“The best moments usually occur when a person’s body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile.” – Mihaly Csikszentmihalyl

Last week was humbling. I started off on Monday only looking to accomplish a shake-out swim after the OC Tri. I only wanted about 1,500 yards, but the pool was crowded, and my patience was shot, so I jumped out after only 1,000 yards. Then on Tuesday, I switched things up and went out for my 3 hour “fun” ride on my road bike, but right at the 1:00 hour mark I pulled over at the top of the hill with a flat front tire. Sweet. Oddly enough, I was not upset. I may have still been on a post-race high, but I saw the flat as an opportunity to practice my maintenance skills and bond with my bike. Therefore, I hunkered down, swapped the spare, and 45 minutes later, I was on my way again. Clearly, I need more practice. It was not a fast fix, but sufficient enough to get me rolling and able complete my work out.

I continued on through the week changing my training schedule slightly because of a dentist appointment on Thursday, but I completed the biggies, the long swim on Friday, the long run on Saturday, and the Super-Duper long everything day on Sunday. The swim was fine, the run was exceptional, but the long day on Sunday was humbling.

I ramped up the mileage across the board, 3,500 yard swim, 90 mile bike ride, and 2+ mile run. As soon as I woke up on Sunday morning I knew it was going to hurt. I was tired. Not so much physically, it was more of a heartache. Honestly, I did not want to be away from Marion and my dogs all day again. However, with only 6 weeks left until race day, every Sunday is precious, so I sucked it up, kissed them all good-bye, and walked out the door.

The day progressed smoothly, but I felt the increase in mileage and did not ever feel zippy and alert, except for when a Lexus SUV cut in front of me as I was screaming down a hill, otherwise I was locked in a haze all day. Nevertheless, I logged the miles, and 7 hours later it was time to go home.

The upside is that not only were Marion and the dogs waiting for me, but Hannah was there, too.

Every day I wake up and choose to train. It is not a sacrifice, it is a choice. I respect the Ironman distance enough to know that all of the training I am doing is not only to compete, but to survive.

Do I believe it is worth it?

Yes.

“Joy lies in the fight, in the attempt, in the suffering involved, not in the victory itself.”

– Mahatma Ghandi