As I get back on wed Ashley reminded me that I was supposed to be a guest speaker in her class. I totally forgot but I was still very excited to do. I mean really, I was about to be a guest speaker at Texas State, a college when these kids are going to take what i tell them and hopefully make a positive influence on them. I was more than happy to tell the students about my life, about the 10 years it took me to turn into the Ironman I am now. It was such good timming to make this speech. As I was speaking to them I had flash backs about my days in college, and the people who influenced me. Now I had that chance for the next generation. I feel that I didn't touch everyone, but I did touch a few students lives. I thank you Ashley for that opportunity. I came back to meet with Craig my swim coach to thank him for his hard work. We meet at Starbucks and I told him the whole story and gave him a swim cap from the race. As I told him about the finish line, I lost it again. That feeling of accomplishment, determination, and heart is still very strong to me and no matter how many times I tell it, I always tear up and get emotional. As I think about it, I am lucky that I was able to get that emotion, I will never forget it!
I went to take Mindy out for lunch and then we watched a movie, it was nice to get some time to ourselves. We got the kids and went over to our friends house to say Hi and celebrate. We went home then Ashley came over to visit and hear the stories and see us. Friday the one thing I wanted to do was get my pendent engraved on the back. I did and it looks awesome!!! I rode a hour to test out the legs, inside on the trainer since it snowed (for like 2 min) outside. We took the kids to go see Santa at the mall and it was classic. Troy sat on his lap and we put Melia on his lap on the other side and she took one look at him and went from zero to pissed in 2 seconds, it was priceless. So we didn't buy the picture will try round 2 again. We got back and put up our tree. Troy and Mindy were so dang cute putting on the ornaments, well Mindy was putting them on Troy was playing with them. I stayed at home with the kids because our babysitter couldn't make it to babysit for our indoor soccer game that night so I sent Mindy and the kids and I just chilled out. Melia saw the tree in the morning and her eyes were so wide open when she saw the tree. Went shopping early to miss the crowds.
That afternoon I headed up to the gym to get our indoor cycles back into shape, Lindsey and Leann were the only people to help. I had to hurry back to the house to get ready for the outdoor soccer game me and Mindy had. I was excited to play soccer again, we lost the game but was glad to run. Although I could still feel my race in my quads, I strained my left quad during the game but not too bad. I had more soccer games to play during the weekend but they got rained out. Saturday night me and Lindsey went to the party at Desiree's house with some of the people of jack and adams. It was great to finally meet people I only hear about and just names. We watched the longhorn game and got to watch the beer mile. In case you don't know what that is let me tell you, its a sight to see. You drink a can of beer for every lap you do, man it was hilarious to watch.
I got to teach the Sunday morning class at 9:00, so me and Mindy and the family went to the gym. It felt good to teach again, and it was great to have my wife in class. Afterwards my legs still felt bad, more specifically my left quad. I was kinda glad, i needed to rest my leg for my classes the next day. So I sent Mindy to play, and she had fun, we went to watch her play soccer that night and saw my good friends kiddos play as well it was cute. I asked Troy if he wanted to play and he said yes. We are very excited to get Troy in some sports, I can't wait to see what he can do.
Monday 5:30 am starts with Strike for me, I was so excited to teach the classes I have missed and to tell all the members thanks for all the support they game me. We killed it in there, I then went to cycle at 8:15 then to teach Barbell. It was so good to hear that people liked my blog. It blew me away that people actually read that, THAT WAS AWESOME!! All that week people were telling me how proud they are of me and how I have become their hero. I feel lucky to know that my accomplishments have become such a positive influence for them to look at. At my wed cycle class I was able to show my DVD (Thanks Chris and Sally!) of the race montage that I made. If you haven't seen it I have posted a link on the blog. They really enjoyed it and I was glad to share my experience with them.
Friday was my photo shoot for Team Livestrong. I had so much fun doing the shoot. I brought my bike and they took some really good photos of me. They also showed me the Public Service Announcement that they made using my voice, I was blown away with it. Here is the link:
I also had a picture on the web page, yeah I think its pretty cool! They told me that the pictures were going to be used for the print media they will use. I think this year I will join Team Livestrong and raise money for the Austin Marathon and for the Austin Triathlon. I also put my bike on craigs list, yeah I decided to get a new bike, but I have to sell mine first. I have a buyer who decided to buy it, he took a look at the bike and loved it so I am going to get it to him on Friday the 18th. For now I will try a couple of bikes to see which one will be best for me to upgrade. I am a little sad to sell it but it has done me well and I know this guy will like it, and I will get to get a better bike that will help make 2010 a better year for me and the family, bring it on 2010!!
