Triathlon 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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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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Compassion Changes Everything

April 6, 2013 Team Compassion  No comments

This is a repost from my other site DoxA after Ironman St. George in 2011.

 

It’s been nearly two weeks since I found myself having a brutal conversation with myself. It was one of those rambling, self-loathing, silent types you can have while smiling at others as they walk by. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon, it was 95 degrees and I had already swam 2.4 miles, ridden my bike 112 miles and ran 18 miles with another 8.2 to go.

On May 7th I was competing in Ironman St. George, arguably the most difficult Ironman course in the world. I’ve been a competitive Ironman triathlete for years and I was having one of the worst races of my career. At mile 18 of the marathon my legs began to have some very severe pain that I’ve not experienced before. Unable to continue my

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Why I Race

November 9, 2012 Devotion  5 comments

I am a long-distance triathlete. I prefer the longer, moderately paced events with huge crowds and ceremony. Ironman races are the best, filled with super-fit athletes, the best of the best with an “I can do anything” mindset.

When a friend of mine told me she knew an Ironman triathlete who was dying of cancer and asked if I could drop by his house to pray for him, I didn’t hesitate. I called Tom’s house, spoke with his wife, Carol, and dropped by that afternoon. When Carol walked me back to the bedroom I noticed a framed plaque — a photo of Tom on his bike smiling — and, next to it, his Ironman race medal.  But when I walked into the bedroom I found a small, frail, drugged and propped up man in a T-shirt and baseball cap.

We chatted casually, about the weather, the church I

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Training is Good for Every Body

October 29, 2012 Training  No comments

Now that the season is officially over (at least for me) I have declared a season of rest. This means a break from training and opportunities to eat fast food and sit on the couch... well, not quite but I'll not worry about those early morning swim sessions as much nor will I be anxious to get home and pull on those shoes for a 90 minute run before dinner! Regardless of how I look at it one thing is certain; a break from training means simply that... a break. Training is necessary and should be a constant discipline of a successful triathlete. The same is true for success of any kind in any field.

Let me state the obvious as it relates to us on a personal level: The very word "training" sounds hard. Training comes in all kinds of means and methods. For a musician training can be

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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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