The Road to Miami
Not getting there very fast these days. I have not been consistent in keeping this blog updated and I plan to change that moving forward. At the least I will stick to a weekly posting schedule and put up something on Tuesday.
The road to the Miami half marathon is littered with knee surgery and cancelled guy memberships. Registration opened in late December and I have not yet registered. To be honest I am a little afraid to check out the Iron Man page and find out that it is booked. At the moment I am still moving forward and planning on competing.
A couple of things about the actual race and training….
First, I have completed the swim distance with very little training. Yes, I recognize that this was in a pool and it will be an entirely different environment but my perspective is that it is really all about confidence. If I know I can finish the distance then I am good to go. As far as the bike and run go I have completed double the distances in the past, so I am really not all that worried. Put them all together in typical triathlon fashion and yes it does get more challenging but it is still a mental game.
Next, as I get a little older I am starting to recognize that proper nutrition will play a very important role in my overall performance. I have always stuck to a fairly healthy lifestyle but for the most part I have stayed away from supplementation and not focused too much on superfoods. For my surgery recovery, training and race I plan to focus on the micronutrient and supplementation aspect of nutrition a little more. This approach has taken many athletes such as Rich Roll over the top and put them into positions that they never dreamed possible.
On knee surgery recovery…
I have never really been in a position where I have been virtually dependent on someone else for nearly everything. And, I have never had the opportunity to watch as my muscles atrophy and deteriorate and this is considered progress. Surgery is an amazing thing and I am quite thankful that this option is available to me. I am lucky enough to live in a time and place in which I am not sidelined for the rest of my life because of an irreparable injury. I have new found respect for doctors and modern medicine in general. There is no nutritional or holistic fix for a broken ACL, this is truly and solely the realm of modern medicine. This leads me to my next point….
Injury is Avoidable…… Kind of…
In July of 2011 I accepted a new work assignment that for the first time in my professional life put me in an office, in a chair, behind a desk for days and weeks at a time. I was introduced to the daily commute, office politics, lunch meetings, dinner meetings, mandatory donuts and a lifestyle that was widely alien to the way I have spent the rest of my life. Getting to the gym was a struggle and I often found myself forgetting to eat anything substantial until late in the afternoon or even dinner. My drive home was often fueled by a sugar free energy drink that contained God knows what which would also lead me to stay up ridiculously late before waking without adequate sleep. The short of it, I felt my life spirally out of control. My body felt absolutely horrible, my fitness suffered greatly, mentally I was a wreak and to top it off during doctors visits related to the knee surgery I was asked if I was aware of my high blood pressure. Less than 2 years in corporate America and the American dream were quickly killing me.
All of that to say, ultimately I don’t really know where my job is going but even if it remains in an office I will make some drastic changes to get my life back on track. At some point soon I will be checking the Iron Man registration page and if possible signing up for the adventure.