Australia: Update for a visit

Just a brief update on my proposed plans to visit Australia in the near future which i haven't commented on lately. My plans are still intact to visit "Down Under" come the 1st weekend in October in order to race in the Western Australia Duathlon Championships. I am awaiting the opening of registration for the race so that I can actually have it checked off of my list.

My next goal is establishing a time line as to the length of my visit. Throwing a wrench in this mix is the fact that I will almost certainly be making a stop in NZ and am thinking about having a couple day layover in order to compete in a running race there. Luckily for me, one of my best friends is actually moving to NZ in August so I will have somewhere to stay for a couple days.

I am so thankful to have so many people that support me in so many ways. Some have helped financially and other have helped by providing me with kind and supportive words. My hope is that by mid July I will have my plane ticket purchased and only have some minor trip details to lock up.

We all have dreams. In order to make dreams come into reality, it takes an awful lot of determination, dedication, self-discipline and effort.

Their are certainly times when I think, why don't I just act like a normal person? Finish a good days work with dinner with some friends while chatting over a few drinks and heading home to relax on the couch. That sounds just blissful at this point, I think its something that I often battle with and have battled with over the years. Trying to lead a busy social life while kind of half assing my training for whatever event is in the forefront.

Now that I have signed on with Studio 7 and Lance Leo as my fulltime coach, I have fully committed myself towards attaining some proposed goals in 2011. 2010 is basically a wash for me as I am using it as my building year for triathlons, to gain strength and experience. Putting in a full years worth of dedication and hard work should reap some major benefits come 2011 race season which will be specifically planned out permitting I stay injury free.

Sometimes I wonder what separates the "men from the boys" and it basically seems to boil down to hard work in endurance athletics. I kind of like what Bill Bowerman once said with pushing yourself to limits.

"the real purpose of running isn't to win a race; it's to test the limits of the human heart. A teacher is never too smart to learn from his pupils. But while runners differ, basic principles never change. So it's a matter of fitting your current practices to fit the event and the individual. See, what's good for you might not be worth a darn for the next guy."

"Testing" my personal limits is certainly a goal of mine and in order to do so appropriately I have realized that I must cut certainly luxuries out of life to attain this. Luckily I can keep my head on straight while staying focused on ultimate goals in life, with the main one being "Happy" and "Content" with life. Along with achieving my individual goals, I hope through my coaching service as well as volunteer work I can impact other people's lives in a positive way....this is what really matters.

New events that pop out of no where

Last night I posted that I accepted a position at "Greenapple Sports & Wellness" as a Chiropractic Aid which to many is a shock because of some other prior stated plans. The initial goal of moving to Australia has been scraped at this point in time, because after adding up the benefits of this job opportunity locally, I felt that it was in my best interest to stick around.
Greenapple Sports & Wellness has a very good name in the community and the possibilities of expanding my coaching business can actually be increased through this avenue as well while interacting with clients. Now down to my goal of heading to Australia! Mike Kahn shocked me by announcing that he would start a fundraiser while he is preparing for the NYC marathon to assist me in my journey "Down under".
I want to state that I am still traveling to Australia, but for a much more brief stint. The goal with heading Down Under will be to knock out 2 races, one being a duathlon in western Australia and the other being a BIG olympic distance triathlon on the gold coast. In the Duathlon I will be able to race one of my best friends in Cody Angell and its motivational to say the least. Every time that we have raced each other we pretty much "Lay it on the line" trying to break each other from the get go with crazy surges and maybe even some classic "Lance Armstrong" stare backs during the ride.

Thank you to everyone who has donated $ for my trip, I will not be moving there BUT I will still be heading over to race some amazing competition and what it boils down to is that it will cost exactly the same to get there. I will continue updating my blog with updates while leading up to my trip as well as triathlon recaps. next up: Over the Mountain