Ionman Update: As the snow blows......

Old Man Winter is in his death throws and has decided to puke the White stuff on Southern New England once again. Once again I could go on a massive tie raid, complete with "Al Gore is full of crap.!" Howard Dean Yells ( ARRRAGGG!), and just plain anger frustration and a pure waste of emotion...besides I already did that clearing my car this morning.



In 24 hours I board the big sliver bird and get my butt to Los Angeles, then from there a nice little terminal change and I board Air New Zealand's giant winged beast and 12 hours later arrive in "sunny" Auckland.....it might be raining but at least its warm...(insert Angry New Englanders tossing rocks and snowballs at me.) Sir Angry and I are keeping an eye on the weather and road conditions, right now it looks like a sled and a team of dogs might be a safe bet. Either that or cross country skis and a shotgun, biathlon training and protection in Queens.....man that could be a post in itself....

Most of my stuff is ready to go, I've just got to pack my carry on, grab a calling card, and pray my flight is not delayed too late. As of right now arriving flights are delayed 4 and a half hours. I've emailed my travel angent what kind of contengency is in place in case my JFK/LAX flight is running a wee bit late.

So I'm praying for a clearing, and hopefully my next post will be from Taupo.
P.S. Thanks for the encouragement along the way..also Pants thanks for the grocery list, and 'm sure Vegemaite isn't as bad as everyone says...is it?

de-angry de icer
R.D.

I should seriously write a book about this....

If I haven't faced enough adversity in trying to train, fundraise, and get to Ironman New Zealand, Mother Nature is deciding to bust my balls at the last second. This morining as I got into work I was immediately hit with one of my co-workers saying she was coming in in a full snow suit tomorrow. I looked at NBC 30.com and checked Bob Maxon's forecast ( I could no longer take the antics of Scott Hiney...I mean Hanney, who is probably doing a snow dance at this moment.) Friday night into Saturday they are expecting "A Traditional New England Nor'Easter." 6-8 inches of snow and sleet muhahaha! Now seriously anytime there is the incling of a flurry these guys are breaking out the deathtoll meter, early warning system , and crazy religious wackos saying " Repent the end is Here!"Now I don't have much faith in their forecast, I think we'll get some white...(hopefully not) but I'm thinking 3-4 inches, I mean these guys have been prediciting the next ice age since September...it gets tiring...fast. Ok weather rant done!

If the roads are absolutely horrible on Saturday I'll take the Metro North in, figure the rails will be clear, and I can grab a cab to JFK or do the Connecticut Limo thing.



I got a later more commuter friendly flight back to NYC from LA So I won't be sitting at JFK For 3 hours waiting on the CT Limo Shuttle. That's always good right?



Well regardless, it seems like things have been popping up all along the way to try to stop me from doing this, which means one of three things will happen in Taupo

1. I will finish against all odds,At the stroke of midnight after enduring terrible hardship, winning the Hearts and minds of athletes everywhere.

2. I will have one of those " Greatest Game Ever Played" Moments. Being an unknown amateur and suddenly stun the tri world more than Chrissie Wellington's Kona Win, either beating Cam Brown and Luke Bell in a Duel Down under or coming damn close.

3. I will have the greatest race of my life, Qualify for Kona, get massive sponsorship and turn pro.

Or at least that's how it would turn out in a novel.

Regardless of what happens I will finish even if, in the words of Jon Blais, " They have to roll me off the course."

Ok mush gushy emotional part of the post over.

Praying For Clear Skies and a Tailwind.

RD.

Ironman Update: 9 days and counting.....

Days until I get on the big steel bird: 3
Days Until I hit the Water: 9
Days until I know if I made the Big Show: 10

Okay Bob-o's mini doomsday clock is running, granted of course my countdown has happier ending than the doomsday clock...hopefully..barring any Dingos in canoes making their way across 1600km of ocean .....
Well apocolyptic time pieces aside I am tapering and giving my legs a well deserved rest. Tomorrow morning and Friday I'm planning for some quick 4 mile runs, not much but enough to work the legs just a little bit, you know before I sit with my feet up for 14 hours. I might throw in a trainer session tonight after masters, a nice little 30 min. spin, small ring 15, in the words of Troy Jacobson. I went out for coffee on Monday with Stef....we're just friends, at least for now...and as mentioned before I am on taper which means I'm mostly sitting on my prosterior chain, eating, working, and doing classwork.(gasp)
The Angry Express has annoucned its willingness to haul my butt to JFK, getting home I will utilize the CT Limo Airport Shuttle, since I'll be arriving at 1AM so by the time I claim my baggage, get a bite to eat, etc, It'll be close to 3am or I'll just bite the bullet and call American and get a later flight so in anycase I'll be back in the Dirtywater in time for class on Tuesday the 4th. So that's where I stand at the moment nothing out of the ordinary to report. Expect a pre-flight Post on Friday and then a live from Taupo Post sometime Sunday.

Well that's all from the hood.

R.D.

So what are You doing @ 1AM Eastern Time March 1?

Well this week , has officially been nothing to write about, 2 runs ( one was a 4-5 miler on ice the other was an 8 miler in the midst of a rain storm.), My swim Work outs have tapered to the "Below 3000 yard" point, and The Bitch Stomper is packed up and ready to Rock and or Roll the Southern Hemisphere. Also as a side note I did find stickers small enough to detail it, but I will also sharpie names to my arms and legs just so they're visible. This weekend after having Al and the guys at the Bike Rack in Waterbury ( Your source for all things Mountain Bike and Fixed Gear.) help me pack TBS I calculated the time differences between the major time zones and Taupo. For all my readers on the EAST COAST it is a 17 Hour Gap. What does this mean? Well for any one planning on watching the live pod cast/ webstream @ ironmanlive.com( Cannondale Jim, Ken, my Grandpa...etc) this means that the broadcast hours will be a little odd. The Race starts Sat. Mar. 1@ 7AM NZT (New Zealand Time) which means it will be 2PM Fri. Feb 29 EST (Eastern Standard Time) My self projected Finish @ about 11 hours..hopefully less means I will be finishing @ 6PM NZT which equates to the following: My HEAT Gear clad butt will be streaming live @



6AM in London(SAT)

1AM in NYC, Boston, Hartford, and the DirtyWater.(SAT)

12AM in the Tri capital of the Midwest Cleveland Ohio (SAT)

10PM in the LA/San Diego Metropolitan area (Fri)



granted hopefully the cameras will be locked into a riviting age group battle as New Zealand's Finest duel with a few gifted Aussies, some Talented Japanese, and a smart Alec American.
So if anyone is interested in watching me finish, you might need an massive jug of coffee.
Speaking of New Zealand, the Ironman Group down there has arranged this whole adopt an athlete thing, where a local family sort of takes an "overseas" athlete underwing, so I might have a live cheering section afterall....hopefully one with a nice, attractive, single 20 something year old daughter....but wait if they're technically "adopting" me does that mean we're siblings...it'd be just my luck that I'd meet my dream girl and it would be pesudo- incest for me to date her. That and my "NZ Mom" would keep asking when I would be bringing her home a daughter in-law.

Speaking of attractive 20 somethings, I went out for coffee with Stef, hey were just friends, she does have a boyfriend currently...who can probably stomp me like Gina: Angry's dream girl.

Also Castro resigned today, Nike, Disney, and Walmart are propbably chomping at the bit to open sweatshops....I mean help the Cubans embrace a better more American friendly economy.

Well that's all I can write on Company Bandwidth.

The Globe Trotting, Daughter Stealing Ironman
R.D.