Weeks over

Well my hectic week is officially over. I sit here with sore feet and a raging headache mere minutes after finishing my responsibilities running our fitness challenge. This contest is different than the 90 day 'fitness challenge' that many of my peers are doing which is essentially a body fat and weight loss challenge similar to Celebrity Fit Club.

This fitness challenge is a one day event where our employee compete against each other in five events, cardio, bench press, leg press, bicep curls and sit ups. Its all dependent on how much each person weighs. Back when we were small enough and I still hit the weights hard, I came in top 10 each year but now I am the head judge. Even though I don't workout in the weight room anymore I look at the scores and I still think I am more physically fit in this competition than half the personal trainers and employees in this company and I am a decade older than most. (The health club industry is a young mans game).

Its gotten to the point that next year I would really prefer to blow everyones minds with a completely different set of events. My partners are happy with what we do but its become to institutionalized. My perfect scenario would be create or find an obstacle course and let each person race against the clock using all the skills they created in the gym over the last year. There would be no nit-picking about how far up or down someone went on a machine, its a clock and penalties for not completing a station.

In my mind is a military obstacle course or a very modified confidence course with climbing, jumping, swinging, crawling, running, etc. I could easily pull one together but would rather find one locally. Rumor has it their is a military base in the valley that has one.

Friday was a nice break in the rush. All the partners in the company went and looked at locations we are working on and had lunch. Its been awhile since it was just us and not district managers or take along's and it was fun. I really don't talk much about triathlon with my partners, this is a not so secret lifestyle, but talking about the distances and the heat and all that was a kick. A couple of them have picked up tennis and talked about how hard it was to play 2 out of 3 in the heat. Then when I tell them I do a 1.5 mile swim and then run three hours or ride for 50 miles, they are simply amazed, as if otherworldly.

I suppose it is. But that is what makes me, well me. And you my fellow triathlete, you.

Its back to the outdoors for me. I need to get my off-season off and running again.