Seven for Seven and Saying No to Sponsorship

Well, as much as I like to think I am invincible, I was unable to stave off the stomach flu. It started with Luca and worked its way through the family. A perfect seven for seven. I thought I was good. I woke up yesterday morning, got to the gym and did 2200 yards in the pool. The night before, Luca accompanied me on a 10K loop. When I got home from the pool yesterday, I sat at the piano and was writing some music when all of a sudden I started feeling terrible. I will spare you the details, but the whole ordeal lasted about 12 hours. I went to bed at 7:30 p.m. last night and slept 12 hours. Wow!  I have not done that since the fourth grade. Even today, I was a bit tired and had to lie down for a couple of hours. No training today. As I laid in bed rehydrating with some Gatorade, a terrifying thought came over me:

What if I get this sick right before the Ironman?  An acquaintance of mine was on his flight over to Ironman World Championships in Kona when he came down with the stomach flu. He said he had to walk the first nine miles of the marathon. Of course, I will just be thankful if I could walk at all after that bike. What if I trained all summer, ran a bunch of half, sprint, and olympic distance events leading up to Ironman, and at the last minute I fell really ill? I mean, it could happen, right? Better not to think about it perhaps.


Saying No to Sponsorship:


A few days ago I was contacted by a marketing firm who does work for a sleuth of different companies. I applied for sponsorship with one brand that I could have endorsed whole-heartedly, but they asked me if I might be interested in considering sponsorship with another one of their clients, because I fit their demographic and I lived too far out of the main market area to be considered for the sponsorship I was after. The sponsorship they offered would have been with a large domestic beer company. I was flattered that they they said they liked my sponsorship letter, but after giving it some time, I just decided I could not do it. Here's the skinny:

If I receive sponsorship from a product, I have to believe in the product. It is not like I do not imbibe from time to time in the occasional beer, quite the contrary. When I do, I prefer hand-crafted beers, rather than your grandaddy's pilsner, regardless of how many carbs they have, or the alcohol content. The truth is, I can drink a beer. Two, and I am ready for bed. More, I just think the whole idea of triathlon and beer seems a bit, I don't know, incongruous. Yes, triathletes drink beer and wine (and I have met a few that could put Norm to shame,) but I cannot personally drink more than one when I have a heavy volume of training to do the next morning. It makes me feel sluggish. Maybe it is psychosomatic. I also think it might send the wrong message to my children. I can just hear my children at school "My daddy is sponsored by BEER!" Wonderful.

Beers I drink: Young's Double Chocolate Stout, Sierra Nevada Kellerweis, Lion's Stout, Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout