Past, Present, and Future

In all the hustle and bustle of the last few weeks I haven't gotten around to updating this here Blog for a bit. So here is a little run down on the Past, Present and Future.

The Past: Following Lake Placid I took a trip down Connecticut way to visit my friends Tommy and Katie in their new digs. I had never been to Connecticut before, and was impressed with Stamford and the surrounding area. One day was too short of a trip, but I am hoping to get back this winter.

I had been in Lake Placid since July 3rd, and before that, had spent the previous 7.5 weeks between Hawaii and Utah. In reality, I had been home for about 36hrs since January 9th, so to finally be heading home felt a little strange and more than a little exciting. In all I got to spend 10 days at home, visiting with friends and family I had missed dearly. The highlights of my trip included getting to spend time with my 93yr old grandma, my parents, brother, friends, and attending the wedding of a long time dear friend. 2 days after said wedding I was back on the road. 

Which brings me to the present: 
I am writing this from a couch in Boulder, Colorado after having spent 3 days in Salida, Colorado with my good friend Maiki. I have been in Boulder for 4 days as of this posting, and have to admit, this place is pretty awesome. Boulder takes some heat in the triathlon world as it has become "Triathlon Mecca" or "Tri-Geek Central" but after just a few short days I can see why so many people like it, and why so many of the top professionals in our sport train here. Plain and simple, the place has a great deal to offer when it comes to training for triathlon, and very few mitigating factors.

I am knocking on wood as I write this, but I haven't found the adjustment to altitude to be all so terrible as of yet. While I'd like to think that is due to my outstanding physiological capacities, I am sure it has much more to do with the training plan my coach has built. So far, so good.

Finally, the Future:
I plan on staying in Boulder for the next several weeks and am fortunate that friend and fellow Specialized and Zoot athlete, Ben Hoffman is allowing me to crash at his place at the mere cost of $2,000.00 a month, and all laundry, cooking, dish, car and S-Works Ruckus washing duties. A steal if you ask me ;-)

On the racing front, I will be putting in a good block here before I head on down to Branson, Missouri on September 18th for a 70.3 that I hear is top notch. I wanted to race Rev3 Cedar Pt. and was fired up all season to do so, but with my race at, and recovery from Lake Placid not going as desired, it was just too much too soon.

However, occupying the biggest and most (only?) important news of this post, I am happy to say that I accepted a slot to race the Ironman World Championships and thus will be heading back to the Big Island and the town of Kona for a second time this season. I am stoked and humbled to have qualified, albeit due to roll downs under the new Kona Points Rankings system, and cannot wait to be floating in the harbor waiting for the cannon to fire and racing as a professional triathlete on the most hallowed of triathlon grounds. If you had asked me 5 years ago if there was even a glimmer of hope that such circumstances could arise, I would not have hesitated even a fraction of a second in saying "NO!" I have had heard some friends and my former coach describe the feeling of starting and racing in Kona as a pro, and I am thrilled and honored to get the opportunity to experience the same myself come October 8th.  GAME ON!!