Sunday, July 07, 2013

Juggling Life

Sunday, July 07, 2013  at 5:10 PM
I don't know if I'll ever do another Ironman...at least for 10 years.  It really is tough, especially here in the last two months of training, to juggle everything in life.  Not only am I struggling to get all my workouts in, but trying to balance work and upcoming church events and family time and allowing Jenn to have time to train too.  Did I tell you that she's training for a half Ironman?  Isn't that cool?  I'm super excited for her, but it sure is hard to find a good balance with all the things going on right now.  Sometimes it is nice to put specific workouts on the calendar so that you can't miss them.

Last Sunday, I had placed the GA-400 Century on my calendar, and therefore, I had to do it.  Aftering riding the Louisville course and talking with several people, I decided to swap out my standard crank on my tri bike for the compact crank on my road bike.  With the help of Tom Kingery, we made it happen just in time for this 101 miler.  I had heard that it was a beast of a ride that included "The Three Sisters," three consecutive climbs that sounded brutal.  Steve, one of the leaders for the Gwinnett Tri Club, posted that he was riding it too and wondered if anyone else was.  That worked out well to have someone for those lonely miles.  We met up at the start and got in line.  I was pretty stoked to ride on GA-400, which is basically a freeway that runs into the heart of Atlanta.  Honestly, it wasn't all that it was cracked up to be, and we ended up just riding down one exit and then got on surface streets.  Anyway, there were TONS of people there!  Please excuse the retarded look on my face, but this will give you an idea of the people doing the ride.
Behind me...

In front...
There were several rides including a 9-mile "I Did It" ride, 22 miles, 45 miles, 62 miles, and the full 101 miles.  I needed all the miles I could get, so I did the full 101.  Right at 7am, they let us ride, and onto the freeway we went.



It was actually pretty tough riding with everyone so close together.  In these pics, it had already started to thin out.  Soon enough, we were at the first SAG stop, which we skipped.  9 miles and need something?  Come on!  :)

The ride went really smoothly.  Steve and I hung together all day and just enjoyed chatting it up.  My goal was to be in the 17-18mph range, but that didn't quite happen.  The first 9 miles were so conglomerated with other bikers, that there was no way to go fast.  Oh yeah, and those three sisters slowed us down quite a bit!  But, thanks to the wisdom and help from a lot of you, I had the right crank for the job and was able to climb without any issues.  

The course finished with a pretty tough climb for the last mile.  Not cool, guys!  Not cool!  All in all, it was a great day.  Thanks, Steve, for making the day enjoyable!  We finished with a 16.7 average, and I'll call that a good ride!

This morning, I went out for another pretty long ride.  I decided to ride around Lake Lanier.  I was scheduled for a 4 hour ride, so I figured about 70 miles would be great.  It was an overcast day, and although the sun didn't make me sweat, the humidity made me start dripping almost instantly.  At about the 3-hour mark, I stopped at the third crossing of the lake to enjoy some nutrition while taking in the view.


I tried to pick up the pace for the last hour and ended up with 17.8mph for 71.37 miles.  I had enough time before it started to rain to do a short brick run to loosen up the legs.  All in all, it was a perfect training day to spend with Clifford!

This week is going to be another hectic week of balancing schedules and time.  SEVEN more weeks till raceday!


8 comments:

Unknown

While it makes your professional & family calendars really dense, I'm proud of you for achieving something probably a fraction of 1% will ever complete!! Dad

Beth

It is HARD to find a balance with life, new baby, summer church events, and the wifey being awesome and doing a 70.3!! You are doing a great job with it all. I cannot believe how fast IMKY is creeping up, but you will be totally ready it looks like!

it's all about pace

I hear you my friend... I took a break from longer distances from 2001 to 2010 due to parental responsibilities.... that's some strong riding you are putting in... good work!

DRog

ahhhh just add two more kids to the mix and line up an Ironman...THEN you are juggling!!

good job getting out there
IM ahead!

Michael

New to your blog!

I've heard the Louisville course is brutal! That's a great pace for that kind of mileage on that course.

I have only done one longer distance tri (a 70.3) last year and I remember just being exhausted trying to juggle the training, work, and life. I can't even imagine doing the IM training. Great job!!

Luke Powell

Stick with it. Taper will start soon and you will be itching to get out and do an long ride or run! Be sure and continually thank your support crew (especially your wife) over the next two months!

Jill

I remember when you signed up for the IM when your wife was pregnant (or vise versa :))...I just thought you were a much more balancer of time than I was because I couldn't juggle all that and stay sane (I can't juggle my Leadville training - and I don't have a baby). I salute you, I truly do - you are doing amazing. Just a few weeks left, keep being strong and focused and it will all work out great!

Caratunk Girl

YES you are so right - it is so hard to juggle it all, and I don't even have a child!! It is so close!! I am so excited for you!!! How are you feeling??? You are ready!!!

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