Aug 4th Persistance through Adversity

Persistence through Adversity

Written by Richard Dance Aug 4, 2013

Sponsored Triathlete of the Year

by the Coeur d’Alene Chamber of Commerce

A great man once said “that which we persist in doing becomes easier not that the nature of the task has changed but our ability to do so has increased.” Using this philosophy he later went on to become notable and the leader of a world-wide movement. That is exactly how I’d describe my journey this year to prepare for the Coeur d’Alene triathlon –  persistence.

But there has been more than that – Adversity. Life goes on while you are training and preparing.  I had a bad fall while snow skiing just before the Coeur d’Alene Chamber of Commerce decided to sponsor me and my official training began.  That set me behind weeks if not months in January and February. 

Then there was the passing away of my Mother in May. That was the first death in our family for many decades.  Then one my son’s moved to CDA and that took two days of helping him move just prior to my running an experimental triathlon in June.  In July we had a financial setback.  Yesterday my Dad passed away suddenly while I was riding the Centennial Trail from Plummer to Wallace. Today I have a toothache and tomorrow we will be moving to another home in Hayden, Idaho.  So all of these events of life and more have occurred while training.  Has this defeated me?  No way.

One of my trainers first told me not to judge my results on a podium finish, but to have target goals and judge my results against that.

Almost anyone in the age 60-64 could beat me at the beginning in all aspects of the triathlon. I’ve looked at their split times and race results and understand now how much persistence it took to achieve them. Instead of viewing them as competitors, I look up to them as examples I can learn from.  Take Frank Garcia for example.  He is the father of Derek, our popular CDA professional triathlete.  Frank is at the top of his game. He just did a 1:23:29 in the Hayden Sprint and placed 6th in the highly competitive 55-59 age group.  He started 4 years ago in a modified sprint and persisted until he did an Ironman in 2011 and a half-Ironman in 2013.  Although not a podium finish he has gold, silver, and bronze time goals for himself that spur him on.  

But a triathlon is more than the sum of 5 split times. The pursuit is just as important.  Look at all the friends that I have met everywhere along the way, and the intrinsic merits of having a healthier and more fit body so I can participate in things of life with my kids and not have a sedentary lifestyle as I age.  I have already succeeded in many of those respects:

• ·         I have biked around Hayden Lake and up highway 95 with my son Tom.
• ·         I have run the Jumpin Beans Extreme relay marathon competing as a three-generation  family with Julienne, Tom, Dave, Jeff, Jacob, and Johnny and with some of my daughter’s-in-law Channing and Kari, and with some of my grandkids Cameron, Braden,  Dallin, and Ann Marie.
• ·         I have swum off my son David’s dock with my kids and grandchildren.
• ·         I have cheered on my daughter, Maria, in the CDA Ironman this year.
• ·         I just biked 65 miles on the Centennial Trail with my wife Julienne and 7 friends.
• ·         In short I have been an active participant in life

And I discovered an extra blessing today.  At 157.5 pounds I can fit into most all of my Dad’s clothes.  I wore one of my Dad’s favorite suits (including his size 32 slacks) to church today to honor his death. That could not have happened without preparing for the CDA triathlon. 

I had always envisioned running the Olympic Distance. That is all the CDA tri has stood for all 30 years, and I am so close to being there. I first broke the barrier for the bike in late June. On July 27th when I last rode the tri bike course I felt I was attacking and enjoying the hills not just enduring them.  My second barrier was running.  On July 13^th I still couldn’t run 5K continuously. I had to stop about every mile.  My first continuous run was July 19^th for about 4.5 miles. My second was July 24^th for 4 miles. Now I can do it on a consistent basis and have stretched it to 6.  I have yet to break the barrier in swimming.   In my last swimming lesson, Derek Garcia said I would know if I was ready for the Olympic Distance by Wed Aug 7^th based upon if I could swim 250 yards rest, and then swim another 250 in the crawl stroke and rest again.  I only had to repeat that 6x for the race. He said I was totally fit for the biking and running parts, but just beginning to get the hang of swimming.  I have progressed so far in swimming since the Hayden experimental tri.  I am so close but won’t make it this time.

Has adversity taken it’s toll? Yes, but not in the important things of life. Moving, hosting guests, and preparing for my father’s funeral will be the priority this week and this will make the Scenic Sprint the race I run on Saturday. 

In fact when I heard of my Father’s death yesterday, I mentally prepared to forgo the race entirely and just speak at his funeral. I thought of what I was going to put in this letter to you as I wouldn’t be there to cheer you on.  But my siblings chose Aug 17^th as the funeral date and I will get to see you on Saturday. 

If you reach the finish line before I do, cheer me on. I will be wearing #105 in the Scenic Sprint age 60-64 group. After my finish I will be there to cheer you on. Together we can do it. Will I graduate and ever be able to do the CDA Olympic distance Tri?  Yes, persistence will eventually overcome adversity. So I will see you in future years too.

August 1st - No Workout and Lots of Food Eaten

The title says it all. We had guests for dinner and it seems that I just munch and munch when it is a buffet rather than a sit down dinner with better portion control. I am sure that I weigh more today.

July 31st - Disappointment

After yesterday's successes I thought today would build upon it, but that was not the case in two ways.

First, I arrived early at Honeysuckle Beach so I could run the Hayden Sprint 5k route and see how much better that I was than a few weeks ago. I had not had any breakfast.

I ran solid the whole 5k without stopping but my watch at the end said 26 minutes and 30 seconds.

During the Hayden Triathlon race I ran it in 26:34 maybe with some adrenalin flowing.

I thought that I would have improved to at least to 25 minutes for the route. Not so. Only 4 seconds.

Second, Derek gave me my second swim lesson at the beach and I couldn't swim worth a darn. Apparently you use your core muscles in running and if you swim right after that you style, strength, and breathing are not relaxed. That is for sure the case today.

Derek thought I had improved a lot since our first swim lesson. He taught me how to rest on my back, sight down the course, and told me to keep my head down like Gloria suggested.

He said I would know by next Wednesday if I was ready for the Olympic or the Scenic Sprint. If I could go 250 yards without stopping and rest on my back, then go another 250 etc. I would be ready for the Olympic, if not I should do the sprint.

We talked about Derek's Dad named Frank and how well he was doing for his age now. 1:23 for the Hayden Sprint which is excellent for a 50+ year old. His Dad has worked on it for 3-4 years. I believe that the title of my handout for the Hayden Tri will be "Persistance" and the title of my talk to the CDA Chamber of Commerce will be "No Instant Stardom Here".  I can learn a lot from him and plan to call and talk with him.

I am glad things are clicking into place but it takes persistance and hard work to be at your best even for a sprint distance.

July 30th Run & Bike Hayden Lake

When Julienne suggested last night that we bike around Hayden Lake with Shiela Sharp     I said yes I'd love to go. 

This morning the alarm went off at 5:30am. I got up and off running the 4.3 miles from our home to Honeysuckle Beach. I can't believe my time and how smooth it was. Maybe because it was downhill and maybe because it was a lot easier than my descent from Lake Stevens on Saturday, but I ran the 4.3 miles in approximately 33 minutes. That is a 7:40 per mile pace. I haven't ran that speed for years, maybe decades. Usually I am around 8:15 to 8:30 mile pace. I haven't been taking my phone with me the past few weeks and have been running free.  I didn't take it either today. I left home at 5:56 and arrived at about 6:26. That would be 30 minutes for under 7 min miles but without a stop watch I decided that I needed to add a minute on the beginning and the end and probably assume it wasn't a full 4.3 miles like my Apple iPhone 5 Maps apps said it was because that just sounded too good, so I tacked 3 minutes on. Now I am getting interested in seeing what I can really do.

We met Shiela at Honeysuckle Beach and planned to maybe go out and back because I had a conference call at 8:30am and wasn't sure what kind of shape she was in. She is in very good shape. As soon as we started biking and I was behind Julienne and Shiela I could see Shiela's well defined biking calf muscles and knew they didn't get that way without a lot of dedication and effort on her part. She was fun to bike around the lake with.

Julienne and I so much enjoy friends that we do activities with. Although our last son, Johnny,  leaves home for college next month and we become empty-nesters, we are not ready to sit in an easy chair with slippers on and read the newspaper all day long.

My weight?  157.7 pounds. Still 21.7% of body fat, but it sure feels like more muscle is developing.

For the triathlon I have three words now:

Survive the swim
Attack the bike
Glide the run.

We'll see how well they serve me in a few days.

Later on in the evening, I went waterskiing with my son Dave Dance who just moved into his new house at The Falls and starting working at the North Idaho Eye Clinic.  The water was not the smoothest, but I ski without my glasses and can't see it anyway.  After that I began to run home and got maybe a mile to mile and a half in until Julienne caught up with me in the truck and brought me the rest of the way home.  It is so nice to feel free to run anyplace at anytime and feel like I can do it in a gliding relaxed way without too much huffing and puffing. I was sweating when she picked me up and was running up a hill that continues for a mile on Rimrock but gliding up feeling strong while doing so.  That is one of the great benefits of training.

At home I was tired and got to bed at 11pm grateful for the four exercise periods in one day and all the work I got done in between.

Monday July 29th Swimming at KROC Center

A big part of doing the triathlon is the journey along the way and the people you meet and the common interests it gives you.

This afternoon we sold our Thule rooftop cargo box to Jim & Karen Schlosser. What a fine family they appear to be. Jim has completed several Ironman competitions and was in great shape. As an active family Jim & Karen get out and about and with bikes for their 3 kids needed more room for gear. Just like our family when they were at home. I invited them to do some things with our family and Jim specifically to perhaps consider the Hayden Marathon in Oct around Hayden Lake.  That's part of the fun of it.

At the KROC Center I wanted to give an update to Gloria Waggoner ,Program Director, as it has been a while. I told her how biking had finally clicked in, and running was now smooth, and swimming was just starting to come along.

I went to the pool and all of a sudden she is there coaching me along with her wisdom about making sure I breath out all the air and don't shallow breath at the top of my lungs. and that I put my head down and actually look at the bottom of the pool not looking forward like I was and of course breath in the pocket. Her tips are invaluable for the next segment of training. The past week I just felt like I could swim and breathe, now I am ready for more and she was there to give assistance.

She seems like she would be a great boss to work for that is interested in her employees and coaching them to be the best that they can be. Thank you Gloria.

July 26-27th Wow. What a Bike and Hike

Friday morning at 6am Jeff & Julie Crandall, Julienne and I took off on the CDA Olympic Distance Bike Course. We started just outside the downtown area at Michael D's restaurant. I felt on fire. Not only did I go up Yellowstone and Bonnell hill with confidence, but I attacked the Mullan Road segment both up and done. I like that feeling of strength and confidence. I think that I am ready for that course.

Later that afternoon the four of us hiked up to Lake Stevens just beyond the town of Mullan. I liked that too. We followed mostly goat trails right up the mountain and missed the switchbacks that take you up at a more leisurely gain in elevation.

 Jeff & Richard half-way into the hike

 Richard & Julienne at the First Stevens Lake

At the top steep section I did my counting of breathes and reached 60 before I reached the top. That is type of physical fitness I like to have where I look forward to a challenge. Jeff and Julie are really good hikers and lead the pace. They are both in good shape and up for a challenging hike. It is fun to have friends like that.

 Jeff, Julie, and Julienne at the top

 Julienne by the tent Sat morning

On Saturday morning we hiked up to the second lake where Jeff and I dove in for a swim.

 

 Richard coming out of the swim

 I am surprised how I naturally resort to the crawl stroke now, even in a cold lake and feel so much more comfortable breathing in the water. What a change from Monday in my swim class with Derek.

. Jeff, Julie, Julienne, and I in Wallace

after the hike eating Huckleberry shakes

at the Red Garage.

Totally non-fitness food and totally worth it. 

I will continue this post with a picture of the rock that I brought down that made all the fitness difference in the world.

The hike down the mountain would have been pretty routine and easy had it not been for this beautiful green rock which Julienne saw in the rock field.  She jokingly talked about bringing it home as we have done so with rocks from various other memorable hikes. It looked big, but I went back picked it up and thought maybe I could carry it home. So I put it in my back pack which made it lopsided and top heavy. The first 10 minutes or so were awkward but not too hard, then the extra 18 pounds begin to wear on me. It was pulling my shoulders back, pushing on my back, putting tension on the waist strap, and making me work on balance, and descent. It make the remaining part of the hike a difficult workout. I couldn't believe that I was packing that many more pounds on my body a few short months ago. At any rate, the rock is now planted by our front entry way with other rocks we have brought home and I got an extra special workout to boot.

July 25th - A Breakthrough in Breathing the past 3 Days

Tuesday morning I went to the KROC Center and went into the cove pool. I practiced going up and down in the water breathing and then a little bit forward and finally swam 4 lengths of the pool stopping each time to rest and get psyched up to do another length.  I only choked on water once and felt pretty good that I swam the entire lengths in the crawl stroke.

Wednesday afternoon I went to the KROC Center and went to the competitive pool this time.  I swam 8 lengths of the pool, stopping each time at the end of the pool and resting. I did not choke in the water once.

Thursday I went down to Hayden Lake and swam between docks. I swam the length of the CDA Sprint triathlon which is 500 yards. This is how I did it:

80 yards crawl then stop and tred water then the final 20
75 yards crawl then stop and tred water then the final 25
75 yards crawl then stop and tred water then the final 25
75 yards craw then stop and tred water than the final 25
50 yards crawl stop and tred then the final 50.

Not once did I choke and feel threatened about breathing, in fact, I didn't have to concentrate so much on breathing.

I am now finding out that it is my body core and arm strength that is holding me back, plus figuring out how to get my bearings in the water especially if I am swimming in the direction of the sun.

Maybe there is hope for me swimming after all.

I also biked 4 miles today to get to where I was swimming and ran a mile up and down hills, plus did a few push ups.  My weight 157.6. Almost at my goal of 155.