Scott Gibson's Ironman Journey

I find it really interesting that I am not reliant on my blog for motivation this time around. During my first Ironman attempt, my daily blog was one of the key factors that kept me focused on my goal each and every day.

Blogging now is more of an afterthought…which clearly explains the infrequency of my posts. However, I am working out pretty much as much as I did the first time around. I think this time it’s more personal and less of a situation where I don’t want to be a failure in the minds of my friends, family & supporters.

Really looking forward to Augusta 70.3 here in a month. Should be a great event.

Enjoyed a nice vacation away with the family in Port Aransas, TX this weekend. It was really nice to get away and I am happy to say that I behaved myself quite well. Mostly, I just tried to not go overboard with the eating and managed to get in a good run too.

The run was pretty tough though. I ran from the house where we were staying and then up the beach a good ways. Unlike the day before, there was no breeze to speak of and of course the sand obviously makes running that much more challenging. I did manage to get 3 miles completed before it just became to uncomfortable to run.

Much better effort for the run tonight…a very comfortable 5.2 miler.

Looking forward to a great event this weekend. It’s an evening 15K and Dawn is doing it with me.  Should be a blast!

Lastly, I saw this on TV and knew it would be absolutely perfect to round out my training regimen. http://www.proform.com/tour-de-france. I’ll be sure to post a full review once I get it and test it out.

Not doing a great job of blogging frequently enough, but things are still progressing well. I am working out with great regularity and definitely feel like I am getting stronger. While I would like to be a littler further along with my weight-loss, I am still slowly dropping weight. I am not confident I will be down to the weight of my first Ironman but as long as my body is conditioned for the event, it shouldn’t make too much of a difference.

I signed up for another 70.3 that happens in October (Ironman 70.3 Austin), but I don’t think I payed attention to the dates as closely as I should have. When I first looked at the event, I thought it was mid-October and that I would have given me 3 weeks before Ironman Florida. Unfortunately, it looks like I will only have 2 weeks. Oh, well, that should be plenty of time to recover…right? So, that means two 70.3′s and a full Ironman in 2 months. Love it!

Going to be a great year!

I was really looking forward to the Orange Leaf Half Marathon and I have to say it was a very well organized event, which made it even more fun. Admittedly, the turnout was pretty small (about 80-90 runners), but the course was perfect and the 6:30am start allowed us to do the run in relatively cooler weather.

Overall, I was pretty happy with my performance, but I did make a pretty rookie mistake. The morning of the race, I debated whether I should run in my new shoes (only about 8 miles in them) or go with my older ones (circa 2009 Ironman Florida). Since I felt really good in my newer ones, I went with those…and then regretted it around mile 9.

My new shoes are much lighter and more flexible. After about 9 miles, that flexibility started making my arches feel like they were being hyper-extended. As a result, I ended up alternating between walking and running the last few miles. It was funny, I had to walk because my arches were killing me, but as I walked it caused my legs really tighten up, so I couldn’t walk for too long at a time.

On to the next event, my Small Texas Triathlon!

Very happy to have the first Tri of the season in the books. I was very pleased with my performance, although in comparison to the rest of the field, it was not that great. Interestingly, it was an extremely athletic group and there was a glaring absence of ’round boys’ like myself.

During the swim, I thought I was doing quite well because it seemed to me that I wasn’t really getting passed by very many people. However, as I came out of the lake, there were not very many people left in the water. Despite being slow, I felt really good during the nearly 1 mile journey around the lake.

I was nervous about the ride due to the infamous ‘heartbreak hill’ and it lived up to its name. After making it about a third of the way up, I, like many others, was forced to dismount my steed and walk about 150 ft up the remainder of the hill.  The downside is that the majority of the 12 plus miles was uphill, but the bonus was the ride back. I was able to make up a lot of lost time heading back towards transition.

By the time I got to the run phase, it was getting a little warm outside. The run course was pretty, but it was definitely more of a cross-country trail course where I had to be careful to pay attention to proper footing.

I definitely had my Chrissie Wellington smile on for most of the day and I can’t wait to get to the next event!

One of the things that I am looking forward to as I make attempt #2 on Ironman 70.3 Augusta and Ironman Florida, is the fact that I now can go into them knowing exactly what to expect.  Admittedly, while it wasn’t much, I did feel that I could have pushed myself at various times during those races, but held back because I wasn’t sure what the rest of the race had in store for me.

I had a similar experience on a ride today.  It was a single road, out and back ride and heading out, I was flying!  I really pushed myself to see how fast I could go. Now, I did have the sense that it was slightly more downhill and did expect to have a little tougher time coming back.  However, what I was totally surprised by was the massive headwind I would get to battle as I returned.  The hills were a little bit steeper coming back than I remembered going down so all in all, it was a tough road home.

The next time I ride that course, I will be better mentally prepared for the return trip and ensure that I leave enough in the tank on the way out.

Great 3 mile run through the neighborhood tonight. Although, I have to say that running 3 miles in this subdivision feels like running 5 in the previous one!

Only a couple more weeks to train for first Tri of the year. Feeing good!

Really excited that I have finally signed up for my first Tri of the season. It’s an olympic distance Tri in nearby Boerne, TX called the Greater Gator Triathlon. The event is on June 25th so it’s not too far away.

Really short swim tonight followed by a run, but wouldn’t classify it as a brick per se. Hannah actually ran the first mile with me. She is really showing a lot of interest in doing triathlons so I am certainly going to support her!

Dawn and I have also started a weight loss bet for the next few months. No agreement on the terms just yet…but it won’t matter if it motivates both of us.

Another swim-run brick tonight. Felt really good out there. Had a headwind up one hill and admittedly walked some of it…but overall great workout.

Going to hit the bike trainer tomorrow…can’t wait!

Back into the swing of things with training after a lot of disruption with the relocation to SA.  Pretty much settled into the new house with the family, but there are still quite a few boxes around the house to tackle.

Did a swim-run brick last night and boy it felt awesome.  Actually looking forward to getting back out there this evening for another longer run!  I am really setup for running and swimming in this neighborhood, but trying to find the time to cycle is going to be tough.

Started weighing in again and hoping to see some progress over the coming weeks.  A lot of work to go between now and Augusta.