Scott Gibson's Ironman Journey

Another positive update.  Continuing to eat really well and I have stuck to a ‘workout 2 days, 1 day off’ plan so far.  All of this might not be enough to do well in Augusta at the end of September, but I am really happy that I am getting into the right mode.

Last Sunday was a great workout day with an hour of swimming in Lake Lanier.  My arms and upper body are just now losing the soreness from that workout.  Going to make an effort to run outside tonight and get away from the treadmill.  A big lesson learned from the 70.3 last year was training too much on a treadmill.  The run on the pavement killed my hips and legs so I don’t want to make that mistake again.

Glad to share that I have been very disciplined over past few days.  Had a couple of good workouts and I have been eating really well and as a result I have dropped 4 lbs already.

Seeing the weight come off just like it did the first time around is very motivating.

It is horribly embarrassing that I clearly didn’t learn a lesson from my Ironman journey last year. All of that hard work has pretty much been erased over the past year as I have fallen back into a mode of making excuses for not eating right and exercising.

I was so sure that I had finally ‘figured it out’ and took the steps to make a permanent life change. Not so much.

It’s been almost a year since Ironman Augusta 70.3 and the 2010 event is right around the corner. While I plan to do the event, I am no where near the level I was at a year ago. The frustrating thing is that I truly love triathlon, but it is nearly impossible to ‘enjoy’ doing an event unless I am totally trained up for it. Right now, I am not prepared.

With about 6 weeks to go, I am not sure that there is enough time to get ready, but I am going to give it my best shot.

I have to say that I love this blog for one reason…it’s been the only thing that continually sticks in my mind and keeps me honest. In many ways, I feel obligated to come back here and confess my failures, but hopefully I can use it to celebrate more successes someday soon.

Decided to participate in the annual Hospitality Highway Century today.  I had forgotten how hilly the ride was and I was dead tired after the 63 miles.  It is always surreal riding a bike on a highway and one of the reasons why I will probably do this event every year.

Century bike ride is less than 2 weeks away and a good night of cycling was in order. Maximizing resistance to get ready for any of those nasty hills that are likely to pop up during the ride.

Looking forward to riding the 100 plus miles…it’s a great way to totally clear the mind and be in the moment of the ride…as long as you’re not tossing your cookies up steep hills that is.

Since I just signed up for the 100 mile bike ride coming up June 19th in Braselton (Jackson County Brevet), I figured I should lean heavily towards cycling for the next few weeks.  Not much detail on the website about the course other than flats and rolls…which doesn’t tell me much since the  definition of ‘rolls’ is often quite different from person to person.  Regardless…should be a fun event as long as the weather cooperates.

For Memorial Day weekend, we chilled out with family in a cabin in the Smokey Mountains.  After going two days without a workout, I decided to head outside for a run.

We were pretty much at the top of a huge mountain, so the 3 mile run consisted of a nearly 700 foot decent for 1.5 miles, then a grueling 1.5 miles back up hill.  Even the downhill phase was extremely difficult due to the gravel road that didn’t offer much traction.

It was without a doubt the hardest run I have ever done and I certainly didn’t do it at a blistering pace.  Just glad I got a chance to get out and enjoy the fresh mountain air for a workout.

Tonight’s workout started off with some cycling (and a Lost episode of course) followed by some ab stuff. My damn abs are still a little sore from my core workout earlier in the week.

I’ll be going out of town tomorrow so I will likely just get in some running and basics like pushups and sit-ups. The goal is not to go the entire Memorial Day weekend without working out.

I made it outside for my run tonight and it went pretty well, especially after I found a great motivating phrase to say to myself whenever I felt the urge to slow down or walk.

“Hey there Rev3 quitter!”

It was incredibly surprising to me just how effective it was.  Everytime I even began to consider easing up, I would just keep repeating that phrase to myself.  Most of the time it was just my own voice I heard in my head, but every now and then, I would pretend the voice was coming from people on the side of the road…doubting me and daring me to quit.

Quit?  Never again.

Started off with a short jog to get the blood flowing and then decided to do some more core stuff.  Combined the use of the workout ball along with a medicine ball that Dawn got a while back.  Tonight’s workout went better than yesterday’s since I didn’t almost knock myself out this time.

While I focused mainly on core, I did do a little arms and shoulders as well.  A well-rounded workout indeed.