Daytona Beach Bliss

Here I am over a month after my last post promising myself I will write more often. Oh well some things don't seem to change do they? I am in Daytona Beach FL looking out at the ocean and getting ready to go do a brick probably four hours on the bike and a half hour run. I am finishing up a job here after our superintendent decided he had seen enough of FL and went home. Not a bad thing sunshine and running along the ocean but I do miss my kids and the sound of their sweet little voices saying "Dad can I have some money"? (just kidding)

If it weren't for the fact that both my business and personal lives were in a bit of turmoil I would be enjoying this a lot more. Unfortunately I am dealing with a developer who would like to get in my pocket pretty severely and a client that is impossible to please who is making it easy for the developer to try and maul me. I cannot understand the mentality of some people who seem to think it is always a win/lose situation instead of working together. Business has really changed and the "you lose I win" and bottom line mentality has made work much less enjoyable. I long for the days when we did business on a handshake and everyone treated each other fairly. Our business is struggling and the future may hold some new challenges/opportunities for me.

If it weren't for working out and my family and friends I would have gone insane a long time ago or returned to my previous lifestyle of way too much partying. I find it impossible to be down in the dumps after a two hour run or fifty miles on the bike so I figure whatever time I spend doing it saves me money on anti depressants and other drugs that so many people in this country seem to be reliant upon. I do get reminders from time to time that my issues are minor compared to what some people deal with on a daily basis. I was in the Atlanta airport a few weeks ago and saw a guy who had been burned severely over his whole body. He was missing one leg, his fingers, nose and ears and was completely disfigured. But you know what? He was talking and laughing with his companion as if there were nothing wrong. I said to myself, "Jack you have no problems" and went about my day with a different attitude. I try to live my life like that and hope to be able to convey that message and attitude to my kids who I texted that day with my thoughts.

Since my last post I have been extremely busy and training has been lighter than I hoped due to being so busy and ending up here in Daytona with no bike for two weeks. I feel good though and think I am going to be ready for Ironman Louisville (ten weeks out) although probably in not as good shape as last year in Wisconsin. Hopefully the cumulative effect of training will carry me through. One nice thing about being here in FL is that I have been doing a lot of running on the beach and getting used to the heat which could be a factor in Louisville. I am doing the Spirit of Morgantown Half IronmanTriathlon in West Virginia next Sunday June 29th (first tri of the year) and that will give me some indication of my fitness.

I did the Rite Aid Half Marathon in May and was a little slower than I had liked (1:56) but was overall happy and felt good. I had the pleasure of meeting well known Fox 8 sportscaster and accomplished triathlete John Telich after the race and had a nice conversation with him and my barrista/vocalist/triathlete buddy Charlie Mosbrook. John has a great blog you can check out at blogger.com called Triguyjt and Charlies is http://charliestrifolk.blogspot.com/. Other than that I have done no organized races but have been trying to stay in shape here in FL.

OK I have been online for too long. Time to hit the road.