I need a break from getting up so damn early. Thankfully I have the next two days off.

It's the end of the summer. It was pretty uneventful. Uneventful doesn't mean bad. I was talking about it with a co-worker the other day and I like the slow life. Really, at the moment I think I would like the reclusive life.

Really I just need a nap. I could get some energy to do something fun but it would take a lot to get me out of the house today.

The 100 meter track finals made my day. It was lunch time. I was in the break room. I got to the TV and they were in the blocks. Seconds later it was over. That there was an amazing moment. That swimmer is pretty good too but there is nothing like seeing the fastest man ever run. I actually wanted to run out of the break room and tell everyone what I just saw. I realized none of them cared so I didn't. I loved it though.

"I play soccer," my nephew says. He isn't even two and playing soccer is part of his identity. He won't actually start playing soccer until next year but any time he gets the chance he is practicing.

I went to my niece's soccer last night. On the drive there we were talking about it. My sister said next year my niece will probably go in the girls only soccer at a different club and my nephew's soccer will be at the club my niece is in now, "Next year mine is here," my nephew said right away because he can't wait.

During the practice my nephew did more practice with me and his dad than the kids playing soccer did. During the game we had to hold him back to keep him off the field.

Watching 3 and 4 year olds play soccer is hilarious. There were a couple kids who got it but most just ran around. At one point my niece was working on head stands. Then some kids from the other team started to copy her. My brother in law said, "That's her job to distract the other team." She was alright when she was in goal. She stopped a couple shots. She let one in because she was playing with the mesh of the net and not paying attention. Then later, back in the field, she was doing some sort of interpetive dance and ignoring the play. At this point my brother in law said, "I think we need to give up on her and focus on this one." He was referring to my nephew who has more drive to play sports at 22 months than I did at 22 years.

That doesn't mean he is going to be like Michael Phelps or anything but he'll be an athlete.

My niece is only four so it doesn't mean much. When they were doing the actual practice of soccer skills she was pretty focused on having proper form and technique. It reminded me of someone. There is no fooling anyone. I was like my niece as a kid. I am like her now. There have been times though where I was more like my nephew. I was focused and driven. What I did was I saw these people who were like my nephew and I imitated them. I pretended that I was driven and focused. I pretended to wanted to win. It worked to a certain extent. Really, though, pretending will only take you so far.

I had a professor in University who said in regards to literature, "If you don't understand it, pretend that you do. Then you look for the things that would make you understand." This is what I was doing as an athlete at the time, pretending. When it came to reading books and then writing about them, I was pretending a lot less. It was the most satisfying time of my life. I think I was most authentically myself that one year where I went to university full time.

I wanted to clear my days to watch the Olympics. However, I got motivated the last couple of days to make money. I ended up working 42 hours in three days. Wednesday and Thursday are my regular days off so I figured I'd load up on the overtime for a few days and then take two days completely off. I felt a little dizzy this morning. If I had to go to work today I would have had trouble. I discovered my limit for long ass work days in a row is three.

Actually I could work today but not at seven in the morning. Right now I am starting to feel pretty awake.

I have been pulled back into memories. I rarely think of the past. I finish things and move on but I have been drawn back into memories of old jobs and old friends. These little trolls grab me and run back in time and plant me in my old surroundings but just as quickly I run back to the present with my eyes optimistically on the future.

Maybe I should stay for a minute and soak up some of that rich personal history that has made me who I am as they seem to always leave me in space where I found happiness.

I thought the race was at nine but it is at ten. So here I am killing some time. I am kind of excited. It is just a 5km race but it's the hardest 5k I've done. It is all hills. They aren't steep hills or long hills, just all hills. You can't beat physics. Big fat guy plus a hilly little race doesn't equal a fast time. If I do 23 minutes or so like last year, I'll be happy.

Running is my new sport. I realize that Ironman triathlon is relatively easy for me. I can do it without much trouble. The problem is I know what I have to do to be good at it and this is too hard for me. I am tired of mediocrity and want to do well at things. Sure the point of going from bike racing to triathlon was to not have to worry about being good. Bike racing is about winning period. Triathlon is more about personal accomplishment. I want to be more success driven. Running is good for this. Competitively it falls somewhere in between triathlon and cycling. For me this year going under an hour and a half for a half marathon would be a much bigger accomplishment than doing an 11-12 hour Ironman race.

I'd like to do it September 28th in the Run for the Grapes in St. Catharines which is actually really soon in terms of training.
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Edit: As predicted 23 minutes. Actually 23:10. My sister had her best race since becoming a mom. I am proud of her 26:31, almost four minutes faster than last year. Four minutes is huge in a 5k. It is enough to keep me on my toes. If I have a bad race, she could beat me. I guess I have to make sure I do things right from now on.

I get cooked too easily in the hot weather. It is exaggerated now that I weigh over 200 pounds but it has always been the case. Even when I was a 22 year old cyclist and weighed 165 pounds, I would get cooked in the heat.

I would go from being able to train as much as I wanted to getting knocked completely on my ass for days on end from something as easy as a 100 mile ride just because it got hot and humid.

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So my plan to become a runner: Run 10 to 20 km most days, usually 10km. Then a second workout of a half hour swim. I'll lift weights twice a week, a simple whole body workout. I'll ride my bike maybe as a second workout on the weekends or when I need a break from running.


Simplicity is good.

I thought today I would be writing a post about how I went out and had a kick ass long ride and the whole ultra triathlon thing would be back on.

As soon as I woke up, I knew it wasn't going to happen. Sure, I know exactly what I have to do over the next three and a half weeks to have a decent Ironman race on the 30th. It is time to stop wasting my time and money on this. It was fun when it was fun but I don't want to put myself through that anymore.

I think today a really long walk would be the best thing for me.

Next year I am going to do the Niagara running series, the Welland and Grimsby sprint triathlons and maybe a marathon somewhere. That's it. I won't have to do a workout over two hours. It will be good for me. It is hard to quit because I thought I was in this for life but when I think of racing I feel bad. When I think of not racing I feel good. Well, I am still going to race but not anything that would be in that Ultra distance category.

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So I am not funny anymore. I need to navigate a return path to funniness. I am serious about this.

How do I get funny?

I just want to draw some good comics again.

I never really listened to The Stooges before. I downloaded all of their albums the other day and, surprise, I love them.

I have always loved a lot of 80s punk rock. That whole scene that started with The Ramones really works for me. Not the British shit like The Sex Pistols, sure they are ok and The Clash is all right but my heart is with good old fashioned American Punk rock. That being said, I don't know how I never listened to The Stooges who really inspired that whole sound. Now that you can download anything in minutes it is pretty easy to go back to where things started.

I like The Stooges as much as I like David Bowie. That is pretty big since Bowie has been awesome for decades.

I watched this documentary about The Ramones. It seems they had some frustration about not being huge. A lot of people talked shit to them about how they were going to be the biggest band in the world.

I realize that not everyone loves that kind of music. Most people would not like The Stooges as much as David Bowie. The thing is, I think it is better to be loved by some of the people all the time than liked by all the people for a short time.

My knees feel like kryptonite. I think it is from sitting on my ass all day and not swimming. Swimming has been my saviour. It is my calming stress relieving recovery activity. A little time in the pool and the day melts away.