So much has changed in such a little time.....

Well since my last posting got accidentally deleted this one is going be short and brief.

Kevin, Sampson and I are doing great and life is treating us very well. Work is keeping both of us super busy and I just learned that I will have a few training trips this Summer as if I didn't have enough going on.

Kevin is just about ready to start running again since his stress fracture sidelined him almost two months ago and maybe I'll be able to keep up with him on his first comeback runs :-) However, since he had some free time on his hands from not running he's been studying for his diving certification so that he can dive with Laura and Rick while in Honduras for Michael and Gisselle's wedding in August.

I'll keep my swimming to triathlons for now thank you.

Last week I completed my second sprint triathlon and my first without my wetsuit since my first triathlon last August. The race went great, I survived the swim and beat my previous time by 5min.

After getting back into the swing of things this week the talk about a full Ironman race coming to Texas was in full swing. And Wednesday it became official, Ironman Texas May 21, 2011 and registration was set to open Friday 6/25. Well Kevin and I said we were going to our second Ironman together and this one would be close, lots of our friends would be there either racing or cheering so should we do it????

Keep in mind I'm only into my second month Ironman training and it's insane to think about signing up for number two so early in training for number one. Well....................I guess I'm insane :-)

That's right, Kevin and I will both be racing the inaugural Ironman Texas next year and to add more excitement to it our good friends from Toronto and Ft. Lauderdale will be coming to do it with us. We can't wait and it's going to be so much fun.

Well, I'm off for a Hawaii in Austin party tonight, this shoud be interesting since Kevin and I will both be wearing grass skirts.

Much Love and remember,

"There's a lot of things to think about, but nothing to worry about" -Matt Koepke

Vacation is over, let Ironman training begin!!!

Kevin and I spent a great week in Liberia & Flamingo Bay, Costa Rica over Memorial Day weekend and this vacation exceeded our expectations.

The planning for our vacation started late last year and once we decided not to stay in a nice hotel we were super lucky to find an apartment on VRBO.com - http://www.vrbo.com/196417 this slice of paradise is a must if you planning a trip to this area of Costa Rica. Here is a link to the homeowners website http://www.casadeserenidadcostarica.com/. Our Host Babe and her husband Don were wonderful and made us feel like family visiting for a week.

While we were in Costa Rica we did lots of relaxing but we did get out for two great tours in addition to our site seeing of the area. We first did a canopy tour near the Rincon Volcano http://www.guachipelin.com/canyon_canopy_tour.php. This was a great adventure, we got to zip line upside down, repel down into a canyon and then rock climb out and after the tour we had lunch and did a two hour hike in the forest near the volcano. The hike took us up to 30ft waterfalls and at several points there was lava bubbling up from the volcano. Not your average hike in the city.

A couple of days later we decided to go white water rafting, since this was my first time I was a little apprehensive but once we got there I was more than ready to go, http://www.rinconcorobici.com/AdventureTours.php. The family that owns and operates this operation were great and took very good care of us. Once we got to the water we were informed that there were class 3 & 4 rapids and we should be prepared to be thrown out of the raft. They were right and Kevin and I got bounced/thrown out several times and once the raft landed on my head. Not to worry the tour guide instructed us how to get out of this situation.

All in all it was a great trip and we would highly recommend visiting this country.

After arriving back in Austin and taking a day to settle in, I eased back into my training routine and it felt great to get back after it. Today was my first official long ride of the Ironman training season and the schedule called for a 50 mile ride followed by a 30 min run. After speaking to the coaches to have a goal for every ride I decided to make this my ride for high cadence so I would feel good for the run. Mission accomplished and my run was awesome.

This is going to be fun and I'm ready for the first long run tomorrow, 11 miles of glorious fun.

Until next time be safe and keep living life to the fullest.

What will you do when Ironman throws you a curveball?

Well that's the decision I was faced with this morning. However, before we get to what I did when the ball got to me we have to go back a few months.

It was this past Winter when we were training for Lonestar 70.3 and several of my training friends and I had our weekend all planned out and Mother Nature had other plans in mind. I don't remember what we ended up doing that weekend but what I do remember from that weekend are the words John Jobes said "when things don't work out as planned because of weather we'll have to train when we can"

Simple enough right?

Back to this weekend, the plans were:

• Saturday, go for a 40-50 mile ride
• Sunday, swim stroke clinic and then go for a 8 mile run

This weekend roll of Ironman was played by Mother Nature. The storms from Friday night rolled right into Saturday morning and it was very easy to just turn off the alarm clock and go back to sleep because it was raining. Shortly after getting up the rain stopped and the wind picked up. Still easy to blow off the ride because wet roads with wind wasn't safe. The little guy in my head said it's ok, it's just one ride and you can miss it and have no problem. True but would one missed ride turn into two, then three and so on over the next 5+ months.

Throughout this decision process I was exchanging text messages with Eric C. and one of his text messages said, "he and John were going to swim and then ride because he wasn't giving in that easy." That's what I needed to hear. The little Ironman to-be inside was kicked in the rear by those words and I said to myself. "Yes you were going to ride today but I must be flexible and get the training in when I can." So after I changed some plans around for Sunday afternoon my day opened up a little more to allow for ride so it was time to go for a run.

This turned out to be one of the best runs ever!! I saw several friends and training mates at the start and then I took off. My pace was fast, I focused on staying relaxed (thanks Coach Leslie), and watched my crossover (thanks Richard). One thought that kept coming to mind while I ran was, if I would have given in to the weather what would this mean for the rest of the summer when Ironman training gets really tough, was I going to give in? No because while the training plan calls this phase pre-endurance training, I think it's really pre-gut check training and time for us to ask ourselves "how bad do we want it?"

Ironman, I'm ready to take your best pitch, show me what you got because I'm ready to show you what I'm made of!!!

Thanks everyone, you motivate me with the small things to keep going

Tri to see things from a different view

This update is going to be a little bit different than some of the others, hope you can see things from my point of view.

Well after 4 1/2 months of solid training my body and mind started giving me signs that it was time for little break. These signs worked out pretty well with an upcoming business trip so it should be easier to relax and enjoy things which are different from my normal day-to-day activities.

Once, I decided to listen to the calling signs and not try to train through the weekend before leaving it was only natural for me to go out and cheer for a couple of races. This is where I got to see things from a different point of view.

Saturday morning took me out to the Chuy's 5k Trot, where a friend Amy Colquette was participating in her first 5K. I saw a couple of other people I knew but this day was all about supporting Amy because she has always been there to support us in our races. It was great to see her gearing up for her first race because there will only be one first and for many others you could tell they were there to either change their day or possibly change their life by getting healthy. One of the most memorable moments of the day was when man ran by Eric and I and yelled at us, "I'm 77 years old."

Those few words reminded me, it's not about how fast you get finish line but that you're still getting to the starting line.

This morning brought a very early wake up call for volunteer duties at the Rookie triathlon. Never mind the name, this is a super sprint race where a lot of the veteran athletes go and see how fast they can go for this short distance race. But it's the true Rookies at this race that make me realize why I love triathlons. The excitement, nervous energy, and seeing so many familiar faces all make race day very exciting.

The excitement is what lights the fire inside to want to keep doing this sport and I know after a short break and a great vacation to Costa Rica I'll be ready to tackle the next 5+ months of training as I keep my eye on the prize.

Congratulations to all of those who raced this weekend and don't every lose the excitement because I won't.

Happy Mother's Day Mom!!!

Chris

Don't try to eat the whole elephant at once......

Well, while I eat lunch today I thought it was a good time to talk about the hard cold reality I slapped myself with this morning.

When I logged onto Facebook this morning I notice someone had a link to an application to countdown the days to your next big race and post it to your facebook status.

I proceeded to the application and from the drop down of races I selected Ironman Arizona 2010 and plugged in the race date. Hit submit and bam my status was updated, very innocent right?

NO, NO, NO, my status update now said "Chris Garlington is participating in Ironman Arizona on the stated date. 200 days left" HOLY CRAP!!! There it was in black and white and although I just completed my first 70.3, I'm truly scared of what's to come in the next 200 days.

I have great support system, I'll be training with the best triathlon training group around and a lot of my friends and training mates will be experiencing the same highs and lows I will. So I have to keep faith, trust the training program that has worked for so many others before me and not try to eat the whole elephant at one time. Slice it with a sharp training plan and eat it practice by practice, day by day, and week by week. I know life is going throw road blocks and speed bumps my way over the next 6 months and I'll need to put my big boy undies on face them head on.

To my training mates, you will probably get to see sides of me you didn't know were there but we're like a family and families see the good and the bad. Kevin, you've traveled this road before and I know you will slap me upside the head when I get more crazy than I am normally.

Wow, writing this out made me feel better than I thought it would.

Note to self, be careful of Facebook applications, it may be scary when reality slaps you in the face!!

Have a plan, set goals, and never stop believing!!

If I could rewind time by just one year I would be getting ready to start the T3 swim clinic because I couldn’t get from one end of the pool to the other without being out of breath.

Coming back to just a few days ago, Kevin and I packed up car and headed to Galveston, TX with several of our friends and training buddies for the Memorial Herman Ironman Texas 70.3 (1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike ride, 13.1 mile run). If you haven’t guessed by now I’ve gone from no swimming to attempting a 1.2 mile swim in Galveston Bay. We left Austin with a five car caravan and everyone was in great spirits, lots of nervous energy, and excited to race.

Once we arrived in Galveston we stopped for lunch and then headed over to Moody Gardens which was race central. We cruised through packet pickup, bought a couple of things at the expo and scored big time with a nice pre race massage from the great folks from Memorial Herman. From there we got checked into the house we were sharing with friends Tom Bressie, Jen Walker, and John Jobes and then it was time to go for a practice swim. Have I mentioned that last year this time I wouldn’t go into the deep end of the pool and now I was going to swim in Galveston Bay, my first salt water swim?

The swim went great, I felt comfortable but salt water is yucky in your mouth. Pre race swim check!

Going into the weekend, I had three goals and only one I could control the outcome of so let’s see what happens. After everyone was cleaned up we met up with some other friends at Salt grass for dinner. Great dinner and as I was going to the restroom out comes professional triathlete Andy Potts. I reached out my hand introduced myself and wished him a great race on Sunday, goal one complete!!

Friday night around 3am a wicked rain & wind storm blew into Galveston with 75mph wind gust and we could feel the house moving back and fourth. This did not look good going into the weekend with the Sprint & Olympic distance races set for Saturday morning. I got up around 5:30 and the wind was still blowing pretty hard and then it started raining and lightning. I told John if this was our race morning I would be crying my eyes out.

After a leisure morning we head toward Moody Gardens to see our friends racing on Saturday and traffic was terrible. We tried an alternate route with no luck, and while stuck in traffic what else are you to do but check Facebook. We found out the Sprint & Olympic distance races had their swim cancelled because the water was dangerous and not safe for swimming because the wind was so strong. Later we found out a police boat capsized because of the wind the previous night. I would say with wind that strong it would be unsafe for swimming. This did not make me feel any better about my upcoming 1.2 mile swim. After sitting in traffic about 30 minutes we decided to abandon our attempt to get to Moody Gardens and hopefully our friends would appreciate our efforts. Back to the house we decided it was time for one last bike check ride. All of us dressed in our T3 gear headed out and merged right in with cyclist riding the Olympic race. Everything felt great and back to the house we went. After what turned into a great group lunch, we headed home to chill for couple of hours. Then it was time for bike check in. On the drive to Moody Gardens to check in our bikes is when it truly hit me what I was about to take on. I was having trouble breathing and tears came to my eyes and for a second I had doubt I could do it. I quickly dismissed any negative thought and thought to myself trust your training and “I Can, I Will”.

After a nice dinner at the house we were off to bed because it was almost “Race Day”.

The alarm clock went off at 2:30 and I was up to start my pre-race ritual. Coffee, breakfast and spend some quality time with the Trigger Point set. We were out the door bags and coolers in tow as planned at 4:30. We weren’t the first ones there but of course other teammates pulled up just as we did. Did our Coaches train us to also be the first ones at the race?

After a few pictures, body marking, we were ready to enter transition and that’s when I put the iPod in for some of my favorite pre-race music as I set up my transition area. The activity in transition quickly picked up and you feel the pre race nerves and all of them were positive. This is where goal two comes in; Kevin came over and told me professional triathlete Chris Lieto was coming in. I went over and introduced myself and wished him a good race. Three goals coming into the weekend and one to go, faith had allowed me to meet two of them and now it was all up to me. After setting up my transition area, I greeted many of my friends and training mates and proceeded to cruise around take pictures and soak up the experience.

Around 6:30 the T3 team gathered for a team picture and then it was time to make the march to the water. Once again I’m trying to relax and not think about the magnitude of day and what I about to take on and take it one piece at time. It’s just another 1.2 mile practice swim. After getting our wetsuits on Kevin, Brad, and I realized our wave was already lined up. Oh crap guys we have to go!!

Over in herd like cattle, we have our gear on and we’re ready to jump in. Did I mention I’ve never had a deep water start and just a year ago I was not a swimmer? The count down went much faster than I thought it should have and off the horn went. Oh boy time to swim. The water was super choppy and it’s a great thing that I did Champions Tri and the Lake Travis Open Water Swim to prepare me for this day. I took something before the swim to help keep my stomach settled and it’s a good thing. Waves were slapping me in the face and on my head and I had to struggle to catch a breath sometime. But I had to trust my training. In the back of the crowd where I’m comfortable I started my swim. I’m thinking to myself “stay out of the chaos, and just relax”. Stay out of the way is exactly what I did and then over my right shoulder I see a life guard coming up to me and he blows his whistle, and points me back on course. I was way off course and swimming more distance than I needed. Back on course I felt comfortable enough to get in the mix and I got hit a couple of times. No problem I’m bigger than most so they can’t swim over me. Then I felt my swim cap coming off. Off it came and went in front of me and with this being my first 70.3 swim cap I didn’t want to lose it. I grabbed it when my right hand came over and using a “3-3-3 swim stroke” with my left arm. I kept swimming while I stuffed my swim cap down the front of my wetsuit. Around the first turn it was time for the long straight away, this seemed like it went on forever. Now swimming in a different direction it was time to adjust for the waves. I did and started getting hit more since I was in the mix. So what I thought, just keep swimming because they can’t stop me. I made it to the last turn and thought, “WOW, I’m really going to make this.” Out of the water and up the exit ramp I see Head Coach Maurice and Dr. Chris Sellers. Wetsuit off, rinse the salt off and then head for the bike, was my plan and executed like clock-work. Friends were there cheering and gave them all a high-five. At my bike I focused, take don’t panic and do everything in the order they have been laid out in. I’m out of transition and now in my element on the bike.

After briefly forgetting how to work my watch I got it going and hit the seawall and started picking off other cyclist one by one. I focused on keeping a high cadence so my legs wouldn’t burn out and be conservative. By this time I knew goal three was going to happen, finish what I start and become an Ironman 70.3 finisher. The wind was strong and I looked for a flag to see how it was hitting us. Headwind ok, deal with it for 28 miles and then I can fly back home and make up speed. I see the leader Chris Lieto heading back in and the others are chasing him down. I then see Tom, Kevin and several other training mates. My nutrition is right on target and I get to turn around and briefly stop to switch my bottles around and then I’m off. I quickly think, what the heck, this is supposed to be a tail wind, NOPE!! It’s hitting me from the other side of my face and I think CRAP!! Oh well, I went conservative on the way out so I can push it on the way back and that’s what I did. I held a higher cadence and pushed it back home. The miles counted and at mile 46 I started my end of the ride nutrition plan, water only and settle all the other nutrition down and I started counting down the miles 9, 8, 7etc.

Back into transition, put on running watch and the rest of my running gear and I’m off. Right out of the gate, there was the T3 crew and it was great to see them there. I’m feeling good and I’m going at a sub 9 pace, oh crap that is way to fast so I slow it down and try to settle in. I started seeing other teammates on the course and that really helped because this just now a multiple loop long run with the people I’ve trained with for the past 4 months. I see Kevin and this really boost my spirits and I press on. Loop one done, 3 more to go. It was hot and I was taking water and Gatorade on until my stomach got un-happy. Enough my stomach said, ok ok I get the point. I thought if I don’t walk a little and settle my stomach down this could be very bad. So I did, and things got back on track. Run Chris run, that what I needed to do and that’s what I did. 2 ½ more loops and I met up with Gwen at mile 11. We were both heading to the finish line and we kept each other going. Mile 12, I couldn’t stop smiling, 12.5, the crowds got deep and we picked up the pace. I told Gwen to go on and I then turned on the after burner. There it was the finish line and I wanted it all to myself. I crossed the finish line and jumped in the air. I did it!! I was now an official Ironman 70.3 finisher!!

It’s one of the best feelings ever to know you did something all on your own and no one gave you anything.

Thank you to Kevin for your love and support, my family for never telling me I couldn’t, and thank you to all of my great friends, training partners, and the great T3 family.

Now it’s time for some rest and relaxing training before starting the Ironman journey in June.

IRONMAN ARIZONA OR BUST!!!

HELLO, HELLO, IS THIS THING ON??

Yes a week before my first Half Ironman race I think it's time to start updating the blog (I'll try to post at least weekly until Ironman in November). I've even updated our race schedule for 2010.

As I sit here looking over the workout schedule for the upcoming week, I reflect on how far my training has come over the past year. If you recall I started swimming almost a year ago after spending a couple of years on duathlon circuit and this time next week Kevin and I will be dropping our bikes off in transition for the Ironman Texas 70.3 on 4/25. This also happens to be Kevin's birthday and he just couldn't think of anything better to do for his birthday.

When I started the swim clinic last year my very long range goal was to be able to finish a 70.3 in the next couple of years but after having my first taste of triathlons at Jack's Generic Triathlon lat August, I was hooked and wanted more. More is exactly what I've gotten since. I've spent many many hours swimming and building up my distance and next week I will put it all to a test.

Stay tuned more to come!!!