Week # 21 Training for Ironman Texas 2022 - Burn On

 The week has started well enough.  I did a 3 hour run Monday and it made me realize more vividly just how brutal this event is going to be.   I got in a 2000 yard swim yesterday in my wetsuit and it made me realize more vividly how far my training has taken me.  And, in summation, I feel good about it.  As the Bible says, I feel - "I am ready to be offered and the time of my departure is near ----"  But, the last two days was great weather.  Today however  it is cold, damp, windy, and overcast and I haven't broken a sweat yet.  

This tells me that no matter how well I do or think I am doing there is always that sedentary me in there just waiting for an excuse to express itself, to take over my activity level, diminish it, and try to destroy my hope in the process.  It also tells me that one must be constantly and vagrantly on guard against the propensity of the lesser self to want to express itself and drench our dreams.  The lesser sense is a fireman, constantly on duty to pick up on any dreams, hopes, and fire in the spirit and   try to quickly extinguish the blaze.   

Burn on, oh fire of the spirit, blaze brightly leading me on the path to the greater self, to put a smile on God's face that in spite of all, I overcame.

https://booklocker.com/books/12152.html

Week # 20 - Training for Ironman Texas 2022 - Am I Whipped?

 Another mediocre week last week and I can see a pattern here.  Life is sucking the life out of my ironman effort. No long runs, no long rides, no swimming at all, what can I expect from this half-baked training?  I do have consistency and some intensity going for me, but whether that will carry me past the lack of long training, or heavy weeks, well, I sort of doubt it. 

So, there is the problem And, what do I do about it?  Do I fold my tents and go home to an easier focus or do I find a way to bear down and get things done in this ironman training? This is a no brainer.  I can't see giving up until I know I am whipped - which I just might be.  This week I am going to go full tilt with a couple long bike rides with one having a fairly long run behind it. And then there will hopefully the stand alone - long run.  If I can't do this, I will say I am whipped and start the tent folding and the next post here will be a goodbye note. 

So there it is: my expressed disappointment in my self with yet hope for the future, with a test to see if there is indeed a future in this ironman enterprise.  I have prayed about this and I sense it is a good plan. God bless me in it and on this journey.

A Day Unlike Any Other  Day. https://booklocker.com/books/12152.html

Week # 19 Training for Ironman Texas 2022 - In Dreams

 What a hilly course, this ironman training.  I just can't hold a pace anymore it seems with training.  The day to rhythm is captured then lost. I suppose it could be a lot of personal issues competing for my energy and passion. And, sleep hasn't been that good.  Sleep is always a big if.  

And last night I had a dream.  In the dream I was in the presence of someone and having a serious discussion with them.  The face of the person I was talking to was not revealed, but something in that presence made me think it was my Dad ...who has been dead for 38 years.  Scary stuff and a bit weird, I know.  But the presence ended up conveying that I should not do the Ironman in April.  What? 

When I woke up it was hard to get real again.  Could this be a real warning?  Could this be some sort of sign that something bad is going to happen, or that it isn't the best use of time, energy, and resources at this time?  Is this a spiritual sign or was it just a crazy dream?  I am going to have to pray some more about this one. 

I wouldn't be completely heartbroken if I did back out.  There are so many other issues concerning my wife's health and other things, that I need to spend more time on.  I  had been hoping to get this done and then take care of business, but perhaps, who knows?  Like I said I will pray have to pray some more about this   I sure would like some sort of sign and I have asked for one already.  Now, patience Marv.   Wait and trust. 

I have already had  runs at this ironman thing many times over the years, and have written about my ironman journeys in life in a recent book.  Maybe it it time to close the book on ironman with "The End."   I will have to pray some more on this one.

A Day Unlike Any Other  Day. https://booklocker.com/books/12152.html.

Time to go to bed and perhaps - dream again.  

Week # 18 Training for Ironman Texas 2022 - Leaving the Rest Stop

 Today it is cool and raining outside.  The sound of the rain on the roof and the water dropping off the eves of the house, spawns a passive mood for the day. The temptation to put another log on the fire and daydream the day away is a force to be reckoned with.  The easy road, the comfortable place, is a good place to stop and recoup from all the hard miles performed.  But ---

This rest stop is no place to live.  At the end of the day called our lives, a life spent at the rest stop won't be that fulfilling to look back upon.  We can easily be cheated out of the most rewarding and fulfilling and thrilling aspects of our lives by the comfort zones of life's rest stops.  

I have put a lot of time and effort into this venture already  - it is week 18 of training, for goodness sakes - and this is no place to stop and count your blessings.  It is time to leave the rest stop and go out and receive even more blessings that God has in store for you.  

Oh yes, the Bible says, "Be still and know that I am God."   But my contention is that once we are still and we know God from it, it is time to leave the rest stop and embrace the gift He has prepared for us.  My goal is to pursue the gifts God has up the road for me, like Ironman Texas 2022:  win, lose, pass, or fail, I am leaving the rest stop.

https://booklocker.com/books/12152.html

Week # 17 Training for Ironman Texas 2022 - It's Lonely on the Ledge

This week is about done, and I am just getting the blog out.  My momentum seems to be in sloth mode these days.  My training is going OK: not great.  It seems I need periodic infusions of inspiration for me not to fizzle to a stop.  What does that Mean?  I don't know.  It would be nice to have a little rah-rah in my cornier but largely I do this training in the dark so to s peak.  No one really knows that I am training for anything except my wife.  And whose fault is that but mine?  I think I am afraid to involve others around me because I am afraid they don't care, and I don't want the reality put upon me to face right now. Perhaps that is why?  

In my corner of the world no one knows much about triathlon to begin with.  About all folks know to say when I talk about this crazy stuff is "that's nice," which is the poster child of neutral responses.  Sum all this up and one can say, it is lonely here on this ledge.  

However, all this serves to drive me closer to God.  The emptier my motivational world becomes, the more I find I go to God quicker and depend upon Him more.  Perhaps, that's the plan.

Week #16 - Training For Ironman Texas 2022 - Blessed by the Freedom to Fail

 

16 weeks,or 4 months  - I have been at this.  There have been good and not so good weeks, and some just plain mediocre weeks.  However,  I am still moving forward.  My running isn't where it needs to be. Due to the cold weather and the lack of swimming areas in this part of the world, I am not swimming at all.  Of course, I am concerned, but there is a resolute side to this.  

It seems I have more or less decided to just go on and train as best I can and get in the water and get beat up and fail at it,  or get it done and get beat up.  Just do it.  Just go on and do it, and don't fret the sloppy journey to it.  Just enjoy the journey itself.  Not many people get to live like this. Though,  I am pretty not that many  people don't want to. But I wouldn't trade my sloppy, miserable training for anything I have seen other people my age devote their lives to. That's just me.  It is not better. It's not worse. It's just me.

And I thank God for that freedom to be me and to be reveling in my mistakes and shortcomings in this sport.   I thank God for liberating me to be myself, to pursue my passion, and, most probably, fall on my face in this effort.  I am blessed for the freedom to fail. 

Week # 15: Training for Ironman Texas 2022 - Challenges for Dinosaurs

 Winter weather is finally settling in and training will have some new challenges.  Of course, that is one of the things I think I like about being in training, is the challenges that come and having to overcome them.  Or, perhaps I become overcome and have to pick myself up off the floor and fight on.   

At this age training is infested with so much doubt.  The fragility of life and capability has been impressed severely upon me, and I have to fight living fearfully.  Another challenge to be overcome:  old age fear of what could happen. 

And when I run out of personal things to be fearful about, I can start worrying about the event being cancelled due to COVID again.  I have been kicked down the road to this event, through deferrals for a couple years now.  It is enough to cause concern with the event this year:  another challenge to overcome.

I just use the "give me this day" approach to my training.  My goal is to get the workouts done on my training schedule for that day. And the days have been good to me.  Last week was  one of the biggest weeks training that I have had in more than a year and I don't feel that bad from it.  How great!

There are not many of us Ironman dinosaurs left in these events anymore.  Creepers like me are a dying species destined for extinction.  What I am trying to do is really off the charts when it comes to insanity.  It's crazy to go on with this, I know.  But God is with me in it so far and I guess I will be there taking one day at a time until He stops me, in training or in the event.  Or He might just bless me and let me finish this bad boy within the cut off.  In all cases, I am truly blessed.