Ironman

"If you can't win, make the other person ahead of you break the record." - Unknown

I am sorry for those of you who are wanting to read this blog, and are getting ready to discover that it is not about Ironman the Marvel comic character, but Ironman, the most grueling, demanding, multisport in the world. Yes that is right, a full Ironman competition is a 2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile bike ride, and a full marathon run (26.2 miles). Are you kidding me!? There is a strict cutoff for a time limit at 17 hours for most Ironman competitions. Can you imagine working your body for that long of time? Now there are less crazy distances, but still not for the feint at heart. There is a half Ironman which is a total of 70.3 miles. It consists of a 1.2 miles swim, a 56 mile bike ride, and a half marathon (13.1 mile run). I know a few people that train for these and let me tell you, they are in crazy good physical shape. There is no joke when it comes to a iroman's personal lifestyle either. They train nearly everyday for several hours, they do brick workouts, which consist of doing maybe a mile swim, then immediately getting out of the pool and jumping straight on their bike to ride 20-30 miles or more. Their eating habits must be perfect as well. They have such a demanding lifestyle and workout regime that there are are specific guidelines to follow in order to get the best out of their triaing as possible, while staying healthy and functioning as well. I can definitely say that I will probably never do an Ironman by myself, but I am a triathlete and do compete in triathlons, just not the huge ones like this. I do ones that are called sprint triathlons. My distances are on average, a 500 meter swim, 15 miles ride, and a 5k run. Although I am training as well to do a team ironman event, where you have three people on a team and I do one event, like biking, the other two are done by the other two team members. We'll see how that goes, but as for the true ironmen out there, I have much respect for you all. Keep being the greatest athletes in the world.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ironman_Triathlon

http://www.trifind.com/iron-h.html

http://www.whenbigboystri.com/quotes.htm

Tired of My Job

I am so tried of working at my job! I work for a cell phone company and have been doing it for about 7 years. I started in Springfield, MO working right after I dropped out of college at a call center. It was dreadful and boring. You would have to clock in and be on the phones all day, or night depending on your shift. Your day would consist of getting yelled at by several customers about things that were not your fault, to having to answer call after call after call because it was always busy and you got no breaks. After 2 years of that nonsense, I got hired on into the retail side of the industry/company. I liked it at first because the commission was good and your schedule was much more relaxed and flexible. I wasn't tied down a phone on my ear all day and I could deal with the customers face to face, which I like better. I still had the customers that wanted to yell at me for things I didn't do, but I expected that. I worked in a retail store for about a year and then got hired into management, which took me away from my girlfriend at the time, and to Wichita, KS. I was an Assistant Store Manager and had to cover 6 stores in western KS. My stores were in Dodge City, Great Bend, Liberal, Garden City, and two in Hutchinson. If you have never been out that way, it is awful. There is nothing out there but tumbleweeds and cows. I was only there in that position for 3 months, then got promoted to a store manager and took over the Dodge City, KS location. That's right, The Dodge City. Cowboys, saloons, etc... Although now it it more like El Dodge City. It is about 70% Hispanic. There are a lot feed lots and slaughter houses and Mexicans come up and work them. The best part about that city was all the authentic Mexican food!! I was there for about 2 years, then had to get out of there. I took a lateral move into a store manager spot in Emporia, KS. It was OK, except I was still away form friends and family and was ready to get back to this area. I moved back in December and have been here since as a District Manager. Still working in retail and for the cell phone company. I am back in school now though to become a secondary education PE teacher. I also want to coach either tennis or soccer. I am only a sophomore right now, so most of my core classes I can take online, which does not interfere with my job. Although in about a year, I will have to quit to finish up my schooling. I am so excited for that! I will get a job doing something I would enjoy and that will still earn me a bit of money, but I will not be working full time! It will be so nice not to have to get up and work 8-5 Monday through Friday and just focus on school. Only one more year. Only one more year. Only one more year...

Floating

I am going floating this weekend at the Elk River in Noel, MO! I am super excited to go with a bunch of friends, but I know there are going to be some morons down there getting absoloutely wasted and causing a scene, fighting, etc... Why is it that people have to ruin good times for others? Don't get me wrong, I am going to be drinking, probably quite a bit, but I will not be one of the ones cursing at people, or anything like that to be obnoxious.

My wife and two of our friends went floating last weekend here in Joplin for like a two hour float. It was so nice and peaceful, then the idiots came floating by us. At one point, we were floating by a small fmaily that had two young kids, they were all swimming in this certain area and these two guys came roaring by cussing so loudly that I was totally embarrased for this family. The kids were around 5 and 8 in ages I am guessing. I almost said something, then realized it wasn't necessarily my place to interfere with the whole situation. Once again, it;s not like I don;t cuss or anything, I just choose when and where I do or do not use foul language, and in front of kids and their families is one of those places.

I am sure we will still have a good time, I just hope all the jackasses stay home this weekend, shooting roman candles out of their hands, and doing other irresponisble things off the river! Yes I know, wishful thinking!!!!