36 Days and Counting - How did I get here?

Only 36 days until Vineman Ironman 70.3.  It is Friday night and I am sitting here trying to motivate myself to get up in the morning to do another Olympic Distance Tri in the morning.  I am reflecting on all of the early mornings, running in the cold rain this past winter and spring, working out many hours by myself, the fact that I haven't had any alcohol for the last couple months, and I wore through a pair of road bike tires.  The fear is starting to set in.  I am pretty comfortable with the swim and bike, my biggest concern is still the bike to run transition and being able to run 13 miles without cramping up.  I still wish I had a couple extra months to prepare.  But since I don't, I better get up early and put in another good training day.   How in the world did I end up here? 

It all started with a phone call I received sometime in Febraury 2009. A good friend of mine said they were getting married on Maui in May and wanted for us to attend.  Immediately after hanging up I thought to myself, I better start exercising or I am going to look ridiculous sitting around the pool at the Westin with a sweatshirt on.  Having managed to accumulate more than two pounds a year since college (I've been out for 20 years - you do the math), reality was beginning to set in that I did not actually look like I imagined myself in my head.  So I decided it was time to take immediate action (vanity does serve a purpose).   I had motivation to exercise and start losing weight, and I had 2.5 months to do it.  I figured if people could lose 5-10 lbs a week on The Biggest Loser, certainly I could shed a couple pounds a week.  What I hadn't counted on was the fact that I am now over 40 and my metabolism had changed since my 20's and 30's when a few extra pounds used to melt off pretty quickly with exercise.  I also didn't realize how out of shape I really was.

I started out with walking in the evenings after work.  I then moved to walking with 1 minute increments of running, followed by more walking.  Then I was able to run 1/2 mile without stopping, then it was a mile, then it was two miles.  Before I knew it I was running 3 miles, 3-4 times per week by the time our trip came around.  I didn't lose 40lbs, but I did shed a few pounds, but more importantly I started to develop a  new positive habit.  I continued running while on our vacation in Maui (for fun believe it or not).

When we returned from Maui,  I decided to do a 10K (6.2 miles) in May with my wife and brother and his girlfiend.  This was the longest I had run and I lived to tell about it.  The seed was planted.  If I could run 6 miles, I could do a triathlon again.  It had been 8 years since I had done an athletic endeavor such as this, and running had always been the most difficult leg, and now I even had a new road bike.

Event # 2 for 2009 was a sprint distance triathlon in July (.5 mile swim, 16 mile bike, 3 mile run).  This gave me a goal, and a reason to keep exercising.  Having successfully completed this and having been insired by watching the Tour de France, I decided I needed a new challenge. 

Event #3 for 2009 was something I hadn't done before - an Olympic Distance Triathlon (.9 mile swim, 25 mile bike, and 6.2 mile run).   I tackled this in August of 2009 and the bug was planted.  Mentally a half Ironman was achieveable. 

September & October was inconsistent effort for conditioning.  Finally, November rolls around and registration opens for the 2010 Vineman Ironman 70.3 (aka Half Ironman).   This has been a goal of mine for years, but now was the time to stop thinking and start acting.  So I registered, and for the first few days I was a bit dillusional.  I was happy and wanted to order stuff, like vineman shirts, Ironman hats, triathlon magazine, books on training, etc.  Then about a week later, reality began to set it and I started to panic. I only had 8 months to prepare, I needed to start doing something.  I decided it was important to develop a sustainable and reasonable goal and plan of attack.

 The first phase was to get through the holidays without gaining weight and without losing what little conditioning I had.  So I ran a little and biked a little, and tried to put a little more control over my eating.  I figured January would be a good time to really start hitting it consistently.

Event #1 for 2010 was a New Years Duathlon (run - bike - run).  I did this with Amanda, Zach, and Jordan.  It was a good way to kick off the year.  Then continued with a lot of base training of running and biking through the rest of winter and spring. 

Event #2 for 2010 was a half marathon in May.

Event #3 for 2010 was a 10K and 2 mile obstacle course in May.

Event #4 for 2010 was an Olympic Distance Tri (.9 mile swim, 24.8 mile ride, and 6.2 mile run) in June.

It is strange to reflect on these facts.  When I look backwards I realize how far I have come in the last year, and I draw strength and confidence from this. I went from not being able to run a mile without stopping, to being able to run a half marathon.  However, when I look forward to the upcoming Ironman 70.3 I begin to get concerned whether I really trained hard enough.  Time will only tell, but for now I should get up in the morning and do this Olympic Distance Tri for another training run.