Take that mapquest! Eagleman Status update.

Well in my efforts to avoid a route that would put me on the West Side of Manhattan and cause me to sell my first born for toll money. I have finally mapped out a route that will get me around NYC and probably still cost me an arm and a leg in tolls but at least I won't have to worry about mid-morning traffic on the West Side. To answer Angry " why not just reverse your route?" I did and that 's how I ended up on the West Side Highway on a completely different route from the one I had taken down there. So I decided to let the wheels turn a little bit and mapped my way to Tarrytown, NY and the Tappan Zee and then the Tappan Zee to CT. ( Sadly Fordham closed the All Girls' University Marymount @ Tarrytown Last year...darn...no desperate college girls for Bob-O.) there are still Tolls involved but I'm assuming the NY State Thruway is a little more reasonable than the Holland Tunnel. So that's that.



Upon looking at the stack of emails I recieved last night one of them was from xterra Wetsuits and the race organizers stating they are paying Swim Primes to the best Male and Female pros and Male and Female age groupers, and also doing a contest if you can guess the swim split. Now $250 ain't much but I'll take it. I now know what I must gun for, First wave pros prepare to meet the wrath of Bob-O. Let's see I did the Ironman swim in 55 so that's roughly 22:30 for a half split so subtract the fatigue factor a 21:45 -22:15 looks possible. If I break the 22 barrier I think I might be able to get that prime . Worst case I'm entering the free raffle: Brain Rhodes with a swim time of 21:05.

My parents said they'll toss me some cash. Granted I hate having to borrow money, when that stimulus check comes in it is definitely going to be a big help. Having to borrow from friends and relatives always makes me feel terrible, selfish, "un-manly". I'm 23 I'm still in college but still it's the principle I feel like bum. I should be able to take care of myself, granted I have helpped out at the homestead in the past month. In either case I should have enough to get my butt down there and back. If I qualify for Kona, there might be some desperate phone calls being made, various non-essential organs will be dealt over the black market, first born children will be sold off...in essence I'll do what ever it takes to get there. I might be making some calls to one of my friends going to the U of Hawaii at Hilo asking for a place to Crash, and a ride to Kona...but I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

Right now it's all about getting to Maryland and back and hauling major ass in 90 degree weather. Rold Gold Pretzels and GU2O are good sources of salt, other wise I will be raiding Wendy's for Salt packets. Low tech...yes but it's cheap and it works. I have gotten surprisingly good at racing in adverse weather, granted Hot and Humid sucks. I'll never forget my first marathon and the horror show that ensued the last 13 miles when the sun broke, hopefully I'll be able to take what I learned from that experience and put it to good use.

Last night I managed to get in a 3300 yard pool fest. I'm averaging about 1:18 per 100 yds. which isn't bad considering my last two weeks of training have kind of sucked due to my home situation. I'm still staying at Grandpa's until the basement fully dries out which could take a while then there is the clean up and de- molding and de-mildewing my room and furniture. He likes the company and I like being able to wake up in a dry enviroment so it washes out...no pun intended. I'm really think of holding a garage sale because I've got a lot of stuff I don't really use or need. Some of it is novelty items like mugs, prom favors, matchbox cars I have sitting in some bin in a remote corner of the basement that I haven't touched since 8th grade. I might take some of my baseball cards in but I doubt most of them are worth anything. ( Although I do have Ken Griffey Jr's Rookie Card.) Regardless if this whole month from Hell has taught me anything it is I need to reduce the clutter in my life, physical as well as emotional.
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.

This Week's poll: Planes, Trains and Automobiles.

Well, the last poll put up got alot of results, aparently 71% of my readers want me hairless...on that note I will be shaving my arms and legs for this affair but no one's messing with the new doo!

This weeks poll expresses the options of how to get to JFK Airport.
Now my Dad works a double shift on Saturday and my Mom has said no to driving into the city on a Saturday, to an airport she has no clue how to get to. Car services are ludicrisly expensive so I have put my Fordham Education of the NYC Transit system to work here here are my options:

A. My buddy Adam drives me to New Haven's Union Station. I Take the Amtrak out of New Haven to Penn Station, then take the Long Island RailRoad to Jamaica Center, then from the the Air Train to my terminal. Total Cost $45 not including excess baggage fee to check my bike case. the other slight draw back is I wouldn't arrive at JFK about a half hour before my flight, leaving not a lot of time to check in my baggage and get through security.

B. Adam drives my butt to New Haven, I hop on my Old Friend the Metro North Rail Road and get into Grand Central. From there I grab a cab for the $45 flat fare. There are a lot of pros to this one. The first is I can take as much luggage as I can carry on the Metro North, I remember the Summer I spent working at Fordham, taking on a backpack, duffle, and two green garbage bags full of clothes, cookware, and foodstuffs. The second is I can catch an earlier train and be in the City at 9:15 AM catch a cab and be at JFK at least an hour before I'm set to leave for the Left Coast. the only draw back is getting stuck in NYC Traffic...which if I leave early enough won't be a problem.

C. Throw all my crap on my back and ride my bike into JFK. This was a ludacrious suggestion by my boss. There are several drawbacks including , my bad aim with an uzi while pedaling through Jamaica Queens. (think the Chris Rock NYC Bike Tour.)

D. Bribing either Angry or Adam to drive my deadbeat ass to JFK. ...Guys we go way back and been through a whole heap together.......I'll pay gas and coffee!

Personally I like plan B!

the Globe Trotter
R.D.

Ken Glah, I love You!

Today I recieved an email at EST that they had my flight intinerary ( ok I completely killed that spelling but WTH). Now my Student loan was disburst today so I should be getting checkage within the next 5 days. Problem is to reserve my flight I would have to book tomorrow...i called Ken to try to see If I could stall giving payment until I have my "moderately sized" Check in Hand. " Sure you already paid for the ground package and if you can get me the stuff Monday or Tuesday so I can send it to ticketing." Thank you Ken. The price from his group is about $400 less than it would cost me to book on my own at this point. So hopefully the State won't be the State and actually mail my stuff out on time..and I will have my ass a nice plush seat for a 12 hour flight, on the 23rd. Ken Glah you are the Ben Gordon of ticket prices!......

Ok to recap my day

State dragging its ass = bad
OPEC gouging gas prices= bad
my dogs trashing my house= bad
8 mile run =good
Ken giving me extension to pay =good
Loan getting disburst = good
Getting my loan check and a W-2 would make this day priceless....

Ekeema Okafor eat your heart out!
R.D.

Alright I know I know now I have to mention Jake Voskul and other UConn players.

Edit: Last night I figured out the reason I haven't gotten my W-2 and backed check from the State. Apparently the guys in payroll missed spelt the 3 at the begining of my address aparently they thought I put B5 instead of 35 so that can explain why my stuff hasn't come in. I've gotten in touch with them to correct this.

$2000, for a plane ticket....only if I'm flying first class

A quick scouring of the online ticket systems and I discovered I maybe up shit's creek without a paddle.

I constantly check Air New Zealand online just to see if I can get a better deal than what my agent is offering. Well here's the sad thing....I'm not sure if my agent has booked on the earlier return flight from NZ ( one that will arrive at 10:25 am and allow me to make my connection back to NYC) or like me can only get seats on the later flight which arrives 1 hour after my flight back to the east coast has left the tarmac. Now I am currently left with 5 options

1. Hope and pray my student loan check comes in in the next 2 weeks so I can book with EST.
2. Call American and switch to a later LAX to JFK flight
3.Cancel my American Flight and see if I can get back my frequent flier miles and book with Air New Zealand round trip from JFK to Frisco to Auckland for about $300 bucks more than my current plan.
4. Book with Quantas Via American pay $400 extra and have to travel back via Sydney to LAX.

5. Put my bike and luggage on a raft, don the wetsuit and make a swim for it.

Well option 5 is out , option 4 forget it , so its either option 1,2, or 3 if the loan check doesn't come in the mail before Feb. 1, I'll book via Air NZ and try to get my hard earn AA advantage miles back, hopefully for an October Flight to the Big Island.

Well that's been my dose of travel drama for the day.

The Globetrotter
R.D.