It Can Always Get Worse

This is actually a picture of me before knee surgery earlier this year in January.

However, Saturday I did do my best to put myself back in this position...

What Are We Talkin Bout'? Practice!

6:00 a.m. masters swim practice at Rice. Those mornings I wake up and think, it's just practice. I could sleep in, I might miss one practice all year. I mean we are talking about practice.

A Side Order of Liver

So an article read, "The Results Of A Famous United States Army Laboratory Study That Increased Endurance by 923%," I read it, and it is an infomercial, much to no one's surprise. However, now I know who Jack LaLanne is. How I didn't know before is fascinating because...

1954 (age 40): Jack swam the entire length of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, underwater, with 140 pounds of equipment, including two air tanks.

1956 (age 42): Jack set a world record of 1,033 push-ups in 23 minutes.

1975 (age 61): Repeating his performance of 21 years earlier, Jack again swam the entire length of the Golden Gate Bridge, underwater and handcuffed, but this time he was shackled and towed a 1,000-pound boat.

Editor's Note: I do not plan to increase my intake of liver. Also, the attached picture of a liver has Cirrhosis, and that would make it perhaps less tasty.

Stay Strong

I don't run with music, but I do like to listen to something before I run and then pretty much just sing the chorus over and over in my head while I run. My first marathon involved a lot of the Karate Kid and Rocky soundtracks. Stay Strong by Newsboys is my current Ironman anthem.

Jump Rope

I think the most underrated piece of equipment an athlete can have is the jump rope. I use my jump rope I still have from my tennis team in high school, you usually don't have to replace these things too often. Simple, yet so difficult. My goal is to be able to jump rope for 30 minutes. So far I am at 205 jumps, and that probably took me a minute. Might need to work on this. Of course, if you get tired of jumping the rope you could always get three buddies and up the ante.

My Battle with 3 Pounds

I had a vanilla sky moment yesterday. Rather than seeing Benny the Dog on TV, I got glued on Discovery Channel's "The Human Body: Pushing the Limits." A couple things:

When faced with crisis or a life threatening situation, time can seem to slow down. Why? The show detailed that the brain takes in about 30 frames from the eyes a second. In a crisis, it takes in about double. The added frames a second gives you more information than you normally would have had and decisions become clearer because of the amount of information you have to process a decision.

The body is basically a nervous system with the brain at its core. The nervous system sends signals to the brain and the brain processes and recognizes the signals as an emotion. I am interested in pain, with my name on an Ironman entry list, I should be. What if I trained my brain to recognize pain as euphoria? In the program a dentist that uses hypnosis, no anesthesia, filled a crown in a patient's mouth. While, I'm not changing dentists, the detailed explanation of how the brain works and receives signals and translates them into emotions is become something science is very interested in learning to alter. If you are not sold on hypnosis, the program also detailed that similar nervous system responses can be achieved through meditation, used by the Shaolin Monks.

Another study had a person who feels chronic pain in their shoulder, set up on a machine that gave the patient visual imagery of the activity of their brain, the image the person saw was of a flame. The larger the flame the more pain the person was feeling at the time. By focusing on the visual imagery of the flame on a screen and trying to decrease its size, thinking about what part of the body didn't hurt or of happier feelings, studies showed that the chronic pain in patients decreased by 50 percent.

Someone told me the Ironman is just mind over body, the 3 pounds I'm struggling with is my brain.

Olympic Spirit

Someone once said to me, "I began training again!" I asked for what and she said she just wanted to start training and get back in that feel again. That is crazy talk. I only train when there is an event in mind in the hopes of making myself complete something without hurting something, or maiming myself. I love the idea of just training, but then you would never know if you pushed yourself enough to finish something you were sure you couldn't before.

And there is always the chance that you didn't train enough.

Walk Hard

There are about 50 days left until I begin to associate my body with the Ironman. Only, the only thing is, it is 70.3 miles rather than the full 140.6. My mind has started to wonder and take concern for my body. I am beginning to think about survival. Recently, I figured on my next free day I am going to get up, around 6:30 or 7 a.m. and head out. Walk a full day, constant motion. I am thinking a full Ironman will take me about 15 hours. Let's see how far I can make it walking for 12 hours.

The Olympics

I pretty much have Olympic Fever. I have watched a ton of the events and love the tension of the four years of preparation and dedication for, in some events, minutes of a performance.

Competing in an event for a bigger cause than yourself is amazing and I love seeing U.S.A. on an athlete's uniform. Also, the added pressure on the Chinese athletes that have 1.3 billion people behind them and are performing in their home country is mind-bottling. (You know, when things are so crazy it gets your thoughts all trapped, like in a bottle.)

There is comfort in the Ironman that my goal is not to finish first but to stay alive enough TO finish. Because for those that do, there is a medal and a t-shirt.

Just Finishing

I like to read and hear about training and what works and hasn't worked, what to expect and how to make your brain tell your body to become more. Oh, and I also looked up video of Julie Moss.

The Calendar

August 31, 2008 - The Nike Plus Human Race 10K

October 5, 2008 - Longhorn Ironman 70.3

October 12, 2008 - Austin Oyster Urban Adventure Race - Donations Accepted!
Rad Racing needs your help to keep HELLTRACK beautiful! Click HERE, select Austin and team Rad Racing. The Austin Oyster benefits the Austin Parks Foundation.

January 18, 2009 - Houston Marathon - Again, arms open ready to accept money!
I am running with Team In Training, raising money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. You can click HERE, for my personal fund raising page.

April 5, 2009 - New Orleans Ironman 70.3

July 26, 2009 - Ironman Lake Placid

List of Crazies

Let's make it official, I am in the 2009 Ironman Lake Placid. A list of psychos can be found at ironmanusa.com, click on "Participants." From Houston, TX... Preston "PFUNK" Files!

Now, time to train...

Intrigue

I think one of the main reasons for my intrigue in the Ironman is that I have never actually met someone who has completed one.

My only knowledge of those persons are of almost legend, I heard of them from someone else or randomly in conversation, like hearing a tale of Keyser Söze.

[about Keyser Soze]
Verbal: Then he showed those men of will what will really was.

I have two accounts of these stories, both of the triathletes were women, one of whom has done it twice. I find myself fascinated with this fact. I want to be the guy that people don't know, but know of me through someone else who told them of what I did.

The Email

Today I got the email. My entry is pending approval. It was pretty exciting and crazy to fill out the race application. Just your standard race questions: Who is your emergency contact (name/number), What are the current medications you are taking, Are you allergic to anything, Who is your insurance carrier, What is your policy number, Are you a donor, Do you have any last words?

Standard stuff.

Planning Ahead

My sister Natalie asked me, "How many races are you going to do this year that would kill me?"

Interesting question, my answer was 3. The more I think about that question, I might have just tried to sign up for a race that could kill ME. It is interesting to commit to something so far in advance, basically all 6 of the US Ironmans fill up online within hours a full year in advance, if registration doesn't fill up completely on-site (as was the case with Ironman Lake Placid). 

Time and training can make your body do amazing things. There are 190 spots left. Hope one has my name. I like my odds.