Bite off more than one can chew

The phrase "don't bite off more than you can chew" was first written in the 1877 book 'Western Wild' although it is widely believed that it had previously been used in regular conversation before being written. Regardless of where the phrase derived from we all do it at some point.

I have recently bitten off more than I can chew. Although I am more than confident in regards to my ability to complete a physically active endeavour I am worried about completing the 4km swim portion of the Ironman Canada. I am just not a very competent swimmer. I'm don't struggle with the aspect of being able to swim, but rather I am just not sure I can complete a 4km swim in an acceptable amount of time and I at the moment certainly can't do it with the freestyle stroke. Triathlon blogs unequivocally state that the breaststroke is too slow and too tiring to be considered an appropriate stroke for an Ironman.

The purpose of this blog is to journal my progression towards Ironman Canada 2014. I can't imagine it will be interesting to anyone other than myself, but I do feel it is an excellent way for me to track my progress and hopefully keep me in some way, shape or form more accountable to my training.

If you do decide to follow my progress I hope you enjoy it... If you don't that is just fine :)

Day 1 training: 45 minute pyramid bike training.
Weight: 200
Day 2 training: 50 minute tempo ride.
Weight: 201

Running

Never Too Late To Restart?

As you may or may not know I enjoy running. Despite the fact I dislike the term 'passionate' I am passionate about running. I've been long distance running for approximately 15 years, I've completed 11 full marathons and a number of other races. I would some day like to run a 3h10m marathon, but a lack of commitment and motivation have gotten in the way.

 I'm trying to make a number of small changes in my life that will allow me to take a genuine shot at attaining this goal. Some of these goals are running a half/full marathon clinic, running outdoors throughout the winter regularly, I work at a running store and I have become more motivated.

There are also a variety of hurdles if you will that are standing in my way. Some of these hurdles are lack of time, the half/full marathon clinic (please refer to time if you don't understand this dilemma) and I need to cut back on beer and red wine.

I think chronicling my running may be an extrinsic motivator when it comes to developing my commitment to 3:10 and I feel like writing more, so this is what this very outdated blog is going to do.

I have not posted on this blog n who knows how long and there are significant changes in my life since I last posted. The following are the bigger ones.. new girlfriend, new house, new country, new job, different group of friends and I am much older and not really that much wiser.

This has been a rather serious post, most will not be, but rather they will be cynical and hopefully somewhat humorous. They will also chronicle my running and some post will only be about a run. This may be boring to most of you (not that anyone is actually going to read this), but I don't care.

Running

December 7th, 2012
Time: 1:05
Distance: 13.5km
Conditions: cold, no wind and very slippery
Felt: Great, no fatigue or light headedness at the start of the run.

Things I Like

• No work on today so that I can write report cards.

Things I Don't Like

• Report card writing.

I might be wrong..

I used to love going to Winnipeg Blue Bomber games when I lived in Winnipeg. Should I live there next summer I will be sure to buy season tickets. However, aside from the year they fluked it off and made it to the final only to succumb to the Riders. Have the Bombers been above .500? They really do stink.

Oh the good times

It is spring
Melbourne for the weekend
Powderfinger concert
U2 tickets
Trip to Adelaide coming up
Two weeks off
It is a tough life

Yikes

If the photos of the animals covered by BP oil don't make you cringe not much will.

What I've been doing

What is new with me you ask. Nothing I say! Got back from my 8 day camp trip with "special" kids. Wasn't too bad of a trip. It only rained once and despite not sleeping in a tent I only got slightly wet. Kids weren't too bad considering. The worst that happened was the boys peeing on each others things before bed. It is so odd, if someone had peed on my things at any time in my life I would have been bordering on rage. However, these guys found it funny. Not fun though laying in bed hearing the sound of pee and wondering if you should do the responsible thing and check on the boys... I didn't.

On the "Where in the World is Danny Mitchell?" front. Well, I've decided to head back to the Great White North come the end of December. If I can work it I might stay till late January to soak up a little sun, but we'll see.

Soccer is still going desperately bad. Presently I am sitting out a one game suspension because of a tete-a-tete with some jackass. This made the kids very happy at school.

Things I like this week
Saw a friend win $50 on the VLT machine, so I put in $1 and won myself $95.

The Toronto Blue Jays appear to continue to play respectively.

I won this weeks Footy tipping pool at school. You wouldn't know it from this week, but I don't even gamble.

Things I Don't Like This Week

The pain in both my knees just doesn't seem to go away. I can't lift my legs up while sitting in a chair and straighten them.

Like everyone else, the continuous oil leak. That is a lot of fossil fuels leaking up to the surface

That every weekend isn't a long weekend. How the world would be a better place with 4 days on and three days off.

A Quiet Chuckle

"Asking a working writer what he thinks about critics is like asking a lamppost how it feels about dogs."
-- Christopher Hampton

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's to all the moms out there. Particularly to my mother... miss you mom. Love D

Being a Health Teacher

You may or may not know that I am a health teacher and in my expertise the cement dome covering the huge u.s. oil spill seems more like a diaphragm and a lot less like a dome.

Trip to Greece

I haven't looked on the internet for any flights and this is totally a wild guess, but I bet you can get a good deal on a holiday resort in Greece.

I find these riots in Greece interesting. I bet there are many people who are rioting, are the same people who voted for those incompetent and corrupt officials. Many of the kids at school say that politics is boring and that it doesn't have anything to with them. Well in Australia, registered voters are required to vote or they are fined, which is exhibit number one as to why you should vote. Exhibit two is if you aren't actively engaged in the political process and allow politicians to do what they did in Greece they can have devastating results.

Just One Game

What I would do to just watch one play-off hockey game. How great it would have been to watch the Habs knock off the Capitals. If I remember correctly I believe it was Ovechkin, who during the World junior Hockey Championships, taunted the Canadian team as he scored an empty net goal. Now every time he loses it quietly makes me smile inside.

Had to turn the heat on for the first time... summer and fall are officially done. Here comes the winter.

I'm off for a week long walkabout with naughty kids in the Flinders Range next week. Looking forward to it, except for when it is Saturday and Sunday and I'm still working. We don't sleep with tents, but rather under the stars... cross your fingers and hope it doesn't rain.

I wish I could tell you something interesting, but Mount Gambier has dulled my mind. I no longer think for myself. The most interesting thought I had today was in regards to the Australian Fashion Week. Apparently, rather than reserving the front row for Fashion Magazine Editors and writters, they opened some spaces for bloggers. Not surprisingly a veteran fashion writer suggested that bloggers do not have the experience to comment on the clothing. It might just be me, but I'm pretty sure anyone can comment on clothing and justify what they are saying. Whilst still leave room for the writers to comment on whether things are good or bad and why that might be.

Things I Like This Week

My least enjoyable class has been rather pleasant as of late.

A friends 60th birthday, which should make for an enjoyable Friday evening

Things I Do Not Like

I saw someone hit another person in the head with a skateboard.

I'm questioning whether the majority of todays youth are able to think for themselves

One Week Down

How I wish it didn't rain on my vacation, but sadly it has done nothing but rain. Regardless, I have manager to squeeze in 3 rounds of golf this week. it has been easy to go golfing as I am a brand new member at the local Blue Lake Golf Course. Yesterday I shot my course record oof 89, which included two birdies and a handful of pars.

Not much else has been going on for my first week of the holidays. First soccer game of the season is tomorrow and then I will be driving down to Adelaide (about a 5 hour drive) to catch up with friends from uni. and to do some sleeping bag shopping (please conain your excitment).

I wish the school breaks were 3 weeks instead of 2 weeks. I am not asking to add on an extra three weeks of vacation over the course of the year, but rather to cut the summer holidays in half and add the weeks to the mid year breaks. Two weeks in theory seems like a long time, but in reality you use the first week to wind down and the second week to start getting a set for school to get back into the swing of things. having that added middle week would truely add to a proper vacation.

Things I Like This Week

• Baseball season getting underway
• Going to watch the last two episodes on Mad Men
• Going to buy grade a sleeping bag

Things I don't Like This Week

• I have a feeling this sleeping bag is going to cost me $300

It Has Been Awhile

Hello everyone,

For those of you I caught up with over Christmas, I promised you that I’d do a better job of keeping in touch with you… well I lied, but that doesn’t mean I can start trying now.

Things are fine. The school year didn’t get off to a cracking start as I was under the impression I was going to be teaching P.E., but such is not the case. I was welcomed back to school with 3 Society and Environment classes, a Personal Learning Plan class and one grade 9 P.E. class. I’m pretty sure that my face was beat red with rage for the first week of school. The fact that most of the people I work with were continuously asking how I was doing only added to my rage. However, I’ve dealt with it and moved on. The first term has come and gone and it was pretty good I guess. I helped run the schools year 8 camps, went on an Outdoor Ed. Camp and also went with the schools Athletics Team down to Adelaide (I live in Mt. Gambier for those of you who are unsure). Those were all enjoyable and as for the rest of the term… it was fine and more importantly nobody got hurt in the process. I guess the only other point of interest for my first term is that irony reared its ugle head and the one P.E. class is the worst class that I’ve taught in my short and tenuous teaching career. Another good example of how you should be careful what you wish for.

As for my extracurricular activities, Baseball and Touch Footy seasons have both some to an unsuccessful end. Our baseball team had to amalgamate with another team because of a lack of players. The skill level of the guys we joined… not so good and to add insult to injury, most of them weren’t the type of people you wanted to spend your Saturday afternoons with. As for Touch Footy, well we had an okay season, but lost in the semi-finals.

Now up and coming is soccer season mixed with a heavy dose of running. We’ve lost quite a few players from our soccer club and I think we are going to stink, but hopefully we’ll have fun in the process. I’m hoping to run a half-marathon and two full marathons this year (this is being very wishful with soccer) and have started training hard over the last month or so. I’m running about 40-50Kms a week with my longest run being a 19km run. Running is looking good, but I’m going to need some luck to not get the banged up over the course of the soccer season.

I’m sure most of you know, but for those of you who don’t know Brad and Lisa got engaged. I am very, very happy for them despite the fact they or anyone else did not tell me and I found out via Facebook. Facebook is one of life’s great tragedies. Text messaging, Facebook and Tweeter have made it possible to pretty much not have to talk to anyone anymore.

As for what is on the horizon. Well I have the next two weeks off and will hang around Mount Gambier for most of it. Possibly a camping trip in the area and a trip to Adelaide to meet up with friends from University. Next term will be business as usual except for an 8 day hiking trip with about 10 of the naughty kids from school. The hike is about 100km up and down hills. It’s the equivalent of boot camp, but thankfully I enjoy hiking. Guess I need to decide whether or not I am going to apply for Permanent Residence, no idea what to do. I guess its easy to stay here and keep working , but the idea of moving back to Canada is very enticing.

Things I Like This week

Vacation
Writing a blog entry
My new John Butler CD

Things I Don’t Like This Week

Starting to feel an awful lot like winter

Britney Spears

I just read a headline that said "Britney not allowed to keep kids!" Is that really a headline or just hews outlet assuring us that the world hasn't quite gone to hell in a handbasket. They should get some psychologist to do a Longitudinal study on kids of messed up celebrities and how those kids turn out. They could include Britney Spears, the little guy ummm what is his name... Tom Cruise. I'm not going to sit her and list the different kids you could include because Ithink you get the point.

A few comments on some comments made by loyal readers... Dave the Cliff Claven comment was very funny and confirmation as to why I have been using the white socks to dust. Diane yes I do a lot of running (although not recently), but I have put the 1960's high top socks (similar to the ones my mother bought me) and the crotch hugger jogging shorts back in my fathers drawer in Winnipeg.

Another observation... for all the talk of David Beckham and in the media did youk now that I have only once seen photos of his kids and his relationship with his wife appears to be stable aka they have good nannies, but maybe those kids could also be included in the study. Beckham seems the most normal of the bunch and the most likely to have normal kids.

You know I really want to follow up the Christmas Invitation entry with something as funny, but there isn't really anything funny to talk about. I had a really good time. I was expecting to be there for 3 or 4 hours... I didn't end up leaving until about 9 pm. I'm sure I oveerstayed my welcome and yes i had troo much to drink, but Lisa's family was great. Her husband and sons were terrific compnay and it made for a very enjoyable Christmas Day.

I seem to have a new vigor for writing in the blog. I wil lcontinue this throughout the New Year. However, I will be in New Zealand for a few weeks so I won't post until mid January most likely. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all.

Love,
D

Here is the details for my Christmas lunch with my interpretations in red

This is the e-mail sent to me about the Christmas lunch I will be attending... the coles notes verion is in red

Hi Danny,

I'm fine, and I have a wonderful time moaning about the humid weather.
(I'm fine, but I haven't finished my Christmas shopping, I have to get prepared to cook a dinner for you, my family and all your lazy asses and its 40 fricking degrees outside and I have boob sweat)
Details: we have a traditional vaguely mixed English and Australian Christmas lunch. This year we'll be having roast pork, roast lamb and a cold ham, with traditional apple sauce, gravies, roast veggies etc. We also do a brandy plum pudding with custard, fruit mince pies etc and a side dessert of something else for the non pudding eaters (eg my sons aren't big on it).
(We eat like Kings, I cook like a slave and yet my sons still can't manage to choke back the damn pudding that my needy Husband and mother insists on)
Let me know if any of this is a dietary problem , no probs if it is...can always do something additional for you.
(Your bandwagoning sorry ass better like whatever it is I decide to make)
As good Aussies, we are also red and white wine (and the men are also beer drinkers. We also ensure there are plenty of non alcoholic drinks around for eg me during the cooking!
(The only way you, me, my family gets through this most aggravating time is to get drunk as skunks, so you better bring some because I'm not sharing any of my magic potion)
Best time to arrive is 12.30. We tend to get straight into pre lunch drinks and nibbles and gift unwrapping immediately before Jasmine explodes with anticipation.
(By 10am I will have needed a strong drink... by 12:30 I won't be able to wait any longer and we all need to eat something to have a good balance of booze to food ratio in the belly to avoid barfing at 4am when I most likely will still be drinking)

Then lunch inside in the dining room (squeezy with so many of us, but adds to the fun) then outside in the garden for the afternoon, weather permitting. If it's hot Jasmine tends to squirt everyone with water pistols..which actually isn't too bad if its over 30 degrees!
(Because of you we are going to have to sit on each other laps... why is it I invited your sorry ass again? Regardless of temperature we are going to have to sit outside because there isn't enough room with you being there and there is a strong possibility you will get splashed in the face with a water pistol. I suppose this could be one reason why I invited you as the extra person means that there will be less squirts directed at me this year and we will all avoid the wet t-shirt incident we encountered last Christmas. P.s. hopefully this year the water pistol won't be filled with pee like it was in 05... here is to hoping!!)
Family info for you.
My husband Malcolm is a skinny Englishman, still has a strong accent despite claiming not to do so..took me a year to understand some of what he said (smile).
( He is a midget and he is sensitive about it, so no jokes. When he drinks there is no chance you will have any idea what he is saying, but this is most likely for the better, so cheers to that)

My sons are Willis, a bureaucrat come to think of it, in Melbourne; plays club cricket, volley ball (?) golf, used to play Aussie rules football and rugby and American football in his teens .
(Bureaucrat... so you he is going to ask you about your politics and religion within the first 10 minutes of meeting you.. you better bring your a-game... if you are getting killed trying changing the topic to the following sports)

Duncan, Jasmine's Dad, plays club tennis, plays acoustic guitar, Jasmine does gymnastics. (is scarily good at it). (It's a possibility that Duncan's partner Tamara and her 6 yr old daughter Jade will also be here. depends on how she can fit in both families. )
(Duncan will be so busy trying to keep Jasmine under control you won't have to worry about him)

My youngest son Jon (aged 28) still hasn't a clue about what do with his life, like many youngest sons apparently (smile). He began a BA at Flinders, dropped out, likes films and computers and is a really gentle guy...
(Where have a heard this story before minus the gentle part?)
And my Mum, Lena is a wonderful woman, who is very lucid at 85, but has recently lost a lot of her eyesight due to macular degeneration..but she doesn't let that stop her!
(A saucy lady who will indulge in a medicinal drink by about 8am can't see a thing, but she will be stripping by 2pm regardless.... nothing has stopped her including the depression and WW2)

Hmmm, if you want to bring anything a bottle of wine is always welcome...but if you don't drink, anything is fine.
(You better bring a bottle of wine, even if you don't drink and for your sake you better.. .you should still bring a bottle... its like Church when they pass around the plate for collection.. you know its a ripoff, but you don't want anyone to think you are mooching!!)
Do you drive or cycle?
(As I have hinted throughout this e-mail... the only chance of someone surviving this ordeal is to drink copious amounts of booze, so you should most likely drive unless you plan on driving home with your eyes closed and I can't really condone such actions)

The only thing I want for Christmas is my two front teeth

The only thing I wanted for this very low key Christmas was to watch the Jamie Oliver Christmas Special.... it was on at 7:30.... its now 10... I missed in... damn it....

6 pairs of

You know I am not one to complain (okay, maybe sometimes), but I am certainly am not one to complain about a generous gift bestowed upon myself (well not with earshot). I received a FedEx package in the mail, which I am extremely grateful for! I'm not going to say who it is ( my parents) who sent it and everything that was sent was great except I'm slightly curious about one thing, rather the 6 of one thing. The sender sent me 6 pairs of white socks, which would be great in Canada because I would own a pair of shoes in Canada. However, here in the southern hemisphere... I don't own a pair of shoes. With the coldest day of the year hovering around 13 degrees I only wear sandals. So.... this leads me to a small dilemma... I have 6 pairs of socks and zero opportunities to wear them. Should I go and buy a pair of shoes to go along with the socks or should I save them for some day when I decide to go back to Canada? Or maybe I should just start wearing socks with my sandals?

Picked up the car from the mechanic the other day. Appears as though his statement of "the muffler will need 1 0r 2 small components" actually means he is going to replace the muffler... I won't be going back.

Sidney Crosby being names the Canadian athlete of the year is an injustice as Steve Nash should have won the past three years. You could have made a compelling argument that Vincent Lecavalier and Roberto Luongo are equally as deserving as Crosby, but no Canadian touches Nash. Also, basketball is far larger on the world stage, so the field that Nash has to compete against is far greater than that of a hockey player.

Rumour on the street has it that a devoted reader continues going to work despite the fact that the person in question is very ill. The reason you are given sick days is not so that you can stay home if you are sick. They are given to you so that you can stay home and not show up to work making everyone else sick. If you aren't feeling well stay home.

Random

I'm suffering from Acute Radiation Poisoning, yet not one reader seems overly concerned... As you can see the poisoning has attracted some funny looks at the beach.

The table has been set! I heard one of my neighbours say that they do not really like U2. This comment was made while listen to the Live Vertigo DVD from Chicago. Well I'm not a fan of their 30 cigs a day, which waft up and into our flat. As you can guess 5/9 Cross St. has turned into U2 everyday all day. They have no idea how persistent I can be.

Were you as surprised as me when you heard that A-Rod denied using steroids on 60 minutes? Shocking! I thought he was going on t.v. to come clean and admit his rampant steroid use.

The word of the day on Google is unfledged.. I had been looking for the right word to explain why I'm still in a training bra and unfledged fits perfectly. I still use a training bra because my delicious bobbies are still unfledged.

Presently I feel like I'm on trial and I'm waiting for the jury to comeback with the verdict. I had to take our car in because of the fan belt, but of course upon being brought into the garage they noticed that there were a few components on the muffler that needed replacing (is it just me or is the muffler at the other end of the car?). Nevertheless I didn't ask how much it was going to cost and decided I'd treat it as a Kinder Surprise. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the cost associated with car maintenance in Australia... An oil change runs for about $100. I can only imagine how much this is going to cost.

Erin and I have officially secured tickets to the Australian Open!!! Saturday the 19th under the lights and Sunday morning. Its going to be AWESOME!!

Poison

Erin tried poisoning me!! Before she left for Canada she bought me an Advent calendar... you know the ones with the chocolates for each day. Well I hadn't opened up yet and the last few times we chatted on the phone she kept asking if I'd been keeping up with it. Well today I decided to cracked it open... upon first look I was surprised to see that is wasn't a solid brown piece of chocolate and that it had a design on the back of the chocolate or so I suspected... it wasn't until I placed the chocolate in my mouth that I realised that it wasn't a design, but rather poison that was obviously put there by Erin in her attempt to be an assassin I have obviously played the role of Alexander Litvinenko. If this is the last time I write in this blog you'll know that the polonium-210 has taken hold and I've succumb to acute radiation syndrome. Please pine box coffin and I'd like to wear the signed Milt Stegall jersey that I never got to wear.

On a side note... did anyone read the comment on the last entry? It was from Rick and I believe he may be the first random reader I have ever had... how exciting! His blog is http://organizeddoodles.blogspot.com/ he has some cool drawings and pictures on his blog... Its better than mine... I'm going to have to step it up a notch!

Runners World

Guilty pleasures, more specifically my guilty pleasures... Chocolate after dinner, coffee, video games, fantasy sports, $1 hot dogs at Ikea, office supplies and Runners World Magazines...

I LOVE Runners World.... I don't buy them on a monthly basis, however, there are times when I just feel like I deserve to read one, so I splurge. I do have one complaint though.... why...WHY.... does there always have to be an article on an middle aged, over weight mother of three (two children with the father, the latest with the illegal immigrant gardener), with a husband whom she married because she got knocked up in the back of a Chevy during high school who has recently run a 10km race to deal with her drug induces depression, but really its just an excuse to check out the guys running by. Every single issue of Runners World has this article and its never one of those 1 page you're in and you're out articles, but rather its drawn out of 6 pages and we all know whats going to happen. She dedicates everyone of her races to someone because heck why would you just run for the sake of running.... GAWD SPARE ME!!!!

Tomorrow night I think a few friends of mine, Erin and my parents are getting together at Carlos & Murphys. It seems low key, but it is the classic go in with low expectations and then all of a sudden you come stumbling out of the bar with a souvenir mug is one hand, the cover bands burnt disk in the other and the only reason you are leaving is because they turned the lights off. I wish I could be there hehe.

I would like to make a comment on my reference to the Pope... I do believe I said that white, english speaking males are like the Pope and I do believe that demographic reaches beyond your truly. However, I'd like to take it back because with the Catholic churches track record with young boys I don't believe its appropriate to compare potential school teachers and the Pope as clearly teachers should be held in much higher regard.

WANKER OF THE WEEK

• Ray Emery hand finally one over the starting spot with the Ottawa Senators (what goalie leads his team to the Stanley Cup and then loses his spot the following season?) and then after one shot the other night pulls himself because of a sore hip. Like clockwork Martin Gerber goes in net and he has only let in one goal in the last two games. Thank you Ray Emery for putting the final stake in my fantasy hockey team.

THINGS I LIKE THIS WEEK

• It rained today!! Man I do not remember the last time in rained and thankfully I'll be able to get some sleep because its not so hot.
• The book A Perfect Mess

THINGS I DO NOT LIKE THIS WEEK

• The article on the mother of three in RW
• Jason Jaffray called up from the Manitoba Moose to the Vancouver Canucks to play his first NHL game and manages a 1G/1A... excellent work. However, game 3 15 minutes of playing time, -1 and 2 hooking penalties...me thinks that someone might be having trouble keeping up with the big boys with all those hooking penalties.