Catch UP!

Where'd the time GO?

Sorry to have been SO remiss in my postings... I can feel you loosing interest as the days drift buy. Yeah. I hear you out there. "That Tri-Rob guy. He doesn't care. He doesn't love us.". Well, you're wrong. I do care... and yes... I DO love you. I really do. Hm. Yup. I might even go so far as to say that I "rub" you... but that might be taken in the wrong vein.

Anyway! ONWARD!

Training? Yeah. I've been training.... and guess WHAT??? I've been SWIMMING too! I was cleared to swim a week and a half ago by my PT. If you've ever taken a significant amount of time off from swimming... I'm sure you know what its like when you first jump back in. I was expecting to feel completely out of place. To be lost in the water and not remember a THING of what I'd learned over the last year. But I was greeted by... quite literally... the warm embrace of the water. Yeah... they had overheated the pool. Anywho... the first few strokes I took... it was like I had never been injured. It was like the last 3 months had never happened. No dislocation.  No

sleepless nights b/c of the pain. No month of physical therapy twice a week and painful stretching and exercises. It was just me... rotate, reach, pull, finish, breathe. It was SO great! Then I made it to the end of the pool... a whopping 25 yds... and I was TIRED! Classic. Its great to be back in the pool! My shoulder isn't exactly TOTALLY normal... but its pretty durn close. I'm getting stronger every day and am completing shorter sets of 200 to 300 yds at a moderate pace topping out at 2,200 yds Monday. Of course... I immediately begged Liz to up my distances to at LEAST 3,000 yds by next week. Her response? "Patience". ARG! NonononononoNOOOOO Liz! Now! Are you listening to me? NOW! Yesterday! Post-haste! *Sigh* Ok... fine. I'll be patient. (said in a whiny disobedient kid voice).

I said it before... and I'll say it again... the time out of the pool was a blessing in disguise. My injury was such that it didn't hinder any of my other training in the least. As a result... my bike, my run, and my core strength have come along to a point that I'm EXTREMELY happy with!

Case in point: The bike test I had... the one where I threw up twice in my mouth? Yeah. That one. I worked hard and went after it but I wasn't that confident in the results... I left the number analysis to Liz. I wasn't expecting much b/c I had just come back from a big meeting. I come back from these things mentally and physically spent. As it turns out, my power output a month into my training this year... is exactly where it was last year... when I was at my PEAK. Uh huh. I'm a happy boy!

My run is coming along nicely. LOTS of running directly off the bike... which I LOVE! Liz had told me that we were going to be putting together a "killer bike to run combo"... and, as usual, she's been true to her word. Every single run off the bike this year has been strong... freakishly so. I'm not doing tons of distance off the bike right now. For instance... after my 3.5 hour ride on Sunday, I ran off the bike in zone 2 for 25 minutes. Training smart. For me, the key to running fast... is staying injury free. That's the bottom-line. If I can stay healthy... I can run fast. I have had to check myself and be totally honest in my feedback to Liz reference how I'm feeling mentally and physically. Every ache and pain... she hears about... and she adjusts if she feels we need to. If you haven't noticed... the athlete/coach relationship is going VERY well. You should PROBABLY HIRE HER! She's definitely the one that'll take you to wherever it is you want to go in this sport. I'm serious. Do it. Now. Pull the trigger. Times a wastin.

Let's seeeeee. Hmmmmm... what else. Not a whole heck of a lot. I'm having a ball. Work has suddenly become more challenging if not more fulfilling, the kids are all doing really well... even my pre-teen Jack is tolerable... most of the time. I dunno. During my more clear moments... I can sit back, look around, reflect, and come up realizing how incredibly blessed I am to have the life I do. Don't get me wrong... there are moments when the expletives come flying out of my mouth so fast you'd think I was suffering from Tourettes Syndrome... but honestly... most of the time... I'm solid. I'm good. I'm really happy. And that? That, my friends, is just... well. It's really nice.

Here's a few random pictures! Enjoy!

This is a hill that I like to make "My Bitch"... as Liz would say.

This is the backside of said bitch hill. Nice backside huh?

Aggie the Wonder Dog. Minus her cape.

"Herow? Sarry? Is dat yu?"

Ok! Thanks for visiting! Hope you're all happy, healthy and whole! Looking forward to being a little more frequent with my writing adventures! Big weekend coming up... and I can't WAIT!

Breathe...

Comin Back!

WOW!  Where did the time go!?

I spent the entire last week... from Sunday to Saturday in Arizona... and VERY little training got done.  It was my company's annual meeting... which generally means long days, longer nights, and very little sleep.  Not exactly a conducive environment for some good, quality training.  I had every intension of getting SOMETHING done every day while I was there but ended up getting in one run and one bike.  I even entertained the notion that I would hook up with MoMo and Bryan sometime during the week so that they could put me through the paces.  Heck... I was even supposed to have my first run test of the season while I was there!  NONE of that happened. Believe me... I'm not even remotely close to voicing a complaint.  Rest is important right?  I had different priorities while I was there and feel absolutely ZERO guilt or regret for how I spent my time.  As a matter of fact... if I had to do it all over... I would have stayed a couple of extra days lying in the sun!  Got to do that on the last day... and it was GREAT!  

Coming home on Saturday I was able to get into Eugene just in time to attend my daughter's 9th birthday party!!!!  Yeah... she's 9!  NINE???!!!  Seriously?  Really?  HOW!?  How did this HAPPEN?  My little girl.  Nine is a big deal right?  I mean... that means only 9 more years until she's up and out of the house.  Don't even get me started... I'll tear up.  That GIRL!  I'm so proud of her I can hardly stand it.

Listent to THIS!  Instead of accepting presents from her friends... Lila asked that everyone make a small donation to Jakobi Mulgrave's medical fund.  You see, 2 weeks ago, Jakobi was the sole survivor of a drunk driving accident that killed his mother, 2 of his friends, and the mother of one of those friends.  Jakobi is currently in critical condition in a Portland hospital.   Lila doesn't know Jakobi but was so touched by the story that she wanted to take action... and this is what she came up with.

My Lila was able to raise $278.00 on her own to donate to Jakobi's fund.  This girl.  My Lila.  She is growing up so fast and has such a good heart... I just love her so much... and couldn't be more proud of the young woman she is so quickly becoming.

WHEW!  Ok!  So... its back to training tomorrow.  Well... I DID have a bike test today... and guess WHAT????  I only threw up TWICE in my mouth during it!  YAY!  Good times good times.

Thanks for reading.  I hope you're all happy, healthy, and whole.  

Breathe...