More from the Wife

Guest Blog #2

by Susan Teeple

So many people ask me what it is like to be married to someone training for an Ironman.

They get this horrific look on their face of pity and fear.  “Do you ever see him?”  “Why is he doing that?”  Honestly, it is not nearly as bad as you would assume.  Recently, it has intensified, and the time commitment is huge.  We do miss him; but I have to say that last night was a great example of how it works. I attended Bible Study with the girls, and Sloan went to dinner with our kids and caught up over chips and queso. I know it is cliche’ to say, but “quality over quantity” is totally working for our family right now.

Basically, this Ironman prep is deemed completely normal in our home.  The kids are used to helping Sloan peel off his soaked shirts after a workout (he wears multiple layers to prepare his body for the heat and humidity of Houston) - sounds easy, but WOW that man can sweat.  Ice baths are insanely entertaining to us - listening for the sounds as he enters the tub. They love hearing stories from his training - like bulls about to charge because William had on red.  Sheer entertainment for a 11, 9 and 6 year old. It’s the new normal.

I cannot wait for race day on May 21st.  I’m sure this makes Sloan nervous, I am a bit aggressive with my support.  The last time Sloan competed was his 70.3 Ironman and I was overheard on multiple occasions yelling “RUN FASTER!!!!”  And on that note, we were talking recently - I know that ipods are “frowned upon” in real athletic circles - but I have told Sloan he is completely nuts if he plans on running the last 26.2 miles of this race without the aid of a little Eminem or Kanye. 

To me, running is all about the tunes.  I ran the Austin marathon a couple of years ago, and when I "hit the wall" on mile 20 - you know who brought me back?  PRINCE.  Yes, Prince.  There are just certain songs that get you through the rough spots and motivate you to run faster - and in my opinion, “Let’s Go Crazy” is one of those songs.  So here is my question....  

What are your favorite running songs?  Let’s compile the best playlist ever - email Sloan at sloan.teeple@suddenlink.net or leave your “comment” for this blog of your favorite songs to run to and we will post the ultimate running play list as it develops.

Take care - and RUN FASTER!

Love,

SUZ

The guys wearing pink in honor of Evie's 6th birthday last week!

Training Schedule For This Week

Here is a look at the typical workouts for a week with 60 days left until raceday.

Monday:  mainly to recover from yesterdays 4.5 hours of Bike/Run combo with 45 minutes of total body stretching, and 45 minutes of upper body weight lifting.

Tuesday:  40 minutes on spin bike immediately followed by 40 minutes of running. 60 minute massage

Wednesday: 1.5 hours on spin bike followed immediately by 35 minutes running, Swim 3400 yards

Thursday:   Run for 70 minutes, Swim 2000 yards

Friday:  Spin for 60 minutes, Travel to Dallas for my sweet 97 year old grandmother's funeral. She was a remarkable woman and still lived independently in her own home.

Saturday: Bike for 5 hours

Sunday: Run for 2 hours

This was taken at the Pantex Nuclear Weapons facility outside of Amarillo. It was a nice day for a ride but a little chilly with a high of 40 degrees. At least the sun was shining.

Thanks for checking in.

Swimming

It's pretty safe to say that swimming is most triathletes weakest (and probably least favorite) of the three sports. Spending time in the pool helps keep the athletes body well balanced in my opinion. It always feels good to break up the running and biking with a few laps in the pool. 
I have some friends that are pretty amazing swimmers - they make it look effortless and glide through the water, unlike me.  My stroke involves a lot of effort and lots of splashing.  Regardless, swimming is great exercise and I really enjoy it.

                                         The indoor pool at Amarillo Town Club.  Gets pretty crowded depending on when the swim teams are practicing.  Amarillo really needs a new aquatic center to ease the burden that falls on the Town club.

Depending on the week, Coach Key usually has me swim 3 to 4 times with a routine such as this:

Swim (Endurance): h m s - 2900 yds

WU: 700
500 swim/200 kick w/ fins

MS: 2000
8 x 50 on60s (IM order...drill/swim by 25)
4 x 100 IM ri45s (descend 1-4)
300 pull buoy
3 x 100 free ri25s (descend 1-3)
300 pull buoy
4 x 50 kick on 70s (1 ez/1 FAST)
300 pull buoy
rest as needed

CD: 200

free 

Effort: 3

IM = individual medley butter fly (you may use one arm) back breast free

Thanks to the Durretts for letting me use their endless pool. It is a great way to practice for the Open Water swim.

 

I like these TYR goggles because they fit comfortably around your eye socket and have minimal leakage. The lap counter is a helpful tool to use as well.  I got mine at http://www.sportcount.com/.

This is my wetsuit that is allowed for use in water Temperature up to 76.1 degrees F. Age group athletes that are not interested in placing or qualifying for other races can use a wetsuit in temps up to 83.8 degrees.

I'm on call again this week, but it is my last call rotation before the race on May 21st.  The house is pretty empty since it is Spring Break - Chase and Hudson are spending some time in Austin with my parents so Suz and I have Evie all to ourselves.  Thanks for visiting and have a great week.

God at Work

We will get back to the Triathlon topic next time, but today I wanted to share something that happened to my family this past weekend.

For Valentine's Day, Susan gave our 9yr old son, Hudson, a book titled "Heaven is For Real". This book describes Heaven through the eyes and ears of a 4yr old little boy named Colton. Colton became very ill with a ruptured appendix and was undergoing an emergency surgery when he "went up to visit Jesus." I will let you read the book for yourself but he describes to his parents what it was like to have the Angels sing to him, sitting in Jesus's lap, and how "really, really Big God is". The doctors never had any indication that he had died during the procedure and Colton woke up just fine and went on to recover fully.

I have always been fascinated by stories about Heaven and Hell. Some of the books that I have read on the subject include: "90 Minutes in Heaven", "The Shack", and "23 Minutes in Hell". Needless to say that I quickly borrowed the book from Hudson and started reading it. Who knew that this book would give me so much comfort and confidence in the coming days.

Toward the end of our family vacation to Colorado this past week, Hudson began to complain of some lower abdominal pain. Susan and I initially passed it off as constipation or gas build-up from the altitude. Hudson was complaining, but he still had a good appetite (a good sign to tell how sick your child is). We continued to ski, but Huddie wasn't the same little dare devil on the moguls that he was in the previous days. He even went swimming after skiing and seemed fine. Later that evening his appetite dwindled and his pain became more pronounced. He had all the classic signs of Appendicitis. After a few calls to some local doctors, I found out that Glenwood Springs had a great small hospital with excellent surgeons, called Valley View.
Hudson and I went to the ER that night about 10pm and the ER doctor knew right away that Hud needed surgery. We still needed to run blood work and get a CT scan first but after the results were confirmed, Hudson was headed to the operating room at 6am.

In between tests and while we were waiting to see the general surgeon, Hudson and I began to discuss what was going to happen to him. He asked good questions for a little guy and I explained what an appendix was etc. Huddie started to have some fear and tears were shed but he remained strong. My son then asked me: "what will happen if I never wake up"? I tried to keep my composure and said "well , Hud you know what will happen, where will you go?" He slowly pointed his outstretched arm, with IV in place, to the sky. I said "you will be very happy in Heaven, but we will all be sad". Thankfully the surgery was a success and his appendix was removed just in time before it ruptured.

              Hudson getting a pep talk from his older brother, Chase, just before going to the OR.

Huddie, like most young patients, is recovering quickly and back to his playful self again.

Take what you will from this story but I know in my heart that God gave me this little book to help me be strong for my son and give me an overwhelming Peace through this ordeal.