COMMONALITY

What do these 2 things have in common???

The answer is my son ,Bino ! After years of desire by Bino and a driving need to serve his country, yesterday Bino signed the papers for deferred enlistment. He has chosen to be an M1Abrams Tank crewmember and will leave after his senior year of high school at Plainfield North on June 30,2010. He will report for basic and tank training at Fort Knox, Kentucky on July 5,2010.

I have never in my life experienced the gamut of emotions that I went through this week. From the pride in what he has chosen to do followed by the terror of what could happen to him. In between those there have been around a million other emotions. Over the next year before he leaves, I am sure that I will experience even more.

Waddling with pride and love for my son.............

TRAINING

This week is the last week (#10) of Base training for Ironman. I have reached the max. time for weekday workouts. Starting next week during the build the intensity changes for the weekday workouts. Also the weekend workouts begin to get longer.

Good luck to everyone racing this weekend especially those doing IMCDA. I will be following everyone from Chicagoland and cheering.

Waddling after a great day....................

THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY

Pre-race

I really did not want to do this race. Mentally I just wanted to go for a training ride. It was on my training schedule even. I went through all the motions to get ready and pumped up.Moose said it best before the race-"This is training for pre-race jitters and doing a race. "

The Good

I felt great on the bike. There was a lady that started 2 waves behind me(45-49) riding a mountain bike that kept pace with me the entire course. Our average speed was 19-20mph. On the second lap she thanked me for setting a great pace. I thanked her for pissing me off that I couldn't beat a mountain bike on my tri bike. We laughed and pushed through lap 2.

The Bad

My run time was 4 minutes slower than last year. I couldn't seem to get a rhythm. I wasn't upset and just set out to not walk and enjoy the run. I even took time for a potty bike. Everyone that I had passed on the bike course now passed me. I had alot left at the finish so I know that I did not push too hard out there.

The Ugly
Because of the water temperature being cold, it was suggested earlier in the week to wear wetsuits so I did. I was feeling good waiting to start. The area is very tight at the start and goes not get deep until half way to the first buoy. I had just reached the deep water when the person in front of me pushed off with her foot into my stomach. I went under and sucked in a major amount of water. When I came up, I was panicked and couldn't breathe. I tried to swim and couldn't catch my breath. I flipped on my back and kicked until I felt better. Finally the swim was over As I walked to transition, I tossed my cookies. Somehow my swim was only 4 minutes longer than last year.

Post-Race

I actually am happy with my day. My total time was 10 minutes slower than last year. I was encouraged that although I wanted to quit during the swim, I finished. It was not anywhere near my best race but also it wasn't my worst.

Tri-Sharkie and I at the finish.

Special thanks to Iron Snoopy and Moose for being the best supporters ever and taking photos.

Waddling into week 10 of training............