Training would have been easier on my body...

I was starting to feel so much better last night, I was getting cocky and thinking I beat this flu thing after only 3 days, and I only had to miss one day of training. Things seemed to be back on track.

I spent most of the night trying to get support for our Mantracker Application. I sent an email to everyone I know and asked them to send an email to Mantracker's office and let them know they would like to see John Barclay and I on the show next season. I then spent the rest of the night social marketing for more support from my Twitter, Facebook and Triathlon community friends.

It turns out that I sent too many email addresses out on one email and shut down the entire company email system. Our Internet service provider has restrictions, I guess for spam reasons. Who knew? So last night, at my kitchen table, I realized did something wrong. Big time!!!

No longer were any company email accounts working. They could receive but couldn't send. Ugh. It took about an hour of phone technical support, getting engineers involved at the Internet service provider, just to fix the problem. Afterwards, my mind was racing so much I couldn't fall asleep easily. I was wired from dealing with the email problem, trying to get it fixed, and excited about trying to get on Mantracker. I had no time to ramp down last night. Not good for a flu.

In the morning, surprisingly, I was still feeling better, I thought the flu was officially gone and I averted disaster. Wrong! When I got to the office I got an email from the production coordinator at Mantracker's office asking me to stop the emails from coming in and explained they are looking for contestants who live in Hawaii and emails from friends and family won't help our chances. She also explained that they judge solely based on what they see on the application and video. I could tell she wasn't too impressed. She did say however they would definitely consider us for season 6.

I had some nice email exchanges back and forth, and apologized, but they took a lot out of me, the last thing I wanted to do was inadvertently get blacklisted. Getting all our supporters emails wasn't making her job easy and it was only mid-morning and she had already received about 60 emails and they kept coming. Along with an apology email, I felt so bad, I also sent her some flowers. I found a shop down the street from her office and 30 minutes later they were delivered. I told the florist the situation, he got a kick out of it. I had to tell him because I needed his expert advice on what to write on the card.

I surprised her. When she received the flowers, she sent me a very nice and touching email that touched me back. I wanted to help her out and let all my friends know they could stop sending the emails, but I couldn't, not without shutting down the company email system again. Later in the day I emailed her to explain the situation.

She was great about it and told me not to worry about it, it was no big deal. She was actually enjoying reading all the emails and comments. She then dropped a completely unexpected bombshell. She said she can't guarantee the outcome, but she will make sure our application gets reviewed by the producers. Wow. That's all we could ask. She's was a real sweetheart about it all.

With all the emails back and forth and trying to right any wrongs, I was getting run down. By the time I got home, I was back to being sick again. This morning I was a 2 on 10 on the sickness meter and now I'm a 7 on 10 on the sickness meter. Even got another cold sore popping up.

Other than knowing we'll have our Mantracker application looked at seriously, another highlight of my day was getting my bike back from the shop. Those guys at Wheels on Bloor are amazing. The bike looks BETTER than the day I bought it. They tuned it up and cleaned it up from top to bottom. Even re-taped all the handle bars. I have a long ride tomorrow and with my luck it will rain and get dirty again. It is just so beautiful right now, like a restored classic car. I don't even what to take it out of the garage.

I want to thank everyone for sending email support, although, I'm sure Mantracker's office will be getting emails for weeks, or longer, it's now gone viral. Which is cool, at least Mantracker is getting a lot of exposure.

I need to share this email to Mantracker from Bill Piercey. Bill's a guy I work with and sent me a copy. I found it really funny. A milk out the nose funny.

Dear Madam/Sir,

First off I would like to say I am a big fan of the show. Love watching Mantracker track down his pray and when they least expect it "captured"! The reason for my email is a couple of friends have applied to be on the show, Ironman Triathletes, Bryan Payne & John Barclay. I think they will be great pray for Mantracker with their athletic back ground they would give Mantracker a challenge and I would look forward to seeing Mantracker Kick their butt's.

Thanks,

Bill Piercey

Scheduled Rest & Taper Day - No Training.

Still eating perfectly healthy.