More like Aluminum, Less like Iron

I'm dreaming of a rainy Christmas ...

2008-12-25T14:19:00.000-08:00

A few more videos. First, Beck on clothing as a Christmas gift:

And finally - just a scene of the neighborhood - and how rainy and gray it's been today. It's been raining and cloudy going on almost two weeks here in Phoenix. Very strange for these parts. In 14 years, I've never seen it rain so much.

Christmas Time!

2008-12-25T07:36:00.000-08:00

Some (low light) sights and sounds from this morning at the Baker/Heister household:

First view of Santa's arrival

First gift:

Brody stocking her new kitchen

Beck discovering his new airplane

Holy moly! Wall-E!

A Reflective ...

2008-12-02T19:50:00.000-08:00

I haven't had a chance to write since the big day. It's been a long period of recovery. Lots of thoughts have been going through my mind as I've tried to sort out just what the whole Ironman experience has meant.

My body has hurt since the race. More fit Ironmen certainly experience a faster recovery, but I am not one of them.

My feet hurt when I wake. I feel like an old man with arthirtis for the first 10 minutes or so of the day. And I have slept - a lot. I've slept a minimum of 9 hours a night, often 10, every night since November 23. There is something to be said for putting the human body through such a grueling task - especially for a person like me.

I am not the healthiest Ironman. I didn't follow the rules. I turned down the opportunity to party and have a few beers many times, but not every time. I ate Mexican food when I wanted to. And enjoyed more than a few sifters of bourbon with my good friend Rob.

I wouldn't have had it any other way.

There was something in me this whole time; something that wanted to prove that the everyman could do an Ironman. That there's was - to borrow a tired cliche - more than one way to skin a cat. I abhor absolutes. And the Ironman culture is one filled with absolutes. Ironman triathletes, from my experience, are incredibly positive people. But they are also people that abide by a strict set of rules. And to me, that sort of defies the whole purpose of life. It takes the spontaneous aspect of our existence and throws it away. Boring way to live if you ask me.

In retrospect, though, I am incredibly grateful for this experience. It came at exactly the right time. On the back end of this nine months, I am, in many ways, far more aware of my strengths and weaknesses. My ego has been altered, replaced by a new sense of my frailty, of our frailty.

Through these past nine months, I - and my family - have endured a sense of financial hardships, a layoff, the tough economy, and a newfound sense of the thin balance beam that provides a path forward or a precipitous drop off the edge. Without Ironman, and this training, I think I would have fallen off. Because of it, I moved forward, toward that safer, solid ground which exists somewhere in the distance.

There's no way I could have known this when I started. No way I could have known about the connections I have, and the friends I have forgotten and remembered. People who came out of the woodwork and offered support and donations when I dwelled in the darkest spots of this journey.

I am more humble now. I am a better father now. And I think - though Heidi may beg to differ - a better husband now. I understand, more clearly, the sacrifice we make to be great parents to our children. But more importantly, I not only embrace that sacrifice, but eagerly embrace it. My priorities have been set straight - at least for this leg in the journey of life. And none of these insights would have possible without this test.

Like most things, these ideas and thoughts are fleeting. They are a truth the moment I type them - to be integrated into my total package, my total thoughts, my total story. But like any good legal document with a set expiration date, they are subject to change.

This blog, as it turns out, will not end with this post. There's more - video of the race, and some thoughts on the actual race - that I wish to post. But beyond that, I sort of enjoy the regular communication with all of you. So keep tuning in.

As it turns out, I may be an Ironman. But in many ways I am still more like aluminum, less like iron.

I mean, I human for chrissakes ...

- Ed

YES!

2008-11-23T22:29:00.001-08:00

I AM IRONMAN!

14 hours, 20 minutes until race time

2008-11-22T15:39:00.000-08:00

First off, you can track my progress here tomorrow:

http://ironman.com/events/ironman/arizona?show=tracker&year=2009

Enter my race number: 111 ... and you'll know exactly how I'm doing. The site takes a while to update; like an hour or so after I cross through each scanner. But for those of you not here in Tempe, that's where you can follow along.

For those of you that will be here: Kelli and Heidi will have a tent sent up near the center of Tempe Beach Park; look for the tent with the Team Jelinek/Baker banner and the Team Jelinek/Baker green shirts.

The race starts at 7 a.m. Eric believes he'll begin the bike around 8 a.m. and the run around 2 p.m.; I think I'll begin the bike at about 8:30 a.m. and the run about 3:40 p.m. Eric estimates 6-7 p.m. as his finish time. I estimae 8:30-9:30 as my finish time. It could be as early as 8 p.m. or as late as 10 p.m., though.

The time is almost here. In a few minutes, dinner. Then put the kids to bed. Then off to bed myself. Crazy, crazy, crazy.

Here's my bike and run stuff laid out before being packed up and given to the race crew. You get your bike bag after you finish the swim; and your run bag after you finish the bike. Then you go into a changing tent and change.

Here's me checking in the bike today.

This will be last post. With the next post, I'll have either finished or failed - there will be no in between. And chances are, I won't have the strength to post tomorrow night; so check that web site.

Until we speak again - Ed

57 Hours Until Race Time

2008-11-20T20:22:00.000-08:00

It's official. It's all begun. Today was the test swim in Tempe Town Lake. Eric, my buddy who is has already completed an Ironman, and is doing this one, too, went with me for the "test swim" in Tempe Town Lake. Water temperature: 61 degrees. I wore a wet suit. It was still a little cold - my wet suit is sleeveless. But not too bad. I kind of like the cold and, honestly, the water felt good. It's hard not to be all crazy excited and just spaz out. My stomach has been in knots the last couple days. I feel like I'm on an extended caffeine high. That's not necessarily a good feeling. Here's a pic of me in the wet suit, just before jumping in.

Then it was off to fill out some necessary "If you die, neither you nor your family will sue us for your stupidity." You're also required to join USA Tri, which is the official governing body of US triathlons. We forgot to get pictures of that, so we went back and made fake "pipe" poses.

Then it was time for some "future visualization." This is the arrow that marks the final turn, about .5 miles from the completion of the 140.6 mile race. I can only imagine the glory I will feel should I reach this point.

And finally, a mock "you caught me usin' the John" shot. 'Cuz what set of pictures is complete without one of those, eh?

4 days to go

2008-11-19T19:09:00.000-08:00

This is what introduced most people in the world Ironman. This crazy-ass broadcast of Julie Moss collapsing in 1982.

I hope this isn't me. :-)

That's all for tonight. Excitement building!

- Ed

Real Inspiration

2008-11-18T19:33:00.001-08:00

Post 48

Weeks of training complete: 31 weeks, 2 days
Time remaining until Ironman: 5 days

Miles swam: 129.131
Miles biked: 2,385.87
Miles swam: 584.67

Goal: $5,000
Total raised: $2,500

I'm sure a few of you are familiar with the story above; that of Dick and Rick Hoyt. People ask you all the time, who are your heroes, and for me, I always have trouble with that question. Heroes? They're people like my mom, dad, wife, my coworkers, the people I know. But then I learned about Dick and Rick Hoyt - those mofos are my heros, too. Just watch the video. You'll see what I mean.

If I run into trouble on the course, I'll slow down, regain my composure, and think of them. I know I will not be the first Ironman competitor moved to go above and beyond what we think we are because of their story.

You might have noticed, too, that the donation total went up. Thanks to Liam and Mark for making donations recently to the cause. The charity only notified me today that they had gotten two donations from New Jersey. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. My goal to get to $5,000 will continue if I don't make it by the completion of the Ironman. Amid all the gloom and doom of the economy, I feel it is even more necessary for me to finish not one, but both of my goals. I said I would get to $5,000, and I will.

I could really use your help in that area. If you were planning on donating, but haven't - please consider doing so.

It's finally dawning on me - really dawning on me. This whole thing is real!

Tempe is starting to set up for the race. On Thursday, we'll have our first practice swim in the lake. I'll get my race number. I'll register. On Friday, a breakfast for charity runners like myself and then a dinner and race meeting for athletes. Saturday, bag check, bike check and set up and then, Sunday, the race!!!

Mom, grandma and the kids arrive tomorrow. Dad on Friday!

HOLY CRAP, PEOPLE! HOLY CRAP!

It's happening! Excited? Yup. Scared? Yup. Nervous? Yup.

All this training. All for this one day: 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, 26.2 mile run ... let's just hope I can, as they say, "brag for the rest of my life."

Cheers,
Ed

Race Day Approaches

2008-11-17T17:50:00.000-08:00

Post 47

Weeks of training complete: 31 weeks, 1 day
Time remaining until Ironman: 6 days

Mile swam: 129.131
Miles biked: 2,385.67
Miles run: 584.67

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

My buddy Eric put that video on his blog and I thought it was cool, so I put it on my, too. Every time I watch it, I get all juiced up with energy and freaked out and excited. Race day is almost here.

I know that it's been an unacceptable amount of time since I posted last. But with the kids in New Jersey visiting the family, it's been nice to relax, to heal as the workout tapered and just enjoy the reduced level of responsibility.

The end of my journey - this journey anyway - is almost here. Six days from the race, I feel as ready as I'll ever be to finish the Ironman. That is my goal - if it takes me 13 and a half hours (which would be the absolute best I can expect to finish, on an absolute perfect day, given my race abilities), whether it takes me 14 hours and 15 minutes, which is probably a reasonable expectation, or whether it takes me the maximum 16 hours, 59 minutes and 59 seconds alotted, my goal is simply to cross that finish line alive and to be able to say: I set a goal to complete an Ironman, and I did it.

Sure, I could've done a few things better in my training. I'm human - and as the training wore down the stretch, I broke down. I broke down from lack of human connection. I broke down from the wear and tear on my body. I skipped a few workouts here and there; and some didn't go as well as planned. Sunday may be a rough day for me, and it may not. But I'll finish ... I'm confident I'll finish. But mom, dad, Heidi and friends: don't worry, I'm not going to kill myself trying. I'll be sad if I don't make it, but it won't be the end of the world.

But, honestly, I know I'm going to make it. I can just feel it. And, I'll have a pretty good day doing it. I've visualized it. I know the two big places I can get myself into trouble - pushing it too hard, too early. And not watching my race nutrition. I've got plans, though, and I've thought 'em through. I've coached myself on how to deal with the wind, the heat, the potential problems.

I've lost 32 pounds from my highest weight in 2008 (about 215) to my lowest weight measured this year (182). And my average weight loss is hanging around 29 pounds. Most days, when I get on the scale, I weigh 185. I'm happy with that. That's a big accomplishment, actually.

I think I want to do another Ironman, too. I've ridden a lot of ups and downs; but the hardest part of doing anything the first time is learning the many different phases, the moods, the peaks and valleys, having some sense of what to expect.

I'll try to write daily for the rest of the week - keep you guys up to date on what's going on as we go into the final days of preparation. I've got to go buy a few more things for my bike this evening, so I'm off to the store. I've included a few videos about the race. Hope you enjoy.

Here's a video on course details:

Hope to see you all on Sunday.

Love,
Ed

The Late Night Ramble About Which Mom Will Call Sometime Tomorrow and say, "Geez, Ed, Nice. That Was Depressing. I Don't Want to Read That."

2008-11-05T21:35:00.000-08:00

Post: 46

Weeks of training complete: 30 weeks, 3 days

Time remaining until Ironman: 2 weeks, 4 days

Miles swam: 124.451

Miles biked: 2,267.67

Miles run: 543.91

Goal: $5,000

Total raised: $2,440

I've tried, numerous times over the last couple weeks and months, to make sense of the times we live in.

I understand this much: it is impossible to understand the moment you're living in while you're living in it.

There are things we recognize as important: last night's election; those horrible couple weeks on the stock market; or an event like the one coming up in less than 3 weeks for me – events and moments we tell ourselves we must remember, because they are important, because they will define our lives in some very important way.

But just because we know individual moments or days are important, we still don't know what they mean.

The latter half of 2008 has been such a bizarre, chaotic time. The highs are very high; the lows very low. It's like the world is in a very unstable cosmic shift and it's debating which end of the equilibrium to end itself on.

If that sounds too abstract, let me spell it out. My family's life mirrors the stuff you hear on the radio. The job loss; the fear about making the mortgage; the financial stress; the job search; the looming sense of uncertainty; the anger about the financial industry; the bailout; the hope that better days are ahead, but the fear that it will get much, much worse before it gets better.

But there's just no way to know.

Because we have no spending cash, Heidi and I sit at home each night and try to talk our way through this new reality, wondering what it all means for us, our family, our aching desire to stay in this place which feels like home in our the deepest part of our guts.

But there's just no way to know.

I try to think back to the way I felt after the 9/11 attacks. I remember the fear; the uncertainty. And I know we made it through that.

And I know we'll make it through this.

But what's happening now is slow, and painful, and very, very drawn out. There is no line in the sand marked "bottom," there is no clear turn-around point ... just a lot of uncertainty.

Older readers may laugh, but my generation has never really faced as silent of killer as the "deep recession." So naturally, we - and therefore, I - know not what to make of it all.

So forgive me if I seem melodramatic. All I've know are opportunities everywhere. And now the world I know is people with college degrees applying for bus driver jobs.

Talk about a quick shift in the course of 12 months.

- Ed

Change is Coming

2008-11-03T19:35:00.000-08:00

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

Sorry for the Delay

2008-10-29T23:28:00.001-07:00

Post 44

Weeks of training complete: 28 weeks, 3 days

Time remaining until Ironman: 3 weeks, 4 days

Miles swam: 120.171

Miles biked: 2,166.57

Miles run: 517.41

Goal: $5,000

Total raised: $2,440

It's been so long since I posted, I just wanted to get something to all y'all.

We're okay. Heidi is adjusting to staying at home with the kids. She has leads on a couple potential jobs.

I've been working through these - the most grueling weeks of training - with mixed results. My body has clearly reached its threshhold. It has told me repeatedly it is nearing its limits. I recover only to be setback badly by a pretty standard workout. That's just the way it's been.

I twisted my ankle during my long run - pretty bad. I've had to take some days off. Just to let it heal. The veins are big and bulgy and angry. It hurts when I sleep. It hurts when I sit.

I think my body has just reached the end. I'm ready. It's time to go into rest and recovery mode. One more big ride. And then it's time to let everything heal. Time to get ready by resting.

I have to follow my course of action. I know this.

Hard core endurance athletes are similar to drug users. Only the very, very, very experienced ones are capable of offering you any useful advice. The rest of them are like me - gluttons for punishment and extreme behavior wrapped up in their own personal journey.

My friend Eric - whom I really admire more and more with each passing day for his insane commitment to this art - introduced me to a web forum on whether or not Ironmen who finished over a certain time were, more or less, worthwhile. It's an absurd argument. You literally have guys suggesting that somebody who finishes an Ironman in 16 or 17 hours is somehow a worthless piece of $h!t because, seriously, in their own words "any one can do it."

Yes, a-holes work their way into any sport.

And, as I said to Eric, I imagine most people who have trained for an Ironman have to l with similar things that we have - families who need or attention, injury, personal loss, job loss, economic troubles, death, accidents ... god who knows what people live through through this eight or nine month commitment to train for an event like this.

Sorry to bring this issue into this very brief posting ... I just want you to know we're all okay. We're making do. And, most importantly, our home is filled with lots of happiness and love and laughter, just as it always is and has been.

There's so much I want to share with you. In many ways, in the past two weeks, we have slowed our lives down and discovered, I think, more of each other - Heidi and I, and Heidi and I and the kids. It's been nice.

We are blessed.

And Ironman is three weeks and four days away.

And mark my words, people, I'm gonna' finish that mofo.

I know it.

Love,

And Just Who, Again, Are You?

2008-10-21T20:29:00.001-07:00

Post 43
Weeks of training complete: 27 weeks, 2 days
Time until Ironman: 4 weeks, 5 days

Miles swam: 115.953
Miles biked: 2,028.07
Miles run: 489.2

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

There are many days - hell, many moments within these seemingly endless streak of endless days – where I stop and say: Who are you? Who or what is this shell I inhabit? Who, or what, is running this ship? And where is it that we're going, yet again, at 5 a.m. or 9 p.m., when the children are asleep and my wife is home, alone, again – pondering her own constant disassembly and reassembly of her inner self?

If you had told me at the start of the Ironman that nearly 28 weeks into training, I would have less sense of who I was than the day I started, there's no way I would have believed you.

I have been many things in life. I have been a trusted friend, a notorious partier, a hard worker, a great lover of people and things and life, but I have never met, never knew, this Ed. This Ed who thinks that 2 miles of swimming, 25 miles of biking and 9 miles of running on a Tuesday evening/afternoon just isn't enough. "You're going to fail, Ed. You're going to let people down, Ed. You need to train faster, harder, longer, more. Why do they have a taper period? Maybe you should just train hard until race day. Make sure you're ready."

But it's more than that. It's something beyond the training. It's the reality that I don't know what I will do with myself when this is all over. What would you do if someone handed you 25 hours a week of your life back - and you were still gainfully employed? What did I do before this? What did I do with that time?

Maybe I should set the backdrop for this deep level of pondering ...

Heidi lost her job last week. I guess we found out on Thursday. Her last day will be this Friday. Heidi already has good leads on several job opportunities - and that is a real positive. But we have to plan for the worst and this, of course, means doing some of the things I'm previously mentioned, like considering selling the house. It also means cutting back on all the "luxuries" – the daily paper, the gym membership, cable, beer.

I don't believe that Heidi and I have ever lost a job. And so we're learning about how much our jobs identify us; how much they become a part of the persona we create for ourselves in our mind. When you lose a job, you lose a part of yourself. And now, of course, where there was stability, there is a great sense of uncertainty.

Heidi and I are smart; and we both know that we'll work through this whole thing like we always do - as a team. But there have already been a few small spats over money. And that is something we've been very fortunate to have avoided through most of our 12 years together.

In fact, it seems, that in this crazy year that 2008 has become, the only constant in my life is this Ironman. Swimming, biking, running - through heat and cold, through good news and bad news, through sick kids and happy kids, through family fights and make-ups, through Barack and McCain and Palin and Biden, through stimulus packages, soaring Dows, and sinking Nasdaqs, there has been just me and the water, and the road, and the pavement, and lots and lots and lots of miles.

That's a lot of hours of solitude, a lot of hours with just me talking to me, trying to make sense of a lot of things that don't make much sense.

Maybe the reason I can't quite identify with myself is because I've never spent this much time with myself - at least as an adult.

What I am learning? That I am confused? Sure. That I am scared ... a lot? Yes. That I love my family and my children; that without them I would feel like an empty hole? Yup, I think that's why I'm scared. That I need my friends? Yeah, somehow they seem more important than ever ...

The difference, I guess, is these feelings are all very raw right now. They're no longer packaged up in the right places - ready to be opened up for the proper causes: birthday cards, drunken holiday parties ... Nah, they're there, right there. Right on the surface. For everyone to know and see.

Here I am. Weak. Blemished. Like the skin.

Maybe that's what this year is all about for me. I have been broken down. The imagined might of my family (we're smart, invincible, we'll survive any crisis) has been broken down; my body has been broken down by the constant pounding of the pavement; my mind broken down by the monotony of another endless day of laps and miles and by the challenges of every day life.

You think this is a negative? You think I feel bad about this?

Quite the contrary.

And that is either the strangest – or the most logical – feeling of all.

Peace and love,
Ed

Keep on Moving ...

2008-10-15T20:58:00.000-07:00

Post 42
Weeks of training complete: 26 weeks, 3 days
Time remaining until Ironman: 5 weeks, 4 days

Miles swam: 113.955
Miles biked: 1,926.62
Miles run: 461.77

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

The Dow dropped 7.7 percent today. I sprung for some good beer - Newcastle and Sierra Nevada. And I paid full price - at a convienience store. Call it an act of economic rebellion. Recessionary pressures, be damned. I'm goin' out and droppin' $16 on two six-packs. Take that you silly old 1.2 percent drop in consumer spending.

And, I'm drinkin' them like a 2006 American hell bent on spending 101.6 percent of their income, ensuring that their net savings is -1.6 percent.

I'm kickin' it old school today and there's nothing Suze Orman and her practical "have eight months of income saved" mantra can do about it.

The only thing I'm missing is an H2 Hummer, a $750 pair of jeans and a $12 martini. Alas, we can't have everything.

Today I biked. Today I swam. Today I played video games while I biked. I'm stuck with the 2005 version of ESPN 2K football, so instead of just being bad, the Cardinals really suck in that game. I played New England today and 40 percent of my passes were intercepted. It's kind of hard to win that way.

I'm actually starting to get back on track with most aspects of my life. I feel busy, but not overwhelmed - pretty amazing considering I'm right in the middle of the most intense training period of the Ironman race prep. This week, I'll work out 20 hours, next week 20 hours, 30 minutes and the following week 21 hours. Then, the taper down begins.

I'll be so glad when this race is over. What will it be like to have 20 hours of free time returned to me life?

I'm gonna' feel like a rich man ... far richer than two $8 six-packs will make a man feel.

- Ed

Mind the Gap

2008-10-14T19:09:00.000-07:00

Post 41
Weeks of training complete: 26 weeks, 2 days
Time remaining until Ironman: 5 weeks, 5 days

Miles swam: 111.957
Miles biked: 1,904.06
Miles run: 461.77

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

There's not a lot new to report from the home front. As you can tell by the totals, the training sessions have been long and furious.

After some intense workouts to start the weekend, I spent some very nice low-key time with the family. The temps have been in the 70s for highs the past few days and into the high 40s at night - a very, very welcome respite.

On Saturday, Beck, Heidi, Brody and I went to Dreamy Draw - a mountain preserve in north-central Phoenix and went for a hike. We played with rocks, went into a tunnel and basically just enjoyed a beautiful fall day in the desert. Beck and I also went to Gameworks.

On Sunday, we spent the afternoon with my sister. During the day, we worked on getting together stuff for our Halloween costumes. I know what I'm going to be - and it's awesome.

I'm gonna leave it at that, so I can go relax now. Enjoy the video up above. It was from our trip up north a couple weeks ago.

Cheers,
Ed

Turning the Corner

2008-10-09T22:14:00.001-07:00

Post 40
Weeks of training complete: 25 weeks, 4 days
Time remaining until Ironman: 6 weeks, 3 days

Miles swam: 109.962
Miles biked: 1,798.84
Miles run: 434.8

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

Tonight, something happened. You hear a lot of athletes talk about digging deeper, about finding that special spot somewhere within them, when they need that extra push, when they're driving for the finish line; when the score is tied 17-17 in the overtime session of a playoff game, somewhere from deep within they are moved to excel. It is a move that defies the logic of bodily chemistry, of nutrition, of what should be humanly possible. I'm beginning to understand that.

Tonight, I dug deep. And I found something, a few things actually. And in the process, I believe, I've turned that final corner. As the annoucner in the Kentucky Derby would say: " ... and down the stretch they come!"

This week, obviously, has been one filled with challenges. Brody's sickness, high fever and constant painful moaning lasted four days and did not abate until yesterday evening (she is fine now); Heidi survived another round of layoffs (this time 40 percent of the coporate workforce). We were busy, tired, kept up the baby, fearful of our future and trying, trying to keep it all together – with work, with home, with life.

This time, I drew on my experience of all the other tough times we had had. Keep as positive as you can; keep as kind as you can, and whatever you do ... keep making the right decisions. This was my mantra - as my friend Eric would say.

So no matter what it took, I stuck to my workout. Tuesday, after all the kids were bed and the chores caught up, I biked and ran, finishing around 10 p.m.; Wednesday, I biked 22.5 miles in the trainer, sitting upright, rocking Brody back and forth in the stroller with my left arm; then swam late night at Tempe's Kiwanis Rec Center; today, I swam after work and ran from 8 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. It was during that run that I realized the reward of these decisions to do the right thing.

The clouds in my mind broke, and suddently I could see what this was all about, this Ironman: it's about elevating yourself to new levels; realizing that the limitations you perceive are mostly limitations set by you. It's about learning just how much potential we have.

My buddy Eric, who has completed one of these is much more sage in his advice. He's been through the roller coaster ride of the rookie. I imagine his journey this time is different than the first.

I've also decided to let go on the media cycle for a while. I'll pay attention, I don't do full blackouts, but worrying every day about what the Wall Street freak shows are going to do is counterproductive right now. These people are out of their minds and as the Dow continues to sink, it's become clear that the selling has nothing to do with the strength of the companies being sold anymore. Like I say, for how small traders are supposed to be, they sure behave in a herd mentality. Sanity will return, because at some point these fools will realize they sold too low. But that's neither here nor there. I cannot control the economy as a whole; only the economies of my family and my company within the current reality. So, I'll focus on that.

Thank you to all of you who wrote in the last couple days to offer support. It made a big difference.

Best,
Ed

The Beginning of the Beginning

2008-10-06T21:28:00.000-07:00

Post 39
Weeks of training complete: 25 weeks, 1 day
Time until Ironman: 6 weeks, 6 days

Miles swam: 105.986
Miles biked: 1,763.96
Miles run: 422.68

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

I know that it has been a long time since I've written in any great detail. The scope of events that has taken place in the last couple weeks has almost been too great to digest.

There was, first and foremost, my completion of the half-Ironman as a test run. Final times:

Swim (1.2 miles): 38 min, 10 sec
Bike (56 mile): 3 hours, 19 min, 40 sec
Run (13.1 mile): 2 hours, 27 min, 10 sec
Total time: 6 hours, 24 min

It was, for me, a very succesful test run – far better than I expected it to be. And yet, I can't help but wonder, how, in just under seven weeks, I will pull off a race at double that length. Especially as things pile up in the closing weeks.

It seems almost certain now that Heidi will lose her job. It is simply a matter of when. Buyout rumors are all of the news, and a company that made an offer (with full intent to close all stores) is already commenting publicly, for attribution, to major news media.

The onset of trying to figure out how we will deal with this wrinkle in our lives, especially amid the current economic climate, is trying. Keeping on your game face for your children - making them feel safe and giving them the love and attention they deserve – adds a certain dynamic. It is even more difficult to find time for training when your family needs you so much more than some self-indulgent race.

It has made everything harder - the fund raising, the training, the day-to-day living. Throw on top of that Brody's current illness (a fever that's been bouncing hourly, it seems, between 99.5 and 104.4) and, well, you know, my mind is all over the place.

I missed today's training; but I will get back on track tomorrow and make up the lost workouts by spreading Monday's work across the rest of the week. To make matters more interesting (worse?), I have potential jury duty on Wednesday and a dentist appointment on Friday.

Still, I know we're quite fortunate. My old employer, The Tribune, essentially closed 1/3 of its operations and cut back to publishing four days a week. They're laying off over 140 employees; some of whom I know well. All over the place here in Arizona, it's like a wrecking ball has run rampant over the economy. I went to pick up a sandwich today at this place I've been going to for years in this little strip mall about 2 miles from ASU and half the complex was empty.

This weekend, actually, we sought a respite from it all and went up to the family cabin in Pine. On Saturday, we took Beck and Brody up to a place called Barbershop Trail up on the Mogollon Rim at an elevation of about 7,900 feet. It was gray and cool - probably about 45 degrees. The kids put on heavy jackets and we walked in a beautiful canyon meadow where the maples that grow in those rare, wet Arizona places were turning a vibrant red, the aspens a golden yellow. We collected leaves and climed trees and threw rocks and sticks into a small mountain stream.

Everything slowed down. The kids stopped and picked the last remaining dandelions. Even as the leaves were changing, there were a few wild sunflowers hanging on in the throes of the end of their season. We collected leaves to place in wax paper - Brody was quick to pick up on this sport - we touched lamb's ear (a type of velvety, leafy plant) and looked for bugs.

And then, just as the first sprinkles started to fall, we climbed out of the canyon, children on our back. On the ride back to the cabin, it rained- hard. We stopped at a little diner nestled into a lush green meadow and found every table full with fathers, grandfathers and sons dressed head-to-toe in camo, taking a lunch break and a break from the weather. With no tables left, we drove further down the road and took refuge in a mountain lodge. We ate hamburgers, and french fries. The kids had chicken nuggets and chocolate milk. And then we returned to the cabin - heavy itself in the rain of the afternoon - where we drank Sierra Nevada and forgot about everything else outside.

The next morning, we hiked again, into more canyons at the base of the Mogollon Rim, where scrub oak was turning yellow and the walls were seeped with yesterday's rain. It was all very beautiful and relaxing ... until Brody puked yogurt on the way home, signaling the onset of the first sickness of the fall.

I can't say what tomorrow will bring. We're waiting some big annoucement now. Waiting to see where the chips will fall. Waiting to hear the finality of Heidi's situation.

I can tell you one thing, though. All of this, the Ironman, it's been a positive. It's been the right thing at the right time. A great accomplishment, a great goal to have, in a time where I so easily could have gotten lost in the spiral of discouraging news.

With love,
Ed

More or Less ...

2008-09-30T20:48:00.000-07:00

Post 38

Weeks of training complete: 24 weeks, 2 days

Time remaining until Ironman: 7 weeks, 5 days

Miles swam: 103.551

Miles biked: 1,695.96

Miles run: 409.58

Goal: $5,000

Total raised: $2,440

I can't shake the exhaustion of the last few days. A few weeks ago, I wrote about chronic dehydration, now I have chronic exhaustion. I am so tired by 8:30, it's hard for me to keep my eyes open. And it's hard for me to get up in the morning. My left foot is killing me; my tendons in my right arm hurt - and after the Half Ironman I'm doing on Friday, I have the four most grueling weeks of training ahead of me.

I need a mountain retreat soon - to get out of this neverending heat. This is about the time that people that live in the Valley start to get angry. For most of the summer, we accept our fate. But when these obnoxious high pressure systems stall over the desert and bring multiple consecutive 100+ degree days into October - which happens every year - we just (pardon the French) start to lose our shit. I mean - enough is enough already, okay?

The air condition still beats well into the night, trying to keep us cool ... It's 8:59 p.m. and it's still 92 outside! 92! Geez ... I want to go fire a handgun in the air at nature. Make her pay.

I get the sense a lot of people wear down about this point in the Ironman training. It's very hard to keep your commitments to your family, your job - and then throw all this external chaos from the news and everything else going on - and well, it's a lot. Work, travel and training consume 13 of the 16 hours I'm awake right now. That doesn't leave time for much else.

Add the fundraising, blog requirements, party planning, play time with kids, chores ... well, you can see how the old 5 pounds into a 2 pound bag sceanrio is really at play.

But it'll be over soon ... 7 weeks, 5 days ... the end is almost near and yet, still pretty far away.

- Ed

A Quick Note ...

2008-09-29T21:38:00.000-07:00

Post 37
Weeks of training complete: 24 weeks, 1 day
Time until Ironman: 7 weeks, 6 days

Miles swam: 103.551
Miles biked: 1,683.46
Miles run: 406.98

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

Hello everybody. It's late. I'm tired. And I've just finished a long swim and run. Very tired, but just wanted to check in with some updated totals and to share that the bocce charity party was a great success. We've actually passed $2,440, but I don't know the exact total yet - I still have to tally receipts and payments from the party.

I promise to post more tomorrow. I'm going to rest and have cookies.

Good night,
Ed

Just Little Old Friendly Old Me

2008-09-24T20:07:00.000-07:00

Post 36

Weeks of training complete: 23 weeks, 3 days

Time until Ironman: 8 weeks, 4 days

Miles swam: 99.061

Miles biked: 1,610.96

Miles run: 393.08

Goal: $5,000

Total raised: $1,615

"A television war between the cynics and the saints. Flip the dial and that's whose side you're on." – 'Falling Down,' Goo Goo Dolls

I'll be brief today. I watched the Bush speech. I talked much about the economy. But I am drained from yesterday's catharsis. That was a soul and mind spilling of epic proportions. It carried into my sleep last night – a broken, ugly mess highlighted by a dream involving me being captured and interned in a makeshift Chinese prison, buried in a converted warehouse.

So, tonight, I'll tell you simply about what I've been thinking about. Those lyrics up above - yes, I quoted a Goo Goo Dolls song, an old one, no doubt, but a Goo Goo Dolls lyric nonetheless – kind of struck me last night. I tried to wrap myself up in a cocoon of the past. I listed to music that I liked when I was in high school and tried to fall back into a place where my biggest worry was whether or not I got invited to some party or whether I ever, really, would have a shot with Erin.

Ultimately, though, it wasn't the carefree music that brought me the sensation of safety. The real blanket came when I thought about my friends. The people I can turn to, that love me, that listen to me, that I think about. The people that are coming to the tournament on Saturday. The many people that offered to volunteer and buy supplies and bake cupcakes and watch the kids all on top of making donations. I became aware of the big-ass cloud of love wrapped around my ass. And damn, it felt good to acknowledge it. To let it hug me for one second - and then a few minutes - before I refocused on the many tasks at hand.

I have made a vow to always be aware of that cloud, of its presence ... whatever that means. I mean, I think I know what it means: always be greatful for your friends, always being there for them, but them and your family first ... things like that.

I ended last night - before the nightmares, anyway - feeling blessed and loved. I lay in bed knowing I could rattle off the names of many people whom I know care for me, and whom I care for very deeply, as well.

It reminded me that I am richer than any financial bailout could ever make me.

- Ed

You Play, You Pay ...

2008-09-23T20:29:00.000-07:00

Post 35

Weeks of training complete: 23 weeks, 2 days

Time remaining until Ironman: 8 weeks, 5 days

Miles swam: 96.816

Miles biked: 1,578.91

Miles run: 393.08

Goal: $5,000

Total raised: $1,615

"The time has come to save capitalism from the capitalists." – Luigi Zingales, Robert C. McCormmach Professor of Entrepreneurship and Finance, University of Chicago

I have tried to stay out of politics on this blog, but the financial and economic situation has been weighing on my mind and the minds of lots of other people. Every weekday this week, and most of the weekdays last week, I have learned of another person who has lost their job. Every day it seems, I hear some other tale from some other person, or perceived or real woes within their own business, or their companies.

For those of you who feel the need to ignore the realities, please feel free to say (with a mocking voice, of course): "What recession? People are still driving cars. I still see people buying stuff." Let me say in advance, thank you for those astute observations.

And then, let me tell you this: When the federal government's leaders are attempting in a single week to take the US financial system and turn it from something akin to the Wild West into something that reeks of the kind of nepotistic socialism favoried by the cronies of the old Soviet Union, something is wrong. Something is very, very wrong.

And for those of you who wish to stick your head in the sand - and declare (in the mocking voice, of course) that there is no recession, well, I'm sure the feds and the banking industry would like to tell you: "Thank you very much." They're quite happy to take their $2,300 from every man, woman and child in the US under the Paulson (that's Treasury Secreatry Henry Paulson) Plan and go on their way – nice, fat and profitable, these people who have put us all in grave danger.

The titans of Wall Street – let's face it, they are an evil, evil, ruthless bunch. In the past 15 years, they have found new and ever more ruthless ways to make money. Look at the carnage you can directly or indirectly tie to these people: there's Enron, Adelphia and the tech stock crashes; there was the massive run-up in the price of electricity as a result of the degregulation of the energy market (and the destruction of numerous power companies and their pensioned workers that resulted), there was the housing boom and bust, the massive run up in commodity prices and now this. Each one of these crisis – as the facts always show months or years down the road – was created, exacerbated, and manipulated for disgusting levels of profit only ultimately to result in the screwing over of millions of regular people just like you and me.

It's a disgusting abuse of power, ignored and allowed because the very people who manipulated these markets are close friends of the people who run our country. These people dine with Senators, Congressmen and Treasury Secretaries. Hell, many treasury secretaries are these people. Paulson, a Goldman Sachs alum, is a case in point.

So, why then, why, are we so ready to bail these people out?

Well, to put it quite simply – they have lobbyists up and down Capitol Hill – and they've asked Congress to do it. The banks, the financial institutions want this, because it's the easiest thing for them. Imagine you went on a $250,000 shopping spree and the bills came due. If you're choices were: a) have mom and dad pay it or b) sell the rest of what you owned and work out a debt payment plan based on garnished future earnings, which would use choose? I'd choose "a" and that's basically the way the Wall Streets are looking at.

The Paulson plan strikes me as incredibly dangerous and even though Congressional leaders are questioning it, they're questioning it for the wrong reasons. They want "middle class" relief, too. Essentially they want to spend even MORE money on this plan! Money they don't have! The American political leadership are like the worst examples of the $30,000 millionaire. This group loves to throw money at everything. They show no responsibility.

They also love scare tactics. All yesterday, Paulson ranted and raved on Capitol Hill about impending doom and recession if immediate action wasn't taken to bail (read: help his friends)these troubled financial institutions out.

We all need to step back and think about this. These scare tactics - these sweeping reforms in times of impending crisis - have been a benchmark of the Bush administration; think the Patriot Act after 9/11; the case for the Iraq War (weapons of mass destruction, anyone?), and now the Paulson bailout.

I don't buy Paulson's schtick, anymore. I knew Paulson was full of it the day I heard him proclaim that the run up in oil prices had nothing to do with market speculators. There are few people who follow the commodities market who buy that argument anymore. Paulson said that because he had friends to protect and an agenda to push - the expansion of drilling rights. The run up in oil prices was due totally to speculators; they were speculating there were problems in the stock market and they were looking for safe havens for their money. That's not a bad thing. That's speculation.

There is an interesting article here from which my opening quote is taken from. Read it if you have the time. Try to understand what is happening here.

Your life is about to change in ways you can't fathom if things continue to slip. The idea of credit the way you though of credit is about to change. The less educated are about to be marginalized. Those who made bad credit decisions are about to be pushed out of the system in a way they could never have expected 10 years ago – and maybe in a later blog I'll try to explain why. Basically, you're about to be looked at and analyzed as a risk every time you ask for money – for a car, for a student loan, for a credit card, for a mortgage, to rent an apartment. Heck, for a student loan, everything will be looked, including the major you want to go into it. The days of the $35,000 loan for the starving art student are gone, baby, gone, especially if that art student was a C student. Too much risk in that puppy.

We're not very good at accepting consequences, but we need to accept the consequences here of the lifestyle, the freewheeling debt-fueled frenzy we engaged in. The companies need to suffer, to take their losses, to go through expedited bankruptcy procedures, to flush the bad debt from the system and start over. It will be tough, but I suspect Paulson's plan could be worse.

We should not be made to pay for this mess. We'll be paying for years - and while I suspect the short-term benefits of this plan are better; the long-term effects of Paulson's plan seem much worse the way I see them. This is something we will pay for for decades. It will cost more than Social Security in 2009! Wasn't Social Security the item that was going to bankrupt the government?

I fear his plan will wreck the dollar, fueling a nasty cycle where the price of commodities explodes. The exploding price of everything – gas, food, clothes – coupled with increasing layoffs will only make things harder, fueling an ever more vicious cycle.

It is said that many of the banks in need of a bail out – particularly Lehman – have more assets than they do liabilities. Why are we bailing them out? Why are we letting this government decide our future? They've made enough mistakes as it is. Even though it will be painful, I would urge our leaders to give some careful thought to what they are about to do and for once, do what is right and kick the lobbyists and financial execs out of the hall and go do their own research, seek out independent expperts and try to craft and thoughtful comprehensive plan that will work.

Like I said, I'm afraid. I'm watching all this go down and thinking: doesn't anybody in Washington have a clue – Democratic or Republican? Where are the real leaders when we need them? Why, in a time when we're on the verge of a major crisis, are the peope in charge still driven by greed and self interests?

God save us all ...

- Ed

It All Seemed Uphill ...

2008-09-22T21:13:00.000-07:00

Post: 34
Weeks of training complete: 23 weeks, 1 day
Time remaining until Ironman: 8 weeks, 6 days

Miles swam: 96.816
Miles biked: 1,566.74
Miles run: 391.95

Goal: $5,000
Total raised: $1,615

First off – there's less than 9 weeks left. It's actually becoming a reality, this insane race. And every now and then, the excitement builds inside me ... I get this explosion of joy: "I'm gonna' do it! I'm gonna' do it!"

And then, I actually have to go do it.

Here's a look at my training schedule for the week:

Today: Swim 2.245 miles (1 hr, 30 min); Run 6.5 (1 hour, 15 min) – Total: 2 hour, 45 min
Tuesday: Bike 12 miles (45 min); Run 3.0 (30 min) – Total: 1 hour, 15 min
Wednesday: Swim 2.245 miles (1 hour, 30 min); Bike 24 miles (1 hour, 30 min) – Total: 3 hours
Thursday: Swim 2.245 miles (1 hour, 30 min); Run 8.5 miles (1 hour, 30 min) – Total: 3 hours
Friday: Bike 77.5 miles (5 hours); Run 4 miles (45 min) – Total: 5 hours, 45 minutes
Saturday: Bike 12 miles (45 mins); Run 12.5 miles (2 hours) – Total: 2 hours, 45 minutes
Sunday: OFF

Week totals: Swim 6.735 miles (4 hours, 30 minutes), Bike 125.5 miles (8 hours), Run 34.5 miles (6 hours) – Total: 18 hours, 30 minutes

So, as you can see, it's getting pretty crazy. The blogs may get pretty short as we get in to this super intense training period.

The bocce tournament is all set for Saturday. We expect to raise at least $500 after proceeds, so that should be good. Best part: there's going to be a hot dog bar ... Yeah. Classy.

Today, everything seemed as if I was going uphill. Roads I've normally run 100 times, roads I know are flat. The just seemed to go up. My eyes played tricks on me. My legs felt sore and heavy. But I made it through another day.

It's pretty interesting that my fears about the economic markets materialized in a single day – the value of the dollar fell, oil soared $16/bbl as investors sought a safe haven. We're in a dangerous time now; a return to soaring commodity prices coupled with rising unemployment could have a very bad cyclical effect ... Let's hope the Fed's plan, as it comes to fruition, is one people can get behind ...

Sorry to bore you with that.

I'm trying to think of what else happened ... Sunday was pretty uneventful. I mowed the low; bought the wine for the party, built the tournament bracket; relaxed on the couch - which, by the way, is what I'm going to do now. It's 9:30 p.m. I need to go spend some time with the wife.

Best,
Ed

Rebirth and Beginnings

2008-09-19T21:52:00.000-07:00

Post 33
Weeks of training complete: 22 weeks, 5 days
Time until Ironman: 9 weeks, 2 days

Miles swam: 94.571

Miles biked: 1,545.22

Miles run: 375.39

Goal: $5,000

Total raised: $1,615

All is well here. It's late. I finished another long bike ride today (about 60 miles), followed up by a 4.5 mile run, in which I held a 9:05/mile pace after the long bike ride. It's further evidence of much stronger I'm getting.

And I'm doing all this still with the tail end of a cold. I've been sick on and off this week - couldn't get my swims in.

Tonight Beck and I stayed up and watched Scooby-Doo 2. It was fun. Phelma's hot.

I need to give a big, big shout out to my boy Bang, who stepped up with a big, big donation towards the cause. We're closing in on the $2,000 mark and with the Bocce tournament next weekend, we should surpass that. Bang and I go back many a year here in Tempe and our stories of mayhem throughout the state are legendary - from our admission into Cluck-U; the mighty destruction of Truckasaurus and the many, many beers consumed. And, of course, baseball ...

In other thoughts, the financial world is getting a little scary right now. The economy is clearly a mess and what's even stranger is that the government is openly panicking right now. That's strange to watch. The government is beginning to behave in a bipartisan manner again - it makes you aware of the severity of what's happening.

I'm no economic expert, but I fancy myself as something of a hobby economist. I follow market trends, study commodities and try to understand global currencies - purely becuase I'm interested in the way financial systems work. I don't even do it to profit it off it oddly enough - as often as I correctly predict the movement of markets, I don't have the stomach to bet on them except in very long-term strategies I understand.

That said, I'm nervous about the US dollar. I'm worried about the risk the government has exposed itself, too. And I don't understand enough about the liquidity of the government - how can it spend when it's already running a massive deficit - to fully grasp the impact of these humungous bailouts.

If I'm uncertain about it - it means a lot of other people are, too. Uncertainty is bad for economies.

Just something I've been thinking about ... One thing's for sure, the 2000s have been significantly different than the 1990s.

I need to get to bed. Big run tomorrow ... and football. ASU plays Georgia. Big game. I think, I really think, we can win it.

Go Devils!

- Ed

Going to the Well

2008-09-16T19:49:00.000-07:00

Post 32
Weeks of training complete: 22 weeks, 2 days
Time remaining until Ironman: 9 weeks, 5 days

Miles swam: 92.117
Miles biked: 1,464.97
Mikes run: 371.18

Goal: $5,000
Total raised: $1,540

I often wonder: how many times can I go to the well?

How many times can I go to that place and share with all of you my exhaustion before you simply tire of hearing of it? Like the candidate who preaches nothing but gloom and doom, who points out nothing but what has gone wrong; like the news media that warns of $5 gas and impending doom, how many times can I spell it out before you stop listening, before it loses it's impact?

I don't want to keep going to the well so to speak. The well runs dry, and then the whole community suffers. What you need, what we need, is a positive force of change ... And yet, today, after it was all said and done, that feeling of exhaustion, that feeling that I need a vacation settled in, deep and heavy on my soul.

Maybe it's the news of the day, the stresses of work, the reality of being in the middle-to-late stages of a very exhausting journey; the end getting closer, but still, ahead, much, much work to be done.

There is always so much work to be done.

Work with the children, work with the home, work with relationships, work with work. I'm beginning to suspect our 30s and 40s and 50s are a time of incredible perserverance if we are to stay ahead of the game; if we are to keep our heads above water.

These challenges come in the seemingly simplest of tasks: breaking a child of her bottle habit, teaching a young boy the meaning of taking responsibility for our decisions and actions; helping an employee find the right path to success; comforting those in need of comfort and a shoulder; helping those who are deserving of our kindness and time.

And, yes, finding time for yourself for a simple moment of relaxation.

As the calendar ticks towards the end of the year, these issues always seem to compound. The changing of the seasons, and the holidays are always a time of complex emotion and time management issues. These things are approaching again. A 20-hour workout schedule certainly adds to the weight.

Everything is moving so fast - must keep my head above water, must remember to breathe, must remember to keep those arms moving and those legs kicking.

There are many miles left to go.

- Ed

T Minus 10 Weeks and Counting

2008-09-15T20:43:00.000-07:00

Post 31

Weeks of training complete: 22 weeks, 1 day

Time remaining until Ironman: 9 weeks, 6 days

Miles swam: 92.117

Miles biked: 1,451.82

Miles run: 368.38

Goal: $5,000

Total raised: $1,540

We're officially under the 10 week mark. Just 9 weeks and 6 days from now, if all goes according to plan, I will be crossing the finish line of the 2008 Ford Arizona Ironman some time around this time.

Here's some fun things to consider. Since the beginning of training:

• I have swam the distance from midtown Manhattan to downtown Philadelphia

• I have biked the distance from Tempe to St. Louis, Missouri

• I have run the distance from Phoenix to Los Angeles

I took Beckett to Gameworks tonight because he was so good at school. So good, in fact, that the teachers commended him for sharing with other students. That's a first ...

We played skeeball and air hockey and a Harley Davidson motorcycle game.

I've been up since 4:30 a.m. I ran a half-marathon before work, coupled with a 20 mile bike ride. I feel like a machine; a machine that just gets up and runs and swims and bikes and eats and eats and eats and eats and eats.

I eat a lot - just like that Michael Phelps thing on the Olympics everyone was talking about.

For example:

I came home from my run this morning and had the following:

3 scrambled eggs

2 oz. fire roasted salsa

2 pieces of toast

1/2 whole avocado

6 oz. smoked salmon

1 whole banana

16 oz. orange juice

16 oz. coffee

12 oz. seltzer water

Before that: 3 packets of Hammer gel (during run)

For lunch, I had the following:

1/2 whole zuchinni, raw

1/2 tomato

4 oz. raw carrots

5 oz. spaghetti

3 oz. homemade soy-based "meat marinara"

1 can Coca-Cola

1 peanut butter and banana cupcake

For second lunch:

1 tortilla

8 oz. chicken and potato homemade Mexican burrito filling

16 oz. water

For dinner:

6 spears asparagus

12 oz. chicken baked in pecan-mustard glaze

1 baked pita

1 Megan & Jeff's India Pale Ale home brew

For snack:

2 12oz. glasses natural sparkling lemonade

1/3 mint chip ice cream sandwich

And probably cookies after I finish this.

I had a pretty nice weekend, actually, too. Went out to dinner for my buddy Eric's birthday on Friday night. Had lots of sushi and some beer. Went to the ASU football game on Saturday.

I know I'm not very insightful tonight, but my eyes are heavy and I need to pack for tomorrow's workout. Tomorrow, I shouldn't be as tired, which means I might be able to think of something more to say.

Seriously, my brain is mushy mush right now. Must be all those video games.

- Ed

Non-stop

2008-09-11T20:22:00.000-07:00

Post 30
Weeks of training complete: 21 weeks, 4 days
Time until Ironman: 10 weeks, 3 days

Miles swam: 92.117
Miles biked: 1,385.07
Miles run: 352.85

Goal: $5,000
Total raised: $1,500

Just thought I'd post a little video of the kids today. Things are good. No major complaints or insights to report. Working out a lot. Working a lot. The heat is breaking. I got a chance to play with the kids today after work - outside. It was nice.

I swam 3,500 yards today, non-stop. That's about 2 miles, or about .4 mile short of the full Ironman swim.

We have a busy weekend coming up. Dinner with friends on Friday. Heidi and Beck are going to see Walking with the Dinosaurs on Saturday. Then Heidi and I are hitting football on Saturday night. Then picking up family at the airport on Sunday and driving them out to Heidi's mom's to spend some time with the in laws.

In between that, we'll fit 8 or 9 hours of training.

Getting stronger.

Half Ironman is in two (or three) weeks from tomorrow. I can mentally conceive that distance. I feel ready for it.

I'm going to hang with Heidi now, watch a movie on the couch and eat cookies.

Until next time,
Ed

The Constant Battle

2008-09-09T21:08:00.000-07:00

Post: 27
Weeks of training complete: 21 weeks, 2 days
Time remaining until Ironman: 10 weeks, 5 days

Miles swam: 88.121
Miles biked: 1,359.92
Miles run: 345.87

Fundraising goal: $5,000
Total raised: $1,500

My latest ongoing battle is with dehydration. Constant, neverending dehydration. With this humidity falling to normal desert levels, the heat unrelenting and me almost refusing to workout indoors anymore, I am dealing with thirst – constantly. This afternoon, after I finished my workout, I had the following: two 16 oz. glasses of water, two 12 oz. seltzer waters, one 12 oz. Coca-Cola, one 12 oz. Diet Dr. Pepper, 12 oz. of lemonade and then, with dinner, another 16 oz. glass of water. I began drinking all those fluids (that's 108 oz., if you're counting) at about 6 p.m. and finally, finally peed a small amount at 8:15 p.m.

I've decided that at this level of training, it has become necessity to eliminate almost all alcoholic beverages. My body simply cannot recover from their impacts, even the slight dehydrating effects of couple beer. So, I went out and bought a bunch of organic natural sodas - basically, they're carbonated pure fruit juice – for my recreational beverage for the next 11 weeks. With all the work and time and sacrifice I have made for this Ironman, I can't let things like the craving for beer, or a good time, get in the way. Look out Thanksgiving weekend – there's gonna' be someone with a hankerin' to tie one on coming your way, and his name is Ed.

There's so many things that have happened in the past couple weeks. Funny things - I'll share one with you. Last week on Labor Day Monday, the YMCA pool was closed, so I had to go to the city pool to swim my laps. They have one lap lane and at the time I went, that lap lane was occupied by two people trying to hook up or something. I'm still not sure what they were doing.

There was limited time, so I had to use the open pool - so I figured I'd stay closed to the lap lane and swim. No problems at all for about the first 30 days.

Around lap 35, I notice a huge dude in a bright blue one piece (it turned out it was a blue T-shirt) standing directly in the middle of my path. I stopped, stood up and turned and looked at him as if to give him the "WTF" sign. He continued to stare at me; so I swam around him. After a lap or two, he moved.

About six laps later, as I doing my turn, I noticed he had grabbed the lifeguard's megaphone and was screaming to everyone in the facility: "Put down your beers! No beers in the pool!" (This is a city pool, and no alcohol is allowed. No one had any alcohol.)

Then from about laps 41-80, he stood against the edge of the pool and leered at me. Awesome.

At lap 80, the lovers got out of the lap lane. I got in. At lap 85, ol' Blue T-Shirt was back; standing at the edge of the lane and barking at me. Like a dog.

When I got out of the pool at lap 120, he was asleep on the concrete on the edge of the pool.

Fun times. Fun times, indeed.

What else has been going on ... hmmm ... not much more beyond the usual. Busy at work, busy at home. The ASU Sun Devils are 2-0. The Diamondbacks are falling apart.

Brody is beginning to talk ... and sing. She sings Rilo Kiley songs, believe it or not, which is kind of cute to hear.

I've got to head out now and get ready for tomorrow. Ironman is approaching. I'm thinking of beginning a countdown soon of just how many more workouts I have.

My body is beginning to ache, too. Nagging little injuries here and there - a strained shoulder, sore knees ... must be careful.

Until tomorrow,
Ed

The Perfect Allegory

2008-09-08T22:30:00.000-07:00

Post: 26

Weeks of training complete: 21 weeks, 1 day

Time remaining until Ironman: 10 weeks, 6 days

Miles swam: 88.121

Miles biked: 1,347.74

Miles run: 342.75

Goal: $5,000

Total raised: $1,500

Tonight, I lived the perfect allegory for what my life has become. I closed the gym. It was mean, alone, in the pool. Me, alone, on the treadmill. As the minute hand creeped towards closing time, I grabbed some paper towels, wiped down the equipment I used and left a silent gym for a silent parking lot on a silent Monday night.

This, is what it's all come down, too, I guess - this quest. A part-time job, it is now. I will train for close to 18 hours this week. My schedule looks like this:

Today: Swim 2.175 miles, Run 6.5 miles (2 hours, 20 minutes)

Tuesday: Bike 15 miles, Run 3.5 miles (1 hour, 15 minutes)

Wednesday: Swim 2.175 miles, Bike 25 miles (2 hours, 50 minutes)

Thursday: Swim 2.175 miles, Run 8 miles (2 hours, 35 minutes)

Friday: Bike 68 miles, Run 5 miles (4 hours, 45 minutes)

Saturday: Bike 25 miles, Run 13 miles (3 hours, 30 minutes)

It's very late and I need to go wind down, but it's been so long since I reported to y'all what's happening, I just had to weight in quickly and say hello.

My grandma stepped up with an absolutely huge contribution, bringing the total raised to $1,500 - we're actually making some nice progress on the goal now. And I cannot thank her enough. Her contribution specifically pushed me out to get my workout done tonight. I thought of her and her willingness to give (and the fact that she's coming to see me race - I'm so excited!) and I knew I had to go out there and put in the hours to make sure I succeed for all those coming out for the big day, which, by the way, is only 10 weeks and 6 days away.

I promise a more in-depth post tomorrow.

Good night,

Arizona Dreaming

2008-09-03T21:11:00.000-07:00

Post: 25
Weeks of training complete: 20 weeks, 3 days
Time remaining until Ironman: 11 weeks, 4 days
Miles swam: 84.062
Miles biked: 1,281.54
Miles run: 322.61

Goal: $5,000
Total raised: $1,000

My mind has drifted a lot these past few weeks. I keep getting tastes of a previous life; one that did not involve the responsibility of work and children.

I remember the strangely sweet smell of Nogales in the late spring sun. It is the smell of commerce and taco stands; urine and exhaust; lime and cerveza. Tequila sunrises in the promenade at noon. Enchilada and blanco tequila for a late lunch. The sounds of bargaining for ceramic goods painted in bright hues - great Christimas gifts for the folks back home - and a sleepy ride home, pressed against the window, as saguaro and prickly pear and shrub studded mountains roll by in the setting sun.

There is the brisk night air of Sedona. Stars as far as I can see; the smell of mesquite burning; marshmallows and sweaters and campfire stained sleeping bags. Red rocks towering in the morning; Oak Creek gurgling beneath my feet. Bacon and eggs and coffee. Hiking and afternoon beer. And then another beer. Somewhere some people are smoking something, people are laughing. The sun is warm; peaceful.

There are hundreds of these old memories in my head - the sign of a good life, a well-traveled life across the desert. I can name off places that most people just see as dots on a map and each of them have a story, a gathering of people associated with them. Spring Valley, Tubac, Bisbee, Show Low, Aravaipa, Hannagan Meadow, the Chiricahuas, the Santa Catalinas, the Sierra Ancha, Flagstaff, Williams, Naco, Lyman Lake, Patagonia, Fools Hollow, Eager, Springerville, Greer, Blue, the Black River. They all involve people, tents, fire, solitude. They all include good memories - dropped all over the state.

I thought this morning, as I rushed in from a 3-1/2 hour Wednesday morning workout session (4:45 am. to 8:15 a.m.), so I could literally eat, shower and run back out the door with the kids, about how easy these trips used to be, how often I took them for granted. How we almost, almost, became bored of camping out there in the middle of nowhere. How we slowly gave all that up, as our careers advanced, for the creature comforts of a middle-income life. No more hot dogs on a stick cooked over a ponderosa fire, no, we yuppie 20somethings settled for import beer and tuna tartare. Funny, I forget most of the restaurants. I remember each one of the camping spots.

I've already decided when the kids are older that part of my fitness program will involve hiking together, fishing together, playing together - exploring the mountains and the deserts and learning to love them the way I love them, learning to feel connected to them the way I did before I became disconnected.

I had an interesting day today. I had to fill in and do an interview for a reporter who had a scheduling conflict today. I interviewed Mr. Cartoon, who is a world-famous tattoo artist. He's tatted a who's who of the entertainment world - Beyonce, Justin Timberlake, 50 Cent, the list goes on and on. He's also actively involved in the lowrider culture. Born in the Harbor District of L.A., worked his way up from the streets. He's a very real person - a real mix of diverse personality traits and beliefs. No drugs or drinking, smart business sense, strong identity as an artist, believer in God and envisioning reality, strong supporter of youth and children, proud Latino/Chicano. It forced me to learn about a culture I knew little about. It was nice to step outside my daily routine.

Heidi was sick today, too. So instead of bringing the kids home after school, I took them out to dinner. We went to Red Robin and got chicken fingers and grilled cheese and French fries and chocolate milk and baloons, can't forget the baloons. Then we went and played in all the water fountains at the outdoor Tempe Marketplace. The kids got soaked. I brought them home, put them to bed, got ready for another big workout day and came here, to type.

Finally, but by no means least importantly. I'd like to give a huge thank you to my friend Sean. For those of you who don't know, I've known Sean since I was 3. That's right, 3. Can you believe that? He stepped up in true Coca fashion, rounding out the uneven total with a donation that would bring it to a smooth $1,000. Thanks, man. Hope things are going well with the newborn. Some day in the next few years the family and I are going to make it out that way. God knows we have a lot of people we need to visit in the Carolinas. Until then, bring on another weekend in Vegas. I miss you. The donation means a lot to me. It keeps me going - knowing that you guys are willing to give like that.

Until tomorrow,
Ed

Such a long way to go ...

2008-09-02T20:12:00.000-07:00

Post: 24

Weeks of training complete: 20 weeks, 2 days

Time remaining until Ironman: 11 weeks, 5 days

Miles swam: 82.178

Miles biked: 1260.01

Miles run: 322.61

Goal: $5,000

Total raised: $895

Sorry for the long delay in writing. I was really trying to enjoy the downtime in training last week - on Thursday and Friday, the workouts were cut back from about 2 hours and 30 minutes each day to 1 1/2 hours Thursday and 40 minutes on Friday, all in preparation for the Olympic Distance Triathlon I did on Saturday.

My Olympic Distance time was good, not great. I made some fundamental mistakes on race day - namely flying out of the swim and pushing too hard into a stiff headwind on the bike that forced me to bonk (basically run out of energy), 4.5 miles into the run.

For the record, my times were as follows:

Swim (1,500 meters/0.92 miles): 29:34

Bike (40km/24.8 miles): 1:24:05

Run (10km/6.2 miles): 1:17:05

The run was the real disappointing aspect. I should've been able to do it in about 58 minutes or so. But, it's a good learning experience. I need to remember on Ironman day the importance of proper pacing. They'll be another test race in a few weeks - the half-Ironman (1.2 mile swim/56 mile bike ride/13.1 mile run). That'll be a real test of where I'm at and how ready I am for this.

Honestly, I still feel like I have a long way to go. There's no doubt I'm in significantly better shape than when I started, but the real test of the training begins now.

There's been a lot going on on the perimeter of life these days, too. Some friends are going through some real life changes now; and I'm trying to find the time to be there for both my family and my friends, and trying to find time to cram what - from here on out - is a minimum of 16 hours a week of training. Oh, yeah, and trying to watch as much college football as possible.

For those who care about such things, the Pac-10 had a phenomenal opening weekend. The Big-10 (Michigan State loss to Cal); the ACC (Virginia loss to USC) and the SEC (Tennessee loss to UCLA) cannot say the same thing. ASU won it's game. My friend Jonathan got us a kick-ass suite to watch the game. Normally, I'm not a suite type person, but this was luxury, with an indoor and outdoor section and air-conditioning. The suite was also right 0n the 50-yard line. Very nice.

We won't have the suite this Saturday when ASU takes on Stanford. Early weather predictions place the kickoff temperature at over 110 degrees. Yep, the heat continues here well into September.

I've just given up on trying to fight it. In fact, yesterday and today, I trained smack-dab in the middle of the afternoon. Just put on my running shoes, said screw you nature, and banged it out in 100+ temps under the mid-day sun. I figure it'll only make me that much stronger in the cool November air.

And right now, I need any advantage I can get.

Until tomorrow,
Ed

A retrospective ...

2008-08-27T21:01:00.000-07:00

Post: 23

Weeks of training complete: 19 weeks, 3 days

Time remaining until Ironman: 12 weeks, 4 days

Miles swam: 78.41

Miles biked: 1,206.01

Miles run: 303.81

Goal: $5,000

Total raised: $895

The picture above is from about three years ago this month. I was a kid then - if not in actuality than certainly in spirit. The person in that photo may share similarities with the one who types today, but the person who types today is very different from the one in that photo.

I didn't know the meaning of words like responsibility, selflessness, caring, giving. Oh, rest assured I knew the dictionary definition. I just didn't know the real world application.

Maybe I do now. Certainly better than then.

I like that picture, though. Beckett is so big now - the days of cuddling him like you could then are long gone; and Brody's are slowly slipping away, too.

I'm better today. Perspective restored. I got my work out in. 12.75 mile bike ride, 2.8 mile run. Easy, easy, easy stuff. But I did them with ease, too. I felt like a walk in the park. No big thing.

This week, as it turns out, is the easiest week in the training program almost. On Saturday, I'll run an Olympic distance triathlon. I'll kick the s*** out of that b****.

Got the bocce tournament invites out, too, finally. So that's good. Hoping a bunch of you can make it.

Interesting side story: I showed up at the gym on Tuesday morning with my Speedos on inside out, meaning the crotch-pocket sewed into the inside was just hanging out in front of my "zone." Drove there like that and everything. Pretty awesome. I also somehow called my sister at 4:40 in the morning on my cell phone. Talking about the walking dead.

I'd like to thank Jessicca for her donation today. Somehow, these reminders from the people that care always seem to come at the right time. They always get me back out the door, focused on the task at hand. They help me find perspective. In some ways, Jess and I probably went through one of first stages of "growing up" together. It was really only a year - somewhere in the middle of the '90s - and yet here she is, here we are, still connected.

I can't really claim to get it. How does a 14-year-old relationship result in a loose e-mail relationship binded by an electronic diary. How is that the most recent result of that relationship will result in a couple families getting food on their table tonight, a bus-pass for the month, or assistance to pay an energy bill? It's wild ... our vast interconnectedness and all the things they lead to.

Maybe about a year ago, I had the chance to sit with Jess, at my favorite bar, and have a glass of wine, or a beer, or maybe two or three. RB was there, too, and we probably talked until 2 in the morning or so. It was a good night. A night that belonged as much in 1994 as it did in 2007.

Think about the distances between those dates ... and yet the threads that can still bind them.

It's all too heady for me to figure out, but I think I get some of it -- so here it is:

The things we do today, they really do matter, not just tomorrow, but the day after and the month after and the year after. We are defined by our collective actions and choices.

And many years down the road, the choices we made way back when have drastic, drastic consequences on the lives we are living now - for better or for worse.

So, I guess when I say that the person in that photo is different than the one who types today, I guess it's a fallacy. I am that person - defined a little more clearly; living a little more clearly thanks to choices, and friends and decisions that have been made since.

Until next time,

Out of Touch ...

2008-08-26T19:56:00.000-07:00

Post #22
Weeks of training complete: 19 weeks, 2 days
Time remaining until Ironman: 12 weeks, 5 days
Miles swam: 78.41
Miles biked: 1,180.51
Miles run: 301.01

Goal: $5,000
Total raised: $795

Somewhere in Minneapolis tonight, a friend of mine – someone who, although we haven't talked in quite some time, I would call a very good friend – is sitting in a jazz club listening to music, preparing for what will probably be one of the biggest events in a life full of very big events. He is a man of great success, and a man with whom I'm gone through some pretty low lows and some pretty high highs with. Until tonight, when we chatted briefly for about two minutes, I hadn't talked to him in close to 9 months.

Elsewhere, in Pennsylvania, somebody who I probably saw every single day of my childhood from age 6 to 17; and again from 20 to 22, is doing his own thing; making pretty a new home, honing skills on his art; crafting beer in the basement; having conversations with his wife. I once called him best friend; still do. But I haven't really had a conversation with him in, hell, I really couldn't tell you.

The stories repeat themselves; in San Francisco, a master video technician who used to act as the social glue of our circle of friends in a previous life; in Connecticut, and old roommate who now has beautiful children, an amazing wife and a successful business; in Portland, Oregon, a man I admire very much; soon to be travelling to Nepal to help those in need with pro bono medical treatment; in Tallahassee, one of the best reporters I've ever met and somebody who, in my formative years, I spent every minute I could looking up to, learning from, emulating; in Calgary, Alberta, my true mentor, the guy who made my success in media possible; in Boston, one of the purest people I've ever met (congrats on the engagement again!), in northern Maine, the truest artist I know. And here at home, just a mile down the road, a fellow Sun Devil and Diamondbacks fan, and one of the best, most sincere individuals and fathers I know; just south in south Tempe and Chandler, two of my best friends since early adulthood; people I'd bend over backwards for, cross the country for, put my word on the line for; and who I'm sure would do the same for me ... And lots and lots more I can't even begin to list, lest this run on forever.

What do they all share in common? They're people I'm largely out of touch with; people I care for deeply, but for whom, I can find no time. I can't even respond to all my e-mails (10,800 this week alone through work). The important ones get buried in the junk. The publicists drown out my friends. Sure I talk to some of them briefly, but many of them I hear about through the grapevine; their achievments, pains, successes, failures broken down into a 30-second "here's how they're doing tidbit." This is no way to know them. It's like the stories in my magazine. Condensed, easy to digest, missing the complexity of real humanity.

I know them like I know resumes; all polished and successful. I am jealous. I am uncertain why I am jealous. I am certain they have forgotten me. And, really, I'm just sad because I miss them.

But I have these problems closer to home. When do I really have the energy to play with my children? Is it once a week, twice a week? Sometimes, like this week, when a flu bug is trying to ravage our plans, toy with our perfectly teetering balanced schedule, is it zero? It might very well be zero.

I was warned: you will sacrafice time for this; you will upset your family from time to time in this goal; you will learn what is important and what is not; you will learn who can have your time and who cannot; you will be forced to say no.

To the warnees: you were correct.

You can't help but ask sometimes, is this all worth it? This smug goal: complete an event that only .001 percent of the world population even ever tries? Training day in, day out. Begging people for money? What comes of this when it's all said and done? I can trek 140.6 miles in a single day. You can't.

Big deal.

So ... here I am ... that came out in a rush. So I sit back, take a sip of beer, reassess, take a deep breath. Shake my head. Nod. Rest my chin on my hand.

Smile.

Yeah, it's worth it. Sort of.

First thought: at least some people on that list I'm missing will see this; know I care, know I think about them all the time; know I miss 'em, love 'em. So that's good.

Second thought: Ed, have you seen yourself in a mirror lately? Damn, you look good.

Third thought: Shut up, ego.

Four thought: Let it go. Let it all go, and focus back on the task at hand - being there for everybody the best you can. This is a lifestyle choice; a lifestyle choice better than many of the previous lifestyle choices you made, where maybe you were too numbed, or too buried in work to be capable of feeling accurately. This is a good place; healthier and the time will come again to make old connections. There's weddings and celebrations in the months ahead. Connections will be broken and made, broken and made, broken and ... when they're remade again, they'll be so much more to tell and say and hopefully, they'll be beer, too. Beer would be good.

I injured my right shoulder and neck muscles on Sunday throwing Beck airborne in the pool. The muscles aren't healed properly, but I tried to swim anyway this morning. Bad idea. After 1,100 meters, I had to accept that the muscles needeed a rest. That I needed a rest. I cancelled the run, went home, made a pot of coffee, had a cup, goofed off on the computer, made breakfast and took it easy.

And, in the end, I felt no remorse.

I can't run my body, or my mind, into the ground. I must keep perspective. Both mentally and physically.

While we're at it, here's some perspective you should have: Chances are, if you're reading this, I probably miss you.

With love,
Ed

Aaaaarrrrgggghhhh!

2008-08-25T22:03:00.000-07:00

Post: 21
Weeks of training complete: 19 weeks, 1 days
Weeks until Ironman: 12 weeks, 6 days
Miles swam: 77.79
Miles biked: 1,180.51
Miles run: 301.01

Fundraising goal: $5,000
Total raised: $795

Sorry for the delay in blog posts. I've been having major computer problems at home. My 18 month old Dell Dimension 5150 has developed what many computer forums have deemed the "Blinking Amber Light of Death," a bizzare undiaganosable problem that may be any of the following: a damaged power supply unit, a bad motherboard, a bad 5v on/off control on the front of the computer, damaged USB ports or some other lesser referenced problem.

Whenever the power goes out, Dude the Dell goes out, too. And he doesn't restart, sometimes for days. Then for no apparent good reason, he starts up again. Often after I kick him.

He is, obviously, now restarted.

Dude, I'm never getting another Dell.

While the computer was out, I hooked up an old computer. The anti-virus software in it was so old, it got a crippling virus then totally fried the thing out within 36 hours of plugging it back in. So I've been sort of off-line at home for a while.

On top of that, we're just busy everywhere – at work, at home, in training. Time is short, short, short. I've been meaning to send out an invite for the charity Bocce tournament on 9/27 and I can't even make time to do that. Hopefully tomorrow.

Yesterday the only time I had to mow the lawn was 3 p.m. It was 108. I came inside seeing stars with a dehydration headache. Yay!

Actually, though, all is moving along nicely. I complete a 56-mile bike ride in 3 hours and 20 minutes on Saturday. Not too bad for me. Of course, I needed a nap immediately following that feat.

I must go now. I have to get up at 4:45 a.m. and swim 3,000 meters.

Eyes are heavy.

Sun Devil football starts Saturday. Excited. Got my season tickets again. Will rearrange training schedule to watch football. Yes, indeed. Yes, indeed.

- Ed

What if they had diagnosed me?

2008-08-21T21:16:00.000-07:00

Post: 20

Weeks of training complete: 18 weeks, 4 days

Weeks until Ironman: 13 weeks, 3 days

Miles swam: 74.022

Miles biked: 1,080.89

Miles run: 283.31

Fundraising goal: $5,000

Total raised: $795

It always does this. Every year. Every summer. You think you're escaping the heat. And then, for some odd reason, the really bad heat comes back in late August. Hard. After a relatively mild two weeks, we've piled up the following temps since Monday: 105, 106, 107, 108 and we're looking at 109, 110 and 110 this weekend. Frickin' Phoenix, eh?

I rose at 4 a.m. this morning and was on the bike by 4:15. The length of the weekday morning workouts are increasing again. I did not finish my workout and get home until 7:15. We're talking 3 hours and 15 minutes, now, before the day even starts. By 5 p.m., it felt like I'd been up two days. Now, here I am typing away.

I've been in a relative state of calm despite the little rivers of turmoil swirling all around. I think it's probably mostly the exhaustion, but it makes it easier to cope, that's for sure.

I've come to think in recent days that, had I grown up in 2008, I probably would've been diagnosed with ADHD or something along those lines. For as long as I can remember, I have always had insane amounts of energy. In college, when people wanted to go to bed, I wanted to keep going. As I got older, the difference only became more pronounced. Oftentimes, I drank just to calm myself down, to stop my mind from running and running and running and running. Because when work was done, and my wife was tired and my friends were tired - or my friends had work and couldn't go out - there was nothing to do.

It was the same when I was a very young child. I was always getting in trouble in grammar school for acting out; walking across desks, throwing chairs out the window; talking uncontrollably; smashing teachers' lipstick. In high school, I took crepes we made in a French class, loaded them up with chocolate syrup and whipped cream and started chucking them like Frisbees down the hall. As high school basketball games, I would parade up and down the court like a freak during time outs leading some cheer while I flopped around the floor and did dives and slid. I started a riot (no lie) by doing that cheer in front of the opposing team's bench during the state championship. The game was delayed for 45 minutes with :19 seconds left to play so they could clear the court and fans out of the building.

Around 8 or 9 years old, I sewed firecrackers into dolls, played field goal kicker with bottles of PVC glue I stole from my family's hardware store, then opened and lit on fire before I kicked them; collected toys, dropped them out the second floor window of my house and threw cinder blocks on them just to see what would happen; smashed brand new windows, sprayed a hose through an open window on my sleeping mom.

I mean the list goes on and on and on and on. And yet, of course, I was a straight A student with outlandish test scores; testing at the 12th grade level in 4th and 5th grade. And so they forgave me all the time; said I was bored.

I thank God every day they did.

I never did those things because I was evil. Truth is, I don't why I did those stupid things; probably because I could get away with them and they made people laugh.

But the reason I say all these things is because my own children exhibit some of these traits of hyperactivity. They're very intelligent, very kind, very well liked; but they're crazy. Really crazy. My 1-1/2 year old daughter head bangs. She's insane. And my 3-1/2 year old son, despite being able to pronounce words like archeopteryx and unilateral properly, always seems to be looking for a thrill at the expense of some other kid, too.

I watch all these kids get diagnosed with ADHD, think about the parents who are too tired or too taxed to deal with them, or question the diagnosis and wonder: how many future normal people do we misdiagnose because we want them to be quiet and behave "properly?"

I've come to realize that Heidi and I may very well have to be prepared when the kids enter grade to school to exercise them every morning before class to help burn off some morning energy ...

... of course, all this worrying could be premature.

But what do I know? I'm tired and ready for bed.

As a side note, that pic above is from my trip a few weeks ago to raft that Middle Fork of the American; that's from an area called Tunnel Chute.

Until tomorrow (or the next day),
Ed

Too Little Time

2008-08-19T22:17:00.000-07:00

Post: 19
Weeks of training complete: 18 weeks, 2 days
Weeks until Ironman: 13 weeks, 5 days
Miles swam: 72.138
Miles biked: 1,046.52
Miles run: 282.3

Fundraising goal: $5,000
Raised to date: $795

I sprinted for 18 minutes today.

You should try that sometime. It's a great way to start your day – coupled with an 1.884 mile swim and 4 miles of additional running on top of the sprint. It's all about conditioning the body to deal with adversity on race day.

It also makes you feel comatose for the entire workday. Good times.

Beck's grandpa and I took him to a baseball game today. Pretty awesome. We gave him the full baseball "experience." This, of course, involved a beer at the bar (a Shirley Temple for him) and tailgating before the game. His grandpa Ed and I bought beer and he got a root beer and we picked up a pizza, then we set up a table and chairs in the back of grandpa's truck and hung out for an hour before we went inside. It was awesome; Beck chilled and told us about his day. And inside, he just hung out and chewed sunflower seeds.

It's closing on 10:30 p.m. and I've got to get up early again tomorrow. So much do to, so little time. I can barely keep my eyes open.

But before I go, I've got to throw a huge thank you to my friends Heather and Mark, who stepped up with a nice donation today towards the cause. Been thinking about you guys a lot; hoping I can somehow see the both of you before the end of the year. It'll be tough, I know, but I want to try. Thank you, thank you, thank you for helping out. As you know, it inspires me to keep going ... makes me feel like I have to keep going.

So thanks, guys.

Good night, all.

Until next time,
Ed

Swept Up

2008-08-18T19:38:00.000-07:00

Post #18
Weeks of training complete: 18 weeks, 1 day
Time until Ironman: 13 weeks, 6 days
Miles swam: 70.254
Miles biked: 1,046.52
Miles run: 275.98

Fundraising goal: $5,000
Total money raised: $720

My wife has made me start sweeping the floors on an every-other-day basis (we take turns). At first, I bristled at the notion. With cooking, cleaning the dishes, putting the kids to bed, getting ready for the next day, there's already so much to do that sweeping the dining room, kitchen and living room floors just seemed like another pain-in-the-ass aspect to finishing out the day. Just another obstacle to those precious 15 minutes of "me time" before bed.

But between the time of her request and now, something has happened. I kind of like sweeping the floors.

The crap I sweep up is, literally, a trip through memories forgotten from days past. You know how they say technology speeds up our life, makes us forget about the small things, the simple things we see when we slow life down?

The vaccum cleaner does it, too.

Take today, for example. While sweeping the living room, I swept up, and then remembered, the following:

• An unpopped popcorn kernel: Reminded me of Friday night when we had friends over for dinner. We drank beer, while our kids and their kids watched a movie in the living room. Good memory, it made me smile.

• A red sequin: Reminded me of our trip Sunday morning to the Phoenix Children's Museum. Beck and Brody made a wide variety of things in the art studio. Beck an Olympic flag, with 28 rings (6 blurred and smudged), as opposed to the standard 5-ring flag. Brody, various pieces of felt and rubber glued together into a 2-inch thick blob and held together with 17.5 times the necessary amount of Elmer's glue. There were sequins on both of their projects, too. Some obviously fell off in the living room: Good memory.

• A "sausage" ball from a $1.99 frozen pizza. Sunday night, I was craving really spicy food, so I opted to marinate some pork in chipotle, cumin, chili powder with onions, garlic, carrots and various peppers in broth until it thickened. I knew the kids wouldn't eat it, so I let them eat frozen pizza, in the living room, while we all hung out together. Good memory, again. The day-old "sausage" ball was pretty gross. Still edible, though, I bet.

• A string cheese wrapper: One day Beck will learn how to use a garbage can.

So you get the idea. Of course, these trips down memory lane don't always apply to the kitchen and dining room. Half the time I don't recognize what I sweep up there. Seriously, I swept something up today and I couldn't tell if it was smushed cantaloupe or the tail of a shrimp.

Heidi just read that and said, "Eeewwwww." What until I tell you guys about "meat juice" - something I have to drink for really long distance Ironman training sessions. That's a post for another day, though.

In other news, time is creeping up on the donations deadline. I've still got $4,280 to go and just under 14 weeks to do it. They'll be a few charity events coming up in the near future, so keeps your eyes on your e-mail inboxes for invites.

In the interim, if you're interested in donating, there's a direct link to do so by credit card on the top of the sidebar on the right.

Until next time,
Ed

Easy like Sunday morning

2008-08-17T07:52:00.000-07:00

Post #: 17

Weeks of training complete: 18 weeks

Time until Ironman: 14 weeks

Miles swam: 70.254

Miles biked: 1,046.52

Miles run: 275.98

Goal: $5,000
Total money raised: $720

We've been faced with the possibility that our lives will dramatically change in the new few months. With Heidi's company in Chapter 11 bankruptcy, it's hard to know exactly what the next few months hold for us. The company is closing stores, letting people go. It's like that a lot in Arizona these days, though not as bad, I suppose, as places like Michigan and Illinois, where cities have been hit doubly hard.

This potential change has forced us to run through a lot of potential options - do we sell the house and downsize? Have confidence that we'll find another job? Rein in the budget and make do on the absolute necessities until the economy regains steam? Conversely, should Heidi go back to school and re-educate herself in a field that has a long-term demand growth curve? You know, like something in the medical field? We've made lots of lists and looked at lots of numbers and a few days ago, I was certain we were going to sell the house.

I think it was my dad that talked me out of it. See, as anybody who watches the news all over the country knows, Arizona's housing market has taken an absolute beating. Homes that were selling for $350,000 are selling for $175,000. It really is that bad. But there are pockets in Phoenix that have held up, and we're fortunate enough to be in one of those pockets, centrally located close to Arizona State University, which economic downturn or not keeps growing into a monstrous behemoth (with a football team that's going to kick some serious ass this year - that means you Bulldogs). And, as my dad said, if the price is holding through this downturn, imagine what it's going to do when the market comes back. I think he's right, too. I can't help but escape the feeling we'd kick ourselves in the ass for years to come if we moved.

We have to bear down and find alternative solutions. So we're working on it. We're blessed, anyway, to have the luxury fo some time.

The days are gradually getting nicer here. We had more rain (again!!!) last night and the sky was clear and blue. Clouds kept the sun at bay until about 7 a.m. this morning and there was a gentle breeze. Perfect running weather.

Today, I'm planning on spending some time with the kids - maybe take them to the park. Then I've got some work to do at the office. But now, I've got to sign off. Training continues to ramp up. Big weeks ahead - and two weeks from today, my first race - an Olympic distance tri (.9 mile swim, 24.8 mile bike, 6.2 run)

Talk soon.

Cheers,

Olympic spirit and the things that matter most

2008-08-12T21:39:00.001-07:00

Post #: 17
Weeks of training complete: 17 weeks, 2 days
Time until Ironman: 14 weeks, 5 day
Miles swam: 66.186
Miles biked: 907.97
Miles run: 257.38

Goal: $5,000

Total money raised: $720

I didn't realize how addicted to the Olympics I'd become - not that I have a chance to watch much of it - but I've gotten a chance to see more of it than I thought I would.

Watching the athletes is a total inspiration - Michael Phelps, the cyclers, the gymnasts, some of the swimmers who've sort been overshadowed by Phelps, guys like Aaron Piersol and Natalie Coughlie, who I believe, is from my old home state of New Jersey.

I swam the fastest 3,000-meter swim of my life this morning - about 54 or 55 minutes if you take out the rest periods required by the training plan; just over an hour with them. What's amazing is that it used to take me that long to swim 1,500 meters. And I'd get out of the pool exhausted. Now I get out of the pool and run 6.5 miles before breakfast. I also sprint (for me) miles. I ran two miles in 15 minutes in the middle of that longer 6.5 mile run. It's crazy to feel yourself get so much stronger; to feel your body change. I'm also eating anywhere between 3,700 and 5,500 calories a day now depending on the day. People told me about a graphic on NBC last night that showed that Phelps ate 10,000. Intense ...

A few days ago, I asked Heidi what she thought about me getting an Ironman tattoo if I finish the race. She thought it wasn't necessarily a bad idea, but I don't think I could do it, and my thinking goes like this - if I'm going to permanently ink my body, I want it to symbolize my greatest achievement, the thing I'm most proud of. That, of course, is losing my virginity when I was 16 ...

... just kidding.

Honestly, that thing is my relatonship with Heidi, my wife, and our beautiful family. Nothing means more to me that. Nothing even comes close.

The funniest thing about training for something like this is the amount of pressure this can put on your family. You're gone, a lot.

It's a strange dichotomy. I do things like the Ironman because I want to be healthy for my children and family as I age. So, in essence, I do it for them. And yet, in the process, I see them less. Even when I get up at 4:30 and get out the door by 4:45, I still miss those precious wake-up hours, when the kids climb out of bed and are excited to see you, four times a week. The other three Heidi is at the gym.

I think when training is over, it's those moments I'll cherish most - hanging with the kids with a cup of coffee as the sun comes up. Crashing on the couch in PJs watching Sesame Street and Dora and Yo Gabba Gabba. Eating muffins and planning what we're going to do with our day - the park, the zoo, the train park, something new and exciting?

But this, this Ironman thing, it's good, too. I've become more efficient, more organized, mentally stronger, more resilient, a better decision maker. I'm changing again. I can't explain it. But somehow, all of this teaches you even more the fleeing nature of time, the frailty of existence, the need to make the most of the experience and prevent fear from getting in your way. I can see the finish line, feel it, know it's almost there. I want it.

And then I want to rest, for many, many, many days, with the people I love the most. With the only things, honestly, that really, truly, matter to me.

60 miles ... but who's counting?

2008-08-09T19:47:00.000-07:00

Post #: 16
Weeks of training complete: 16 weeks, 6 days
Time until Ironman: 15 weeks, 1 day
Miles swam: 64.302
Miles biked: 895.62
Miles run: 242.24

Goal: $5,000
Total money raised: $720

Today I banged off the biggest ride of the training yet - a 4,500 calorie eating 60 mile bike ride followed by a quick 3 mile run - and I was exhausted; absolutely fried. Got up at 4:30 a.m. and was on the road by 4:45 a.m. And here it is, almost 8 p.m., and a trip to the train park with the kids, the grocery store, the department store, a birthday party and two meals, here I am, waiting for Beck to finish pooping so I can finally, finally have just a few minutes of rest before I get up tomorrow morning and bike 12 miles and run close to 10 ...

... Last night, sitting on the couch with Heidi, I bragged - I can do this Ironman right now. I'm ready. Tomorrow. Well, let me recant that statement. I am not ready. Today's workout ran me ragged. I've got much work to do to prepare for the Iron distance. I am so tired the thought of tomorrow's work out scares me. But I'll push on.

On a more inspiring note, my cousin Karen donated to the cause today. Karen - it's always nice to hear from you. Thank you for thinking of me and for helping out. It means more than you can possibly imagine and helps me to get up tomorrow and push through another day of training. I'd write more, now, but I'm so tired and I have to pack for tomorrow's work out. Until next time ...

- Ed

Whatcha, whatcha want?

2008-08-06T20:08:00.000-07:00

Post #: 15
Weeks of training complete: 16 weeks, 3 day
Time until Ironman: 15 weeks, 4 days
Miles swam: 60.534
Miles biked: 825.5
Miles run: 234.39

Goal: $5,000
Total money raised: $670

Right now, as I type, there's a stack of envelopes under my arm: lots of bills, to be exact. Electric, gas, Motor Vehicle Division registration fees, gas, medical. They feel good under my arms; such a nice, thick stack – providing all that padding. Who knew bills could provide such a useful service?

I've been super, super busy as of late. School is almost back in session and that means College Times is mega busy. There's more projects and more stuff going on than I can keep track of – and that's a good thing. The scope of the paper's reach continues to grow at a rate that even astounds me. Our popularity among PHX area college students is almost too massive to exaggurate and our web traffic continues to soar. There were periods in July where College Times was the second most read media online in the entire PHX area among print, radio and televison, only to The Arizona Republic. I could never have imagined such success.

I haven't had a lot of time to pontificate much on what's been going through my mind or what we've been up to. I've made a pact with myself lately - because things are so busy between work, family and training - that I would limit the amount of pressures that I placed on myself. That means no work past 6:00 p.m., no blogging on days I'm tired, going to bed when I'm tired and adjusting or altering my schedule as much as possible if I need a break from the endless days that start at 4:45 a.m.

As I type this, I'm listening to Heidi coach my sister through her daughter's first sickness. I feel bad for Electa - it's scary when your baby gets sick. They're so helpless and can't tell you what's wrong.

A few blogs ago, I know I mentioned that Beck had been telling students he was going to "kill them" or "stab them," but I never did elaborate on the whole story. So, I'll share that.

Basically, a month ago, in a two or three week period, we took Beck to the movie theater three times. Twice to see Kung Fu Panda and once to see Wall-E. Somehow, out of that, he decided he was some kind of ninja robot; throw in all the commericals and hype that started up a few weeks later for Batman: The Dark Knight and we had an even more interesting combination.

Apparently, Beck thought he was some sort of Kung Fu Fighting Batman robot whose job it was was to kill people, including the kids in his class. Of course, he doesn't really know what "killing people" is, but that didn't stop him from saying it. This went on for a couple days, and then on about the third day, another parent witnessed Beck telling another kid he was going to kill him.

In this era of hyperparanoid parents who believe 3-year-olds should act like 27-year-olds, that doesn't always go over so well. Luckily, Beck's school is reasonable, even if the parents are not.

What else ... Hmmm ... oh, I've lost about 20 pounds since I started training. That's some crazy shiznit. Oh, and I have about a 68-75 mile bike ride this weekend. That should be a blast. I sort of mean that, seriously. I'm excited to bike far, far from home. It always amazes me how far you can travel on bike.

Well, that's it. I wanted to write tonight, but didn't necessarily have much to say. Just wanted to catch up with y'all. 'Cuz we're good like that, me and you. We're friends, right?

Nighty night,
Ed

The Halfway Point

2008-08-04T19:34:00.000-07:00

Post #: 14
Weeks of training complete: 16 weeks, 1 day
Time until Ironman: 15 weeks, 6 days
Miles swam: 59.292
Miles biked: 812.73
Miles run: 228.79

Goal: $5,000
Total money raised: $670

Unbelievably, amazingly, I have passed the half way point – not in terms of miles, by any stretch – but in terms of days. As of this morning, I have trained more days than I have left to train. On the fundraising side, well, obviously we're not quite there yet, but I know that number will start to ratchet up quickly as the final weeks approach.

I have to be pretty quick with my post tonight. Not a lot of time, and a lot of stuff to do. Blogger's even being quirky tonight. It won't upload pictures.

Spent a nice weekend at the in-laws cabin this weekend on the Mogollon Rim. It was in the 110s here - and 79 and raining when we got there. Amazing what a 90-minute drive can do in Arizona. We had a very relaxing Saturday; went hiking, played Wii bowling with Beckett, went to nice mountain restaurant with a patio. Heidi and I had a beer; Beck and Brody had french fries and ice cream which, as anybody knows, is the kid equivalent of having a beer.

I've been getting faster - much faster. I can run a 7:03 mile now. I haven't been that fast since I was 12, when I ran a 5:59. It's hard to believe I used to run a 5:59-mile when I was 12, but it's true. I once placed 7th in the county in New Jersey in the county-wide championship.

Anyway, I've gotta go do the dishes now.

Cheers,
Ed

Digging In

2008-07-30T22:52:00.001-07:00

Post #: 13
Weeks of training complete: 15 weeks, 3 days
Time until Ironman: 16 weeks, 4 days
Miles swam: 55.564
Miles biked: 736.17
Miles run: 213.23

Goal: $5,000
Total money raised: $670

Today, I was hit with reality – in a good way.

It's easy for people – you, me, newspaper writers, radio talk show hosts, television personalities, your mom, dad, aunt, uncle, friend, customer you serve every day, whomever – to make judgments about those of us who are less fortunate. You know who I'm talking about: the homeless, the drug and alcohol addicted, the less educated, those who hold low-paying jobs, the poorly dressed, whatever. We all make judgments about people every day.

Some of us simply crow about them louder. Some of us simply make harsher judgements.

Today, I needed to go down to the offices of the charity I'm raising money for – Tempe Community Action Agency – to meet up with some of the staffers on a separate project I'm working on (I, along with some other College Times people are helping them develop a marketing plan).

It's necessary for me to go. I think, really, it's necessary for everybody to spend 15 minutes in the lobby of their facility. It puts faces to the scope of the need – elderly, children, families, the seriously injured. A lot of people who naturally oppose social services; who tend to think that the blame falls upon the individual for their plight just need to step into that office and realize the reality of human need in our community is far greater, and more complicated, than something that can broken down into "right or wrong."

People get hurt, they get old, they get sick, they get left behind only to be surrounded by a world of cruelty and people who blame them. And yet often they are not to blame. If you spend a few minutes inside a facility like this, you realize many of the people that walk in do not want to be asking for help. They're too proud. Probably been taught like you and me that you don't ask for help; don't take handouts.

Anyhow, it was a strong reminder as to why I'm doing this. And it just reinvigorated me towards my cause. Made me realize I have picked the right agency, the right people, the right group to ask you to donate to. I watched seniors today get together in the center and play Wii Golf and Bowling together and laugh. I watched children and the elderly be given food. I watched mothers in need get nourishment. I believe more than ever in what I am doing. I am grateful there are organizations like this that care.

We're approaching the middle point of training and I'm refocused. I feel good again. Ready for what lies ahead. I'm committed now to 16 weeks of straight discipline – of a life that involves work, and family, and responsibility and training. It's all clicking somehow. The work that lies ahead is insane. In the next 16 weeks, I will swim another 140 miles, bike more than 2,000 miles and run another 450 miles, all in preparation for the big day. I feel optimistic, oddly enough.

In completely unrelated news, those of you who know me, know that I'm an insane bargain shopper. I just got back from one of my crazy supermarket bargain shopping and had one of my best sessions ever – the PHX-area grocery stores have good deals this week. Safeway is kicking $1.99/lb 93 percent lean ground beef; $1.99/gal milk, 99 cent Pop Tarts 8 pks, a beautiful 2lb pork tenderloin for $3.99; A 2lb bag of jumbo shrimp for $8 and $2.50/loaf Oroweat bread; Albertsons meanwhile is rocking some $1.77/lb fresh boneless, skinless chicken breast; $1.66 kids snacks like big boxes of fruit rolls and fruit bars; $2.50 gallons of fresh OJ and some other really good stuff; Fry's also is kickin' it deal style. They've got $1.50 dry pints of blueberries and this bad ass mix and match promotion where stuff is on sale, but you also get an additional $5 off for every 10 items you buy; so I got $1 12 packs of flavored oatmeal; $1.50 frozen pizzas; $1.50 Ken's salad dressing; $2 Capri Sun 10 packs and some other good stuff. Anyhow I bought over $420 worth of stuff for $250 today. I was excited. And I paid $3.79/gallon for gas - not great, but better than it's been - at the AM/PM on Southern and McClintock.

People – you should really use gasbuddy.com and stop going to the gas stations that rip you off. I'm always amazed at all the jackasses who go to the Chevron on the corner of 48th and Broadway in Phoenix. It's the most expensive place around, and it's always packed.

I've rambled enough tonight. So much to tell; so little time to tell it. I'll try to blog again tomorrow.

Cheers,
Ed

My Inspiration

2008-07-29T09:39:00.000-07:00

Post #: 12
Weeks of training complete: 15 weeks, 2 days
Time until Ironman: 16 weeks, 5 days
Miles swam: 55.564
Miles biked: 720.02
Miles run: 210.21

Goal: $5,000
Total money raised: $670

It dawned on me in the last 12 hours that you all – everyone that reads this blog, or thinks about me and/or my family, are really the inspiration for this thing.

For those of you who don't know, I just came back from a very nice four day vacation. I poured back a few cold ones with friends and family at the base of the Sierra Nevadas on Thursday; rafted the Middle Fork of the American River on Friday (check out a video of an awesome rapid called The Chute here), spent Saturday playing paintball on a family friend's private 1,300 acre ranch in northern California (and then BBQing in the afternoon in their 10,000-square foot mountain top home), and Sunday doing a little bit of wine tasting, bocce playing and relaxing at some Russian River Valley vineyards.

It was a nice break from the chaos of the last three or four weeks. When I got back home, it was so wonderful to see my wife and children. The whole time I was in California, I wished they were with me.

I had planned, from the beginning of my training, to take those four days off from working out. But after four days of sleeping in, cocktails and lounging, restarting the workout routine can be incredibly difficult. But a couple of things happened that made me want to work out, badly ... rather they sort of inspired me to.

The first: my mom hinted that my father is considering coming out to see me race. He hasn't confirmed yet, but I guess he's dropping hints (Dad: Mom sold you out). Second: my friend RB made a contribution to the cause today.

I'm constantly amazed that people are willing to spend their hard earned money on my cause, on my race. To me, it's not only like they're making an investment in the community, it's like they're making an investment in me – saying: we believe in you. And when I see that, I can't let them down. It makes me want to succeed more than before.

So to everyone - thank you.

Many of you have asked how things are going lately in our lives. All in all - things are going well. We are very, very blessed to have a home filled with lots of love. Our children are beautiful, warm, caring, compassionate little buggers (even if Beck is prone to tell kids in his nursery school he's going to "shoot them" or "kill them" – true story ... for another day) and Heidi and I, of course, feel as if we share the most blessed marriage in the universe. After spending almost our entire adult life together (since we were 19!), it's difficult to listen to people who say they don't believe in love. Most of our problems lately have been related to things outside of our control; life throwing little obstacles (legal stuff, job stuff, financial stuff) that you've got to work around. Sometimes it's easier than others; sometimes lots of stuff piles on at once.

Heidi and I take a pretty methodical approach to problems. We address them head on, one-by-one, until we work through them, until we feel comfortable where we're at. And that's sort of what we've done. I think we both feel that as long as we have each other, and the kids, and our love, that we'll just sort of work our way through anything.

Just as an aside, that picture above? That's the Greenbelt in Scottsdale – a place where I ride my bike sometimes early in the morning. I love it. It's so peaceful and green, with lots of little ponds and trees. I find peace there.

That's it for today. The blogs should start rolling in again now that I'm settled in at home - gearing up for the fall semester at the paper and the final 15 week stretch of training. There's lots of good things ahead - we've crested the hill, I think ... just gotten by the proverbial Wednesday.

Thanks all for reading and giving and loving. - Ed

You can donate to my cause and the people at Tempe Community Action Agency here. Please make sure to let my know at ebaker@ecollegetimes.com, so the totals reflect how to close to goal we are.

Smile, because you have today OR So what, I skipped a day

2008-07-21T17:07:00.000-07:00

Post #: 11
Weeks of training complete: 14 weeks, 1 days
Time until Ironman: 17 weeks, 6 days
Miles swam: 51.836
Miles biked: 707.78
Miles run: 198.5

Goal: $5,000
Total money raised: $570

The period since Heidi and I returned from our week vacation (i.e. the week of getting stuff done around the house) has been trying. Life throws things out you in phases – and as last week progressed, it got harder as the days passed. Finding time to work out – around increasing scheduling conflicts and unforeseen obstacles was not easy. I swam at 8:45 p.m., ran at lunch time, rode the bike after the kids went to bed.

But Sunday, I simply decided to skip my workout - told myself I'd make it up today, on my typical workout-off day. So I went to the gym at 4:30 p.m., with just enough time to get my run in before I had to pick up the kids from school - and then in the middle of getting dressed I realized I had brought two left shoes with me. I took it as a sign - the world was telling me to take a day off. So I did.

Came home, cracked open a beer, and decided to pen this quick blog before I'm off to run a few chores.

I can't get into much of the stuff that's been thrown our way - this isn't the appropriate venue - but working out and continuing to make the right choices and meeting our responsibilities has made things easier to cope with. You should know that we are fine, and our family is fine - we were just thrown a curve ball we weren't anticipating. In some ways, honestly, I enjoy the challenges of life so much, it's almost kind of exciting - having a new problem to potentially solve.

A friend of Heidi and mine once told me my most endearing or unique quality was that I'm an eternal optimist - always seeing the upside in a sea of down ... Maybe there's some truth to that - on my good days.

Hope you're all well,
Ed

Staying the course ...

2008-07-15T20:50:00.000-07:00

Post #: 10
Weeks of training complete: 13 weeks, 2 days
Time until Ironman: 18 weeks, 5 days
Miles swam: 48.076
Miles biked: 644.28
Miles run: 189.46

Goal: $5,000
Total money raised: $570

There's something about the middle.

It's not the beginning, not the end. You're neither starting the journey, nor anywhere near it's conclusion.

Here I am stuck in the middle with ... me.

I relayed these comments to Eric, my coworker and Ironman finisher and he told me, as I have mused before on this very blog, that you must stay in the moment, just as you must do in the actual Ironman race itself. You can't focus, he said, on how far you've come or how far you've got to go.

Live in the moment ... it's an idea and theme that keeps coming back.

There's another motto I find myself repeating often: "Keep making the right choices." In a previous life, this was my downfall - when times got tough, I made the wrong choice, the easy choice. Another beer, another cigarette, blowing off a responsibility, giving into my own demons, my own fear, my own rebellion against the things I perceived to hold me down.

I am stronger now - making the right choice is easier, but not always easy.

Getting up for my workout was painful this morning. The workout itself was painful (3,000 meters is a long swim!!!) I'm experiencing burnout on numerous fronts, but I've learned that if I keep making the right decisions - eat healthy, complete my workout, power through the difficult tasks, write my thank you cards, communicate with the world, play with my children, be there for my wife - that I'll come out of it refreshed and reinvigorated and stronger for making the right choice when the wrong one was easy.

I guess that's what they call the experience and the wisdom of aging.

To me, it's why 32 is way better than 21.

Cheers,
Ed

(Not So) Hot and Sticky ...

2008-07-13T20:56:00.000-07:00

Post #: 9
Weeks of training complete: 13 weeks
Time until Ironman: 19 weeks
Miles swam: 46.192
Miles biked: 644.28
Miles run: 185

Goal: $5,000
Total money raised: $570

It has been insanely humid here. I ran in a white shirt this morning and it stuck to my body and became see-through in about 20 minutes. That was rad.

Despite the humidity, it's been nice - in the 80s most of the day - which is about 20 degrees below normal. This afternoon, it was in the 70s. That's almost unheard of in Phoenix in July.

We are, obviously, all giddy with the beauty of the day. That's the way I felt on Saturday, when I went for my long bike ride. I took my bike up to Paradise Valley, which is where a lot of the celebrities and sports stars and really, really wealthy people live. I just like to look at the houses - it's dumbfounding that somebody needs that much house. We're talking 10,000 square foot and more homes - they go on and on and on. So much so that you can't even believe your eyes. The desert is very lush in these neighborhoods. After heavy rains, desert plants give off a lot of odor - but good odors. So these neighborhoods, when it's humid like this, are just perfumed with the thick smell of the desert. It's intoxicating. Combine that with the clouds, and the moist cool breeze and the early morning sun, and it makes for a perfect bike ride.

I really enjoyed myself. It has been a long training week, though, and today, I was tired. But I made it, and tomorrow's a rest day - so that's nice.

This afternoon, we took Beckett to see Wall-E while Brody stayed with her grandma and grandpa. I highly recommend it to anybody who hasn't had the chance to see it.

In other, news another $300 in donations has come in since the last post. I'd like to say thank you to both most old friend and college roommate, Jared, and to grandpa Phil, who both stepped in and gave to the cause. Thank you so much to both of you. That was extremely kind.

For those of you interesting in reading more on the Ironman experience, check out my buddy Eric's blog. He's doing the same Ironman race I am. He's at: amightyadventure.blogspot.com.

Also, you can check out my sister Electa's blog at dirtydiapersandprada.blogspot.com.

You can donate to my cause and the people at Tempe Community Action Agency here. Please make sure to let my know at ebaker@ecollegetimes.com, so the totals reflect how to close to goal we are.

Have an excellent week, Ed

A feeling of calm

2008-07-09T20:58:00.000-07:00

Post #: 8
Weeks of training complete: 12 weeks, 3 days
Time until Ironman: 19 weeks, 4 days
Miles swam: 42.464
Miles biked: 582.18
Miles run: 171.06

Goal: $5,000
Total money raised: $270

We are, by our very nature, a fairly unstable creature. We are often uneasy, unnerved by either our past, or what lies ahead. We often crave things: whether they be material, or emotional. We want more financial stability, relationship stability or job security, job satisfaction or that really cool Blu-Ray DVD gizmo with the 52x scan 1080p performance. We want more people to think like we do. We want peace. And lower gas prices. And more vacation time. And a little less responsibility. And once, just once, to feel like we were 18 again. Or, if not all of those, we want some of them. Or something else entirely. There are very few of us who are comfortable to just be. To just be satisfied with what we have. To be satisfied with life, and air, and breath, and the moment, and our children, and our friends. Or a really good TV show and a cold beer.

Some days, though, I hit it. I find that place where I am in the moment - where there is uncertainty swirling all around me: friends in chaos, a world in chaos, a life stressed for time and yet still, I find that place. That place where all of that can exist around me but I find that emotional center.

It's very peaceful. I found it today.

Don't know why. I just found it.

It's not like I'm swimming in good news - nothing particularly wonderful happened. There are very real stresses in mine, and my family's life: friends and family problems; worries about the economy; time constraints - all the things many of you are probably dealing with. But suddenly, today, as is wont to happen from time to time: it really all punched me in the gut at once. I feel blessed, happy - my wife and children are beautiful. I feel fantastic health wise. My kid tried really hard to poop in the potty. Life, despite all its stresses, is good.

Six or seven years ago, I could never have hit that place. And I think the slow introduction of regular exercise into my life is what started to change that.

Seven years ago, I was a heavy drinker and a heavy smoker. A pack of cigs a day and six or more drinks was a common theme. I was gaining a lot of weight. My face was puffy and swollen. I covered politics for a daily newspaper. It was eight or nine hours of cynicism on the job washed away with drink and smoke. I knew it wasn't the direction I wanted my life to go - but those habits are hard to change. All of my free time lost in sleep and impairment. In retrospect, it really was that bad.

But at some point, I started running. Sometimes, I'd run once and then not get around to it for a few weeks again. And many times, I'd try to quit smoking. I might only make it a day, or two - and the fear of failing again might make it months before I tried again, but eventually each stint of running lasted a little longer and each attempt at quitting smoking did the same. And when I did fail - or when I did stop running - the lapse between making a new quitting attempt, or exercising again got shorter.

I signed up for a marathon - drinking and smoking the entire time - but I finished the race. And the next time I did it, I smoked and drank just a little less, and so on and so on and so on.

The one thing that never changed is that I always had a goal for myself. I know this sounds so cheesy - but it's true, and I want to be honest. There was this Ivory soap commercial with this fit, healthy looking dad playing with his happy son. I always envisioned myself as that dad - that's who I wanted to be. The healthy, fit dad who set a good example for his children. And I never lost sight of that, and slowly, slowly, slowly that constant vision drove me to where I am today. I still have work to do, but I'm closer to my goal than ever.

Conversely, I have a new goal. I want to be in that place I was in today more frequently. I want to live in the moment. But beyond that, I want to help the people I care about find that place. Help them understand that we can be concerned and work to change the world, but that we don't have to let it jeopardize our own happiness, or that of our families. In fact, I think we can only positively change the world or the people around us when we find a certain peace and confidence in ourselves.

It may sound a little hippie-ish, I know. But we live in a world with a lot of hate, and a lot of conflict - red vs. blue, us vs. them. We live in a world where people have been whipped into a frenzy, fearful and loathing of people they don't even know, don't understand. People who expend so much energy on this fear and hate forget to expend the necessary energy on their friends and family. I know. I put that energy into alcohol and tobacco and an arrogant sense that "I was right. And they were wrong."

There was no pathway to peace or happiness there.

I'm merely thankful I had friends and family and a little bit of coincidence, perhaps, that showed me a different way.

I should add that part of what got me thinking about this was some of the work I do with Tempe Community Action. Working in the non-profit world, I know, takes a certain kind of person; you are exposed daily to people who face many challenges, and yet every day you must approach your work with an optimism. You can't take the reality of what you face home; and yet you must process it properly at work - interacting with the people you help daily in a way that is encouraging and hopeful and proper. It's no easy task.

For those of you who don't know, the work that the people at Tempe Community Action Agency do is nothing short of Herculean. They provide tens of thousands of meals to senior citizens, they help feed those who are hungry, they see to it that children get the health care they need; they help families facing job layoffs keep their electric running; they educate people about being good parents and managing a budget. It is truly incredible.

Please, as you keep reading this blog - think about what you have. Think about what you spend. And ask yourself if you can spare $10, $20 or $50. The folks at TCAA are so good at managing money and brokering deals that they can turn that $20 you might spend on a couple drinks this Friday and turn it into $80 worth of food - enough to feed a family for up to a week. For Arizona residents, the entire donation is eligible to be refunded as a tax credit.

With food and gas costs soaring and more and more people being pushed to the financial brink, there is real need out there. Please think about it.

If you decide to donate, please do so here - and let me know at ebaker@ecollegetimes.com, so we can add it to the total/goal figures.

I hope you're all well.

Chat soon,
Ed

Ready ... Set, Er ... Ready?

2008-07-08T20:33:00.000-07:00

Post #: 7
Weeks of training complete: 12 weeks, 2 days
Time until Ironman: 19 weeks, 5 days
Miles swam: 42.464
Miles biked: 572.18
Miles run: 168.06

Goal: $5,000
Total money raised: $270

Heidi, my wife, began a project a while back to digitally archive all of our son's art projects from school - this picture to the left is actually one of the pictures from that archive. But like so many well-meant tasks we undertake during adulthood, it simply became too much.

Day care makes your children prolific artists. There's felt on construction paper, chalk on construction paper, paint on construction paper, shaving cream on construction paper, garbage from the floor on construction paper, pasta on construction paper and various other (fill in the blank) on construction paper projects that come home each week. And that doesn't even count the numerous multi-colored scribbles on paper you get. If the kids could actually sell their artwork, my wife and I might be able to quit work - even if they could just get $10 a pop, I think we'd be pulling in about $17,000 a week.

But one thing I never thought would become too much during this whole training process has actually become one of the most frustrating parts of my day. I am notoriously unorganized when it comes to material items. My brain - it's pretty organized. Staffers at College Times can ask me the date a cover from the last seven years and chances are I can remember it. I keep my schedule in my head and my to-do-list in my mind. But organize paper work? Keep my office clean? No can do. I'm scattered when it comes to that stuff.

And this is why getting my stuff ready each night for the following morning's workout has become such a chore. I can't remember where I put anything. So each day, I have to remember where i threw my work out clothes, my sneakers, my goggles, my iPod, my earphones, my visor, my sunglasses, my sunscreen, my Gatorade, my water pack, my water bottles, my nutritional supplements. I spend close to an hour every night walking back and forth across the house mumbling under my breath while I look for this stuff. As the workouts push 14 hours weekly, this has become somewhat tedious. So I'm trying to fix it by keeping my things in one place - we'll see how it goes. Usually when I get done in the morning with a workout, I'm so in a rush to get to work, I just throw everything all over the place.

In other news, I had a nice vacation - both at home with Heidi (even though all we did mostly was work) - and in Las Vegas with my friend Rob. I've learned how to do Vegas on the cheap and still have lots of fun, and that's made going kind of enjoyable. Won some money in Texas Hold 'Em, broke even on sports betting, spent what I won at the bachelor party we were there for. All in all - a good time. And I got to do my workout at one of the nicest YMCA facilities I've ever seen. It had a rock gym, massive swimming complex, huge indoor workout facility, four indoor basketball courts - and, of course, each section was sponsored by a casino. Guess it helps to have those casino dollars flowing ...

I feel real good physically. In fact, I feel great - strong and energized and excited about the challenges that lie ahead in the training.

I know that coming up, I also need to work on bumping up the fundraising aspect of the training - it's something I need to start focusing on. I have a long way to go to get to that $5,000 goal.

If you'd like to contribute, you can do so by clicking here.

Please let me know if you make a donation, so that I can include it in my totals.

Until next time,
Ed

The Cumulative Effect of Intense Heat

2008-07-02T19:35:00.000-07:00

Post #: 6
Weeks of training complete: 11 weeks, 3 days
Time until Ironman: 20 weeks, 4 days
Miles swam: 39.2
Miles biked: 510.7
Miles run: 162.04

Goal: $5,000
Total money raised: $270

Part of living in Arizona - and doing so happily - is learning to forget. Each year, as September turns to October turns to November, and the 100-degree days bid their annual farewell, you convince yourself: the summer wasn't really that bad. And each year, as March turns to April turns to May, and the triple-digits return, you convince yourself, you like it. The state empties out; you have it all to yourself - only the real Zonies make it through the summer.

But then you live through it: the daily reality of a summer in the desert where there is no 60s, no 70s, no 80s; just 95 degree mornings; 110-degree afternoons and 100 degree nights. As I sit here typing this at 7:42 p.m., it is 109 degrees outside.

I know a lot of people around the country like to brag about how their region of the country has the roughest weather and how this makes them so tough. My dad loves to scoff at the temperature here and tell me how it's 90 in New Jersey and how the humidity is so high it's actually hotter; or how in the winter, it's 35 and it's "haht." But until you've experienced, first hand, the oppresive quality of the desert heat, you don't know what you're talking about. The only thing comparable, I think, is probably places that experience intense, sub-freezing temperatures. For most cold places, you can just throw on more layers. That doesn't apply in the desert - you can't just take more clothes off. If it's not the sun that destroys you – burning your skin until you go into shock, it's the low humidity, which will literally suck you dry until you go into a state of severe dehydration. Your only defense is shade, protective clothing and lots and lots of fluids. More fluids than you think it possible to drink, especially if you're training.

I took this vacation to get a lot of work done around the house. We put a beautiful expansion on our home - about 750 square feet of tiled, covered outdoor living space - but there was some considerable work to be done. With a 3-year-old, and 15-month-old, this is not easily done. Unless you have a few days that you can send them to day care and take off of work. So that's what Heidi and I did.

But after two days of working outside - on top of some big training days - I'm spent. Despite taking it easy today, I can't get properly hydrated. I'm having to force myself to drink water. And those dreams of a beer or two on the patio: forget it ... not when you feel so dried out.

Taking a look at the forecast doesn't offer much hope - it goes like this. Tomorrow: 113; Friday: 110; Saturday: 107; Sunday: 107; Monday: 110; Tuesday: 112. Ugh.

But who am I to complain. I chose this as home did I not? And you know what? We'll truck on through, just like we always do. Waiting for the symbols that the end is almost near: the start of college football, the anticipation of Oktoberfest and before you know it, we'll all be bragging again.

In the time I've been typing, I've been drinking more water. Starting to feel better ...

I have about a 50-60 mile bike ride tomorrow morning. Think I'm doing this one inside, on the trainer. Staying out of that nasty heat for the day.

For those who are interested, you can donate to my cause, by clicking here. Please be sure to send me an e-mail to ed@ecollegetimes.com to let me know the amount, so I can record it in the blog.

Godspeed,
Ed

Hello, from vacation

2008-07-01T20:24:00.001-07:00

Post #: 5
Weeks of training complete: 11 weeks, 2 days
Time until Ironman: 20 weeks, 5 days
Miles swam: 39.2
Miles biked: 499.85
Miles run: 160.31

Goal: $5,000
Total money raised: $270

I'll bebrief today; just wanted to let everybody know I hadn't forgotten about the blog. I'm on vacation this week and just trying to limit my time connected to the computer.

Some things that have been going on: Went on a weekend trip with my family, our friends Eric and Kelli and their boys and Ryan and Steph to a cabin in Spring Valley. This is a beautiful, incredibly secluded place where the only thing for miles is pretty much you. This is a pic from the trip.

Beckett has been learning to swim and he's getting quite good. He can swim underwater on his own now without assistance from people or floaties. Awesome.

I've been doing a lot of work around the house. For those of you who know how long the patio has taken to complete ... it's almost done. I hung the finished the sanding and painting (with help from Heidi) and hung the fans. In fact, I'm going to enjoy a cocktail out there right now.

To donate to my cause, click here. Please be sure to send me an e-mail to ed@ecollegetimes.com to let me know the amount, so I can record it in the blog.

Talk soon,
Ed

3:50 in the morning is, indeed, quite early

2008-06-24T19:45:00.000-07:00

Post #: 4
Weeks of training complete: 10 weeks, 2 days
Time until Ironman: 21 weeks, 5 days
Miles swam: 35.8
Miles biked: 434.45
Miles run: 139.51

Goal: $5,000
Total money raised: $270

I started my day a little before 4 a.m. with my run. It was hot. Then I swam. It wasn't so bad in the pool. In fact, I'm starting to really enjoy my swims. There's something very peaceful about being in the water, just gliding along.

It was great to be done so early, but come 4 p.m., my mind just sort of shut down. I plan to get to bed pretty early again tonight, just to be up early for another day of training - on the bike and on the ground - tomorrow.

Eric, my friend who is also doing the Arizona Ironman, and whose blog can be located here, and I have been laughing a lot about the many characters we run across at the gym. A couple years ago on the Slow Twitch tri forum, somebody started a running post about the strange denizens of the pool. (You can read it here) But I've noticed they extend far beyond the pool, into the locker room and the actual gym floor itself. As a side note, the post actually made me realize I was the guy with the blown own bathing suit - the back was so stretched you could see my backside ... I had never looked until I read it. Who knows how long people were staring at that unfortunate sight.

Anyway, at the gym, there a few "strange denizens" that instantly come to mind: "Guy who wants to talk to me while we're both naked and changing," for example. He just sort of opens up the conversation without you even looking at him. It goes something like this:

Me (in the corner, changing): (silence)
Naked guy: So, how about that presidential election, eh? It's like Goldwater in '64 all over again, huh?
Me: What?
Naked guy: I knew Goldwater, you know.
Me: Really?
Naked guy: Yeah, I used to work out with him back on this old gym on Broadway and McClintock, back when it was a dirt road and the gym was actually an elementary school that served as city hall and spare parts depot when the kids were gone.
Me: Wow.

At this point, "The laugher" - he's the guy that is usually just sitting in the locker room for what seems like hours, usually pipes in:

The Laugher: Hoo, hoo, hoo, hoo!
Me: (silence)
Naked guy: You remember that?
The Laugher: Hoo, hoo, hoo. I do! Do you remember old Smitty's pub?
Naked guy: Yeah, I used to work out with Smitty back at this old gym ...

It's about then I leave ...

There's other characters - like "Wild Arms Power Walker," "The Human Fan" and "Mack Truck" - but you'll have to wait for another day to hear about those.

In the meantime, I hope you enjoy my son's efforts to achieve rock stardom.

Signing off,
Ed

Mom, I have blood on my face OR 9 consecutive days of 110-degree weather and counting

2008-06-23T20:24:00.000-07:00

Post #:3
Weeks of training complete: 10 weeks
Time until Ironman: 21 weeks, 6 days
Miles swam: 34.1
Miles biked: 434.45
Miles run: 133.76

Goal: $5,000
Total money raised: $270

First off, I know some of you have asked about how to make donations. My live on-line donation center is not set up yet, so for those who plan to donate by credit card, hang tight. I'm waiting for Janus to finalize my ability to take plastic on behalf of the charity. For those planning to donate by cash or check, please contact me at ed@ecollegetimes.com, and I can give you all the details. Also, another donation came in today. Thanks for the latest contribution from one of my best friends and his wife. I'm not sure they seek public recognition, so I'll respect their privacy.

First, to explain the picture. Today, I come home and sit down on the computer to check a few things. From the master bath, I hear water running - and running and running. Finally, I say, "Beck ... whatcha' doin'?" To which he replies with silence. So I go in there and find him slicking his hair back with water, his face covered in lipstick. Stifling a laugh, I say, "Go show your mom what you did."

From the kitchen I hear: "Mom, look, I got blood on my face ..."

Thus, an interesting lesson, I suppose: One should never jump to conclusions about what exactly their kids think it is they are doing ...

In other news, it has been hot - really hot - here. Today was the ninth consecutive day with temperatures over 110 degrees. On an average year, the Phoenix metro has 10 such days total. Tomorrow will be # 10.

Living in this heat has its impacts, not so much on work days, when you sit in air conditioning, but certainly on the weekends. After 10 or 11 a.m., it's difficult to do much of anything. Even the inside of your house, with the air conditioning blasting seems warms. You have to keep it at 80 or so to avoid astronomical electric bills - and it many parts of the house, it's hotter than that.

And, yet, this really is good training weather. High temperature training challenges the body much the way high altitude training challenges the body. And lucky for me, I get to do both.

Two of the last three weekends, I've been at 6,000-7,000 feet - swimming, running and biking. Doing lots of intense hills at that elevation, too. In fact, on Sunday, I did a pretty solid jog straight up a 1,000 foot mountain face in Mogollon Rim country. Talk about a nice way to start the day.

To avoid the heat, though, mostly I just train early. Tomorrow, I'll probably get up at 4 a.m. to run (projected temperature: 81) and then hit the pool at about 5:30 a.m. (projected temperature: 79). The early start also helps me help Heidi get the kids ready.

An early morning awaits - 1.7 mile swim, 6.5 or so mile run tomorrow. Talk to y'all soon.

- Ed

Stop the Presses ... Correction!!!

2008-06-19T22:25:00.000-07:00

Post #: 2.2
Weeks of training complete: 9 weeks, 4 days
Time until Ironman: 22 weeks, 3 days
Miles swam: 34.1
Miles biked: 399.95
Miles run: 129.8

Goal: $5,000
Total money raised: $250

After I made my most recent post, I went and checked my comments. I've received my first donation - from Tempe Mayor Hugh Hallman!!!

Awesome! So, I just want to give a big thanks to the mayor!!! I'm so excited!

And more inspired now ... See, that's why I love Tempe ... How cool is that?

- Ed

Let there be music

2008-06-19T21:50:00.000-07:00

Post #:2
Weeks of training complete: 9 weeks, 4 days
Time until Ironman: 22 weeks, 3 days
Miles swam: 34.1
Miles biked: 399.95
Miles run: 129.8

Goal: $5,000
Total money raised: $0

I'll start you off today with a video of my kids dancing. They love music.

Tonight, I took Beckett to his first rock concert - Death Cab for Cutie at the Mesa Amphitheater. He did well - kind of.

It started out with us having to park about 1/4 mile from the venue, so I walked him on my shoulders to the gate. We had a couple extra tickets, so my friends Scott and Brad were waiting for us. We were going to give the tickets to them to give to some friends.

First off, Beck was totally stoked to see his buddy "Shock." In fact, I'm not sure what was more of a highlight for him - the music or Shock. He talked about them both the same.

After hellos, we moved into the security line. Beck got his first experience at being frisked. Hilarious, really, seeing a big beefy security guard pat down a 3' 1" three-year-old kid. After Beck was patted down, he made a beeline for the front gate. Leaving me behind. So I had to run past the security guard and go grab Beck, then go back to the security line to be patted down.

We got inside and found a perfect seat on the lawn, dead center about half way up the venue from the stage. I couldn't figure out why nobody was sitting there. Until I looked down and saw I was covered with fire ants. I sat on an ant hill. I got bit seven times. I'm lucky I didn't go into allergic shock. So we moved.

We found a new spot and Beck really focused for the first time on the stage. This was about 7:45 p.m., so it was still light out. His eyes just lit up. "Daddy," he said, gasping for air, "there's guitars! And drums! And another guitar. Wow!!! They're playin' music?" Then he danced. It was awesome - seeing him experience that for the first time.

This all started yesterday when before bed, we saw the Foo Fighters playing on MTV in a live clip. I mentioned to him that I had gone to a Foo Fighters concert. He told me he wanted to go. Wouldn't you know, the next day, my work hands me four free tickets to the show. It was like fate.

After the opening act got off the stage, we met up with a bunch of other friends and coworkers that were at the show - Ryan, Mark, Stephanie and some of their friends. Beck shook everybody's hand (I think he saw me doing it) and said hello. Shock came back over and hung out. Then, because so much attention was on him, he started going a little nuts - kicking water bottles, rolling around on the hill ... and then, well, then, the little bugger's hormones kicked in or something.

He spotted five, 19-23 or 24ish cuties sitting behind him. Let the flirting begin. Every second I turned around he was crawling towards them, talking to them, dancing for them. I asked him to stop, he pulled harder to get back. Talk about a friggen' flirt. Then last time I turned around, he was in this cute blond girl's lap with his arms around her ...

... so we moved.

We found some good seats near the entrance and I bought him an Italian Ice, something to occupy him. Night fell. The crowd grew restless.

And then Death Cab for Cutie took the stage.

The crowd roared. Beck instantly stood at attention. The instruments came to life. The spotlights went up into the crowd.

And the boy had the biggest smile on his face.

He ate Italian Ice, he danced, he jumped, he danced some more. He told me about the guitars and drums and lights. And then, about 8:45 p.m., he came and sat on my lap, played the "drums" on my legs and said he was almost ready to go home. "Just one more song," he said.

So we heard one more song.

And then we went home, where he tried to use the toilet.

Then he pooped in a diaper.

In the beginning

2008-06-16T20:50:00.001-07:00

Post #:1
Weeks of training completed: 9
Miles swam: 30.6
Miles biked: 384.25
Miles run: 124

Goal: $5,000
Total money raised: $0

In mid-April ever year, one of the most difficult professional athletic events in the world - the Arizona Ironman - sets up shop in Tempe. The race involves a 2.4 mile swim, a 112-mile bike ride and a 26.2 mile run.

About 3,000 people compete every year. A few more than 2,000 finish. The quickest do it in a little over 8-1/2 hours, the last recognized finishers do it in just a hair under 18 hours.

A few days before the actual event, the organizers of Arizona Ironman - North America Sports - host a charity event, the Mayor's Charity Challenge, at which Tempe Mayor Hugh Hallman challenges members of the local media to beat him in a 1/100th Ironman. That would be a 42 yard swim, a 1.12 mile bike ride and a .26 mile run, and each year I do it. The winner wins $1,000 donated to the charity of their choice.

I've never won. Never come close.

But somebody I work with - Eric (who has completed an Ironman) has - and this year, three people from College Times were entered. So the company's owners issued a challenge to us: finish 1, 2 and 3 and they'd double the $1,000 donation.

We did it. But it was almost me that cost us the money.

On the day of that race, I was pushing 210 pounds, my gut was bouncing over the side of my shorts and it took a full out power sprint on the bike and on foot to avoid a big letdown. After completing five marathons - three in 13 months from June 2006 to June 2007 - I had let myself go. I knew right then and there that it was time to do something.

But I was sick of doing marathons - and hardly motivated by something less challenging than that. So I said, "f it, I'm just going to do the damn Ironman." Later that day, as the check was being presented to the charity we chose - Tempe Community Action Agency - I announced publicly I was going to run the November Arizona Ironman and raise money for the same charity, TCAA.

They help children, the elderly, families and the homeless through food, medical and emergency assistance programs here in Tempe. Basically when people need help, when parents lose jobs, when emergencies strike, they're the agency that reaches out to help people get through tough times - and their main goal is to lead everybody back to self-sufficiency. The scope of the work they do, with limited staff, is impressive. Each year, they serve 92,000 meals to senior citizens in the Tempe area alone. Many of them are delivered to their homes - people who are immobile. And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

I've already completed 9 weeks of my 32 week training program, and so far, so good. Finding the time to do everything I need to do can be difficult, though. Thus the reason it's taken so long to start this blog.

But now I've started, and I plan to update it pretty regularly. My goal is to raise $5,000 for TCAA, and very soon, I'll have a system set up where people can donate by credit card online if they prefer.

For those who live in Arizona - and I'll explain this more later - there are better ways to donate. TCAA is a special state-recognized charity for which the state of Arizona provides a full tax-credit (not tax write-off, but tax credit) of up to $400 per individual, meaning if you meet several qualifications, the state will refund you everything you donate to TCAA in your 2008 tax return.

But enough about that. Mostly, I'm just glad to have a way to talk to all of you again.

Until next time. Cheers - Ed