Coach Rich, an Update
Team,
I've had a rather eventful ~5mo since qualifying for Kona at IMWI and I thought I'd give you all an update. Here are the bullets points and timeline, feel free to ask me any questions you have:
Joanne and I are Divorcing:
As a rule, I generally like to keep my personal and work lives separate but as race season approaches and I start to get out there and see everyone, I know this will become more topical. This is a 100% mutual, amiable decision with zero financial or child support 
drama. We are still good friends, want only the best for each other, and are on the same page with our separate lives.
I Broke My Leg
...fibula of my right leg, to be exact. After not riding my motorcycles from Feb-Sept of last year, as I was focused on training, I took the dirt bike out for a ride with my friends 6 days after having qualified for Kona...and dropped it on my leg not doing anything risky at all. Shit happens, it appears. Anyway, I rode the bike out, rode the next day, walked around on it all the next week and got it Xray'd in Chattanooga before my Four Keys talk. Yep, broken but no surgery or cast required. I was riding my bike within a week and am now slowly building my run back. If you follow me on Strava you'll see me bitching about running slow with a painful leg. It is what it is, this is not my first rodeo, and my goals are IMLP then Kona, with Kona being the primary goal, obviously. Everything else is tracking pretty well, especially my body comp which is the best it's ever been for February.
Gotta a Girlfriend
Turns out that I dipped my toe into Match.com (scary place, that) but quickly found a great gal and we've been really happy spending time together. I'm looking forward to introducing her to the team at Ironman Lake Placid. She's a cool, very active woman, you'll dig her. Oh she manages 3x luxury clothing stores and Mariah approves of the subsequent upgrades to my wardrobe, though she hasn't missed an opportunity to tease me from time to time. Lil sisters... 
Gotta Buy a New Tri Bike
Due to me dorking up the 1st gen Di2 on my '06 P3C, I had to race IMWI on Dino's borrowed P5 (see what I did there 
). But at some point soon I need to hit the market for a new tri bike, probably a well set up used ride, as I continue to be unable to wrap my head around new bicycle prices $$$$$$$
Gotta a Super Cool Adventure Van (Almost!)
This summer I ordered a Ford Transit cargo van, to be converted into a motorcycling, cycling, training camp, primitive camping adventure van. The conversion is almost complete, should be done on Monday so I'm looking forward to adding that to my Adventure Arsenal 
.
We (EN) Lost Riley the WonderPup
Unfortunately, Riley won't be able to share the van and future adventures with me. He somehow ruptured a disk in his lower back between Christmas and New Years. He had surgery to repair the disk but he didn't improve, only got worse, losing 100% of the use of his back legs, bowels, and bladder. He was then diagnosed as having an inflamed spinal cord which we treated aggressively with steroids but again saw no improvement. So I decided last Thursday that he didn't have the quality of life that I, and he, would want. Joanne and I said goodbye to him on our deck last Friday. I spent the weekend at the GFs and last night was my first night at home without him, or without a dog in the house for over 20 years. It will take some getting used to, for sure. I will absolutely get a dog again, someday, but not until I'm in a better place to devote the attention a new dog needs. The last month with Riley was pretty rough around here.
Enjoying my last day with my Lil Doode
All of these recent events have really driven home for me how lucky I am to have the support of my friends and my athletes, and to have the life I have. Lots and lots of changes but all generally moving in a great direction with a bright future ahead of me.
So...there you go 
. Any questions?
Comments
Regarding reading glasses check out http://www.dualeyewear.com/index.php/cycling-sport.html you will soon need them to read your Garmin!!!
New wardrobe: we want pictures!!!!!
See you soon at ToC!!!!
?x8?
Thanks all!
Wardrobe: I came back from IMWI with a size 29 waist and decided to give away alllll of my old stuff, mostly 32' jeans, pants, shorts, lots of medium and large t-shirts, etc. I basically started over.
Glasses: I tried on my sisters(!) reading glasses over Christmas and liked them so much I found myself in Nordstroms picking up a pair of readers while my sister shopped for bras...of which I of course wanted no part
.
Van: thinking about doing 4-6wks on the road in July / August, as road trip to / from IMLP and my camp on the IMChatt course a couple weeks after the race.
So sorry about Riley!
Wow lots moving parts and some big life events going for you Coach. As usual you've positive and moving forward. As for the broken leg, even when not trying you seem to injury yourself. Hopefully the slow runs will not be for too long.
Most of us think of the whole EN gang as family, so we do care!
Doc has cleared me to run, with pain as my guide. He said I'm not going to injure/hurt the bone, as it's healing well. It's just sore, cuz I broke it and whatnot, and the soft tissue around it is weak. My running form is junk now, that's for sure. Very flat foot strike with my right food. No worries, unlike most things I'm actually pretty smart when it comes to coming back from injuries like this.
Huge/difficult/stressful events man.
You are about two years behind me it seems in terms of those events. Divorce, losing a family member (Riley), dealing with a significant injury, and buying a new tri-bike - all of which I have also dealt with in the very recent past.
It takes big strength to not only work through all that but to also put it all out there for everyone else to see. However, you have never been short in the department of strength, character and getting it done......
......and by the way, let's run a business and train for an IM while all this is going on...........
Life.
Look forward to seeing you at IMOO this year.
Keep leading............
SS
Thanks for putting all of this out there. It's good to know you're human too. We all face hurdles similar to you (maybe better, maybe worse), and somehow I'm convinced we all end up a little better, a little tougher, a little smarter on the flip side.
I certainly don't have everything figured out (who does??), but this is what I've learned during these "shake-up" moments in life:
We all kinda sit in a certain comfort zone where we do things we love and are good at. We talk about these things, we share stories with friends, we post on FB about it, etc etc...
We avoid things that we aren't so confident at and are truly outside our comfort zone. I don't mean like riding above threshold type of shit. I mean like getting off the bike and having to learn to ride a horse instead (metaphorically...don't give up biking haha).
Sometimes it takes something in life to push us off that bike and MAKE us learn how to ride a horse. I'm kinda learning that being forced into giving up that comfort zone is an opportunity for huge growth.
This is maybe my long-winded, totally-female way of saying....hang in there. You're a tough, smart, amazing dude and I have no doubt you'll get kicked out the other side of this chaos in one piece that may be put together just a little stronger than before.
I've been sitting squarely outside my comfort zone for awhile now....glad to have company. :-)
Oh, and you know Eric and I always have your back. We even got a cheap mountain bike you can have if you decide to not throw down for a new P5. :-)
Hey Coach,
Thanks for putting yourself out there. Rest assured you're not alone.
- J
Does your new wardrobe mean that your pink Speedo will now be embossed with shiny sequin?
I can't specifically help with much of the stuff you mentioned above... But let me know if you want some help locating a sweet new (used) ride. You're also welcome to borrow my Fat Bike for Placid or Kona if you want to have a little bit of fun with it!!! (bet you $500 you can't beat a 6:06 bike split on it...)
Yep, you have a HUGE family in your corner. ^These^ guys have already said it all, so I won't bore you with a repeat. Just want to make sure you know Withrow x2 has your back, and if you ever feel like hanging out in the Land of 10,000 Lakes, we have an extra bed for Crazy Uncle Rich.
Coach,
thanks for sharing your life events to us all...these things we all have or will have to endure ...its called life
The thing is that you are such a positive person and a realist that everything will just work itself out
your friend and student
James
I'm talking to a good LBS builder about a Scott Plasma DI2 build. Could be a showcase build for him. He used to be a mechanic at the old Competitive Cyclist when it was local in Little Rock. I've told him that if we can do business that I would talk up Scott with the local Tri club and EN. He is speaking with his reps now to gauge interest. If you have any interest I can keep you posted.
- Strength and honor
I am late to this thread. But now everything makes sense. For the past week I have received a TON of PM's asking me what size my P5 is???
Like everyone said above, thanks for keeping your other "family " in the loop.
Onward!
PS...glasses blow. Just got progressives. :-/
(I'll clear that crazy busy schedule to make it happen.)
Not the P3, per se, but rather the used Di2 I got from Jeremy. While reassembling the bike after my IMChat camp last year I pinched the wire for the RDR hoods shifting...about the most important buttons on the bike. It's an old system so no parts available. I have a buddy who could have soldered it, maybe, but with only a handful of VERY important rides remaining before IMWI, I worked with Dino to move my bars, seat, and measurements over to his P5. P3 is hanging in my garage...