B-rick

Bike

Run
It's Sunday morning at 5:54AM and I am up at my desk having my cup of coffee from my rocking cool keurig single cup coffee maker and pondering life's un-answerable questions. Where else would you expect me at this hour? I mean I am probably the only 20 something year old person in Rochester who has been in bed at 6pm the last two nights (FYI: It's the Park Ave fest which is basically a weekend long party in the Park Ave district of Rochester where beer pong and open containers are the norm). Anyway, I seemed to have some sort of cold coming on last Thursday and the best way to combat a cold/sickness is to drink drink drink (water that is) and sleep sleep sleep. I have done both and I feel pretty good right now. It's not like I would have been out partying anyways. So the past two nights have left me with a lot of time to sleep which is good, I will happily put those hours in my sleep bank as come winter time I will be begging for them back.

Well I guess since its about 6AM on a Sunday when I don't really have to be up at 6am..and the fact that I am...this means that I am back to my usual schedule. Back to where the work gets done. It's so much easier to think and accomplish things (for me) in the morning hours when the sun is still working its way into the sky. It's funny that only about 1 month ago I would be meeting friends down at Kershaw Park for morning swims during the week and we would be jumping in the water at 5:30am and the sun would already be rising and it would be light enough to safely start swimming. Now as I look out from my desk chair into the great outdoors it is only just beginning to get light outside. Funny how things change so quickly. My knee jerk emotional reaction to this is sadness. I love the late spring and summer time. It's a time when work isn't bananas, people are usually in great moods, people are OUTDOORS, the lake is in full use, you can walk outside in a t-shirt and shorts at 5am and not be frigid...idk its just pleasant. But I really can't complain to much as I still have a very very substantial triathlon season ahead of me over the next few months. The next few races will quickly get me to Thanksgiving time and from then on the holidays are in full effect which makes time fly. Then all the sudden the first of the year will be here and it will be time once again to hit training hard! As the busy season of the tax professional will take up most of my time during mid January through April 15th I will once again embark on the dark period of my year where I eat, train, work, sleep and repeat...and thats pretty much all I do. The weekends will bring Saturday work hours which mean 4am wake up calls for indoor training rides. I just hope that I have some comrades that want to join me so we can set up shop together and make 5am indoor rides less awful. But enough of this dreary talk about the winter. The fact of the matter is that right now I have the Syracuse 70.3 IM as well as Ironman Florida in sight. Even though these races seemed so far off when I signed up for them, they have certainly crept up on me quickly. The fact that I signed up for two 1/2's and two full's in 1 year was once an obstacle that I thought might be to much in my first year. I won't lie that their was a period where I was like WTF have I got myself into. I am by no means out of the woods yet, my primary goal of every race is to come out of it happy, healthy, and stronger. So far things have gone pretty well. Even though I had some set backs in May-June I think that I am in a good place now. I truly believe that my initial injuries and setbacks this year were due to my "new-ness" to this sport. Without a cycling or running background I essentially went from 0-60 (if I can use an automobile analogy) in less than 8 months. I wouldn't have it any other way..that's just how I work. But it did bring some issues up, hopefully one's that are now behind me. So with a decent effort at IMLP I am very excited to have a second shot at both the 70.3 and 140.6 distance this year. I am extremely hopeful that with a solid mindset and a good plan from my coach that I will meet my expectations at these races. I guess personally I would have to say that the 70.3 is not the highest on my list and I will use it for more of a training race to see where I am at in a month from now. But I would be lying if I said that I wasn't going to be fully motivated for it. I mean I know a TON of people that are going to be there and it's just going to be a really fun event. So with that said I won't be super caught up with what times I throw down...i am just going to be there to have fun...well I guess that's how I approach every race but it just feels better to spell it out, haha! I guess the same goes for IMFL but honestly deep down I wanna have a good race down their. I have to imagine that I am going to have a blast down their with Mary as we both are out to conquer Panama City...regardless of what happens I will cross the line with a smile. But I am sure I will talk more about IMFL in the coming months as it will be on my mind quite frequently.

Well for the rest of the day the plan is to Bike and Run as pictured above. 45 minutes of each..back to back..also known as a "B-Rick" workout, some breakfast, maybe cleaning my apartment but most likely taking a nap or watching a movie, then going over to Kamp Kellman's for a little post Ironman party with the team....and that will be that...catch you later.