This week’s interviewee is Michael Lovato. Michael got the same set of questions as Amanda, but next week’s interviewee got a new round of thought-provoking, gut-checking, soul-searching questions. 

LT: Do you ever feel like your athletic accomplishments are overlooked, because people are so focused on your looks? Kinda like how people dont realize that Brad Pitt is a great actor, because they cant see past his super hot bod.
 

ML: This is not really a problem for me.  My athletic accomplishments are far more impressive than my looks.  I know this because I’m asking people about it all the time.  I don’t lack self esteem, but I do fish for compliments on occasion.  It’s not uncommon for me to approach someone with the question: am I one of the best looking people you know, or one of the best Ironman athletes you know?  Normally they chose the latter.  I assume they are being truthful.  And I think Brad was way better looking when he was married to Jennifer Aniston.  
 
LT: Have you ever been arrested? Feel free to elaborate.
 

ML: Yes.  When I was thirteen years old, I was arrested for breaking and entering.  I didn’t really break anything, but I did enter the neighborhood elementary school one weekend.  Turned out that wasn’t as impressive to my girlfriend as I was thinking it would be.  By the way, she was with me at the time.  And we broke up soon after we were released from the clink..  
 
LT: If you had to live your life as a legume, which would you be? (I will save you the time of looking up “legume,” that means a plant of the ‘pod family’, veggies, beans…I know, because I just used dictionary.com)
ML: I’m quite familiar with the legume, as a common translation for the word vegetable in Spanish is legumbre.  These words share the same latin root, so they are what we in the teaching word refer to as cognates.  I secretly want to be a linguist, but if not given that choice, I’d have to pick the lentil.  They pack a lot of flavor for such a small legume.  

 
LT: If you could put an Ironman race in a new location, where would it be?
ML: Austin, Texas.  This is a hotbed for the sport, and the terrain would offer a challenging course, with plenty of good scenery.  

 
LT:  Would you rather have a pet squirrel, monkey or penguin?
ML: Monkey.  No question about it.  Most primates are pretty smart, and I just read that some chimpanzees out performed some college students on a memory test.  Leave it to the English to come up with a test like this.  My goal would be to teach him how to do my laundry.  And maybe even the dishes.
 
LT:  Have you ever hit a prairie dog while riding your bike?
ML: Not yet, but I imagine it’s inevitable. 

LT: Anything else you would like to add?

ML: When I first met Amanda, I could not tolerate the idea of a dog sleeping in my bed.  Nowadays, when we travel, I miss having our Jack Russell, Luna in bed with us.