I may disagree with just about all of his political positions, but full marks to Federal Opposition leader Tony Abbott for finishing his first Ironman. That’s awesome. I also think Nicola Roxon should shut up about how much time he spent training. Ten hours a week for an Ironman is really very little. I also believe that politicians deserve a life outside their job, and I’m more than happy for an elected official to spend that much time on their own health. GOOD ON YA, TONY. (Unfortunately Tony probably wouldn’t afford me the same courtesy, as he thinks a woman’s time is better spent having babies… and there I go hating him again.)
M-H
March 29, 2010 — 2:16 pm
Hmmm… except that he will be wiped out for a few days after it as well… My ex-husband used to do these big events, and a huge amount of time and effort goes into both preparation and recovery. I’m not sure that I’d want him to be doing this if he were PM.
Kris
March 29, 2010 — 3:16 pm
PM’s get vacations, right? The President certainly does. (Dubya took a lot of vacations.) I don’t have any problem with a PM or President taking a couple days off after an event like this. He may be sore afterwards – as I am today – but it’s not likely to impair his brain for any significant length of time.
psorr
March 30, 2010 — 6:34 am
10 hours/week is definitely on the low side for Ironman training; considering that + his age his finish time was solid. I would guess that the ‘average’ politician spends at least 10 hours of their total week doing ‘non-policy-development’ activities…
Tricia
March 31, 2010 — 3:12 pm
..loving the term “budgie smuggler” that was in one of the articles.
Kris
March 31, 2010 — 5:27 pm
That’s a pretty common slang term for a Speedo in UK/Aus. Abbott was famously photographed in one at the beach right about the time he took over leadership of the Federal Opposition, so it tends to get used a lot in articles about him.
Adam Culp
April 1, 2010 — 7:31 am
I would not want to be a political figure in any country. They are under too much scrutiny me thinks.
10 hours is a bunch of working out, so I guess I will not be doing the Ironman any time soon. I spend about 9 to 10 hours when combining weight training, judo, and running. Hard to get much more than that if you have a full time job and family.