I want to wish all of you following me and my journey towards Ironman Canada a merry Christmas and a prosperous and blessed 2011. December 31 will be the mark of a new year, but it will also mark my 4th month of training for Ironman Canada. During this period I have met some wonderful people I did not even know existed. I have changed my attitude towards life, I have gotten a lot healthier, and I have gotten stronger and in much better shape than I ever imagined possible. I have questioned my convictions and my motives and I have broken what I though to be unbreakable barriers. There has been times where I have been invincible by mishap but others I have been vulnerable to phycological and state of mind issues regarding what I am doing and what I have been thru. I feel awesome in all context of what it is and why I am doing it. I am content with my progress, my training, and all of those who surround it. Most important I am thrilled about all the support I get everyday from many people.
Training is hard in many aspects but the most challenging is the mental aspect. Doing what you don't expect to do. Last Saturday we had our first long ride as part of our strenght training which means climbing hills. I was very nervous the night before. To the point where I took the car and Julissa so we could see what I would be facing in the morning. Ohhhhhhhhh my god. Is coach K out of his mind? I told Julissa she needed to go as "broom" because there was no way I could climb that hill and no way in the world I could take 3 hrs of riding in those hills. I gave it 1/2 hour maximum at my maximum effort. Well guess what I climbed and climbed all morning long and with the exception of a very steep hill that is for obvious very advanced riders I climbed and rode for 4 hours and 15 minutes and traveled 53 miles in the mountains. I was tired and beat but amazed of what I was capable of doing. We did it again yesterday and I am still here ready to go for more. In all last Saturday we climbed 2,698 vertical feet and yesterday 2,758 vertical feet. Not bad for the chubby guy huuuuuuuu.......
Friday was a breakthrough day. We had our long run and frankly I was sick and tired of the 7 mile mark and trying to improve. I made up a plan so I could test how I was doing and to test if I could indeed keep a 4 mile per hour pace even with programed walking time. So the plan was simple, I would run for 3/4 mile and would walk for 1/4 mile and so on. I would do this for 3 miles and then would run for 1/2 mile and then walk for 1/4 mile and so on. In the end I carried out my plan except I did the first phase for 4 miles and the rest as planned. End result was 2 hours 14 minutes and...... yes 10 miles. I can't tell you how happy I was. It mean a 2:56 1/2 marathon which breaks the 7 hour mark for a 70.3 Ironman. Not bad for 4 months of training.
Friday was also emotional and a breakthrough in my future life. I said at the beginning I had lots of anger about having cancer that I wanted to let go. I needed to heal. I think I have done lots of that but there is a lot more I need to let go. I think this will happen as I continue to imagine what crossing that line will be like and what it will eventually mean in the whole wide picture. I think part of that meaning is precisely this blog and talking about my experience and how this awful decease changes your life for ever. I took a step forward Friday and it was a big one. I invited coach K to my house on Friday so we could relax and just enjoy some wine. As we started talking triathlon as we always do we talked about old times. Old times, well I think it was time for him to actually see what old times were. I took out an album which I hate but it pretty much describes my adult life. I showed him a picture of me and Julissa that was taken right after I arrived from the military. In Short words I looked like I could do three or four Ironmans in a single day. Slim fit and full of life. I also showed him my military picture when I was 17. Young scared and somewhat ignorant. Coach K was amazed and obviously wondering "what happened". Well I showed him that too. As he saw pictures of me while on cancer treatment silence filled the air. He did not comment and neither did Yolanda his wife. I kind of know what they felt as they saw those pictures and probably got some added perspective of what it is that I am really doing and why. It does not matter they are good people and Coach K has made it a point of taking me where I want to go and that is enough for me. I hope they are not sorry for me in that aspect and frankly I don't think they are which is good. I am a fighter and always have been and being sorry won't get me across the line, training and readiness will. Maybe Coach K will sometime read this and maybe he won't, in the end the pictures he saw were of me dying in some sort of way. They certainly were of an individual whose future was as uncertain as his cure. Today with his help my training is as certain as the possibilities of finishing Ironman Canada. I was never ready to quit and was determined to overpass any obstacle placed in my way to survive cancer. I am decided to do the same as for my training for the Ironman. I have learned that God will determine what your individual path will be and I will not go around that. I am ready for mishaps, I could fall of the bike and get injured I could mentally fail, I could have a mechanical problem, etc. I am ready for any of that I truly am ready to accept any mishap. What I am not ready to accept is failing. As I have said many times I will not fail, I will not quit. We had a saying in the military, "If you find an obstacle, go around it, or above it, or underneath it, if all those options fail then you need to consider going thru it with out being detected or you need to execute plan B. What is plan B? "BLOW IT UP".
2010 has been wild and I expect to start 2011 as such. My friends you be the judge. Finall tally 2010
September 1 2010 December 31, 2010
Weight 270 230
Waist 44 38
Shirts 2XL XL
Bike 6 Miles 53 miles w/hills 2700 vertical feet
Maximum Run 3.90 mailto:miles@15:25/Mile 10 miles w/hills @ 13:28/mile
Swim 300 mts in 1 hr (Practice) 2300 mts 1 hour (Practice)
Soft & Creamy Ice Cream 4/ week minimum 1/month at best
Coke 6-10 cans/day 0
Pizza turn over 5/week 0
Total Training Time 0 13-15 hrs avg/ week
Wake up time 6:30AM 4:00AM
Week end Wake up Time 9:00-11:00AM 4:00-5:00AM
Not bad at all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Happy new Year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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