Ironman

Hey again everyone,

I know what you're thinking - "back from the dead, are you Bobby?"   Well, please accept my sincere apologies for the lack of "interaction" these past few weeks.   I've had a thing or two on the personal/professional side to deal with that has quite simply consumed my life...   Anyway, I'm back and should have two fairly exciting HOT weather adventures to write about over the next few months..

So here it is - race week, 6 days before I participate in my first actual Ironman race (done the distance without the label) and I've spent a good amount of the last 4 days in the hidden corners of my mind asking myself - "Why do I want to be an Ironman?"

With just 138 training days left before the gun goes off at the Hawaii Ironman on October 13th, I think I had a run this morning to finally pull myself out of that running funk I've been in for the past month+... It was one of those runs where you go just long enough to get in to that zone we all love, but not so long that my body will be walking funny for the next 48 hours. According to the route map it was a hair over 8.4 miles. The first 4 were dead flat.. The next 4.4 were quite hilly.. The best of both worlds - I guess you could say.

You know you've taken enough time off after a big race when you're body is just BEGGING your mind to let you go out for a run. I was at that point this past Saturday morning.

While my body wasn't ready for anything more than the quick "once round Lake Merritt" loop I ended up doing (it thought it was, but it really wasn't), it felt fantastic to be moving once again - albeit at a glacially slow pace.

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My wife and I raced Boston in 2000; roughly 8 1/2 months before our son Caden was born. It was a really fun trip and an even better marathon, because we both qualified and ran the entire race together. Boy it would be nice to go back....

I see what they're doing. First a few years of running folks through a marathon, then they add a bike race. The logical next step is to cut holes in the ice in 2009 (assuming it's not all melted by then anyway) and stage a swim. I can hear it now - IRONMAN NORTH POLE 2010.

If "weather permits," I'm going to try to get my hands on a bike while I'm up there to see what it's like. Much like running in sub-zero conditions, I'm sure biking in the freezing cold is going to be a treat (but an experience worth having nonetheless).

Time to make the lunches for the kids. Today is my day to walk my son to school.

Six-time Hawaii Ironman winner Dave Scott has teamed up with Accelerade sports drink to create a series of podcasts on topics related to endurance nutrition.

To listen, go to the powering muscles website.