Good Friday. My week in recap or The Passion of the Bob..

Ok usually I post some religious reflectional stuff today ... I'll just save it for Easter...

I'm into the Patriot and should be entered into the Griskus by Monday so my race schedule is more or less complete. The tri club paid my entry into those races so I'll just save what I was planning on spending on them...so big toe nail+ arm = money in the bank. I'm trying to control my competitive side which wants to go out a tear....save it all for Providence...if I make Kona great... if not well...there are worse tragedies in the world...I just don't want to end up with the Moonlight Graham deal from Field of Dreams...come so close to my dream and never achieve it, granted becoming a Doctor with a moderately successful prcatice doesn't sound too unappealing...hell that's my career goal.
70 sec. last year at Eagleman...Had I not bobbled in T-1, not had to pee in T-2, hadn't dumped my water bottles with 5 miles to go on the bike, Had I tried sneaking into the Y for 2-3 more swim workouts... had I saved a little more, or sold some more stuff, had a better mental mindset,what ifs, maybes, would be nices...I really hope that when I'm 40 I won't be saying the closest I ever got to Kona was a measly 70 sec. away from the roll down at Eagleman when I was 23. That hopefully at that point I'll have my life figured out.. a stable and profitable career, and a couple of Kona and Boston Marathon finishes under my belt would be nice too. I find myself reflecting on Macca's article in Triathlete. He said he was worried about us young guys. Especially since all the young pros seem to be all about money and not about passion. Right now I'm racing for passion and seriously if I was told tomorrow that I could race without having to worry about the bills I would in a heartbeat...until then I'm going to continue to race at the best level I can. Why because I love it...someweeks knowing that part of my check is going to a race entry is what gets me through the week where the normal responses to" Hi how are you?" is " Cash Large Bills" Or " Overdraft! Do you know who I AM?" or the all too typical " Just another day in Hell." just knowing that I will compete in X months/days gets me through the tedium, and just what seems to be a vaccum of negativity. Racing is my passion I do it for nothing...I love it to me, well it's life. Sometimes I can get just a tad bit annoying but this sport is what I do, it's the first sport that I've had pretty steady success....and I want to see how deep this rabbit hole goes.



I'm taking one of my sister's friends to her commencemet ball at Salve on May 14, granted I have to be at work for 11am the next morning so this is going to be fun. ( I was intially hoping to take the following day off but someone beat me to the punch.) I figure leave the dance @ 1AM and try to drive back. I was intially hoping to stay the night but I-95 blows during rush hour so I'm figuring my drive back immediately plan might be the most fatiguing yet most time saving. Worst case I'll just pack my work clothes with me...or better yet show up to work in a Tux...maybe we could say it's part of a promotion...take out a credit card/home loan and live like a high roller...wait isn't that how we ended up in a financial crisis?

All right that's all my ranting on that.

My thesis is coming along things are getting ironed out it's looking like I should graduate in May...I'm probably going to take some Community College or Continuing Ed courses this fall to keep my loans on differement and get myself medical school ready before I apply to a Post Bacc Program in the fall for the Spring...start looking for a second job or a better paying one... although I can't really gripe with my current one other than I need to start making more...hence I need to either move up or double/triple/quadruple up. Having a living wage paying gig with steady hours and weekends off sounds tempting....if only there are any still out there.
My rant on that done.

On the training front I managed 7000 yds. so far this week, the Y closes early tonight...seriously who closes early on Good Friday anymore? So there will be no afterwork swim session for me...but I plan on running today and tomorrow...despite the rain and gale force winds. Maybe swim tomorrow after work.
Sunday if I can sneak out of dinner early I'm hoping to ride...worst case it will be an evening trainer session.

Well that was this hectic week in the life of Bob-o.

R.D.

Prefontaine..Prefontaine... Why have you forsaken me?/ Beware the Ides of April !

Alright my run training has been non-existent and it's killing me. I did a 5k off the bike on Sunday and my legs were so tired I felt like I was going to collaspe a mile in. I have more pressing things going on in my life but have I become that lazy that I can not devote an hour or two to running every other day? I try to wake up early but the snooze button is sweet. I try to go after class but I'm just exhausted and besides I need to research...which that doesn't happen...stupid facebook...stupid aim....spent half the night talking to a friend whom I taking to her commencement ball at Salve.

April 15 I have to throw down coin for my cap and gown...Professor 1 is getting me a grade...gotta iron out things with professor 2 and the anthropology department...same time I have to NOT FAIL...anything this semester...and I'll graduate...then start the "oh shit" process of getting into a Post Bac. Science program and then medical training....then hopefully get my little white coat...and work until I drop dead....or pay off my debt what ever comes first.
April 15 is also the date I find out if I made Kona via the lotto and the date entries open for Ironman New Zealand 2010...and oh yeah payments for HEAT uniforms are due.... and a little thing called tax day...wait I already filed...cross that off the list.

I seriously need to run...if nothing else to clear my mind. So after work my 8 mile loop and I are getting reacquainted. Saturday is supposed to suck weather wise so I'm thinking a 8 miler then as well...figure it'll be better to run in the cold and wet then to ride in the cold and wet. I need to rebuild my base because I want to head into Patriot and Providence with a better run leg than last year. A 1:47 is ok...but when there are guys capable of pulling 1:27's I need to get down into the 1:35 range... My swim has always been my savior, I lose some time on the bike and the run is hit or miss, I manage to catch some of the uber bikers, but get annihilated by the fast kids..so it equals out...I'm solid, I'm consistent, I just need to be faster, especially for the goals I want to achieve.

Well that's it for me.
Back to the grind.
R.D.

Bi-POLAR New England Weather

Well there were many a mile put in on the bicycle this weekend in completely different conditions. Saturday, Bjoern, Josie and I struggled to get 40 miles in at Lake Waramaug. Pouring rain, cold temperatures, brutal cutting headwinds blowing the bikes all over the place. It was more reminiscent of my Ironman New Zealand training rides than an early spring session. Josie's feet went numb at about 30 miles and that left Bjoern and I to duke it out for the last eight, I don't know what it is with this guy but he has sprint power in reserve. We ended up thawing and drying out over Pizza in Middlebury.

Today, I found out that a family function was canceled which freed up my afternoon so I took the bike out for a 66 mile love fest in the hills. It was nearly polar oppostie to yesterday, 60F a little windy but I was comfortable in shorts and shortsleeves. I rode up to Lake Waramaug, did three loops then descended back into Woodbury and capped it off with the ascent up Ben Sherman Hill or that lovely 7-8% grade. My quads and hams were screaming with each revolution, but I figure if I keep working the hills now I'll be better prepped for Providence. I decided to throw on the running shoes and got a nice 5k in on the Griskus run course, my first brick since February. I was bonking hard core and decided that packing it in early was a smart move. Tomorrow morning I'm thinking of an early morning run session as I need to start building my mileage. I also need to start a routine so I can fix my training around my classes. The swimming is easy but the running is a tad bit more tricky and the cycling looks like it will be limited to weekends until mid-May...granted it is stayling lighter longer on Friday so I can probably start commuting by bicycle,and save a little gas. This Summer I'm commiting to commute the 2 miles to the office by bike unless the weather is horrible figure that way I can also go right into training from the office...but regardless that's for another post. All in all it was a good weekend on the training front. If I can get my run legs back with the program I'm confident that I'll have a good summer season.

R.D.