This weeks triathlon training is a rest & test week for me. Next week I'll be in a mini taper for the Feb 7th WSMR duathlon which will be a B race. Today was the first test of 4 for the week. To say I was disappointed would be an understatement. Today I completed a 1 mile Time Trial. I did this same test on the same track in Sept & pumped out a 6 minute 15 sec mile. I assumed I'd be faster today since I've been training for sprint races since November, as apposed to Ironman distances for the previous 5 years. Boy was my expectation off. I completed today's 1 miler in 7 minutes 35 minutes. Today I did a 5k TT & was 8 minutes slower. 8 minutes!!!!!!!! There's only one time in the last 4 years I was this slow. That was when I hit 256 pounds in November of 07. I'm only 220 right now, so I have no idea why I'm so slow. With my B race only 8 days away I need to be making some serious gains relatively quickly if I'm going to be competitive at all in the Clydesdale division of the South West Challenge Series. Right now there are 3 guys in my division that I know of who are much much faster than me. That's not including the dark horses or unknowns who show up each year. The 3 faster Clydes I know of right now are-
1) Jason McClure
2)David McDonald
3)George Ferland
Unfortunately I'm not talking a little faster either. McDonald & Ferland are both superior runners, which is the first time even one person in the SW Clydesdale Open division has been faster. Jason McClure is the fastest Clydesdale cyclist in the South West. He's a bad-mamm-jama on the bike. Even on one of my good days he can make up a 2 minute deficit in a sprint race on the bike easily. But then if you add the fact that for some reason I'm one minute thirteen seconds slower per mile on my usual 1 mile run & 8minutes slower on my 5 k.....I think I'm in deep doo doo. Hopefully I'll be able to pack on some serious speed the 2nd half of the season & make up some points for the series. For now I'll just show up & try & hold on for dear life!

Everyday I leave for work & my wife, daughter, & son stand at the window facing the street to wave & blow kisses to me as I peddle away on my commuter bike. It makes leaving my family more tolerable. That's one of the precious images I'll have stored in my mind until the day I die.My daughter who turns 3 years 4 months old today helps my wife pack my lunch each day. Occasionally when I get to work I'll find my daughter has snuck something special into my lunch box. The things she's put in my lunch box have ranged from Barbie dolls (some fully dressed, some without any clothes at all), stuffed animals, her favorite children's books, her cherished swim goggles, & last night she put in a baggie of plastic food she had prepared for me from her plastic children's kitchen. I think some people would be slightly embarrassed to show up to work with small girls toys in their lunch box. Especially a work place with as much machismo (machismo n. A strong or exaggerated sense of masculinity stressing attributes such as physical courage & virility) as the New Mexico super max prison. But not me. I find these things in my lunch, pull them out & show these things off to my fellow co-workers filled with pride & a heart full with the warmth that only the unconditional & innocent love from a child could bring. I pull these things out of my lunch box in front of my entire shift & say look what my baby girl packed into my lunch box today. The first few times I did this I got the expected teasing & whistles. But after awhile all the people on my shift just smiled. I can see the envy on some of their faces. The fact that my daughter would be willing to give up her favorite toys, even if only for a night touches me like very few things in my life ever has. I cherish these moments. My daughter got her Mom's heart & giving nature. I thank God daily for them. I also thank God for having my daughter take the majority of her traits from my wife;) That's a good thing because my wife is the best person I've ever met. I can be a challenge to say the least.

My daughter finished her month long swim lessons. She was the youngest in her class. This was the first step of progressive swim courses. She was one of only 4 children who was given the ok to join the next level. The next step is the Level 1 swim course. It's suggested that a child be 5 years to get into this class, or pass the pre-course. I was told that often times children as young as my daughter have to attend the pre-course a few times before testing up. But my daughter who isn't even 3 & a half yet passed on her first time. She was the youngest in the pre-course. Now she will be the youngest in the level 1 by years! Yes, I am a proud Dad today indeed!!!

Speaking of being a proud parent, my son who is 1 year 5 months old started walking on Jan 25th. He simply refused to walk for the longest time & got a late start. I wasn't worried at all. I knew he was progressing just fine in all areas, he just preferred to crawl. On the 25th he woke up & started walking all over like he'd been doing it forever. No stumbling or falling. One day he wouldn't walk at all, the next he was walking as well as my daughter. No in between. I think my son takes after me. We are both an all or nothing kind of a person. No in-between for us. We are perpetually in the stop or run mode. No in-between for the 2 of us.Thanks for tuning in, I'm out.