The followers have not spoken...

I guess the reason most people read my blog will remain somewhat of a mystery. Other than the "usually suspects", I got only four new comments from the unknown readers.

Mind you, I did get a comment from C.C. For those that don't remember C.C. it stands for Cowardly Commenter. C.C. left an anonymous comment on my blog that I didn't appreciate earlier this year. I came up with the nickname C.C. to personalize anonymous.

The blog post was http://trainingpayne.blogspot.com/2010/03/anonymous-rant.html . I had 400 people hit the blog that day after my "venomous" response to C.C. It was one of my most popular blog posts. It's classic and believe it or not, alcohol was not a factor.

Frankly, I was surprised C.C. still read my blog, I didn't think I was one of C.C.'s type of people. Today C.C. posted this comment that I though was worth highlighting:

Regarding the lack of comments on posts detailing your questionable lifestyle, it could be that people refrain from offering up comments that oppose your thoughts, opinions, or actions because you have a tendency to react harshly to these.

There really isn’t much to say about your questionable lifestyle; as a grown man you don’t need anyone telling you about the myriad issues involved with drinking 12 to 20 beers a night with such frequency. What would anyone have to say about this that you don’t already know?

I read your blog to learn from your triathlon experiences. You are very good at managing a work/life balance. Because you are so open we see what works for you and, perhaps more importantly, what doesn’t. I have taken away some valuable points from your blog and incorporated them into my triathlon preparation and racing.

If nothing else, I stay away from buffets.

-C.C.

On cc.'s comment, I'm the one who bolded parts of it. Those parts stood out to me. Before I begin I want to say I respect C.C. for commenting, although I'd love for C.C. to pull off the mask and show the face, and I thought the last line about the buffet was quite funny, aka China.

However I do want to comment on the areas I highlighted. First off, in 894 blog posts, other than C.C.'s previous stupid ass and unidentifiable comment, I've never reacted harshly or critical to anyone else's comments. I defy anyone to prove me wrong, unless one interprets a joke to the "usual suspects" as critical. It's not, they're my kind of people, "they know how to take a puck to the head".

Secondly, I also want to go on record that I'm not a grown man, nor have I ever promoted myself that way. I do have integrity. I'm a lot of things, but I'm not a liar. As I've consistently stated, I'm a mature 17 year old in a man's body.

Thirdly, I want to congratulate C.C. for learning from my mistakes and seeing that being straight laced and pure vanilla is boring and the wrong way to live one's life. It takes a big person to admit to that.

C.C. recognized that "drinking 12 - 20 beers a night with such frequency can cause a myriad of issues", a minor could be health related. The others could be new friendships, a long-term "true love" marriage, trouble free kids, not worring about money, more fun memories than I can remember, constant growth through professional and personal challenges and living live to the fullest everyday.

In terms of the negative health effects from drinking lots of beer, it doesn't overly concern me. My philosophy is that you never know when your number is up. I don't want to look back on my life with regret. If I lived the 90% healthy lifestyle and came down with some disease and died at 80 and had a emotionally level and balanced life, I'd be pissed off.

I'd rather die at 57 and have a rocking life. A life that I would be hard pressed to top and would be legendary among future Payne generations. A life full of joy, tears, happiness, embarrassment, struggle, euphoria, situational regret, constant growth, new friendships, a few new enemies and LOVE.

To put it in perspective, with all the bike riding I do, my chances of getting hit by a car and killed is much more likely than my internal organs shutting down before a replacement. Don't be fooled, I've given this a lot of thought and I proudly choose OZZY over Dr. OZ.

Changing gears. On the home front, I've got some good news and some bad news. First the bad news. Reid has decided not to do swim club next year. He's going to finish his three month commitment and collect his $1000 and then that's it. He changed his mind because it was cutting into his evening fun time with his friends and he didn't like getting up early on Saturday mornings.

That's the one thing about Reid, he's sensible. He takes after Alice that way. He doesn't fully commit, without thinking out the consequences. He still wants to swim, but on his own time. He still wants to exercise, but on his own time. He did say however, when he goes to high school, if they have a swim team, he'll join.

I've got to say, I'm actually proud of Reid to recognize it now and not feel pressured to continue. In many ways, Reid's a Renaissance man. He tries everything and then quits when he rises to the level of mediocrity. Other than doing triathlons, I'm pretty much the same. Alice on the other hand, only quits when she has too many first place red ribbons.

So far, in the past 6 years, he's done in drum lessons, lacrosse, football, hockey, swimming, skateboarding, weight lifting, movie making and golf. Not to mention all the other non-organized kids stuff, like watching YouTube and playing video games. And most importantly, he's polite, respectful, humble, funny and is a gentlemen around the girls.

He's a little weird in that I don't think he has yet started surfing Internet porn or locking himself in the bathroom for long periods of time.

Most importantly, Reid's "always been there when I needed him". In Mexico, 4 years ago when he was 9 year old, he dragged my sorry ass home when I was drunk and didn't know where the hotel was. He then watched over me with concern as I was playing the Mexican tuba. I think he even cleaned the tuba up afterwards.

I think Reid's on the path to greatness. My dream for my number one and most favourite son is to be "Most Interesting Man in The World". I think Reid is the second coming of the "Dos Equis Guy" and they will be doing commercials with him down the road. For those who don't know who the "Dos Equis Guy", I've included a video of him below.

How good would that be? My son "The Most Interesting Man in the World". He'd be famous, make good money and most importantly be able to supply me with all the free "Doe Equis Beer" I could drink.

Oh, one last thing. The good news about Reid not continuing with swim club is me not having to pay $3000 for the year and Alice not having to drive him endlessly to the pool and weight room, especially on early Saturday mornings.

Training wise, I swam, biked and started carbo-loading with some Amstel Light today. Flic ur Bic.

Easy Swim -34:19 / 1500 meters

Mod Bike - 1:31:23 / 47.45 km / 3.15 kph

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