Now a professional athlete, Martin began his life in sports playing hockey as a kid in Gardner, Mass., a sport that would always remain a true love, even after he lost the lower part of his leg in 1992. Eleven years, seven Ironmans, two Cycling Worlds, the 2000 Sydney Paralympic Games and a memoir later, Martin has found himself to be one of the most versatile athletes in the United States, disabled or not. Recently, he caught up with usolympicteam.com during a U.S. Paralympics cycling training camp to answer 10 questions...

Q1: Let’s get the bad stuff out of the way first. What’s the worst question you get asked in interviews?
PAUL MARTIN: “Hmmmm...I’d say ‘What are you going to do when you grow up?’ I just kind of tell them ‘the same thing I’m doing now, living a life I like. To be more accurate, ‘pursuing a passionate lifestyle.’

Q2: So what is a typical day in the life of Paul Martin like?
PAUL MARTIN: There’s really no typical day. I get up around seven. I’m not a super early person, so I have coffee, breakfast and check my e-mail. I go on a ride around 9 or 10, come home, have lunch, play on the computer. Then I go for a run before dinner and then to the gym or over to the YMCA to play hockey. Sometimes I’ll stay in and play foosball with my roommate.

Q3: Who’s better? You or the roommate?
PAUL MARTIN: My roommate is, unfortunately. I taught him how to play and now he beats me pretty often.

Q4: You’ve done numerous triathlons. How did you get involved in the sport?
PAUL MARTIN: I started out just to see if I could do it and then I just got hooked.

Q5: Is the Hawaii Ironman as awful as it looks?
PAUL MARTIN: No, it’s nowhere near as awful as people say it is. With proper preparation, it’s very doable for most people. Bill Bell, who’s 78-years-old, has done it and Julie Molnar did it at 220 pounds. It’s very doable.

Q6: How do you acquire prosthetic legs for your events and how often do you go through them?
PAUL MARTIN: Ossur/Flex-Foot is one of my sponsors and they donate the legs. Abilities Unlimited are the ones who work on them to make sure they fit right. I’ve had the same bike leg for five years, but I’m about to build a new one. I’ve gone through about five running legs in the past five years. I just got a new walking leg...

Q6a: Wait a minute, so do you have a closet full of extra legs laying around?
PAUL MARTIN: Yeah, frankly it’s kind of shameful. I really just need to start distributing them to other people. Sometimes they break or a few wear out, but you can give them to Limbs for Life and they’ll give them to people who need them.

Q7: So do amputees have any particular jokes or random tricks?
PAUL MARTIN: Not really, aside from lots of jokes like “What do you call a man with no arms and no legs in a swimming pool...” But I do have a Stump Trick! Martin does a quick Rocky and Bullwinkle impersonation with his “stump.” Yeah, that’s a crowd pleaser, works every time (laughing).

Q8: You recently qualified for the Athens Paralympic Games by winning two medals at European Disabled Cycling Championships...how does this effect your thoughts going into the Games?
PAUL MARTIN: I’ll tell you why it’s a beautiful thing. Two reasons … first, it’s clearly obvious that it’s great to get the pressure off. Second, since Trials are at the same time as Standing Amputee Hockey Worlds, this means that I can go to Worlds and also do the Boston Marathon. I’ll probably also do the Lake Placid Ironman. My training is definitely unique compared to most other cyclists. I make no claim that my training is proper...but I think if I give it 100% I have a good chance of medaling in my events in Athens.

Q8a: This is your second Paralympic Games, should you win the gold, do you know all the words to the Star Spangled Banner?
PAUL MARTIN: I’m not sure if I know all of them. Maybe if I had to sing it with someone else. Almost on cue, Martin’s training camp roommate, Stu Flacks, joins Martin in a rousing rendition of the national anthem. They make it about as far as “...the twilight’s last gleaming...” before deciding it’s best to quit while ahead.

Q9: After the last Games, you finished your book, One Man’s Leg. What kind of feedback have you received from people who’ve read it?
PAUL MARTIN: It’s wonderful and really honoring to get e-mails from people who’ve read the book or kids I’ve talked to. There was a girl who did a school report on me called ‘My American Hero.’ Seriously, it nearly brought me to tears. I’m not a hero. I’ve never put my life on the line for someone else and that’s what I consider a real hero, but it’s still awesome to get that kind of response.

Q10: Okay, I’m not going to ask what you’re going to be when you grow up, but where do you see yourself in 10 years?
PAUL MARTIN: Well I’ve submitted my applications to law school. As a friend of mine said, I really ‘just want to learn the rules of the game.’ Maybe I’ll run for public office ... and I mean that semi-seriously, by the way. Wherever I am, I’ll be doing something I love.