Change is Coming

Post 45
Weeks of training complete: 30 weeks, 1 day
Time remaining until Ironman: 2 weeks, 6 days

Miles swam: 124.451
Miles biked: 2,267.67
Miles run: 527.29

Goal: $5,000
Total raised: $2,440

Read nothing into my headline. It's fact. Regardless of who is elected – change, of some sort, is coming. Be it, the first female vice president, or the first Black president, we are on the verge of something truly historic. Lost amid all the bickering of this election, and all the differences, is the fact that in many ways America has moved far, far away from its previous bigotries. It was less than 100 years ago that woman earned the Constitutionally protected right to vote and less than 45 years ago that we passed the Civil Rights Act.

And yet here we are. For the vast majority of Americans, the issue of whom to vote for is not dictated by whether they are voting for or against a Black man, or for or against a woman, but whether or not their beliefs and values align with one candidate or the other. That's a way of thinking in America that many, many powerful interests resisted through this nation's formative years; and a way of thinking many people gave their lives (both physically and through tireless labor) for.

Think about it - when my grandparents were just a little bit younger than me - this country was having real debates about whether or not it was okay to keep minorities out of public schools. And whether women were as intelligent as men ...

So, anyway, regardless of where you stand, change is coming, change has come, we're on the verge of a historic night. And that's pretty cool.

Just a l'il positive spin for y'all.

Well, I'm almost at the end of my journey. Less than three weeks remain.

I'm as ready as I'll be, I guess. And after all that training, all I can say is this: race day may by one of the single hardest days of my life. On Friday, I did an 88 mile ride, followed by a 5 mile run in 94 degree weather. It was grueling. I was exhausted. And all I can think is: "I have to tack a 2.4 mile swim, an additional 25 bike miles and 21 run miles on top that on race day ..."

The one thing to remember is: many, many, many endurance athletes have had been long training days only to come back and race day and knock it out of the park.

On the home front, Heidi's jobs search continues. I am not at liberty to disclose all the dealings. But I can say we are cautiously optimistic.

Mom gets here Friday. Can't wait to see her.

I'm beginning to get daily race jitters from time to time.

Exciting, exciting, exciting!

Good night,
Ed