neighborhood. It seems the entire town is in out celebrating the race. Or maybe they are celebrating the first clear skies seen in this area in weeks? My guess is it is a combination of the two.
We start the race towards the back of the 1,200 person pack. This seemed like a good idea at the time but it was not. I spend the first 1.5 miles trying to get myself through the masses of people. This is nuts! I finish the first mile in about 7 minutes and 30 seconds. I dial up my pace for the rest of the race and finish with a personal best at this distance of 35 minutes even! I down play my time at the finish line to my friends Gary and Mike (there for moral support and beers) but can not believe the time I ran….7 minute mile pace over a 5 mile course. My surprise comes from the fact that the training for this program has been run at around a 9 minute mile pace. I never expected that my speed and stamina would increase so much while running at a slower pace. Who knew?
Post race we make our way back to Jocelyn’s and enjoy several ice cold coronas. There is nothing like a great race, cold beers, good friends and a beautiful night. It is said that life is a journey and not a destination; I am being to wonder if the same can be said about the Ironman? So far the Ironman training has reunited me with some old high school friends (Matt McCulley, Mike Breen, Chris Gussin and Dan Braodhurst), given me the opportunity to speak to the Garnet Valley Football Team at the request of good friend Scott Green (retro blog to follow) and motivated many others to start taking their health and fitness a little more seriously. I wonder what else this journey has in store for me?
Tomorrow calls for a 2 hour 20 minute bike ride followed by a 40 minute run, though I will most likely skip the run. I’ll play that one by ear.
No comments:
Post a Comment