REG CPA, Holiday Cruise, & Boston Marathon

May 13, 2026 Tucson: We are at 3,000′ and climbing out of Tucson to Denver and then to Vancouver for our Alaskan Cruise family holiday. My mom and stepfather will be joining Fiona and I from NY state and meet us in Vancouver in just a few hours. I invited them to join us on one of my life, bucket list trips since we expect to be moving back to Australia by the end of the year. Also, we last saw each other at last years 70.3 Muscleman Ironman in NY and I dont know when we will see them next.

The reason for this trip now, is to align it to taking the CPA REG exam yesterday, and us both having Memorial day off. I like to maximize the free off days from our work so now we have a great 13 day trip in front of us. It will surely be interesting leaving the 108F weather to the 40’s of Alaska and feeling the cold again!

As I was driving yesterday to the testing center wearing my RedBull Jacket, brand new Tag Heuer F1 watch (as a gift to myself off the beat place to buy watches Jomashop.com), downing my 2nd RedBull of the day, to take the Taxation/Regulation exam for hopefully the only time, I realized this is going to be the most important year of my and Fionas life. There are many reasons for this which if you subscribe NOW! You will get to share with me on this journey called life.

I have now been at this CPA stuff for 2.5years and have passed 2 of 4 exams. Yesterday I THINK I passed Reg. I will find out in 2 weeks and tip for candidates, log on to NASBA because I have seen my score 2 days in advance there! I started studying after passing FAR on the 3rd attempt in Dec’25. We went to Mt Lemmon for Christmas for 4 nights and then it was 5 months of studying hundreds of hours 10-15hrs/week with 1-2hrs everyday. I started cycling in the famous Tucson Shootout which is a 3hr 65mile ride every Saturday about 14X (after buying a brand new Quintanaroo road bike) and got back into running after 2 months off with a plantar issue after December’s Tucson marathon. I poorly wore carbon shoes while lifting weights on heel raises and injured myself. The pain is still there slightly but I hit 34miles of running last week with a 10mile long run, longest since the marathon 5 months ago. And because Australia, we have officially withdrawn from IRONMAN Florida losing $1,000 as a result. My diet has gone back to a SAD diet and I have seen my weight climb from low 180s to low 190s over the last 3 years (still the same weight as when I became a runner 17 years ago) mostly because I drink too much wine and Scotch, and Old Fashioned’s but I haven’t trained for an IRONMAN since the last one, Lake Placid in 2023. So, instead of 15-20hours of training per week, I am only on 10-13hrs across swim, bike, run, lift.

That being said and as I have said before, studying for the CPA is very similar to training for an Ironman and my 19X finishes have given me a lot of resilience and mental fortitude, and “Can Do”, “Anything is Possible” attitude to “keep moving forward”… “Because thats how winning is done!”

Honestly, the months of study, the daily repeat, the highs and lows, the nutrition (Including Momentus Creatine to get more mental focus), the commitment of my amazing wife helping out with the furbabies, cooking, and cleaning, THANK YOU), the 4x4hr exam, the failures, the successes, the sheer difficulty, and balancing it all, as someone who has always struggled with testing well. It’s going to be hard to decide which of my greatest success will be in my life, becoming a CPA or Qualifying for Kona 2X and earning my spot with 2nd Podium at IRONMAN Arizona 2018. But for me, this is what life is all about. HIGH ON LIFE.

For candidates: This is my process. I am studying with Becker. I watch 100% of the videos and take all MCQs till I get 100% on every one. For the TBSs I only stop once I get 80% on all of those because they take so long and I want to maximize time with MCQs. I take all miniexams and the 4hr simulated exams with goal of recommneded 50% target. I spend 2-3 weeks per section..After the first section is done I try to take 1 quiz of 20MCQ/1TBS daily. The last key thing which I did to finally pass AUD and the FAR is I create like a Critical Review. 1 page, 1 side per section to very small print with all the critical details. You get 6 pages of everything. I cram review 1 hr sessions with 10min per side. This is the final material before heading into test. Of course this comes from the many pages of note taking.

So now my plan is to sign up for Tax Compliance and Planning TCP and take that at the end of July instead of October. This will be only 2 months of studying for the easiest of all the exams with a 79% pass rate (of people that have to have a Masters just to sit for it). This exam is only offered in Jan, Apr, Jul, Oct. I will start studying on the cruise but not too seriously, just reading the book. And hopefully in 2 weeks if I passed REG, be on the final leg, if not, I will retake REG ASAP because I sit here now thinking I am very close.

Lastly, I wanted to give a proper shout out to my wife for a job well done at the Boston Marathon. 4 weeks ago we traveled to Boston while I was studying on the planes etc and we had such an amazing trip with going back to my old stomping grounds and favourite places. We went to my Amma matter at Northeastern University, went to Salem for witches, saw the RedSox lose to the Yankees at Fenway, ate amazing food and pastries in the North End, and had beers and a tour at the Sam Adam’s Brewery. But watching Fiona for 8 miles of her marathon from m17 at the bottom of the Newton Hills till the last turn o. Hereford St before Boykstin St on Bostons BackBay thanks to me renting a BlueBike was legend! I was quite sad to not be able to run it with her, missing out by 90seconds with my 3:02:45 but WE WILL RUN it together one day. I am sobglad you got to run it and have that experience before I bring you back to your homeland.