2 Week Countdown

Kenny "Rock Star" Souza in the 90's

Faris Al Sultan - Today

2 Weeks before the first race of 2009 for me. A new age group, another country and a bit of stress.

New Age Group - That's right I move to the 45-49 agegroup this year. I'm officially part of the Average for the sport I love. I've been average since I started doing these things. You see the sport is still so young that all of us are aging with it. It's really kind of weird. I look at the results of the recent Wildflower triathlon. Of the top 10 men in the 45 - 49 agegroup, I know 8 of them. So not only are we all aging with the sport but the guys who won 15 years ago are still winning. I'm not sure what that means for me. We'll see in a couple weeks I guess.

Another Country - So far, I've done triathlons in the USA, Canada, Mexico, England and Switzerland. This year I add Austria and Germany to the list. It's not a goal to race in more and more countries it's just fun to see. The great thing about the sport is that other than England (riding on the other side of the road) triathlon is triathlon. The biggest differences between North America and Europe I think are less women racing in Europe and way too many "Speedo" bottoms on the men over here. I know Faris Al Sultan still races old school but come on guys. You are not Kenny Souza and quite frankly there are better ways to race these days. I also expect to see a huge number of runners in compression socks in Austria. Another Euro trend. I'll try to get the ultimate picture of a guy in a "Speedo" wearing compression socks. I'm sure you have that great image in your head already.

A bit of stress - Nothing like putting a couple races in the middle of another major family move. Changing Jobs (assuming I find one) and moving to the other side of the world makes for a bit of stress.

A big thank you.

You don't do this crazy sport alone. I must put a big Thank You out there to Mary and Marco. They put up with my early morning workouts, my 3 hour weekend workouts and probably a bit of crankiness here and there.

It's a good life....

Dave