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I got a call at the beginning of July from the producer for Dr. Sanjay Gupta at CNN telling me that he recently visited
www.team464.com and wanted to interview me for a feature piece on the network. Being the cautious prick that I am I told him to f-off thinking he was my buddy Hunter playing a joke on me. Well, it wasn't Hunter. It really was the producer at CNN and after I apologized he setup a day and time in New Orleans the following week to come down with the film crew to do the interview. We did the interview on some random street in New Orleans and they filmed me walking around and sh*t. It was cool and for a few fleeting moments I felt like a rock star as random people on the street were walking up to my parents and the small crowd asking who I was and what movie I was filming. Little did they know it was only some former super-duper-morbidly-obese-fat-boy talking about losing weight. Well, I still felt like a rock star :)Well, all that was a couple months ago and I finally got an email from the producer on Tuesday. The piece will be airing on a loop on the CNN networks (CNN and Headline News) this weekend starting on Friday morning. The only SET times he gave me were during Dr. Gupta's Housecall program which runs at 7:30AM tomorrow and on Sunday.

So if you happen to get CNN, check it out.

The web link is active and the piece is up at:

http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/health/2008/08/08/fn.gupta.chad.soileau.cnn

RIVER CITIES TRIATHLON RACE REPORT

Triathlon #15 of the year and race #23 under my belt. Behind Lonestar, River Cities was probably the most well organized and largest triathlon that I've done so far this year. One point about River Cities that stands out in my mind that was miles ahead of all the other races I've done is the INCREDIBLE race goody bag. The bag included a cotton race t-shirt, a technical shirt, a pair of sunglasses, a race towel, a couple water bottles and an awesome tri backpack. The backpack by itself is worth at least $100. It was hands down the best race packet so far this year...

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL REPORT

HEART O' DIXIE TRIATHLON RACE REPORT

I found it interesting that the Heart O' Dixie triathlon, going into it's 29th year, is the oldest consecutive triathlon in the continental United States.  The distances were a 1/2 mile swim, a 27.5 mile bike and a 7 mile run.   The race, which started in Louisville, MS, and ended at the Neshoba County Fairgrounds in Philadelphia, MS, was an extremely challenging and VERY hilly point to point to point course.   The hills on the bike and run were tough to say the least since the 'hills' I train on involve running up and down the incline at a parking garage at Southeastern Louisiana University which is near my office.

CLICK HERE to read the rest of the Heart O' Dixie Triathlon race report.

T-Gator Series Triathlon #3 Race Report 

How many times in previous years have I neglected the simple pleasures of life?  As I made my way to new Orleans Saturday morning to ride the Ironman 70.3 course with Hunter and his dad I took in an amazing sunrise which I consider to be one of those simple pleasures. As Jack Johnson strummed through his latest hit on the radio a smile crept across my face as I realize that my 'new' life now consists of early morning sunrises.

 CLICK HERE to view the rest of the race report

Rip Van Winkle Triathlon Race Report

The distances of the Rip Van Winkle Triathlon were 400m swim, 14 mile bike and a 2.25 run.  This would be the first time I got to test my new bike in a race environment.  The rain was daunting but cleared up shortly before the race began...

CLICK HERE to read the rest of the Rip Van Winkle Triathlon race report

Yam City Triathlon Race Report
This is my account of swimming, biking and running the Yam City Triathlon in Opelousas, Louisiana on 22 June 2008.  The distances of this race were 150m swim, 14 mile bike and a 2 mile run.   Yam City was relatively short compared to my other races but it was well organized and a blast to participate in.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE REST OF THE REPORT

HeatWave Classic Triathlon
The long and short of my experience with the Heatwave Classic Triathlon it is that I finished.  The weather was pig sweat soaking, retardedly humid and hot.  The MOST important significant personal fact is that I finished with BOTH socks this time.    I wasn't blazing fast in any of the events and I pretty much struggled the entire race.  I wasn't as prepared as I wanted to be for the race but that wasn't going to stop me from doing it.   I missed almost an entire week of training after TriAmerica licking my wounds and most of the week prior to Heatwave was spent nursing my mouth from the THREE root canals I got early in the week. 

CLICK HERE TO READ THE REST OF THE RACE REPORT

The TriAmerica Triathlon
The course was on the Northshore of Lake Pontchartrain in Mandeville, LA and
it would be my first 'almost-a-half-Ironman" triathlon and my longest course
distance to date of my triathlon career. The distances were 1.24 miles swimming,
38 miles biking and 9.3 miles running. I would finish dead last at TriAmerica
Louisiana. Yes, you read that correctly, I finished DEAD ASS LAST! And I would
finish missing one sock. (more on the one sock thing later) The most important
thing is that I FINISHED. The difficulty of this race for me ranked right up
there with the Mardi Gras Marathon...

CLICK HERE TO READ THE REST OF THE RACE REPORT

Have you ever got an idea in your head of something you want to do and the more you wrap your brain around it the more you are just dying to do it?  It's almost like intoxication in the fact that you will do anything to make to make the dream come true and you don't know what you will do if it doesn't?   For me that dream is Ironman.   Every stroke in the pool, every revolution of the wheel on the bike and every footstrike on the pavement running brings me closer to that dream. 

It's 4:15AM as I'm preparing to head out the door to complete one of the biggest challenges of my life, the TriaAmerica Triathlon long course, which consists of a 1.24 mile swim, a 40 mile bike and a 10 mile run.   The water is above 79 degrees so wetsuits aren't allowed during the swim.  No big deal.  I don't train in a wetsuit and although they do help me float they slow me down considerably because they restrict my breathing a little.  I'm 'concerned' about the swim just like I always am but

I've trained well and I now wait with anxious anticipation for the starting gun at 7AM as I make the short dash from the beach to Lake Ponchartrain to start the swim. It isn't about luck today.  It's gonna be about heart and determination for the last 7 miles of that run.

I'll be chasing down some more dreams again today!   Hope you guys have a great day! 

Chad

T-Gator Triathlon #2

I had such a great time at the first T-Gator tri that there
was no way I would miss the next two even though Beth wasn't able to go with
me.  Her nephew was getting baptized so she was out for this one.  This weekend
would also mark the first time where I would attempt a two triathlons in the
same weekend.  I was very tired but I got a good nights sleep the night
before.    Lake Charles is just over 2 hours from Baton Rouge so I had to roll
out of bed again on Sunday at 4:30AM to make it in time for the race start.   I
loaded up the Element the night before and after taking care of the dog and
parrots I was out the door by 5AM....

CLICK HERE TO READ THE REST OF THE RACE REPORT