Journey to Kona Day 164: Having Fun

Today was the first day for medical student teaching at UCLA.  It's one of the funnest things that I do.  I'm reminded that having fun is important, in addition to the more serious and thoughtful things that I tend to fill my life with.  Having fun with training and racing also matters. I tend to be too serious about most things, and at the end of the day, it's important to have fun.  I got a job offer the other day (fortunately, a part-time job), and the overriding factor is that I would enjoy what I'm doing.  When I look back at my work life, I've had the greatest enjoyment when I'm not caught up in the more serious aspects of dealing with personnel and other fun stuff.  I've also had the most fun with my ironman training when I'm not too serious and just enjoying both the process and the race.

It reminds me of how I decided a few years ago to stop having my coach give me daily workouts.  I give myself workouts to do depending on how I feel.  Usually, I have some idea a day or two in advance, but I can change my plans depending on how I feel or if something else comes up.  Of course, my training for Kona has limited the things that will override my planned workouts.  With that said, there's definitely something to having goals to shoot for.  Tomorrow, I'll take another shot at setting a personal record for the uphill mile near my house.  It may very well be my last opportunity to put in intensity on the run for some time.  On the other hand, I already started "pencilling" in 20 mile runs for after Santa Rosa.  I know that doing a few 20 milers will do wonders for my run come October.  The same concept for my long bike rides, which I've already started noting on why calendar.  No excuses, and no substitutions.  This will be both meaningful and fun!

Of course, my idea of "fun" isn't always everyone else's. I'm looking forward to suffering in 9 days in Santa Rosa.  Since it's a half ironman, I can even do a little bit of suffering on the swim and bike.  In fact, I'll take a shot at "burning a match" on the uphill climb from the swim to the transition.  That's going to be my idea of having fun, as well be putting a little more effort than I usually would on the two "significant' climbs on the bike.  These climbs shouldn't be much more difficult than the climbs I'm doing in training.  Let the fun begin!