Throwback Thursday - Gianni Versace

Mr Half TRI-ing At Around Age

Throwback Thursday - Gianni Versace

I am really not sure what age Mr Half TRI-ing was when this picture was taken. I would assume it was the real early 80's because the room on the left has what appears to be red shag carpet (in the original you can see it more).  That would put me around age 4. 

Apparently my mother was being cheap that month because I was in a serious need of a hair cut.  I do have to admit though I look better sporting the Beatles haircut look more than the Macgyver.  But I am still looking stylish in my white (with blue trim), Italian, K-Mart v-neck t-shirt.  This Italian handcrafted shirt is delicately paired with some hand stitched, indigo blue Sears slacks.  This outfit is completed with the Egyptian canvas, blue and white belt.  

In the early 80's Gianni Versace would call me weekly to see what new fashion trends I was creating.  With my fashion advice and some piggy bank loan money, Gianni started a little clothing store in Italy.  We continued to communicate over the years on my Fisher Price walkie talkies but we had a falling out one day when I caught him wearing white shoes after Labor Day.  I could not be seen with him after such a big fashion faux pas.

Throwback Thursday Terry Lane

Christmas Circa 1992

Stand back ladies!! Here is another picture with my MacGyver haircut and surfer shirt.

I was about 12 years old when this photo was taken.  The man on the right was Terry Lane.  Terry was a friend of my mothers who I spent many years of my life around.  He was a great man and he loved me more than any other man in my life.  He always treated me like his son.  He was around for nearly every Christmas. 

Terry unfortunately died on Decemenber 18th 1997.  Terry was a victim of a faulty space heater while camping in his van. He was a former merchant marine and an avid windsurfer.  If it was a windy day you knew Terry was going to be late to whereever he was expected to be.  Whenever there is a strong windy day I always laugh because I know he is late for whatever God has planned for him.  Today look at those you love and tell them you love them because you never know when they, like the wind, will pass.

PS: Yes that is an Old Milwaukee Light beer in my hand.  Terry was also "thrifty" with his money.  You will never see an Old Milwaukee Light beer in my hands ever again.  I would not even feed that beer to my plants. 

Throwback Thursday - Space Ghost

Half TRI-ING MAN!!!

Slower than a speeding manatee, less powerful than a tricycle, able to scare off women in a single word!! IT'S HALF TRI-ING MAN!!!

This weekend I will be running Space Coast  Half Marathon so I thought the Space Ghost Coast to Coast picture was fitting.  Anyone else doing this race?  What races are you doing this weekend?

HAPPY THANKSGIVING to all my peeps!!  Thank you for taking the time to read my blog and make comments.  Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would ever have anyone read this blog.  I still can not believe I have 58 followers.  I am thankful for everyone of you!!  Have a wonderful Thanksgiving! 

What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving.  Leave me a comment!!

Annual Horrible Hundred Cycling Ride Photos 2010

Thank you Lisa for sending me these pics!!

Mr Half TRIing

Base Camp About Mile 70

Finish Line

The Finish Line

Annual Horrible Hundred Cycling Ride Review 2010

Annual Horrible Hundred Cycling Ride Review 2010

Source

Official Photos of the Event

Photos Take of Me at the Event
 
Yesterday was the Annual Horrible Hundred Cycling Ride in Clermont FL.  Clermont is “THE” cycling area in FL.  There are ton of challenging hills and safe places to ride.  This is location where the hills have names (see this post). 

The weather for the ride was wonderful.  The air temperature was in the 70s and there was a slight overcast so the Florida sun was not beating down on you.  At some points during the ride there was slight misting rain but not anything that would get you wet.  On some parts of the ride the wind did start to kick up to about 12 to 15 mph but luckily this was mostly on the flats.


So I started off the ride planning to do the 70 miler with my buddy Angel but at around mile 15 he started talking to a friend and got lost in the crowd.  I stopped and waited for him at the first swag station and he did not show up.  At that point I was by myself and feeling good so I decided to chance and see how I felt at the 100 mile turn off.

 I felt great at the 100 mile turn off so I decided to push myself.  I joined up with a cycling team called “Butterbean.”  I rode with them for about 30 miles before I joined up with another group of cyclist that I rode with from mile 70 – 100.   These riders were great and fun people.  I hope to ride with them again.  They were going to email me some pictures but I think the lady got my email incorrect.  If I get those pictures I will post them soon.  It was interesting because one of the riders lives about 2 blocks from my house and I have never seen her riding.

To quote my friend Angel “whoever designed this course was evil.”  It included every major hill in the area and the hardest part is they all occur in the last 30 miles.  It was definitely a tough course but I surprised myself.  I even had to do the Buckhill 1.5 times because I missed my turn. 

There were approximately 5 swag stops placed about every 25 miles.  They were well stocked with goodies (peanut butter & jelly sandwiches, peanut butter & honey sandwiches, various chips, M&Ms, chocolates, water, Gator-aid, shot blocks, nuts, oranges, dried fruit, etc).  The SWAG stops where well organized and the volunteers were friendly and fast.  The only complaint is they ran out of water on the 2nd SWAG stop but they soon fixed the issue as the truck came carrying more water.

The cycling route was very safe.  The traffic on the roads was very light and the route keeps you off most major roads.  Every major intersection for the first 40 miles was controlled by police officers.  It may have been this way for the entire ride if you were doing the 35 or 70 but for the century the number officers soon dropped to zero.  But I kind of expected this because a century takes most of the day to complete and I do not expect police to stay out the long.

The SWAG vehicles were GREAT and they were EVERYWHERE.  About every 10 minutes for the entire ride I would see a SWAG vehicle drive by and check on the riders.  There was also someone at every SWAG stop to work on your bike if you need it.  Awesome job here.

There was a small expo at the event with about 10  to 15 vendors selling items.  David’s World came out and was doing free bike tune-ups before the race.

The race was packed with riders.  I believe they announced they had over 2000 cyclists attending the event.

I felt strong the whole ride and I never got off my bike on any of the hills.  Even more surprising I feel fine today.  My legs are a little stiff and my neck is a little sore but overall I feel good.

I would grade the ride an A.  It was well ran and supported.  The SWAG stops and vehicles were great.

This was my very first century and I had to pick Florida’s hardest century.  I rode strong and felt great on the ride.  It was one of the best sporting events of my life.   I am definitely proud of my accomplishment and hard work. 

Ride Elevation Chart (Click to Enlarge)

NOTE 1: I saw the Humble Triathlete at David’s World at the Friday registration.  Unfortunately, I was not able to talk to her because I was driving past her.  I honked my horn and yelled hello.  I saw where on the day of the ride but she was getting out of her car and parking the car after the race started on about mile 3.  I yelled hello at her and she saw me. Shirley if your read this what happened.  Did you do the race?

NOTE 2:   I saw my cycling computer hit 43 mph on one of the down hills.  It was AWESOME!!

Throwback Thursday - Hill Training in the 1980's

From Left to Right: Mr Half TRIing my wimpy sister, my godmother

Throwback Thursday - Hill Training in the 80's

Okay, after 53 followers and several thousand hits my mother finally found my blog.  Wow, I didn't think the blog was that bad!!  It's bad when your own mother does not follow your blog.  She loved the old photos so much that she dug this old gem up to embarrass me.  She loves to do that.  :-)  She also said and I quote "That Quinton guy is really cute."  I almost ran off the road because I was laughing so hard!  Where the heck did that come from?!?  It was the most random and unexpected comment from my mother.

So back to the really bad early 80's photo.  This was taken in the Rocky Mountains in Colorado.  My godmother is on the right looking like she can not believe she knows these people.  My sister is sporting the 80's LA, Motley Crue, groupie girl look. (If only I had invested in Aquanet in the 80's.  I would have been a billionaire).  And I am on the left.  I am sporing the the most atypical 80's running look.  I got the blue and red striped socks, the way to short running shorts (with side white strip), a shirt two sizes to large and the Bruce Springsteen red bandanna.  I was looking TOTALLY RAD after my 26.2 hill training.

Throwback Thursday - Pelé

Circa 1984ish

My elementary school picture circa 1984ish.  I was around 6 years old and pimping it in my cool soccer team shirt.  Back then Pelé credited me with teaching him everything he knows.  It was tough finding time to teach Pele the basics of how to dribble and pass a soccer ball while still maintaining my image with the middle school girls. :-)

Sorry, but due to lack of comments on the Throwback Thursday posts I am going to discontinue the giveaway.  Strangely I get more comments when I do not have the giveaway.  But I will continue to post pictures every Thursday and I still would love for you to leave comments.  I always need a good laugh!

LAST WEEKS WINNER

Last weeks winner of the Throwback Thursday giveaway is...  Drum roll please.. Katherine with Forward Foot Strides Please email me your contact information and I will have you pick from my bag of goodies.  You can find my email address in here

Are New York Marathoners Athletes?

You have got to read this article from the Huffington Post newspaper.  Are New York Marathoners Athletes?
Mental meltdown in 3..2..1..doh!!

David Hollander says (and I quote).

1. The elite runners are something to watch. They are so lean they look almost alien. Them I admire. They are in an actual race. It is the 36,500 other fools that annoy me every year.
2.  And running 26 miles is some kind of torturous accomplishment - but they are not athletes. 
3. They endure and then squawk about it endlessly as some kind of heroic feat. It smacks of narcissism not sport. 
4. Marathons are the last refuge for those that couldn't cut it in other sports.  
5. Any knucklehead in decent shape can train and then run 26 miles in under 4 or 5 hours.
6.  The NYC Marathon, after the first 500 runners, is no longer a race. It is like a parade of badly clad folks sucking wind and struggling up First Avenue. They shut the city down for the whole damn day just so the stragglers can say they "finished."
7. Sure, let's all race from subway stop to subway stop across the five boroughs to cheer you on as you run past us looking pained, withered and about the heave all over the P.O.W. look-a-like running next to you. 
8. Beneath the narcissism I detect deep-seated masochism
9. That 36,500 you mentioned, they run to kill personal demons. They beat their bodies swollen and sore to fill an emptiness or quiet a cry.  
10. Sport, no. Self-flagellation, penitence, lunacy -- yes. 
11. And then you hear that if you finish - no matter what - you are a winner. Well that is just plain wrong. You lost by hours, sluggard. No one cares that you finished two hours behind the lead pack. You are not a winner. Just a real slow runner.
12. How about that ING ad about the Marathon being one race with 37,000 stories? Besides who won you can keep all their stories about blisters and pain and self involved obstacles to their glory of finishing. Marathon runners need to tell their stories walking - preferably away from me.
13. But the rest of these people who come from all over with this pilgrimage to Mecca mentality, they've got to go. 
14. Instead, what we have now is some kind of faux local holiday meets national freak convention. 
15. This year, when I see one of those runners who flew in from Godknowswhere, USA walking around Manhattan, dazed and alone, wrapped in that stupid tin foil, hours after she's finished, I won't give her hug or a bottle of Evian. I'll give her the name of good therapist.

I would LOVE to hear your comments on this one. Maybe Silly Girl Running will comment on this.  She just ran in the New York Marathon. 

Throwback Thursday (Mini Giveaway)

Circa 1984

This photo was taken when I was about 6 years old (circa 1984).  It was taken at my mother's wedding reception. I love the 1980's powder blue suit, feathered back hair and clip-on tie.  The funny thing is I think I have a college picture just like this one.  Maybe I was practicing for my future college parties. 

!!Mini Giveaway!!   

How to enter: Leave a funny comment about the above photo.  The comment that makes me bust out laughing the most will win.  You can enter more than once.  The winner will get an item from my bag of goodies (GU, Cliff Shots, Shot Blocks, etc).  I'm poor so you get what I got.  ;-)  The winner will be announced in next Thursday's post (11/11/2010).   Have Fun!!

Can someone name where this is from?

LAST WEEKS WINNER

Last weeks winner of the Throwback Thursday giveaway is...  Drum roll please..  It's a tie so we have two winners.  Aimee of I Tri to Be Me and Wells L of My Story..Chapter 2  Please email me your contact information and I will have you pick from my bag of goodies.  You can find my email address in here


I would also like to encourage you to follow my blog and add comments on my posts.  I love hearing from you guys in the internet world.  :-)

I'm the King of the World!!!

Mama always said I would make it to the big time someday and my day is today!  I am officially on THE Caution Redhead Running "Tri - Nuts" blog list.  She is like "The BOMB" of running blogs.  I'M NOT WORTHY!! I'M SCUM!!! I SUCK!!   :-) 



Thank you Morgan for adding me to your blog list and all the help you have provided to me when I was getting started. And thanks for taking my poor jokes :-)

The proof that I am a blog stud!!

Throwback Thursday (Mini Giveaway)

This was me in my yellow jammies (with the plastic feet) circa 1979.  I wonder why I have that "Oh !@$!" look on my face!

!!Mini Giveaway!!   

How to enter: Leave a funny comment about the photo.  The comment that makes me bust out laughing the most will win.  You can enter more than once.  The winner gets to pick an item from my bag of goodies (GU, Cliff Shots, Shot Blocks, etc).  Look!!  If you really want cool and expensive giveaways go to DC Rainmaker.  He must be rolling in the dough because he is always giving away the way cool stuff.  I'm poor so you get what I got.  ;-)  The rules are you need to keep it clean and not be offensive.  The winner will be announced in next Thursday's post (11/4/2010).   Have Fun!!

Throwing Down the Gauntlet on “Q on the Move”

If you are not a follower of the Q on the Move.. blog there is probably something wrong with you.  Quinton J has some great and funny posts.  I have never met the man but he seems to have the same strange sense of humor as me.  I always look forward to his posts.  He will either find this post funny as heck or be pissed I am stealing his fame.  :-)

Quinton does a post every Thursday called “Throwback Thursday.”  Here is an example  and another example .  In these posts he shows old pictures of himself when he was young.  Usually he is keeping it real in the playground or Stylin’ and ‘profilin’ with his baseball cap to the side. 

While Q was hangin’ with the boys on Sesame Street, I was busy being a lady’s man.  This was me in middle school (circa 1990).  I remember I was going on a hot date with a girl named Traci.  I was sporting the Z Cavaricci pants with the bottoms pinch rolled, silk shirt and Dockers dress shoes.  I was also rocking the Macgyver feathered hair.  I was the bomb back then.  I even had the supermarket flowers to impress the hottie.

Note: I think she dumped me after that date but no worries because there were other ladies taking numbers for this hottie. 

Ladies, you will need to take a number and wait in line for this hottie!!

Chad's Fight with Leukemia (Chad's Tri Blog) - Inspiring

Chad's Fight with Leukemia (Chad's Tri Blog)

A few posts ago I wrote about Dana Casanave an amazing women who is running 52 marathons in 52 weeks for orphans in Africa (52 Beginnings).  Today I stumbled upon another blog that is truly inspiring for a different reason.  The blog is about one man whose life was unexpectedly changed overnight when he discovered he has leukemia.

While surfing blogs I stumbled upon Chad's Tri Blog.  Expecting the typical blog I first started scanning the posts to see if it was someone I wanted to learn more about.  Chad is a family man in his 30’s with two kids and a wife.  He participates in triathlons to stay in shape.

One day while on a business trip he started feeling ill.  He figured he had caught something on the plane but after a week he still felt crappy.  He went into the emergency room and had some blood count work done. 
The results of the blood test showed almost all his counts were zeros.  Chad had no immune system at that point.  Several more blood tests and a bone marrow biopsy later showed Chad had leukemia.

On September 3, 2010 his blog posts shift from fighting the water, bike and pavement to fighting his battle with leukemia.  After reading the fascinating progression of posts starting from Sept 3, 2010 you find out Chad is a very inspiring, strong, brave man with a great attitude.  I highly recommend reading his blog posts.

Chad WILL win his battle with leukemia and I hope one day I will see in a future triathlon.  
 

DKMS America

If you are interested in learn more about becoming a bone marrow donor, please visit DKMS America.  Here you can learn about the bone marrow testing and donating process.  You can also sign up to have a test kit sent to your house.

Disney Wine and Dine Half Marathon

SOURCE

Disney Wine and Dine Half Marathon

This is the inaugural year for the Disney Wine and Dine Half Marathon.  This is a unique race because it is held at night and it takes you through Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios and Epcot.  After the run you get free tickets into the Disney Wine and Dine Festival.

The Disney Wine and Dine Festival is held at the Epcot theme park and offers tapas-sized appetizers, wine and beer from around the world.  There are 27 different food stations with each representing different nations (Argentina, Australia, Chile, Poland, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, U.S.A, Belgium, South Korea, etc).  There is also live entertainment at the event.

Half Fanatic #394 (and one hot dude)

My Race Results
The day before the race a swam 2000m and biked 40mi so I was doing this more as a training run than a race.  I ran strong and never took a walk break.  I did great controlling my heart rate and breathing so the race felt wonderful and I completed it without much effort.  I ran a 9:50 pace with a chip time of 2:08:59.  The race had many small hills and a monstrous crowd. This was my first half marathon of the season.

Click to enlarge

Race Review (Race Grade: C+ and Wine and Dine Party grade: D)
Everyone raves about the Disney running events so I got suckered into signing up for this race.  At face value it looked to be an awesome event and loads of fun.  In my opinion it was not worth all the hype. 

Bonnie and I planned our day around this event.  The race started at 10 PM at night and was followed by the food party so planning your meals for the day can be tricky.  We did not eat much of a lunch or dinner because we were planning to eat a lot of the great food at the after run party.

Only part of the crowd

You had to be at the race early because the required shuttles only ran from 6pm to 8pm.  The race also had over 11,000 participants so you needed to be early to avoid the long wait times.  This meant that you had to sit around and wait 2 to 4 hours before the race started (10 PM).  Disney tried to make this go quicker by providing a DJ that played the usual songs “Electric Slide”, “I Got a Feeling”, etc. 

In addition to the DJ they had ONE vendor cart selling drinks and one water area for 11,000 people.   People ended up raiding the first aid tent for their water.  Not great planning on Disney’s part.

After waiting around for 3.5 hours we lined up for the start of the race and waited for another 45 minutes.  Then the race started for the wheelchair riders who got a very boring start.  All they got was a quick count down while the regular race start got fireworks.  I understand there are not many wheelchair racers but they should get at least someone lighting off sparklers for their race start.  This always kind of annoys me and I am sure it annoys the wheelchair runners.  They should get a proper start also.

There were four corrals and I have a feeling a lot of people lied about their finish times because there were a TON of people in the A corral that could not even run a mile without running out of breath and walking.  It took about 2-3 miles to get around all the people who obviously did not belong in the A corral. 

Osborne Spectacle of Lights

Once I got past the mob I was able to stop weaving and get a nice steady race pace.  Along the run you got to see some Disney characters (Minnie, Mickey Mouse, Russell and Dug (from Pixar’s Up), Pluto, Darth Vader and my personal favorite the plastic green army man who encouraged you to take the hill).  In Animal Kingdom you got to see some of the big animal puppets.  There were also about 4 bands that played ethic music.  The coolest part was running through the Osborne Spectacle of Lights in Hollywood Studios.  It was like being a kid again.  All the buildings were covered in Christmas lights.  It was really pretty.

Most of the race course was kind of boring.  They advertise this race as running through the parks.  Technically you do this but the majority of the run was on the dark narrow roads and the employee areas of Disney.  Very little of the race is actually in the nice parts of the park.  Most of the run is in the behind the scenes area (i.e. the employee parking lot, trash area, costume changing area, etc). The first half of the race is the Expedition Everest race which is a pretty darn boring route that often smelled like rhino poop.  Then you ran through Hollywood Studios which was boring except for the really cool Osborne Spectacle of Lights.

Lastly you ran through Epcot which did not seem like much of anything to me.
It seemed like this race drew many very amateur runners who had not trained to run a half marathon.  At the end of the race many people had to go to the hospital tent.  People were throwing up, heat exhausted (the temperature was a nice 70 degrees) or had to have their legs seriously iced down.

After the race is where Disney really missed the mark.  To begin with, the bag pickup was a chaotic mess.  It was not well organized and the poor volunteers had to hunt to find your bag.  Many bags were lost or in the wrong section so it was a long and drawn out process.  The worst part is it was done in a very small room that was hot and crowded.

Disney also only gave you ONE water when you were done with the race.  At the end of the race all waters were about $3 and Poweraids were $6.  Ouch!!

Most people did not get to the Wine and Dine Festival till around 1-2 am.  The festival was set to close at 3 am.  So you had about 1 -2 hours to eat and drink. The festival was a crowded mob scene. There were the 11,000 runners, their family & friends and the normal tourist crowd.  Each country had ONE small 15 x 15 ft food tent and there were only 22 tents to feed all these people.  Every line was about a 20 – 40 minute wait.  With only about 1 -2 hours to eat you clearly were not going to be able to sample much food or beverages.
Disney provided each runner with one drink voucher and one appetizer voucher.  These vouchers look like all the other thousand coupons/flyers in the race packet.  Because of this many people did not bring them to the race (including me).  In races previously the coupons were attached to your race bracelet or running bib.  I have a feeling that was too convenient and Disney would make more money if they made the coupons less obvious.

Polish Kielbasa and Potato Pierogie with Caramelized Onions and Sour Cream

I was not impressed with the tapas I received.  I had the Polish Kielbasa and Potato Pierogie with Caramelized Onions and Sour Cream.   I also had the Argentina Roasted Corn and Cheese Empanada and the Grilled Beef Skewer with Chimichurri Sauce and Boniato Purée. The tapas were good but were small and tasted average.  I am a beer snob so I was not impressed with all the beer selections.  But for your average Miller Lite drinker it was a great selection.  The menu can be found here (see the Marketplaces & Promenade section): http://www.themouseforless.com/tripplanning/wdwparks/annual/foodandwine.shtml

Grilled Beef Skewer with Chimichurri Sauce and Boniato Purée

Roasted Corn and Cheese Empanada

The food and drinks were small and expensive.  Example: the kielbasa and potato pierogie was about $6 and it only included one pierogie and about 2 inches of kiebasa.  Power-aid was $6, waters $3 beer and wine I assume were $6 or more.

Many people brought Disney’s small and convenient credit card system so they would not have to carry their credit card while running.  It was a nice system if it worked.  It was failing at many cash registers leaving many people upset.

Bonnie and I left the event at about 3 am and got to bed around 4:30 am.  The whole rest of Sunday was shot because of the lack of sleep.  Disney really needs to move the start time of the race down to maybe 7 pm.  That would give the parks some time to clear out and for the participants to enjoy the festive more (and not to mention spend more money).

Overall it was a fun race but I would not do it again.  The race:
1.    Costs too much at $135
2.    Was too crowded
3.    Started and ended too late in the night
4.    The festival part was too crowded
5.    The food lines were really long.  This would not be a problem if the race started earlier because you
would have more time to wait in the lines
6.    There was not enough time left after the run to enjoy the festival

Well, another race in the books (not the record books).

The medal was cool. SOURCE

Please, leave me a comment and let me know what you thought of the race.

And in the beginning we discovered Kevin had a heart...

So here I go.  My first blog.  I wonder by the time I am done with this goal if anyone will actually follow this blog?  I doubt it but what the heck! It least along the way I will have a diary of my pain and suffering.  And just maybe someone will find some enjoyment from it.

So why am I writing this?  Late last year started it all.  I was having some fairly serious issues with my body.  I had some massive dizzy spells and I felt like I was going to faint all the time.  I was told by my doctor and close friend to go see a specialist.  That specialist ran all the tests (echo, stress, event monitor), poked prodded and told me he found nothing.  Then a month later I was told to come see him ASAP!  That is never good when a doctor tells you this especially when he is one of the best cardiologist in the country.  He said I might have a hole in my heart.  For some reason this always makes me sing this bad 80s song.  But it may not be anything.  I heard what he said but the look in his eye said this is serious. 

Well, I then had to go into the hospital for a TEE.  This means they gave me a ton of drugs to knock me out (thank god), shoved a tube the size of my thumb down my throat to listen to my heart.  The procedure took almost 2-3 times the normal time to complete (its good to have friends who are doctors because they go the extra mile for you).  Come to find out it there was no hole in my heart (stop the bad Extreme song in my head) but my heart does do some strange swirling motion in the upper chamber that is not normal but is harmless.  Good news is they proved I do have a heart so my significant other can no longer call me heartless.  :-)

The combination of this incident and my family history of heart conditions scared this thirty something to start doing something he dreaded, RUNNING!!!  My whole life I dreaded running with a passion.  Running was something that was only invented so the weak (people like me) could not be eaten by the creatures from Drastic Park.  It also gave me a chance to start running with Bonnie who had just started running. 

I fought through some 5Ks, some early morning runs and started to challenge myself to do a ½ marathon (13.1 miles) which I completed in January 2010.  Something clicked and I started to like running (minus the serious pain it caused my knees).  Within 4 months I was a Half Maniac (a club for really weird people who run way too many races).    A later post will be dedicated to these weird, running addicted people.

Then I bought a bike and decided to do a sprint triathlon, then an Olympic distance and then I was really addicted.  This was better than running! 

So then I guess I had a mid life crisis.  Since I finished my first goal of finishing college I have been stuck with no real challenges.  I was extremely lucky to have a successful career early in life and even before finishing college.  So what can I do that will be the next big goal?  How about the insane idea of a ½ Ironman?  No, not the comic book robot guy from the movies but the crazy triathlon that is 70.3 miles (1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run).  So I signed up for the Rohto Ironman 70.3 Florida (Orlando) for May 15 2011.

So begins my adventure in pain, early morning exercises, sore butt from riding, bankruptcy from equipment purchases, bad unflattering pictures of me in  tri clothing (spandex) and this blog.  I hope you can fight through the bad grammar, spelling and my strange humor to enjoy my adventure...