If you have read The Tipping Point, you might remember the idea they floated that mastery comes in a sport after 10,000 hours of practice.  In no way am I mastering this sport, but certainly the last few weeks have shown a new level of comfort with it that I have never achieved before.  This comfort has not only been mental but also interestingly physical.

The first example includes the last two weekends where I increased my long runs to 19 miles.  Admittedly, recovery after those runs takes about two days.  However, the recovery is more from an energy standpoint rather than debilitating pain or soreness.  There has been very little soreness.  My strategy of increasing distance slowly seems to be paying off.

This past weekend I woke up to rain which is always an odd sound in Southern California.  I called an audible and changed my plans from swim, bike, run to a long 19 mile run.  It would be my second week in a row at this distance.  Rain is not going to stop Ironman training. Next, I looked outside to see Max staring down a bunny through the screen.  It was National Rabbit Day after all as I would find out later that day.

I headed out to the coast where I found it was also wet, tossed on the new Tri Club San Diego kit that came in the mail and headed out to give it a true test in the elements.

It finally cleared up halfway through the run and quickly dried as touted in the manufacturer description.

Still somewhat hard to believe distances like 19 miles it is what I do every weekend now.

Post run I felt very little soreness once again, but definitely needed a recovery nap with Max.

The second example was yesterday on my big brick day.  I was in the pool at 24 Hour Fitness by 5:30am.  It was pool cleaning day and the guy was nice enough to let me swim while he was cleaning the pool.  He said, “If you don’t mind swimming around a few hoses you can stay in.”  I did until I reached 3,800 yards when the senior water aerobics started and they kicked me out.  I wasn’t going to mess with all those old ladies holding their intimidating pool noodles.

Off to coast for the bike, my original goal for the day was 90 miles.  However, 100 miles started to float around in my head.  What are an extra 10 miles at that point?  If I felt good, I was going to go for it.

My route was going to be my classing long route from Carlsbad to Leucadia, back to Oceanside, out the San Luis Rey trail, up to San Clemente and back.  The optional piece would be a second run on the San Luis Rey trail to get me to the magical 100.

The weather was perfect.  A little cool to start out, completely sunny skies and an ending temperature of about 72 degrees.  My ride was no different.  I just kept chugging along.  The only time I stopped out of the ordinary was to check and see if this shell was a live round or not.  I was in the middle of Camp Pendleton near their shooting range.  Just a real-life reminder that this is an active base.  This was in the middle of the road, but fortunately, a spent round.

On the way back I was still feeling great and full of gas so I added in the second pass of the San Luis Rey trail and a few other loops in neighborhoods to get over the 100 mile mark. Again, I felt great.  Plenty of gas left and the legs felt pretty good still.  Weird.

With that, I went forward with some running miles.  Much like my blog post from a few weeks ago, the run started out slow and just kept getting better all the way to the end.  I guess I just need 100 miles to get loosened up!

As proof, just look at these numbers below.  I start out the first mile with a 10:44 mile and drop it all the way to a 9:15 mile.  I don’t get it, but I’ll take it.  Maybe that 10,000 hours thing is starting to take effect?

Or, maybe it was my tunes selection on Rock My Run?  Those 90’s Vibes were doing the job.  Thanks Britney, ‘nsync and Shaggy!

In total, the day equaled about 108 miles of moving forward.  I had to remind myself this was two days after running 19 miles.  With Ironman Arizona still weeks away on November 24th, this performance is definitely comforting.

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Please join me in my efforts to support the Challenged Athletes Foundation as I take on my own challenge to complete my second Ironman race.

At my own cost, I will attempt to swim 2.4 miles, cycle 112 miles, and run 26.2 miles on November, 24th, 2019 in Tempe, Arizona to bring awareness and funding support to the Challenged Athletes Foundation and the needs of their clients. This challenge race is intended to raise at least $5,000 in funds to make those dreams come true for challenged athletes everywhere. Please click on the donate button and give what you can to help CAF athletes overcome physical disabilities and be able to afford the cost of equipment such as sports wheelchairs, handcycles, mono-skis and sports prosthetics, and resources for training and competition expenses.

The Challenged Athletes Foundation (CAF) raises money to help people with physical challenges pursue an active lifestyle through physical fitness and athletics. CAF’s mission is clear: give those with the desire to live active, competitive lifestyles every opportunity to compete in the sports they love.

Thank you for any donation you can make to this cause at the following link http://bit.ly/2lIDEI4 or just click on the CAF button below.