7 weeks and counting...

I wasn't sure what to write about this week. I haven't had any significant milestones in my training. I'm feeling generally unmotivated to train. I have no funny stories of crashing my bike or having a fish jump next to me in a lake. This week was rather unremarkable. The only thing that really hit me this week was how fast the next 7 weeks are going to go. I started running through the 'weekends' leading up to Ironman.

July 28-29: Baby Shower, 25th Anniversary Party, Ironman BBQ
August 4-5: Steelhead Half Ironman in Michigan - Last race before IM
August 11-12: Trek World, Z4 Party, Big Training!
August 18-19: My dear friends - Sean and Jess - are finally tying the knot!
August 25-26: Nothing yet....but most likely a weekend of big training!
September 1-2: My 29th Birthday
September 8-9: IRONMAN WI

When I look at it like that, I start to panic a little bit. It is close! Closer than I think....I still need to get my running and bike volume up and maintain my swimming. I need to dial in my nutrition plan. And I need to make peace with the fact that anything can happen on that day and I just have to learn to adapt. I have to accept the fact that I just might not finish. Something could happen that would cause me not to cross that line.

But then, I have the other moments. When a workout gets tough or I don't feel motivated to continue, I think about what my final mile is going to be like at Ironman. I think about seeing my parents as I turn onto MLK BLVD. I think about Dana, Jim and Isabelle watching me come up State Street. I think about Darla being there to cheer me in. I think about how the crowd is going to be loud and crazy...and the lights will be bright. And I'm not sure if I'll stop short of the finish and look at it knowing that I've done it and I'm about to achieve something I never thought I could. Maybe my adrenaline will kick in and I'll go flying across that line with the crowd blurring by me...I don't know what that day will bring, but I do know it grows closer and closer each day.

I have one more challenging training day this week. I'm riding for 4 hours with my friend Steve tomorrow. Following the ride, we are running for 30 minutes. It's a long one, but one we need to get under our belts. I'll post if anything interesting happens on our ride!

Until next week...