Unstoppable

It's 4 days until the New Orleans IronMan 70.3

I feel ready, most of the time. But as I have never done this distance I sometimes get overwhelmed by it. Sometimes I wonder if...

But then I cut my self off and remind myself that I am "Unstoppable".

That's my mantra, "Unstoppable".

One word that says it all. One word that keeps me going.

Unstoppable

One word that reminds me of all those who were not, and how I will not be one of them. One word that reminds me of those who overcame, fought through, and earned their glory.

Unstoppable.

Looking back on my training I can see where I could have done more, worked harder, not skipped a session. But I also see many days where i was worn down, tired, and sleepy. On those days I dug down deep, and got in my workout. On those days I was unstoppable.

I think of the days when my legs were tired, still I pounded out a 40 mile ride. The days when my knee was sore, still I ran for an hour(followed by ice). The days when my shoulders, neck, and arms were tired, but I still swam a mile. On those days i was unstoppable.

I think towards Sunday. Will Lake Pontchartrain be smooth as glass or will it be like swimming in a washing machine? It doesn't matter, I am unstoppable.

Will the bike course be like riding into a wind tunnel on the way out, only to have the winds shift when i reach the turn around so that I ride into the wind the whole way? It doesn't matter, I am unstoppable.

While running, will the temperture shoot up to the low 90's in the afternoon, as it often does in NOLA? It doesn't matter. I am unstoppable.

I don't claim to know much, or to be an expert at anything. But I do know that I have worked hard. Though I may not finish fast, and I will likely win  no style points, I know that i will finish. Because there is only one word that will be on my mind for 70.3 miles.....

Unstoppable.

A scary thought

A very scary thought just crossed my mind. I was sitting in class a few minutes ago watching my class prepare for their graduation exit exam. They were supposed to be working in groups, review a key concepts packet. What they were actually doing was everything other than what they were supposed to be doing. I waited a few minutes to see how it would go, they got worse and worse, louder and louder as the minutes went by until I finally, what's the word? Exploded on to them verbally about what the were doing, and what they will be doing the rest of class. I'm pretty good at that and so they went from groups to individual study time and class ended a short time later without incident.

But, as they were working I thought to myself, "I am gonna hate to see what its like when their kids get this age."

Then the really scary thought popped into my head. Most of the parents of these kids are in my general age group. We always say things weren't like this when we were in school . But these kids had to get this behavior from somewhere.

Did my generation drop the ball?

Maybe, maybe not. Alls I know is its getting worse and there seems to be no end in sight.

Crap, thats an even scarier thought than the other one.

Oxbow Triathlon 2011 report

This past weekend i competed in the Oxbow Triathlon in New Roads, La. Unfortunately I have no pics to post but I will give you the low down anyway

I completed the swim 4 minutes faster than last year, completed the bike 10 minutes faster than last year, ran 4 minutes faster than last year, and was faster in the transitions for a total of beating my previous time by 20 minutes. I am pretty excited about those results and feel like I have gained a lot of confidence in my abilities. That confidence will come in handy in less than 2 weeks when I competed in the Half-IronMan in New Orleans on April 19th.

For now, it's time to get in these last couple of workouts, taper, hydarate, and eat right.  At this point, the hay is in the Barn(I have always liked that expression).