Two for Thomas

Due to work conflicts, I've been missing the mid-week run practices. The hill workouts and interval training that I so enjoy. Tonight I had the rare opportunity to work in a hill training session after work.

My plan was for a 1 mile warm up, 4 hill repeats on Wilke, then a 1 mile cool down. I felt really slow, tight, and creaky on the warm up. It did not feel good to run; my legs were tired, my rhythm was off, and my heart rate seemed elevated. Granted, I'd made some poor food choices in the late afternoon, but I trudged on, nonetheless. Not really looking forward to Wilke.

Wilke is one of those hills that really should have its own theme song that cues up as you approach the base. Something like Also Sprach Zarathustra or the theme from Jaws. At least that's what I thought until I biked River Place last Saturday. Today it seemed smaller. After my rough warm up, I was unsure that I'd get in the planned four repeats, but decided to take them one at a time. As I prepared for the first ascent, a mountain biker headed up Wilke. After he'd gotten good head start, I began my persistent jog up the hill, focusing on knees up and pumping the arms. About a quarter of the way up, I realized I was gaining on the mountain biker. I was amused, grateful for the hard training, and wondered if I'd actually pass him. To my surprise and jubilation, I motored right by him about two-thirds of the way up. An auspicious start and a good confidence booster.

By the third repeat, I was in my element, enjoying the opportunity to be out on such a beautiful evening, seeing West Austin stretched out below me in the distance each time I walked to the bottom of the hill, and listening to my own labored breathing as I worked up the hill.

But don't get me wrong, this was a hard workout. My legs felt heavy and weak at times, and there came a point on each ascent where I wondered if I could make it to the top without stopping to walk. When those moments came, I thought of Thomas, who maintains such a positive attitude through chemotherapy and bone marrow aspirations. Thomas, who welcomes pain in his legs following treatment because it means he's growing neutrophils, Those thoughts pushed me up that hill, time and again. And after completing the fourth round, I decided to add two for Thomas. Those last two repeats were awesomely tough and just plain awesome. I raised my arms in triumph as I crested Wilke one last time, sending energy to Thomas and his family as they continue to fight his disease.

From a sluggish start to a jubilant finish, inspired by this young man fighting leukemia. I felt so good after conquering Wilke, that I ran the cool down back to my car faster than I'd run the warm up. I love negative splits!

Off the Deep End

The Wildflower triathlon is less than two months away, and I am starting to realize what a daunting goal I have set for myself, i.e., how crazy this really is. I have no qualms about completing any leg of the event on its own. I am confident that I can swim 1.2 miles, bike 56 miles, and run 13.1 miles. The idea of doing all three in one day, one right after the other, in what is considered the hardest Half-Iron triathlon in America, however, is pretty intimidating. I really wanted to crawl back into bed this morning when the 5am alarm went off for swim practice. But I remembered my honored hero, Thomas Molina, who doesn't have a choice when it comes to receiving cancer treatment, and pulled myself together, persevered through a unique bit of car trouble, and made it to swim practice.

My attitude about the swim has come full circle. I look at it as the easiest part of this race. Thanks to some insightful and personalized coaching, I feel more stable and confident in the water. Thanks to my new manual labor job, I also feel stronger. Swimming felt good...what an amazing difference from last year when the swim was a monkey on my back. I love how this sport challenges me to push past my fears and doubts, and I love when I can look back and see the progress I've made.

I've been training for the Wildflower triathlon since mid-November of last year, but have been reticent to blog about it because it's been so much more challenging than training for CapTex. Yesterday marked the date that the team (and I) officially committed to the race, so it feels right to start talking about what's going on. I'm reaching that point in training where sometimes I'm seeing some improvements in strength and endurance, but I'm also struggling mentally and psychologically when I think about doing the bike and run back to back. Last week's hilly 54 mile bike was a leg and lung burner. Although I felt pretty good that day, I was really sluggish on the long run the next day. A two-hour nap afterward helped. Perhaps it will be helpful for me to just focus on the day's training, and not jump ahead mentally to race day. Stay in the now, as it were.