Race Report tagged posts

What a Day – Ironman World Championship 2016

October 26, 2016 Ironman, Race Reports  No comments

We arrived on the island of Hawaii, Wednesday morning, October 5th… Our 31st wedding anniversary! It was our goal to be on the Big Island last year for our 30th but a little thing called a “broken hip” got in the way. Now once again driving into Kona, a short seven mile trek from the airport, it was very clear the Ironman was just days away. From the yellow road signs that read “CAUTION Ironman Athletes Training” along the Queen K to the dozens of runners along Ali’I Drive you’d think the competition had already begun.

First thing Joy and I did after we parked our car was walk over to the King Kamehameha Beach Hotel to register. As usual, it is a very well organized process that respects the athletes for achieving the honor of racing the Ironman World Championship. Next up, lunch! So,

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That Guy

July 11, 2015 Recovery  2 comments

Lately, I've been needing to explain a lot of things... first "What happened?" then "How are you doing?"

Typically I'm fine. I have especially come to enjoy sleeping. During these past four weeks it's the time I get to walk, even run. However, last night was the first night I actually needed crutches for dream walking. It's these subtle and not so subtle things that tend to affect my mood and has me taking account of who I am, what's truly important and the changes I need to make.

Before I became a triathlete I was an observer. It began by watching the Ironman race on television and finding myself in awe of men and women who could swim, bike and run ridiculous distances and overcome self-inflicted, physical punishment with sheer mental toughness and emotional will... deep down I

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2014 Racing from the Rearview Mirror

December 20, 2014 70.3, Ironman, Olympic, Race Reports  No comments

I began my triathlon career in 2001 with my first race being a sprint distance race in May followed by a slightly less than Olympic distance race in June and two Olympic distance races in July and September respectively. None of those races ended in podium finishes but the bug had set in with goals to complete my first Ironman in 2002.

In the new year, I trained for and raced my first marathon in Los Angeles with hip bursitis which flared up a week prior at the end of February. Then a half ironman race in May and finally my first Ironman on June 8th: Ironman Utah. If you are a geek about Ironman and know the sport’s history you’ll recall Ironman Utah was not an Ironman in the 2.4/112/26.2 mile sense. A freak storm came up that morning as the race began and athletes (me included)

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If You Can Make it There: Ironman US Championships Race Report

November 4, 2012 Ironman, Race Reports  5 comments

In 2011 three friends got the news they had prostate cancer. Each dealt with the news differently as progression, treatment and quality-of-life decisions dictated each course. Then in the fall my friend David, who's family attends the church I pastored and fellow triathlete told me his father had prostate cancer. Was this just bad timing or am I at that age now where my friends and I are at risk and this is now the new normal?

Prostate Cancer is considered one of those "Silent Killers" because symptoms are often undetectable. Add to that, it's a disease among men who are less prone to go to the doctor and more likely to "man up" to the pain. Men tend to ignore personal warning signs while running to the alarm of everyone else's trouble. This is truly unfortunate when it comes to

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Blown Away: Ironman World Championship a Race Report

October 27, 2012 Ironman, Race Reports  10 comments

When I raced in New York City, mid August, I had it in my mind that should I qualify for the Ironman World Championship I would not take my spot and let someone else go by grabbing the roll down slot. But Qualifying for Kona is no easy task and after seeing my name listed above the line, declaring that I had indeed received the golden ticket, all I could say to my wife upon getting back to our hotel room was, “I did a bad thing.” She thought that I had left early simply to retrieve my bike and gear only to find I returned with an obligation to take another trip to Hawaii… She wasn’t too disappointed.

When we arrived on the Big Island I noticed immediately the tell signs that the race which, defines all other races had unofficially started. The Queen K already had streams of cyclists

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Let It Stay in Vegas: 70.3 World Championship Race Report

September 12, 2012 70.3, Race Reports  2 comments

I've come to admit that I don't care much for Las Vegas. There used to be a time when going to this unusual city was a cheap getaway but not any more. For a short season they touted it as a family destination, uh nope; tried that. It was hardly family friendly as my daughter offered to shield my eyes from the billboard advertisements, raising her tiny hand saying, "Don't look daddy, I'll protect you!" Today, it's high fashion mixed with super sensation. It's a town that thrives on excess and lures you in through a wide entrance promising to shut the door behind you so no one can look in.

When the WTC moved the Ironman 70.3 World Championships from Clearwater FL to Las Vegas I was happy. I wasn't willing to go to Florida for the race but Nevada? Yeah, I'd make that trip. So last year I

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I Left My Sweat in San Francisco: A Race Report

August 15, 2011 Olympic, Race Reports  No comments

San Francisco Triathlon at Alcatraz

As everyone knows… Alcatraz was that one prison deemed impossible to escape! But really? There was that one, now infamous escape sending three inmates into the dark San Francisco Bay waters on June 11, 1962. It is said they never made it to shore and the swift currents most likely sent them out into the Pacific Ocean… but I’m not so sure. Why? Because I made it!

And it wasn’t that hard.

Pre Race:

The venue is really just west of Fort Mason on the Marina Green. Here the wind is always present and the usual summer fog cuts through you. Like one person once said, “The coldest winter day they ever experienced was during a summer vacation in San Francisco.”

I am part of a Team for Fellowship of Christians Athletes the

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