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Iron News Man - November 16, 2009

By Chris Schauble

| Tuesday, Nov 17, 2009 | Updated 5:42 AM PDT

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Six days until Ironman Arizona! The approaching race dominates my thoughts and feelings. I already have a nervous feeling in my stomach and the typical waves of anxiety, doubt, and optimism. I cannot tell you how much I wish the race were here. I never get good sleep the night before a race… but bad sleep the entire week before a race? Nuts! I’m just trying to “big picture” everything by realizing this nervous energy is my mind’s way of telling me how important IM Arizona is to me.

My taper for the race week drops to a new low, as expected. So my training won’t help get rid of my nervous energy. What it will do is keep my body primed for 13 hours of competition. While driving into work this morning I decided to go ahead and start packing my triathlon bag with the essentials (things I won’t need until Arizona like my wetsuit). I normally pack for trips and vacations the day before I travel, but this is so important that I don’t want to forget a single thing!

Here’s my TrainingPeaks.com schedule for today from Triathlon Coach Jason Healey:

Workout Description:

Swim Approx: 60 minutes Warm up: 200 yards easy. Drills: 4 x 25 of (Reach and Roll). 4 x 25 of (Enter Wide, Extend Wide) – concentrate on correcting left arm cross over. 4 x 25 Concentrate on timing your pull, arm entry and hip rotation. 4 x 25 on the Catch. Main Set: 1 x 500 yards at race pace. 6 x 100 yards at a fast but controlled pace. (Rest 45 seconds between each 100-yard effort). 1 x 800 at race pace. Cool Down: 200 easy (your choice).

I’ll swim at the LA Fitness in Valencia, and then head over to Jordan’s Virtual Fit Club for a chest and shoulders workout. Since the race is Sunday, we plan to go light. We don’t want to hurt me in anyway, and realize the little will be gained in the actual days before the race itself. Still, it’ll help keep me primed!

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-Chris

Why blog? To inspire others.

Simply put, two years ago I was overweight! At 6’1” I weighed 252, and wore size 40 pants. Few people really noticed, but I did. In pictures, on TV, I was not happy with my appearance. Covering the 2007 LA Marathon for NBC4 was the last straw. Every picture I was in highlighted just how out of shape I had become.

No more! Since that time, the guy who could barely run around the block has slowly built-up his endurance and completed the 2008 Long Beach International Marathon , 2009 Surf City Marathon in Huntington Beach, 2009 LA Marathon, and the 2009 Vineman Ironman 70.3.

However, something happened along the way. After my first marathon, I fell into a funk. I asked myself, “Why do you feel such a let-down after a marvelous achievement?” The answer I have since learned from my coaches, I failed to set the “goal beyond the goal”. Thus, my quest for Iron was born!

I’m registered to compete in the Ford Ironman Arizona on November 22nd, 2009. Along the way, I will compete in various road races and triathlons to fuel my passion and push my training along. The intense and at times brutal training will happen after my duties as 4 a.m. to 7a.m. anchor for NBC4 have finished. The sacrifices I will make will be substantial, and for that I thank my beautiful family and friends in advance.

I invite you to share this journey with me.