Summer here???

Beautiful day and the weather is looking sunny and hot for the Canada Day long weekend. We get tomorrow off. I'm hoping this time summer is her to stay, it's been the worst year I can remember weather wise. I haven't had to many warm weather training days.

I had a meeting at 12:30 pm and did a ride in the morning. Just to loosen up the legs. I think I'll get back into full training swing on Saturday and get back on my regular training schedule. My legs felt really good. I noticed the knee was a little sore at the beginning of the ride and fine by the end. I find that happens when I don't train or take a few days off. My body starts breaking down.

At work it was a conference call with the software developers of the photo book software we own. They are also the guys who I've been putting a business plan together with regarding an online yearbook business. Unfortunately their photo book product is not working as it was sold to us. As much as I like the guys, I need to do what's best for the company. They don't yet know it but it looks like we will not be using their product anymore and will be going with another company.

As the meeting was going on I had my laptop in front of me and it looked like I was taking notes. Nah....I was tweeting. I was still listening when it was important and tweeting away. Had everyone fooled. I only had one other conference call and that person bailed so off home I went. To my kegerator and pinball machine. From 4 pm on, Alice and I sat outside on the deck.

I've got a new routine. Every time I go for a beer, I pull it, let the foam settle and while it's settling I play a game of pin ball. I noticed that the one ramp on the machine that Nick tried to glue is coming apart. I emailed him and he said if I get the part he'll install it. Perfect. Once I have that ramp fixed the machine should be near perfect condition. I've gone to far and spent to much not to fix it and keep it.

Reid came out and hung out with us last night. We shared a couple of cigars. He was telling us about a steriod pumped guy at the part that was giving him and his friends a hassle tonight. It was a funny story. Reid said he's like me, drama follows him where ever he goes. Tonight he also spent $206 of his graduation money, all on high end sports caps. Stuff he says will be really valuable one day. I believe him, he usually does his research before buying anything.

Yesterday Alice showed me a book that Reid got as a graduation present from his Resource Teacher Mrs. Lubric.  Reid is part of a special adapted learning program and is referred to as LD (Learning Disabled). Schools always been a struggle for him and they give him a program that is below the current grade standard. He's by no means stupid, he's just a visual learner and struggles with traditional teaching techniques. I will say since we moved to Ontario and Reid started the program in grade two it's been great support. The resources to help him have been great.

In all the years all of Reid's resource teachers have taken a liking to him and tell us how good of a kid he is at parent teacher meetings. The last Mrs Lubric has really taken a liking to him. She's older, married, financially well off, has older kids and developed a special bond with Reid. They just look at each other and start laughing. She's one of those odd teachers that has common sense, really enjoys working with the kids and realizes how absurd some of the other teachers act. Reid and her can communicate through a simple look or roll of the eyeballs.

The present that Reid got from Mrs Lubric was the Doctor Seuss book THE PLACE'S YOU'LL GO. Alice showed it to me and I read it cover to cover. It was a very touching book. She really believes in Reid. She knows his dreams to be a big time director and they talked movies all the time. She was also a big supporter to help prepare him for College and behind the scenes coached us on how to deal with the new resource teacher at his new high school. Which we did and Reid was grateful. The wanted to put him in more easy courses and we pushed back thanks to her guidance. There was Alice, Reid and I one one side of the table and 4 or 5 of them on the other side, including Mrs Lubric and she was my go too person when I needed a straight answer. There was definitely politics being played with them all behind the scenes and she was totally focused on what was right for Reid.

What I love about Reid is he is 100% certain he is going to make it big time. In his mind he already has the nice cars, the big homes and is unwavering in his future looking bright. I love it. What he lacks in book smarts he well makes up for it with common sense and self-confidence. He's also a really good kid, both our kids are. We been very lucky that way. I pinch myself everyday that I have such a great family and I don't look forward to the day the birds will leave the nest so I'm consciously savouring the flavour.



Mod Bike - 1:26:21 / 44.18 km / 30.7 kph avg / 123 avg hr

June Monthly Training Totals
Swim - 7.5 km
Bike - 1159 km
Run - 155.48 km
Total - 1321.98 km
Calories Burnt - 52,997
61.17 hrs

Wow, two days in a row of working semi-hard, four meetings today. By 3 pm I was exhausted and it was time to come home.

One of the calls I had was with Tom, one of the guys that I was working on the on-line yearbook business plan with. We are now down to the short strokes and are just finalizing the level of cash and share structure for that cash that we require and will offer. 

He asked me what I'm doing with AG now and it was the perfect door opening. I explained that last week they came to me with a very generous financial package to stay with the company. I told him it threw me for a loop and I told them that I need a couple of weeks to think about it, I have something else I was planing on pursuing and need some time to mull it over. I didn't want to tell Tom I'm out to quickly. I want him to be part of the process over the next couple of weeks. 

Tom was understanding and asked if there was something more that he could do to make it worth my while, we had never really discussed share's or bonuses. We'd only discussed a $200,000 salary. I said "yes, I'm open to discussing those, I'd prefer it, I rather make a decision knowing the full scope of both packages". Over then next week or two we'll discuss further. 

In a way I think this is the best approach. Tom now knows my position and rather than saying no, this may evolve into something different that still works for both of us, or keeps the door open for future if things go sideways at AG. My big concern with AG is whether they are going to stay in the photo book business long term or if they are prepared to bridge the losses until the volumes increase.

I was tracking tweets all day from Jamie, he moved today into his new house. I emailed him and Alice and I showed up to visit as they were moving in. We had some, beers, cigars and then ordered some food. More on the food later in the post. The house they bought is awesome. It's huge, yet very homey. He even has a little pool house in the back yard that I call the "club house" and we sat out there having a cigar. I can't say enough about this place, it's awesome inside and outside. The backyard is like a park, you get a different view whatever direction your looking. When we got home after spending the night at their place, our place didn't seem so nice anymore. Never experienced that before, funny how that works.

The big drama happened when we ordered some food from Pizzaville. It was their first meal in the house and my house warming gift. Where Jamie and Barb live is somewhat in the country, not more than 3-5 km from City Limits. I ordered from Pizzaville and the madness began. Below is the email that I sent to Pizzaville in complaint that explains it all. 

Dear President / CEO

I doubt I will ever order from Pizzaville again or talk positively about your company.

Yesterday I was treated like a second rate citizen and berated by one of your employees at the Burlington location. (Upper Middle / Appleby).

I ordered a pizza for delivery to a friends new house (On bluffs way in Burlington). We waited over 90 minutes, pizza didn't arrive. I called back and they said they tried to call us, the house was out of their delivery zone, they mentioned it was dispatched to their Kennedy and Derry Store. I told them that's not even near us, we're in Burlington. They put me on hold and then came back and said someone called to tell us we were out of the zone. We did not get the message at that time. It turns out there was a problem with the phone and eventually later that night the message did arrive in the voicemail.

Instead, I asked them to place the order with the Burlington store and I would pick up.

I got to the location and checked the order. I've ordered from you guys MANY times and often the order is incorrect or something is missing like dipping sauce. Sure enough, there was only 10 hot wings and I ordered 10 hot wings and 10 medium wings.

I wasn't happy. It had now been close to 2 hours after placing the original order and I was hungry. Not to mention my wife is a diabetic and needs to eat on schedule. I expressed my displeasure with the guy who was working at the front and he then started getting aggressive and telling me "he didn't make the mistake and if you have a problem with it, call the order desk". I explained "I understand you just get the order, I'm frustrated, I haven't eaten, I didn't get the call I was out of your order area and now the order is wrong and I'm not in the frame of mind that I have the patience to call your head office. I just want my food".

As I was trying to resolve this and work it through, he would deal with other people instead of just processing my credit card to let me leave with my food. He had no empathy for my situation even after it was explained to him.

The worst was when he looked at the wings and saw that although the order was 10 medium wings, they made a mistake and made 20 medium wings and now he started to charge me for the 10 extra medium wings that I didn't order. I got upset. I told him how could you charge me for something I didn't order and you screwed up. I said I'm a good loyal customer and why are you treating me like this, I'm never going to order from you guys again.

Then the madness began. He looked at the bill and barked out, "you are a 0 (zero) customer, you have never ordered from us before" and started yelling and sticking the bill in my face to show me the big 0. He was humiliating me in your restaurant in front of other people.

I told him that this is my friends new house and I used their phone number, that my phone number for my home is different. He went over the deep end and got more and more aggressive and loud. Frankly I was getting a little frightened. He was of some middle-eastern dissent and I'm not sure what to expect from their cultural differences and I wasn't going to get into a fight over a $50 pizza order. I told him to give me my credit card back and you can keep the food and left. He was happy to do that and was gloating as I left.

BTW, you can check my system, my phone number is 905.616.1383. I AM A LOYAL CUSTOMER.

Then I drive to Domino's and on the way I call your dispatch and tell the story and instead of getting I'm sorry sir, I get a "I'm the guy that called the phone and left a message, you're more than welcome to call head office and complain during business hours. He also explained that Pizzaville sometimes does have issues of culture and English comprehension at the store level and it was unfortunate" and that was it. No, "I'm sorry what can we do to resolve this, or we want to keep you as a valued client". It was all, the spirit of "we felt we did what was required and I can do no more".

I'm not sure if this letter is going to get to the top person. I hope it does so that they know why I will never order from you guys again, nor will my friends, and as a business owner myself I've always known that one bad customer service experience people will tell over 10 others.

To put it in perspective, from my house alone, you have easily just lost $600 a year in sales. Not to mention how much more from friends and family. Lets say conservatively it will be $1200 this year.

You do all kinds of advertising I see it everywhere and I know it's not cheap, my $1200 would have help pay for some of those billboards. Heck, you probably wouldn't even have to advertise as much if you just treated customers with respect and understanding. Had you, you'd continued to get business and free word of mouth advertising from me. Now you have lost me as a customer, my friends and others who I talk to.

In the end, I didn't get my $50 order, but you just lost a whole lot more.

BYE BYE PIZZAVILLE!!!!!

Sincerely,

Bryan Payne

P.S. I don't really know why I took the time to write this letter other than I'm furious and I guess it will add to the story as I don't expect any response based on the culture of customer service I see from your staff.

Now the drama didn't end there. Before I went to Pizzaville to pick up the food, I went home to pick up some Rum for Alice and Reid asked if he could join me, he wanted to see the house. 

From the car Reid said he saw a big argument with the guy and me, he said the guys arms were waving like mad and my hands were going. It was Italian heritage against Ak-bar heritage. Then he saw me come back into the car with no food. Frankly, that was a mistake and I knew it before I walked out of the store. I should have just paid for the food and left. Instead I peed my pants with anger and left with no food and Alice, Barb and Jamie hungry and waiting for me and now I had to go somewhere else and have them start my order from the beginning and wait. 

On the way to Domino's I called Pizzaville to complain and I was still complaining on the phone as I walked into Domino's. I didn't realize I left my keys in the car. I placed my order at Domino's, they said it would be about 10 minutes. We went back to the car and I realized I must have left my keys in the car, no problem I've done it before. I go to open the door and it's locked. WTF??? It turns out that Reid decided to lock the doors before he closed his. DOH!!!!!

Now this was a moment of truth. I was so mad and pissed off. I just had a whole drama with Pizzaville, had to place a new order with Domino's and now the keys were locked in my truck and Alice, Barb and Jamie are waiting for me. The first thing you want to do is yell at Reid, "what did you do that for, are you an idiot?". BUT I DIDN'T. I wanted to, but didn't. I held it together. I don't know how, but I did. Reid looked upset at himself, why beat on him. 

My first reaction was to grab the door handle and rip the door off. Then I realized that that wouldn't work. Then to break the glass. Then Reid asked, "what are we going to do". I said I guess we'll call a tow truck and wait a couple hours for them to open it up. Reid then said, "why don't we just call Alyssa and have her bring over the spare keys?" DOH!!!!! Why didn't I think of that. So that's what we did. I called Alyssa, she knew I was on the edge and politely explained the situation and told her I need her to get over here right away. I definitely couldn't have called the cops. I had a big 40 ounce bottle of Rum sitting in the middle of the front seats. 

While we waited for Alyssa and our food to be cooked, we went across the parking lot to Shoppers drug mart to pick up Pop. Domino's was too expensive. I had only prescription sunglasses on and had to take them off which means I can't see and I'm looking for Root Beer for Alex and look like Mr. Magoo with my face pressed up inches from the bottles. Thank god for Reid being there to help find it. I then needed some sugar to sooth me and picked up some M & M's Almonds on sale. They turned out to be horrible, they must have been 2 years old. Even Reid said they tasted terrible. 

We got back to Domino's and the food was ready and Alyssa hadn't yet arrived with the keys. We had to wait outside with the food on top of a garbage can lid as people went in and out of domino's. I couldn't wait and started eating. As we were standing there, I thought a fight might break out between me and some drunk kid. As we're standing, he drives into the parking spot in front of Domino's at high speed and stops on a dime. He gets out of the car, you can tell he's totally drunk. He's looking at me, eyeballing, I think, I didn't have any glasses on. Reid later said he was looking back and forth at me and the deal signs on the windows. I was looking away from him I didn't want to get into it. Reid said the guy had a "heating and air conditioning" logo on the back of his shirt. 

Finally Alyssa arrived. All the while Alice was texting Reid and Alyssa wondering what happened. They were worried I was pulled over by the cops or was in jail. Reid responded "Long Story" and "will be there soon". By this point it was dark outside and from the initial phone call we were probably 2 plus hours into this adventure. I was just thinking about Jamie being all pissed off. He was hungry and it was getting late and it's normally his bed time. Any beer buzz on I had I lost a long time ago. I left Jamie and Barbs place feeling like a million bucks, relaxed, on cloud nine and returned completely the opposite. Jamie kept bugging me "that drama follows me where ever I go". So true.

If there was on proud moment I had about tonight was that I didn't get upset at Reid. In years past I would have and it would have done no good but to drive a wedge between us. If it was my dad and me he would have verbally beat me for ever. It would have been a dark night. Instead I took it with stride and laughed at it. Heck, he was just trying to make sure the doors were locked and 99 out of a 100 times it's a great thing to do. In the end, it was funny, just when you thought it couldn't get any worse, it got worse. It will also give us some good laughs now for years to come. If anyone seemed to get a lot of laughs out of the whole situation it was Alex, Jamie and Barbs daughter. She was laughing away at our misfortune. It was a fun night, other than I felt bad for Barb having to do all the unpacking. Jamie's like me, he leaves it to the professionals. 

No Training - Recovery Day

Rest & work...

This morning I was tired, had I not had a meeting with the big boss, number two and my operations director I would have hung around the house and rested, like I did yesterday.

I got to work at 10 am, early for me, for an 11 am meeting. They didn't end up showing up until 12:30 pm. The first thing that happened was Wayne walked in and gave me a pat on the shoulder. I guess I'm working into his buddy and inner circle. It was a meeting to talk about strategy, my old business partner Chris who runs the plant was there.

The discussion started to get around to profitability and Wayne seems a little concerned about how long or if we can make money at the photo book products. That gave Chris his opening, he's a pessimist, and started to say that we should pursue profitable work and get rid of unprofitable work. Dur, no kidding. The problem is that our work can be profitable once we get a few more million dollars of it.

Then Wayne got on a similar bandwagon and as he was talking I was starting to get concerned if they were going to pull the plug on the book division and next thing I know I'll be looking for work. I was actually thinking I'm glad I haven't yet told the Yearbook Opportunity guys I'm out.

After they were done, I chimed in and told them my opinion. I told Wayne that when I sold the business it was never meant to be a stand alone business, it was to be a tuck in. By itself the overheads are to big to make money without a great deal more volume. It was his call to keep it a stand alone. I then went on to say that other companies, such as Fuji believe that at $6 million you can make money at it and to try and flush accounts now would not make sense. He seemed to get it, he's not a dumb guy. I think he was playing off Chris's lead.

As I heard Chris talk I was so glad that I'm no longer his partner. He's a black hole of negativity. He's an awesome operations director in that if you give him a task you can guarantee it will be done and done right. Having him their means I never have to deal with problems. I'm not sure Wayne is 100% behind Chris, they don't communicate often and Wayne asked Chris to fix up the front reception area and it hasn't yet been done. Wayne told me this and I told Wayne that I'm sure Chris believes it's more important to get work out the door than it is to fix up the front area. The one thing I'll say about Chris is that he treats others money as if it was his own and he works hard, he's there from early morning and will be the last to leave.

The one thing I like about Wayne is he's fair and doesn't get dragged down by naysayers or negativity. He's looking to grow. I like the idea that he's the single boss and he has no actively participating partners. He calls the shots. If you have partners, from experience, there is a lot of discussion and debate and it could hamper growth and create a sense of negatively, especially if you had my old partners. I would never have partners again for that reason alone.

Once the meeting ended, Wayne and Ron came in my office. Ron is the number two and part of Wayne's inner circle. He runs all the operations and overseas the 10 facilities. He's a tough nut. Based on the way he talks to me and facial expression he thinks I'm 100% committed and a great addition to the team. Neither have any idea how "me" my lifestyle is. With that said, I am getting a lot done and moving the company in the right direction with new business opportunities. It's just that I can get a lot done within a very short amount of time.

Wayne disclosed to me that the operation lost $400,000 in the last 10 months. I figured it would. I'd been doing the costing in my head for the past year and figured it was at least $250,000 of losses. I sold the operation because it was losing money and knew it couldn't sustain itself as a stand alone without a significant amount of sales. Hearing this gave me some added motivation to get more sales in. I don't want the gravy train to stop and if they aren't profitable then my compensation is not long-term if they have to make cuts.

I can tell they are big supporters of me, growth guy, and warm supporters of Chris, throw the baby out with the bath water guy. Although they have a lot of respect for him and know his value and know we can't afford to lose him.

During our meeting they were talking about one of the sales guys they want to let go. It's a long story and a bit of a joke, he gets paid $600 per month and still shows up to work everyday. His monthly gas alone must be $300. I opened my big mouth and offered to let him go if Rino didn't have the time to do it. Why I did that I don't know, I guess I was trying to show I'm a team player and will do the tough stuff. I have no problem firing people, it's just that it's not my responsibility and it was a stupid thing to offer.

The meeting lasted longer than I wanted, until 3 pm and I missed a scheduled massage appointment. After they left I found another place that would take me at 5:15 pm. It was the first time I went to this person and she wouldn't shut up. I felt that I should have charged her for my time to listen to her. She was over the top on talking and the massage wasn't that good. Last time visit for me.

Finally I completed my errands by going to the beer store to pick up a new Keg. I had it sitting in the back of my truck all day. I was curious if Wayne and Ron walked by and saw it. I'm sure it would have been a "holy fuck" moment and got a little chuckle. I got the Keg and it's chilling. It usually takes a couple days to get to 0 C. Should be ready just in time for the weekend.

I was debating if I should get it or not. I have about 5 lbs to lose and a keg is never a good weight loss plan. I'm also getting to the point where I find I don't need booze to have a good time. This is a new sensation for me and quite liberating. In the end I felt I'd regret it more if I didn't get it than I would if I did. I just can't drink from a can again this weekend.

I contacted my younger brother Barret to see if he was going to come visit this summer. Barret's had all sorts of substance abuse problems and has a pretty tough family life. I feel sorry for him and he's fighting to fix things. He's also now not talking to my parents, or at least said he wasn't earlier in the year. He said he needed to get away from the negatively. I got this email from him today.

From Barret:

Fortunately I have started a full recovery process to help me with all my
demon's, this program is 180 intense days of therapy, doctors and lots of
recovery meetings, medication and tons of physical exercise!!!

I have taken my health to a new serious level and need to focus on that for
now so I wouldn't be able to go anywhere till September at the earliest.

I am absolutely committed to coming out there, be it sober, and visit with
you guys, please also keep in mind I have plenty of room in the new house
for you if you would like to come for a visit, we have tons of room and
maybe that would be nice too!!!

The family and I are excited and ready to come out there once I am in a
better health situation. I have also been undergoing some major tests as I
may have other serious medical issues, man do hard drugs take a toll on the
body. Maybe this is the wake up call I needed to finally get and stay clean
and sober. Sometimes we get a consequence for our behaviour!!!! FUCK ..Good
news is my dink keeps getting bigger the more weight I loose LOL

Thanks for your emails and I have really been just busy with hockey,
ringette and football and staying healthy

I hope all is well with you and the job and family

Barret PhD. (Proud Hockey Dad)

And I responded

Wow you seem busy. Glad to see your keeping our health care professionals employed. haha.

Cool to see you're getting your health in order, I'm glad I did, never felt better. BTW, Al Nolan did the same, just lost 35 lbs this year and did his first triathlon on Saturday. Here's the video link from this weekends race http://youtu.be/Wr4GlDcABdc

It sounds like your in a pretty good place and committed to fight the fight. I'm behind you 100%. If you need anything other than money or love, I'm right behind you. haha. Just kidding. Anything you need let me know.

Glad to also know I have room at your place, if / when we come back to Winnipeg.

For sure you have to get out here, maybe September or even Thanksgiving Weekend. Whatever, so long as you have some time to stay and visit. There's lots of great stuff to do and I'm sure the kids would have a blast.

Nice to hear your dink is getting bigger, couldn't get smaller....could it? haha.

Keep up the good fight, glad to hear the family is doing good and again if you need anything let me know.

Bryan PhD (Phat Hung Dad) 
I'm glad to hear that he's going into a big recovery plan. He's never went to this level of commitment before. For some reason I think he's on his way to a better life and shedding all the negatively. I kind of have a good idea of what he feels like about himself inside. I feel in the past week, I'm starting to shed a lot of my parent issue baggage. I hope it's not just temporary. I'm also feeling good about my job and lifestyle. I really have a good thing going and I want it to keep going. I told Al I'd be happy if I could get 3 - 5 years out of it and bank as much money as I can and in that time look at what I'm going to do next, perhaps a franchise or something. Who knows. I just need to be prepared.

Still snacked tonight, sunflower seeds and fudgicles. It's getting better. I think I can resist it. Just need to look at my gut during this weekends race. I was thinking if I dropped 10 pounds I think I could even be faster. It would be great if I could do that in the next 3 weeks in prep for IMLP.

No Training - Rest & Recovery - Massage Day - Calf's very tight - Legs still pumped..

The morning after...

I woke up with stinging chaffing in my grown area. Not from the race, it was from after the race when I put on a pair of shorts without underwear. Then I went to Al's for beers and walking around with no underwear and sweating caused the chaffing. It is insanely raw. It's a good thing today is a recovery day and I have not training.

Instead of training I didn't do much. I was tired from the weekend, exhausted. From my party night on Friday, watching Al and Justin race Saturday and then racing myself Sunday and hanging out with Al, I'm pooped. My brain was mush and motivation low today. I'm glad I work from home. I think I sent one work email today.

I did do a little work today. I picked up some stuff for Reid to sell from Barb and Jamie's house. Then I took my truck in for an oil change and $500 later they fixed something called a compliance thing a ma-jigger. Supposed to be important. Afterwards I took Reid to get my old iPhone activated for him. He dropped his old phone and broke it. He then found my old phone and we now don't have to buy a replacement for him. I remember offering him the iPhone originally and he insisted on a new phone. Now the iPhone is perfect for him. Go figure.

On the way home we stopped at Play it again sports to see if they wanted to buy some of the skates Barb gave us. I waited in the car and Reid came back out with the skates, said they ain't buying skates until fall. It was the first time Reid got a good look at the merchandise I picked up from Barb. Some stuff he liked, some he didn't know what it was and some he didn't think he'd get much for. The funniest was the plastic doll house, he was like "I might be able to get $3 for it". He was serious. I told him he should go next store to the neighbour and ask him, they have two small little girls.

There was some other stuff, some moon-shine looking bottles that he liked and was thinking of keeping for himself. I told him that there was some Porsche floor mats to sell and he got all excited until he opened them up. They had a red polka dot design with the name Jamie on them. He has a limited potential market of Jamie's to sell them too.

Final stop was to pick up some ink for the printer. Normally I buy new cartridges and someone told me the refill places are good and half the cost, so I went there and got them reloaded. I'm curious to see if it works just as good.

My one regret after yesterday's race was not booking a massage. My legs were tight after last weeks Olympic, today they are really tight after the Half. I did try today and no one had openings. I may also try to get into a place tomorrow. They need a good flushing and I want to be ready to get back on my long ride and run schedule this weekend.

I decided not to do the Peterbourgh Half Ironman this weekend. It would be too much, three races in three weeks and I don't want to mentally burn out. If I wasn't doing Ironman Lake Placid I might consider it, maybe. It's also on a long weekend and traffic home is going to be insane, it will take hours to get home. It's too bad, I would have like to have gone, Paul Dietrich lives there and it would have been fun to hook up with him.

Tonight Jamie brought over some car parts for Reid to sell. Some expensive stuff. Alice and Reid were doing the research on them and I think Reid was getting pretty excited. I was telling him they would be best sold on EBay where there is a bigger audience. After seeing the new stuff, Reid got much more excited about the selling possibilities and potential.

Food wise I need to get a handle on my snacking, it's not bad. I just felt so good when I wasn't and my weight dropped to a perfect level. Body shape wise I can tell I'm getting older, I care less and less about body perfection. So long as I'm fit and look good with a shirt on, I'm feeling good about myself. I was looking at the race photo's that were emailed to me today and I look a little soft from the waist up. Normally I'd freak about that, now at 45 years old I'm thinking I still look good for a 45-year old. I think this is the first time I'm not obsessing on my body image. It would be nice though to say around the 180 lb mark, I haven't stepped on a scale, I'm afraid, I'm probably 187 lbs.

Tonight for family fun, Alyssa was teaching Reid how to eat fire from a burning piece of toilet paper. The fun never stops around this place and thankfully the house didn't burn down. The kids are also wanting a bulldog. It must be that time of year. I woke up to the site of a ploy to get a dog. There was handwritten signs all over the kitchen cupboards.

No Training - Rest & Recovery Day.

Specially Unexpected...

First off - Results - Welland Half Ironman

Swim - 37:22 / 1:53 per 100 (11/30 AG)
Bike - 2:27:26 / 36.6 kph avg - 22.7 mph avg (3/30 AG)
Run - 1:34:15 / 4:28 per km avg / 7:12 per mile avg (3/30 AG)
Final Time - 4:44:53 - Second Place Overall Age Group 
30 / 305 Overall
T1 - 2:13
T2 - 1:29

I did better than last year. Last year I still got 2nd in my age group, although my time was slower 4:52:28. Last year my swim was 35:23, bike 2:30.08 / Run 1:42:28 and finished overall 29/269. As per last year, I got drunk on the Friday night a couple days before the race. This year I recovered a little better and the weather was ideal for racing. Last year the run was fairly hot.

Now how the day unfolded....

Alarm rang at 6 am, I showered and was on my way to Welland for today's Half Ironman. I was very curious and nervous how this race would go. I was curious if I'd recovered from Friday and I was nervous about two things, would I get a panic attack in the water again AND would I have to take a crap on the course. I didn't have a bowel movement this morning and I had KFC and McDonald's sitting in my stomach from yesterday. My biggest fear was the water. I was also anxious to see if how my new sleeveless wetsuit was going to feel. As I got to the race site I had to pee so I used my Tim Hortons cup. I was a little worried as it was yellow. Not got, I was wondering if I was still dehydrated from Friday night.

Everything was uneventful in the preparation, other than a really nice guy just walked up to me out of the blue and started talking like we were best friends. We had a really nice and long chat, he was in the 50-54 age group.

I put my wetsuit on 15 minutes before the start, the neck felt fine. I got in the water 10 minutes before and saw and swam over to John Proc. Getting in the water was important. The minute I felt the cold I was in a panic sort of mode from the cold. Had I did a cold start without adjusting to the water temperature it would have been history repeating itself. Once I warmed up I did about 50 meter of swimming to get the blood going. I loved the sleeveless, I didn't feel restricted.

With about a minute before I left John and started talking to myself, giving myself a pep talk. I was determined NOT to have a panic attack this time around. I decided if things get bad I'll swim at times with my eyes closed if people get to close. I never did have to use that technique. The gun went off and I started swimming and the beginning of possibly the greatest mental race, that I can remember began. I may have had this feeling 25 years ago, I can't remember.

What made this race so special was I enjoyed it, right from the first swim stroke. Normally I'm in the water and thinking, "I can hardly wait until this race is over". Even though I race triathlons it's been a while since I've raced them joyfully. The swim is usually a, "I can hardly wait to get out of here and get on my bike event". Not this time, with every stroke I enjoyed. I banged into people a number of times and instead of panicking I said to my self yelling inside at the other people, "fuck off" in a loving yell. I was not going to be intimidated this time. And I wasn't going to stop to recover from anything.

The suit was awesome and I love swimming sleeveless. It's the best. It felt like a second skin. I didn't know how fast I was going and it didn't matter, I was doing the best I could and I thoroughly enjoyed the entire swim. I was in the joy zone. My watch showed a 37:04 in the actual water. Not bad for the lack of swimming and probably only 3 minutes off my very best swim time. Other than building nice looking arms and shoulders, does it make sense torturing yourself in the pool for a 3 minute improvement per 2000 meters?

Running to the transition zone was a long way and I stopped to put on a pair of water walkers to run over the gravel. Getting the wetsuit off was tough. They got hung up on my feet. I think I may cut the legs at the bottom 4 or 5 inches up so the hole is bigger. There is nothing more frustrating that fighting to get the feel of your wetsuit off. Total wasted time.

I gunned it on the bike. For the first 10 km I was averaging close to 40 kph. The course is very flat and there was a slight wind on the way out and then it shifted and we had it on the way back. I was hoping I was going to be flying back with a tail wind. Not the case. I pac manned a lot of people and was pac-manned a few times by others. I was surprised how fast many of the riders were. Around the turnaround of the bike I put myself in about 50th place. I saw John Proc

The run transition was near uneventful. I didn't see my captains hat by my shoes and thought someone stole it until I realized it was still in my bag, which was about 10 meters away beside the fence, which I detoured to get. When I got to the bike rack to rack up I didn't see many bikes, only about 3. I wasn't sure if they were my age group or not. I thought I was either up near the lead or well back. I do my transitions sitting down, I find it more efficient. As I was doing that I heard the announcer say my name and told the crowd I was doing my transition Scott Molina style. He was one of the big four Ironman legends from 25 years ago. I didn't realize it was his move too. I learn something new everyday.

I never know how I'm going to run until I get out there and run. I will either have a great run at around 1:35 or a not so great run at 1:45. Running hurts either way. I started off strong, running around 7:02 and eventually it settled in around 7:11. I felt good. The 35 km run on Thursday didn't seem to hurt me and I was recovered. I ran loose, relaxed, light and mentally positive. At 4 km I caught up to a guy and he started running beside me, he asked what pace I'm going for, I said 1:35, he immediately said no way for him and dropped behind, it was comical.

On the run I saw John Proc and Paul Dietrich a couple times. Both of them did really well. John with flats removed would have been 5 hours and Paul was 5:38. Hugely respectable times. Especially for Paul who is an old guy like me. Johns in the 30 - 34 category, he should be fast.

Again, the run was joyful. I was actually in the mind set to run hard for the last 3 km. To give it a kick, I can't remember ever thinking like that and meaning it. I did run solid for the last 3 km without the kick I was wanting. I think I was too chicken to want to hurt that much after. Those extra 30 seconds gained from a kick could give you a world of hurt and I still need to do some long training for IMLP in 28 days. I only drank water on the run and although I had to pee I didn't stop. The best part was I didn't have to go to the washroom. I intentionally ran relaxed to help prevent that.

I finished with a sub 1:35 run and 4:44. I was happy with the time. I was much more happy with the race and my mental state. Not once did I dread the race, or ask myself "what am I doing this for" or think of the issues with my Dad. Not once. That is the first time in a year that has not happened. I felt like I was 19 years old and this was my first race. It felt so natural, I was in heaven today. It will not be a race that I forget anytime soon or ever. If I was to think back of all my races and which where the most special I'd say my first Ironman at 20 years old and this race. After the race I near started crying out of joy. It's been so long since I had a cry crossing the finish line, I can only remember my first Ironman. I stopped myself today with the cry, too many people around. It was a fantastic day. My triathlon racing mojo returned for this race.

Of course I ran in the Captains hat and high fived all the people when I came down the shoot. When the initial results came out they had me at 1/30. I couldn't believe it, I was happy to be in the top three and first would be a first. Turns out the preliminary results were wrong and I was in second. The guy who won did a 4:25. I don't mind losing to that, I could never on my best day come in that fast. I did the best I could and I was super happy with the time. Even with my more relaxed training schedule I was still able to get the results.

I hung around for a couple hours until the awards ceremony and made a couple new friends, one Mark St. George from Buffalo who did the aqua bike, his knees are shot for running and Clint Schiafone from Gormley Ontario. He came second in the 40 - 44 age group. I gave Mark my card, he's a triathlete-partier from Buffalo and I may do a race there in September and hook up with him and do some partying. As I was cleaning up my gear from the transition zone I noticed how messy I am. I see some people and they put there stuff back as orderly as the put it there to begin with.

After the race I drove home and on the way stopped at Al's. He was having a soccer team party for his daughter Sarah's 9 year old team with kids and parents. One beer turned into a lot more. Elton John (aka Hanny) from the beer run was there. He couldn't remember the 9th bar at all. I told him that was the bar that he told me how he falls asleep drunk with his clothes on like me. I reminded him of that and he still couldn't remember. I got his email and will be inviting him to the beer run this year. He's my kind of people.

Al and I walked over to Justin's to see how he was doing and it turns out he just took off for a run. Michael, Al's son saw him leave. We got on bikes and couldn't find him. It was me, Al and his two boys, Kevin and Mike. The kids got a kick out of me filling a plastic bag with a newspaper in it with pee, tying it up like something you transport fish in and putting it in a mailbox. Ah...childhood memories that will be seared in their minds.

Then it was off home and the first thing the kids hit me with was them wanting a bulldog. Then Reid, Alice and I went down to the Pig & Whistle and had a couple cocktails and Reid and I smoked a cigar. Hanny got a kick out of it when I told him I bought Reid a humidor for his grade 8 graduation. I think he liked it more than the $300 we gave him in a card as well. I couldn't even drink one beer before I had to go to bed and crash.

It was a special day today. All around.

Swim - 37:22 / 1:53 per 100 (11/30 AG)

Bike - 2:27:26 / 36.6 kph avg - 22.7 mph avg (3/30 AG)

Run - 1:34:15 / 4:28 per km avg / 7:12 per mile avg (3/30 AG)

Final Time - 4:44:53 - Second Place Overall Age Group 

30 / 305 Overall

T1 - 2:13

T2 - 1:29

Cherry Popping - Welland Sprint...

It was a late night and it was not easy to get up. I did though, there was no way I was going to miss Al & Justin's first triathlon. I wanted to make sure they got off to the right foot, even though I would have loved to have gone back to sleep. I'm glad they only have one first triathlon.

I got to the site about 40 minutes before the start and the drive was a little rough. I wasn't all there mentally. It was that drunken hazy driving and slow reflexes. I was just glad to get there on time, I couldn't find the start time on the website.

Al and Justin were all set up when I got there and I gave them a couple of tips. I could see their nervousness. The weather was cooler and hazy, so much for warm and sun. I brought my high end camera to take photo's and video's. It was fun watching Al and Justin absorbing their first ever triathlon. Both are not the greatest swimmers and were concerned. Justin especially, he had a panic attack earlier in the week when he went for an open water swim. Al's plan was to breast stroke it.

The swim was a time trial start at every 4 seconds. Justin was in 28th position and Al was 178th position. Both did well, they finished. Justin said he had to do some swimming on his back and Al did a lot of breast stroking. The key is they got out of the water, which both did.

They looked like real triathletes heading to the bike and then from the bike to the run. Both looked really fresh. Al finished the 750 meter swim / 30 km bike / 7.5 km run in 2:10:30, good enough for 16/20 in 45-49 age group. He had a solid bike at 29.5 kph avg and as expected a slow swim at 2:54 per 100 meters and ran a 5:29 pace. Justin did a 2:00:27 and 11/16 for the 25-29 age group with a blistering 31.5 avg km on the bike and 2:56 per 100 on the swim. He had a great run at 4:50 pace. Both did really well, swimming is something they definitely need to work on, other than that they are on track for Steelhead 70.3.

To put it all in perspective, I did my first sprint in May 2007 and finished with a 2:15:01, good for 76/79 in the 40-44 age group. Both beat my time from that first race.

On the drive home I needed grease bad! I stopped at KFC and got three pieces of chicken, fries and gravy. Then I stopped at McDonald's and picked up a quarter pounder with cheese and two small McFlurries. It was the only thing I could think of to help the hangover. I was also really tired and was hoping it would make me sleep easier.

 When I got home I quickly and spent a couple hours putting together their video. Then it was off to bed for a 3 hour snooze. It was a tough sleep, lots of sweating. The sad part is I really didn't want to be in this position. I also didn't want to eat so crappy, I had no choice. If I wasn't racing tomorrow I wouldn't have pigged out on crap food. All I hope is the crap food pays off and I'm not spending time in the wash room tomorrow during the race.

Alice and I went out for dinner tonight, a nice Italian meal. I had my ritual Egg Plant Parmigiana, which helps with the downloads in the morning. We then went by the National Cycling Championship course, didn't see much and then went to Mohawk race track long enough to place one big bet on a horse called Daddy Mac. It reminded us of Alice's dad. I used to call him Mr. Mac. Unfortunately we lost. It was exciting, the horse lead the entire way and was passed just before the end of the race. It was close, would have won $160.

It was then back home and I got all my stuff ready for tomorrow. I want to stay in bed as long as possible tomorrow. I need all the sleep I can get. The worse part is I was looking forward to doing this race rested and healthy. Last year I did the same thing, abused my body a day before the race. I'm not looking forward to racing hurting tomorrow. I am looking forward to trying my new wetsuit and facing my fears and eliminate my recent swim panic attacks.

No Training - Rest / Taper Day.

Friday got away...

Got up at 6:30 am, it's getting easier. I did an easy 30 km bike ride, easy spinning and just missed the rain. My regular loop just happens to be part of the course for The Canadian Cycling Championships this weekend and I saw a couple groups of riders ride pass in the opposite direction. I waved and none of them waved back.

Typical competitive cyclists, total arrogance. Not all are bad, Shaw's a good dude, I'd just say 95% of the rest are dick heads. What is it about becoming cycling that attracts unfriendly and unsupportive people. Totally different than triathlons. I was a little mad and wished I was able to time trial a couple of them. There is no greater satisfaction I've felt on the bike than kicking the ass of a cyclist at their own sport. 

When I got home it was a relaxing day, not much going on work wise. I may have got 3 emails all day. I spent most of my day preparing a video in honour of Alice. It's something I've been wanting to do for months. I got the idea on a run and with tomorrow being our 23rd wedding anniversary I thought the timing was perfect. Of course after I finished it I couldn't wait until tomorrow to show it to her. 

My plan was to have an early night, not get to recked. I have to get up early to go to Al and Justin's first ever triathlon. They are doing the sprint in Welland. At 10 pm I was ready to call it a night after tweeting all night long, and then our neighbours John and Lisa asked if we wanted company, I said "no were going to bed, I have an early morning" and then Alice over-rode me and said "yes, come over it's only 10 pm". Needless to say it lasted till 1 am and I had way to many beers and about 4 cigars and have to get up by 6 am.

Poor Reid took a couple of spills on his skateboard recently. First his leg and now his arm and he's sprained his wrist when his friend cut in front of him and he wiped out and rolled. Alice is looking forward to getting her new dryer next week, she's been making do with a make shift clothes line system in the laundry room.  

Easy Bike - 59:57 / 30.19 km / 30.2 kph avg / 115 avg hr

Reid's Grade 8 Graduation...

Today was a great day. Up at 6:30 am and out the door by 8:30 for my long run. It was sunny and warm, with humidex 30 C. It was my epic route of 35 km, mostly up hills and I loved it. I took my water belt this time and the last 12 km I did a LOT of walking to keep my heart rate down.

It was the perfect day to go, I don't think I got more than 3 or 4 work emails all day and I timed it perfectly, shortly after I got back it started to rain. This afternoon I went for a swim at the Y, it felt not bad. I needed it too. It wasn't fast, although I did do a 100 meter hard at the 2100 meter mark and did it in 1:34. Amazing. If only triathlons were 100 meters of swimming I'd be golden.

I wanted to get everything done early, it's was Reid graduation at 6:30 pm. He calls it a fake graduation because it's only grade 8. I know he was looking forward to it, he finally got to wear his black suit, white high top shoes and white tie and hanky. He looked pretty swank. He was also in a rush to get there on time. That's one thing about Reid, he hates being late for anything and this was more special than most. He likes hanging out with his friends.

The ceremony was in a Church, he goes to a Catholic school. It was long, 2.5 hours and there is something about sitting in a church that makes me crazy. I have church ADD. At least this time the smell of the church didn't make me want to take a crap. I think it's the furniture polish. The same thing happens to me when I walk into a furniture store, I immediately smell the polished wood and head for the bathroom.

I watched Reid from across the room and all he does is joke around with his buddies. I think that is so cool and fun. They had some awards and I was thinking that MAYBE Reid was going to get one. They had one for creative arts, he's good a drawing and some other one for attitude and crap. Thought he'd be up for that one, he's very respectful.

As part of his graduation we gave him $300 which he already has spent in his mind of a skateboard deck and I showed him a picture of the humidor I bought him. It was shipped to our P.O. Box in the U.S. and needs to be picked up.

At the end of Reid's ceremony it got a little hokey. They first started with all the kids getting a rose and they prepared a letter in an envelope that they were to give their parents. The letter was to tell them how much they loved them or cared for them or something along those lines. Reid didn't bother doing the letter so all he had was the rose. Alice and I really didn't care, that's Reid and we love each other everyday in our actions, we don't need to write a staged letter.

After the church ceremony they had a dance for the kids. Before the kids got to hang out with each other, they had to have the first dance with a parent. The boys with their moms and girls with their dads. Who ever came up with that idea is a dingbat. It's not a wedding, how awkward, although Reid didn't seem to mind to much. I couldn't bug him about it because it didn't bother him.

We left and the kids had a whooping two hour long dance. Apparently Reid danced with a girl and wouldn't let us know which one. I told him that he should have danced with the one that got Valedictorian. He could have at least had a meal ticket. We joke that Reid's future job will be "a stay at home son" every since we saw the movie Hangover Two.

Eating wise I was semi-okay. I had a couple of Slurpee's, I was craving them. And a few pantry snacks. Amazing how the ether wore off from the hypnosis. When I got one of the Slurpees I went to get gas afterwards and when I get gas I rig up the nozzle so that it pour gas on it's own while I sit in the car. Sometimes the guys at the gas station see this and give me crap, you're not allowed to do that. Today the Ak-bar stopped the gas early into the pour and started telling me over the speaker system to come into the store. As if. I'm an adult, I ain't going to the principals office. Instead I undid the pump and drove off as he was barking to come into the store from the speaker. His loss, I got my gas just down the road.

Long Run - 3:26:16 / 35.03 km / 5:52 avg km pace
Mod Swim - 51:17 / 2300 km

Numb nuts...

Classic day. Up early, again, listened to my binge eating self-hypnosis tapes, tweeted like crazy for an hour or two,  and then went with Alice to buy a new dryer at Sears. Then on the way home I stopped in at the LA fitness sales centre. They are opening one up literally a 3-minute bike ride from our house and I heard they have a lap pool and was interested in learning more. My neighbour Jeff said they have some great pre-opening deals.

Turns out the pool is 25-meters, not yards, boo-yah, and I signed up. It cost me $99 for the initiation fee and only $29.95 per month. My current YMCA membership is costing me $65 per month and I have about a 20 minute drive to get there. That's the one thing about swimming, is it's often time consuming due to the travel. The hours are better too. The pools open from 5 am - midnight (Mon-Thursday), 5 - 10 pm (Friday) and 8 am - 8 pm on weekends. Much better than the YMCA. Many a night I would go swimming if it wasn't closing. At least I say that.

I had to wait for an important conference call to review the contract for mixbook before I could train. The call took all of only 10 minutes, then I was on my bike. It was my first training session after the Olympic and my legs were still sore. The first 40 minutes was the worst. It felt like I still had lactic acid build up. I'm so glad I kept riding, it seemed to go away after that. The only downside of the ride was it was hard to get my heart rate up to 110 bpm. Normally I'd bail on a ride like that, not today. I wanted to flush the crap from my legs.

With 40 minutes left in the ride Al called. I stopped. He had just finished a ride and I was training. He and Justin were then going to go for a swim tomorrow at 10 am. You gotta love the lifestyle of sales and working from home. I'm getting used to it and still pinching myself that it's evolved like this. It was always a pipe dream to have a life like this. Actually, I lie, it was never a dream, it was not something I even thought was possible. I really, really, love this lifestyle. I think after a year or two of it and making the big bucks I'll start to believe it's really happening.

I did near 3 hours and it was good. It turned out my legs got a good workout and the heart rate got into a workout zone by the end. When I got home I ate dinner, snacked and fell asleep in my stinky cycling wear on the couch for about 3 hours and then went to bed.

Just before I ate dinner Reid was saying, "I squish your head, I squish your head, I squish your head". He's just found The Kids in the Hall TV show and is now hooked. They have a skit where a guy lines up people in his fingers and squishes there head. I told him that I used to do that to him and Alyssa when they were younger and the show was on.

Reid's buddy called him today and Reid had him on speaker phone. He does that, acts like a big shot. On the phone I heard his buddy use the word "numb nuts". Hey, that's my saying. Reid laughs because I always call him that and then he started calling kids at school that and now it's viral and the kids in school use it with each other. It's kind of cool watching how the chain of events unfolded.

The one thing Reid never does is pay attention, especially with school stuff. Tomorrow is his graduation and he thought the event was at 6 am, not 6 pm and was looking forward to waking up and putting on his suit. If that doesn't say he's hooked on wearing suits I don't know what does.

Mod Bike - 2:52:58 / 83.92 km / 29.1 kph / 116 avg hr