Tuesday

Good morning! I hope you are doing well on this new day, another gift from God. Each breath you take is a gift and a sign you are totally dependent upon him for life. Trying making your own breath of life - ha ha.

Well, I have little to report on the endurance front. In fact, since I did nothing in that category, I have nothing to report about me. I do have a friend, though, John H, not the usual John H, who is doing great! He is becoming a running, lower his time as he increases his distance. Good job, John Hudson!

I did not go swimming last night. Why? Because I did not want to! I have that luxury presently. I am giving myself all of November to do what I want or not do what I don't want, within reason of course. I am getting pretty eager to get going again, but resting is good too.

This evening I was going to run with my buddies, but Cora changed that. Instead I will run 5.6 miles this morning, so I can take Cora out to eat to celebrate my 56 years of life. Sorry guys, if there is choice between you and Cora, I don't even have to think about it. You know I still love you too, right? Tim the Elder understands very well, I'm sure.

OK, we are reaching far into the record category for preregistration for the Give Thanks 4. It's almost making me afraid! It should be an exciting day. The numbers are putting me in a heightened state of preparation, though most of it is already ready. We did order more shirts yesterday.

Here we go! Thanks for stopping by.

Monday

Good morning! It's Monday, and you know that's OK with me. It is a bit windy out there, so I need to watch for flying trash cans, etc. Really.

How was your weekend? I hope you enjoyed the mild temps. I found the warmth to be quite pleasant, after the really cold stuff last week.

Isn't is sad/bad I'm struggling to remember what I did Friday night - ha ha? I think we had a quiet evening at home. Yes, that's it, a quiet evening at home.

Saturday I had a nice run with 8 other guys. We are all still in the recovery stage from Ironman or from the Monumental Marathon, so everything is pretty relaxed and enjoyable. There is a lot of talk about what we are going to do in the Spring. It's looking like Louisville half marathon and full marathon are going to be the things we will focus on. I am thinking pretty hard about the full and trying to qualify for the Boston Marathon again. It would be for the 2016 race. We'll see.

I think after the event in Louisville, the next focus will be the Terre Haute triathlon. I am glad about this, because I need to go back over there and swim better. In fact, I need to ride better and run better also. I am pretty sure I can improve all three.

Saturday afternoon I got on my roof with leaf blower and cleaned my gutters. It is the best/easiest way to do the job. The only problem was frozen water in the north gutters. It was thawed enough I could grab it and pull it out. The upside was all the leaves were stuck in the ice. They came out easily with the string of ice.

Yesterday I did not speak, so I had a little extra time in the morning. I decided to take advantage of the time and the warm weather. I went out and ran the Give Thanks 4 course. That went pretty well, better than I expected. I like the course.

Speaking of the Give Thanks 4, we have 35 more preregistered people than last year! And we had 175 run the race last year, so I am hoping we go north of 200 runners, which is amazing. I think everything is coming together nicely for the race. I have to spend some time finalizing volunteers today and doing lots of final prep stuff.

Rebecca and Micah came home Saturday evening. They were on their way to Pennsylvania for Thanksgiving. It was nice to see them. I smoked chicken, brisket, and ribs for the nice meal we had Saturday evening. They left yesterday morning. I hope they keep an eye on the big winter storm heading their way.

OK, that's what I've got for this morning. Busy day/week ahead but a good one! Thanks for stopping by.

Friday

Good morning! It's Friday but I guess you already knew that. It's going to be a bit warmer today, which is a good thing. It is amazing, though, how quickly we (at least I) adapt to whatever the weather is. I found yesterday's 30 to feel quite OK, after the teens and twenties. This early cold snap, I think, will make the rest of the winter more manageable, at least our perception of cold. The problem, like last year, will be the duration, since we are starting so early. Oh well, enough weather philosophy.

Even though a bit sleep deprived from Wednesday night/Thursday morning's activities, I felt pretty good most of yesterday and got a fair amount accomplished. I did go see my friend and spent some time with him and his brother. I encouraged them to work on getting some transportation. They really need to be connected with church and with some of the four AA meetings we have in our church building. They desire both.

The day got better as it progressed. It ended with a good 5 mile run. Bill, Roy, John, Tim B. and I all ran, and since we all sport GPS watches, we ran a full 5 miles. We all knew it was the right thing to do, though Bill mildly chided us for something. I know that's hard to imagine, for those who know him - ha ha. I love my running buddies. The run felt really good last night. Running with friends has allowed me to speed up easily. I am really looking forward to working hard at running again.

The real highlight of the day was stopping by to see Cora. After the run, I went by there. Kedra, after a trip to Walmart, also came, so we had a nice little visit. Little Cora lights up my world. She is changing so quickly. Pure joy!

I have a funeral today. It's going to be easy and hard - easy because the lady was such a good one, hard because of the difficulty of saying good-bye for now. It's all going to be OK.

Tomorrow a run at 8 a.m.

Thursday

Good morning! How are you today? I am a little off schedule, and I hesitate to tell you why. After thinking about it for a while, I am going to tell you what happened, probably more as a cathartic move for me than anything else. Forgive me if this is inappropriate.

The last few nights I have not slept super well. I think it's easy to understand why. I am not training hard, and I am not eating super well. My body does not know what to do with either one, I think. That's fine. I will fix both really soon.

Last night I went to bed and was sleeping but not sleeping great. About 1:30 I heard it about the time Kedra spoke about it, "Your phone is ringing." Of course a phone ringing interrupting sleep is always disturbing. I cannot see without my reading glasses, so I answered blindly, hoping it was not one of my children. Thankfully, it was not any of them.

It was a guy I know very well, a guy who has had a very troubled past, a past that still haunts him. I became involved with him--striving to help--several months ago. He needed food and friendship. I've been trying to give him both, both are limited for all kinds of reasons. He has been in prison for some bad stuff and still struggles with addictions and depression.

I really like him. He has a gentle soul and kind demeanor. Over the last few months I have taken him places and taken him food, prayed with him, and tried to encourage him. He has no transportation and lives in the middle of nowhere in a nearby county. Often our trips turn into adventures as he asks me to go another place or two while out. I've learned to plan for it. Once a 30 minute trip turned into a two hour odyssey.

The call last night, actually early this morning, was a call for help. He was stranded in Mitchell and needed a ride home. I asked all the usual questions, trying to get out of getting out of bed. "Can't you stay where you are?" No. "Can't so and so take you home?" No. No. No. No. "OK, I will come and get you."

In the call, he named a person or two I know. They are people I have helped in the past. They have a very troubled past as well. As I pulled on my clothes and stumbled toward the garage, I wondered what I was walking into. I figured my friend was drunk and high. I knew the other folks were likely the same. While I trusted my friend would not be mean, I had some concern about the others.

Honestly I had the thought I could be walking into a set-up by some desperately addicted people who were going to take advantage of me. "Am I going to get shot/knocked out, so they can take my money and my car?" I'm almost ashamed to admit that, but it was there. I prayed it away, asking for protection. I developed a plan for avoiding a problem, but I did not have to employ it.

I pulled up the address my friend gave me. I knew exactly where he was and the kind of folks who live there. Wouldn't you know it? The streets lights around the place were all out. It was dark, very dark. I locked my doors and carefully pulled in front of the house, looking all around.

Mercifully, my friend was watching for me and came out of the place by himself. I unlocked the door and let him in. He thanked me and immediately confessed, "Allen I had a beer, actually 3, maybe 4-5." Then added he had been smoking weed as well. He summed it up, "I am stoned." He was very sorry and kept apologizing.

He told me it all started with a deer. He or someone killed a deer, and he wanted to share it with some others. The others are the ones who offered him the stuff he really does not need. He knows he needs to stay away, yet it is the pull we all feel, the pull to go places we should not go and do things we should not do. I am not much different than him. My vices are different and less noticeable, more acceptable, I suppose.

I took my friend home, about a 15 minute drive. He apologized over and over. I told him it was OK. When we got to his place, he wanted me to turn off the car and talk. I told him I would come over later today to talk. I prayed with him and was thankful he opened the door and got out of the car. I drove home, watching for deer. I was back in bed a little before 3 but did not sleep well after that.

There is whole different world out there, a world most of us do not know much about it. I see it quite often and have stepped into it from time to time. I see some of its citizens in our food pantry and at our "giveaways."

That world is easy to judge and condemn, yet I find a lot of faith there, perhaps more than in my world. Most of them don't go to church. They don't feel welcome. I had a lady last week, while she was getting some coats and food, say, "I don't have any good clothes to wear to church."

I think these are the people Jesus cared the most about, pretty sure about that. My problem is I don't know how to enter that world more deeply. All I know to do is to love it, not condemn it, and try to help the people who live there, which I think I do. I must admit is does not feel very satisfying. It seems like an exercise in futility, but I know it is what God wants.

This morning I've received a 4 part text from my friend. He thinks I am mad at him and will never do anything for him again. He is grieving a loss that is not going to occur but probably one he has lived a few times. I will go see him later on. It's all I know to do.

Wednesday

Good morning! It's Wednesday, and it's going to be a really good day, I just know it! I hope you are doing well. We are going up and over the freezing mark today. This is some thing to be positive about, right? If it hits 40 today, we are going to feel like we have hit a heat wave. This is the good benefit of really cold weather really early in the winter. The relatively milder weather is going to feel really good.

Yesterday was a good day, and like most days, the things I planned and things that actually happened did not match. I know that going in everyday, so it does not bother me much at all. I just try to stay faithful in whatever I'm doing.

I forgot to tell something. Ben has been anticipating deer season for a little while. He has done the scouting and prepping necessary. Saturday was opening day of gun season, so he was out early. He did not get anything, so he went back out in the evening and, again, came home without getting one. Meanwhile my beautiful daughter called about 10:30 Saturday night to say she did get a deer. The problem with this is that she got the deer with her car. So she is now carless, as it sits in Rockport, IN awaiting the verdict from the insurance company. Thankfully Rebecca and her passenger, Melissa, were not hurt.

Last night three of us braved the elements for a little 5 mile run in Bedford. Bill, John, and I got it done. It was nothing spectacular, but we completed the course. Since all three of us are GPSsers, we did a true 5 mile run - ha ha. I am pleased with how I am progressing. I leaning hard toward doing the full marathon in Louisville, followed by the Terre Haute tri in May. These two events will keep me focused this winter, I think. I really want to restore my running, and doing a spring marathon should do the trick.

Today I am gong to rest from endurance work. Tomorrow at 4:45 John and I are planning to run. Bill may join also. Who else wants a Thursday evening run? We'll see...

Tuesday

Good morning! So I am hearing there is another 2 hour delay. It seems our culture has gotten so soft. Everyone should be like the guy in the picture. Get out there and toughen up a little! C'mon man! Part of me would love to rant and rave about the softness of our culture and how people don't know how to work hard and handle adversity, but it would be an exercise of little value.

I guess one of the reasons I like endurance athletics is that it requires you to address the issues of your own softness. I am often exposed and then try to work through it. The guys I associate with are some of the most tough-minded people I know. They really help me, which in turn, helps me to better deal with all areas of life. Don't under estimate discipline in one area carrying over to other areas of your life. Start with one thing and let it move to others.

When my children were growing up I used to speak to them about a "wide range of comfort." This was usually spoken to a complaint about it being too hot or too cold or too something. My mini sermon was about trying to adapt/accept a wide range of temps (or whatever) instead being focused on 1 ideal temperature. You get the point, and I think it is an important one. If you have a wide range, then you will not complain (as much).

Yesterday was busy busy. There is a certain "hecticness" to my life right now. I am trying to figure out what it is and deal with it. It's not bad and I don't think I'm complaining--that's not my intent. There are a lot of little things that seem to pile up on each other. Probably nothing that a bunch of lists will not take care of -- ha ha. Really.

One of the things on the front burner is the Give Thanks 4 Road Race.  It's coming along really well. I think we will have our best race yet. Our preregistration is strong, as is our brand, I think. We work hard to create a good, fun, encouraging atmosphere. If you are on Facebook and have not yet, pleas go to our Give Thanks 4 page and "like" it. We put out good, helpful information daily.

Today is going to be good and busy one. I think I am going to Bloomington and Loogootee. Jet-setter, that's what I am. I will be looking forward to at run at 5:15 from Parkview. Hopefully I will not be alone.

Have a good 'un!

Monday

Cora enjoying a cool Saturday

Monday morning! Good morning! Looks like there is a little snow on the ground. North Lawrence has pulled the 2 hour delay trigger, and I figure before I finish this, Mitchell will do the same. So it starts...

I don't have a lot to report this morning. I had a nice 4.87 mile run on Saturday. This is what Garmins measure the normal "5 mile" Hillcrest Circle/back run as. It has become a running joke (see what I did there?) between the neo-Luddites and those of who love our GPS devices. We are accused of being slaves to them etc., which is probably true - ha ha. Oh well, I caved and stopped short, figuring I would take one for the neo-Luddite team.

Two weeks past Ironman I am feeling pretty good. I have another couple of weeks of just doing what I feel like doing, and then I will develop a plan for something, depending on what race I choose to focus on. I like where I am right now. It's pretty relaxing, especially after a year+ of focused training.

Well, we do have the 2 hour delay, which doesn't affect me too much. Kedra, as a teacher, is of course affected, but I think she will probably go in at the regular time and take advantage of the extra time to prepare. I will probably go for a 5 mile run around daylight. It does not look too slick out there.

Overall the weekend was good and relaxing. After the run and breakfast at Golden Corral, I went home and worked on church stuff for a couple of hours. Then it was firewood time. I had put the completion of gathering my wood until after Ironman. I was fearful of getting hurt. This means I was a little behind, but I fixed that on Saturday. I worked for 3-4 hours - cutting, splitting, stacking. It is good cross training. I enjoy it. Sunday came and went and went well.

OK, I will let you get back to regular life. Thanks for stopping by!

Friday

Hope this is not you!

Good morning! It is Friday! And since I did not get everything done yesterday, it is going to be busy work day for me. That's OK, I'm an Ironman - ha ha. That's my new joke/mantra with Kedra. This may backfire, for she revealed last night she may use this to motivate me. "What do you mean you can't clean the garage (insert any/all activities here), you are an Ironman. You can do anything." Oops. Did I mention I didn't do the swim?

Today I finish up my sermon, hopefully. Then I will spend a little time with the preschool kids. I love those little ones. They are funny and precious.

After that I am taking a guy to meet his probation officer in Martin County. I've been working with this guy for a while and really like him. He has quite a past but is a gentle soul trying to live in a different story.

I ran yesterday morning. It was OK. It is only my 3rd run after Ironman, so I shouldn't expect a lot, I suppose. I am purposefully just taking a day at a time, not thinking too far ahead, giving myself permission to not plan anything just yet. I think my goal right now is to try do something about 5 days a week. Tonight I may go swim, and I think there will a group run in the morning.

OK, if you want more, then you can go back and read my RAIN Report 2011. This is the epic fail that led to Ironman Florida.  What's that, you say you don't care? Oh, that's fine. I will never know.

Have a great weekend!

Thursday

Kinda Funny

Good morning! Thursday, all day long, it will be Thursday. What will this day bring? I can let you know tomorrow, if you want. What's that? You don't really care that much. Oh, OK, I understand.

Today is "Prep for Sunday" day, the day I try to get a sermon pretty much formed. Sometimes it happens and sometimes it doesn't. As it looks right now, I do not see too many things to take away from prep time. Sometimes I have meetings etc. that crop up. Right now, after some early morning stuff, I appear to have a clear day.

I plan to go for a 5 mile run before 8 a.m. I am still trying to figure out what is next for me, and I am very much at peace about not knowing. In the meantime, I want to stay in touch with running, biking, and swimming. Running will be the easiest thing to do. Biking is now going to require setting up my old bike on the trainer, and swimming requires a trip to the pool. Yes, running is the easiest by far.

Right now I am thinking of just doing an hour a week on the trainer, just to stay in touch and keep my rear end toughened up. I am thinking of swimming 1-2 a week and working on improving over shorter distances and not worry about going long at this point. It looks Louisville is going to be the focus for a lot of my friends. I will probably go that direction. I am thinking marathon (as opposed to half marathon), even though I've said I would do a spring marathon. Oh well...

Yesterday was a busy. good day in the ministry world. So many people have so much going on. And as I have said many times before, I can't really say much about it.

OK, I have an early breakfast, followed by a run. Here we go!

Wednesday

Cora enjoying the warm morning yesterday

Good morning! Here we go - another day, another gift from God. I'm a little on the draggy side this morning. I was sleeping well until I heard Kedra's phone ringing at 2:30 this morning. I woke her up to answer it, asking, "Who is it?" I'm always concerned it will be one of our children with a problem. Caller ID said it was not one of the children and was from someone we did not know, so she didn't answer it. The problem was both of us did not sleep well the rest of the night. That's the way it goes sometimes. I'll be fine. Hey, I'm an Ironman - ha ha. And you know I had to stay up past my bedtime to finish the event.

Yesterday was a busy one. There seemed to be lots of stuff going on all around. The most interesting thing was a woman who came to the food pantry. I know her. She used to work for me along time ago. She does not ask for much and only when she really needs something. As I was talking with her, helping her, she thanked me for helping her daughter in law a while back. I really did not know who/what she was talking about.

As she explained the situation and described the person we helped, it all came back to me. I can't go into details, but it was a messy situation that required discernment and a real risk that we were being conned. We opted to help anyway. The conversation yesterday confirmed we did the right thing. It's rare to get these confirmations. The woman yesterday was tearfully grateful to us (church) for helping her family through a real mess. It's nice to get a little positive feedback and assurance we helped someone. I take it as divine encouragement and am thankful.

Last night I got to run with Jim, Bill, John, and little with Tim M. Tim met us as we were coming back. I have really missed running with my buds, so this was nice. I think we are going to get our Tuesday night runs established again. Who know - there may even be a trip to Wendy's afterwards? We all agreed if we did that, we would swap the frosty for chili. And we would have to eat less than after a long ride.

OK, I really need to get moving... Catch you later.

Ironman Florida 2104 Report

I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast! And when I run I feel his pleasure. ― Eric Liddell

I’m not particularly fast, but I have learned to endure. Ironman Triathlon is all about endurance with its 2.4 mile swim, followed by a bike ride of 112 miles, and capped off with a run of 26.2 miles. Perseverance, endurance, working through challenges, problems and pain is at its core. It’s a wonderful metaphor for life, and for me it is all about my life.

Divine pleasure, a connection with God, is what I experience in endurance athletics. It may have been that way from the beginning. That was more than thirty-five years ago, so I don’t really remember. I do know Ironman Florida, from the moment I signed up, was about that. I signed up in November of 2013 and immediately questioned my decision. At that point I prayed, “If you don’t want me to do this, then make it clear through obstacles or injuries.”

Staying injury-free while training for Ironman is difficult. There is so much wear and tear on the body and plenty of opportunity for injury, especially at 55 years of age. While I struggled with strained hamstrings on the run early in the training cycle, I never experienced anything that kept me from doing all three disciplines. In fact, I believe this was the best training cycle I’ve ever experienced for anything. I took that as God’s blessing and was thankful.

In 2014, leading up to November 1, I:

• swam more than 70 miles 
• rode more than 4600 miles 
• ran around 900 miles 

To the best of my ability I tried to do all these miles during non-work hours and in a way that did not take away from my responsibilities. I know I failed along the way from time to time, for which I have experienced adequate guilt. Kedra constantly encouraged me and kept me looking forward. She is amazing!

All of my running miles were by myself, and all of my swim miles were with others. My bike miles

were a mixture of solo and group efforts. My training partners, whether present or not, were the key to my success. They are amazing encouragers and supporters. Without them my Ironman journey would not have been possible. They are a picture of a true community, a family.

For many years I had labeled triathlons “impossible,” even though I had an interest in them. I had also judged Ironman “absolutely impossible,” because of the time it takes to do one, up to 17 hours. I knew how I felt after marathons run in the 3.5 to 4 hour range. They were was no way to endure 14-17 hours. Absolutely impossible! Yet I was intrigued Ironman, really intrigued.

Then I met friends who were Ironmen, initially running with them. Later I started riding with them, purchasing an old but good triathlon bike, about 4-5 years ago. I wanted to spend time with them, and they rode more than ran in the summer. This led to me signing up to do RAIN – Ride Across

INdiana, a journey of about 160 miles, in 2011. Long story short: I made it 158 miles before a trip to the ER and a night in the Richmond hospital.

My RAIN disaster had me on the course for around 14 hours. As I recovered from that, I thought about how I was working for nearly the same amount of time as an Ironman event. I was fine for most of that time. This allowed me to change my thinking from “absolutely impossible” to “possibly possible.” There was one big obstacle in the way, however. Swimming. Can an old dog learn a new trick?

If you know me, then you know two years ago I could not swim. I literally could not swim, even dog-paddle, to save my life. When I jumped in (eased in, actually) the pool the first night, determined to learn to swim, I was terrified of putting my head in/under the water. Patient friends moved me along week by week and month by month. It was a slow journey.

This year I swam and progressed to a mile and then to 2 miles. Then came the “Iron distance” of 2.4 miles, which I did several times at a rate that would easily get me out of the water before the two hour twenty minute cut off of Ironman. Concerning my progress, I heard the word “miraculous” said with a laugh a time or two. Maybe it was technically not miraculous, but it was certainly divine pleasure, in my mind.

With months of training completed, we made our way to Panama City Beach on Monday. Roy and I rode down in his car. Jim and Rand came a few hours later. Steve and Brent each drove down, arriving Tuesday.

The top priority in the days leading up to Saturday for me was swimming in the Gulf of Mexico. We did this for three mornings, and each time I improved. My confidence level was high regarding the swim. We rode a little and ran a little, releasing some nervous energy. The weather was perfect: 80s and beautiful!

Our families started arriving on Thursday. It was great to see them, especially my precious granddaughter, Cora. For Christmas last year we gave our four children and their “significants” a weekend at the beach. They just had to make their way there. It was wonderful for all of us. We had a beautiful condo on the beach and a wonderful time together.

Leading up to Saturday we registered and got our packets. We attended meetings. We loaded our five bags. You get a bag to keep your biking and running gear in, as well as a bag for your discarded wetsuit and swim wear.  You also get two “special needs” bags, one for the bike and one for the run. These are offered at the halfway point of each discipline and can contain special food, drinks, clothes–whatever might be helpful to you. I put additional clothes in my run bag and very little in my bike bag.

On Friday we had to check our bikes in, along with our bike and run gear bags. After that was finished, I had a nice dinner with my family and an early night. The water was calm on Friday, but the forecast for Saturday was ominous, very ominous. Winds of 20-30 mph were predicted, along with rough water. I did not sleep well.

I got up at 3:45 to eat and get ready to go. We left a little before 5 a.m. I met up with Jim, Rand, Steve, Brent, and Roy. We walked to the body marking area, where our numbers and ages were put on our calves, hands, and upper arms. Next we entered into the bike transition area to make last minute adjustments to our bikes. Steve had a major problem and had to seek support for a tire issue. It was dark, cold, and windy.

While we waited on Steve, we donned our wetsuits and tried to stay warm. He arrived and met us. We were on the verge of being late, but we took time to pray. Since I was, as Jim likes to say, the professional, I asked God to calm us and to calm the water. One out of two ain’t bad, I suppose.

As we walked onto the beach, we heard the stunning announcement. “Due to a dangerous rip tide and water conditions, causing the water safety team to be unable to keep themselves or the swimmers safe, the swim from Ironman Florida has been cancelled.” What?!?

There was a mixture of emotions from the crowd. Some cheered; some cried. I was disappointed and relieved, more disappointed than relieved. Disappointed because I wanted to do this and was ready, ready to overcome so much, ready to prove to myself I could swim 2.4 miles in the Gulf. I was relieved because the water was so rough, dangerous, and intimidating.

Now everyone was scrambling, trying to process and figure out how the thing would continue. They

quickly announced an hour delay. The pros would start the bike portion at 8, and the rest of us would follow them, two by two, beginning with the lowest numbers. Rand, Steve, Brent and I had high numbers. Jim and Roy had low ones. They started over an hour ahead of us.

I started my ride around 9:50 local time, which meant I waited from 6:30 to get on the bike. That was a long time to wait. I changed from my wetsuit to bike clothes and then waited. Fortunately I found Brent, so we stayed together most of the time, talking and waiting. I would have rather been in the water than to have waited that long.

As we waited, we wondered about the windy weather. It was cold, in the low 50s, and very windy. Finally the time came to get in line with my bike. Finally the wait was over. I mounted my bike and headed into the wind. The first 22 miles were into the wind, a wind of 25 mph with higher gusts. It was tough, but this is what I came to do. I had ridden in the wind a lot earlier in the year. It helped prepare me.

The ride was fairly uneventful. I rode fairly well. I remembered a line I saw somewhere during training: “ride what you should not what you could.” In other words, be conservative with your energy. You still have a marathon to run after this. The 112 miles came and went. While the wind was an issue, it didn’t bother me that much. I just dealt with it. What else could I do? I was pleased to average around 16.5 m.p.h.

It was pretty neat arriving back at T2, transitioning from bike to run. I changed clothes and was ready to run. I did not know how my hamstrings would do. They were making themselves known, but the rest of my body felt pretty good. Overall I felt really good. I saw my wonderful family at the beginning of the run course. I stopped for a few seconds to talk with them. Seeing them throughout the day was so encouraging. Good-bye! Got a marathon to run!

It took me a while to get going. I ran the first mile but my legs were really tight. I stopped and walked for a short while. I did a run/walk for the next mile or so. By then my legs loosened up and I started feeling good. I ran from before mile 3 all the way to mile 21, I think. I consciously thanked God numerous times for his blessing of a good day. I stopped briefly to get my special needs bag, changing shirts and getting some special food (pop tarts and jelly beans!). John Heatherly came out and helped me with all that. I was very glad to see him and have his help.

At mile 21 I walked briefly, due to being tired. I then resumed running. I came up on Steve. He was struggling, so I stopped to talk with him to make sure he was OK. I then took off, and I guess he followed me for the next mile or so. I stopped again, and he caught up. We chatted briefly and ended up working together the rest of the way. I think it helped both of us. I had no set time to achieve. I just wanted to finish well, which I did. No medical tent for me!

The finish was amazing! There was a long chute, the last parted carpeted with the Ironman M-dot logo. The crowd, including my family and friends, was screaming, clanging cowbells, making an unbelievable noise! Many had their hands out wanting a high five. I gave it to them. I felt euphoric! I was listing leftward, not sure why, but I raised my hands skyward, so thankful, so grateful to God for the completion of this journey. It was simply amazing! I couldn't hear it over the joyful celebration, but the announcer shouted, "Allen Burris YOU-ARE-AN-IRONMAN!" Dreams do come true, and impossible is possible!

My time was 12 hours and 15 minutes. This, of course, is without a swim time. I feel confident my swim plus transition would have been around 2 hours, maybe a little more. I feel like I would have broken the 14:30 mark, which would have thrilled me.

As I finished, I saw John Heatherly and ran over to him, and then I heard my family on the other side and ran over to them. It was so great to see everyone! I leaned on some volunteers as they removed my timing chip. Then we went to the lady with the medals. I removed my cap and slowly tipped my head forward. She placed the medal around my neck, the medal that wasn’t even in my dreams 3 years ago. I know for her it was nothing special. She had been doing it for a few hours, but for me, it was one of the moments that will go on my life’s highlight reel.

After hugging my family, I made my way to the food tent, where I saw more friends. Then I saw Jim and some others. Jim encouraged me to get a massage. I did, and it was great.

The only problem I had was a couple of bloody toes. Who needs toenails anyway? I saw a couple of signs out on the course: “Toenails are for Sissies.” Indeed! Ha ha.

The day was long but filled with peace. I never felt stressed or nervous, after the swim was cancelled. I was nervous about the swim, nervous but confident I would complete it.  I had a mantra prepared for the day: This is what you came for - finish it! Funny thing, I never had to use it! I never once thought of quitting or even wishing it was over. In fact I found myself thanking God for feeling so good on the run. I felt his presence and his pleasure.

This event is so full of life parallels, but this post is too long already, so they will have to wait. As exhilarating as it was, it is but a dim reflection of the thrill of successfully finishing this life and receiving the crown of life. This is my true purpose.

Thank you to all my family and friends who made the trip south and to all who have been so kind and encouraging along this wonderful journey!

Tuesday

Ride Over - Ready to Run

Good morning! Another new day, another gift from God. Enjoy it! It's warm now and a bit windy, but that's OK. The cold snap will be OK too. It's a good thing the news people don't hype things up anymore. That was sarcasm, just in case you missed it. You'd think from the headlines that we were getting ready to have 20 below weather...

Yesterday sure was nice, even if it was a bit windy. I enjoyed yesterday and was able to spend some time outside. I helped our maintenance guy move a sign. I dug the post holes and helped get it reset. It was a nice break from my regular duties. Then we worked on the lights on our van and trailer. It provided the opportunity to soak up some sunshine in a sheltered area.

I need to get the van/trailer all working well, because I am planning a trip to Moline, IL in the near future to help our new associate minister move. We are eager for him to come. We can get quite a bit of stuff in the van and trailer. I am hoping Ben can go with me to help, and I am hoping we can do a quick visit to the John Deere attractions in Moline while there. We'll see how all that works out.

Yesterday was filled with all the usual Monday stuff--meetings, people stopping by, food pantry, visit to the ReGen Store, greeting the Preschoolers twice, phone calls, emails, etc.--all good things. As I mentioned yesterday, I did carve out time for an hour ride yesterday afternoon. I left Spring Mill Park and headed straight south into the wind, the strong wind. Wow, it reminded me of the Ironman bike ride. This one was considerably shorter. It was good to be out. I don't know how many more outdoor rides there will be.

Today I have a breakfast meeting, followed by a board meeting, followed by some study and research, followed by a visit to the Store, followed by the food pantry, followed by... I hope to end the day on the run at 5:15 from Parkview. The weather could be a little dicey, but I don't think it will be too bad.

Later today I hope to publish my Ironman report. Thanks for stopping by!

Monday a.m.

Running to the Light

Good morning! It's Monday, and that's OK with me. You? I actually like Mondays. It's the farthest away from Sunday, the only day of the week I work, which means I find Mondays pretty relaxing. Part of the last sentence was true. I am trying to find/establish a new routine post-Ironman training.

One of the things that suffered at the hands of hours and hours of training was reading. I have a soft goal of reading a book a week, soft because some books are short and some are long. I hope to average one a week. I am nowhere close this year, but I am working on reestablishing good reading habits.

I am also having to learn how relax and not feel like I have to be training all the time. Yesterday afternoon felt weird to me. Why? Because I didn't swim or ride. I was tempted to ride and even hinted I might, but I felt a tiredness and a lack of desire. Wisely, I think, I opted to take a nap and read some.

Today is going to be a busy one, but I hope to carve out an hour for a late afternoon bike ride. It could be the last outdoor ride for quite a while, maybe even this year. I have been working on switching my wheels out and generally cleaning my bike. I've moved it to the basement where it will live this winter. I am not going to ride nearly as much as last winter, outside or inside. My concentration is going to be swimming and running.

Speaking of running, I really enjoyed Saturday morning's 5 mile run. I got to run with some great friends, and then we ate breakfast together afterwards. I hope to run with the guys at least a couple of times a week, starting this week on Tuesday (5:15 at Parkview).

Hopefully today, or at least this week, I will have my Ironman Florida race report finished. Last week was short because we didn't get home until Monday evening, which compressed everything. I should have some time today and tomorrow to revisit it.

I hope your day and week go really well!

Friday

Cora on Halloween night

Good morning! I am trying to figure out life and my routine post-Ironman. I have been super-focused on November 1 for all of this year. Before that it was on my mind a lot, especially from time we volunteered at the 2013 event. IronBill once said something like this, "Ironman training is a demanding mistress."

While I hope I was not unfaithful to anyone or anything over the last year, there certainly was a time element that was demanding and challenging. During the peak of training I was putting in 15+ hours a week. Of course a lot of that was in a couple of rides - a 100 mile ride would take around 6 hours.

I am still waiting on my Ironman report, and it will include some of the time factors in it. Part of my challenge this week is getting re-oriented and re-focused after such a huge event in my life. I am really struggling with my sermon prep etc. Oh well, I've been here before. A lot of people get depressed after Ironman is over. So far I have avoided the big let down.

The last few days have been busy. We are have our huge ReGeneration Christmas decoration sale on Saturday in our church gym. While I don't do much of the direct work, it is on my mind, and I will be heavily involved Saturday, especially with clean-up. I enjoy watching the day unfold, and I enjoy watching it come to a close.

The urge to run, ride, and swim is growing quite strong. I will resist until in the morning. A group is gathering at 7 a.m. to run. This will be my first run with the group since March, I believe. I am looking forward to renewing this running relationship. My desire is to get faster again, Right now I am thinking of trying to qualify for Boston again. We'll see.

OK, I better get going. I have lots to do today. I hope you have a wonderful day!

Why the Ironman Florida swim was Cancelled

The safety boats could not get into place safely. The decision to cancel was clear.

Wednesday November 5, 2014

Heading out in 20+ mph wind for a little 112 mile ride

Good morning! I hope you are doing well today! I am quite surprised how good I feel. My soreness was all but gone yesterday. Even on Monday going up and down steps was not that bad. I feel like training again already, but I will resist for a few more days. I know my body has not fully recovered yet.

Yesterday I tried to reenter slowly to my life here. I knocked off and cleaned up several things. I had a long lunch with my cousin. He was curious about Ironman and triathlons generally. He bought my lunch. That's always a good thing!

A few hours of the day were spent in trying to capture in words my experience on Saturday. I have 4 pages, 4 pages I am not satisfied with, so I will wait on publication. I will look at it today with a view of editing.

Today will be a busy one for me. I have several specific time appointments/meetings to make, plus just a lot of other stuff. It's all good! I slept fairly well last night. It's weird - leading up to Ironman I did not have the dreams I expected. I am having them afterward! I keep dreaming about my goggles coming off and my bike ride failing. I guess I suppressed those fears pretty hard, and now they are coming out? The mind is a funny thing.

I hope you have a great day!

Standby!

Jim, Brent, Roy, partial Rand, Me, and Steve

OK, I am about ready to fire this blog back up. I will soon have my Ironman Florida report ready.