Beyond Healthy

It's pouring rain today at the Lake Placid Ironman race. Hard to believe they're all freezing in the rain given the heat and humidity here. I'm not sure which is worse. I'm feeling pretty wilted after my early morning rides this weekend.

My training is definitely more intense than last year. I've moved my long run to mid-week to allow two long rides on the weekends. On Wednesday I ran 16-miles. Thursday and Friday were training days, with a focus on easy aerobic pacing to promote recovery before a big weekend. Saturday was a long and hard (and hot!) ride. Ryan and I covered 85 miles at a 19 MPH pace. This morning I managed 40-miles of interval riding and a four mile brick run.

While I'm managing to hold things together in terms of family & work obligations, I'm definitely on the edge of digging myself into a hole. I sneak naps whenever possible. I've had good success at avoiding alcohol - less success at avoiding caffeine - less success, yet, at avoiding refined sugar. It's hard when your tired, OK!!! I'm fighting an ice cream craving right now...

It can be difficult to do "normal" things during a training peak. This week I succumbed to peer pressure and played wiffleball. Sadly, even wiffleball can lead to injury when your legs and shoulders are weak and trying to recover. The same holds with launching your kids from your shoulders at the pool. Ouch! I'm looking forward to my recovery week - our family vacation in early August.

On an unrelated note - Lori won a 5 mile race... as in won the entire race outright, not just the women's division, on Saturday. She picked a good one to win. First prize was a crisp $100 bill!

Kerr Family Reunion

This weekend is dedicated to Kyle's final baseball tournament of the season. Last weekend we headed to western PA for the Kerr family reunion.

Not sure what's up with my camera, but here are my uncles Emery and Bill. Only 2 of the kids left from Dad's generation.

Sibs, sons, and nephews. I'm not so short in Kerr-land.

An afternoon search for creek creatures.

June Wrap-up

I had a really great month, starting with another camp in Lake Placid. Seeing the campers training for their Ironman events gave me the fever again and I signed on for the Chesapeakeman Ultra in late September.

This week I had my best cycling power test... ever. My fitness is really kicking in and I'm only 7 watts and 2 pounds short of my pre-medical condition season goal of hitting 4.0 watts/kg functional threshold power. I thought it was a stretch goal at the time. After my heart issue I thought it might never happen, let alone this year. Now sitting at 3.8 w/kg my motto has become "I can." I'm amazed and very thankful... and having loads of fun!

Athletic accomplishments of the month:

First 100-mile ride of the season.
Six other rides greater than 50 miles.
Long run at 1:45.
First 3x swim week of the season.
56-1/2 hours trained.

My goals for July are pretty ambitious... Run 5x/week by end of month, consistently swim 3x/week, long run up to 2:30, hit all ride targets on my plan.

I can, I can, I can...