Goals are helpful.

I am very happy to have figured out my 2007 season. Entering the races, and having that goal helps my training in a big way! I need something to work for...I am very excited to see how this season takes shape.

High Energy in KONA.

I was very excited to watch the 2006 Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii. My excitment grew when I saw that NBC gave the coverage 2 hours, twice as much as previous years. In my short time as a triathlete this was the most exciting race I've ever seen. It was great! The post event drama is equally interesting/exciting... Here is some brackround:

The day after Stadler won his second Ford Ironman World Championship in Kona, holding off a charging McCormack by 71 seconds in the third closest men's race ever, the pair shared the stage briefly at the awards dinner. While they made small talk, McCormack found it “bizarre” that Stadler didn't shake his hand.
Minutes later, a friend handed McCormack his Blackberry. In an interview with Triathlete magazine, Stadler called McCormack a cheater, accusing him of drafting.
“I was livid,” said McCormack, who was not assessed any penalties for drafting.
At a post-banquet party, McCormack approached Stadler.
“You said some things about me,” McCormack recalls saying. “You said I cheat.”
According to Competitor Magazine co-publisher Bob Babbitt, McCormack approached Stadler professionally. Babbitt said Stadler at first denied the accusations, then, after McCormack showed him the quotes, admitted he made the statements.
McCormack said he called Stadler a “coward” for not going to him with the complaint. During an exchange that wound up turning heated, McCormack said he repeatedly told Stadler, “You are just a simple boy. A simple man.”
The next day, in a vitriolic attack on the Triathlete Web site, McCormack said of Stadler, “I'm the best - and you can tell him ... Normann Stadler has to ride full-out because he can't run. And he swims like a dog ... Sure it's easy for Normann to be cocky, but I can sit there and joke about how pathetic he is in Ironmans around the world.”
With three months having passed, time for inflamed emotions to have cooled, McCormack said he respects Stadler and that the best man won last October.
“In the heat of the moment,” said McCormack, “maybe I went off the rail a bit. But they (Stadler and a sponsor) attacked my integrity. They attacked what I stand for.”

At first I was disappointed...these guys are professionals! The more I thought about it, I now think this rivialry is great. I think McCormack & Stadler should have a "mano a mano" head to head competition as was done at Wildflower a few years ago with Tim DeBoom and Peter Reid. What better way to watch these two guys go at it on the course! What do you think?

Boom or Bust....BUST!

The Chicago Bears made it all the way to the Super Bowl XLI! We should be proud, and we are... Unfortunately the game didn't go the way we wanted. We are proud of our Bears. Switching gears....GO CUBBIES!