ABOUT ME.

So, who am I. This may help you understand the rest of my posts (or it may not but it will atleast let you know who is writing).
I am Canadian but I have been living and working as a teacher/school administrator in Egypt for 2 1/2 years. I am married to an amazing woman named Jasmine and have a beautiful 2 month old daughter named Anaka.
I grew up in rural Saskatchewan in the heart of farming country. I come from a farming background and a real busy community of about 200 people (a far cry from the 30 million in Cairo).
I grew up roaming the streets of our small community with a group of boys all within about 3 years of age of each other. One night it was football, the next street hockey, the next baseball, the next kick the can,etc., etc. As we got a little older the sports became more organized and eventually our small communtiy teams won a couple Provincial Volleyball championships, Hockey Championships, Softball Championships.
From high school I travelled far from home to university and made the university hockey team playing in the very competitive Canada West Athletic Conference. I graduated University with a B. ED and took up teaching in rural Salkatchewan soon after. As a former university player in small town Saskatchewan I was highly sought after to play for the local SR. teams and continued to play competitive hockey until the age of 35 when I moved to Cairo.
My teaching career also moved quickly and after 5 years of teaching PE I took a job as a vice principal and after 4 years I accepted a position as a Principal. Throughout my teaching experiences I continued to be involved in coaching and officiating a variety of sports.
In 2002 I married Jasmine a former University Baskeball player. Although we lived together she taught 40 minutes away and was on the road a lot. Because of our involvement in school and sports, it was rare that both of us were home before 9:00 or 10:00 in the evening, so we recognized quickly that things had to change.
On top of this we were both still heavily involved in playing sports so free time was not in abundance. Physically I was starting to 'wear down' as well. Every summer I would put on a little weight during ball season, then take it off during hockey season. As I got older I began putting on a little more weight and taking off a little less weight until my frame that once carried around 180 pounds was now consistently carrying 200 +. With all the after game refreshments that are the norm in small town leagues, this trend didn't look like it was going to change.
Bring on life change...One year after getting married, Jaz and I decided to accept an international teaching position in Egypt. Upon arriving in Egypt we decided we may not have many opportunities to train for and compete in a distance running event, s we began training for a 12 km event that was to be part of the Egyptian Marathon. This was a big step for me as I was having more and more knee problems and running seemed out of the question...Mission accomplished and 2 1/2 years later I have completed a 12 k, 5 k, 8 k, 10 k, a half marathon, and a marathon, a duathlon, a sprint triathlon, and 1/2 ironman! Finishing these events has only motivated me to do more...why you ask? Why is best left to my next post.