Dave’s Triathlon Journal

I had a dilemma on Saturday. My wife was out of town leaving my son and I to hang out for the day. I really wanted to get a run in but he is 7 years old and not old enough to be left alone.

So, we packed up his bike and headed to one of local tracks. He switched his time between riding beside me on the track and the playground structure. We had a great time.

When I think of the lessons he will bring from mornings like that, it reinforces one of the reasons I spend the hours training that I do: to give my son a positive role model about exercise, discipline, goal setting, etc.

We didn't talk about any of those things nor did he necessarily mention anything about what we were doing. He only knew he could ride his bike and play on the playground. But when we talk about Ironman Lake Placid or watch one of the Ironman races on TV, I can tell that he's getting it.

And I suppose it's like any other lesson we teach our children. Even though we may try to teach the lesson at age 7, we never really know if they get it until much later in their lives. I've learned that's part of the risk and reward of being a parent.

Two Sundays ago I did 12 miles and felt great. I mowed the lawn that afternoon and settled in to watch the Patriots lose:) Getting up off the couch I felt a twinge in my left hip/glute area.

After making a couple of attempts to run after that I decided to get it checked out. Fortunately it was nothing serious and after a recent trip to my chiropractor it feels great.

My time off did mean I missed some key workouts including a long Sunday run. I've had a good week this week getting a bike ride and along with a couple of hours in the pool and a one hour run.

We are supposed to have a great weekend weatherwise so I'm looking forward to a nice ride Saturday and long run on Sunday!

I began my official training for the Disney Marathon this week. My schedule for the past several weeks has not had any structure and I'm ready to begin following a stricter routine.

This morning I hit the pool. My first trip there in several weeks. I spent about 50 minutes there and get through about 2,200 yards though for all I know it was somewhere between 1,000 and 3,000. I'm amazed at how difficult it becomes for a college educated person to count when in the pool. I must think about 20 different topics in a 200 yard set. I'll think about what I'm going to have for breakfast to who I need to call later in the day to what it will be like to swim with 2,000 others at Ironman Lake Placid next summer. My mind seems to become like an MTV music video changing scenes every 10 seconds. As long as an hour in the pool can seem to take, I know the mental discipline I'm developing will pay off come my Ironman time.

This week, I also went out for running for about 6 miles yesterday and I struggled. I went out late in the afternoon instead of my normal morning run and it just didn't feel smooth for the whole 6 miles. I'm definitely looking forward to developing my fitness to a better place. It's no fun struggling through 6 miles when a half marathon used to not be a big deal!

This week has been a quiet one training wise. I have done a couple of 6 1/2 mile runs, a couple of trips to the gym for some weights and a great bike ride yesterday.

We have had an unbelievable stretch of weather for New Hampshire in October. The past week has been mid 70's dry and sunny. The last of those was yesterday before plummeting into the 50's this weekend. So, I did what any triathlete would do, I took the afternoon off to go for a bike ride!

It was absolutely beautiful. The leaves are starting to change and a lot of the roads have had their summer paving completed making for a near perfect ride.

I'm afraid it will be time to dig out the fall and winter riding and running gear next week as I begin my formal training for the Disney marathon taking place in early January.

This week of training has been pretty light. I've done a couple of weight workouts, a short run earlier in the week and two 6 1/2 milers Friday and Saturday. The weather this week typifies New England. Earlier this week we just about hit 80 degrees and this morning it was barely above freezing and I spent fifteen minutes just trying to find all of my cold weather gear!