Faithful Readers,
I apologize for my recent flakiness regarding posting. It has been very busy in my life as of late and I have been full force on training and trying to keep my life right side up. I will try to catch up a few posts over the next couple days. For now, some housekeeping:
The Ironman Races have live tracking for athletes at
http://www.ironmanlive.com/. You can track me by my last name (Eichelberger, Jeff) or by Bib #. I will try to get my number on the blog when I check-in Friday (begging an Internet connection).
I have created a checklist for myself and a timeline for events. I will try to post those shortly.
A journey like this has a lot of moving parts and involves a huge amount of support beyond the athlete. There are too many to thank here, but I have a couple of people I would like to mention:
My wife Melissa and my daughter Lucia - If you have ever done the training for an Ironman, you will know what I am talking about immediately. There is a tremendous amount of time required to train for something like this. I have tried to be mindful of my family and have tried to make sure that we have had quality time each week. Having said that, Melissa has picked up my slack more than once along the way and covered my responsibilities. She has given much this last year to give me this chance. Thank you for your love, support and understanding.
Coach Cyndee - Her careful planning of my training program each week has been the cornerstone of my being able to get ready physically and mentally. She has been patient with me when I have shown weakness or doubt and has gotten on my case (gently) when I have deviated from the program. She has also gone above and beyond in allowing me to train with her and some of her other clients and has given me free training time that I simply could not have afforded along the way. I have never asked and she has always simply offered. An utterly amazing woman with tons of personal experience, you could do much worse if you are looking for a Coach. As a shameless plug:
trainwithcyndee@yahoo.com
Christine Lynch - Helping me in the later stages with my nutrition, our talks have been a huge wealth of knowledge and have allowed me to bounce ideas off someone who knows and to get reassurance in times of frustration. My performance has definitely improved with her helping me define a specific race nutrition program that is working for me. More importantly, she has given me a perspective on eating that is much different than just calories in-calories out. Simply amazing. Another shameless plug:
www.liveandeatbetter.com
Shawn Wallace, Thomas Burke, Robert Cleveland - Three athletes and three amazing people. Thank you for your help and support. Your wisdom and individual perspectives in life have been essential in helping me shape things for myself as I have made this journey.
Most importantly, thanks to you for following this blog. The Ironman Project simply does not work without you. I hope you will continue to check-in as I have plans for the 2012 season and the blog will continue. Your comments are valued. I look forward to both your advice and your stories.
I will be posting what happens at Ironman Arizona promptly. Promise.
Wish me luck...
Jeff
