Journey Back to Kona Day 140: The Rubber Meets the Road

13 weeks to Ironman St. George, which also happens to be a World Championship race. If I am going to have the best race possible, there is no longer any time to waste.  It could be argued that I've already passed the point of no return, but I am rejecting that.  Two years ago, I was far less prepared and fit, and was going to do the race around the same time. In fact, it was February 24, 2020, a week before the world changed.  This time, I'm at a nadir of my physical fitness, and haven't been too far behind in terms of my mental fitness.  But, and I still don't really know if this is true yet, now is the time. It's time for the rubber to meet the road.  

If I'm truly going to be prepared in 13 weeks, it's time to go all in.  That means training every day. That particularly means putting in lots of hours on my bike.  And it means, continuing to put up the run numbers that I've grown accustomed to.  And, yes, it means swimming.

I started yesterday with my nearly 10 mile hilly run. I didn't push hard, but also didn't run too easily.  That went well.  Check.  In the afternoon, I got on my bike for almost an hour and just rode for fun.  That actually included some relatively hard efforts.  That went well.  Check. I'm anticipating getting in the pool before the week is over.

The backstop to all of this is that it doesn't matter.  I will not be defined by whether I'm fully prepared for St. George.  In fact, I will not be defined by whether I even do the race! It's just another goal. I've had many goals in my life and I've accomplished many of the most difficult among them. If I let my goals define me, I'm not who I want to be.  I just want to be me.  Maybe, that's actually where the rubber meets the road.

The past week has been a struggle, but for that matter, so have the past six weeks. I've struggled to find my balance point, and in doing so, the motivation to train has been subsumed by other motivations.  There's no right or wrong to which motivation should provide me my goals.  I've hit a lot of other goals over the past few weeks.  However, getting out of the bike yesterday was a reminder that I have unfinished business in St. George and that I still have my Journey Back to Kona. So, this week, the rubber meets the road.