Pre-Ironman CDA 2009

It's not every day that I get to sit around & just read the internet(s) ala "W". However, I find that there is a lot out there that just zipps in & zipps out on the news pages. One thing I find time consuming is reading the online tri rags and cycling rags. It just seems too non-productive to deal with in a day that is full of job & family responsibilities, as well as trying to stave off the extra calories we all seem to accumulate if we treat ourselves a bit too much. Luckily, I've been the opposite this season and have done an excellent job with nutrition on a daily basis. I have been on top of the information super highway a bit more as well. Call it a willingness to make a concerted effort to avoid the "sin box" even though it is 1080i HD.

I just finished watching IM NZ 2009 on DVR, the only full show I've watched in a while. NZ was my first out of country experience and the Kiwis put on a race like no other save for the US military. This is one race I'd like to go back & compete in again--simply wonderful people down on that island, with a passsion for sport. That same passion wanes in athletes from time to time as we encounter this--that--and various other things life tosses our way. One thing I am finding for sure though is that passion never leaves us for good. It is always there, sometimes hidden, or put away to slumber for a few years, then it returns. I've seen old rivals come back after 10 years of layoff from the sport, driven and reborn, picking up where they left off or faster than they were when they took their leave. This is one thing I am trying to come to grips with--it just feels like I want to get back into the swing of things again because I miss being in good shape. I am now a full 9 lbs lighter than when I was racing at my best. Not to say I will race well or even finish for that matter, but Ironman CDA is only 5 days away and surely the better nutrition will have left me capable of at least not being slowed by extra weight. Heck, it's been since high school that I weighed this little--lighter than at any point in college even. Will it be good for racing or will it be TOO light? Either way, I am enjoying the consistency in training again, nearly 3 years after our little boy was born. It is nice to get out and just give it a go one more time at an Ironman. Happy father's day to all those fathers out there!