About This Blog

As time permits, in-depth musings on myriad subjects will be posted. Abbreviated adages will be announced via Twitter.

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Re:set

The time is now 2:42 AM, Central.

A noise awoke me at 11:47 PM, and I was unable to go back to sleep. Since then, I've tinkered with my TT bike (made some saddle adjustments & perma-mounted a flats kit to the rear bottle cage), played with Marzipan, and trolled on Slowtwitch and sundry other websites. Nothing seems to be working on lulling me to sleep. Not even the sound of the rain, strumming its typical lullaby on the roof, is working tonight. Or, this morning, as it were. At least it's the weekend.


Thursday, May 06, 2010

Because I Cannot Sleep...

...I, again, write here.

Hola, amigos. Yeah, it's been a long-<expletive> time since I've rapped at you. I'll not offer any excuses as to why, but I'm sure you can imagine. Besides, don't we all have more important things to do than to write down and/or read paragraph upon paragraph of someone's thoughts on life, the universe -- everything?

While it has been more than a thousand hours (obscure reference to a Cure song, which, interestingly enough, translates into 41.6 days; and that would, conveniently, round up to 42) since my last entry, there isn't really that much to report. The highlights:
  • N--- & I got a dog! Her name is Marzipan, and she is a great runner. Our first 5k is on May 22nd.
  • I competed in my first (and likely only) triathlon of the season in Kemah, TX. It was an awesome race, complete with a swim clinic by Andy Potts and a run clinic by Matt Reed. As expected, I sucked, but the swim was awesome: Ferry the competitors out 1500m into Galveston Bay, shove us overboard, and have us swim to shore to start the bike leg = Awesome!
  • N--- had knee surgery to remedy a piece of torn cartilage. She's on crutches for six weeks (three down, three to go), which has me rushing about, tending to her needs and keeping house, etc. This is nothing in comparison to everything N--- did for me/us last year in my lead-up to Ironman.
  • I registered for & dropped graduate courses at that school at 1604 & I10. The big reason for the drop was the lack of availability of promised grant money, as well as the general lack of not knowing WTF was going on between departments. Still awaiting word from TAMU Kingsville about acceptance into a program this summer.
  • I donated blood today for the first time in nearly three years. A "double" made me feel better and more alive than anything I've done in recent memory.
And that's about it for the goings on. Something worth mentioning, however, has been the debate over whether or not to participate in the rumored Ironman Texas.

See, I heard this rumor at the big race in Kemah that officials in The Woodlands (where the doomed Tri 101 Championships were to be held in 2008, but weren't) were cooperating with WTC to host a full IM race there in 2011 or 2012. Rumors were unofficially confirmed on Slowtwitch the week after, and, so, we tri geeks began speculation and planning what fun it would be to do such an event. I even had N---'s blessing to sign up & participate. However, in the near month that it's been since racing in Kemah, I've had some time to reflect on things, including rereading posts from last year regarding training and the lackluster feeling I had once I crossed the finish line in Coure d' Alene. Granted, things would likely be different (this is Texas, after all), but a tremendous amount of training and a fair amount of funding would need to go into the endeavor, and I just know if that's where I want to go. The only motivation I would have would be to break twelve (or eleven, if I were to actually get & stay serious) hours; but, even if I did, so what? The only guarantees I would have for the event is the loss of nearly $600, and an essentially unnecessary strain on my personal & professional lives. I am an Ironman, already. Even though my finishing time was not what I desired, I still crossed the finish line. Why would I need to do it again?

That question, I suppose, is where I will leave off. Disintegration is winding down (haven't listened to the album in its entirety in a long while; and, yes, I've missed it), and sleep feels to be coming upon me. Perhaps tonight's rest may bring some insight to the question which I now ponder regarding the rumored IM TX.

Thanks for continuing to read.