Run like an antelope

It's late, and I'm still up, despite the fact that I have work in the morn. In my defense, I am borderline insomniac, and we got some really exciting news tonight (by we, I mean my dad).

A little back story about my dad:

5 1/2 years ago, I washed my hands of my dad. I didn't want anything to do with him because he was a raging alcoholic and I was done dealing with him. I didn't have it all that bad growing up with his drinking because he never physically abused anybody, but after almost 20 years of dealing with his emotional baggage, I gave up. It was one month into my freshman year in college that he finally got sober for good; September 29th 2003 to be exact. When he quit drinking, he substituted booze with sugar. He would get up in the middle of the night and put 3 tbsp of sugar on chocolate cereal and eat 3 bowls like that. After 3 years sober (and 3 years of awful eating habits) he had enough of being unhealthy; he figured, what was the point to all his struggles with sobriety if he was just going to drop dead of an obesity-realated disease. So he started to eat better and workout like he used to when I was a kid. At his highest weight, I think he was around 280. At one point, when he was down 40lbs, he was having these really weird chest pains whenever he worked out. He went to the doctor, they did an angiogram, and they discovered that one of his arteries was 95% blocked. I don't remember the proper name for the artery, but its nickname is the Widow Maker because so few people notice the symptoms when this specific artery is getting dangerously blocked, and they subsequently die suddenly. He was able to have a procedure done that day to rectify this blockage, and a stent (stint?) was put in to help. When he was able to get active again, he became really interested in triathlons and dropped another 30 lbs so he could prepare for his first tri race. After the first one, he was hooked. He's been in so many different races since 2007, it's hard to even count. My mom made him a shadow box with all of his racing achievements and there were so many additions, she has to make two more just to fit all his bib numbers and medals. In becoming infatuated with racing, he got a good portion of my immediate and extended family into better eating and exercise habits, and examining their overall health. He was thrilled when he changed jobs in September because he became the head chef at a hospital and is now able to incorporate more nutritious cooking into his daily routine.

So, after all that, what is the good news? There is a race, a triathlon specifically, called Escape from Alcatraz. It is one of the most exclusive races in the country with only 2,000 competitors (compared to the 30,000 in the Chicago Triathlon). There are two ways to qualify: win your age group and category in one of six qualifying races (ie 50-54 year olds over 200 lbs), or enter your name into a lottery. Tonight, my dad got an e-mail telling him that he won the lottery and he will be able to compete in this year's Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon. Only two people from each state are chosen from the lottery pool and the chances are almost like the actually lottery because of how many athletes submit their names. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for my dad because of how competitive his age group category has become (in one of last summer's races, the 1st place finisher in his category finished faster than the winner in the 25-29 category). Ever since he has been living his healthier lifestyle, the Alcatraz tri has been one of his dreams, and now he gets to do it. It was really funny to see him speechless because my dad talks A LOT. It was also kind of funny to see him rush down the stairs like a kid at Christmas, and just sputter nonsense for a while.

I had something completely different planned for tonight's blog, but I'm going to save it for tomorrow or Thursday because of the fun-time happy-good events of tonight. The above picture is of me and my dad when we did Bike the Drive last Memorial Day (It's also me at, or very close to, my starting weight).

Oh, and since I haven't posted in a while, my current weight is 254. I lost 2.2 this week, and I am down a total of 6.4.