Swim

• 42m 03s
• 2000.00 yards
• 02m 06s /100 yards

Really slow today...have no idea why; felt fine.

Run

• 1h 30m
• 8.25 miles
• 10m 54s /Mi

Not real sure of my time/pace as I forgot to hit 'stop' on my watch.

Ran with Jake the Wonder Dawg. Had a good run but Jake seemed like he was getting hot and tired at about 5 miles out so we cut the run a little short. I was only gonna go 10 anyway. Next week I'll arrange for Casey to pick him up at about 6 or 8 miles out so he'll still get to run but I can get in a longer run.

Pretty warm and humid today. No water on run. Maybe next week I'll take along some water.

Bike

• 6h 21m
• 100.00 miles
• 15.75 Mi/hr

Rode with Mark today. Had a good ride and good conversation. Mark was great and stayed with me even though he could have gone much faster than we were going.

Stopped at 75 for 13 minutes and had a Snickers bars, water and Power water or something of the sort. They didn't have any Gatorade. My quads were starting to cramp up Mark gave me some salt. Not sure if that helped.

Had flat in the gravel coming back up my driveway. I think I might need to get thicker tire. I've had 4 flats in 2 months on my new B12s and never used to have flats on my old Fuji Aloha.

Run

• 1h 01m 34s
• 6.00 miles
• 10m 15s /Mi

30:06/31:29 split

Bike

• 1h 00m
• 17.50 miles
• 17.50 Mi/hr

Had flat 1/2 mile from gate. Fixed flat and it blew again 100' later. Think I put too much CO2 in the tire.

Swim

• 29m 31s
• 1500.00 yards
• 01m 58s /100 yards

We are all shaped by our environment and our life's experiences. 

I've not talked much about the psychological impact of my recent accident.  The other day I was driving to Athens and passed a cemetery and a mental image flashed before me of a pile of fresh Alabama red clay on top of  a new grave.  There were flowers on the grave but no people around....they had all gone back to get on with their lives.  And I was dead.  But life went on same as always....just minus me. 

One minute I was alive and well and out on a bike ride training for an ironman and the next instant I was dead....and the only thing I left behind was a few dollars in the stock market, a Boeing retirement and memories. 

Life is short.  That is such a cliché....but until you have a brush with death, the reality of that cliché never really sinks in.  We understand that in our heads but we can't really grasp it in our hearts.  I think deep down, all of us THINK we will live to a 'ripe old age' of 90+.  And I am no exception to that way of thinking...but every once in a while, we get a glimpse at reality.  Not everyone lives to be 90.  In fact, most of us will die way before then.  Some of us will be diagnosed with cancer at 53 years old and some will die in automobile wrecks and such.

The fact is, THESE ARE THE GOOD OLE DAYS!  I honestly believe this.  Who knows what tomorrow will bring? 

Anyway, this is almost depressing.....so I missed death once again.  I think about it often.  In fact, I think about it all the time now.  I'm going to go biking in a few minutes...the first time on the road since the wreck sans the race where traffic was controlled.

I've probably not said this very eloquently...and I can't even begin to try to explain it.  I don't think it's fear...but it feels something like it....it's more anxiety....relief....a feeling that I got something that I didn't deserve....and that I am living on borrowed time...and that I need to live my life 110%....and maybe that is why I want to go to Paris for Christmas.  I dunno.....I'm a troubled man.  :-)

When I was at the doctor's office last week the nurse said "We were just talking about the number of people getting hit on bikes.  There was a guy training for a triathlon a few weeks ago who got hit by a car and it broke his x3 (?) vertebrate and now he is paralyzed from the waist down."  Well SOB.  That'll sure scare the shit out of you.

On my bike today I was coming up on an intersection and a truck was coming perpendicular on the street I was gonna turn on.  He was doing about 30 mph and I really thought he was gonna run the stop sign thru the intersection....the timing was perfect....again.  But he looked up and saw me and stopped.  Was there a 'lasting injury' from the June 21 accident?  You better believe it. 

From Sunday's race:

Bike

• 30m
• 8.00 miles
• 16.00 Mi/hr

trainer

Run

• 1h 04m 16s
• 6.00 miles
• 10m 42s /Mi

Vewry hot! I ended up walking the water stations....ok, there were not ANY water station...but there should have been....so I walk the places the water stations should have been!

Swim

• 29m 51s
• 1500.00 yards
• 01m 59s /100 yards

Run

• 1h 02m 30s
• 6.00 miles
• 10m 25s /Mi

Good run today. Even though my legs were sore, the run felt good...and stangely enough, my legs feel better now than before the run!

Swim

• 29m 52s
• 1500.00 yards
• 01m 59s /100 yards

Felt good to swim. Tried new goggles and they fit great. I'm done using anti-fog though as that stuff burns my eyes. Nuttin' but spit from now on!

Legs still feel like someone has been beating on them with ball-peen hammer!