Hello out there

Things have been super busy lately. I've been transitioning into a new job and it is commanding much of my attention. The HIM is a maybe at this point. I just haven't had the time or energy to put in the workouts. All the changes in my life mean that I'm revising the next races and events. Speaking of events...

http://www.livestrongchallenge.org/06tx/ttutri

Check out my LiveStrong site and donate to our team as we ride in support of those battling cancer.

I have maintained a pretty steady run and bike schedule. Our team did a 70-mile training ride over the weekend. It was great fun. Jack's Generic Tri is also still on the schedule for Labor Day.

OK - can't say when my next update we'll be. I'll do my best.

See ya out there...

Happy Weekend

Today I feel a little like M's favorite weather guy, Jim Cantore. You know him. He's the guy they send out in the rowboat to greet and interview the incoming hurricanes each year. Apparently, the high winds have blown all his hair off. I, however, still have my hair. Anyway, reporting from inside the cosmic event that is my life right now...

A quick post to update on the week. Training has been pretty solid this week. I realized last night that this is a recovery week. I knew I had more free time the normal! Anyway, the time off last weekend paid off and I've put in some quality workouts lately. Today we have lots going on at T's school. A pizza party followed by a meet the teacher night. T is moving up into an older kid room soon. Afterward, all should be calm again. At least until Monday.

Just a few weeks out from the Prairieman Half Ironman. Next week I'll start lots of extended tempo sessions to transition my body into race mode, again. I'm looking forward to the work. I spent some time surveying the landscape of events over the next few weeks. Here's a rough run down of the upcoming schedule...

9/4 - Jack's Generic Triathlon
9/10 - Prairieman Half Ironman
10/8 - LiveStrong Challenge Ride (100 miles)*
10/21 - Round Rock Outlaw Ride (planned - 100 miles, but I might wuss out and only do 100K) (BTW, Carrie - are you in?)

Oh yeah - and I'm still kicking around the idea of joining a marathon training group. Whew. We'll see if I have time for that.

* - Yep, since all you anonymous lurkers are out there, I won't mind hitting you up for a donation to our team riding the Livestrong Challenge. Don't worry you can do it anonymously. Get your donations ready - more to come in the next few days...

I have lots of reading, e-mailing and posting to catch up on. Hope to get to most of it this weekend. If not, have a great weekend and I'll...

See ya out there...

Caution : Cosmic Event Ahead

Life can be really crazy at times.

Have you ever noticed how big events seem to gather mass over time? They always start out as one moderately big event gently noted on the calendar. As the day approaches, it seems to get bigger and bigger on the horizon. As the size of the event grows, so does its' gravity. Seemingly pulling other moderately big events into it's path until - Ohmygosh -- LOOK OUT! We have a major event dead in our path!

My "event" this week was marked on the calendar about 2 weeks ago -- and it is a big one from the get-go requiring lots of planning, meetings, and such. For M and T, last week marked the end of the summer break. This means T returned to daycare school and M returned to work. Gravity was already at work. Tuesday, T stayed home sick. M had to take a sick day to cover him after just one day back at work. I was completely snowed under with meetings and couldn't help out. (Sorry, M!!)

Today is the calm before the storm. Nothing major today. The horizon, however, is completely full.

Thursday and Friday we have no less than 6 big items on our collective To Do lists including - 2 big work things for M, 2 big work things for me, a school party for T (to which we must provide goodies), a parent teacher night at T's school, and at least 2 social gatherings. This will no doubt leave us completely wrecked for the weekend.

In the background, my training plan is gently calling my name - reminding me of the importance to shift priorities and keep balanced. I had no motivation last night for training. Last week left me wrecked in every sense. After T went to bed, I wanted to sit on the couch and block out the world. I stumbled across this month's Triathlete magazine while on my way (*back!!*) to the kitchen. I swiped it up and started flipping through. (BTW, Austin was named the 7th best Triathlon City in the US!!) Within 10 minutes I was filling bottles and gathering gear to head out for a 1 hour bike/run brick.

I can't report that the workout was good from a technical perspective. But, I think it was a good mental victory in the face of a very slippery slope that leads down to my couch. It felt great to put all of the stress and gravity in its' place for a while and regain some focus that you just can't get while staring into the TV.

I slept great for the first time in a long while last night. I'm ready for the next few days now. Bring. It. On.

See ya out there...

A look into the future...

Modern technology is great. Friday M and I went for our ultrasound for B2. I'm happy to report that we learned a little more about that little person today. That little person will be a bouncing baby girl.

I am now busy preparing myself to be wrapped around a very tiny finger.

In other news... I ran 10 miles on Thursday night and pretty much blew out whatever I had left. I took Friday and Saturday off. And, at the rate I'm moving, I'll probably take today off too. We made the trip to Dallas over the weekend and took T to see The Wiggles. A great time was had by all. Pics and Vids from the weekend to be posted soon.

See ya out there...

Fun Part II

So. I'm mostly past the tough round of stuff I've been going through. A few more things to attend to then, I'll begin a fairly significant transition. I'll spare you the details. Just know the really important stuff is still solid as a rock. M and T are great. An appointment for B2 is on the calendar for this Friday when we'll find out boy or girl.

I've been fairly successful with keeping training in check. I must admit that life has won over a little bit and I have stumbled in respect to the schedule. I'm not exactly beating myself up about it either. Even with another Half Ironman just weeks away, I made a decision that this race wasn't about PR's or ego. This would be a celebration of fitness. The plan is to maintain fitness and change things up day to day. More than anything HAVE FUN. I'm not going to live and die by the plan like I did when preparing for BSLT. It's a good way for me to work through the mid/late season. I'll be able to live that again when going for Ironman. Till then, it can wait.

And, in the end, it still totals is more than 8.5 hours a week of training.

So there it is. Ready for the new fun to begin.

See ya out there...