sun comes up

Come on come on come on.... I thought to myself as I peered thrugh the window from my trainer at 4am. Come on sun. Come on sun. I knew I had an hour on the trainer before I hit the roads for my three hour and eight minute ride, to be followed by a thirty five minute run. I was eager. I was ready, I was here to nail zones today. There is just something about riding with the sunrise and being back home before 8am when the world wakes up that's so darn invigorating to me.

It was not a training day that was any big deal, zone 1 on both ends (again which is Friel zone 2), tighten up the watts on the bike, cadence > 90 on the bike and keep improving my cadence on the run.

During workouts like these i feel like all I do is eat. But when nearly four hours is done and I am awake, coherent and ready to transition into the rest of Saturday I am grateful.

During a 3:08 (yes, eight minutes) ride I take 3 bottles of PowerBar Endurance. Every 30 minutes, including the top of hour three I take 3 Cliff Blocks. I still can't believe I can eat during a ride, and wash it down with something other than water. Nutrition went smooth as can be.

Although I probably headed out too early as the sun was just peeking over the horizon I was smiling. I love the feel of the road beneath me. I love to go fast. I the challenge of sustaining my heart rate whether I am climbing or descending. These morning drivers know me, and I know them. The guy with the rusty blue pick up truck is usually outside the corner store smoking a cigar when I roll by. We gave each other a wave. The woman who has rollers in her hair is always out in her garden early tending her vegetables.

I have snot rocket remnants all over my right shoulder and the tri top I have been wearing all week is fresh from being washed. There's no one out this morning but me. That happens this time of year as Ironman lake Placid is over. I am just beginning, my engines are just getting warmed up. It took me a few months to dig out of the hole I had been in but I am on the comeback trail.

I remembered where I was one year ago today. I went through something horrible in addition to my concussion. Something really painful in so many ways. From my concussion I was still unable to work, speak correctly, and remember things. I thought about how it took me a month to recover and as soon as I did a bike crash and subsequent right hip injury almost ruined my fall 70.3 in Austin. While it was not a fast race by any means it meant a lot for me to complete it. Kim stayed with me after the race and I got that spot to Clearwater. As I held that certificate in my hand I smiled. It will be my second trip to Clearwater and by the time I go in 2009..... I will be healthy and healed.

That's where I am right now. Healthy and healing. I am more grateful than anyone can imagine that Coach Jesse and QT2 took me on. I think we began in May. He coaches plenty of other athletes. Athlete who are right now leaps and bounds beyond me. That this coach and team believes in the underdog..... thank you thank you thank you. I watch what this team and these athletes have done and it glues me to this program.

Somewhere around 7:30am I began my run. I have a few checkpoints along the way where I count my cadence. Eight times this morning it was 100. ONE HUNDRED. Heart rate was staying where it should and when I was done I realize I am in the midst of another drop. When I began with Jesse my "E pace" was 9 minute miles, as it had been. Now it's 8:30. Slowly I am becoming that runner he told me I would become.

Just as in life.... in training we have our highs and we have our lows. I honestly think the low points are what make the climb back so much more rewarding, so much sweeter and so much more rich.

These are the kind of mornings that when I am finished I am shedding a tear. Seriously. I cry at the end of some workouts. I cry because of where I have been, where I have gone, where I am going. It's not all fun. For me it's been more difficult than rewarding. I appreciate these moments more than many other people do. I take absolutely nothing for granted.

When I got home the sun was up, Curt was getting ready for his workout and Luc was ready with a hug. He's making his own strides as well, now a member of USAT and gearing up to join the swim team. More importantly this morning he was doing what kids should do on Saturday mornings. Watching SpongeBob and laughing his butt off.

No one. And I mean NO ONE can laugh like Luc does.