It was a great weekend at the Butler's. Dinner Friday night for Nathan's Birthday. I had one of those reality check moments when my daughter made me promise Friday morning that I would be at dinner. Knife in the heart but truly frames the cost of training for such an event. Without the support and encouragement of family there is no way this would be happening. However, on the flip side she said to me on Saturday that "my dad can do anything he puts his mind to" so I hope the last statement more than outweighs the first in the long run.
Saturday morning was the Miles for Meso run in Alton that Acropolis Technology Group was a supporter of. The Frohock's ran as a family in their prep for the Chicago Marathon and did great and Doug Meyer and his son Thomas ran also at a sub 8min/mile pace. Thomas is 14! I ran well under direct orders to have fun because Sunday was my race sim. I had a ball but had to run to NBB's football game (4 touchdowns) and KGB's first soccer game and she did great as well! NBB's kids birthday party in the afternoon, prep for just like a race day Eve and then to bed.
Sunday started early for my 8+ hour training day, up at 5:30 for oatmeal, banana, and coffee and Gatorade. Then to the pool for a wetsuit, 1 hour swim for 3500 yards (2 miles) then a 1.5 hour rest then on the bike at 9:30. It was cold! It was rainy! It was windy! It was good! I was able to "race" per the plan (actually slighly less power than goal). However, it wasn't all good.
Have you ever heard of the Chinese Water Torture where they would take prisoners and have water drip on them for a time eventually driving them crazy. I had a rear brake rubbing on my bike and at over 90 time per minute I had a brief chirp that sounded like a cricket and IT DROVE ME NUTS! I stopped at one point to try to adjust my rear wheel but it didn't help. That was 27,000 chirps during the ride. Wow. I am still hearing it and will NEVER EVER EVER not check my brakes before I start a long ride. Anyway, I was able to ride almost 90 MIles (just short of it) and I was freezing but actually rode better at the end than at the beginning which was great and unexpected.
I had a 1.5 hour break after the ride where I took a shower to warm up and had a pre scheduled phone interview with the St. Louis Business Journal (more on that later). My friend Rick Mann (who I have written about a lot) was meeting me at 4:00 to run. I asked him if he brought a book to read because I was under strict orders not to run less than 10 minutes per mile for the first hour (he runs sub 7 minute miles). He said no worries and we ran and had great conversation about parenting, religion, and life in general. I am fortunate to be blessed with people in my life that are like minded but not so like minded I get fresh perspectives. It is good to take a step back periodically and look at what is going great, not just the challenges. Rick ran with me for an hour (9 min/mile) and had to get home. I continued on alone and was able to maintain 9 min/mile for the rest of the run! I figured if I didn't I would be in big trouble with Coach Jen! I actually finished better than plan which was great! Taking it easy on the bike paid off on the run and the weather being cool helped a lot.
I ate with the family, sat in the hot tub (again to stretch and get warm) played with the kids and enjoyed a few books with them and then to bed. I think I was asleep by 8:45.
Today I am feeling it. That was the longest effort I have had to date. My legs are very very sore but this is a recovery week for me and that is exactly what I plan to do! Recover.
My posts will be pretty sporadic this week but I start to build again next week.
Take care and have a wonderful week!
Tracy
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