A True Representation of Kentucky

The Turtle Man is one unique individual. So many quote worthy lines. Watch & enjoy as he showcases his skills.

I’m Not Going to Kona...Yet

My brother & sister had purchased me a Kona lottery slot as a Christmas present & as many of you Ironman junkies know, this past weekend the 150 Kona lottery winners were announced. I unfortunately was not one of them. I can’t believe I didn’t get a spot! I mean I was only going up against about 8,000 other people. Seriously though it was pretty fun thinking about the possibility of racing in the Ironman World Championship for the last three & a half months, but it just wasn’t meant to be. I’ll get there one day, someway, somehow.

After keeping track of my sister’s Ironman Arizona race throughout the day this past Sunday, I finally got back in the mood to really start training again. So thanks Monica. I also believe that watching a live Ironman finish line video feed cures all “I-don’t-wanna-train-itis”. If you really need to up the motivational factor, wait until the last 30 minutes that the course is open to tune in. If that doesn’t help then I don’t know what will get you into training. That's all for now. Consistency is key.

Iron Endurance

So here is my shameless little plug for my sisters recently made official coaching company, Iron Endurance. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Exercise Science and is working towards a Master’s in Business Administration (Dec. ’08). She is a Certified Personal Trainer through the American College of Sports Medicine and is a USA Triathlon Certified Level 1 Coach. She has been training/coaching athletes for over three years and racing in triathlons for over four.

As a triathlete, Monica specializes in Ironman distance races. In 2007, she placed 1st in her age group and 20th overall in Ironman Louisville, which earned her a slot to compete in the Ironman World Championships. Be on the lookout for her in 2008, as she’s training for a breakthrough year!

Monica is one of the most driven & focused people I have ever met & I’m so happy for her that she has been able to combine her passion with work. Her clients will benefit greatly from her guidance & knowledge. It’s actually pretty nice having a triathlon coach in the family. I’m pretty sure that means all immediate family members (me) get free coaching. Good luck with the biz Monica, you freaking ROCK! & good luck this weekend at Ironman Arizona, you’re going to ROCK that as well!

I Strongly Dislike Influenza

F-ing influenza!! That stuff is brutal this year. Last week I was lucky enough to contract it, so I was able to watch all the 1^st round NCAA tournament basketball games. That was really about the only cool thing that I got out of it & I would have gladly given that up to feel better. I even got a flu shot this year, but we’ve all been made aware that those were pretty much worthless. So I’m thinking I should get a refund or something. Oh well, I’m on the mend & will back to full strength soon.

St Patty's Day & The Beer Mile

Happy St. Patrick’s Day to all! I already started the celebrating this past Saturday night by visiting a local Irish pub & consuming many delicious Guinness beers & a few Irish car bombs while listening to an authentic Irish band. Good times were had by all...except for the people who had a few too many car bombs way too early in the evening…you know who you are.

So last night my family was discussing the fact that we are of Irish decent & that we should really celebrate this years St. Patty’s day in some sort of incredible fashion. You know not just your boring green beer kind of celebration. So my sister suggested the Beer Mile. Which I thought was a spectacular idea. We then spent the rest of the evening tying to figure a way to get my parents to participate. We came up with some possible options for the people who might not actually be able to complete a “true” Beer Mile, but still want to combine sport & drinking. One idea was drink a half beer for every lap, another was to have a two person relay team and the last was a 100 yard dash, drink a beer followed by the ol’head on the end of a baseball bat & spin around 10 times. We’ll see if any of these ideas actually get put into action…I can only hope. Happy St. Patty’s Day & be safe.

There are many good reasons for drinking,
One has just entered my head.
If a man doesn't drink when he's living,
How in the hell can he drink when he's dead?

We Are All Hamsters

Finally the weather here is starting to break. It's kind of funny saying that 2 days after we got a foot of snow dumped on us, but the last couple of days have been sunny and near the 50's which seems like summer after some very cold months. So I am praying that it continues, because I just can't be holed up in a house or a gym anymore. I am more than ready to get outside on a regular basis after having to spend many training days in the gym or on the trainer. So here is a picture to celebrate the upcoming spring & summer, & to say goodbye to regular visits to the treadmill. Get out and enjoy it people.

The New Year The New YOU

Ok my last post was November 12th, 2007 and at the end I said “more Kona experiences to follow.” Here it is more than two months later and I haven’t posted another single “Kona experience”. I think it is just time to move on and just post something...anything! I’ll close my thoughts on IM Kona 07 with this. It was unbelievably awesome and I might actually be racing in it next year since my brother & sister gave me a lottery entry for Christmas. I guess I’ll know if I need to really start training come April 15, 2008 when the winners are announced. Besides the possibility of racing Kona, 2008 will be "The Year of the Half" for me. Currently I have two half's that are for sure. Other than those, the schedule is open.

For now though I haven’t been doing any triathlon related training and it’s been a nice break. Instead I have been doing some weight training to get ready for the upcoming year and for something completely different I have taken up Muay Thai. It’s great too! For an hour & half you get beaten & bruised. It also gives you a heart pounding workout. I’m starting to get used to the movements & the pace, but after the first couple of weeks I was hurting bad. I’m signed up until March so we’ll see if the beatings will continue when we get there. For now I’m back...hopefully more consistently this time...I think I’ve said before...oh well.