Wow, it’s been a while since I’ve been on to write and share what’s going on in my world.  I said from the beginning of this journey that consistency with this blog was going to be somewhat of a challenge, but I’m getting there.  I love to get on here and just start writing, but I have to say, it’s hard when life is so busy; busy in a good way!

This past weekend, the kiddos and I had a great time together.  They have started their fall soccer season and Hannah had her first tournament of the year and was named team captain.  I’m so proud of her and was proud of her team.  They played three games, winning two and losing one.  It’s really fun to watch them play hard and have fun.  I do get a little intense during the matches and have to keep to my self down in the corner of the field.  I guess it’s the competitor in me!?!  This past weekend, we visited my step-sister and her family for a sleepover.  The kids love their cousins and it’s fun for us adults to hang out, something we don’t do often enough.

I’ve also been busy with work.  I love my job and absolutely have the best team to work with each day.  The mortgage industry can be a high-stress industry, but when you are around people that love their job, work hard, and who truly seek to help, the job is fun and exciting.  We’ve had a good year and I am so proud of our team!

What’s really on my mind to talk about, that has also kept me really busy lately, is my triathlon training.  I have really gotten addicted to the exercise, the competition and the fun I have with this multi-discipline sport.  It’s something that is hard to explain because it can be so tough and challenging on the body but yet so rewarding both physically and emotionally.  This is a topic that I’ll be writing and sharing more on in the near future.

So, it was almost two weeks ago that I competed in the Lake Lure Triathlon and I’ve been back in serious training mode with only two days off to get ready for the NationsTri on September 10, in Washington DC. My training plan has changed some as I have been focusing on my biking and running, areas where I believe I can cut some minutes off of my finish time at this next event.  That’s something I really enjoy about triathlon, is that there are three disciplines to work on during my training sessions.  Training on all three is required in order to be successful, however, after a race, you learn about the improvements that can be made to help post a better time and place the other competitors.

While I do want to improve my times across the board, the bike and the run are my focus for this next race.  Because of the longer distances, reducing the time it takes to bike or run each of those events, even a little, can add up to multiple minutes off of my total time.  During the swim, there just isn’t that much distance to make up a lot of time.  Yes, every second matters, but for this race, I am focusing on reducing my bike and run times significantly.

Twice this week I have completed “brick” workouts.  “What is a brick workout,” you may be asking.  Well, it’s going from one discipline’s training to the next, in order to mimic the transition at the actual race.  Since I’ve been working on my bike and run, I’ve been working on that transition.  Yesterday, for instance, I rode the bike hard for thirty minutes, at race pace, then immediately jumped off, wiped the bike down, and set off on a three mile run.  I felt really good after the bike last night and was able to keep a run pace at eight minutes per mile.  At the Lake Lure Triathlon, I ran at a nine minute pace, so if I can get it down to close to eight, that’s a three minute difference in my total time.  I feel good about my training and look forward to seeing the results in DC.  I have one more week of hard training and then it’ll be race week.  It’ll be here before I know it and I can’t wait!

Well, it’s time to go get in a swim this morning and then off to work.  I appreciate you stopping by and reading what has kept me from more frequent posts to my blog.  Things are busy but going well in many areas of my life.  I’ll do my best to share my journey more frequently.  Speaking of, next week, I’m excited to be working on a post titled, “Transformation at the BIG 40.”  I turn 40 next Saturday and feel that it is appropriate to be a little more vulnerable and share more specifics of my journey, striving to be a better man and a better dad every day!  I hope you’ll come back to check it out!

Have a blessed weekend!

Matthew