Foster's 2023
© Procrastinator, Inc. 2023 USA
Another summer feels officially gone as the evening's are cool with long shadows and the mornings are chilly and make me want to sleep a little longer here in New England. As I typed the date for this update, I was reminded of the most stunning day in my lifetime--four years gone. I missed any news that might have gone on around it due to creative kid diversion all day. Life is good without media at times, but it's worth reflecting a bit on the events and contributing circumstances....
Anyway, a couple fun things happened since the last update. First, I completed the Cranberry Country Olympic Distance Triathlon on my 35th birthday. I trained with a fairly consistent focus for about seven weeks, and I felt like it really paid off. I felt decent when it was over and gave it my best effort for the day. I did this one in its inaugural year--2002, and the event has grown signficantly. The distances became a little more accurate, too.
Results are below for comparison with the 2002 event, which is not apples to apples given the changes. I include the winning time for humor's sake, I guess. I have to rereiterate that I am constanly confounded to believe that the swim continues to be my best event by placement. You should reread this story if you forget about my second ever (first-with-swim) triathlon experience (aka near-death swim leg). Anyway, it's been a rare occurrence for me to walk away from an athletic endeavor and be just-the-right-amount-of satisfied. Happy Birthday to me.
I did the race with a friend from work, Dave Fitzhenry, while another, Leslie Sandberg, made some great signs and was an active, very timely supporter. We had a fun cookout at Dave's post-race and told war stories to elicit sympathy. Happy Birthday to me.
The next good time was a Labor Day weekend trip to CO to vist Grandpa Bryan, Bernadine, and her girls. My sister, Kristin, and her husband, Garret, joined us for the whole weekend, which was great. We also had the pleasure of catching up with some long-time (from back in the early Iowa days) family friends, Frank and Beth Padilla. Luke and Ben had a lot of fun playing soccer and jumping on the trampoline. A day of golf, watched Karissa and Katrina play some quality volleyball, and trip to the famous Rio Grande restaurant. Fun stuff. Enjoy.