Life is a series of collisions with the future; it is not the sum of what we have been, but what we yearn to be. -- Jose Ortega y Gasset
Look, I don't want to wax philosophic, but I will say that if you're alive you've got to flap your arms and legs, you've got to jump around a lot, for life is the very opposite of death, and therefore you must at very least think noisy and colorfully, or you're not alive. -- Mel Brooks
Another long gap between postings, I know. September was busy, and it didn’t slow down much for October either. The Redman full Aquabike went pretty well, in that there were no crashes, no injuries, and I felt like the nutrition pre-race, pre-swim and for the bike all went well. I managed a sub-2 hour swim, which was the first goal. The bike was mostly okay, other than the fact that the back out-and-back was a long stretch of one pothole after another… I felt like I was spending more time dodging potholes and cracks than I was trying to keep up a decent speed. If the roads in Florida are the same as what I saw last year when Briana did her Ironman, the ride should go a lot better… then, of course, there is still the run.
The job thing/personal life has managed to work itself out. I was extremely happy with the fact that BCBS was willing to change their original job from a contract position to a permanent position if I took the job, but when all the information was laid side by side, it made the most sense to stay in Austin, and take the position with Farm Credit Bank. And the fact that they are okay with my 2 Ironman commitments helped a lot. So I am once again gainfully employed.
So - we are now 19 days away, and I think the “what ifs” and the “can I really do this?” are starting to creep into the thought processes. Everybody who has done an Ironman will tell you this is normal. I feel pretty comfortable about finishing, and I know it won’t set any records. I keep telling myself “well, it looks like two consecutive PRs for Ironman” because I intend to finish Arizona 2012 faster than Florida 2011. I know my weak link is the run, so I am making a commitment to myself to improve that aspect… which really shouldn’t be too hard to do, considering I am so bad at it to begin with.
Along with the mental questions also comes the excitement – first Florida, and then signing up for IMAZ 2012. It looks like we will be moving forward with the IronHeart Racing documentary idea, and we should have anywhere from 6-10 of the group doing the race. I am excited to be able to be there for Jim O.s race this time around, since he and Mrs. O are the folks who introduced me to the IronHeart group. To top it all off, it looks like we will have a good number of folks from here doing the race as well, so that will be a helpful motivator as we all go through training.
Well, I might not post much more until we get closer to race day (in my case, “participation”). But I will try to get back here with some of the emotions, the views and the event itself.
Talk to you later.
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