An Overcast 42

As I write this, It's 1:30 a.m. and most normal people are in bed at this hour. Not me. I'm awake in my studio writing songs with my best friend Big E. He's in town and while he's here we decided to make this a music trip for him and me. I'm currently typing the entry for this blog and E is playing piano as we search for our next creative song idea.

Troy has been dying for me to get this post up all afternoon and I'd been meaning to. I just simply haven't had the time. We've been in constant "creative" mode all day and only now have I had the chance to get up to date on the training blog.

This morning was a super tough day to get up at 6:00 on a Saturday for. It was overcast, a bit drizzly, and a little on the cool side. In other words, a perfect day to sleep in. Not to mention, I had stayed up with Big E working on songs until about 1:30 in the morning. Believe me, it was tough to wake up. However, I did it and Troy and I embarked on our Saturday ride - only this Saturday was a 42 miler. I've gotta say, Troy's performance on the bike was definitely the best I've seen from him since we started this journey. In a nutshell, Troy climbed every hill and stayed consistent with his cadence and speed the full 42 miles. That's something he's never done. And on top of that, he never once got off of his bike to walk up some of the steeper climbs that we have throughout the course. He did, by far, better today than I've ever seen him since putting on bike shoes! I was thoroughly surprised and impressed. Troy's getting stronger, faster, and (most importantly) thinner. He's now to the skill level on the bike that he can actually beat me handily on a downhill. That's NEVER happened, yet he's consistantly doing it - especially today!

Keep it up T and keep bangin'! And by the way. . . Happy Birthday Dad! We love you! :-)

Your Boys.

Saturday's New Recruit

Troy and I woke up this morning at 6:00 a.m. like we normally do on Saturdays for our 22 mile ride. However, this morning was a bit different in that we had a guest come with us. His name is Mark and he used to work with Troy. He's been wanting to come out and ride with us for a while now and finally made it out. It was nice having another person out there to converse with and for a bit of a change. We had great fun and hopefully he'll come out with us again in the future.

Troy had a small victory today in that he climbed a very steep hill today and made it 3/4 of the way up the hill. That's much farther than he's ever been up that same hill. It's a hill that we've affectionately named "Deliverance Ridge". We named it that for two reasons. 1. The people that live that far out in the country are very back woods and it looks like we're riding through deliverance country. 2. When you reach the top and you realize that the climb is then behind you, you get a feeling of being delivered! Troy's next serious ride, I'm confident that he'll make it all the way to the top without walking any portion of it.

It's cool to see Troy's confidence level continue to rise as he gets more fit. I can see that he's starting to realize that he can swim, bike, and run with just about anyone. When he gets to his target weight, it's going to be scary!

Thanks to all the many readers and voyeurs who have given us encouragement or left comments here. We certainly appreciate all of you (what few there may be).

The Saturday 22

This morning I woke up at 6:00 am to get in our weekly Saturday 22 mile ride. However, I had to do this all by myself. Troy is having a little problem with his left glute muscle. He's not real sure how he tweaked it, but to him it's painful and he's trying to be cognizant of not doing more damage to it yet still allowing it to heal and be able to train. I know it's frustrating for him. I deal with the same crap. However, it's part of the process and it's something that has to be dealt with by every athlete.

Today was a very enjoyable ride - even though it was alone. I had a good amount of quiet alone time with my thoughts and prayers and was granted an extra dose of peace from the Lord. Throughout this process, I know and have faith that the Lord will protect me and my family and keep them safe and cared for. This I know and am thankful. Triathlon and its training has, in many ways, saved my life!

Saturday Through Heaven's Pass

This morning was the perfect time to ride. It was clear with very little wind and right at 70 degrees. Perfect conditions! As a result, Troy and I rode out Saturday 22 mile ride on the Harpeth trail. I have to say that I was most impressed by Troy's performance. We ended the ride averaging 17.0 miles per hour. Troy's best performance by far! It's great to see how much he has progressed in his fitness level and weight. And it's times like these rides that I can see tangible improvement. That HAS to be encouraging to him as well. At any rate, this morning was monumental for me to see. I get great joy out of seeing how I've been a small part of Troy's continued improvement.

Tomorrow is a ride and a swim. Something that Troy hasn't been able to do of late due to his schedule. I'm looking forward to it and I'm looking forward to the triathlon. The closer it gets, the more focused I'm getting.

The above video has a portion of what Troy and I have affectionately named "Heaven's Pass". This is because being in the middle of a long ride and you come to Heaven's Pass, it's a welcome reception due to it being slightly down hill and completely covered by trees. Therefore, it's cool and breezy. It's almost as if we're passing through a little slice of Heaven. Thus the name. This video doesn't do it justice.