I will survive!

What a week, in every aspect! Work seemed to be a hurricane of activity up to Friday. On Friday we had a very nice Memorial Service for two of our Military Working Dogs that passed away this year. Sad yes, but they did both had 2-3 deployments under their belts and had served the Army and their handlers well. We then awarded one of our Military Working Dog handlers an award for his service to the unit before he PCS' (moves), and another Soldier got a coin from the Directorate of Emergency Service's Sergeant Major for her excellent work in putting together the Memorial Ceremony. We then moved directly to a nice retirement ceremony for a high quality NCO who joined the Army before I was born, served, had a break in service and came back when the Gulf War started. He saw the Cold War, the Gulf War, Somalia, special ops in Latin America, a tour in Korea, and a combat tour to Iraq where he earned a Bronze Star and was awarded a Purple Heart when he was injured by an IED. A truly spectacular career of selfless service. Following that ceremony we all went to lunch together. The culminating event of the week, however, was a "professional development film," in other words, I took my senior leaders to go see "GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra." Seriously! We needed a little breather, and it was a lot of fun. I wasn't disappointed by the film. They did a good job of tapping into the comic and the action figures. Yes, I grew up with GI Joe and was a HUGE fan. I caught a lot of the lines that they used to use, and in general it was just fun. It's not meant to be a real military flick, it's meant to be based upon the characters from the cartoon and the action figures. Of course, I wish I had longer legs and could be Scarlett, but at least I have the hair going for me!! I look forward to the next one, because it's OBVIOUS there will be a #2!

So, after a very full, and generally productive work and workout week I came to my biggest weekend of training ever. Saturday called for a 110 mile ride followed by a 5 mile run, and Sunday called for a 16 mile run. I wasn't sure how it would all go and was a little intimidated by it all. But, come early Saturday morning I was out and going and knocked out 110.2 miles in about 6:01 and then did a decent 5 mile run in 42:40--much faster than I thought I would, and yet I felt like I was shuffling. I was thinking Ironman pace for both the bike and the run. I think I'll probably have a faster pace on the bike in FL because it'll be flat. I had a decently hilly, though not killer, route and the wind was BRUTAL from start to finish. The run speed, I dunno, I'd love to keep 9min/miles and do a 4 hour Ironman marathon, but we'll see. I thought that 5 mile run would hurt, but it didn't. The heat was brutal, but I was squeezing cold water on my head and the helped. Much longer though and the heat would've beat me down. After the long brick (bike/run) workout, I took a nice ice bath and relaxed. Unfortunately, I didn't sleep well. I think I may need a new mattress. But, I was up and out the door by 6AM for the 16 mile run that I thought would be horribly slow and hurt. But, it wasn't. Sure, I could feel Saturday's workouts, but it wasn't nearly wasn't as difficult as I had imagined. I was ready to be done when I was done, but I wasn't dying. It wasn't the fastest long run ever, but at an 8:46/mile pace I cannot complain. My heart rate stayed lower than I expected it to do so. Could I do another 10 miles at that pace, maybe not exactly at that pace, but not too much further off. This was a great weekend of confidence building. It's still a good ways off till race day, so I'm excited to see what the next 2.5 months of training make of me. This week I actually surpassed my entire 2008 bike mileage...and there are still 3.5 months left in the year! I was supposed to swim more this week--but I got rained/lightening canceled 1.5 times (once fully, once half-way through), but otherwise, here is what this week looked like in the numbers:

S: 5100.00 Meters;; 1h 53m
B: 169.81 Mi 9h 11m 03s
R: 45.00 Mi; 6h 23m 22s