Nick Brown

I had to take my PRT today.  For those non-Navy types out there (you lucky dogs) thats “Physical Readiness Test“.  It is a test that consists of as many push ups as you can do in two minutes, as many situps (which resemble more of a crunch if you follow the letter of the law) in two minutes and then a mile and a half run for time.  Scores are split into 12 differen’t categorized (three levels each of “satisfactory, good, excellent and outstanding”) and then averaged to get an overall score.  The highest score (outstanding high) can be moderatly hard to achieve depending on your age (the standards very) and passing scores are REDICULOUSLY easy to meet.   Maybe because you can’t really run very far on a ship before your out of space….

To avoid ruining my taper, I tried to take the PFA last week, but my boss wouldn’t have it.  Then he had the gumption to offer a day off for any officer that can beat him….I didn’t want to have to take the gloves off but he left me no choice.  I figured the impact from a PFA (less then 13 minutes of total effort for me) on Wednesday wouldn’t impact an Ironman on Sunday.  It might even wake up legs and aerobic systems up.

The pushups were moderately difficult but I had an easy time banging out the maximum amount in 2 minutes.

Situps were easier then they have ever been for me.  Before today, I had only ever gotten the max score once, and it was never easy.  I hit the max number today without ever really having to strain.  I was surprised by this because I haven’t done a situp in months.  I think this speaks volumes to the link between running and core strength.  I did things backwards though.  I think it is better to do situps to improve your running then to run to improve your situps.  Worked out for me in this situation.

I destroyed the run.  1.5 miles in 8:17.  My best by over 10 seconds.  I even felt like I stayed w/in myself (though my heart rate monitor said otherwise).  Nobody else from work was close, and, as expected, I crushed my boss.  CDR Tyer if your reading, I won’t be in next Tuesday. 

Overall, a huge confidence boost before AZ.

A week from now it will all be over.  A few thoughts before my last week of prep:

My Life’s Two Extremes

When I started this blog I had every intention of writing a lot and writing often.  However, I didn’t realize how busy things were going to get.  As I started flirting with 20 hour training weeks and my + 40 hour/week  responsibilities at work continued to mount (freedom isn’t free… ) little things got pushed to the side.  Life became a blur as staff meetings, Tuesday spin, fiscal year stress, dark Wednesday morning rides, project reports, Friday cove swims, peer evaluations, 2.5 hour trail runs, angry executive officers, Saturday centuries and congressional thresholds all mushed together in my tired and frazzled mind.

Ahhh….Much Better

Then all of a sudden I snapped out of it.  Its like I just woke up from a bad dream.  Things at work are stabilizing. I’m tapering (or am I peaking?) with massive amounts of training volume behind me.  I woke up yesterday bright eyed and bushy tailed before any alarm went off for the first time in quite a while.  All that is left is what I expect to be one extremely honest and humbling race day.  Then I can turn my attention back to my neglected social and family life for a while.

I Can Always Become More Balanced

I would be lying if I said that September and October weren’t  a little rough.  But as tough as things got, I really like where I ended up.  I’m going to want to do this again.  As soon as I get past the holidays, I’m sure I’ll be eager to hit it hard.  The difficult part isn’t the endless hours of effort.  That becomes addictive, and almost even fun.  No, the difficult part is balancing everything else necessary to live a healthy, prosperous and compassionate life.  I’ve been straining to to “unlock my potential” for about a year now.  Maybe the peak I’m trying to reach is not as closely related to swimming, cycling and running as I had originally thought.  Maybe what I’m trying to do is prove that I can accomplish extraordinary things while still upholding the normal things.

To My Fellow Sled Dogs…

Unique bonds develop when you spend hours upon hours toiling with a familiar group of people who share similar goals.  I know more about the people I train with then the people I work with.  We can feed off of each other, push each other and keep one another from losing focus, often without a single spoken word.  I can tell the type of day a training buddy is having just by the way they hold themselves on the run, or by their behavior on the bike.  Thank you to Chris, Marty, Luke, Felipe, Dave, Dave, Danial, Matt, and even Shaun “the new guy” for making the hours that much more meaningful.

And of course, thank you Beth for putting up with a boyfriend who can run a sub three hour marathon but can’t dance for thirty seconds.  Thank you for hanging out with a guy who can talk race strategy, aerobic threshold and aerodynamics for hours but crawls into a shell at concerts, clubs and other “normal” social settings.

Well, I think thats enough emotion for now.  No more Red Trolley for me tonight.

Keep it Together and Don’t Hurt Yourself

Just six days left…stay cool man…..

I’d Rather Keep the Wheels on the Bus…

Goals for IMAZ?  I wish I could tell you that my goal was just to finish.  It started out that way, but before I knew it I experienced what I now refer to as “goal” creep.  Eventually, I decided that I wanted to break 11 hours.  Then I started playing the math games, trying to anticipate my splits.  11 hours turned to 10.5, 10.5 turned to 10.  On paper I think I’m capable of that.  I’m sure I can swim 2.4 miles in under an hour.  I’m sure I can hold 21mph for 112 miles.  And I know I can run a 3:30 marathon.  Can I put them all together?  A lot can happen in a race that lasts all day.

Then I made the mistake at looking at past years results.  Marty egged me on, so I blame this on him.  Once I noticed that every year, the slowest Kona qualifer is right at the 10 hour mark, that became a benchmark engraved in my mind.  How cool would it be to qualify for Kona in my first Ironman?  (Ask this guy….)

I need to stay humble.  I will respect the distance.  I will race conservatively, regardless of how good I feel.  I will keep moving regardless of how crappy the conditions get.  I can’t change the deck the course deals me come race day.  When next Sunday night is upon me, If I feel like I kept my cool and ran a strong second half marathon, I will be happy with my performance.  Until I go out and race, I really can’t guess how I’m going to perform for 2.4, 112 and 26.2.

I can’t wait.