Let me tell you a little about where I'm coming from with this whole Ironman for Journey idea.
I am coming from parents and a family that values service.
The latest example comes from Dad. This past Saturday Dad was spending his weekend like he often does, on a day hike through the North Georgia mountains with a local trail club. This particular outing involved a loop that connected Lake Winfield Scott and Blood Mountain and included some distance on the Appalachian Trail. At 58, he was one of the younger group members, but it was a healthy, outside-loving bunch, and none doubted that any of them could handle the challenging 7.5 miles.
Dad called me on Sunday to tell me that after the group had stopped for lunch, about half way through the hike and at the height of their elevation gain, he and another guy, a former football coach from Washington, Ga., who was walking directly behind him in line, were joking about the cold. The man said he thought his thermometer on his backpack was lying because it was reading 40 degrees and there was just no way that was true. Dad continued to chuckle as he turned to face forward.
The laughing stopped when Dad heard a thud behind him. He turned around to find this man, who he'd met just that morning, had fallen and was rolling off the trail. When Dad and others reached him, he was unconscious but breathing. The group couldn't find a pulse.
Keep in mind, the fallen man had walked the current path the previous Thursday with the trip leader just to do recon and had completed it without issue. When he hit the ground, it was a total surprise. The trip leader called the man's wife to alert her of what was going on. Dad called 911, and worked with another group member to administer CPR while another group member with nursing experience tried to awaken the man. They never revived him.
The perimedics had been dispatched from Blairsville, which is about 15 miles from Blood Mountain. Still, it took EMTs nearly 90 minutes to arrive, largely due to the 3-plus-mile hike in from the road carrying rescue equipment. When they arrived, they asked how long Dad and others had been doing CPR. When they replied that it had been more than an hour, the EMTs directed them to stop, and they called the time of death.
Dad was heartbroken. The trip leader was so stricken he couldn't bring himself to call the man's wife to deliver the news. When no one else stepped up, Dad did it.
I'm proud of my Dad. He was prepared and he cared.
"What a way to go," Dad told me. Better out in the woods doing what you love than the slow death of complacency. But I think Dad was just trying to soften the blow. He wanted that man to live, because Dad values life.
I love sharing my life with him and the rest of my family. He and Mom are going to be with Nicki and me in Louisville. I can't wait to see them along the course and at the finish line. When I think about it on training runs I have to stop because I start running too fast.
Reckon I just get too darn excited.
My training week: 02/07/2011
Metrics — Weight: 161.0 lbs. Body fat: 17.0 percent. Resting heart rate: 55 bpm.
M — Off
T — Swim (300m wu, 8x50m drills, 16x25m @ 10 seconds, 1x400 @ 60 seconds, 16x25 @ 10 seconds, 8x50m drills, 200m cd); Run (30 min.)
W — Bike 30 min, Z2 (QC); run 15 min Z2
R — Swim (300m wu, 8x50m drills, 3x125m @20 sec, 2x175 @ 30sec, 3x125 @20 sec, 8x50 drills, 200 cd); bike 30 min, 100 rmp, Z1
F — Run 30 min Z2
Sa — Bike 1 hour, Z2
Su — Run 45 min Z1-2.
Key — Z = heart rate zone, wu= warmup, cd=cool down
The plan is that he and Mom will be in Louisville for the race.
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