Halfmax bound...

All my stuff is packed, in the car, ... ready to go. Leaving for OK tonight. Fired up.

Big weekend...

Heading to Oklahoma this weekend for the edman Triathlon, in which I'll be doing the half iron distance. This is sort of a special race for me, in that it's the age group national championships for the half-iron distance; if I do well at this race, I can potentially get a spot on Team USA for the 2010 Half Ironman World Age Group championships. Wow. Rewind 5 years, and this was inconcieveable... I weighed ~250lbs, couldnt run a mile without stopping at any pace, and wasnt even on the road to having it pulled back together. All that, after having raced bikes for years prior to that and been in the best shape of my life. Needless to say, i'm quite fired up about this weekend.

Triathlon has not only brought fun into my life in terms of the challenge and fitness, but also some outstanding people. Heading up to OK with my friends Dionn, Kevin, Carrie, Tami, Dina and Maurice (all teammates as well). Really looking forward to that trip.

Who would have thought OK could be so exciting!

Stay tuned for more.

Packed in weekend...

Who's ready for some more racin'??? That'd be me.

Friday - Zilker Relays
Monday - The Austin Triathlon

Fired. Up.

Seriously, I love racing. The getting up when its still dark, playing your fired up music in the car, body marking, setting up transition, the always-way-too-long-wait-for-the-start-even-if-it-is-only-5-minutes, and then bang! You're off. Then, you get to enjoy the payoff for all that hard work. It's such a blast.

On another note... anybody else fired up about the start of college football season? I am so IN.

Go State.

Spending energy...

When I made the transition from college life to being out on my own (and REALLY out on my own - moved out of my home state not having more than a handful of acquaintances in my new state), it became quickly apparent that I was going to have to increase the amount of things I could manage at any one time - family, friends, job, housing, money, hobbies, ... we all know what the list looks like for each of us. This of course was years and years ago... so why write about it now? I was thinking today about how that process never really ended :) I've got a bunch of great things going on in life right now, and they all want my time/energy/resources/... and i'm having to prioritize like never before. It's kind of fun actually - going through periods like this is very clarifying when it comes to understanding your own priorities.

Maybe this is what kicked off the thought process... I had the opportunity to have dinner and play games with some very close friends last night, and seeing how deeply and quickly their son was able to immerse himself in the game we were playing was amazing. It made me consider the delta between the life of a 9 year old vs. that of someone my age. Wow!

So, having said all that, the next level of thinking brings me to how awesome it is to have such a full life. I've got so many fun, challenging, rewarding things in life all pulling for my attention... what a great problem to have! If I only had any passion for keeping my home in more consistently orderly shape... :)

Just for fun, here's a pic of just a small bit of the crew from this past friday's Austin Duathlete's 'dress up as a douchebag' pub run... enjoy.

Shifting the focus

One of the most fun things to me about triathlon is the continual challenge concerning focus... what sport to focus on for what blocks of training. I'm entering the part of my season where running should be my focus, but recently I've rediscovered my love of cycling and I just can't seem to get the running focus to supplant my desire to be on the bike. So, time for me to get some discipline and start running like I should be! Maybe I can work in more bricks... :)

This concept doesn't just apply to my athletic pursuits... last week my group had a week long training effort, and the ramp to that event (as well as the delivery) required a bit more of me than previous. It was a blast... I'm fortunate professionally in that I really enjoy my industry and the people I work with. Given that we primarily serve non-profit, our firm (while for profit) has a tendency to take on the persona of our customers, and it makes for a very fun environment. So, the focus last week had to shift towards work life a bit, and that's fine... it was time well spent.

Who's coming out to join in on the Pure Austin Splash 'n Dash this weekend?

Pre-race music...

Think I may have come across the best pre-race get fired up music yet. Don't need quantity, just quality...

Down Rodeo - Rage Against the Machine
L'Via L'Viaquez - The Mars Volta
Broken, Beat and Scarred - Metallica
Can't Truss It - Public Enemy
Mountain Song - Jane's Addiction

Winner winner.

Getting back after it.

Going to the gym last night was a significantly different experience than last week :) My legs work again - even ran at a pretty good pace for a short distance. Looks like I'm successfully shaking the Ironman funk off. Very much looking forward to re-engaging in training.

Luckily, the post CDA celebrations continue... I'm guessing this week will be the last significant week of out and aboutness for the T3 crew before the training regimen begins to ramp back up (depending on who is doing what upcoming events). Next big thing for me? Longhorn 70.3, closely followed by the pre-CIM tuneup San Antonio RnR Half Marathon, and then, the final 'A' event for me in 2009, the California International Marathon. I've got my work cut out for me.

Life's been a lot of fun lately - some unexpected fun surprises, and a few very much expected fun times with friends enjoying being post-Ironman. My crew of friends is very loose and looking to have fun - it's kind of like December in June. I'll take it.

A few of us are starting to look into 2010 and see what fun lies ahead. With family moving to Seattle, i'm quite confident the Lake Stephens 70.3 will be on my calendar. There's been talk of the St. Croix 70.3 and the Hawaii 70.3 as well. It'd be great to get back on a beach for a few days. We'll see how it pans out!

So long IMCDA '09. Time to move onwards and upwards!