Wide Open

I spent two and a half months working in Boise, ID.  From last October until mid-December.  During that time I spent my days in a "fab".  A fab is a slang for fabrication, or computer chip fabrication facility.  The fab in Boise is huge, has no windows, and you have to wear a "bunny suit" while you are in it.  A bunny suit is a suit made of Tyvex that covers you from head-to-toe.  Fabs have the air exchanged continuously, so you are the dirtiest thing in there, hence the reason for you having to wear the suit. Manufacturing facilities for computer chips need to be very clean. I spent anywhere from 6-12 hours a day in the fab in Boise.  So, to the point of this story.  After I was there about a month, I started keeping the curtains in my hotel room open as much as possible.  I think being in a windowless building all day was getting to me.  Before I went to Boise I only kept the blinds in my apartment open once and awhile.  Never really made a point of it.  Ever since I have been back, since mid-Dec, I have had my blinds open almost all the time.  Only closing them when necessary.  It is like I need to feel that connection to the rest of the outside world, and I did not before.  Being bottled up there now makes me feel like I have to be open to the outside world.  I like it.  I realize I was missing the sound and the sights of the goings on outside my apartment here in Saint Paul.

Why Am I Doing this To Myself?

The question can apply to many things in my life, both past and present. Work, school, friends, women, but in this case I am specifically talking about my decision to adopt, what is known in the magazines as, a "multi-sport lifestyle". Which means you give up a lot of your free time to train to do triathlons. So I have spent some time thinking why I have adopted the "hobby" of multi-sport racing (triathlon\duathlon). I have been thinking about the "why" because I have been working out everyday for the last two weeks. Some times I don't feel like it. I just want to go home after work and veg on the couch, but I don't. I go and do my workout, most of the time I feel better for doing it.
Part of the reason I branched off (or returned to, since I was doing these activities semi-regularly about 15 years ago) into swimming and biking is that I was bored with just running. I also did not feel like I was getting into better shape just running. I think combining the three things has helped me get in better shape overall.
After the first race, I fell in love with the feeling I got racing, before, during, and after.

The racing aspect fills something in me that is missing.

I think the feeling from racing is the biggest thing. Whenever I get down about training, I think about racing, and it helps to motivate me.

I think the best I can hope for, the best, is probably top 5 in my age group. So racing isn't about being the best against other people. It is about challenging myself and trying to do better each time I go out. If not the whole race, then the swim, or the bike, or the run, or transition.

So I Begin

So, like every other person I have decide to start a blog. I think that I may have something interesting to contribute every once and awhile. I will be doing a lot of racing (see ride side of blog) and I can always comment on that, add pics, etc. I travel for work now and then, and can always put info about that in. I can always use this as a place to go on a liberal rant, write book reviews, movie reviews, etc. So off I go. Enjoy.