I Might Be Crazy, Part 2

So on top of all that reading I mentioned in my last post, I also have some pretty ambitious physical goals.

I posted about my goal to qualify for the Ironman World Championships a while back and I've been working toward that end. In fact, I am going to Panama City, FL next week to register for the 2011 race. I tried to register for the 2010 race last year online but the race was sold out within an hour of registration opening online. So I did some homework and here is what I found. Participants in the current year's race can register on race day. Registration opens to others on-site Sunday morning, and online registration opens at noon. So I'll be there the morning after the race, credit card in hand (I would pay with cash, but plastic is all they'll take).

A good friend of mine, Matt Hamilton, got into triathlons a while back and has caught the bug. He is registered for Ironman Texas in May 2011 so he's been a good training buddy. Until...

The best I can guess is that I'm overweight and much older than I used to be. Two months ago, I had a few nagging injuries that just kept getting worse, so right now I'm in the middle of a six week running break. I can still swim without any problems (if I'll just go to the pool), but I've been hesitant to get on the bike because I don't want to aggravate a back injury I've been nursing. All that to say, I am still working toward qualifying for Kona, it just probably won't happen at the 2011 race.

So where am I going to get the time to train 5-10 hrs a week early on and upwards of 15-20 later, plus reading 10-15 hrs a week? That's a great question! I'll let you know! Right now, it's getting up early, not watching as much TV, and disciplining myself to get my work done at the job in a set amount of hours. I'm realizing that I have extra time that could come from all the time I spend on Facebook and Twitter, but I'll save that for later :)

Dinosaurs!!!

January 14-16 I attend the CCCA Texas Sectional Conference at Riverbend Retreat Center in Glen Rose, TX. The retreat center is locate right off the Brazos River and here are some photos I put together to capture the view of the river and plains. The conference was surprisingly good. I had the opportunity to teach a seminar on the role of retail gift shops in Christian camping. I also learned a few things, which is always good.
We had some free time on the afternoon of the 15th, and Dinosaur Valley State Park is located in Glen Rose. A guy named Hans from Frontier Camp is amazingly intelligent, and took us on a guided and commentate tour of the park, explaining his thoughts on creation, the flood, and bunch of other really interesting stuff. Most of the tracks in the park are from sauropods, probably Pleurocoelus, and there are some carnosaur tracks, probably Acrocanthosaurus.
This one just couldn't resist me. That and she threatened to step on me if I didn't kiss her.

Nike+ Challenge

Last month I started this Nike+ challenge with Deyl and DJ, and had this little widget on my blog about the progress. DJ uses Spam Arrest, and he never gets his email :p so he never confirmed the invite. that being said, Deyl kicked my butt...albeit by a technicality. I suppose there are runs that he may not have loaded, but I forgot to load the 15 miles I ran while I was staying at Deyl's house. (i know what they say about excuses...everyone has one and all of them stink)

So congrats Deyl...Texas I'm sorry.