BECOMING LANCE

Training for Ironman is a time-consuming chore. And as the race draws closer, it’s practically becoming a full-time job. Some days I spend more than eight hours training then rush home, shower and head off to work. That leaves little time for sleep, except for this week. This week is a recovery week. shorter training, a little less effort and a little more sleep.

(“I started fast and hard, it was difficult with a hard climb and long downhill with headwind. It was a 100 percent effort all the way but that's OK.” - Lance Armstrong)

I love and hate recovery weeks. I love the rest and easier efforts but I hate the draw of the couch and fighting that urge to take it too easy. I’m just a lazy couch potato and it’s easy for me to back off training and way too hard to start it back up.

So this week I’m dealing with the love/hate thing with recovery while fighting off the butterflies that are beginning to show up every time I think about how close race day is getting.

(“You have to live with the crashes, and hope you don't get into one.” - Lance Armstrong)

Last week was a run-focused week. Running every day while working on much-needed form. My long runs are up to 16 or so miles with an end goal of 20 to 23 miles.

The week before that was a bike-focused week. Yep, that’s right. Every day on the bike. That’s on top of the usual swimming and running distances.

I’m up to over 100 miles on the bike for my long rides and spending lots of time trying to become as efficient as possible on the bike. Trying to get as aero as I can and trying all kinds of nutrition that will work the best on race day.

(“If you worried about falling off the bike, you’d never get on." - Lance Armstrong)

One recipe that’s showing promise comes straight from Lance Armstrong and Team Radio Shack. I figure since I’m starting to put in all the miles like Lance ( yeah right) I might as well try what he eats on the bike.

(“If you consider my situation: a guy who comes back from arguably, you know, a death sentence, why would I then enter into a sport and dope myself up and risk my life again? That's crazy. I would never do that. No. No way.” - Lance Armstrong)

I have a couple of more long rides to test out the recipe they call sweet rice cake (sticky rice, eggs, ham or bacon, brown sugar, soy sauce and balsamic vinegar) but things are looking good. Easy to make, easy to carry, easy to eat and digest.

(“Anything is possible. You can be told that you have a 90-percent chance or a 50-percent chance or a 1-percent chance, but you have to believe, and you have to fight.” - Lance Armstrong)

The last week of the Tour de France last month I began an art project drawing posters of the top riders from this year.

(Oh, about the title of this post. I wasn't talking about myself becoming Lance, but the drawing slowly turning into Lance Armstrong)

The drawing scattered through out this post are my best attempts at drawing Lance. It's a slow process using the computer to draw someone. Below are a few more drawings.





I thought it was appropriate to have his yellow jersey dissolve into the white jersey (which he won as best young rider) and fade into the number 39. If you watched the Tour this year you'll know the significants of the number 39 for Andy Schleck.