Thank you, Matt

Without Matt being there, I think I would have DNF'd, but certainly would have done much worse. It was one of those days where the mind said go, and the body said nope. But as I climbed onto the bicycle, coughing and sputtering from the horrid pool experience, I remembered the pictures of Matt. I realized that if I competed with half the heart that he lived life with, I would win every damn race. So, I talked to Matt several times and felt encouraged. I wouldn't quit, because he didn't. I tried hard, and hoped to give my best. What I gave was what I could muster for the day, and I can say I went way beyond any comfort barrier. Thanks for introducing us, Nic.

So, that's my race report, in a nutshell. The details are on my training log. I went overall faster than last year, but I didn't do as well as I had hoped. I have some things to work on, but mostly it's my attitude and who I'm racing against: me. Vendettas and grudge matches (that aren't explicitly friendly) don't do anything but poison best efforts.

So thanks to Matt, and I'll try to do it better (and therefore faster) next time.

And thanks to Lisa for chatting with us on the way down, and to Marcy for FINALLY answering the phone. Man, we got screened like Justin trying to get back with Cameron. Thanks to Scott and Robin for calling to see how see did. Get better, Scott!

Mendy did great, and we had a good time. It was an awesome experience to be part of a great team, and celebrate as a group for individual accomplishments. We met Chris in person, and hung out with Eric and some other good people.

Pump it up!

Like Mendy, I'm starting to get really amped about the tri season kicking off. The only difference is that I'm focusing on the tri series, instead of triathlon as a part of a bigger race/training plan. So, there will be pressure. Lots of pressure. ha ha ha

Yesterday was a swim at lunch and run after work, and today was a nice short bike ride at lunch. I'm ramping up the frequency of training now, and in a few days will start to crank the intensity way up, with proper fueling and efforts that leave me exhausted when I'm finished. That's the weird thing about training for sprint distance tris: you have to be ridiculously fast to be competitive, so the training is often super intense without much "smelling the roses".

As I mentioned before, however, I think I'm going to really focus on the Olympic distance tris this year. That is, if I can get my swimming to improve from pond slime pace. I swear, sometimes my swimming feels like Will Farrell in Old School, when he shoots himself with the tranquilizer dart and falls in the pool at the kid's birthday party.

Looking forward to this weekend, though! No long run (6 miles, maybe), but a long-ish ride, a brick perhaps, some pancakes, swimming with Grace, and a natural wake up time. Wait, pancakes? That's not training!?!? Yeah, it's been a few weeks since we've done some Grace Time, so we are going to do some stuff for her. Not that she's been suffering: weekends at Grandma's is like a 3-year-old's resort and day spa. Grace got a FOOT MASSAGE last time she was over there! Are you kidding me?

Tomorrow is Funday Friday, so maybe I'll look around for some office-ism to share with you peeps. There is never a shortage of head shakers, but I become numb to them. I'll do my best, and even share whatever horrid "adult hits" song I'm tortured with in my head after a trip to the cafetorium. (you're welcome!)