Top of the Key

TODAY!!!! is a great day.  I feel awesome!  Woke up before the alarm, or I should say if i had turned on the alarm.  It’s 8am and I’ve already got a lot done in preparation for leaving.  I am going to miss our kids, that’s one thing for sure.  Here’s a snapshot of us this morning.

I’ve got a short ride to do today, on the PowerCranks because I don’t have another bike.  Then it’s time to wrap things up.  I can honestly say that right now, i’m feeling more excitement than ever, and eagerness to get to the race start.  In the past, I was definitely more nervous leading up to Ironman.  It will all be over soon, these next few days will fly by.  And I don’t want to look back think that I could have pushed a little harder.  I know alot of folks will be following the race online, family, friends and clients.  It’s not added pressure at all, just don’t want to disappoint - myself!  I mentioned to Jess a few days back that in my days of playing basketball in high school (Bishop Stang High School, Dartmouth, MA), then intramural in college (Bryant College, Smithfield, RI), and even when we moved out here to Boulder playing at the rec centers, whether it was practice, a pickup game, or an actual high school game, I was all over the court.  Much more reckless with my body back then.  And might have contributed a bit to my torn ACL my sophmore year.  But even after recovering from that, to return my senior year, I was just as aggressive.  Basically would piss a lot of other players off, both on the opposing team and my own, because I would take each play seriously.  I had a fire inside me that was sort of ‘crazy’ at times.  But to me, I knew nothing else. (As shown below in a photo taken for the local paper in my high school playing days - that’s me on the floor, usually where you would find me)  This was how I played ball, and it got me only to a certain point.  I matured late in my athletic career, I would say, and became a more controlled athlete.  Thought things through more, took my time to understand the opponent, play fast, but controlled.  BUT, now I want to add that fire back into the mix…if that makes sense.  I might have become a little too controlled in the past few years, and need to just lay it all out there.  Sometimes when I was playing ball, I would run up and down, up and down, up and down, and not stop.  It hurt, hurt really bad in the lungs, the legs, but for some reason, that was all blacked out and i just went.  Where is that desire now?  Hoping to rekindle some of it this weekend.

Oh, and by the way, the Jeans i thought were perfect from Walmart…not so ‘blue’ jeans.  They were more black when I looked at them the next day.  Their now back on the shelves, and i’m back in my Target pair that are just hanging on.  Jess is always right about my shopping habits.