my family in training

My daughter who will turn 4 later this month has really been getting the hang of riding her bike. Today I took her to ride in Santa Fe on a bike/run trail that follows the NM Rail Runner. She thought this was the neatest thing. I in turn was amazed that she rode almost 2 miles!!! Wow. That's a LONG ride for a 3 year old. I'm a VERY proud Daddy today.

As we were driving home I told her how proud I was & that she did absolutely AMAZING! Aparently this went straight to her head because she told me "I'm ready to race you Daddy. I'll beat you too."

Tomorrow I'm going to take her & our 2 bikes to the New Mexico Corrections Academy track where she & I will have our first race. I'm sure I'll look back at tomorrow fondly the rest of my life. I'm also pretty sure her statement that she can beat me in a bike race will come true, sooner than I'd like to imagine. Early teenage years perhaps? Earlier knowing her. My daughter truly is a natural athlete. She is leaps & bounds ahead of most kids (including the boys!) her age in all things needing any athleticism.

My son who just turned 2 is more like me. Athletics don't come naturally to him, but he has a determination level that's astounding to see. Sometimes when I'm at the house working out my kids will attempt to do what I am doing. Anything from crunches to lunges. My daughter has always been able to mimic whatever it is I'm doing quickly & with very little direction, then pump out reps using perfect form without much thought or effort. My son doesn't pick up the form nor is he able to do the exercises as easily as she did at the same age. But he'll stay trying to master it long after my daughter (who is 2 years his elder) has grown bored & wondered off.

Last week my son continued to do walking lunges up & down the house with me until he hit muscle failure. Unwilling to stop in-spite of hitting the wall he looked around for a solution. I then watched in amazement & pride as he walked over to the couch & continued doing lunges using his hands on the couch to help lift his fatigued little body, getting in those extra repetitions. I do love fatherhood. It is so rewarding to watch each of them develop their own little personalities & strengths.

My training for the Sept 19th Halfmax National Championships is going almost as well as my children's training;) I'm fluctuating between 202- 205 pounds which is a fast & powerful weight range for me. I'm now down to 17 days until race day. My nutrition is on the money & my taper is going GREAT! I'm mentally & physically prepared & motivated for for this race.

The Halfmax will be my 6th Half Iron distance triathlon in the last 4 years. I think I have it within my grasp to beat my personal best Half Iron time of 5hrs 36 minutes & change. Stay tuned to see how things go!

Thanks for reading.