Race Report: Ironman Texas

Following the chaos of last fall and an unexpected deferral from Ironman Florida to Ironman Texas, I found myself once again eating extra bananas at 3:30 AM in a hotel bathroom… It was truly a race morning.  After sixteen long weeks of building up fitness I was excited and so happy to be in Houston uninjured, uninhibited by weather, and unconcerned about what the remainder of the day would bring. This was it, everything the training was meant for!

Bikeeee!

The build is in full swing! I’ve just finished a 15+hour training week that left me a bit worn out but honestly feeling good before the end. It was a busy week of work with a couple days spent working out of town. While I miss being with my family, I try to take as much advantage of being on the road as possible to log extra hours. Thanks to a dearth of storage space in my V8 Transition Pack, I typically bring everything but the kitchen sink with me on the road. And with the roadie on the back of the car, I’m usually all set for some random adventure time.

Well that got busy…

Well its been an interesting few weeks since last I blathered to the internet about the state of life. We made a family trip to Disney World and really had a blast 🙂 I can safely say that now that we’re through the trip. There’s nothing easy about taking three young kids to the world’s busiest park for a few days but the further removed you are from the desperate chaos, the more you remember the fun. Of course every trip is not without its consequences. While driving back, Cade started showing a 102°F fever… which was happily passed around the family the next few days. It’s probably impossible to go to a melting pot like Disney and walk away without some interesting germs and this make two trips in a row where we brought the souvenir of sickness home with us…

Rebuilding

Greetings from week T-14 to Ironman Texas!  The timing for this event has worked out really nicely with the changing of the year and the theme of 2019 is definitely: rebuild. While my fitness level at the end of 2018 plummeted rather sharply, I’m happily building it back up to “happy” levels and am pleased that my overall fitness graph looks like a smiley face again 🙂  It’s worth pointing out that you can’t make a smiley face unless one side goes down… Thankfully, the other side goes back up!

The end of the year as we know it

Good-bye, 2018!  At the beginning of the year, I set out with some specific goals in mind.  I won’t rehash them except to say that I did at least hit one 🙂  Typically, I think of myself as being fairly focused on hitting goals but, as you can see, I clearly prioritize what I think is fun… And since I don’t foresee myself running a marathon tomorrow (maybe…) we’ll say I missed the running one just barely.

Baaaaaaaack!

Greetings from the other side of a disaster zone!  Today marks day #2 since we got internet back–a full 65 days after Hurricane Michael.  To be honest, I’m astounded that we’ve gotten things back this quickly.  It’s impossible to put into words or even pictures the true scope and magnitude of devastation that is evident in the impact zone.  We have been very blessed in this time to have strength of faith, family, and friends without which any imaginable form of recovery would seem impossible.

Not always rainbows…

Despite being less bloggy about it the last few weeks or so, I am indeed still training and on track for Ironman Florida.  I’m in my final building weeks before go day and, I’ve got to say, I’ve reached a special place… This past week, I encountered a situation I’ve never experienced before–I didn’t enjoy a run.  Yes, I’ve had tough runs before but each has inevitably had its high point or some enjoyable miles.  This run was supposed to be 14-miles but from the very first step, I wasn’t in to it.  My legs hurt from toe to hip, it was hot, and my mind only seemed to be able to think of how much better it would be to just go home.  I did manage to stick with it, though, and made it just over 12-miles before I was back at the house.  I immediately looked back on the run and realized that there wasn’t a single step that I enjoyed.  It was a miserable slog from beginning to end.  I was, however, glad that I stuck with it knowing that there will almost definitely be a moment in the Ironman where I’m going to want to quit.

There and back again…

Well it’s been a little while, eh?  Not to worry, we’ve been as busy as always.  Busy seems to be the only way to be for everyone these days.  As I drop Molly off for school, or Cade shows me how a transformer works, or Brooks speaks to me in full sentences I just wish the time would slow down.  But that’s not how life works so, instead, I’m just trying to soak up every memory along the way 🙂  Moving just as quickly is the countdown to Ironman Florida!  Not to worry, I’m soaking up the training as well 😉

Just roll with it…

It has been a busy couple of weeks here at casa de Fielding.  Our oldest has started Kindergarten in what seems to have been less than a blink of an eye.  I feel far too young to have children in school.  But as with all changes in life, it will be normal before long.  Instead of obsessing (too much) over miles and times, I instead spent the last couple of weeks just enjoying the last of a beautiful stage of our family life.  We are now beyond the pre-school years and have entered the world of homework, lunch prep, and (more) responsibility.

Don’t eat that, and other words of spousal wisdom…

“That kale smells like its gone bad,” said my wife as she walked by me in the kitchen.  “Smells fine to me,” I replied idiotically.  And that’s basically how this week went!  After ignoring the nasal wisdom of my wife, I spent a few days paying for my ignorance via stomach-ache… lame!  Lesson learned: listen to your spouse.  As a much more intuitive person than myself, I should have learned this by now, but I am instead obstinate in my determination to continue being bull-headed.