Ironman Recap Part III: Going the Distance

 
Loop 2

As I finished loop 1, the race announcer says over the PA system, "Peter Urmston, you have 2 hours and 25 minutes to make the 9:15 cut off time." Two hours and twenty-five minutes? I know I could do that. It took me less time to finish this first loop.


So I tried running in that first mile of the second loop and it still wasn't happening, but I felt a big sigh of relief for having finished the first loop. I walked to the first aid station content knowing I was going to make the 9:15 cutoff time. I started to think it would be really cool if I finished with just one minute left, or less. I would get so much sympathy applause it would be crazy. Somewhere between mile 2 and 3 I started to panic again. If I take 2 hours and 25 minutes to finish loop two, that would only leave me 2 hours to finish the final lap.What if something went wrong and I didn't make the time?  That's where I decided I really wanted to finish this thing; that I wasn't going to mess around, and I was going to figure out a way to "try that running thing everyone else was doing." 


I had established a good system for cooling down. Luckily there was still a large supply of ice at the aid stations. I would wrap ice in the Cool Wrap cloth thing that Jill Urmston gave me, and put it on my neck. The rest of the ice went down the pants, and I'd drink whatever I could. I hoped this would help because I was determined to run.


First 60 steps running then 60 walking, but I would walk all the hills. Next thing I knew I was putting together 120 steps running. A few people helped along the way. There was a volunteer who seemed to be everywhere and he would say, "looking good uranium!" There was a mom and her to kids. They must have been in first and third grade. I told them a joke along the way and then the loop back. "Why are there no Ironman races in Africa? Too many lion cheetahs." The last time I passed, the little kid had a joke, "Why did the TRex cross the road? Because the chicken wasn't invented yet." There were the dudes, at the top of the loop, who started their party during the first loop. By third loop, you could hear them cheering from 1/2 a mile away. They were screaming as loud as they could, and doing the wave as runners went by. I finished the second loop 10 minutes faster than the first. As I finished the second loop I remembered that they were giving out glow sticks to people running in the dark. By this time it was dark and nobody had given me a glow stick.I felt jipped.


Loop 3
Loop 3 was dark and lonely. I was running/walking fine and my mind turned to my family. Porter who had recently told us he had found a girl and they were going to be married. Tanner who was away in Peru, who I would like to run a marathon with someday. I wished he was there pacing me like he did at the end of my first marathon. Garrett who was going to college and Talmage who would now be the lone offspring in the house. I thought about my brothers, their wives, and my parents. I would not be hurt or surprised if they weren't there at the end. They had already been there a long time. Deep in thought I had a bright shining moment when the dude drove up in his truck holding the glowstick neclace out the window. He told me to take more than one because I was the only one running out here. I passed the crazy party guys who, by this time, had trouble doing the wave without falling down, but they were even louder now. I came through the last aid station and the guys were now cooking sausages on a hot plate. All along I would randomly burst into tears. As I came to the last mile, all the spectators were gone, the cones had been picked up, and as I ran through the residential street, I heard a solo clapping. I started crying again. Then I told myself to think of something funny, and get it together. I was not going to get the sympathy cheers from everybody at the end, AND cry. I came up to the last stretch and started my last 60 steps of running. The only problem was I started my sprint too early. After 60 steps I still had about 20 more steps to finish. My legs were used to the 60 steps running then walking by now, so my calves started cramping up after 60 steps, and I limped across the finish.


The Finish
I don't know what happened to me. I came across the finish. They gave me a medal. I could see Elaine go by, and my brothers, and parents. They took off the timing chip, which took a bit because I couldn't stand up very well. When I walked over to Elaine, I gave her a hug and then the strangest thing came over me and I just started bawling. I am pretty sure I was totally exhausted, physically and emotionally, and it all just caught up with me. However, I could not believe that my parents were still there. I expected them to have gone back to the house. I was very grateful for them, and the others, for supporting me. In the end, my takeaway from this event is, 1) you can't fake being an ironman. If you don't put in the training, you shouldn't expect to succeed, and 2) I felt like running to the finish may be a little like running in to Heaven. I now believe that the "Pearly Gates" are actually a finish line tape, and all our loved ones there are cheering us in, not sympathy cheers, but total empathy. They will know what it takes to get there. I'll run to Open Arms and start bawling from exhaustion and relief.

Ironman Recap Part II: Hopeless, Bleak, Despair

(Author's note: I've tried to self edit the hyperbole and exaggerations of this narrative. I've written my true experience the way I remember it.)

Chalk Hill got it's name because, over the 25 years of the Vineman Ironman, spectators have written participants name in chalk on the road. During the first loop, when I felt so good, I passed a bunch of people. I did notice, however, that my name was not written anywhere on the road. If I ever did this again, I would go write myself a message on the night before. I know if I had that idea this year I would have written my mantra and "Urmanium, there is still hope."

Chalk Hill Part Deux

I arrived at the base of Chalk Hill thinking if I could just get over this hill, I'll almost be done. So I put my bike in the lowest gear and started spinning. After a while, I went from spinning the pedals, to rolling, to turning, to churning, to pushing, to stagnating. I realized that if I didn't stand I would just fall over to the side. So as I stood, the "guitar strings" tightened. Luckily I got out of my pedals to put my feet down. Then both my legs cramped from my toes to my thighs; I could not move. (Right here you might want to cue up "High Hopes" sung by Frank Sinatra, but it would probably by better to cue Hopeless, Bleak, Despair by They Might Be Giants.) I don't want to make any comparisons to pregnancy, so imagine the pain of the worst calf cramp that woke you up in the middle of the night and multiply that by all the muscle groups from your toes to your thighs in both legs, then multiply that by a number that would lead you to yell, cuss, scream, and cry all at the same time, then try to walk to the shade of a tree so you can rest but you don't move, except for your eyeballs rolling back in your head. There I stood; hopeless. I can't even walk up this hill. I think I'm done.

There was another guy parked on Chalk Hill just like me, but he actually moved to me. He gave me some sodium and potassium pills. Well, he told me they were potassium. This is how desperate I was; I took drugs from a stranger.  We stood there together to let the drugs take effect, we watched other cyclist suffer past us(their names were probably written somewhere in chalk), and then we walked up together. My drug dealer took off once we reached the top, but I had stay up top to make sure my legs were functioning before I descended. So it was "all down hill" from there. Don't get the idea I didn't suffer the last 14 to 16 miles. The route passes a cemetery and it looked like comfortable alternative; a nice final resting place.

The Run

I got in and out of transition 2 as quickly as possible. I changed my clothes because I was sick of that sticky, stinky triathlon top. So I changed to the Urmanium shirt for strength, and my lucky United Rentals hat, I had found on a training run in the almond orchards, for luck.

I knew my cheering squad was just at the start of the run so I thought I would give it a try. The legs seized again as I reach Elaine, "it's going to be a late night." It was around 4:30pm.

Loop 1
The marathon is divided in three loops and people were talking about how, worse case scenario, they could still walk and make the 11:15pm cut off time. I figured, if I wasn't running, I was going to have to joke my way through this thing. A lot of people were walking so they had to listen. Most conversations were about the bike and the Sun. I told people I was considering sitting down until the sun went down and then run as fast as I could. Most people didn't catch the sarcasm and told me that this was a bad plan. I walked with a dude from a team of 25 who came from Hawaii. Together we questioned the calculations for walking the whole thing and determined that it wasn't going to be that easy; there would have to be some running involved.

When I got to the first aid station I yelled, "DO YOU HAVE ANY HOT COCOA?!" This was my joke at each aid station on the first half of the loop. I used the variation, "Is there any soup, I'm freezing?" Most people thought this was funny. I got one teenage girl who looked at her friend, rolled her eyes, and mumbled something about "weird" and "so hot outside". Her friend told her it was a joke. After the first half of the loop the joke was over because you loop through the same aid stations, so I started making calculations, and the joke really was over. I realized that I was going to have to start running at some point. I tried running but kept cramping. I ran a couple times for 60 steps then I finished the first loop. As I finished loop 1, the race announcer says over the PA system, "Peter Urmston, you have 2 hours and 25 minutes to make the 9:15 cut off time.

To Be Continued

Ironman Recap 2014 Part I: DDNF

At the mandatory prerace orientation, the race director asked if anyone was worried about the heat for the next day's race. There were some mumbles and nervous comments. All anyone knew is it was going to be a hot day. He then proceeded to list the cutoff times. As a joke, I took out my little notebook and wrote down the cutoff for the 2nd loop of the run--9:15pm. It was funny at the time.

Saturday morning we were up early going through our preparations and excited for the day. We were staying in a house less than a mile away so we rode our bikes to the start. I found my rack and started getting everything ready. A volunteer came by with his sharpie marking race numbers for people. I knew I was in good spirits because I had him put a happy face in the zero of my number 607. I really had no idea how things would go. Deep in my heart I hoped I could have a better time than 5 years ago, outwardly I expressed that I didn't even deserve to finish, but this was contrary to my mantra for the race--DDNF. One thing I knew; the day would be long. And at the same time, I had no clue.

The Swim

The swim was pretty uneventful. I had a couple goggle malfunctions. I had put my goggles on top of my swim cap and didn't really get a good suction, so I switched it at some point during the swim. Luckily the river was shallow and I could just stand up to switch it. There were some nice relaxing times where I got a

good site on the bouys and got lost in thought, but at a few points, the course narrowed and it got crowded. I'm pretty sure I was swimming straight. I felt great at the end of the swim, it was slower than before, but I had been doing a lot more bike training. I got out of the swim, a volunteer helped pull off my wetsuit, and off I went for a quick transition.

The Bike

I was confident a functioning bike would not be my problem on this race. Just a short week or two before, it started falling apart. My seatpost broke on one ride, my handlebar tape was falling off, I needed a new chain, and worst of all was my front derailleur shifter broke.(I just wrote derailleur correctly without spell check because I learned a lot about derailleurs.) Anyway, I decided since I had a triple chainring, and I could at least shift between two, I would be OK. And I was OK. The bike is two loops for 112 miles. I felt so great on the first loop that I decided I would go for it. I kept up my nutrition fine, and as long as I felt good, I peddled away. I finished the first loop more than a mph faster than planned, Elaine and the rest of the group were surprised to see me so early, and I was thinking that I had a good buffer for the second loop when it would start to get hotter.  This was my big mistake.
I still felt great when I picked up my special needs bag. I was so excited to pick up my peanut butter sandwich and the frozen Coke I stored away. I knew I was in trouble when I couldn't eat the sandwich. I threw half of it away. I was going a little slower, but I still felt fine as I reached mile 70-80. Then the little things started to bother me. Why is my hand so sticky? Why can't I zip the zipper on my shirt down? Why is everybody cheering for this Lisa girl? Why haven't I reached the next aid station yet? What is with this headwind? Why are these sunglasses so dirty? Why am I going so slow? Why does my bike keep shifting by itself? Why does this gel taste so gross? Why are my drinks all warm? Then, Is that a cramp in my thigh? Yes, that is a cramp. Next thing I knew both thighs were cramping. I drank more of my drink mix with sodium and potassium. Everything just got tighter and tighter, like the tuning of a guitar string.

At the aid station just before the big climb, Chalk Hill, I got off my bike and tried to stretch out and cool down. Then a truck drove up with a racer and his bike in the back. The racer got out and went to sit in a chair. The driver radioed the SAG van to come pick him up and take him back in to town. I started to think that maybe I could get in the van with him. It would be so easy and nobody would really blame me. I don't know if I can finish this thing. I shouldn't be out here in the first place. I even said out loud to the highschool girl who was volunteering. "I'm thinking I could just get in the van with this guy and go." Earlier, she was looking into my face and asking me if I was OK. She said, "No, you don't want to do that." "Yea, but Chalk Hill is coming up and my legs. I have no legs." She says, "You are going to finish this race. Don't DNF." When she said my mantra, "DDNF" , I knew I was going on. So on I went to Chalk hill.


TO BE CONTINUED

Week 6: Nice Try:(

This week I got back in to training. The cough kind of went away. I missed Tuesday and Saturday. The worst thing was Saturday was supposed to be a long bike ride that I missed. I did ride my bike outside again. I went and ran after work out in the foothills. It was fun. I just started running.

I'll try next week to get all of them in and I think it's time to register.

Week 3

Monday: #37 swim &  Run 45min
Tuesday: Trans- bike 30 & run 15min
Wednesday: Swim #33 & Bike 45
Thursday: Run 60 minutes
Friday: Bike 1:45
Saturday: Run 60 minutes

Week 2

I missed one day this week, Wednesday. I don't remember now why I missed. It was a run, 45 minutes. I did the rest of the training. I had a cough all week. I don't know if it is strep or allergies.

Monday- Swim #35 and Run 30 minutes
Tuesday- Trans 30 min bike 15 run
Wednesday- missed 45 minute run
Thursday- Swim #36 --Bike 30min
Friday- run 1hr
Saturday-Bike 90 minutes

The best was my Friday run. I found a place nearby my work near the hills. It was fun to discover it. So I'm going to give me. So I get paid $6 no bonus.

Tri Again

I'm going to Tri this year. I'm not sure how committed I am to this so I thought I would start writing here. I did complete a full week of training this week. I liked the swimming the most. I've decided that I'm going to pay myself for training--$1 an hour, plus a bonus if I get a full week's training. So this week I made $10 and I rewarded myself with the purchase of a big can of Gatorade powder.

Ironman Recap August 2009

Friday:We drove down to the river to check it out in the late morning. People were getting some practice in. They said the water felt like 74 degrees and you couldn't really feel the current. I was already feeling that anxious feeling you get when you are in line for a roller coaster, or something, and we still had another day. From there we went to Windsor for race packet pickup. Nathan went right in. He already had his wristband. I waited in line, got my race number-365, and picked up a pretty cool shirt. That night, we ate with Nathan and Jill at The Olive Garden. I had spaghetti and meatballs. Then back to the room, and to bed by 9:00.


PreRace:
I got up at 4:00. Had a great nights sleep. After I started my breakfast of 2 clif bars, peanut butter and jelly in a wheat tortilla, and 24oz powerade, I checked my email. I had several more donations for the American Cancer Society . It was a fantastic start to the day when I learned that I had reached my goal thanks to many generous people. We headed out to the river, listened to some rockin music, and found a great parking spot. I got my number written all over me, got my transition area ready, and had a few minutes to nervously wait to get in the water.

The Swim: 1:15:57
The water felt great. I found a nice open place after the start and quickly got into a rhythm. I had to stop once and adjust my goggles. The good thing was that the river was shallow so I just stood up and made sure everything was secure. The return part of the loop was so easy swimming with the current. I even got my mind off of the swimming and thought about other things. As we passed the spectators on the first loop, I got close to the shore so I could see my family, or they could see me. They saw me. Towards the end of the second lap, I started thinking about the bike and wished the swim was longer. The swim was a nice, relaxing, refreshing start to a long day.


T1: 9:12
Had a good transition. Put sunscreen on. I'd learn later that I missed my back a bit. I took my time, and tried to prepare my ego for getting passed a bunch on the bike. Drank some gatorade and had a powerbar gel. 112 mile bike ride, here I come!!!


Bike: 7:14:56
I started off on the bike and started stressing out about a clicking sound. To me, it sounded like I had a baseball card in my spokes. There was a click with every wheel revolution. I thought I had a burr or something in my tire so I stopped, checked both tires, and found nothing. I rode some more, and checked again- nothing. I considered taking the tire off and checking the insides. I finally figured that the tires are inflated fine, don't mess with it. I'm not sure what it was, but about 20 miles into the course the sound stopped. At that same point, we had to get off the bikes and walk around an ambulance at the scene of a bike accident. Two guys crashed into each other. I was reminded to be careful and finish.
The bike course was great. In many ways it was identical to the route I'd been taking for my long rides. I was eating and drinking every 15 minutes, and felt good. I had heard about these challenging hills, but I felt great going up them. The whole first loop felt like it was mostly downhills. As I came in to town, I saw my family holding signs. One said, "Don't poop your pants." That was good advice, because I hadn't stopped to go to the bathroom. That doesn't mean I didn't "go to the bathroom" though. I'd had about 96oz of fluids by then.


The second loop of the bike course seemed like it was all uphill. A wind had come up in the mid morning and that big hill seemed huge this time. I didn't think I would make it up. It came at mile 97 and the only way I made it up was by using my mantra of the day- "Today is not that day!" My niece Candice shared a quote that said " There will come a day when you can not do this. Today is not that day!" I planned to use that throughout the day to help me get through rough spots. I only went to it once and it was on that hill. Kind of like the little engine that could, I went up that hill one pedal stroke at a time, thinking, "Today is not that day, today is not that day." The rest of the course was downhill and fast. I started thinking about the run. The thought of a whole marathon entered my mind and it scared me. I reminded myself that the plan was one mile at a time, aid station to aid station. I was glad to get off the bike, but felt so good that I'd ridden that far, made the cut off, and nothing went wrong. This was the longest distance I'd ever ridden.


T2: 9:26
There was a dude in t2 who had his bike next to mine. He kept going off somewhere then coming back. "Where's 367?, Where's 367?" I'd show him, then he's come back again all mad, throwing stuff, "I can't believe this *%##!". I ran into him on the run at about mile 3. As we finished that mile, I said, "Well, that's three less miles than we had at the start." He said "Well aren't you just a ray of sunshine. I wish you wouldn't have said that." My thoughts were, "I need to get away from this loser" and I did. I saw him again, I was finishing my last lap, and he was starting his last lap. Anyway, the transition went smoothly. Off to run a marathon.
Run 1: 1:38:31
I took it easy. Tried to keep my HR down. There were some hills, but after you've run the hills out by Hart Park in 100 degree weather, they weren't that big of deal. I was sticking with my Gatorade mixed with Powerbar Gel formula and getting sick of it. During mile 4, I just kept laughing to myself about the same joke, over and over again. "Why don't they play poker in Africa? Too many cheetahs." For a whole mile, I'd tell myself the joke, laugh, and then tell myself the joke again. I'm thinking this is so funny, I'm losing my mind. I tried it out on some spectators, they thought it was funny too, so maybe I wasn't losing my mind. Some time after the turn around, I saw my brother Nathan, he was booking. This was the first time I'd seen him since the swim started. We exchanged high fives and encouraging words, and then on to finish lap 1.


Run 2: 1:45:06
The best part of the second lap was Nathan caught up with me and we ran together. This might have been the best part of the race for me, besides the finish. Nathan was running 4 minutes then walking a minute. I had been walking the aid stations. I started running the 4:1 with Nate. We talked about the swim and the bike. We passed that guy who couldn't find his bike and I told Nathan about him. That same guy had yelled at Nathan on the bike. We passed those spectators and I asked them why they don't play poker in Africa. They promptly responded- "too many cheetahs." Then I made a crucial decision. I decided, given my many experiences with this, that I needed to stop at the porta potty. It was tough because Nathan was just a couple miles from finishing, and I would have liked to have run in with him, and cheered him in. We parted ways though, and it was a good thing we did. I felt rejuvinated after my stop, and continued running. At the end of lap 2, I whipped out the Urmanium shirt for the last lap.

Run 3: 1:36:54
You may have noticed that my third lap was my fastest lap. (lap 2 might have been faster, I was in the porta potty a long time. There was no lock on the door and people kept opening it. When I finally decided I didn't care if people opened the door, I could relax and do my doody.) I continued the 4:1 thing and it seemed to be working. I was passing people everywhere. I felt great. I finally allowed myself to think about the finish. I was going to do this. I still couldn't believe it. I ran the last two miles, I couldn't walk anymore.
Finish: 13:50:26
The second to last mile I just thought about how surprisingly good I felt. I thought about the reason I wanted to do this in the first place. I thought about my friend Joel, and my childhood friend Karen. I was so grateful to all the people who helped me start the day knowing that I'd reached my ACS goal. I thought about so many family and friends who encouraged me. I had already spent hours thinking about Elaine and each of my sons when I was on the bike, but I thought about them again. Then the last mile, I just ran. It felt unbelievable. When I turned the corner to the finish I picked out Tanner and Garrett and gave them high fives. Then Talmage came running up behind me to finish with me, and Elaine was waiting at the end. They had a medal for me, a water bottle, and a finisher's shirt. I had a conservative goal to finish around 14:30. I never dreamed I would finish under 14 hours. I don't know what went wrong, but it felt great to crush my goal and to be an Ironman.



Thanks:
I don't know what all of this means. I feel like there are many life lessons to be learned from this, but I don't know what they are. I only know that I could not have done this if I didn't have a supportive wife. We make a great team. I missed my kids, even though I tried to get most of my workouts done in the early morning, and I didn't miss many of their activities, a lot of my mental activity was dedicated to Ironman. One of the reasons I finished so strong was because of the support I felt from family and friends who knew that this was important to me. I felt that support throughout the day. Thank you.

Facebook | Peter Urmston: The Thing You Think You Cannot Do

Facebook | Peter Urmston: The Thing You Think You Cannot Do

3 days

This morning I finished my training with a 30 minute swim and a 1 hour bike ride. In just 3 short days we will see if all this training was effective. I started, unofficially, at the beginning of the year with a dream. Finishing an Ironman seemed like an impossible task but, now that I look at the time I've put in, I think it may be possible. I've got my plan. I keep going over it again and again. I feel like saying something about this whole experience but I'm so anxious, I can' think straight. I've enjoyed pushing myself. In my last "long" session I had a 2hr bike ride followed by a 30 minute run. I chose two routes that I used to do a few years ago when I first started. The bike ride was to Enos lane. As I rode, I remembered how this ride used to make me exhausted. I'd come home and be beat. I laughed to think that I was excited that morning to just have a short easy ride. The run was similar. I ran it faster than I did several years ago, and that was even after a two hour bike ride. That last "long" workout was evidence to me that I am in better shape than I was then, but also that our reality is relative to time, experience and circumstance. I like the anxious feeling I have today. It is the same feeling I had when I did my first sprint triathlon. I had doubts, back then, that I would be able to finish. The reality was that I could finish. I just didn't know that yet. I hope that in 3 days I'll be able to see that my reality is just as I believed.

Week 28

This Week's Totals:
Bike:	5h - 80Mi
Run:	3h -19Mi
Swim:	2h 20m -4Mi
Total:	10h 20m - 103mi

This week was week 28; 13 more days. I missed my Tuesday morning workout. We had to get Elaine off to camp. I missed the morning and I didn't want to hurt myself in the furnace of a town I live in. I missed Saturday because I went to pick Elaine up and we had other activities. I had obstacles, or I was put out of my routine this week, partly because Elaine was gone and I was more responsible for rides and general mom stuff. I overcame some obstacles to my workouts and got them done, of that I proud. Wednesday morning I woke up to a flat tire and was racing the clock to get kids to swimming practice. I decided to go for it, fixed the flat, and it all worked out. On my long bike ride, I got another flat. It was a slow leak and for about an hour, I felt like I was riding in wet cement. I could not figure out what was wrong with me. When I finally stood up to climb, I realized my tire was flat. As I was fixing it, I decided I would just go back home and have a 3hr ride instead of a 4hr ride. When I got back in to town. I figured I could ride another hour in my sleep. So I decided to complete the ride. I got some flat fixing practice and some positive thinking practice.
I've got thirteen days to go. I've got to work out all the details now. Write out my plan and itinerary. I feel confident about finishing, but I also can't believe I am even attempting to do this.

Week 27/30- 21 Days to Go

This Week's Totals:
Bike:	5h 45m - 92Mi
Run:	5h 15m -31 Mi
Swim:	3h 30m -6Mi
Total:	14h 30m - 127mi

This was week 27. Only three weeks to go. It covered 127 total miles and 14 hours and 30 minutes. As I look back it was a good, routine week.
This week I missed one bike session. I used the time to clean my bike and get it ready. I put a water bottle cage behind my seat and cleaned the chain.
This week was the longest run of the training. I really enjoyed the 3 hours. I've stopped listening to music on my runs-can't have it on the course- and I did some good thinking. One thing I reflected on was an 18 mile training run in preparation for my first marathon. I couldn't finish it and walked home. Today I had no doubts I would finish. It was anecdotal evidence that my endurance has improved since then. I hope it's improved enough.
Now I start my three week taper. So next week my long ride will only be 4 hours, and the long run only 2 hrs. A 12 hour week, a 10 hour week, 5 hours and the race to finish off the 30 weeks.

NO ONE'S GONNA TAKE ME ALIVE

This Week's Totals:
Bike:	6h 20m - 102Mi
Run:	3h 15m -20 Mi
Swim:	2h 20m -4Mi
Total:	11h 55m - 124mi

NO ONE'S GONNA TAKE ME ALIVE
I was really tired Monday and Tuesday. When I did my workouts I felt fine, but I was falling asleep at work. Wednesday my head was killing me, so I rested Wednesday. I swam Thursday, then figured out Friday why my head hurt. The clue was all the cut hay I passed on my bike ride. I'm back on the claritin and hope by Monday my head won't hurt.
THE TIME HAS COME TO MAKE THINGS RIGHT
My best workouts were the long ones, again. Friday at the end of my 5 hr 30 min ride, I am supposed to ride at my Z4 HR zone. I put Knights of Cydonia on repeat and rode as hard as I could through two songs. I could not believe I could do it. Ended up riding 90 miles on Friday.
YOU AND I MUST FIGHT FOR OUR RIGHTS
Today I went to Santa Maria with Porter, then had other things to do in the evening, so I went out on my long run at 9:00. I didn't feel great, but I felt victorious for being out there at 11:00 at night running.
YOU AND I MUST FIGHT TO SURVIVE
I learned on my run tonight that a Carl's Jr. Breakfast Burrito, In and Out with grilled onions and a chocolate milk shake, and two slices of pizza, is not good running fuel. It was a good GI test, but not good fuel at all.

I Just Got Lost

This Week's Totals:
Bike:	7h 15m - 114.5Mi
Run:	4h 55m -29.5 Mi
Swim:	3h 30m -6Mi
Total:	15h 40m - 130mi

Just Because I'm Losing Doesn't Mean I'm Lost
I like to leave real early for my long runs since it's hot later. So today I woke up at 4am and ate, got my stuff ready, and out the door at 4:30. It was still dark so I took an hour loop in the residential blocks near my house. The next hour I went out in the almond orchards- softer roads and a little shade. I decided to take a different route than I normally do to change things up. I'm listening to my music, running, and really enjoying the morning. I make some turns here and there, and then decided it was time to head back. I look around and I don't know where I am. My first thought is there is something wrong with my brain, so I check my heart rate. I must be okay, I think, because I have sense enough to check my heart rate, or am I okay? I don't know anything about brains not working and their relation to HR. My HR was okay, so I wasn't having another passing out episode. I notice the song I'm listening to is Lost by Coldplay, laugh, and then head towards the sun. I know I'm west of my house. Then I come across a little farm house type place and some farm equipment fenced in by a fence with a sign that says "Beware of Dog". I have never in my life seen this thing and I get totally disoriented. Lost, maybe this thing got put here in some sort of time/space continuum. So I turn around. Finally I see a road in a clearing and I run to it. It's a road I know, seventh standard. I still didn't recognize these buildings and stuff. I'm still not sure where to go. I think I know, but I also think something is wrong with my brain, so I check my HR again. Then I check the sun again. Oh there's those mountains in the east. I go that way. I hope I get home in time to get to the cub scout hike I'm supposed to lead.

Month of May

May turned out pretty good. I had a week where I was sick, but all in all, May was a good month. Looking back, I can feel confident that I put in the miles and the hours.