I Can Feel It!

It's creeping into my every waking thought. I feel like Peter Parker in Spiderman 3 when the dark Spiderman was taking over. It's Ironman Wisconsin.

This weekend we were at the lake taking an evening boat ride and I found myself looking at the water contemplating all the OW (open water) swims I'll be doing next summer. How often will the Doc be willing to kayak along? That led to consideration of the IM swim. It sounds like I'm going to have to enter the washing machine this time. There's no way to stay to the outside in clear water. That's going to take a mental adjustment and perhaps a stroke adjustment as well - quicker turnover less power per stroke. I'll have to harken back to my MLB (that's middle linebacker not baseball) days and welcome the contact.

This wouldn't be such a surprise if there hadn't been about 30 minutes between the time IMOO 2010 came onto the radar and when I registered.

One big difference next year. This past year the whole family bought into the IMCDA experience: the big 2 week family excursion, missing 2 weeks of lacrosse, all of the prep time, the mental focus. Next year that can't be the case. I can't ask them to do that. Obviously I've got to put in the training time and sacrifices will be made by all (sorry) - but I'm going to make an effort to minimize the sacrifices.

Actually there is a second big difference. This year I'm going to have one of my ten best friends, ok my best friend, going through the training at the same time - all be it in the sweltering land of big hair, belt buckles, and boobs - Dallas. Most likely he will be using the same plan I will. Our daily schedules are a bit different (he's an aspiring restaurant magnate) but each week we'll be putting in similar workouts. It will be fun to share similar experiences on a weekly basis. I'm looking forward to watching the Ironman process for OB from afar.