Inspiration

Inspiration is a funny thing. Sometimes, it watching movies like Rudy, Friday Night Lights, Rocky... Last year I spent countless hours scouring youtube looking for triathlon clips. I can't even tell you how many times I've watched videos on the Hoyts and Jon Blais. Those youtube clips got me out of bed many of mornings.


I found inspiration somewhere else on Saturday. I was riding on 289 (Preston Road) up in Grayson County when I ran across another cyclist. It was relatively early because we both had our bike lights on. As he got closer I recognized the guy. He is a friend of a friend and I've ridden with him a few times. His name is Kevin and he is currently training for his first Ironman, Coeur D'lane (sp?). So we stopped and chatted for a few minutes. He is currently in the hardest part of his training plan. 6-7 hour bike rides, back to back on the weekends, type of thing. Well to complicate things further Kevin's wife is pregnant and due in 1 week. Kevin had been on the road since 4am riding all over Collin and Grayson County. When I saw him he could barely turn his head because his neck hurt so bad from being in the aero position.

I think the reason I found this so inspiring is because you meet a lot of interesting people in this sport. People at different stages of life, different time commitments, etc. But the thing that always amazes me, is the level of hardship/sacrifice that people are willing to go through to finish an Ironman. In Kevin's case, he's got so many competing priorities - kids, wife, job, ironman, but he recognizes that and does what he has to do to try and balance it (ie Cycling at 4am) so that he can be a good dad, be a good husband and at the same time chase his Ironman. I think this type of effort/dedication is what makes the Ironman so special for so many folks and allows ordinary people to achieve extraordinary things...

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On the training front things are going pretty good. I just got over my bi-monthly calf injury and am starting to run again. The calf is just something I've got to learn to manage better. I know I've got issues with it and I have to get in the groove of preventative maintenance with it. This includes a lot of stretching, icing, etc... My coach educated me on the compression socks and I'm going to give that a shot to see if it helps.

Other than that, cycling and swimming are coming along. I made it back to the weekly Negative Split Interval Ride and that was a beat down. I've lost a lot of "power" since last year but it will come back as my cycling gets more consistent. Swimming is going okay, I'm consistently in the pool and I can honestly say that I don't hate it. I'm heading up to Ardmore, OK on Saturday to do a 70 mile ride in the Ardmore hills. I'm really looking forward to it. The largest hill I have ever ridden on is the Windhaven Hill in Plano so this should be an interesting experience. So no complaints, I'm having fun and enjoying this initial stage of training... Ask me again in a few months and you might get a different answer.