Here we go......

January 1st, 2020.  New Year, New Decade.  This is the day that most people start talking about their New Years resolutions.  What changes are they going to make to better themselves.  As most of you who are reading this know, I’m not like most people and therefore I don’t believe in resolutions.  What I do believe in is GOALS.  Set a big goal, get your tribe on board, let your training partners know and find a coach who will push you right to your limit.  By doing this you now have accountability.
So my goal for 2020 actually materialized in 2019 and became even more set in stone when I found out about a small aneurysm in my brain.  Not that I needed more odds to overcome or obstacles in my way, but this entire journey from 10k to Half Marathon to Marathon to Half Ironman wouldn’t have started without a little adversity.
On August 23rd I will toe the line at Ironman Mont Tremblant.  For those not familiar with triathlon it is a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride and a 26.2 mile run that has to be completed in under 17 hours so that one can hear Mike Reilly say, “You are an Ironman”
This blog will serve 2 purposes.  The first is to keep people who are interested in following my story in the loop about my training and my journey, the good and the bad.  The second is for me to really reflect on my personal journey and the magnitude of what I’m going to do.
So I hope that you’ll join me on this journey........

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Cautious Optimism Waning

Those of you who know me know that I have been nothing but optimistic since my journey started in December of 2012.  Double vision and can’t play golf, no big deal I’ll start running.  May need brain surgery a second time, no big deal, control what I can control.  Actually need second brain surgery, no big deal, set big goal and focus and attack it.  Brain aneurysm, no big deal, start training for a full Ironman. Even when this pandemic began almost 6 weeks ago, I stayed laser focused.  When the country basically shut down through the end of April I knew in the back of my mind that my first 2 races of the season were likely in jeopardy and I was ok with that because they were not my “A” races so when I got the email last week that Connecticut 70.3 was canceled, I was ok with it.  After all, it wasn’t my goal race.  No, my goal race is not until the end of August.  However, that may now be in jeopardy as a Montreal newspaper reported late last week that Quebec would seek to not allow a
Read more

Right Where I’m Supposed to Be

 Hard to believe that January is behind us.  Less than 200 days until Ironman Mont Tremblant or the first annual Bergen County 140.6.  This first week of February also marked my biggest week of training volume since starting training in November.  The cool thing about these bigger weeks is that they not only push me, but they give me a good indication of how I’m progressing.  Last week was my first real test, it was my FTP, functional threshold test, on the bike.  I went in with no real expectations, after all I hadn’t “tested” in a long time.  I also started working with a group of like minded athletes focusing on mindset, just another layer of accountability.  They made me realize that whatever the number was on the test is right where I’m supposed to be now!  This way of thinking definitely helped and I was pleasantly surprised with the results.  More importantly, the first week of workouts with my new FTP was challenging, but not impossible.  This week also saw my longest swims sin
Read more

The Hills are alive……

 This week brought the return of something that I’ve missed tremendously…..HILLS!   Those of you that know me know that I hate running and riding on flat areas and paths.  We have an incredible 6 mile path that goes through three or four different towns.  It’s always well maintained regardless of weather and it’s safe from traffic, but it’s FLAT!  I also hate the treadmill or as I call it the dreadmill.  Living in Bergen County there is no shortage of hills, short steep hills, rolling hills, long hills, you name it and we’ve got it. In the past my training regularly included hills and there were three areas that I frequented.  First was Akers, it was a quarter mile steep hill that was great for hill repeats.  Then there was Ridge Rd which is approximately one mile from bottom to top also good for longer repeats and lastly there is The Wegman’s Loop.  I would park my car at Lifetime and run over to Wegman’s.  The half mile run was the perfect warm up for what would lie ahead.  It’s appr
Read more