Good bye Base Phase

The end of the base phase
As of today, I concluded the base phase of this Ironman campaign. I want to say this started in October about 3 weeks after the DC Marathon, but life is such a blur at times juggling all of this training and life for that matter. All I know is that THE next 4 weeks of training are for all the cookies and the most difficult right now!

Posting the daily workouts
A couple people commented about me posting my daily workouts. Some even told me they feel guilty when they read them. I know all of my team at Qt2 do the exact same workouts and the pros even harder. I think the only difference with me is that my workout times are more screwed up than theirs! Truth be told, I often post them because it forces accountability on my end. I feel once I post it, it’s a done deal that I complete it. I guess you could call it framing. I’m here to tell you that 90% of this sport is mental. Especially when you sit your ass on a trainer for 5 hours at a time staring at a piece of dust blowing in a basement!!

Coach Jesse from Qt2 Systems and I came up with a plan to help me with getting more rest and more importantly try to free me up on the days and weekends that I have my kids for visitation. It’s a really good plan and still forces a huge amount of sacrifice on all fronts. The most difficult part is jamming in training in 5 days, which for most athletes should take 7. It seems like every day there is a 3-5 hour trainer ride that happens at 4AM or ends at 10PM with a long day at work, etc. Am I complaining, not at all? These are all choices we make, and I’m really amazed that I can pull it off. The end is in site!!

The other reality, I found I couldn’t even go food shopping or do my laundry and much else for that matter now that we head into the craziest 8 weeks you can imagine. I know I sound like a broken record, but Sue without you I’d never be able to roll like this. Thank you and thank you!!

I’ve been pulling the BMI lower and will have about 7-8lbs to go before Utah. Actually, dropping weight is so easy; it’s the least of my worries. My weigh-in this AM put me at 149. I’ll pull off about a pound a week from this point going forward with a goal of 138-140 for Utah.

All Green.
Jesse and I spoke this morning for an update and to discuss yesterday’s Boston Triathlon Time Trial.

Both of us agreed that I have hit all of my benchmarks dead-on thus far (races, lifting, rest, nutrition and bike power). Jesse also told me that I am substantially ahead of where I was last year in terms of comparison for Lake Placid. I’ve exceeded all of my testing and I am ahead of my top form for Lake Placid now with a ton of time ahead. This is all good news and not to be taken as complacency. It’s full out, head-down execute. Oceanside will be “reality” of where we go from here on March 27, 2009.

Where do we go from here?
I’ve been wrestling with this for a good period of time. If you’ve followed this pursuit, I am very new to endurance sports. I know basically nothing of what I’m doing out there and learn on the fly. I have so much fun and in essence anything I pull off is from the passion I have from living and the chip on my shoulder from being a self-made person. Most of it is grit and it aint pretty!

The pursuit I’ve undertaken has been over 17 months of non-stop taking it to the limit levels at every turn. So much time has been invested and at the end of the day I’d never change how much I’ve learned about myself, the chance to meet and be surrounded by incredible, giving and positive people. How much I’ve heeled through pushing myself to limits I never would have dared to imagine. I’ve used it to mourn the passing of my mother, and to deal with the stress of a very negative and unfulfilling relationship. I’ve cleaned out my closest if you will. Clarity is painful, but I’d rather be this way than what I had let myself become!

The plan this year was to hit Utah as of our best chance for Kona. It still is. Our plan B was to race through the summer and race Arizona in Oct for the second Kona chance. At the start, I liked having 2 chances. However, after thinking about it, that puts me at another complete year for Kona 2011.

As a person, I always try to be careful of not stating goals or intentions that I don’t think I can complete even when they are stretch goals. I was raised by a father whose word meant nothing and would change a goal or belief as the wind blew. It drove me nuts and I always craved consistently and reliability as a result of that. So, I don’t want to put out there that I am done with endurance or Ironman, but I do know that I’m going to need a break and take on something new for a while after I tow the line in Kona. Hmmmm, Everest?

Next up, this weekend, Hyannis Half and 1:27 or better for a PR.