sporty: June 2004 Archives

During the month of March I spend an ungodly amount of time on the couch or if I'm feeling ambitious, on the trainer, watching the NCAA college basketball tournament. Fortunately, my boys only play every couple days and while I like the other games, I can at least have the self discipline to turn the games off. As crazy and addictive as March Madness is however, it is merely a warm up for my true month-long athletic addiction...

In case you've been living in a cave, Saturday begins Mr. Lance Armstrong's quest for an unprecedented 6th Tour de France victory. And I can't wait.

If I wasn't hooked on the tour before last year (don't worry, I was), it would have been the year to get sucked in. SO much drama. The massive crash in Stage 2, claiming a couple talented riders and Tyler Hamilton's collarbone... Beloki going down (I STILL cringe every time I watch it) and LA cruising through the cornfield...Tyler winning a stage despite the broken collarbone... LA's handlebars snagging a spectator's bag and sending him to the pavement... it was incredible.

I'm hopin' our boy can pull off #6.... but I'm worried. Ullrich looked good last year... and with a stronger team he could be a real threat. I'm psyched to watch the TT up Alpe D'Huez... think Heras could be pretty dangerous there. We'll see. I'm hoping for LA to win with Tyler on the podium.

I can't wait to start my mornings for the next month with a hot cup of coffee and 3 hours of Phil Ligget and Paul Sherwin making the calls... I just hope this thing is somewhat decided before we leave for LP... wonder if we'll have OLN up there?! Of course the last day of the tour is also the same day as the IM... I have yet to decide whether or not its cool or totally blows....

I have decided to curb all junk-food eating till around 10 p.m. on July 25th (ITS A MONTH FROM TODAY?!?!).... not so much to improve my physical health but as a sort of mental focus exercise.

This is going to be much easier said than done... funny too because once upon a time I DID watch what I ate... the great cost AND benefit of this triathlon lifestyle is that its allowed me to eat whatever I damn well want!

Interresting article this month on what has been called "Post-Ironman Depression Syndrome". I'd say that most who have gone the distance have felt it, to varying degrees. This paper was a scientific type study trying to determine whether or not the PIDs is real. Basically the conclusion that they came to is that the low feelings that come in the months following the race are actually likely to be symptoms of addiction withdrawl. That when we train so much for so long, exercise becomes an addiction, and that when you can't do it (or don't have any reason to) in the time immediately following an Ironman, you experience psychological withdrawls. Its pretty interresting and actually makes quite a bit of sense.

Which brings me to ny next question... what to do about Ironman next year? I have put quite a bit of thought into next year's racing season and whether or not I want to do an Ironman. As of July I will have ALWAYS had an Ironman on the horizon for the past three years. I signed up for Wisconsin 02 in July 2001... which means that SINCE then I have ALWAYS been entered. I love Ironman training (even if at this point in the season I'm ready to get this baby OVER with) and its hard to imagine what life will be like without it. All this insane training feels very VERY normal to me these days. Its not something I have to think about... its just something I DO.

So whats the problem? Well, with this whole law school thing looming on the horizon I'm not sure what to do. Because you have to sign up for those races SO early and so promptly when registration opens, I need to make a decision in time to get signed up. I'm toying with the idea of doing Wisconsin again next year... I figure I can do my heaviest training in the summer when I'm not in class and will only have to miss two days of class for the race. And because its not until September Something-th I will have a couple weeks to settle into law school before I have to sign up and then a whole semester to get cozy before I have to really start training. It just kind of seems like with all the changes that will be going on next year, it WILL be good and healthy for me to have some sense of normalcy in my life... even if that normalcy comes in a very unnormal way.

I've never been one to meticulously plan my life to every last detail. I enjoy a small amount of chaos and sense of general wackyness in my world. Ironman gives me that (and more)... I don't know if I'm ready to give it up....

The water laps your toes and envelops your skin. Close your eyes. The masses become silent and your heartbeat thunders. You have planned for today, talked about today, trained for today, imagined today, dreamed today, and yet you still don't know what to expect.

A cannon blows and you remember, as you dread the uncertainty and harsh duration to come, to savor every second because in your memory it will be over in the minutes it takes to recount or reread from your journal.

Move, breathe, drink, eat. Move, breathe, drink, eat. Move and move. One hundred forty and six-tenths miles. Know tenderly, intimately every fiber of your being that propels you foreward only because your brain says "Don't stop!". And don't stop. Move, breathe, drink, eat.

Manage your day, stick to your plan. Be flexible. Just finish. Float when your mind and body detach and watch your body move without you -- pushed by the crowd, the volunteers who lust for your finish as if it were their own.

But it hurts. And you don't knwo for sure why you're doing it and what it will mean when you do. And then you see it. A banner, a clock, a frenzy of applause. And you know you made it happen through whatever means and power source you draw strength from.

Ironman will tivialize past hardship and prepare you to minimize those to come. It makes your dreams come true. You have what it takes to bridge aspirations into accompliahsments. Crossing that line embraces self: confidence, sacrifice, reliance, invention, worth. Finishinh makes you your own hero"

~KDT (wish I had written that)

A blast from the past... still love it... still appropriate.

One month, 3 days to go.

So its Sunday. On Friday I headed out bright and early for what would be my longest ride of the season (and sadly enough my longest training ride ever). Ended up covering 100 miles...which was pretty damn impressive seeing as I had never gone over 60 alone and the only centuries I had ever done were either during Ironman or part of an organized century so there was plenty of support. This was just me and the bike and 100 miles of open country road. It was pretty uneventful actually. Saw a deer with a FULL rack (no, not boobs) jump across the road, as well as a possum and wild turkey which ran in front of me for a good 15 or 20 yards before it realized that if it hopped OFF the road it would be out of my way. Started getting a little delerious at about mile 70 and was singing to the bike at mile 80. It was a bonding experience for us. Got back to Broken Arrow Park after 7 hours in the saddle during which I consumed 2 Cliff Bars, a Snickers Marathon bar, 4 jolly ranchers, and a tootsie pop. Got home, had some Endurox and a turkey sandwich and then went to the Mongolian BBQ with the boytoy for dinner. Gotta love long rides.

Got the keys to the new place which is both exciting and way stressful. Moving brings about all sorts of familial turmoil that I just wasn't prepared for. Good thing I have a three year lease and won't need to do this again for quite a while... WHY does moving have to cause so many fights?!? It was a rough morning yesterday. Hopefully things will be better soon....