Kuddos to all those journalists who have a daily article in the paper, or should I say a daily blog these days.  I really struggle to come up with new things to write about.  Obvivously most of my posts are triathlon-related but I try my best to deviate from this genre once in a while.  I guess the smart thing to do would be to narrow down the focus and really analyze everything on a microscopic level.  The only issue with that is that I seem to see the same topics come up on every blog I read.  Just seems to get redundant at a point.  I suppose the best things about blogs is that it presents an open forum to get a race report out chalk full of sponsor laiden propaganda.  I’m not against that at all, actually I am all for that as it gives people a different persepective from there own.  Sure, what works for someone may not work for someone else but it may plant a seed for investigation which could lead to something else entirely that would have never been found otherwise.  That’s my little blurb about that, I mainly wanted to praise those that write a meaningful article every day…even every week.  I think that in the future as it looks like I may have a bit more time on my hands that planning in advance some topics would be the smart things to do.  Then I can properly investigate the topics and present an article that is actually worth reading.

With that I will ask those who read my blog what topics/types of things would you enjoy reading about?  I would assume most of them would be based around swimming, biking, and running but they don’t have to be.  So ask away, I’ll create a list and hopefully get to work.

I almost fogot, I should let you all in on what’s actually going on with me at the moment.  I decided that my last day at my current job will be the 19th of October, that’s next Wednesday.  Originally I was going to stay on until the end of the month but as my responsibilities here are pretty much wrapped up I really am not needed anymore…which is how it should be.  I would not want to leave my firm with things still up in the air in regards to projects I was working on.  What this gives me is some time to get my life in order.  It’s always amazing to see how much stuff gets pushed aside when you are working a steady job..between insurance stuff, car stuff, medical/dental, eye stuff…it’s never ending…hopefully this extra week and a half of time off will allow me to get these miscellaneous things taken care of as well as provided me some quality training time that can be backed up with quality recovery time.  Over the past couple of months while living back home I have only ramped up my training hours, however I have also began commuting to work 1 hour plus each way.  This means that sleep is even moreso a precious commodity and one that has had to be cut back, I am functioning quite well on 7-8 hrs during the weekdays, sometimes 6.5 but usually not anything below that and definitely not for multiple days in a row.  The good news is that over this time I really haven’t cracked and I think my mental fortitude has only grown stronger as with my focus.  The only hiccup is that I developed some type of cold or seasonal sickness this week and have had to go on antibiotcs to curb this before it gets worse.  Normally I don’t think I would have run to the antibiotics so quickly, however with the next few weeks being pretty critical preparation wise for IMFL I don’t really want to risk it.  Hopefully this runs its course and doesn’t rear its ugly head again…well at least until after Nov 5th 🙂  The extra time off from work will be a welcome addition on many fronts, allowing for a reduced stressor and more time to train and recover being paramount.

What this all is leading up to is IMFL on Nov 5th which I mentioned above.  It will be my second time racing the couse and I am looking forward to the challenge of executing my race plan a bit better than last year.  I am in better shape, in a better mindset, and have been putting in more hours than last year.  This should mean I will perform better, however I can’t take that for granted.  140.6 miles is a long way and I know that I must execute my plan in order to succeed.  It will be a fun day regardless of whatever outcome may come my way…but I am really looking foward to a solid performance at the Ironman distance.

What you can expect as readers of my blog:

1.  Some solid posting volume beginning late next week all the way through IMFL

2.  An IMFL race report (details TBD)

3. Posts from across the country (whenever WI-FI is available).   I will be driving across the country, from NY to Portland, OR.  My mom will riding shotgun with me to Portland at which point she will kiss me goodbye and continue on to see my other brother and his family in Japan…so I am sure I will have great stories and pictures to share.  If anyone has suggestions on sites to see, places to stop while driving from coast to coast please let me know.  I am not budgeting much time for stops but if something is cool and along the way…well I’ll just stop and enjoy 🙂