TSA to the rescue

I cannot imagine any job that has to be tougher than the TSA screeners at the airports.  No one in line appreciates them.  People view the TSA folks as being a major pain in the ass.  Airline passengers want easy access to the planes. They want to be able to get from their home to their seat on the plane.  Anything that stands in their way,, the TSA,, airline personnel or slow ticket kiosks are just barricades thrown in their way.  But, in the end,, everyone wants the TSA there to stop terrorists.  So,, everyone really is thinking,, "Yes,, TSA, stop everyone,, x-ray them,, metal detect them,, take away their liquids,, strip search them,, but let me pass through un-impeded.  At least that is the way I feel. 

 

I think that part of being a TSA screener is that you have to disregard common sense.  I think when the TSA screener arrives at work,, they  log into the computer,, the go to their locker,, drop off their keys, lunch and common sense.    Recently this was proven by an ever alert TSA screener in Minneapolis.  I have a small tube of toothpaste that I take with me in my travel kit.  I have had it for many , many trips.  It has made it's way through at least a few dozen security checkpoints.  In Minneapolis,, my toothpaste was confiscated.  The alert screener found that I was sneaking a 4.5 ounce tube of toothpaste through security.  I was limited to 3.0 ounces.  Here is where the common sense part comes in,, my toothpaste was about 80 percent gone.  So, although in a container marked 4.5 ounces,, it only had about a half of an ounce of toothpaste in it.

 

Somewhere in the government's filing cabinets,, there is probably a file with my name on it and an entry that on such and such a date,, I tried to board a flight with a container marked 4.5 ounces.   That's right,, I'm bad...

Something bizarre happened

I am haunted by something that happened over the weekend.  There was nothing going on this past Sunday so I decided to go down to the lake and relax on the dock.  I took a book to read and something to drink.  My only plan was to sit back, read and relax.  Sounded pretty simple.  The weather was great.  There were lot's of boaters and jet skiers speeding back and forth. 

 

I was not there for more than five minutes when a boat came by that caught my attention.  It was a ski boat that had three guys in it and they were all looking back at the guy they were towing.  The skier was on a boogie board and was using the ski rope to pull himself in closer and closer to the boat.  He got within 5 feet of the back of the boat and he dropped into the wake zone immediately behind the boat.  He let go of the roper and was now surfing on the wake wave.  He stayed on the wave for about 20 seconds and then he wiped out.  The board went one way and he the other.  He popped up and started swimming Tarzan-style to his boogie board.  At that point,, there was nothing to watch so I turned back to my book and started reading again.  Within a few minutes,  things in front of me started catching my attention.  I looked up to see the guy's in the boat pulling the surfer guy's body from the water.  A jet-skier had stopped to help, as well as another boat.  They pulled the guy in and laid him on the side of the boat.  They started yelling into his face trying to get him to regain consciousness.  The slapped him on the back and tried to shake him.  This was all happening within 20 feet of the dock.  I could hear everything.  The driver called 911 and told them what was going on.  The current was carrying the boat past me.  As they drifted away, one of the guys in the started doing CPR on the surfer.   He continued doing compressions on him as they drifted.  Once they got even with the boat ramp across the lake, the started the engine and drove onto the boat ramp.  The lake at this point is only about 100 yards across so even though they were on the far side of the lake, I was still able to see everything that was happening.  Within a few minutes the Fire Department showed up,, then a few minutes later,, Life Flight came flying up the lake and hovered near the boat ramp. 

 

Life Flight made its way across the lake and landed near the ramp.  I could not tell what was happening but besides Life Flight, EMS and the Lake police,, there were a lot of bystanders.  Within 10-15 minutes, everyone started leaving. First Life Flight,, then EMS,, then Fire Department,, police and then last but not least,, the guys in the boat. 

 

I have been watching  the news (YUCK) to see if they say anything (they did not),, I scanned the newspaper for information (there was nothing) and I checked out the Life Flight Logs posts (Nothing there either).  SO,, I have no clue what happened,, how the surfer guy is or anything. 

 

Like I said,, this whole event, which lasted not more than 40 minutes,,,continues to haunt me. I am not sure why I am dwelling on it.  I wish I could have done something.

 

Another thing that lends to the surreal images of all this is that there was a woman on the far side of the lake who watched all this activity.  She was standing out on her covered patio,, waving her arms and yelling at he boat guy's.  She had nothing to say or suggest,, she just stood on the patio,, waving her hands above her head and was screaming to catch our attention.  Over and over,, she would wave her hands above her head and yell "Yoo-Hoo".  Almost like we left our keys on her countertop and she was trying to get our attention before we got to far away from the house.     It would have been much nicer if she would have yelled,, "Hey,, I know CPR" or "Yoo-Hoo,,, I called 911",, anything would have been better than just standing there waving..

 

So much for my relaxing afternoon on the lake.  I had to pack it in after all that.. Although, I think me day was inconvenienced in a very minor way compared to the surfer guy and his buddies.  I hope that he is okay. 

 

It is just so strange to think that I could have gone during any part of the day. Any other moment,,, and I would not have seen any of this tragedy.  And, I would not have anything to write about,, which would be okay by me... 

 

 

Finally,, a good solid week

At long last,, I finally got in a full week of training. It has been a long time,, probably 2-3 months since I have been able to really have a full focused training week. It has been one thing or another. I lost 4 weeks to letting my surgeries heal. Although, I have to admit I was glad to use them as excuses to not train. Then I lost a couple of weeks due to traveling. So all in all,, I had plenty of excuses. I have been able to make a few of the long rides and I have been pretty good about making sure I got my running in. So, I am not that far behind,, just because I missed the group workouts.

This week was a bit different. No traveling so I was able to make all the scheduled workouts. I made two swimming sessions. I really lost a lot of endurance. I was struggling to keep up with the lane. We did about 3600 meters at each workout. I started fading about three quarters of the way through the workouts. I felt good though that I hung in there. Mostly I was glad to be in the pool again. It sure helps start the day a lot better when you do something so early. The rest of the day just feels easy. I even made a track workout. I was very apprehensive about the track session but I forced myself to make it. Once there,, I was okay,, it was just the initial part of getting to the track that was the hardest part.

"There comes a time in every rightly constructed boy's life when he has a regained desire to go somewhere and dig for hidden treasure". Mark Twain

Somehow.. someone hid my treasures in pools, tracks, on the trails and on the roads... I guess if it was left out and easy to find,, it would not be called a treasure.

Another Race - and another week

Jack's Generic Triathlon was today.  It was my second tri of the summer since Arizona.  It was a good day.  Part of the fun was the large number of T3er's out there.  I was a bit baffled by my race day preparations.  I took everything so lightly.  Usually I feel like I stress out over my preparations.  I lay everything out and double check all my equipment.  Now,, I just start putting stuff in my backpack and head out to the race.  I guess it is normal and that this what comes with being well prepared.  Who knows.    The race went well.. I finished in 1 hour 23 minutes.   I am sort of ,,, almost,, pretty close to being happy with my results.  I am slower than last year by a minute or two, and as usual, I am normal.  Or, I should say that I am average.  I always come out in the middle of the pack in my age group. 

 

 

 

I was inspired by a noticeably larger number of kids in the triathlon.  I may just be that I am able to take more of the event in and am noticing the things that have always been there but it seemed like there were a lot of teenagers in the event.  When I was a teenager, there weren't any triathlons and even if there were, I probably would not have been interested in them.  It was nice to see the change. 

 

 

Back to me,,, I am looking forward to kicking off the organized training for Arizona. 

 

This week, I need to compress some training that I did not get in due to the race.  On top of that, I am supposed to go out of town so that will throw a monkey wrench into my training.  It is up to me to pull it off.. everything else is just excuses. 

Piney Woods Bike Ride

I went to East Texas last week. I contacted the Angelina Bike Club to see if they had any organized rides on Saturday. I was planning on joining them for a ride. It turns out that there were several of them that were planning on riding. At first, and I am not sure why, I was reluctant to go with them, even after I contacted them. Not sure if it was an apprehension about meeting new people, new route or possibly not being up to par with their abilities. All reasons are silly. Silly or not,, I went to bed on Friday evening hoping that the ride would get rained out. Saturday morning arrived and it was a beautiful day. Not too hot,, no rain and gorgeous blue skies.

I hooked up with the ABC guys on Saturday morning at Lufkin High School. They turned out to be a great group of guys. So,, any fears about that were quickly put aside. We planned on a 60 mile ride. So off we headed towards Zavalla Texas. The road was perfect,, it was a fairly new road so there were no potholes or rough spots to worry about. Once we warmed up,, they started picking the pace up. We had a great pace,, one that actually worried me because I was fearful that I could not sustain that pace for very long. I remembered what Maurice told me about being uncomfortable on the bike and to push myself. So,, that is what I did. It was a hard ride but man it was fun. At about mile 17, two of the riders had to turn around so it ended up with just three of us. We had a great pace line going and we rotated through the line, each taking a turn at pulling. We were cooking along,, through some beautiful landscapes,, covered in huge pine trees that stood out so amazingly. At the half way point, we had about 27 miles under our belt and the average speed was 19.8 MPH... as we headed back towards Austin, I though we would slow down a bit,, but we didn't. We kept hammering back to town. When it was all over, we covered 55 miles and 19.5 MPH average speed. That is an awesome pace for me!! I really enjoyed going that fast for that long. I was beat when we got back to town. I could tell that I pushed myself really hard.

Here is the best part,, after the ride,, I stopped by Smoothie King for a Smoothie (what else would you get at a Smoothie King?) and it was great. It really hit the spot. Simple pleasures.

Here we go again!

This is a long overdue post to the BLOG.  I have been AWOL for awhile.  First thing and main thing to mention is that I have signed up for another Ironman.  Ironman Arizona April 13th 2008.  I am actually looking forward to it,, although I cannot seem to get my ass in gear and start training again.  I have a long ways before I need to start training in earnest but in the meantime, I need to stay in shape.  Plus I have a triathlon per month scheduled from now until October. Last week was a good week for training.  I managed to get in some good runs and some biking.  It is funny but the months of being sedentary not only threw a monkey wrench into my fitness, it also messed up my rituals.  During the IM training,, everything had a place and time.  I knew where all my equipment was, I had everything strategically placed in either the garage or the Pathfinder.  I had my post-workout drinks prepared each day, I logged my workouts on Sundays, and did wash on Fridays.  Right now, I am all over the map.  Nothing is gelling yet.  I am not quite in the swing of things yet, so it is frustrating to me.  I do manage to arrive at the workouts with clothes,, not the right clothes but clothed none-the-less.

 

Last week, I did 2 hours of biking, 1 hour of swimming , 2 hours of running and two hours of core.  I missed all the log stuff due to being in Houston over the weekend.  I know,, not much of a log but it is a start. 

Cleaning out more than I bargained for

This weekend I took on a task that I have been putting off for many months. To be honest, it is probably a year of procrastination.  The IM training has kept me busy and I have neglected a few items around the house.  Well, to be honest again,  I preferred training over household chores.  So my task was the garage, I committed myself to cleaning out the garage.  I got two boxes out , one for Goodwill and one for the trash.  As I went through things I came across a lot of stuff that was my Dads.  Things like parts of his train collection, his CDs and diskettes from his computer. Lots of books from circa 1950 about TV and Radio repair.  I was very reluctant to get rid of his stuff.  There was absolutely no reason to keep a book on TV repair that had no mention of integrated circuits.  The schematics showed no transistors but lots of electron tubes.  Technology had left these devices in the past and here I was holding onto these books.  I think I was afraid to get rid of them because as long as I held onto them,, it was a connection to Dad.   It really tore at me to throw these into the Goodwill box.  There was no way that I could have put them in the trash.  I think, knowing that someone else might get some use out of them,, I was okay with things.  I did hold onto one book that Dad had from his army days.  It was like the other books, obsolete but in the front page, Dad had written his name.  I hung onto that one.  He wrote his name there and it was more of a connection to him.  I thought that cleaning up the garage would be sort of therapeutic,, to finally have this not hanging over my head, but in truth, it was an emotionally tough job.  I still have several boxes here to go through that all contain Dad's stuff and then,, I have his house, workshop, shed and house in East Texas to go through.   It is all good though. I like thinking about my Dad.  I miss him. 

 

Got my hand slapped

As the title say's, I got my hand slapped in writing class.  Our assignment was to read someone else's story, and write an analysis of it.  The stories were given to us without names so we would only be basing our comments on the content of the story, not how we react to the person writing it.  As soon as I read the first paragraph of my assignment, I knew who the author was.  It started off with a description of a man getting ready for work.  The man did not have use of his legs.  This scenario automatically gave away the author as Garage Sale Sally.  The name was changed to protect the truly crazy author.  GS Sally is this Earth Momma type who always wears pretty much the same outfit.  Tie-dyed T-shirt with bib overalls and sandals or,, when she needs to dress to impress, she wears tie-dyed Moo-moo dress with lime green Crocs or some plain Birkenstocks.   GS Sally has read several of her stories in class. I will give her one thing, she is a prolific writer.  She always has something ready.  I struggle to get something out, meanwhile she is churning our stories.  They are all the same basic plot.  The main character has a hurdle that they must overcome.  Some times it is a physical defect, something like paralysis, or a deformity.  Usually the circumstances were industrial accidents or car accidents, and occasional birth defect.  The drama of her stories usually revolves around the physically challenged main character having to overcome a challenge.  Things like a new job, falling in love, facing a fear or tackling some angst ridden confrontation.  One time the fear was a steep hill that a wheelchair bound person kept avoiding.  The majority of her story was about how the character would take Main street one day or Willow street another day.  Luckily the city where the story took place was small and we only had to hear about 5 different routes before the main character finally made it down the hill.  I think the story would have been better if she would have had her heroine freefalling down the street, careening off of buildings and cars before she safely coasted to a stop at the bottom of the hill.  Not our luck, GS Sally described the ladies slow agonizing trip,, one block at a time, describing every crack in the sidewalk and even the "urine soaked doorway's"  that she passed.  

 

The story that I was fortunate enough to critique was about a paraplegic who was working through his daily activities as he got ready for a job interview.  All of his challenges  and then the anxiety of getting geared up for the interview.  He was trying to get a job at a shipping company,, yes,, a shipping company as a delivery driver.  It was not with UPS,, but a fictional company named,, ready for this,,,,"VQT".  In case you did not get the significance of this name,, VQT is made up of the next letters after U , P and S.  GS Sally had our hero, "Hal",applying for a job as a VQT driver. She described his thought process as he got himself ready to respond to all the negative reactions that he expected at the interview.  She had him plan his very own special delivery truck and how he would hire assistants to help him out with tough deliveries.  She never did explain the economics of this,  Economics and cost justification had no room in this story,, this was about the noble human spirit and how man can overcome anything.

 

In my critique, I wrote "This story seems to be plagiarized from several stories that have been submitted in class throughout the year.  Substitute "paraplegic" with "Burn Victim",  change "delivery truck driver"  to "sports agent" and "Messenger of the Year" with "the most successful sports agent of the year" and this story is identical to "Burned no more" that someone else wrote.  I went on to say that the story lacked originality, and was not very creative.  Here is where I probably went to far,, I suggested that the title be changed from "In-Time and On-Time"  to "Stand and Deliver"

 

 

 

 

I am so vain, I probably thought this video was about me

With apologies to Carly Simon,,I finally got to see and hear me finish at Arizona.  You can go to the following web site http://www.ironman.com/events/ironman/arizona?show=tracker&y=2007  and type in my bib number 1894, then scroll down to "Watch me Finish".  So,, I did it and I got to actually hear what was said and see me finish.  For next time,, I am slowing my ass down after I cross the finish line.  In the video,, I come across the finish line,, zipping in and out of the frame.  I also know where the camera is and I will make sure I am looking at it as I slowly make my way across.  Amazing how vain I am,,,, and you know what,,, I am okay with that for now.

 

 

 

 

 

My Fellow Passengers

For many years now, I have been traveling for business reasons. Over the years I noticed that I have, on a regular basis, say next to weird people. I have always intended to document these occurrences but never did it for one reason or another. I think it is time to actually start writing these down. Just recently, on my trip from Atlanta, I had a normal seat-mate, he slept the whole time. The strangeness on this flight was that I was seated in the middle of the Bermuda Triangle of Babies. Two rows directly in front of me, a Mom and her baby, directly across from me, Mom and baby, one row behind me, Mom and baby. All was well for the first 30 minutes and then the babies started on a rotational cry-fest. They took turns of about 10-15 minutes of crying and then they would hand it off to the next baby. They really were quite organized. I think that they were in a baby labor union,

Roadshows

I am in Atlanta for a conference right now. These trade shows are amazing. All the vendors have loads and loads of what I call trinkets and trash. Cush balls, post-it notes, t-shirts, USB memory sticks, mp3 players, electric fans and all sorts of cheap giveaway crap. The people attending these shows, Supposed adults, turn into little kids and start seeking out this junk. They come by the booths, could not give a damn about anything you want to tell them about, all they want is to find out what they can get from you. I wonder if they woke up that morning and thought "Gee, I wish I had a Post-It notepad that was in the shape of a fish!" or "You know, I really could use a little badge that had a bright blue light that blinks off and on". God forbid if you run out of crap to give away. People come up to the booth and blatantly as "What have you got?" When you say, "We ran out",, they turn on there heels, and walk off in a huff,, because you did not have crap to give them. I have to keep reminding myself that there are a lot of really intelligent people, I just happen to not be seeing very many of them today.

Ironman Arizona

I am trying to capture the Ironman experience and put into words for people to understand what it is all about. I think I am having a tough time because you really cannot truly capture what I experienced. The feelings and emotions that you go through during an Ironman are varied, depending on how hot it is, how windy it is, if you are working your way up a hill or whatever conditions the Ironman throws at you. All I can really do is talk about what an Ironman event is. Specifically, what the Ironman Arizona was like.

We left Austin headed to Phoenix on Thursday morning. We, being Rose Mary, two friends of ours, Bill and Fran. Bill and Fran were wonderful. Besides being very supportive over the last year, they had "Jims Crew" shirts made for themeselves and Rose Mary. I was given a really cool "Ironman Jim" shirt. Along with us on the same flight were about 12 teammates who I had been training with. The team is called T3 and there are 33 in total of us headed out to Phoenix. We have been training for close to 6 months to be able to complete the Ironman.

Thursday we spent most of the day just getting settled in. We swung by the race site to get registered and pick up my race packet. I hitched a ride with a couple of other T3ers and we drove out on the race course to get an idea of what the bike would be like. Flat was the answer. The roads were very flat, especially when compared to Austin. For the bike we would be doing three loops of about 34 miles. We would leave Tempe and head out into the desert, pass through the Salt River Indian Community for 17 miles and then come back into town.

After exploring the bike course, I went back into town and met up with Ro, Bill and Fran. Walking around Tempe and the race site, was almost like being in Austin, there were so many people from home. We saw a lot of old friends and met a lot of new ones. Everyone in the area was there for the Ironman. Everyone always asks. “Is this your first Ironman?” The veterans always try to make the newbie’s feel comfortable. They give advice and do their best to calm the nerves.

Friday morning was a day of preparation. I had to get my bike ready, and pack my transition bags. For the Ironman, the athletes are entirely on their own for equipment they need. So, we have transition bags that allow us to go from the swim to the bike and then to the run. The bags have your number on them so as you go through the transition area you pick up your bag and change from one segment to the other. If you forget something, you are pretty much out of luck. If you miss a critical piece of equipment like helmet or bike shoes, you are out of the race. If you forget something like socks, it is not the end of the road but it means you will have a long painful day. So it is up to the individual to have planned out all clothing and nutritional needs.

Besides dropping off the bike and transition bags, Saturday is another day of waiting around. I took it easy all day. Drank lots of water. Ate a lot of carbohydrates and just lay around. It was fairly nerve racking. I was not sure what the next day had in store for me but I knew I was as prepared as I could be.

Sunday morning, the day of the race, I woke up at 3:30 and ate breakfast. I took my time getting ready and was out of the hotel by 5:00. By the time I got to the bike transition area it was like a bee hive of activity. People were milling about getting ready. We had to get our bodies marked with our race number, put on sun screen, pump of the tires, double check the transition bags and most important, visit with friends. Here we all were. After 6 months of training together we were all getting ready for the race we have been preparing for. It is odd that all during training us all swam together; we rode together and ran together. Today, we were all on our own.

At 6:45 we were all herded into the water. One by one we jumped off the dock and into the water. I was with Liz and Amanda as we hit the water. As we swam out to the starting line, we were amazed by all the spectators. They lined both of the bridges and were all along the shore. We could not get a perspective of what 2000+ athletes looked like in the water but looking at all the spectators was really cool. As we tread water, we jockeyed around and tried to find the best spot to keep from getting beat up. The swim start is the most anxious moment. 2000+ athletes are all crammed into a fixed area. Once the gun goes off, everyone is swimming like crazy. There are slow swimmers mixed in with the fast ones. There are aggressive age-group athletes shooting for a record mixed with ones that just want to survive the day. With those conditions, it is common to get kicked, punched, swam over, bumped and pushed around. We all wished each other good luck because we knew once we started swimming; we would not be seeing each other for awhile. Amanda yelled out an “I love you Gordon” to her husband who got separated from us at the dock. Not sure if he heard her or not but it was touching. Somewhere amongst the spectators was my Mom, Kelly, my sister Judy, Ro, Bill and Fran. I wished they could see me but I knew that was not going to happen. I did not know it at the time but my sister had a big banner made and it was hanging from the bridge overhead. It said Jim Opre, Ironman Athlete, and in reference ot my last attempt "Tinfoil boy of the past". It is hanging in my garage now.

The gun went off and the next thing, we were swimming the 2.4 mile course. The swim was uneventful. I got kicked a couple of times, punched in the face a couple of times but nothing that caused me any concern. I was expecting it. I did catch some good drafts every once in awhile. Those are fun. You just drift in behind a swimmer and let them cut the water for you and you just follow them as close as possible.

Out of the water in one hour and 9 minutes and into transition. I picked up my bag and headed to the changing tent. There you get met by an army of volunteers. They take care of all your gear. They dump it all on the ground and help you get changed into your biking gear. When you are suited up and ready to go, the volunteers take care of packing all your swim gear up for you. The volunteers are awesome.

Out of transition and onto the bike course in 7 minutes. The bike out was incredible. My speed was good. The roads were in great shape. I was making some incredible time that is until I reached the turnaround and headed back into town. At that point I cam face to face with a headwind that slowed me down to a crawl. The wind was straight into our faces. It was a tough day on the bike due to the wind. I heard of several athletes getting blown off course. Some were hit with debris that blew into them. The bike was tough due to the wind. It was pretty un-remarkable other than hard. I made sure to drink water and take electrolytes every 15 minutes. I stayed pretty consistent on my intake and that helped a lot. Not much to report on about the bike portion. I did share a port-o-potty with another guy. I stopped and waited in line for a pee break. No one likes being in a race and having to wait for your turn in the outhouse. Me and another guy decided that we could double up in the port-o-potty to save time. So we did. That was a first... The looks on people’s faces when we came out were pretty funny. After 7 hours and 6 minutes, I finished the 112 mile bike course. I did not do as well as I had planned.

Going into the run, I did not let the bike bother me. One piece of advice we all got was to be flexible and not let anything get you down, just because things did not go as planned. I was in and out of transition in about 6 minutes and out on the run. The first 13 miles went great. I was at about 2 hours and 25 minutes for the first 13 miles. I continued on and then at about mile 17, my run fell apart. I had energy but my legs would not run. My hip flexors would burn and ache until I stopped running. I never quit moving but I quit running. I tried to run but after a few minutes, my legs would start burning again. So, at this point my big worry was hurting myself or doing something that caused me to not finish. I started walking my way to the finish line. I managed to pull off a fast walk. It made for a long day. At about the 25.5 mile spot I ran into two friends from Austin, Nancy and Karen. They had sat there all day cheering us on. It was a welcome site to see them because I knew the finish line was really close. Karen ran alongside of me and handed me a phone. She had dialed Felicia to let me talk to her as I ran. Felicia is a teammate who was supposed to do the Ironman bit had to pull out due to back problems. Felicia wanted to know what the hell I was doing taking time to talk on the phone, congratulated me and I was off to the finish line.

Another tenth of the mile down the road, on the bridge, I came across Kelly. She was on watch for me. She relayed a phone call to let everyone know I was coming around the corner. She ran with me for awhile and told me where everyone was so I could see them when I finished. That is about all I remember of the finish. It was all a blur, I ran in, feeling strong. I did not feel like I had spent all day covering 140.6 miles under my own power. I remember seeing my Mom and Judy. I don’t remember hearing them say “Jim Opre of Austin Texas, you are an Ironman”,, I don’t remember throwing my arms in the air as I crossed the finish line and catching some air as I jumped up. It was all an overwhelming experience that was so full of a sense of accomplishment. I looked forward to being reunited with everyone who had cheered me on all day. And I especially looked forward to some food.

Six months of training, many miles of swimming, running and biking. Time well spent with some good friends and it was all over. 14 hours and 56 seconds to cover 140.6 miles. It was a high point of my life. I could not have asked for a more special day than I had. Besides completing the Ironman, I had my Wife, Mom, Sister, Daughter and friends there to celebrate with me.

I did not do as well as I would have liked. I would have liked to have a better ride and run. I would like to have heard the sound of the announcer proclaiming that I was an Ironman. So, these give me some new goals when I do my next Ironman. I hope it as rewarding as this one was, I am sure it will be.

Starting Over

Well, somehow in the move from the old BLOGGER to the New BLOGGER,, my old Blog lost connection with me. It is still out there http://esoolyats.blogspot.com but I cannot make any changes to it. Not a bad thing,, but I cannot go back in fill in all the blanks spots that I had.

Oh Well,,, I am sure everyone will find a way to live with the blank spots.