51 to 70.3

Let me begin by saying that I don’t expect this blog to become an international phenomenon.  Nor do I expect that I’ll even gain a consistent readership (or any readers for that matter).  Heck, I don’t even know if I’ll keep up with it beyond a month or two.  Basically I’m writing this blog to chronicle my experiences over the next year and hopefully inspire some other people to take on a life-changing challenge of their own

With that said, here’s what this blog is about: It’s about me and and a (rather impulsive) decision I’ve made to sign up for a 70.3 event–Ironman California in Oceanside, California on April 4, 2009.  

What this blog will not be is a log of my training (boring) or of other goings-on in the world of triathlon (enough out there already).  I plan on talking about both the good and the bad that come up along the way and, if nothing else, I’m hoping that this blog will help keep me honest about my training regimen (that’s what you readers are for).

Some background on myself:

• 27 years old.  I’ll be 28 at the time of the event.
• Current vitals: 5′11, 190 lbs, about 15% body fat (update: 15.9% was the verdict).  
• Graduating law student (May ‘08), future bar taker (July ‘08), and future junior associate (September ‘08).  
• Horribly impulsive, tend to get obsessive about things when I’m into them but also fall off the wagon very quickly (e.g. I’ve trained like crazy for periods of four to six months, but I’ve never made it an entire year for one reason or another)
• I want to do this for both personal and fitness reasons.  
• Fitness reasons are obvious.  I started training for a sprint last year as a way to inspire me to work out but fell off the wagon for a whole host of reasons.  I did, however, grow to love riding my bike and now I want to see if I can stick it out for a year.
• Personal reasons: First and foremost, it’s become abundantly clear over the last couple of months that our time on this planet is limited.  I lost a very dear friend in a tragic skiing accident in February.  He was 28 years old.  This loss made me realize that there are many things more  important than working 60 hours a week and I’d better get started on completing some of my goals if I want to accomplish them 
• My athletic background is a jumble of sorts.  I’ve played sports my entire life: baseball (10 years), soccer (9), hockey (3), football (2), wrestling (3), shot put/discus (2).  Obviously there’s some overlap here, but as you might imagine, the only sport with any significant endurance work was wrestling.  Soccer may have qualified if I didn’t quit playing when I was 13.  
• Ultimate goal: finish a full Ironman.  This is at least a couple of years off, I know.  But it’s one of those things I have on my life list and I want to check it off.  

So that’s me in a nutshell.  Over the next year there are going to be some significant challenges for me in my training that most, if not all, triathletes face.  

For me, like most, the biggest challenge will be finding time to train while still living up to my other obligations.  I don’t have a family, so this eases my burden a bit.  However, I’m sure my junior attorney status at a large national law firm will cut into my free time a tad bit.  

So, toss me into an RSS feed and join me on this journey.  I’ll try to keep it entertaining and will post any good information I come across with regard to training, nutrition/health, etc.  

If anyone is in San Diego county (I’ll be living in downtown in a month) and would like to become my training partner on this expedition, send me an email or leave a comment. 

Here goes nothing…