Lone wolf with a solitary focus

Training for your first Ironman is a monumental task. You devote all of your energy to the process. Mostly everybody around you understands and provides support. Good bosses, friends, family, spouses, children, pets, bills, chores, guitars all are neglected to a degree. Nobody does Ironman alone. The energy given by those around us is ultimately what gets us across the finish line.

Having just read Jodi's TTT race report I am impressed by the spirit of team work that race emphasizes. Congrats to those of you who took on this race.

Training for my second Ironman has a different set of challenges.I am accustomed to the workload. I am more creative with time management. I am able to enjoy many other things in life that I would have sacrificed last year.

Sometimes I worry that I am not training enough. Mostly I have confidence in my training.

With IMKY within 100 days I begin to feel the juggle of life taking on more bowling pins and chain saws. Mid June will include a wedding and a memorial service on consecutive weekends. The service is for my child hood Friend Patrick who has been missing for a few years. I plan to do Deer creek Oly, but may let it go for a chance at a long ride instead. I have the Open Mic, but other gigs will wait until taper time. I have been seeing some one for about three weeks. This has only been a positive so far and I have been more then willing to work my schedule around this new development. I am very fond of her.

Somehow I am actually living a normal life right now while training for Ironman. My minds focus is much more evenly distributed then it was last year. I am training with others more often. I am relaxing with others. I am no longer the lone wolf with a solitary focus.

As I include others into my life and open my heart once again, I find that the sacrifices I make in training to spend time with good people has given me focus once again on what is really important.
I think I know why the wolf howls at the moon.