Recap and Resolute

Where to begin? I do this to myself by not posting often enough. With that, I guess I'll begin with recapping last year's resolutions:
1. Blog more - failed this one. Just 3 posts in 2010, oops.
2. Lose weight - we'll call this one a semi-success. I dropped a few and transformed into a little bit of a healthier shape by starting to lift weights again near the end of the year (i.e. muscle weighs more than fat).
3. Attempt dating again - I gave it an honest effort I thought - asked someone out w/out knowing what was up, fired up an online dating profile again - so I'll put this in the success column. I went on a few dates, hoping to get something started before the new year rolled around, but nothing panned out. I'm not opposed to dating in 2011, but free time won't really be a comfort I'll have (more later on why) so I won't be actively pursuing any love interests. If something falls into my lap I'll act on it, but it'll more than likely be at someone else's doing.
4. Setting race results - call this one a wash. I didn't do enough races or have a great training year to get serious about setting a time result. I was able to cross 2 more states off my marathon list though and had an ABSOLUTE BLAST trying a new triathlon with CC - the Burrito Union 10 hour Tri. Team Cap'n and Mac was awesome!
5. Financial goal - slight failure in this one, but all things considered I won't beat myself up over it. It'll remain a resolution for 2011 as well.
6. Parental goal - success here I think. Had more fun with the boys this past year and I was able to "play" with them and "parent" them. They are great kids and I couldn't ask for anything better.
7. Family goal - I'm not sure what I had in mind when I set this one so we'll just disregard it for tally purposes.
So, in the end, 3 successful resolutions, 2 failures, 1 tie and 1 whatever. I guess that's why people set them. If you succeed at them all, then what fun is that? You may have set things too easy for yourself.

This brings me to what 2011 will be. My main focus, at least the first 9 months of the year, will be pretty tunnel-visioned and one of the main reasons why I want to fire up this blogging thing again. It stems from a decision I finally acted upon in 2010 that will come to fruition in 2011. I signed up for a little race called the Ironman Triathlon. On 9-11-11 in Madison, WI I'll hopefully swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles and run 26.2 miles all in under 17 hours! When I first started doing this triathlon thing back in the '90s the seed was first planted about this IM thing. A couple of the friends I was doing local events with were IM caliber so it got me wondering if I could do one. A decade+ of years went by, but the thought never really left my mind. These past couple of years watching other friends go through the journey made me realize I should finally put up or shut up, even if it was only internally. Tomorrow, 1-3-11, starts the beginning of my Ironman journey and training - a 36 week program that will get me ready for my personal 140.6 mile quest. There are going to be many early mornings, long miles, and hours of contemplation. I'll use this blog as my release, escape and sanity check. If you notice the postings getting a little loopy don't be afraid to mention something. I just hope to document my feelings, revelations and findings about anything along the way, just something to look back on to relive the times so these next 9 months don't seem like a complete self-absorbed waste of time.

As I sit here today, beyond my immediate family there are only a handful of friends I've personally told that I'm attempting the IM. I know the word has gotten out to others, and I'm totally fine with that, but I don't want it to consume who I am this year. I've had many friends do this event the past couple of years and it seems every facebook post, every conversation, every "how are you doing?" begins with Ironman. I love my friends, but it seems like self-promotion and any bragging rights were the driving forces to why they did this event and not the personal gains, almost a martyr-type approach. To me anyway, this seems backwards and that's not me. Sure, I'll dress up in costume and run an event (thinking Ragnar), but I don't think I'm doing it to get noticed. It's fun and helps create the memories! 2 years from now I'm not going to remember how many people noticed me doing something, but I will remember we all dressed up like superheroes and had a hell of a good time! With the Ironman, the distance needs to be respected.

I think I have a healthy respect for what I'm getting myself into and to be honest, part of me is scared shitless! I don't know if I can do this, I've never tested by body with a 140.6 mile event before! When I look at my training schedule as a whole or think of it as a 12-17 hour event or think back to when I've hit the wall just running a marathon I wonder what the hell I'm doing even starting down this road. But on the flip side of that, the bigger part of me is excited and a "good" nervous to start the training and get this ball rolling! I've done plenty of triathlons, albeit shorter distances, so I've been prepping myself for this all those years!

As I sit here today and ponder what 2011 will bring me I only hope to be able to meld my worlds together for the next 9 months. I will not slack on my training because you either pay for it now daily or you pay for it exponentially on race day. I hope to remain the good parent I think I am and not become too self-focused. I've warned the boys about my training schedule, but their needs, and wants, just can't be ignored. The melding will come in hopefully teaching my boys some life lessons - healthy lifestyles and nutrition, setting goals, planning, time management, thinking and doing beyond what is comfortable... And maybe give them something to brag about regarding their dad to their friends. ;)

Happy New Year everyone! Bring it on 2011!!!

It's All Relative

Q: Since when is running 15 miles no big deal?
A: Tomorrow morning.

My marathon training schedule calls for a 15 miler in the a.m. (I better make this a short post so I can get to bed), but it's going to feel slightly inferior and inadequate to the rest of the weekend. Dare I say I'll be embarrassed if I tell people this weekend that's all I did? Here's why - after my run with Dana and Kris we're heading down to Madison for the ultimate in athletic endurance. Kimmi and Rachel will be conquering the Ironman Triathlon on Sunday and we're going to cheer them on! Being around 2,000 Ironman-caliber triathletes will put my 15 miler to shame. It's going to be a great spectacle to watch and hopefully provide some more motivation to continue down this athletic path.

I don't think an Ironman is in my future within the next 3-5 years, but maybe someday. I'll either A. have to get married again so I have a spouse to take care of the kids while I'm training 4-6 hours per day on top of a full time job or B. wait until the kids are older and more independent so I can somewhat justify the 4-6 hours of training. B is a safer bet on the more likely scenario.

The last quarter of the marathon is what I'm most interested in watching. I hope K and R don't read the rest of this - Ladies, if you are reading this, log off now. Okay, now that we've gotten rid of them, have you ever seen the end of an endurance race where someone's body just starts to shut down, they start to weave and stumble and just get all zombie-ish? During Ragnar we were waiting for our 3rd runner to come in. It was the longest leg of the entire race, 9.5 miles, and it was starting to get pretty hot and humid, right around noon. A couple of times on this portion we saw a runner that was looking great - long, smooth, effortless strides, and fast - passing other runners one after the other - a few people were commenting on how good she looked. Near the end of this leg was a short, but steep hill. We were waiting at the exchange for Becky (our teammate) to come in when I saw this good runner crest the hill. Both the girl standing next to me and I commented on how impressed we were with her. Just then she faltered. She stopped running, arms were straight down (okay, maybe not zombie-ish since theirs are usually straight out), slouched over, started stumbling and almost fell. A couple of us ran out to grab her to help her in. She had pretty obviously ran too hard given the conditions and dehydrated and overheated. That was my first time witnessing that in person and it was kinda freaky. The weather will be cooler on Sunday for the triathlon, but with how far (140.3 miles) these triathletes will travel and how long (the pros will finish in just over 8 hours while some amatuers will be out there for 17) they'll be continuously pushing their bodies, there's bound to be some racers majorly hitting the wall. I'm certainly not wishing for it to happen, but it'll be interesting to watch.
Since I know you didn't heed my warning Kimmi and Rachel and still read this, I know it won't happen to you 2 though. You've done everything right to get here (not counting a certain bike crash early in the season) and are out there to enjoy the experience. The things some people will do for a little fun in their life!

Good luck girls, and everyone else doing any racing this weekend!

Now, off to bed so I can rest up for my lazy-ass 15 mile run. :)