Given the fact I will enter into my fifth decade tomorrow, I decided I would get one more blog post in while I am still in my forties!
I wanted to write a quick post about an amazing experience I had two weeks ago today. As many of you know, I started doing triathlons in June, a small miracle in and of itself, given the fact I hadn't been able to run (*knee problems) for over ten years, not to mention the fact that I never swim. Anyway...
Immediately following my first "tri" in Morro Bay, I signed-up for my second in Pacific Grove...scheduled for September 10th. All my training was going as planned, and except for the occasional jitters and anxiety (*prayer works great...as does telling myself to relax!), I was good to go. Well, until early Friday morning...September the 9th.
Sometime around 1am, I made a trip to the bathroom, not sure if I was going to throw up or...well, I think you can guess. In the end, it came out my end, and kept coming out for several hours. Needless to say, sometime around 3 or 4 in the morning I was convinced that I was not be going to Pacific Grove to compete.
I stayed in bed, rested, noticed that my stomach had stopped erupting, and began to wonder what kind of bug I had caught. Maybe I was going to start getting better. At one point, I decided to pray, thinking God would confirm my suspicion that there would be no swimming, cycling, and running in my plans the next day. I not-so-secretly hoped He would say, "Stay home, big guy." But that is not what I heard. I felt like He told me, "Trust Me."
"Trust Me." Great. Really great. What did that mean? I wasn't sure, but I was pretty confident it meant driving down to Pacific Grove and seeing what would happen. I had visions of putting on my wetsuit, having the gun go off, jumping in the ocean, and at the furthest point from shore beginning to throw up, or... yeah, that. Why did I pray? Why couldn't I have just used my common sense and stayed home?
Another thought came to my mind. What if I stayed home and discovered that night or the next morning that I felt like a champ? Well, honestly, I would be pretty angry and upset with myself. I would much rather try and do my best than play it safe. What kind of life is a life filled with "I played it safe" stories, anyway?
Thankfully, Jacquie was game, as were our friends Kevin & Janice...who were kind enough to organize the use of one of their friend's homes on 17-Mile Drive...which, btw, was incredible!
We drove down Friday afternoon, unloaded all my gear at the friend's house, and went into town for dinner. I felt fatigued just walking from the car to the restaurant. We got back to the house early, had a chance to meet the Courter's friends and I think I was in bed by about 8:45. The plan was to wake-up at 5:30 the next morning and decide then whether or not to give it a go. Before going to bed, we had the chance to meet the friends of our friends. They are great people. When I told Michael that I was feeling pretty crappy and wasn't sure I was going to be able to do the triathlon the next day, he looked me in the eye and told me, "You can do this." I was floored by this faith...
I slept well, woke-up the next morning, felt somewhat normal, and decided to give it a try. As we drove to the coast, I began to get a fever...and wasn't sure if I was relapsing or if my body was just heating up because it wasn't used to having food in my belly.
Remarkably, by the time I set-up my transition station, I felt normal...except for the typical butterflies. Throughout the entire event - which took me about 3.25 hours - I felt like a champ. Trusting God really paid off. I am so grateful that He gave me the faith to do it!
Here are a few photos from the triathlon:
Getting ready for the swim...I'm the one waving in the center of the photo. The Pacific Grove Triathlon is famous for their swim, what they call the "kelp crawl". I discovered they call it that for good reason!
I had some amazing fans who believed in me and cheered me on throughout the entire event.
A man should count himself blessed, if he has anyone who will stand in the cold in the early morning for several hours simply because they love him. These family and friends not only stood in the foggy cold, they cheered for me!
The cycling route took us from Lover's Point to Asilomar. We did the circle four times for a total of 40k.
The run along the coast was absolutely incredible...I never want to do a triathlon in a location that is not gorgeous!
Our friends and family were rewarded with some wonderful, warm sunshine once the running segment of the triathlon began.
The mommy loves the Gloria...and the Gloria loves da Momma!
Here I am at the finish line with Jacquie. They gave every participant a medal. In some ways it felt like AYSO soccer...where the kids who finish last get a trophy. But, to be honest, just participating and completing a triathlon is still a big deal for me, and I felt proud when they gave it to me.
After the event, we went back to the house so I could shower and get dressed. We then hopped in the cars and drove to have lunch at Jack London's. I ordered a ribeye...yum!
You never know if the water is clean or not, so I decided to drink cabernet...
Then we all shared some tasty desserts...mudpie and some kind of caramel cheesecake. I wanted to make sure I reloaded all the fat and carbs I had burned off. Wow!
I got a few souvenirs...
They "ink" you with your number on your leg and hands. *If you look carefully at my calf, you can see my age group...
Here's one souvenir I wasn't counting on...I tore right through the right calf of my wetsuit as I was putting it on. It didn't make any difference at all. I do need to find out how to repair it, though.
When we went back to the house on 17-Mile Drive, I noticed this magnet on the side of the refrigerator:
Eleanor Roosevelt said this. She was right.
Isn't it funny how God puts these "signs" in our lives? If you look, they are everywhere.
You're a stallion...
Posted by: Sean | September 25, 2011 at 09:04 AM
you're funny, sean!
hope you guys are doing well...
randy
Posted by: randy | September 28, 2011 at 12:02 PM