Some weeks are just hard. This was one of them.
Julie and I were talking about this photo the other day. That's me, working my way through a few levels of personal hell at Ironman Arizona 2009, about to be passed (lapped?) by Mr. Thumbs Up Guy. From my fuzzy Ironman memory, this was somewhere between miles 4 and 10 of the marathon. The heat was bearing down on me. I had been puking and couldn't keep anything down. My stomach was beyond bloated. My feet were starting to blister. And I was trying to grasp the concept that I may feel this way for another 16-22 miles. But check it out - I'm sucking it up, moving forward, one foot in front of the other. And eventually things got better. It cooled off, I was able to start eating again, and my feet eventually just went numb. And I had the Best...Time...Of...My...Life.
My body is refusing to lose any weight at all. The little aches and pains that come with the training load are making themselves known. The blows at work keep coming. Chores, mail, and laundry are stacking up to a disgusting level. The weather has made me it's little bitch. But you know what? Gotta keep on moving forward. And I have to believe that things will get better.
Some bursts of sunshine during my week:
- Jessica kick boarding next to me during an entire 1:45 pool running session.
- Coworkers who rallied and doubled my fundraising in one single morning. (Go here.)
- A Mom who listens to my daily bitching updates every morning on the drive into work. Mostly egocentrically talking about myself and training.
- A husband who brews coffee each morning and fixes dinner (and pre-dinner and post-dinner) each night because I'm too busy or too tired.
- Julie laughing with me while I bawled on the side of the road in the pouring rain with another 4 hours to go.
Weekly Totals:
Swim - 6350 meters
Bike - 136.75 miles
Run - 19.21 miles
Total = 15.66 hours
