In three days, two of my friends will hit the downstream current in Augusta 70.3 Half Ironman. Both will also join me in Madison at Ironman Wisconsin.
We all ran together with the East Nasties last night and it just pumps me up to see the look in their eyes. Excited, clear, yet a bit distant. A 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, and a half marathon are lurking. Both know they are ready, but for various reasons this will be a legit test.
Jim was recently battling a bacteria infection he picked up in the last river he raced and it has taken a toll on his training. I’m sure it will be in the back of his mind as he takes the Augusta plunge. Daniel is coming off a pretty serious bike accident four weeks ago that sidelined all workouts for a couple weeks and still limits movement in his shoulder.
Jim has been a motivational force from the beginning. He jogged along with me at an 11 minute pace, and I now realize what a sacrifice that was. It’s satisfying to help others, but when you’re training for a race, which he often was, it can be a burden. He also paced me for my first 5k, willingly accepting a chip time that would linger on the internet forever and be well under his potential. He also lent me a bike to explore triathlons. Someday I will erect a statue of Jim next to my infinity pool.
The first time I met Daniel was after one of his Sprint Tris. I was there to soak it all in and see if this was really something I wanted to do. At some point that day I fell in love with the idea of doing a triathlon and it may have had something to do with Daniel’s post-race excitement. He was ear to ear grin and just couldn’t hide how pumped he was about what he’d just done. We didn’t talk much that day, but have become friends since. I look forward to his positive energy on our journey to Wisconsin.
I really want to go watch these guys race and know how much that helps, but a 7 hour drive on Sunday while having to work on Monday is a bit much for me. Time is more valuable than ever, it seems.
Side note: The co-worker next to me has the fucking Andy Griffith them for a ring tone and always leaves his phone in the office. It rings constantly and I cannot thwart the whistling loop that takes over my brain for 3-4 hours a day.
I think I’m finally getting used to my new fucking tri bike. That whole deal with the aero bars has been cramping my style. Literally. My neck felt like it was in some kind of illegal wrestling hold as I’d peer above my glasses while bugs flew in my eyes. 
Tonight was better. I did about 15 miles of rolling short hills at about 17mph on average. I’ll take that for now as long as I can get my back, neck, and thighs used to a funky new position. When I got home my dog barked at me.
Todays Diet:
Breakfast: Protein shake, coffee
Lunch: Pizza, pasta, salad
Snack: Fiber bar, Green Tea
Dinner: Protein shake, 2 pickles, green perfect food.
Still going with the flow.