Spence Smith

In yesterday’s post I said this phrase… If I can do it, You can do it.

But I got to thinking… I didn’t know I could do it… until I saw someone else do it.

I don’t want you to think of all the things I do in my life that I just go out there and do them without a little inspiration or direction… or a swift kick in the pants from a friend.
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I’m changing the focus of my blog a little bit. I say a little bit because this is the direction some of my posts seem to go…. That is… Influencing People To Go Beyond Themselves.

You see… over the past several months, when it comes to my blog, I have felt a little disjointed. When it comes down to it… I really enjoy encouraging others to do something they have either never done before or to get them to look at life in a different way that allows them to be stretched… and grow… and get a bit out of their comfort zone and just do something different in their life… you know. Live a little!
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I was given 50 Ways To Identify Triathlon Obsession a while back and thought a few of you would really get a kick out it. I can’t tell you how true all 50 of these really are!

50. You are over 30 and there is still someone in your life that you refer to as “coach”.
49. Your last bike cost more than your first car.
48. You have peed outdoors more times in the last year than you did in your first year of university.
47. You think of mowing the lawn as a form of cross-training.
46. You’ve worn a heart-rate monitor to bed.
45. And it wasn’t when you were sleeping.
44. You refer to the front hall of your house as the “transition area”.
43. When you get home from a training session at the pool, the newspaper is just being delivered to your house.
42. You have changed more flat tires this year than light bulbs.
41. The most frequently used software program on your computer is the one that keeps track of your workouts.
40. You have no idea why they call Cal Ripken Jr. “Iron Man” when, after all, he was a baseball player.
39. The first three items on your grocery list are Gatorade, power bars, and gels.
38. When you floss at night, it’s to get the bugs out of your teeth.
37. Your legs move in a cycling motion while you are asleep.
36. When you see a drop of blood, your first reaction is that you spilled some red Gatorade.
35. You know how far you biked and ran last year, to one-tenth of a kilometre.
34. You think the ultimate form of wallpaper is about 64 racing bibs.
33. A 19-year old kid who works in a bicycle shop know more about you than your next-door neighbour.
32. Your children are more likely to recognize you if you put your bicycle helmet.
31. You have a vanity licence plate with the word “Kona” in it.
30. About half the shirts you own have at least a dozen logos on the back of them.
29. You don’t find the word “fartlek” in the least bit amusing.
28. When you refer to your “partner”, you mean neither your spouse nor the co-owner of your business but the person you run or bike with three times a week.
27. You shave your legs more often than your wife.
26. The closest you came to punching somebody was when they disagreed with your position on whether wearing a wetsuit amounts to cheating.
25. It doesn’t feel right that you can’t “clip “ in and out of the pedals in your car.
24. There is a group of people in your life about whom you are more likely to know how fast they can swim 100 metres than their surnames or occupations.
23. Some of the shorts you wear today are tighter than the ones you wore in high school.
22. You are frustrated with the latest Garmin Forerunner because its live readings have a margin of error of approximately three per cent.
21. There’s a separate load of laundry every week that is just your workout clothes.
20. One of your goals this year is to be faster at getting out of your wetsuit.
19. You failed high school chemistry but you could teach a course on lactic acid.
18. All you want for Christmas is something called a carbon crank set.
17. You wore a digital watch to your wedding.
16. You have to have completely separate meals from your spouse because he or she is on a low-carb diet.
15. Your bicycle is in your living room.
14. You have stocked up on a brand of cereal because it has a coupon that will save you money on your next two pairs of running shoes.
13. In order to establish a new personal best, you considered peeing without getting off your bike.
12. One of your proudest moments is when you lost a toenail.
11. When a car follows too closely behind you, you accuse the driver of “drafting”.
10. When you went for a job interview, you wrote your social insurance number on your arm in black marker.
9. Your spouse cried during Terms of Endearment; you cried during the television coverage of the Hawaii Ironman.
8. You are comfortable discussing the sensitivity of your nipples with other guys.
7. Your spouse is looking forward to the day when you will slow down and just run marathons.
6. You have paused in front of the mirror in your wetsuit and thought, “Hey, I look like Spiderman.”
5. You see no issue with talking about treatments for chafing or saddle rash at the dinner table.
4. You recently asked your spouse out for dinner by asking if he or she wanted to “fuel up” together.
3. For you, “bonking” no longer has a sexual connotation.
2. The magazine secretly tucked under your mattress has pictures of really expensive bicycles in it.
And the No. 1 sign you’re obsessed:
1. Most of this list doesn’t seem like a joke to you.

Every year I make a plan for what’s next in the year ahead. Most people do this in January, but I seem to keep my life calender in a fall to fall rotation. Mostly because when triathlon season is over in September then it’s time to figure out what happens between September and May when Triathlon season starts up again for us in the Nashville area.

Since finishing Ironman Louisville, I’ve been able to take much need rest and travel to get a couple of tours started for Compassion. It’s been refreshing, energizing and focused. So… I have a plan for the athlete side of me. This plan is in no way a reflection of anything else going on in my life like work, family, friends, travel, etc… this plan is just one part of my life.

So here it is… This next year will be my 4th year training for triathlons and every year I have focused on one of the three sports more than others so I can learn that sport and get a little faster in it. First it was just doing a sprint. Get in the water, hop on a bike and hope I can run after all of that. The 2nd year I had caught the triathlon fever so I focused on the swimming. I biked and ran when I could. This past year, I signed up for Ironman Louisville and focused more on the bike. This next year… it’s all about the run and improving my times over all for all three sports.

Running has probably brought me through the toughest times in my life but is also my toughest sport. I really enjoy it and most days I love it, but I don’t exactly float on air when I’m in my full stride.

Knowing what I need to do to meet my goals, I’m going to run a half marathon in early December but possibly one in November or January.

This plan will take me through the holidays as they are a rough time to train with all the Christmas parties and eating going on, not to mention training in cold weather isn’t something I’m very eager to do. It’s ok though. I’m determined to see it through.

That brings us into January. January starts 5 months of more intensive training to be ready for the summer.

Summer of 2010, I will probably do at least 3 maybe 4 olympic distance triathlons a couple of sprints and one half Ironman. I was supposed to do two half ironman races this past summer but my travel schedule didn’t allow for it. So I’m going to go back this summer and tackle one. The one Half Ironman I’ve decided on is Vineman Half Ironman. It’s in wine country…. Need I say more?

For those of you following along, A half Ironman is…wait for it… half the distance if an ironman. 1.2 mile swim, 56 miles on the bike and 13.1 run. Sound fun? Come on…

I like having a plan. It helps me meet my goals and allows me to stay focused.
So… there you have it.

Do you have goals for yourself? Wanna tri with me?

Today was the last of 7 Tri’s I did this summer. In the middle Tennessee area, the season has come to a quick close. There are several more Tri’s around the country through out the year, but they are mostly in the warmer climates.

This past season has been a lot of fun for me. I appreciate all of the emails, texts, facebook messages and phone calls from all of you who have been tracking my progress over the past year and even more with this past summer. Your encouragement means the world to me and helps me to keep going. And keep going I will.

Next on the agenda is prepping for a marathon in November. Shortly there after I will officially start training for the Louisville Ironman with a coach. I have little goals I want to meet along the way as well with these events so again…I’m looking forward to the process.

As for today’s race…I’m not going to sugar coat this one. It was tough. Why? Well it seems that Ike’s weather fingers made it our way today with wind gust of 35 to 40 mph…so…just try to image what that looks like on a lake. The water was so rough that the bouy markers used to tell us where we are and where to turn for the mile swim where breaking away and floating off. Not to mention people where getting pulled from the water because the water was too rough to swim in. They had let about 25% of the racers start swimming before they called off the swim portion. Once those swimmers came back on shore and the race official got plan b figure out, we were off for a new start. Jump on your bikes, then do the run. ok…so at this point it seems good because we are down to just the two sports…remember the choppy waters from the wind? Well the wind didn’t stop there. There were times when i was on my bike and I thought i was literally going to fall off my bike from the wind knocking me over. I was leaning into the wind while going 25mph so i could stay on my bike…it was frustrating.

Once the bike was done the run started off great until my knee started giving me fits which slowed me way way down…

In the end…i’m so glad I did it and I’m thankful that I could have the summer I’ve had.

It’s been a great summer…now onto the rest of the show…

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This past weekend I did two major things. I signed up for my first marathon and my first Ironman. For those of you just joining the conversation, an Ironman is a brand of triathlon events where the distances are extremely long. 2.4 mile swim, 112 bike ride, and a 26.2 mile run.

My ultimate triathlon goal is to do Ironman Louisville a year from now. I signed up for Ironman Louisville today and I’m already starting to plan out the next year! Marathon in November, Half Ironman in May, a few tri’s during the summer and end with Ironman Louisville for next season. Makes sense right? No you say? Sounds crazy? Believe me…it is.

This past Sunday was one of the greatest experiences of a day I have had in a long time. I went with a few of
my tri friends in this picture to Louisville to cheer on a couple of other friends as they swam, biked and ran in their first Ironman. We met up with a few other tri friends which was way more fun than I expected, seeing as we planted ourselves at two tables outside a restaurant that overlooked the finish line. We sat their from 4pm till about 10:30pm. And yes…we tipped our server very well for putting up with us.

I know what it is to train for triathlons and the amount of work that goes into it and if you are some one who can appreciate this amount of effort then you know watching this event is way more than waving a few people on as they race by on a bike or run by with a look of pain on their faces.

As we started out the day checking out the the transition area and watching cyclists arrive back from their 112 mile ride I was immediately in awe and overwhelmed emotionally. First because the concentration on their faces were saying a lot to me and two…this is going to be me one year from now.

When we finished watching the transition from bike to run, we walked over to the finish line which is no where near the transition area for this race. It was nestled right in the middle a block of restaurants off 4th avenue called Fourth Live. It was a perfect place for a finish because it was like running into an outdoor food court with all these people cheering all day and night. As a spectator, you can sit outside while you eat, drink and be merry all while athletes are finishing 140.6  miles of day long endurance.

What I took away from it was this.

First, I’m really excited knowing I’m going to train for this and do it. Second, I’m so glad to be doing this
with friends. Third, I’m glad it’s close enough for friends a family to come watch…and last…this year of training is going to be tough and exciting. After watching this event I was overwhelmed with the how big this really is. I’m thankful to be at a place in my life to even try it.

It’s going to be tough. It’s going to hurt. But it’s going to be fun. For those of you wanting to watch something like this, the start time is around 7am and lasts until midnight. Thus the finish line picture at night. Just to give you an idea of what one would experience in a day as a triathlete…in order to get a good starting place in the swim, you should be in the swim line by 5:15am and for someone like me, no matter when I start, it’s going to be night time by the time i finish. So plan to be there for a while!

I’m excited to know I’m doing this before I turn 40.

Over the weekend I thought about how much time it takes to actually become knowledgeable, proficient or good at something like a hobby.

As I have been training for triathlons I’ve noticed one thing that has made me better at the sport is practicing the sport. As I look at blogging, one thing that has made me better has been blogging more. As I look at my life as a drummer, one thing that made me better at the craft was playing more.

People tell me they would never be able to run a marathon or do a triathlon, But all I tell them is it just takes a little practice to get started and the determination to dedicate some time to it.

When I was a kid learning to play the drums, a teacher told me once that I needed to spend at least two hours a day practicing the drums if I wanted to be a good drummer. So I did…and my family can tell you…I played every day. They had to hear it.

Since getting into blogging, I spend a little part of each day either blogging or educating myself on how to do it better. That education helps my marketing side come up with ideas to try online and ways to make things work a little smoother in the world of online presence.

Now that I’m full on into doing triathlons, I spend a considerable amount of time each week training and trying to become a better athlete. I’m not the fastest or the best at it, but I’ve done it.

With anything you do, the more time you spend on something, the better you become.

So…if you want to try a new hobby of some sort, jump in and give a little time. Maybe for you this is time everyday or whatever you can handle during the week. Start small, find other people who do that hobby and ask them questions, learn and have fun trying.

As we say often when we are training for triathlons, if this isn’t going to be fun, then why are we doing it? I know…you must be thinking, you call putting your body through all of that fun? Well…if you didn’t by yourself all the time, then no…it’s not…but when you learn and progress with others, then yes…it’s fun because the community around it makes it more fun.

Enjoying what you attempt to do some times is the one thing that keeps you from quitting.