5 months almost in the books.
I wanted to update everyone on the 2014 season, as many milestones have been reached, and we are only 4 weeks out from Ironman coeur d'Alene and 9 short weeks from Ultraman Canada. Coach Hillary and team HPB have kept me motivated and on top of things so far. In fact, Hillary has made May my toughest month ever, and we even threw in a big challenge for May which I will get to later.
2014 started off with a very hilly nighttime half marathon that took us through and into and around the field at Dodger stadium. Time was solid even with all the hills. Super Bowl Sunday was surf city full marathon day, and at mile 21 was still on PR track but faded at the end to a 3:51. All I remember is not being able to speak for an hour after the race. I was worked. A tough February continued two weeks later with a 200 mile bike ride that started in Irvine down to Oceanside and back through fallbrook and Santiago canyon in the dark--first time I rode I the dark with a light. Longest ride ever. That was a long day in the saddle.
Early March was an awesome Team HPB training camp in Tucson, where I got my butt handed to me by a bunch of girls--OMG the ladies of Team HPB are fast, strong, and aren't afraid of great food or drinks! At the end of March, the trophy wife and I did the Oceanside half ironman. good swim, solid bike but suffered on the run a bit and was a little slower than last year. From there, we dove head first into an empty pool with the mulholland challenge for 125 miles and 13,000 ft of climbing on the bike. Another long day.
With April ending we did many triple run days and a lot of swimming. However, big curveball at the end of April--Trophy Wife finds out she has a big heart issue after having some troubling run sessions despite her all time top fitness. On May 2nd, our son's birthday, TW had open heart surgery--replaced her aortic valve and part of her aorta. She got through the surgery with ironman toughness, and was released a few days later. Now, it's recovery time for her and her double ironman year plan for iMCDA and AZ is pushing to next year. She will be fitter, tougher and better than new by the end of the year--that is my prediction. Steve Austin agrees.
I said May was going to be a big month, in more ways than one. I truly contemplated putting Ultraman on hold for a year. I didn't want to take on such a challenge and not have TW by my side. Despite my worries, I kept my head down, killed a lot of sessions, struggled through others, and by the look of things now, TW will be in the support car come August.
April and early May were run camp--what is run camp? It's a lot of running, duh. On may 10th I did my longest run ever, a 50k ultra trail run, and although I was not fast, I felt I killed it, finishing strong. Btw, coachie had me do 10 miles on the treadmill the day before. Good prep for double marathon on day 3 of UMC. Although we eased up the running for a little recovery in mid may, we stepped up the cycling and the swimming. BarryMan weekend, the competitive event to PTC Man, was a 4 day doozie--10k swim/9 mile run combo on Friday, 142 mile bike and 3 mile run on Saturday, triple run and single swim day on sunday, and an easy 5k swim on Monday. I tell you, this is starting to add up. Ugh. Was tired and cranky last weekend for sure, and this weekend is another big one.
So, I feel like I am at the halfway point for this fun year, Oh, I forgot to mention that the year of TW started this week with her 50th, and it's amazing what a new birthday dress, shoes and purse can do for a lady's spirit. Huge rebound in the recovery department this week for her.
Lucky for me, TW was so sedated the past 30 days, she didn't notice I was gone for all those workouts. I am so thankful to her for letting me mush on, and for the great support from Hillary and good friend and Wheelbuilder CEO Rich Sawiris--he made me ride honestly on my 142 mile bike last Saturday, and he is assembling the new TT bike.
And as the most interesting man in the world said to me, "stay healthy my friend." That is one of the keys to my survival.
