Here we go again.

Due to large amounts of peer pressure, I have succumbed to the lure of Ironman again. That and the fact that it will be built around a European vacation. 8 of us have signed up to do Ironman Switzerland. I don't know if I am mentally up for the challenge again. I like the idea of getting back into kick ass shape. Lord knows I need something to keep me motivated. I'm just not sure I'm ready for the 10 month slog again. People always say that your second one is the hardest because you KNOW what goes into getting to the start line. Fear is no longer a motivator as you've done the distance and know what it takes. You have to find something else to motivate you. I'm still looking for that.....

My training started last Saturday and if that day is any indication of how my training is going to go, I'm screwed. We drove out to King & Keele--it was 5 degrees and raining. Not ideal riding conditions but I was appropriately dressed. We head out and the guys are whining about how cold they are. SUCK IT UP FELLAS! We ride along in the rain. I do a little detour around a pile of glass--at least I thought I detoured enough but, I didn't. A couple of minutes later as I'm rolling downhill, my tire goes flat. Crap. I get to the bottom of the hill and get off my bike. I yell up to the guys that I have a flat--Gary comes back and says I'm getting the car and off he goes. Crap crap crap. I sit under a tree and watch Sue do hill repeats. So much for my 2 hour ride. This week has been much of the same. Busy with work & social stuff so I've slept in a couple of times and gotten home late twice. arg. I'm supposed to race this weekend in Niagara on the Lake and I'm so NOT looking forward to it. I've done this race twice before and each time I've done really well as I've been in pretty good shape. I've done pretty much nothing all summer so this is really going to hurt even though it's short. Oh well, I have to start somewhere. On a positive note, my swimming has not suffered as much as I had thought--probably because Gary gave me a few good stroke tips. I swam 1000m in 20:17 which is about 30 seconds slower than what I swam it in this time last year. Not bad all things considered!