So on Saturday I did my first real “ski race”. I put ski race in parentheses because I am not sure you can call what I do skiing, and you certainly cannot call it racing. So anyway, I agreed to race the “Great Nordeen” with my good friend Lea, as just a long day, not so much a race.

Monday I made my way to Colorado Springs to make it official and get my coaching certification through USAT. It was a 3-day clinic with some great speakers and some good info.

As many of you know I went to the Ironman in Kona this year to support my brother Chris in his final prep, and on race day, meanwhile getting in some good training for Ironman Florida. Well, let me tell you it was quite a day out there full of excitement and plenty of emotion.

For reference- Names, and or Nicknames
Chris- Chris Lieto, big bro
Macca- Chris Mccormack, 2nd last year

One of the great things about Bend is the fact that is so small. It is a place where you can’t really go anywhere without seeing someone you know, whether it be at the pool, the trails, the grocery store or the bar. The cool thing about that is that whenever people come to town to train or visit Bend, it is pretty easy for them to track me down.

So as many of you know 2007 was a pretty tough year for me, both professionally and personally. There was a lot of craziness in my racing including some serious injuries early in the year in Australia. I also had some persistent sickness throughout the year that kept me out of races. I did have some great wins and some breakthrough races, but was not as consistent as I wanted to be.

Here, I am sitting in the Portland Airport listening to Sublime waiting for my connection back to Bend after a quick trip to San Jose. I stayed at my home away from home at "Casa de Muddy" with my coach Muddy and his lovely wife Barbara. Just one night, but well worth the trip. Alcis had a kick off party for their Elite Triathlon Team. I finally had the opportunity to meet the rest of the Alcis Execs, Brian, Mark, and Reed, good times, pleasure to meet you all!

So- disregard my last post. Yes, Australia is great, and the training was phenominal (I emphasize was), but I am getting on a plane on Monday to head back to the states.

So, here I am in Australia. Yep, I did it, I took 3 months off from my stressful job at Bend Bike N' Sport, and I am training in the beautiful Gold Coast. I am living in Burleigh heads and am about a mile from the beach, and it is beautiful. I love it here, the people are great and the training is awesome as well. I have been here for a week and a half and have just been riding a ton.

Well it is the day after my birthday and I find myself starting a new chapter in my life. Today I drove up to what I hope will be my home for quite a while, Bend, Oregon. I moved in with big brother Paul, who runs Trifuel.com. My goal is to train and race full time, and try and give this thing a solid go while I still can. I now can truly call myself a Poorfessional Triathlete. No, that is no typo, it is going to be a struggle, but one that I feel will be well worth it. Well I am off to get settled in. Look for updates here, and at Trifuel.com in the blogger pages.