My friend, David

I have blogged a few times about this guy, David Pollay. I just got through reading his last couple of posts. The Law of the Narrator - who is narrating our life? Is it ourselves? What are we saying? What are we telling others? More importantly, what are we telling ourselves? Bring out your best narrator.

The Goal of the Hallway - What matters most? Family. Period.

Happiness Label - Like calorie labels on desserts, we make choices every day for what will bring us the most (true) happiness.

Thanks, David. I've never met you. I intend to someday. You're my kind of guy. Keep it up!

Robert Browning quote

"Grow old along with me!
The best is yet to be,
The last of life,
for which the first was made:
Our times are in His hand
Who saith, "A whole I planned,
Youth shows but half;
trust God: see all, nor be afraid."

Oceanside -#604

Okay, so I know that over a MONTH has passed and I haven't actually posted my race report. Things have been pretty busy, and Facebook pretty much takes up all my time (okay not ALL my time). So here we are, Rich and I with the pre-race picture. It was still dark when we wheeled our bikes over to T1 about 5:30 in the morning. I had my usual oatmeal, juice, yogurt, and nerves for breakfast. This time around I had my COOL tri-bag that Rich gave me for my birthday. I was excited.

Here we are just about to start. Green caps. I'm ready. Feeling good. Ready to race. So how was my swim. NO FREAKIN better than last year. I guess that is better than doing worse than last year but I was disappointed. For some reason I just couldn't get into a rhythm. I couldn't find someone to follow, I wasn't enjoying the salt water, my goggles kept fogging up. Oh well, better time next year. My mom was certainly glad that I didn't drown.

Now it was time to ride. I was excited to see how well I would do riding Donkey this year. I opted to forgo the Zipp wheels as I wanted to simply compare bike to bike. The first 20 miles or so you are going pretty fast. With the wind, and flat. So you think you are having a great ride. Then you start hitting the hills and I was slowing down. About 38 miles out, Rich came up beside me and said that we were barely over 19 mph thus far. CRAP. Time to kick it big time. So for the next 18 miles I went hard. Really hard. I felt good great. Rich says he had a hard time keeping up (but I don't really believe him). As always, the road support was great. I really enjoy racing through the military base and have all of the soldiers cheer you on.


Here we are coming in to T2. It was such a beautiful day. I couldn't believe it. Time to run.

So new this year was running on the beach. Although this is supposed to be "cool". It was NOT. Beach running is hard. Running up hill on the beach is even harder. But with a cool breeze and the ocean right there, I can't think of a better setting. My goal this year was to not stop. Last year I had never even run 13 miles. It was tough and I hated it last year. This year? I rocked. I didn't keep my sub 8:00 min pace that I wanted to but I didn't stop. I am a much stronger runner and I'm only getting better. Anyone that says that they can't run is fooling themselves.

Here we are just after the finish. We both felt great. Crossed (rolled across) the finish line once again, together and 45 minutes faster than last year. I was just as hungry (ate about 10 pieces of pizza, a few oranges, cookies, soda, and whatever else there was) but I wasn't dying like last year. It was a great day. A great race. Already signed up for next year and looking for another 45 minutes off my PR. If you want a fun 70.3 this is it.

Oceanside - Second time around

Okay, I have a number of events coming up so I'd better get this report out. First of all, I had a great time. Second I had a great time, and last of all I had a great time. If you don't like long blog posts then you can just read this first paragraph and move on. Long story short, I bettered my time this year by almost 45 minutes over last year. I know that I can do better. I really like Oceanside and I hope to race there year in and year out until I'm 80. Okay, there you have it. Move on OR Read on.

TriRich and I packed up the Burb and headed out Tuesday evening. We drove about half way and stayed the night in Vegas. Our Vegas stay was short and as always memorable (and this time educational). I'm so lucky to have a friend like Rich. I hope all of you out there in Triathlon world has as good of a training partner as I do.

The next day we arrived in Sunny California. So good to be there. I could (and maybe should) live there. The Beach and I are....... We went out for a run along the beach.

Did I mention that I could (and should) live there? Here I am shortly after a nice 5-6 mile run celebrating in front of the Oceanside pier.

The next day, it was time to take Donkey out for a ride. The race bike course is mostly on Camp Pendleton which is off limits to civilians. So instead we rode south along the coast past Carlsbad and had a nice 30+ mile ride. Did I mention that I could live there? Donkey was ready. My legs felt great.


Later that day we registered and walked around the Expo. Last year the Expo was a big deal. All the vendors, people, excitement. This year it seemed not quite as exciting. Now don't get me wrong, I still bought my share of IM merchandise. One of the booths we stopped at was a contraption to help you be a better swimmer. Must have worked for Rich because he beat me out of the water by 2 minutes on Saturday.

After visiting the Expo it was time to hit the water. We wanted to get out and swim and get accustomed to the water. The waves were pretty rough but we managed to swim up and down the coast for about 40 minutes or so. Then it was time to play. Did I mention that I could (should) live there? I really could.

After dinner we walked around the harbor where the Start/Finish line and transition area is.

Our last activity before the race was an afternoon trip to Knott's Berry Farm. I hadn't been there since I was a young boy. I wasn't too keen on standing in long lines and walking around a day before the race. However, as short as the trip was, we all had a great time. There are a number of fun roller coasters.

Lines? What lines. There were NO lines. Now, this is probably a young persons dream but I for one can only take so much of constant coasters. We were getting our fill and we were getting it fast.
Here we are relaxing in the sun. It was a beautiful day. Did I mention that I could (should) live there?

We finished off the day with a nice dinner at Claimjumper. Check out this cake. Holy cow. Did he eat it? Nope, it was just a camera moment. Guess how many calories are in this tiny slice? 3500 freakin' ones! Wow!

This concludes the pre-race activities and preparation. Game on! Let's race.

Oceanside 09

No, I'm not in this video but it is cool! I will be posting a recap soon!

BZZZ! I'm being SO stimulated

My "favorite" aunt sent me this link the other day. It is pretty interesting. Of course since it's on the internet it MUST be true. You can read all about the "stimulus" work that is going on in your state and also for any of your neighbors. I know that there was a bunch of hub-bub during the elections about the "Bridge To Nowhere". From what I can tell, that has nothing on some of these projects. Enjoy. I wonder if anyone is taking suggestions. I have some.

Q & A - with JJ

Now this is with JJ:

1. What is something dad always says to you? - "unplug"
2. What makes dad happy? - "spending time with him"
3. What makes dad sad? - "not being able to see his kids activities/sports"
4. How does dad make you laugh? - "wrestling"
5. What was dad like as a child? - "smart, no take that back, ladies man"
6. How old is your dad? - "42"
7. How tall is your dad? - 6'5"
8. What is his favorite thing to do? - "spend time with his kids"
9. What does your dad do when you're not around? - "exercise no, sandbag"
10. If your dad becomes famous, what will it be for? - "most successful ironman/civil engineer"
11. What is your dad really good at? - "chess"
12. What is your dad not very good at? - "video games"
13. What does your dad do for his job? - "civil engineer"
14. What is your dad's favorite food? - "smoothies"
15. What makes you proud of your dad? - "how hard he works"
16. If your dad were a cartoon character, who would he be? - "a combination of Dilbert and Grover"
17. What do you and your dad do together? - "listen to music and travel"
18. How are you and your dad the same? - "we love to run"
19. How are you and your dad different? - "I'm trash him in long distance"
20. How do you know your dad loves you? - "because of how much time he wants to spend with me and how much fun we have together"

Q & A - with Jake

Now, this is with Jake:

1. What is something dad always says to you? - "Make your bed."
2. What makes dad happy? - "Finishing an Ironman"
3. What makes dad sad? - "when I'm not around"
4. How does dad make you laugh? - "Olivia"
5. What was dad like as a child? - "Athletic"
6. How old is your dad? - "42"
7. How tall is your dad? - 6' 4"
8. What is his favorite thing to do? - "Run an Ironman"
9. What does your dad do when you're not around? - "relax in the quietness at home"
10. If your dad becomes famous, what will it be for? - "Running an Ironman"
11. What is your dad really good at? - "biking"
12. What is your dad not very good at? - "relaxing"
13. What does your dad do for his job? - "an engineer"
14. What is your dad's favorite food? - "chicken"
15. What makes you proud of your dad? - "how athletic you are"
16. If your dad were a cartoon character, who would he be? - "daffy duck"
17. What do you and your dad do together? - "lacrosse"
18. How are you and your dad the same? - "both very athletic"
19. How are you and your dad different? - "you're taller than me"
20. How do you know your dad loves you? - "because you play sports with me"

Q & A - with Olivia

Okay, thanks to my cousin I decided to ask Olivia a few questions. Here are her answers:

1. What is something dad always says to you? - "Make your bed"
2. What makes dad happy? - "Me"
3. What makes dad sad? - "When I'm not here"
4. How does dad make you laugh? - "By tickling me"
5. What was dad like as a child? - "Crazy"
6. How old is your dad? - "42"
7. How tall is your dad? - "About 5 feet"
8. What is his favorite thing to do? - "Stay on your computer"
9. What does your dad do when you're not around? - "You swim, you bike, and you run"
10. If your dad becomes famous, what will it be for? - "I don't know.
11. What is your dad really good at? - "Cranium"
12. What is your dad not very good at? - "Nothing"
13. What does your dad do for his job? - "Types and make things work"
14. What is your dad's favorite food? - "Oatmeal"
15. What makes you proud of your dad? - "Ironman finisher"
16. If your dad were a cartoon character, who would he be? - "Mickey Mouse"
17. What do you and your dad do together? - "Jump on the tramp and play games"
18. How are you and your dad the same? - "Both like computers"
19. How are you and your dad different? - "You're a boy and I'm a girl"
20. How do you know your dad loves you? - "Because he tucks me in bed"

AAR - My song of the week/month/year

I've been meaning to post this. Great song, great video, great lyrics. I'm glad I have have great neighbors. Enjoy the song and video. Enjoy your life.

Am I nuts?

So am I just crazy or what? Signing up for a 2nd Ironman when I haven't even finished the first one? But call me compulsive. Call me looney. But it was calling me. Wanting me. It's in my own backyard for heaven's sake. Last year doing the 1/2 Ironman, I decided that that race was the hardest thing I had ever done. Now, with just a couple of weeks out, I'm really not too nervous about it. Come June, well, that's a different story. Anyhow, bring it on!

And for those triathletes out there in the world that are not familiar with my home state, St. George is awfully beautiful. Great time of the year as well. You will NOT be disappointed. Come on out. Let me show you MY home.

Beauty is a Beast

For the past couple of months Olivia has been preparing for the play "Beauty is a Beast". Kind of a spin from the "Beauty and the Beast" story. Olivia played 1 of the 4 "Beauty" parts. The premise is that this princess is mean and selfish so her 3 fairy godmothers turn her into a peasant where she not only falls in love with a poor boy but also realizes the error of her ways. Olivia was great and a natural.

The Great Debater (part II)

Last Saturday JJ competed at the State competition for debate and other forensic events. JJ is good. He's very good. And he proved it by taking first place in Foreign Extemp. The students are given a topic from international current events and they have 30 minutes to prepare a 7 minute speech. He faced some very stiff competition but still came out on top. Good job, JJ!

We're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo. How about you you you?

Olivia's class took a trip to the infamous Hogle Zoo on Monday. A very calm group of well behaved children.

In front of the infamous "Elephant trunk" memorial.

I'm not sure what is up with the gang signs but Olivia and Christian are all about looking "cool"

Holy Hell!!!

Watch CBS Videos Online

Mi ahijada

Isn't she just darling?

Hi, I'm a Lymph node

So I'm no nurse. No doctor. But this afternoon I got to learn about the human organ - the Lymph node. These "nodes" are found all through the body and act as a "trap" for foreign particles. So when you get sick or are exposed to some kind of bacteria or something, the body tries to send this to one of these nodes. The nodes have these vessels to provide access to it. So this foreign object gets trapped and then surrounded by lots of cells and the cells continue to grow to keep this object trapped until it can process it and better protect the body the next time it is exposed to the foreign object. This is the job of the white blood cells. Children are more prone to "swollen glands" because their bodies haven't been exposed to as much crap as adults. I also learned that a healthy person could have an enlarged node because of a previous infection. Do you know how many lymph nodes the typical person has? I didn't. I had to look it up. Between 500-600? Simply amazing. I'm sure there is much more to learn but I found it fascinating. I learned something today that I didn't know before. The human body, my human body is SIMPLY AMAZING. It is a miracle. Eyes, heart, lungs, muscle, brain. And to think I can push this body to swim, then bike, and then run. It is amazing. I'm grateful for my health. I really am. I wake up every single more with a full heart thanking my Heavenly Father that I am healthy.

Encircled in His arms

Happy Birthday, my Angel

Happy Birthday, Olivia. Words cannot express how much you mean to me. I'm glad that I was part of your birthday today and I am so grateful to be your father.

Olivia passed out yummy cupcakes to her classmates (don't worry, I did not eat one)


Olivia enjoyed spreading frosting all over her mug.


Olivia with her teacher, Miss Street and one of her classmates.


We went to lunch (just the two of us). Olivia picked Rumbi and it was tasty. Afterwords, I took her shopping. She and I had a blast. Of course the weather was beautiful today. The snow has finally melted and the sky was blue and Olivia had a big smile on her face.

Today, Olive turns 8 and do you know what that means? NO MORE BOOSTER SEAT! That was the FIRST thing on her agenda today. Sweetie, you are so grown up.


Maybe sometime later I'll put together a small slide show of some of my favorite pictures of Olivia. I guess that is the thing to do. At any rate, Happy Birthday, girl.

Will you be my Valentine

I almost let this slip by but I wanted to capture the moment. I could not be blessed with a better sweetheart. Last year it was Fluffy (a big white bear), this year it was a big pink puppy.