Wednesday, November 29, 2006


A picture of our little trickster clowing around the house. She thought it was funny to lock herself out on the deck until she thought we quit looking for her!
PERSPECTIVE!!

Yesterday was a crazy day all around. I woke up and did an 11km run at 6:00 am (an hour later than normal). Then ran around all day until 5:00 when I loaded 20 kids on a bus and headed to Cairo American College to participate in the annual 'Turkey Trot'. At 6:00 I ran the 1 mile race then turned around and ran the 5 km race right after, finishing about 6:30.

Right after I finished the 5 km race I was doing a cool-down run with my training partner who is a multiple Ironman veteran and he said think about this...imagine when we started our 11k run this morning that you were just starting Ironman. Now think about this...you should be just finished and hanging around the finish line taking it all in! I just about fell over, trying to put it all in perspective. I tried looking back at all that I accomplished during the day and all the running around I did and then tried to imagine all that time spent in the water, on the bike, and on the road. It really put things in perspective and is definately something I'm going to have to get my head around.

As far as the runs go... 11km in 54 min. then 1 mile race in 5:26 and finally 5km in 20:10. Not blazing fast for me, but when put all together, pretty happy with things. Took today off, doing a 90 minute run in the morning and about 120km bike on Friday morning.

Cheers

Sunday, November 26, 2006

RECESS OR DETENTION

For me, training has been like recess the last couple years. I get excited about getting out on the road or in the pool. It is something I look forward to and is what balances me...settles my mind...allows me to blow off some enery.

Somedays though it can feel like detention. This morning was one of those days. My alarm went off at 4:45. Anaka had the household up at 3:30 so I felt like I deserved another hour of sleep and that I could afford to miss a workout, so I changed my alarm to 6:00. The guilt got to me though and at 4:51 I dragged myself out of bed, laced on the runners and headed out the door for a 10k run. Until km 4 it truly felt like detention and it took a long time for my mind to clear and for me to relax and enjoy the run. About half way through, I started to come around and things actually started to feel good

So, this morning I had 25 minutes of detention, followed by 25 minutes of recess!

Cheers

Saturday, November 25, 2006

NEWS!

This past several weeks has been busy ones in the Brawn household and there have been many develpopments.

1. Jaz has been considering quiting her teaching job. it has been an ongoing struggle for her this year having to teach middle school PE completely outside in Egypt as our gymnasium/Pool facility is yet to be finished. As someone who is sensitive to the weather that alone has been difficult and when you add in that we drop our 15 month old daughter off at nursery at 7:00 am then don't pick her until 4:30 it has been a struggle for all of us. In the end she has decided to stick it out for this year and resign at the end of the year. The financial strain on our family would have been too much at this point.

2. We have paid for and booked our flights to India at Christmas time so Jaz can study yoga for two weeks and Anaka and I can hang out on the beach.

3. I completed a 20km leg of the Pharonic Relay. Ran it in 1:36 and felt strong. All went well and feels like I am right on track in my training. Also did 2 100km rides the two weekends prior to this race.

4. The big news is I have registered and paid for Ironman Switzerland!! This event will take place on June 24th in Zurich and will be what consumes my time and my thoughts over the next 7 months.

I hope folks will join me on this journey. Part of the committment to the race includes a committment to post more. To share my thoughts, to express my thoughts and feelings not only for the benefit of others, but also for my own benefit. This post marks the beginning of a new chapter in my life. Hang on and enjoy the ride.

Cheers