Where have I been?

Okay, so I haven't posted in a very long time. With training, work, starting allthingstriathlon.com, saying hello to my wife in passing, etc, I have been a pretty busy guy lately. The good news is that we really, honestly, are going to launch the site this week! Yeah!! My Word of the Week (one of the benefits of the site) this week is "overcommit". Seems appropriate...

Anyway, on to my training (mis)adventures. Something in the universe is placing object after issue after situation in front of me and my training plan for IM CDA in 20 days. The latest? A 4 inch screw lodged in my, gulp, race wheel!!! Oh NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!! It happened at about the 3:20 point of our 5:45 brick ride on Saturday. I was a little concerned. Okay, I FREAKED OUT!!! It went into the tire (new one - breaking it in for the race), and through the rim. Oh crap. My heart sank as I envisioned the ruining of my race wheels 3 weeks before my A race. I wasn't taking any chances, I didn't want to ride on it. So, I hailed a cab (quite a feat in Paradise Valley, AZ by the way) that happened by, put my bike in the trunk, and he brought me home. I did actually do the brick, even though my time off the bike was substantial. I had to do something until the LBS opened. I walked in, head and shoulders down, and showed the guy. His answer "no problem, it didn't break the integrity of the sidewall of the wheel. Your're fine." me "Seriously?" "yeah, new tape, tube, tire and you're all set". I stopped myself from telling him I loved him, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't think it! So, it's okay. It's funny how that extra 2.5 hours of ride time became completely unimportant when compared to losing my wheel.

So, if you're keeping score, this training has included the following challenges:
1 = number of weeks where I've completed all my workouts (out of 20)
2 = number of times I've been really sick, keeping me from training 3-4 days each
3 = number of days I've missed due to my hamstring being a problem
4 = length (in inches) of the screw that tried to take out my race wheels.
5 = number of days completely lost to my first bike crash
6 = The day in April of my first bike crash.
7 = Number of people on our team racing CDA
8= 8 is my lucky number. Please don't let there be a 8...