Getting Antsy!

Saturday, September 23, 2006

Gettin Antsy....


Ok, so it's been ONE MONTH since Ironman already... holy shiznit time flies! I remember when I first contemplated doing Ironman Canada and I had 86 weeks before the race - that went by in a blink of an eye and it seemed like yesterday when I was saying to myself - I have so much bloody time to prepare, it'll be no problem! Of course, that was back in January of this year and before I knew it, there was 8.6 weeks left and I still hadn't figured out my swimming... If you ever want to have your perception of time completely skewed, start training for an Ironman!

Anyway, I've done a whole lot of fack all the last 3 weeks which is supposed to be a GOOD thing. It's the "transition" phase of training before starting the build for the next event, and in my case, I have 5 more races before the end of the year.. yes FIVE. Mind you, they are only 5, 8 and 10km running races, then a half marathon in November, and finally the California Marathon down in Sacramento followed immediately by a BLOW-OUT year end celebration in Vegas, so suffice to say it's going to be a complete gong-show fall & winter! All this will then roll into 2007 when my block 1 of Ironman 2007 training will begin and I have to get all serious again... or something like that.

After taking some time off, it's given me a chance to reflect on the past year and it's really nice having that feeling of accomplishing something other than "just making it through another year". Beating my "buoyancy problem", well, at least getting some control of it cuz I still sink like a brick, but overcoming my fear and lack of confidence for swimming in open water was HUGE for me - as much of a challenge as Ironman itself and the challenge was sure a LOT longer - like literally a whole year of utter frustration and disappointment. Now, I LOVE swimming despite the fact that I'm still slow as hell (76 year old sister Madonna Buder beat me out of the water by almost a minute - she's one of the gals you saw on the Ironman 2005 special last year.) In any case, that will change this coming year - I guarantee you ;) Regardless, the last 9 months have been pretty great and the completion of Ironman was a great way to end off the summer. Here's hoping to an equally as exciting and fun-filled 2007, and look forward to sharing the experience with all 'yalls

Having said that, although this is typically something saved for the end of the year, to date, here are my top 10 highlights of 2006 - and more to come I'm sure. Not necessarily in order of importance.

10> Starting GymSkinZ.com. What started as a mere "joke project on the side" because my training buddies and I had a couple funny sayings that I thought would be great on a t-shirt, my shirts have now been spotted all around the globe in over 30 countries and between my blog and podcast have had over 6,000 visits and downloads. Mostly because many of you have helped me spread the word - so THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU. Tell your friends about GymSkinZ, and if they pick up a shirt and mention your name, you'll probably get an email from me asking for your shipping address cuz I'll send you a freebie! You have no idea how much I appreciate it!

9> Getting on MySpace (Thanks Tom) to market my company which in turn allowed me to re-connect with some great friends I haven't seen since high-school (Stella, Linda, Kellee) as well as introduced me to SO MANY other great people around the world (the list is way too long, but here's a few - Kathy, Dara, Jen, Paige, Sean, Michael, Scott, Liz, Sarah, Nathan, Lindsay, Amy, Dan, Becky, Robert, Perry, Corbin, (the list goes on and on and on) as well as EVERYONE else I correspond with via my group and ALL OF YOU other peeps I didn't mention that take time out of your busy lives to email me to say hello, or to comment on this blog or my "You Don't Have To Win, You Just Have To TRI" Triathlon PodCast. EVERYONE on here has been so great.

8> Getting a few races under my belt - like completing the Oliver Half-Iron despite completely panicking during the swim and coming out 6th last out of the water, then finishing 2nd overall in Squamish Triathlon Relay (obviously, I didn't do the swim ha ha) w/ Tara and Hoz, doing the Penticton Peach Classic and crashing on the ride, doing the run concussed. Then only a week after Ironman, doing the Vancouver Triathlon and placing 3rd in the men's relay division with Jeff and Hoz - two of the finest athletes I know.

7> Watching a few of my best buds do the Boston Marathon. Now if I could only shave about 20 minutes off my own time, maybe I'll get to run it myself... sheeez.... maybe when I'm 50.

6> The birth of one my best buddy's son - Way to go Jim! Uncle Tav will be getting baby Tai into the pool and on a bike as soon as possible

5> Having another one of my best buds - Dave Heel, singing Eye of the Tiger on my voicemail the day before Ironman, and then having him run with me out on the course during the race before I became completely crippled. He has been such a great friend and supporter along with folks like Hoz, Ron and Linda and the entire crew at Rackets and Runners and my run club - but none of them have ever serenaded me on the phone before. That's brotherly love ya'all.

4> The GymSkinz PubCrawls / Runs - coming to a city near you! and all the crazy weekend training trips or training camps I did. We sure got up to some nutty group outings which broke the monotony of training and made it fun the whole way. Even crazier stuff planned for 2007 as the Ironman participants crew has grown

3> Seeing the entire IronFan crew ALLLLL over the course supporting Tara, Larry, Harry, Mike and myself on race day - especially with Hoz and Ron in the wigs and getting emails from tons of people saying - "I remember the afro guys on the course!". Then, seeing ALL of my other friends (old and newfound friends during the race itself) cross that finish line - I couldn't be more proud of each of them. Sometimes I forget that *I* even did the race because so many elements of the journey to Ironman involved being with my friends and dragging them through the whole process even though they weren't racing at all - the race itself was just icing on the cake and I felt like I was doing it to thank them for all the support along the way. They made this whole process that much more enjoyable and it was amazing to share the experience with each and every one of them. The sendoff party the crew held for Larry, Tara, Harry, Mike and Me was just fantastic - just an amazing group of supporters this whole year (couple pics below and in the GymSkinZ Nation photo album). The IronFan crew will definitely be a force to reckon with in 2007 - who wants to join in on the fun?!

2> Running with my Dad down the home stretch at Ironman, and then seeing my Mom just before crossing the finish line. Out of the tens of thousands of people lining the course, even though she's a mere 4'11" and 95 pounds and I could probably put her in my back pocket, I saw and heard my Mom like she was the only one cheering... it was absolutely one of the best things I've ever felt having them both there to see me participate that day & something I will never ever forget.

1> I'm going to leave this one blank cuz I think there's still many more great things in store for the remainder of the year. Just wait till 2007

Lastly, don't forget to drop by the GymSkinZ Nation group and read the latest bulletin for my October Free Shwag Promo!!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Tav.
www.GymSkinZ.com