Prime time...

The 9-day post race party is officially over. I knew it was time to stop when I did a number two and out came beer, and I'm not kidding. That's NEVER happened to me before.

Last night was my last hurrah. It was so nice and warm outside yesterday. I had no choice but to sit on my deck with a cold one by my side. From noon until 2 am I stayed outside working on my computer, sipping draught beer, listening to music and talking with Alice.

The other day I had purchased the photo package from IMLP. I downloaded them the moment they became available. Yesterday evening I realized one photo may be missing. I remember the photographer taking my photo on the run with the Ski Jumps behind me and hadn't seen it.

It turned out that after I downloaded the images, they found the missing one and added it to my gallery. I'm glad I checked back and found it, had I not, I may never had known it even existed. It turns out, that picture may be the best triathlon photo of me ever taken and it DEFINITELY captures how I felt the entire day.

When Mark Allen saw it, he emailed back "I wish I had felt that good in my Ironmans!" I think I even offered to let him use it in his promotion materials.

When Alice saw it, her first words were, "You have to make life-size standee out of that!" She felt that photo really captures me in "my prime". It's the Bryan she wants to forever remember. Her comment set me back. It was humbling to think she considers me in my prime at 45 years old (44 years and 8 months to be exact). Very cool, and after I thought about it, I realized she was right. I actually do feel like I'm in my prime.

Technology being what it is, I googled "Standee" and in less than 10 minutes, the photo was uploaded and it was ordered from Party Standups for $79. It's 6' 6" and they've already printed and shipped it. I should have it by Friday.

The plan is to replace the "Drew Brees Quarterback Standee" from the "Man Cave" with "The Captain". Reid has already moved the Quarterback Standee upstairs to the "Boy Cave".

I also got an email from Carlos. He emailed me his Previous Fat Guy photos. They were from his first triathlon before he lost 65 lbs. Wow, what a difference. I asked him for a write up and I posted the photos and his story on the PFG website. Check it out, it's truly inspiring.

Getting his photos and story reminded me that I've never fully told my story. Mine has some unique twists to it and I haven't told many people. Even my brother and immediate family don't know it. On our last ride, I told Carlos about the dramatic and personal circumstances that motivated me to get in shape. I think he's only one of two people that have heard the full story.

I vowed to myself that I would never write my PFG story until I qualified for Kona. Frankly I didn't expect it to be made public for a long, long time. Today it dawned on me, "I guess I'll be telling the story sooner rather than later". It looks like I have 9 weeks and 4 days to get it ready before posting it. Fate is my destiny.

Today I stopped by Jamie's place to look at his new waterfall. I knew he had an ulterior motives when I saw the beer glass in his hand. I ended up being "enabled" into having a beer. I've never nursed a beer that long in my life. He got me with the, "I don't want to drink alone" while looking at me with sad puppy dog eyes.

Last, and definitely not least, I want to thank Mandy for the generous donation she made to the TPPF. Thanks for the post IMLP beer and pack of matches. Next year she'll be doing IMLP and I'll be returning the favour. Oh, and just for you Mandy, I posted a video of what the start of the swim looks like at IMLP. Be sure to bring the Meat Beater your Grandma gave you.

Post Race Taper - No training

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