Adventures in Tulsa

Well, apparently I haven't written in a very long time.  Not that a lot of excitement has happened, but still.  I did at least start a post in July after spectating in Lake Placid, but it looks like I never finished it.  Oh, well. 

So, let's see, for the past year and a half there has been some mediocre training and some terrible races to show for it.  I set some new personal worsts but did at least finish some things, so there's that.  After Ironman Florida last year I wound up not doing a single bit of training until a little over a month ago due to some issues, and since I had already signed up for Galveston, I had a crash course in half Ironman training. 

This winter was harsh, to say the least.  I suppose of all winters to get stuck not training and not contending with the elements, this was probably a good choice.  It was routinely below zero with the wind, snowed quite a bit, and never gave us any of those little breathers in the form of days with unseasonably warm temperatures.  Every time you walked out the door, any exposed skin just plain hurt.  Needless to say, it was not pleasant.  Everyone kept asking me where I was going for the winter, or why I hadn't gone somewhere.  Well, first, I couldn't train anyway.  And after two years in a row of driving all over the place, I'd kind of gotten over it.

But then winter just kept going.  I finally got the go ahead to do some training.  And my friend Jessica Jones Meyers had offered to have me come down to Tulsa to train with her for Ironman Texas.  After a while it seemed stupid not to do it.  So, rather than flying down to race Galveston, I'd drive down and then drive up to Oklahoma afterward to do some training, then go back down to IMTX, and then go home from there, when we can hope that by Memorial Day it will be at least sort of warm back home. 

I did not sign up for Ironman Texas this year.  I couldn't be happier about that right now.  I almost did, and then it sold out earlier than usual, and then it became apparent that I could in no way be ready for it in time.  I've headed into way, way too many races the last few years just not anywhere near where I needed to be.  So I haven't been signed up for an Ironman in months and it feels pretty good. 

Anyway, on March 31st, after one last training day that included a run in pouring rain and 35 degrees, I hit the road for Texas, covering over 1100 miles on the first day and spending the night somewhere east of Birmingham.  The following day, I made the much shorter drive to Texas.  I met up with some of my best friends in Galveston, where we all went in nice and relaxed.  All I wanted to do was get through it, as after basically four weeks of training, totally from scratch, just finishing would be something.  The swim was incredibly rough, but since I'm very comfortable in the water, it didn't really bother me, it just made me much slower.  Also, lack of swim training didn't help. 

The bike was pretty speedy until about 40 miles in when I flatted after running over some glass and there was just no fixing it.  I hadn't flatted in a race since 2003, my second half Ironman at Timberman, so I suppose I was due.  Of all of the races for this to happen at, I'd definitely take that one.  So I went back and watched my friends finish and most had great days. 

So, now here I am in Tulsa.  I've never spent more than a night in Oklahoma, passing through to drive somewhere else.  I know, people are probably like, you went to Tulsa?  To train?  It's not usually the first place that might come up on your list.  But then neither was Birmingham, and I found the training there to be excellent.  I've trained in Tucson and San Diego and a few supposed triathlon paradises.  While the weather is usually perfect as advertised, I've often found the roads for riding less than desirable when it comes to stop lights and traffic. 

Anyway, I've been here a week, and so far, so good.  I'm really getting thrown into the gauntlet here.  Unfortunately, all of that driving seems to have done something to my back, so I haven't been able to run, and swimming doesn't feel so great either.  Luckily biking doesn't hurt at all, except for the fact that I am woefully out of shape and with the exception of one recovery ride, all of our rides thus far have been in the 4-5+ hour range.  So I'm either going to get pretty fit pretty fast or I'm going to totally implode.  We'll see which.  I've just been tagging along with whatever Jessica has been doing.  It's kind of nice not to have to worry about the race at the end of it.  Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy training and I like being on task and getting ready for a race, but right now this is just what I need, and it's nice not to worry about my (lack of) fitness or to be overly concerned that I can't run because my back still hurts.  Then, when I go home, I plan on racing a lot locally and getting the fun back into things. 

It's been great staying and training with someone, too.  I get stuck training alone most of the time.  Of course most of that is my own doing.  More recently I've just been so far off track that I couldn't train with anyone even if I wanted to.  I used to have no trouble going out and doing absolutely everything by myself, but it's certainly gotten old.  It's also crazy to see how Jessica keeps up with not just the training, but also two very energetic seven-year olds.  I've definitely never taken for granted my ability to finish hard workouts and just collapse on the couch.  Although this way does keep things much more entertaining. 

Anyway, nice easy day today and I'm not sure what's on tap for tomorrow but I'm guessing another fairly long bike ride in this nice weather.  I'm liking the roads here, too.  Hopefully this will be just the kick I need to get back on track, and hopefully it will help Jessica have a great race down in Texas.