Fianally Home...

After five weeks and the most stressful yet wonderful experience of my life... my little angel is home safe. She is doing great. It was a perfect Saturday. My daughter came home... the Seminoles beat Alabama, the Gators lost, and I got to sleep in my own bed!

Though my life will not be "normal" again for some time... I can't wait to get back to training tomorrow. I'm looking forward to a very productive fall of training during my favorite time of year. Much more to come.... stay tuned!

Welcome to the world.

I'd like to announce the arrival of my daughter, Dagen Elizabeth Goodwin. Born 9/18/07 at 6:17pm. We're hoping to have her home in the next couple days. Both mom and baby are doing great.

So much training... so little time.

Well Bridge to bridge is tomorrow and sadly I am not a part of it. Best of luck to my buddy Jon who I'm sure will do great. Beers in the man cave on me soon!

This weekend... I have to work Saturday, I have to get my house ready for in-laws coming into town, I have to take care of kids, and I have to get in a 30-minute swim, an hour run, and a hour bike ride. I'm not sure when or how I'm gonna do it... but I assure you I will. This is the great advantage of having a pre-built training plan. You feel guilty if you do not fill in the blanks. I hate it when my training calendar has missed workouts on it. I always want my planned vs. actual training minutes to be balanced. So this weekend I'll fit it all in even if I'm running at 10pm or swimming at 5am. I'll get it done. Only three days until I welcome my newest little training partner into the world. Wish me luck... it's gonna be a crazy weekend. Luckily we're seeing the first of some cooler weather! 70's on Sunday! Woo hoo!

What happened? I'm the freak?

If you've been reading this blog then you know what's going on with my wife and the fact that we've been living at the hospital for two weeks now. We've got one week to go. The Doctor will induce labor on Tuesday bringing our little girl into the world. Living at the hospital has brought its share of challenges. Among them is being able to train. Yesterday my plan had me riding one hour and running 30-minutes. I got the hour ride in at lunch but knew if I was going to be able to run I'd have to do it late after work. So, at around 8pm I arrived at the hospital. I greeted my wife... then changed into my running clothes and headed out. Luckily there is a little walking/running path around the hospital. I was the only one on it. The thing that got me was the amount of strange looks I got and the whispers I received after returning to the hospital entrance after my run. Not to be mean... but I noticed that everyone exiting the building was less than in good shape. It was as if I was the strange minority? The "fitness geek". Like it was a bad thing! But I guess I should not be surprised. I see it everywhere I go. It's like Night of the Living Dead. Everyone walks around like a dead person. Just going through life's motions without any purpose or passion. We are sedated by junk food... and infected with the sickness of laziness and greed. As long as we have the latest iPod, cell phone, plasma TV and 400 channels to keep the IV drip of mediocrity going we're OK. Not me. Not ever. I will always challenge the limits of my body and mind. I will always strive to be an example to my children. I will never grow up. I'll keep pushing until my body no longer lets me... which I hope will be a very long time from now. The way I see it... I'm an 18-year old with 20 years experience. Keep training hard!

Run, swim...

Today was a wonderful day. After a very stressful 2 weeks of living in the hospital waiting for my daughter to enter the world and having a very limited training schedule... I'm back on track today. Had a good 5k run today followed by a strong 550 yard swim. It's the best hour I've spent in a while. The swim felt great after a hot run. Good to feel my upper body muscles working hard again. Though I'm still at the hospital for one more week... I see the end on the horizon and I look forward to cooler fall weather, hard training, and spending time with my new little girl.

Tomorrow it's my first ride on my new Tri bike. I'll spend an hour on the bike tomorrow then tomorrow evening I'm due for a 40 minute run which I'll do at the hospital. They have a nice walking track there I can use.

Till tomorrow... happy training!

Baby's still cookin... training continues...

We're still hunkered down at the hospital letting the baby cook a bit longer to get ready for her debut to the world. Apparently, Sept 17th is the day. So, one more week before I meet my daughter.

Because of all the time spent at the hospital I've been primarily running. I really think this has been good for me. A solid week of run training is beginning to pay off. My pace is still crazy slow but my endurance is improving. For now I don't care how fast I am as long as I can reach the finish line.

I did get to spend a little time in the Man Cave last night. While washing some clothes for the pregnant one... I built up my new machine. I've got it as far as I feel comfortable. I'll be taking her down to the local bike shop to have their mechanic run the cables, adjust the derailleurs and dial it in. By next week I should be able to take her on her maiden voyage. Here's a rare photo inside the Man Cave!

No Bridge of Death this year...

Well, it's official. The Doctor informed us (my wife and I) that the baby can come into the world at 34 weeks. They plan to induce labor at that time. 34 weeks will occur exactly on September 17th. One-day after the Bridge to Bridge Incredible Cycling Challenge. Sadly, with everything that is going on right now... I can not do the ride. I'm officially out. It sucks... I wanted to do this ride one more time before making the full-time shift to tri training. Oh well. The one bright side is that I can focus solely on my 3 training disciplines. I can run and swim more without feeling guilty about not riding 4-5 days a week... which is what it takes to complete a hilly century ride without dying. I have 8 months to become a very proficient swimmer and runner. I'm not as concerned about the running... but I'm gonna need all eight months to dial in my swimming.

Anyway... ditching the Bridge ride is no big deal compared to the birth of my little girl. Hopefully I'll be posting her official results (birthday, weight, etc.) real soon. Who knows, maybe next year I'll have 4 kids cheering me across the finish instead of 3. One thing I know... as soon as she's born... she's grounded!

Girl interrupted!

Well,... right smack dab into my training and just before a welcomed 4-day holiday weekend... my daughter decided she wanted to come into this world early. My wife's water broke and we rushed her to the hospital. It was one of those "driving down the highway with flashers on doing 90 miles per hour" moments. She is eight-weeks early. So, my wife is on 100% bed rest until the baby "cooks" long enough for a trouble-free birth. "Long enough" is a little over two-weeks. She has to live in a hospital bed for two weeks! That means me sleeping on a hospital couch, and driving back and forth to home, driving kids to school, etc. Life's gonna be nuts for the next few weeks. And, when the little nipper is finally born, she must stay in the baby intensive care ward for two weeks. So basically my new address is Catawba Memorial Hospital in Hickory, NC. For the time being my cycling is pretty much shot. I've been able to squeeze in runs between being at the hospital and elsewhere. I'll be able to swim at the club on lunch breaks. But training right now is waaaaay down the list of important things next to my daughter's entrance into this world and the comfort and sanity of my wife. She's being a real trooper right now. God bless her. More later.... Peace.