IT'S ON!!!

Winter is officially over and with the spring thaw comes a new challenge. All the men in my family - my brothers in law, Monte Johnson and Cody Reeder, my brothers, Brian and Chris and myself - are going head to head this summer at the Utah Half Ironman in Provo, Utah. This will be another chapter in our family for the history books! I'm so excited to be able to race with all these great and inspiring men. Over the next 4 months, I'll be documenting our training for this event.

Swim 1.2 miles, Bike 56 miles, Run 13.1 miles!

Cody was "prescribed" the right running shoes by the good people at Salt Lake Running Company. It turns out he over pronates, so hopefully a medium stability shoe will correct the problem.

Monte just bought a wetsuit that turned out to be too big. Right now, he's most concerned about the swim, so he's going to spend a lot of time in the pool over the next few months. Since we're swimming in Utah Lake, you might want to get a tetanus shot along with all the swim training, Monte!

Brian has commited himself to this event, and it's looking like he'll be the most prepared. His swim times in the pool are looking good, and he's started running again after taking it easy for a couple months due to a foot injury.

Chris has slated 7 hours as a good finishing time. Hey Chris! A couple words of wisdom - Eat a fudgesicle right before the race and when in doubt in the water, flip onto your back and remember "monkey, tree, rocketship"! You'll get it done.

As for me, my only new years resolution this year was to try and eat more ice cream. So far, it's going well. That's all you need to know.

Because it's there Mallory said, to an audience of misunderstanding reporters. The world has long thought that George Leigh Mallory meant the elusive summit of Mt. Everest, but perhaps he was referring to the mountain buried deep in the soul of every human being, that deep primal desire in each of us to be proven, not to the world, but to ourselves. In this, one can even hear echoes of similar desires expressed in our enthusiastic acceptance of a plan presented to us all before the world was made, a desire to be "proven herewith". Now we are here and the desire expresses itself in peculiar ways. Always the inward searching question of "would I have made it" when stories of suffering, trials, and valor are recounted. Or, the drive to climb a high mountain in some far off country. And, of course, for many it is expressed by an entry into an amazingly difficult race where the individual must transcend the physical body to draw upon deep wells of hidden mental and spiritual strength to finish. To any who desire to be so tested, the question may be posed: "why do you want to do this hard thing?" the answer is always the same, "Because it is there" the Moriah in each of us which must be climbed and conquered that we may in fact conquer ourselves"
-Brian McCombs