Friday, May 29, 2009

I'm not the man I used to be




This is wrong. Plain wrong. I'm not the man I was 24 hours ago.

Backstory: Sometime a couple of years ago, I was running with a group of friends on our weekly long run. We had been talking goals and someone made the comment "Oh, you'll qualify for Hawaii" as I was training for an Ironman qualifier. This particular group of friends all do the shaved leg thing. Not my cup of tea. I like my hair on my legs. Anyway, after that comment was made, I just absent mindelely said something like "If I qualify for Hawaii, I'll shave my legs". No thought put into it. Just a random statement to keep the conversation going. Fast forward to November 2008. I raced Ironman Arizona and qualified for Hawaii. Almost immediately after the race, my friend Glenn Strebe sent me a text that read "Congratulations, what kind of razor do you like?". I should have known better than to think good ol' Glenn would forget such a nonchalant comment. You don't get to be a CEO of a financial institution in your mid 30's without a good memory.

Present day: I got Glenn to let me off the hook for the leg shaving until late spring. Last night was the time. It was horrible. I started out with clippers to get the long stuff off. Tears rolled down my cheeks as I slowly watched a piece of my manhood disappear. After that, it was the razor to the legs. I gained a whole new appreciation for what women go through everyday. What a pain in the rear.

Future:I'm now counting down the time (less than 19 weeks) until I get to have my leg hair back. Once I compete in Hawaii, I can start growing some of the manhood I lost yesterday back and become complete once again.

4 comments:

  1. Neal,

    Welcome to the side of shaved legs!! Your wife will get used to it, you will get used to it, and I really swear that it makes you faster...at least we want to believe it. Maybe it is an exercise in vanity. I don't know but I am glad to see you did it!!

    Glenn

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  2. "and I really swear that it makes you faster" I appreciate you trying to put that positive spin on it. I'm going to keep telling myself that until the shock of losing part of myself wears off :)

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  3. Hey there, Neil! How have you been?

    Aunt Vicki and Uncle Dennis

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  4. Neal:
    Nice job on the 5K last night at the COS-RC "Doggie Dash". I realize it was just a friendly, neighborhood event, but your effort was spectacular and a beautiful piece of work.
    Cheers,
    James "Sam" Vivian
    (The guy you LAPPED around 1.75K)

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