Week in Review

I think two words can sum up my life right now: Command and Ironman. I'm fond of both, so that's okay, but they both, rightly so, demand my time. Both had me busy this past week.
Command is a lot of the regular work, but enjoyable. I'm trying to put a lot of time and effort into planning appropriate training for my Soldiers and unit. They were all quite busy this week preparing to work MP duties for the post's Freedom Fest--a big 4th of July fair and event. My Traffic MPs were working TCPs (Traffic Control Posts) and incident tracking, my Bike Patrol were cruising the event with an ever watchful eye, and my Military Working Dog teams were doing sweeps of the area and put on an incredible demonstration. Because they had to work the 4th of July, we had a unit cookout on Thursday. I was very happy to have several family members show up as well!! I have been blessed to have some great Soldiers to work with. My 1SG is top notch, and I recently got a new Executive Officer who is earning his pay check with the number of projects I'm throwing his way! Good times!! It was a 4-day work week as well, and so I enjoyed that as well, especially since next week is a 4-day work week too!
Ironman: Well, I'm in the depths of training, that's for sure! I'm quickly learning that part of the training is adjusting to operating in a physically fatigued state, and by operate I don't just mean make it through the day, I mean make it through the day and get solid workouts in as well. So far, so good. I must admit, I use a lot of mental images to keep me going--I see my friends crossing the finish line at IMFL '08 and IMCdA '09, and I imagine myself out on portions of the course. When I'm having a tough time in the workout, I imagine myself strong in the race because I'm doing the training now that result in strength in the race. When I'm having a hard time getting myself out of bed to get the training done, that's when I imagine myself having a tough time in the actual race and regretting that I didn't do the training. Between the smiling faces of my Ironman friends in my minds eye and the good/bad situations I imagine myself in, I have managed to get everything done. Some swim times and run times haven't been as fast as I'd like, but that's okay. That is part of it. I have to endure fatigue as part of my training because the conquering 140.6 miles in one day is GOING to make me fatigued and I have to know how I can work through that and keep on pushing.
This week's totals are:
Swim: 7900 meters 2h 42m 23s
Bike: 148.24 miles 8h 06m 02s
Run: 28.47 Miles 4h 01m 54s
Strength: 55 minutes
Nearly 15 hours worth of tri training, and 55 minutes of some strength work. Capstones of the week were a 3300m swim workout; 82 mile bike ride, and 12 mile run (not all on the same day!!).

I did get a chance for a little socializing as one of my cycling friends had several of us over to his house for dinner. I then spent another hour or so shooting the breeze with a fellow commander and triathlete. Of course, one of my best friends is Tanya, my Ironman training buddy. I'm quite sure I wouldn't make it through some of the long rides if she wasn't out there training as well. In fact, I'm pretty sure I'll be headed to Ironman Arizona two weeks after my race in order to cheer her to the finish line. All is well, and tomorrow is a day-off from work, an easy swim and a MASSAGE! So, a great start to the week!