My but it’s been a while.  Many things have happened and many have not.  My ass, for example, is at least as big as it ever was if not a twee bigger.  I was not diligent about doing my rehab exercises, did not get the tight tush I envisioned in my last post but I did get better.  I trained a little and I raced Vineman – sort of.   I had to be in Boston working 12 hours a day the week before the race and had to fly home Friday, drive to Sonoma Saturday, race Sunday and then take a red-eye back to Boston to spend another gruelling week working.  It was brutal.

As for Vineman – the swim and the bike  were okay but the run was cruel beyond description.  I’ve never experienced so much pain in my life as I did that first mile of the run.  I spent the first mile just chanting “just make it to the 1st aid station – come on, you can do it” but mostly telling myself that it would be okay to turn around, turn in my chip and call it day.  But I got to the 1st aid station so I made myself go to the 2nd.  At that point the stretching was making my neck go out and the pain washed over every muscle cell, flogging it like an executioner with a cat ‘o 9 tails warming up the condemned.    I thought about doing a U-turn and then reminded myself that I had committed to  spend 3 miles trying to get my legs under me so I tarried on.  Once I got the 3rd aid station I fired up the Jedi mind tricks – go to mile 4 and you’re home free – you ran 9 miles 2 weeks ago – you can do this!  And on I went and once I got to mile 4 I figured even a U-turn would involve 8 miles of locomotion so I might was well just keep going.  And I did.  3 hrs and 3 minute after I left T2 I finished.  Worst race of my life but under the circumstances not quitting was a major triumph so yay for me!

But that’ s  not the blog thing I’m talking about.  I’m talking about  blogging  and time.  Not that it’s been months since I posted but that  it’s been years since I started doing this.  I just finally took a look at my Bloglines and many of my fave blogs had double digit unread marks approaching 100. I went and read an old favorite, Laid off Dad and he’s talking about how his youngest son likes to ride his bike and run stuff over and I was struck by how the passage of time never fails to deliver a sucker punch.  When I started blogging,  Laid off Dad really was laid off (he is no more), he was married and had 1 small son. Then another one was on the way and then son #2 (named 2Bert since his brother’s name is Robert) arrived, then the marriage hung a left and dissolved (the wife is a big name blogger, too and that may or may not be causative – LoD is too much the gentleman to have ever told), and now Robert writes comic books and 2Bert plays demolition derby on his bike.

I might wonder how that happened but I know how it happens.  Time goes by leaving us staring in the mirror,  squinting to inspect our  wrinkles and grey hairs.  And then it keeps happening – over and over and over again – sucker punch after sucker punch.

I guess the message here is that stuff is kicking my ass.  My job (and I do have a regular, full time job with a regular pay check), my training, my races, and time.  I guess I’d better get my ass in shape so it can take it.