I AM Ironman... again

Last night, after the longest run of my life (seriously), I finished my Ironman March goal.  I'd love to show you the awesome screen capture of mile 4.12, but my milage counter decided to take a pause after mile 3, so this will have to do.

Or maybe this would be better.  Not quite the victorious finish I was hoping for...

Either way, I made it to the finish line: 26.2 miles of running, 112 miles of biking, and 2.4 miles of swimming DONE!!

I've learned two very important lessons this month:  That I STILL hate running, and that work really gets in the way of the rest of the things I'd like to do with my life.  Things like taking long bike rides on beautiful days, swimming in an emtpy pool, and grocery shopping on a Tuesday afternoon.  The simple things.  :)

P52 - Vast - 13/52

This afternoon, Chris and I went on a 20 mile bike ride and took in the vast expanses of the Leon Creek Greenway system.

The trails turned out to be much nicer than we expected.  Looks like we'll have to make a bike ride a more regular occurrence - at least until the oven turns on for the summer.

2/3 Ironman

We're two-thirds of the way through March, and I'm not quite two-thirds of the way done with my Ironman March challenge.  Work, as usual, has been making it hard to get to the gym.  However, I was at a workshop downtown most of this week, so I bumped up my totals with a few runs along the San Antonio River.  It's much more motivating to run outside with beautiful scenery than it is to run on a treadmill in a smelly gym.  Now, if only I could find someplace outside to swim...

I Still Hate Running

Things I learned this week while attempting to make progress on my Ironman March goals:

1) I still hate running with a passion.  I don't think that is ever going to change.  Running on a  treadmill is even worse.  Thankfully, daylight savings time should allow me to get home before it's pitch black out - maybe - maybe not.

2) The pool is always full at my gym.  I'm going to have to start leaving work at 2 pm to get a swim in.  Luckily, I'll only have to do this once a week.  I could also get up on a Saturday or Sunday to get it done, but where's the fun in that.

3) Why do I have a job?  It seems to be getting in the way a lot here.  Oh, that's right, because I would  prefer not to live in a cardboard box when we retire.  Darn you delayed gratfication.

I Am Ironman - 2014

Last April, I took part in what should have been Ironman March.  I wasn't up to the challenge until half-way through March, so, rather than kill myself trying to squeeze everything into two weeks, I did Ironman April instead.

This year, I'm ready for Ironman March!  Maybe "ready" isn't exactly the correct word, but I'm jumping in none-the-less.  I even got to see Iron Man Thursday at the Witte Museum.  I think that's a good sign.

I AM Ironman

Today is the first day of May, and I am happy to report that I successfully completed my Ironman April challenge yesterday.  Here's a picture of me crossing the finish line on the treadmill.

Three super-exhausted cheers for me!  Also, don't judge my time... this was my second run for the day, so it was really more like a fast walk toward the end.  It turns out I got a little behind on the running and had to do some catching up on the last day.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with myself at the gym now that this challenge is over.  Maybe I'll go back to Zumba class and weight lifting.  All I know is that I won't be stepping foot on the treadmill for a long, long, long time!!

Ironman - Nine Days to Go

Only nine days left in my Ironman April challenge.  I've run the numbers, and my goal of finishing by May 1 is still a realistic possibility.  It's going to be a long week with lots of running... again.  Wish me luck!

Ironman - Two Down, Two to Go

With two weeks down, I'm making slow progress toward my goal.  From the looks of the graph, next week is going to be a running and swimming week as I'm a little behind in those areas.

I've discovered the biggest challenge with swimming is getting to the gym at a time when the pool isn't overly crowded.  I'm not a great swimmer, so the thought of sharing a lane with someone else is enough to keep me out of the water most days.  The good news is, when I do actually find an empty pool, I can easily complete two days worth of swimming in less than 30 minutes.  If only running was that easy.

I Am Ironman?

At the beginning of March, Healthy Tipping Point, one of the blogs that I read on a regular basis, posted a fitness challenge dubbed "Ironman March".  The idea was to complete an entire Ironman Triathlon over the course of a month.  I have always thought it would be cool to do a Triathlon even though I hate running and can't swim freestyle to save my life.  I initially read the post during the first week of March and put it aside as a crazy idea.  As the month wore on, I became more and more bored with my normal workout routine.  So, I decided to give "Ironman April" a try.  I have no idea if I'll actually be able to complete the challenge in a month; I guess we'll see.

In the last six days, I've made decent progress toward my goal.  Check out my nifty graph... I know; I'm an engineer, I can't help it.

As you can see, the biking is not going to be a problem.  The running and swimming might be.  Wish me luck!