Some Thoughts On Kona, Music, Training, And Family

First Up:

Kona: I was as disappointed as any triathlon fan to find out that Chrissie Wellington was not racing on the big island this year. I know she is an amazing athlete, and was still the hands on favorite to win the Ironman World Championship again this year. However, I had a hunch this time around—had she raced, that she might suffer a bit of a letdown. I am probably the only human being on the planet that thinks this. After three straight wins at Kona, all of which faster than the previous (9:08:45, 9:06:23, and 8:54:02,) and a world record at the Quelle Challenge in Roth, Germany on 7 December (8:19:13,) I feel like it would have been very difficult to keep the type of mental acuity needed to race at that level again, especially when everyone is gunning for you. I guess we will have to wait another year to see how it goes down. Of course, next year, I think she may be even hungrier after being forced to take Kona off this year because of illness.

Still, it would have been really interesting to see how it would have gone down between Chrissie and Mirinda Carfrae during the marathon. Would Mirinda have had enough gas in the tank at the end to catch Chrissie off the bike? Maybe Chrissie would have had an off day. Only 363 more days to find out!

We do know, however, that Chris Leito could not run a sub three hour marathon, despite working hard with Ryan Hall and others on his run form throughout the year. I would have loved to have seen Chris win this year. Unfortunately, I think that this was probably his best, and last shot at Kona, and I think we may see him retire. I was excited to see Macca win, and have it be such a great race at the end with Raelart. By the way, Andreas Raelert has an awesome ride.

P.S. I wish I could swim like Andy Potts. Holy smokes—did you see that dude in the water. Honestly, I think my twins could have water skied off the back of him.

Training:  I was completely well intentioned last week. It is autumn here in western New York, and I was excited about getting out for a run, because, for the first time in days, it has not been raining in biblical-like proportions. Seriously, if we had any more rain last week, I would have needed an ark to get home.

I was really excited about getting out for a little 10k run on Thursday, but by the time I was finished working around 7:15, it was already dark out, and my body said "shut it down." Lame, right? To make matters worse, I just threw in the towel. I got all the kids in bed, because wifey had a rehearsal. Then I cracked open a Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout.

Then, I was going to go for a run Friday after teaching class around 11:30. Instead, I met some of my colleagues for the noontime lunch faculty speaker series. Have I mentioned that the faculty lunches are have dangerously delicious inexpensive food, and there is a full dessert table full of cake, pies, chocolates, brownies, and every other type of simple sugars you can think of?

So, I waited a few hours and thought I would get a run in later in the afternoon, but my family came down to hang out with me, see the campus, and grab some dinner a little earlier than I had expected. It was a beautiful day to go for a run, but it was an even better day to spend with la famiglia.

They are auditioning for FAME in this photo.

Children Running Down Hill

Children Rolling Down Hill

Everyone understood how to roll down the hill, except Stella. You can see her in the back left corner. She ended up doing one somersault, then figuring out that she had to be positioned like the rest of her siblings. 

We walked through campus for about an hour, then had dinner.

Grilled beat salad with endive, blue cheese and field greens. YUM!

Duck breast with bok choy over brown rice with a spicy green coconut-curry sauce. Double YUM!

I went out Saturday morning with Luca for a 10k, and did respectable 7:50's, but my body is still not right. My legs are still fatigued after Ironman. The only thing I have wanted to do is swim. So, I am listening to my body and getting in the pool as much as I can this week!

Music: I have a whole lot of music to write in a very short amount of time. Truth is, I work best when I am completely under the gun. Some people don't like pressure. I thrive off of it. I make my lists every day. I use index cards. I love crossing off tasks one at a time. With each one down, I exhale a little more. It makes me think life might be more manageable.

DRAWING UPDATE: Okay, BIG Lazer Tardiz aero helmet drawing TONIGHT!! I will probably have the lucky winner announced at 10:00 p.m. ET. STAY TUNED!