Let me tell you that i live in the beautiful state of Florida which has many benefits for the Triathlete.
1. Florida's wonderful weather is ideal for year long training. Most of the time, it is not cold, it never seems to snow down here, so the worst it is going to be cool, and raining.
2. Florida is predominately flat. Need i say more.
I really had a lot more to say in the post, but just didn't have time, it has taken me more than 3 hours to just type this much, so i will try to pick this up later.
Friday, November 30, 2007
Friday, November 16, 2007
back story to "can"
So i did some checking and here is the back story about "can" Please feel free to check out their website www.teamhoyt.com they are a very inspirational team.
Dick and Rick Hoyt are a father-and-son team from Massachusetts who together compete just about continuously in marathon races. And if they’re not in a marathon they are in a triathlon — that daunting, almost superhuman, combination of 26.2 miles of running, 112 miles of bicycling, and 2.4 miles of swimming. Together they have climbed mountains, and once trekked 3,735 miles across America.
It’s a remarkable record of exertion — all the more so when you consider that Rick can't walk or talk.
For the past twenty five years or more Dick, who is 65, has pushed and pulled his son across the country and over hundreds of finish lines. When Dick runs, Rick is in a wheelchair that Dick is pushing. When Dick cycles, Rick is in the seat-pod from his wheelchair, attached to the front of the bike. When Dick swims, Rick is in a small but heavy, firmly stabilized boat being pulled by Dick.
At Rick’s birth in 1962 the umbilical cord coiled around his neck and cut off oxygen to his brain. Dick and his wife, Judy, were told that there would be no hope for their child’s development.
"It’s been a story of exclusion ever since he was born," Dick told me. "When he was eight months old the doctors told us we should just put him away — he’d be a vegetable all his life, that sort of thing. Well those doctors are not alive any more, but I would like them to be able to see Rick now."
The couple brought their son home determined to raise him as "normally" as possible. Within five years, Rick had two younger brothers, and the Hoyts were convinced Rick was just as intelligent as his siblings. Dick remembers the struggle to get the local school authorities to agree: "Because he couldn’t talk they thought he wouldn’t be able to understand, but that wasn’t true." The dedicated parents taught Rick the alphabet. "We always wanted Rick included in everything," Dick said. "That’s why we wanted to get him into public school."
A group of Tufts University engineers came to the rescue, once they had seen some clear, empirical evidence of Rick’s comprehension skills. "They told him a joke," said Dick. "Rick just cracked up. They knew then that he could communicate!" The engineers went on to build — using $5,000 the family managed to raise in 1972 - an interactive computer that would allow Rick to write out his thoughts using the slight head-movements that he could manage. Rick came to call it "my communicator." A cursor would move across a screen filled with rows of letters, and when the cursor highlighted a letter that Rick wanted, he would click a switch with the side of his head.
When the computer was originally brought home, Rick surprised his family with his first "spoken" words. They had expected perhaps "Hi, Mom" or "Hi, Dad." But on the screen Rick wrote "Go Bruins." The Boston Bruins were in the Stanley Cup finals that season, and his family realized he had been following the hockey games along with everyone else. "So we learned then that Rick loved sports," said Dick.
In 1975, Rick was finally admitted into a public school. Two years later, he told his father he wanted to participate in a five-mile benefit run for a local lacrosse player who had been paralyzed in an accident. Dick, far from being a long-distance runner, agreed to push Rick in his wheelchair. They finished next to last, but they felt they had achieved a triumph. That night, Dick remembers, "Rick told us he just didn’t feel handicapped when we were competing."
Rick’s realization turned into a whole new set of horizons that opened up for him and his family, as "Team Hoyt" began to compete in more and more events. Rick reflected on the transformation process for me, using his now-familiar but ever-painstaking technique of picking out letters of the alphabet:
" What I mean when I say I feel like I am not handicapped when competing is that I am just like the other athletes, and I think most of the athletes feel the same way. In the beginning nobody would come up to me. However, after a few races some athletes came around and they began to talk to me. During the early days one runner, Pete Wisnewski had a bet with me at every race on who would beat who. The loser had to hang the winner’s number in his bedroom until the next race. Now many athletes will come up to me before the race or triathlon to wish me luck."
It is hard to imagine now the resistance which the Hoyts encountered early on, but attitudes did begin to change when they entered the Boston Marathon in 1981, and finished in the top quarter of the field. Dick recalls the earlier, less tolerant days with more sadness than anger:
"Nobody wanted Rick in a road race. Everybody looked at us, nobody talked to us, nobody wanted to have anything to do with us. But you can’t really blame them - people often are not educated, and they’d never seen anyone like us. As time went on, though, they could see he was a person — he has a great sense of humor, for instance. That made a big difference."
After 4 years of marathons, Team Hoyt attempted their first triathlon — and for this Dick had to learn to swim. "I sank like a stone at first" Dick recalled with a laugh "and I hadn’t been on a bike since I was six years old."
With a newly-built bike (adapted to carry Rick in front) and a boat tied to Dick’s waist as he swam, the Hoyts came in second-to-last in the competition held on Father’s Day 1985.
"We chuckle to think about that as my Father’s Day present from Rick, " said Dick.
They have been competing ever since, at home and increasingly abroad. Generally they manage to improve their finishing times. "Rick is the one who inspires and motivates me, the way he just loves sports and competing," Dick said.
And the business of inspiring evidently works as a two-way street. Rick typed out this testimony:
"Dad is one of my role models. Once he sets out to do something, Dad sticks to it whatever it is, until it is done. For example once we decided to really get into triathlons, dad worked out, up to five hours a day, five times a week, even when he was working."
The Hoyts’ mutual inspiration for each other seems to embrace others too — many spectators and fellow-competitors have adopted Team Hoyt as a powerful example of determination. "It’s been funny," said Dick "Some people have turned out, some in good shape, some really out of shape, and they say ‘we want to thank you, because we’re here because of you’."
Rick too has taken full note of their effect on fellow-competitors while racing:
"Whenever we are passed (usually on the bike) the athlete will say "Go for it!" or "Rick, help your Dad!" When we pass people (usually on the run) they’ll say "Go Team Hoyt!" or "If not for you, we would not be out here doing this."
Most of all, perhaps, the Hoyts can see an impact from their efforts in the area of the handicapped, and on public attitudes toward the physically and mentally challenged.
"That’s the big thing," said Dick. "People just need to be educated. Rick is helping many other families coping with disabilities in their struggle to be included."
That is not to say that all obstacles are now overcome for the Hoyts. Dick is "still bothered," he says, by people who are discomforted because Rick cannot fully control his tongue while eating. "In restaurants - and it’s only older people mostly - they’ll see Rick’s food being pushed out of his mouth and they’ll leave, or change their table. But I have to say that kind of intolerance is gradually being defeated."
Rick’s own accomplishments, quite apart from the duo’s continuing athletic success, have included his moving on from high school to Boston University, where he graduated in 1993 with a degree in special education. That was followed a few weeks later by another entry in the Boston Marathon. As he fondly pictured it: "On the day of the marathon from Hopkinton to Boston people all over the course were wishing me luck, and they had signs up which read `congratulations on your graduation!’"
Rick now works at Boston College’s computer laboratory helping to develop a system codenamed "Eagle Eyes," through which mechanical aids (like for instance a powered wheelchair) could be controlled by a paralyzed person’s eye-movements, when linked-up to a computer.
Together the Hoyts don’t only compete athletically; they also go on motivational speaking tours, spreading the Hoyt brand of inspiration to all kinds of audiences, sporting and non-sporting, across the country.
Rick himself is confident that his visibility — and his father’s dedication — perform a forceful, valuable purpose in a world that is too often divisive and exclusionary. He typed a simple parting thought:
"The message of Team Hoyt is that everybody should be included in everyday life."
Dick and Rick Hoyt are a father-and-son team from Massachusetts who together compete just about continuously in marathon races. And if they’re not in a marathon they are in a triathlon — that daunting, almost superhuman, combination of 26.2 miles of running, 112 miles of bicycling, and 2.4 miles of swimming. Together they have climbed mountains, and once trekked 3,735 miles across America.
It’s a remarkable record of exertion — all the more so when you consider that Rick can't walk or talk.
For the past twenty five years or more Dick, who is 65, has pushed and pulled his son across the country and over hundreds of finish lines. When Dick runs, Rick is in a wheelchair that Dick is pushing. When Dick cycles, Rick is in the seat-pod from his wheelchair, attached to the front of the bike. When Dick swims, Rick is in a small but heavy, firmly stabilized boat being pulled by Dick.
At Rick’s birth in 1962 the umbilical cord coiled around his neck and cut off oxygen to his brain. Dick and his wife, Judy, were told that there would be no hope for their child’s development.
"It’s been a story of exclusion ever since he was born," Dick told me. "When he was eight months old the doctors told us we should just put him away — he’d be a vegetable all his life, that sort of thing. Well those doctors are not alive any more, but I would like them to be able to see Rick now."
The couple brought their son home determined to raise him as "normally" as possible. Within five years, Rick had two younger brothers, and the Hoyts were convinced Rick was just as intelligent as his siblings. Dick remembers the struggle to get the local school authorities to agree: "Because he couldn’t talk they thought he wouldn’t be able to understand, but that wasn’t true." The dedicated parents taught Rick the alphabet. "We always wanted Rick included in everything," Dick said. "That’s why we wanted to get him into public school."
A group of Tufts University engineers came to the rescue, once they had seen some clear, empirical evidence of Rick’s comprehension skills. "They told him a joke," said Dick. "Rick just cracked up. They knew then that he could communicate!" The engineers went on to build — using $5,000 the family managed to raise in 1972 - an interactive computer that would allow Rick to write out his thoughts using the slight head-movements that he could manage. Rick came to call it "my communicator." A cursor would move across a screen filled with rows of letters, and when the cursor highlighted a letter that Rick wanted, he would click a switch with the side of his head.
When the computer was originally brought home, Rick surprised his family with his first "spoken" words. They had expected perhaps "Hi, Mom" or "Hi, Dad." But on the screen Rick wrote "Go Bruins." The Boston Bruins were in the Stanley Cup finals that season, and his family realized he had been following the hockey games along with everyone else. "So we learned then that Rick loved sports," said Dick.
In 1975, Rick was finally admitted into a public school. Two years later, he told his father he wanted to participate in a five-mile benefit run for a local lacrosse player who had been paralyzed in an accident. Dick, far from being a long-distance runner, agreed to push Rick in his wheelchair. They finished next to last, but they felt they had achieved a triumph. That night, Dick remembers, "Rick told us he just didn’t feel handicapped when we were competing."
Rick’s realization turned into a whole new set of horizons that opened up for him and his family, as "Team Hoyt" began to compete in more and more events. Rick reflected on the transformation process for me, using his now-familiar but ever-painstaking technique of picking out letters of the alphabet:
" What I mean when I say I feel like I am not handicapped when competing is that I am just like the other athletes, and I think most of the athletes feel the same way. In the beginning nobody would come up to me. However, after a few races some athletes came around and they began to talk to me. During the early days one runner, Pete Wisnewski had a bet with me at every race on who would beat who. The loser had to hang the winner’s number in his bedroom until the next race. Now many athletes will come up to me before the race or triathlon to wish me luck."
It is hard to imagine now the resistance which the Hoyts encountered early on, but attitudes did begin to change when they entered the Boston Marathon in 1981, and finished in the top quarter of the field. Dick recalls the earlier, less tolerant days with more sadness than anger:
"Nobody wanted Rick in a road race. Everybody looked at us, nobody talked to us, nobody wanted to have anything to do with us. But you can’t really blame them - people often are not educated, and they’d never seen anyone like us. As time went on, though, they could see he was a person — he has a great sense of humor, for instance. That made a big difference."
After 4 years of marathons, Team Hoyt attempted their first triathlon — and for this Dick had to learn to swim. "I sank like a stone at first" Dick recalled with a laugh "and I hadn’t been on a bike since I was six years old."
With a newly-built bike (adapted to carry Rick in front) and a boat tied to Dick’s waist as he swam, the Hoyts came in second-to-last in the competition held on Father’s Day 1985.
"We chuckle to think about that as my Father’s Day present from Rick, " said Dick.
They have been competing ever since, at home and increasingly abroad. Generally they manage to improve their finishing times. "Rick is the one who inspires and motivates me, the way he just loves sports and competing," Dick said.
And the business of inspiring evidently works as a two-way street. Rick typed out this testimony:
"Dad is one of my role models. Once he sets out to do something, Dad sticks to it whatever it is, until it is done. For example once we decided to really get into triathlons, dad worked out, up to five hours a day, five times a week, even when he was working."
The Hoyts’ mutual inspiration for each other seems to embrace others too — many spectators and fellow-competitors have adopted Team Hoyt as a powerful example of determination. "It’s been funny," said Dick "Some people have turned out, some in good shape, some really out of shape, and they say ‘we want to thank you, because we’re here because of you’."
Rick too has taken full note of their effect on fellow-competitors while racing:
"Whenever we are passed (usually on the bike) the athlete will say "Go for it!" or "Rick, help your Dad!" When we pass people (usually on the run) they’ll say "Go Team Hoyt!" or "If not for you, we would not be out here doing this."
Most of all, perhaps, the Hoyts can see an impact from their efforts in the area of the handicapped, and on public attitudes toward the physically and mentally challenged.
"That’s the big thing," said Dick. "People just need to be educated. Rick is helping many other families coping with disabilities in their struggle to be included."
That is not to say that all obstacles are now overcome for the Hoyts. Dick is "still bothered," he says, by people who are discomforted because Rick cannot fully control his tongue while eating. "In restaurants - and it’s only older people mostly - they’ll see Rick’s food being pushed out of his mouth and they’ll leave, or change their table. But I have to say that kind of intolerance is gradually being defeated."
Rick’s own accomplishments, quite apart from the duo’s continuing athletic success, have included his moving on from high school to Boston University, where he graduated in 1993 with a degree in special education. That was followed a few weeks later by another entry in the Boston Marathon. As he fondly pictured it: "On the day of the marathon from Hopkinton to Boston people all over the course were wishing me luck, and they had signs up which read `congratulations on your graduation!’"
Rick now works at Boston College’s computer laboratory helping to develop a system codenamed "Eagle Eyes," through which mechanical aids (like for instance a powered wheelchair) could be controlled by a paralyzed person’s eye-movements, when linked-up to a computer.
Together the Hoyts don’t only compete athletically; they also go on motivational speaking tours, spreading the Hoyt brand of inspiration to all kinds of audiences, sporting and non-sporting, across the country.
Rick himself is confident that his visibility — and his father’s dedication — perform a forceful, valuable purpose in a world that is too often divisive and exclusionary. He typed a simple parting thought:
"The message of Team Hoyt is that everybody should be included in everyday life."
Can
I took this from another blogger but it was very touching, i am looking into the back story of this.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Been Busy This Week
I have had no time to update my blog this last week, for those who come by i'm sorry, i will try to keep up with it. Have had some great workouts this last week, sunday was an especially good day.
I try to play Ultimate Frisbee every sunday, it is a wonderful speed workout, as it is played a lot like soccor but instead of a ball you use a frisbee, you are not allowed to run with the frisbee as soon as you catach it you have 10 seconds to throw the disk to someone else on yout team. This make a wonderful workout, that is a lot of fun too.
We had an injury this weekend during the game though, one guy broke his nose while trying to defend a touchdown try. They did actually stop the touchdown from happening, but he was in a lot of pain. You could hear the impact from 50yards away, it honestly sounded like a good hard football hit, but these guys where not wearing any pads nor head protection. he seemed to be good when we left.
Later on that day i went for a 32mile bike ride with Lee. I am going to try to go on another group ride tonight with him, there is a 26 mile ride up in North Tampa, i believe it is a small group, but it will be fun.
Last night i went to Burns Steak House for a business meeting and had a great medium rare steak. Man it was great, i have not been there in several months, so it was quite enjoyable, especially b/c i didn't have to pay for anything, which makes it even nicer.
I try to play Ultimate Frisbee every sunday, it is a wonderful speed workout, as it is played a lot like soccor but instead of a ball you use a frisbee, you are not allowed to run with the frisbee as soon as you catach it you have 10 seconds to throw the disk to someone else on yout team. This make a wonderful workout, that is a lot of fun too.
We had an injury this weekend during the game though, one guy broke his nose while trying to defend a touchdown try. They did actually stop the touchdown from happening, but he was in a lot of pain. You could hear the impact from 50yards away, it honestly sounded like a good hard football hit, but these guys where not wearing any pads nor head protection. he seemed to be good when we left.
Later on that day i went for a 32mile bike ride with Lee. I am going to try to go on another group ride tonight with him, there is a 26 mile ride up in North Tampa, i believe it is a small group, but it will be fun.
Last night i went to Burns Steak House for a business meeting and had a great medium rare steak. Man it was great, i have not been there in several months, so it was quite enjoyable, especially b/c i didn't have to pay for anything, which makes it even nicer.
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Alright Folks Here is A little of Me and My Office
So i know that i have not posted any photos of me yet in my transition period, one, b/c i am trying to keep it secret from a couple people until they see me, but i don't think they have found my blog yet, so to give you a little before and after of my transformation that i have been going through over the last 5 months. Here Goes. Me as a Pirate in Gasparilla, Which is a Tampa Fl. thing this past year probably February 2007.
Now Me as of Today November 6, 2007 100 lbs lighter
NO I have not become blurry with my weight loss, just didn't have someone who could seem to take a good photo. So i went with the best one i could.
While i was taking photos in my office i thought i would share some of the things that are on my walls here.
These first four paintings are done by a guy named Monkey Tom, he is a local homeless guy down in Key West, that i have always loved his work.
This is a Ruth Radice, a 92 year old lady who started painting 20 years ago, she is a delight, and an inspiration that you can do anything if you set your mind to it, no matter at what point in your life.
Now Me as of Today November 6, 2007 100 lbs lighter
NO I have not become blurry with my weight loss, just didn't have someone who could seem to take a good photo. So i went with the best one i could.
While i was taking photos in my office i thought i would share some of the things that are on my walls here.
These first four paintings are done by a guy named Monkey Tom, he is a local homeless guy down in Key West, that i have always loved his work.
This is a Ruth Radice, a 92 year old lady who started painting 20 years ago, she is a delight, and an inspiration that you can do anything if you set your mind to it, no matter at what point in your life.
A really cool Buy, it is even healthy
My roommate was introduced to a great kitchen appliance that many people have but few use on a regular basis.
A Jack La Lanne Juicer
This thing is awesome, granted the first concoction we made up doesn't sound overly appetizing, but that is no consequence to us, b/c it does actually taste great, and you are getting an incredible amount of vitamins, and minerals that it would take a lot of eating to be able to ingest.
Our first drink.
4 Carrots
1 thumb sized amount of Ginger Root
1 Garlic Clove
1 Large Stalk of Broccoli
2 Apples (red)
After you have blended all the ingredients make sure you stir it up and down the hatch with it. You will find that a good drink like this can really boost your energy, and improve your concentration.
Other ingredients that i have now tried
Grannie Smith Apples, b/c i like the tartness of them.
Tomatoes
Celery
Collard Greens
I will continue to try new recipes until i find what i feel is the best drink both for the sake of optimum nutrition and also for optimum taste. I would encourage you going out and getting one of these or hit me up, and i will be happy to make one up for you. This is a great way for you to make sure you are getting adequate amounts of all the fruits and veggies that a healthy diet entails.
A Jack La Lanne Juicer
This thing is awesome, granted the first concoction we made up doesn't sound overly appetizing, but that is no consequence to us, b/c it does actually taste great, and you are getting an incredible amount of vitamins, and minerals that it would take a lot of eating to be able to ingest.
Our first drink.
4 Carrots
1 thumb sized amount of Ginger Root
1 Garlic Clove
1 Large Stalk of Broccoli
2 Apples (red)
After you have blended all the ingredients make sure you stir it up and down the hatch with it. You will find that a good drink like this can really boost your energy, and improve your concentration.
Other ingredients that i have now tried
Grannie Smith Apples, b/c i like the tartness of them.
Tomatoes
Celery
Collard Greens
I will continue to try new recipes until i find what i feel is the best drink both for the sake of optimum nutrition and also for optimum taste. I would encourage you going out and getting one of these or hit me up, and i will be happy to make one up for you. This is a great way for you to make sure you are getting adequate amounts of all the fruits and veggies that a healthy diet entails.
Monday, November 5, 2007
My First Triathlon
Yesterday Sunday November 4th. I competed in my first Triathlon, and it went well. The venue was the Temple Terrace, Top Cop Triathlon. The course was a slightly undulating sprint course with a 1/4 mile pool swim, 8 mile bike leg, with a pretty nasty hill for us florida folks that you had to do twice, and finished off with a 5km run, which is 3.1miles.
You really couldn't asked for a pretty day for this race, the weather was wonderful, clear blue skies, no wind to speak of and it was cool, mid to high 70's, perfect. I showed up to the race to find out that i am in the first heat, so i don't get the benefit of watching anyone else, being that this was my first Tri, i didn't necessarily know all the rules. I thought i did but it would have been nice to see some people before me, but at the same time i was glad that i got done in the first group.
The race started with a 1/4 pool swim. Two people where assigned to each lane, i got hooked up with this guy who last year finished the race in 56min. that was a pretty good time. The race director announced, Swimmers on your Mark, then the horn blew and we got started and i was pulling pretty strong, i have to tell myself to slow down, but i just couldn't seem to do that, i was way to focused on getting to the next portion, and i didn't want to be the last person out of the water. as i make it to the other end of the pool for the first time, i did a flip turn, then over the next two laps i did flipturns at the end of each of them. That is where i started freaking out, lap four. I couldn't see anyone else doing flipturns, i was starting to think man, maybe your a not allowed to do flipturns in triathlons, i decided that i might have all ready DQed from my first Triathlon with in the first 30 seconds of the race. I decided to just keep going, and keep doing flipturns, i would finish the race no matter what even if they say that i DQed. I was still swimming quite hard and now i had another dilemma, while i have been thinking about this flipturn conundrum, i have not been keeping count of my laps, so the next three laps instead of concentrating on my stroke i was trying to figure out how far i have gone. I think i am getting close to getting done, and the lady in my lane counting for me tells me i have two laps left. so i really start to move, by this point i have already lapped the guy in my lane and my heart is really going, i get out, and run to T1.
Transition one, time to get on the bike i throw on my socks, heart rate monitor, shades helmet and shoes, grab my bike and head to the line where i am told i can get on the bike, and i am off. My heart racing, still trying to put my gloves on realizing that i am sitting on my GU gel, hoping that it is still on my bike b/c i was going to need it soon. luckily it was still in the hole of my seat. i take that out put it in my riding shorts and get going. My time coming out of the pool was right at about 7 min. i think i am about the 7th person out of the pool not to bad.
On the bike i was ready to be passed by a bunch of people who where in a lot better shape than me, but that never happened, sure a couple of people passed me, one of them my swimming partner, but i was really able to hold my own. There was a hill climb about 2 miles into the ride that really got my heart racing, the course was a 4 mile double loop so i knew i would see that hill again, hopefully it was not going to kill me. On my second lap around the course as i was getting close to the end i saw a couple of riders out in front of me who i thought i might be able to catch, and sure enough i was, passed this one 23 year old right on the last turn. I pulled into the transition area, and there where a bunch of people cheering me and us on, people saying i was doing great. got off the bike took my shoes off and got my running shoes on. T2 now complete i was heading to pound some pavement.
Within only a couple of yards that guy i passed on the bike ran past me. but that was okay, my heart was cranking, and i was already nearly running anaerobic. i needed to slow it down, and get into my pace, for the next 3 miles. At about 1/2 mile into the run, i see that same guy who i will find out later that his name is Jim, a recent college grad, who swam competitively for his college, walking. That told me that he just didn't have the mental ability to beat me, that was all i wanted to do the rest of the race. 1. Survive 2. Beat that kid who is walking/running ahead of me.
At about 3/4 of a mile i caught up to Jim, he was walking again, as i ran by him, i told him to keep going, dig deep and keep going. He started to run again, and said that he was going to run with me. He was a road smacker, that is what i call it at least where he really slaps his feet hard on the pavement. we were both breathing pretty hard, but i was really able to get into my zone. I knew i had the mental ability to not stop and just keep going.
The problem with this run course is they didn't have and mile markers, so you didn't know how far we had left. Jim told me at one point we have less than a mile, and i felt that was probably correct, i was really feeling quite good. While running with jim, i found out that he was the second guy out of the water, so that tells me that i made up a good bit of time on him during the rest of the race, that helped me want to beat him even more. He said when we get to the last turn that he is really going to go. Kind of in a way that was to say sorry i am going to have to leave you, i had to laugh inside, b/c i knew there was no way i was losing to this guy. What he did not realize was, that over the course of the last 1/2 mile i had increased our speed to a point that he was breathing very heavy and would not be able to muster up a good sprint to the end.
We made the last turn and he goes to make his move, with about .2 of a mile left, i am just right behind him, two steps at the most, i can see that he is hurting, with about .15 to go, i open up my gate, and really start moving, i pass him, there is nothing he can do and i finish, beating him by about 15-20 seconds. It was a awesome feeling. I had just finished my first Triathlon.
During the race i thought, Who does these things, people who do this must be nuts, then my next thought was i love doings these, and can't wait to do my next one.
I couldn't believe it i ended up finishing 3rd in my age group and about 11th overall. It was an amazing experience and i do look forward to the next one.
You really couldn't asked for a pretty day for this race, the weather was wonderful, clear blue skies, no wind to speak of and it was cool, mid to high 70's, perfect. I showed up to the race to find out that i am in the first heat, so i don't get the benefit of watching anyone else, being that this was my first Tri, i didn't necessarily know all the rules. I thought i did but it would have been nice to see some people before me, but at the same time i was glad that i got done in the first group.
The race started with a 1/4 pool swim. Two people where assigned to each lane, i got hooked up with this guy who last year finished the race in 56min. that was a pretty good time. The race director announced, Swimmers on your Mark, then the horn blew and we got started and i was pulling pretty strong, i have to tell myself to slow down, but i just couldn't seem to do that, i was way to focused on getting to the next portion, and i didn't want to be the last person out of the water. as i make it to the other end of the pool for the first time, i did a flip turn, then over the next two laps i did flipturns at the end of each of them. That is where i started freaking out, lap four. I couldn't see anyone else doing flipturns, i was starting to think man, maybe your a not allowed to do flipturns in triathlons, i decided that i might have all ready DQed from my first Triathlon with in the first 30 seconds of the race. I decided to just keep going, and keep doing flipturns, i would finish the race no matter what even if they say that i DQed. I was still swimming quite hard and now i had another dilemma, while i have been thinking about this flipturn conundrum, i have not been keeping count of my laps, so the next three laps instead of concentrating on my stroke i was trying to figure out how far i have gone. I think i am getting close to getting done, and the lady in my lane counting for me tells me i have two laps left. so i really start to move, by this point i have already lapped the guy in my lane and my heart is really going, i get out, and run to T1.
Transition one, time to get on the bike i throw on my socks, heart rate monitor, shades helmet and shoes, grab my bike and head to the line where i am told i can get on the bike, and i am off. My heart racing, still trying to put my gloves on realizing that i am sitting on my GU gel, hoping that it is still on my bike b/c i was going to need it soon. luckily it was still in the hole of my seat. i take that out put it in my riding shorts and get going. My time coming out of the pool was right at about 7 min. i think i am about the 7th person out of the pool not to bad.
On the bike i was ready to be passed by a bunch of people who where in a lot better shape than me, but that never happened, sure a couple of people passed me, one of them my swimming partner, but i was really able to hold my own. There was a hill climb about 2 miles into the ride that really got my heart racing, the course was a 4 mile double loop so i knew i would see that hill again, hopefully it was not going to kill me. On my second lap around the course as i was getting close to the end i saw a couple of riders out in front of me who i thought i might be able to catch, and sure enough i was, passed this one 23 year old right on the last turn. I pulled into the transition area, and there where a bunch of people cheering me and us on, people saying i was doing great. got off the bike took my shoes off and got my running shoes on. T2 now complete i was heading to pound some pavement.
Within only a couple of yards that guy i passed on the bike ran past me. but that was okay, my heart was cranking, and i was already nearly running anaerobic. i needed to slow it down, and get into my pace, for the next 3 miles. At about 1/2 mile into the run, i see that same guy who i will find out later that his name is Jim, a recent college grad, who swam competitively for his college, walking. That told me that he just didn't have the mental ability to beat me, that was all i wanted to do the rest of the race. 1. Survive 2. Beat that kid who is walking/running ahead of me.
At about 3/4 of a mile i caught up to Jim, he was walking again, as i ran by him, i told him to keep going, dig deep and keep going. He started to run again, and said that he was going to run with me. He was a road smacker, that is what i call it at least where he really slaps his feet hard on the pavement. we were both breathing pretty hard, but i was really able to get into my zone. I knew i had the mental ability to not stop and just keep going.
The problem with this run course is they didn't have and mile markers, so you didn't know how far we had left. Jim told me at one point we have less than a mile, and i felt that was probably correct, i was really feeling quite good. While running with jim, i found out that he was the second guy out of the water, so that tells me that i made up a good bit of time on him during the rest of the race, that helped me want to beat him even more. He said when we get to the last turn that he is really going to go. Kind of in a way that was to say sorry i am going to have to leave you, i had to laugh inside, b/c i knew there was no way i was losing to this guy. What he did not realize was, that over the course of the last 1/2 mile i had increased our speed to a point that he was breathing very heavy and would not be able to muster up a good sprint to the end.
We made the last turn and he goes to make his move, with about .2 of a mile left, i am just right behind him, two steps at the most, i can see that he is hurting, with about .15 to go, i open up my gate, and really start moving, i pass him, there is nothing he can do and i finish, beating him by about 15-20 seconds. It was a awesome feeling. I had just finished my first Triathlon.
During the race i thought, Who does these things, people who do this must be nuts, then my next thought was i love doings these, and can't wait to do my next one.
I couldn't believe it i ended up finishing 3rd in my age group and about 11th overall. It was an amazing experience and i do look forward to the next one.
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