The Great Race

Participated in my first triathlon today. It was a 5.82 mile run, 12.5 mile bike ride and a 6.35 mile kayak. I did the run my Cousin Paul did the bike and his GF Tiffany did the kayak

Thats us before the race. I actually made the run in 53:18 which is right on the time I wanted. When I broke down the split I did about a 9:30 mile for the first 3 and an 8:30 mile for the last 2.82, the thing is I felt like I could have pushed a lot harder when I got done. When I crossed the 5 mile mark I really picked up the pace and was planning on a full out sprint for the last quarter mile but before I knew it I was at the transition point, oh well next year I know where that run ends. I really feel that the 2 mile run I did 1 hour prior to the race just to warm up real good and then stretched for like 15 minutes after the short run was the key. I never once felt any tightness or soreness at all once the race started soooooo I guess I will have to remember that little trick for short races. It should be noted that Tiffany wasn't even sure she wanted to do this but when she shredded the kayak portion in a great big heavy tandem kayak she is already fired up for next year and said she wants a smaller sleeker kayak so she can shave off some of that time. The girl kicked butt finishing in under and hour that means she was cruising down that river. Here is the link for their page the results should be up sometime next week we did the coed division and our team name was The Little Engines That Could.

The Little Man With A Big Heart

The other morning I woke up thinking about my time with the carnival, Thats right for those of you who don't know I traveled with the carnival for 2 years back in the mid 80's.

Anyway I got to wondering what had happened to the people who I worked for. So I did what any sensible person would do I started googling.

You really should be careful when you are looking into the past cause the more I looked around and the more I found the more I wanted. Long story short I ran acroos the thing I didn't really want to see

Jerry Lee Bohlander, 65, of Gibsonton, Fla., and formerly of Milton, Ind., died on Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2008, at Tampa General Hospital. He was born on Oct. 4, 1942, in Batesville, Ind., to Harold and Jeannette Rodgers Bohlander.

Yup my favorite boss ever the little man with the big heart Big Hearted Jerry Bohlander. I was shocked and saddened when I read this and memories came flooding back.

I first met Jerry in 1985 as I was drifting around the country using only my charm and my thumb (hitch hiking) and I saw these carnival trucks at a truck stop. Me "you guys need help" Terry (Jerry's son) "yes we do" Me "OK I need a job" and that started a 2 year friendship.

It turned out that Jerry was rebuilding his route and was just moving all the rides to Washington DC and winging it from there, so we got the rides up there and then set up camp at a local campground with Terry's fithwheel and Jerry's motorhome. Here is where the Big heart comes in. Jerry didn't know me from Adam yet I stayed in his motorhome, we would get up in the morning watch Phil Donahue and drink coffee and just talk for a while before getting started on the day. Even though we wern't working at the time and no money was coming in Jerry made sure we were fed and when the work was dry for 2 weeks he took us to another carnival in the area and got us work in the games so we could make some cash.

When we were in Key West and would go out and enjoy the night life I could count on a knock on my trailer door the next morning and Jerry's smiling face standing there with a glass of ice water for me "come on time to work, those rides won't paint themselves" even though he had been out with us all night he would be the first one up.

So it is with a sad heart and a tear in my eye as I say Good bye Boss I know you are missed, even though I only knew you for a short while you had a greater impact on my life than you will ever know.