Time Off

Neglect.

That's the word for my time away from blogging.
A confluence of busy schedule (work, home, and training/racing) along w/ differing mental and emotional perspectives on the blog itself have allowed me to consciously neglect continuous blogging.
I'll just leave it at that and throw out a quick recap of the past 2 months.

1. June 1st, 2008 - My last entry eluded to my personal triumph at completing (and kicking ASS) the Steamboat Marathon. I didn't hit my dream time of 3hr 30min, but I was very close at 3hr 39min. While I may go back and elaborate, it's suffice to say that I made the classic mistake. I started out too fast and felt great til' mile 18, at which point I slowed slightly each mile. Then at mile 24 I completely melted and could not jog even the slightest bit. It took every ounce of positive thinking to keep moving forward; I was literally yelling "GO, KEEP MOVING, C'MON, JUST FINISH" every couple minutes. My legs just did NOT want to move.
Perseverance did prevail and a goal 2 years in the making was attained. Many lessons learned and I'm not sure where it goes from here but there will be another Marathon in my future and qualifying for Boston is the ultimate goal.

2. June 21st, 2008 - Buffalo Creek Xterra Triathlon (Olympic Distance) - Finished & Humbled.

Screw that.
Ok, I can run, pretty good even. As of right now I SUCK at triathlon.
Lessons:
While training for a marathon obviously carries over into any running related event,
it does NOT replace bike training, especially mountain biking.
Do not schedule another event w/in 3 weeks of finishing your first Marathon.

Yes, it was fun, it was a challenge, pretty scenery, great people, well organized ........
BLAH BLAH BLAH.
However great everything was, the fact is I sucked.
It did serve a purpose in highlighting my weakness and that is undoubtedly biking. My little legs can take me quite a way in running shoes but those tiny quads desperately need some additional mass to get power and will only get better with more time in the saddle; a LOT more time.

The best part of the race? Camping with my daughter Sarah and her friend. Would've been even better if the other 2 family members had been there but we had a great time.


3. TODAY, 4 days before 1/2 Ironman Distance Boulder Peak Long Course Triathlon.
hmm,
what to say,
well,
i'm sorely under-trained.
Will I finish?
Hard to say. At this point I'm 60% confident. That's much better than the 20% confidence I had after my meager attempt at a BRICK session last Sunday. But I'm still conceding that there is quite a real possibility that I may drop out somewhere around mile 5 of the run.
Cliche really, bit off more than I could chew.
I think the euphoria of the Marathon led to over-confidence and I just signed up, thinking I could get the bike fitness fairly quickly given my run fitness. But then I quickly reflect how it took 3 years of mileage build up w/ running to barely complete the Marathon. Cycling muscles are not the same ones used in running and I was naive thinking that they would build up enough to carry me through a long distance cycling event after less than 2 months of training.
I had been wanting to try road-cycling and knew that the only realistic path to an Ironman Distance Triathlon would have to include many road triathlons along the way and that meant buying a road bike and putting in some time. I hadn't really thought that I would have the opportunity to go for one this year but some great friends stepped up and offered me a very nice loaner if I wanted to go for a road-tri this year.
So here I am, having put in some miles on a road bike, keeping up with swimming and running but the 1/2 Ironman distance is probably too much too soon. I rationalized that the Olympic off-road tri is at least 2x's more difficult than a standard Olympic road tri and I still think that's true. Mountain biking 20miles is considerably harder than 20miles on the road and more like 50miles of road cycling. And 5miles of difficult trail running is about the same as 10miles on the road. But wait, I sucked at the off-road tri so I guess it's logical to expect that I'll suck at this almost comparable endurance test. Additionally, while the individual components of the Olympic Xterra may be comparable to the 1/2 Ironman distances, it is much more difficult when combined. (No Shit huh Matthew)
The positive of going through with this test is that I will know just how much work I need and only racing helps you get more comfortable racing. So even if I don't finish or have the really bad expected finish, I'll at least have gone through the motions of preparing for and being in a race environment at this level; which can only mean next year will be that much more attainable and successful.