Taper Week in Navarre

This past week was a pretty crazy week. We went on a family vacation to Navarre Beach. But when you think about it, is it a crazy week? Since I started training I have logged workouts in Georgia, Seattle, Spokane, and Japan. Since I started my 13 week training plan I have trained in Jacksonville, Key West, Las Vegas, Navarre Beach and occasionally Warner Robins. So really it's not that unusual to train out of town.

While we were there I got a lot of awesome training in. Two hour long bike rides, one 9 mile run, a couple short runs, and a bunch of open water swims. But the best part was all the random cross training. Paddle boarding, kayaking, and of course pushing a stroller through the sand. I even ran with it on the sand for a little bit. Hardest. Thing. Ever.

One side of the street:  View of the Santa Rosa Sound

Other side of the street: View of the Gulf of Mexico

Katie was able to join me for one of my rides!

At first swimming in the Gulf of Mexico made me a little nervous, with it being Shark Week and all. Luckily, I didn't see any. Apparently, for the sharks, it was "Jeff Norris Week" so they stayed away from shore. 

My pool for the week.

The open water swimming was so awesome. It doesn't even feel like a workout. It makes me never want to hop back into a pool to do laps again. It really helped me with my sighting too. Although, every once in a while I would be swimming along and my hand would hit the sand and I would realize I was in about a foot of water. People must have thought I was crazy.

On one of my runs, I fell. I don't know how or why this happens, but it happens to me more than most people. I have fallen probably 4 or 5 times in my running career. Not on some hardcore trail, or running on ice, or slippery rocks. Nope. Just side walks and roads and stuff. It is incredibly embarrassing. But, if anyone were to stop and try and make fun of me I would just say, "Oh I am probably just tired because I'm training for a race that you would consider a decently long car drive." -Drops mic.-

Donation Update:
Well everyone.....WE DID IT!!!!  We have reached surpassed our $2,000 goal!!  Thank you so much to everyone who has donated!

A special thanks to our most recent donors:
Dan, Krista, Erin, Mike, Diane, Todd, Patty, Mom, Margaret, Nancy, Buckle, Jess, Scott, Shelley, the Radloff's, Patty, the Okel's, Larry, Debby, Scott, Derrick, & Dad for donating an amazing $1,048!!

We truly appreciate every single donation we have received.  The kids at The Methodist Children's Home are going to be so excited!  

I usually like to end with a funny quote, but I really wanted to leave a quote from Invictus (The poem, not the movie starring Morgan Freeman. Although I am a huge Morgan Freeman fan.) So I will have a serious quote and a funny quote.

"Never pick a fight with an ugly person; they've got nothing to lose." Robin Williams

"Beyond this place of wrath and tears, Looms but the horror of the shade, Yet the menace of the years, Finds, and shall find me, unafraid."  William Ernest Henley

Ladies & Gentlemen, my next act will be the Taper!

Boom. The bulk of my training is complete. That's right, I said it. I have now entered into the taper stage of my training. No more waking up at 4am to ride a bike. No more 5 hour workouts. No more sweating. Okay, maybe some sweating still, but the rest is all down hill from here. Pun intended.

This was a typical week but my weekend workouts were a 5 hour bike on Sunday, followed by a 3 hour run on Saturday. As you can imagine it was pretty difficult. But it was easy at the same time because I could see the light at the end of the tunnel. But, that light could have been a train.

5 Hour bike: The first 1.5 hours, I rode solo, like I typically do (I like to consider my self a wolf pack of one). Then, I met up with some of the folks from Team RWB Warner Robins. They were going on a 30 mile ride at 8AM, which allowed me to ride with other people for once! I told myself, "If they pull away, remember you've been riding for an hour and a half, and you have about an hour and a half left afterwards, don't cook yourself." Then we started riding and I told myself, "I do what I want." and I tried to keep up with them. Surprisingly, I felt pretty good. Plus it was awesome having other people around to talk to (instead of talking to myself..that guy is boring).

Thanks for getting the ride together, Josh!

Tangent: I think there is something to be said about riding/running by yourself for hours on end with no music, no podcasts, no nothing. Just you. I think it teaches you to deal with the discomfort and pain in a better way. At mile 70 of a bike ride, when there is no one to talk to, pain and discomfort will keep you company. They are never late, and they have plenty to talk about.

Tangent 2: ALWAYS try to ride or run with other people. The above paragraph is a direct result of how crazy I've become having to workout on my own for hours on end. Talking to your pain? I belong in the loony bin.

Anyway, we got back into town, the ride was over for them, and I continued out on my last 1.5 hour ride by myself. It is funny, my first "long" ride of this training plan was 1.5 hours. Saturday, I did that, met up with people, rode for 2 hours, then left and did 1.5 again. Crazy.

3 hour run: I did the first 1.5 hours by myself, and I felt great. I walked every mile for about 15 seconds. I did this because, when I'm racing I will walk at every aid station (about every mile). This will give me a break and allow me to eat some food. I was feeling fantastic.

Then, I met up with Katie and Benny for the last half of the run. I grabbed the stroller as I usually do (not because I'm a gentleman..because it is harder and I like the extra training). Apparently someone forgot to give a gift to the Warner Robins Wind God because he was angry. If you have never pushed a running stroller in the wind, I will explain it for you. Imagine doing the hardest thing you have ever done. Okay, now picture doing that activity wearing an open parachute. It's like that.

The last 30 minutes or so, Katie really kept me company. We talked the whole time. By we talked, I mean she would say a couple sentences, and I would mutter, "Yeah," "Nah," "Eh." I was fully engaged in the conversation, I just was to the point where even talking seemed hard. Oh, and that pain I talked about earlier was also trying to have a conversation with me.

Finally my 3 hour run was over and the crowd went crazy! And by crowd I mean, we saw a stray dog and Benny might have clapped or something. But the crowd in my head was going crazy, because I had just finished my hardest week of training.

This next week we will be prepping to go on a family vacation to Navarre, Florida. I will hopefully get some good workouts in since I am bringing my bike. Also some open water swimming will  be fun as well. Actually, there have been recent shark sightings in the area. I really do not want to have an encounter with a shark. Can you imagine that? Me and a shark, wrestling in the water, blood everywhere. Sheesh. Poor shark...

Donation Update:

49%!  So close!  Only $27 more until we're there!

Thanks to:

Alex & The McCuddy's for sponsoring a total of 8 miles!

-Jeff

"You are in pretty good shape, for the shape you are in!"

-Dr Seuss