“Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” - IMAZ 2013

It is my belief that we all have souls. An essiance deep within us that makes us who we are, makes us different then anyone else. The driving force at our core where "you" are located. Most people don't have reason to give their soul much thought. That's because they have never been tested. Never been asked what they are truly made of; mentally, physically, emotionally. I came to Ironman Arizona this year not only to test my soul, I came to honor the strength in the soul of another.

March 4th 2012, my mother calls to tell me my Aunt has had a heart attack, she's alive but ailing. A week later I get the same call, her heart has stopped as the result of a second heart attack, she's still alive but ailing. Aunt Joanie is someone who has always been active. Her profession as a nurse kept her on her feet all day everyday. As a wife of a now cattle rancher, the mother of two and the grandmother of five very active grandchildren, to say she spends her days on the go is an understatement. We have shared the start line at Bloomsday where in training she walked to and from work, as much as 8 miles each day. Her recovery from the heart attacks would be slow but steady. The doctors said her heart would likely never regain full strength but at 50% she would be able to live her life as close to normal as possible.

February 2013, another call from my mother, Joanie has cancer and it's bad. The cancer has blocked her intestine. It would need to be removed, a very invasive surgery. Post op would bring chemo. Her heart now functioning at or around 50% would be asked to support her body through two rounds of chemo. The chemo, if it works, would reduce that percentage, how much was unknown. The doctors would need to evaluate on a weekly basis if her heart could continue to take the chemo. I don't live close enough to visit as much as I would like but my mother and sister would visit Joanie in what was a long hospital stay. They were left to tell the stories of how awful the chemo was and how backward it can be to pray her heart is strong enough to put her through something so devastating to her body. But the alternative was unthinkable.

I have always been aware of the inner strength my Aunt possesses. But to see her go about daily life with a heart at 30% functionality and to do it with such grace and dignity, that is something I could draw from, something to be honored.

My little February bike accident has been well documented and it's result still lingers. I spent the majority of the last year rehabbing in an effort to get my lower back to calm down. An MRI revealed a 20% deterioration of L5, which has left me with Facet Joint irritation. Rest is commonplace but who has time for that, right? It was decided I wouldn't do any additional damage if I trained through the injury, I would just have to take the pain. I.E. Suck it up Buttercup.

In June I came into Ironman Coeur d'Alene with very little base and under trained. Although I wouldn't say it was a disaster, I finished, I would say it was the hardest race I have ever done. I was left with a IM race I have very little memory of (but that's a topic for another post) and a confidence that had been shaken…badly!

Riverside State Park trails.

When training for Ironman Arizona I do a fair amount on my own. During some of the largest builds for the race most folks have wrapped up their season and are done for the year. This leaves me plenty of solo workouts which I happen to kind of like. Time alone with my thoughts outside in all the beauty Mother Nature provides. The seasons are changing and there truly is beauty at every turn. We live, literally, a stones throw from Riverside State Park, a perfect place for long solo trail runs. I would think this is part of the reason I continue to race IMAZ.

This year was different mentally because of the physical nature of my "injury". Separating the two became a challenge, not letting the physical discomfort become mental discomfort. But I'm human and there were inevitably days of "poor me" workouts where I just wasn't feeling it or was so very tired in a big build. It's all part of the IM process of building a stronger body and mind. With little base training, I found myself needing something else to lean on when it came to doing some of the long solo training sessions my body or mind just don't want to do. I found myself thinking a lot about and leaning on my Aunt with her 30% heart function. I drew strength in the fact that…I could. I could be out running or riding, whatever the day, whatever the distance. If she can get through an average day with such grace then the least I can do is get through a workout the same way. I.E. Suck it up Buttercup.

Leading up to the race I asked if Joanie would send a little something that I could carry during the race as a reminder in hard times. Maybe a small note or a small piece of jewelry. My thoughts were she would send a single earring that she had lost the mate to or something along those lines. Something that if lost in the craziness that is an Ironman wouldn't be missed. Well, it didn't work out that way. In a very "Aunt Joanie" way, she sent one of her most prize possessions. A dime she found on her high school senior picnic and has worn on a neckless for 54 years. "This dime has the power to hold memories. It helps you reflect on happy times. It cannot only show you where you have been, but it can help you find where you are going. It will get you to the end of your race." Yeah...No pressure! But with it safely pinned inside the pocket of my tri top, I felt it would be safe for the entire 140.6 mile journey.

…….

Thursday before race day, Bootsie and I board the plane along with Speedy G and Nat. Triathletes are a strange and odd group of people, it comes with the territory. And as one of the very few B personality types in the entire triathlon field, some of the oddities strike me differently. But there is one thing that is a constant - "We take care of our own"! Yep, the three I sit with on the plane are traveling to Tempe Arizona to support me not only on race day but in all needs I may have surrounding the race itself. The words "thank you" will never be near enough!

Race morning and I'm up at 3:55 a.m. A shower and some breakfast. Yes I'm nervous, I get it. I'm not sure what this day will hold. Will my back stay together or will it fire up in the swim like it has all year? Will the bike eat me up like in IMCDA? Can I finish? How deep can I go and how dark can I get? Lots of questions lead to two things. The first is my snapping at Bootsie about nothing at all the night before the race. The circumstances were stupid but an avenue for a release of tension is needed. The second is my tromboning breakfast on race morning. Yep, it's a two breakfast kind of morning.

Down to the race start at about 5:15 or so. I prep the bike and drop my nutrition for the day. I head over to special needs where Bootsie, Speed G and Nat meet me and thank goodness. I'm unfocused and frankly I'm coming apart a little. Bootsie gathers me in telling me to stay out of my own head. The three of them poke fun at the quirky triathletes and their fans. All good natured fun and all in an effort to keep the mood light. It works and off to the swim start I go.

The swim goes smoothly, it's tight at first but clears by the mid point. There are some low clouds muting the sunrise. Sunrise on race day is actually after the race begins. At IMAZ you swim directly into the rising sun which broke out of the clouds just as I made the turnaround. Perfect! I tried to concentrate on staying long and relaxed in my stroke. Any added effort due to contact with other athletes added tension to my back so I took it very easy and relaxed.

I exited the water at 1:23+ and my back was showing no signs of flaring. A quick wave to my support crew standing on the bridge over looking T1 and into the tent I go. With this race I knew I needed to break it into three completely separate events so I took a little more time (then I probably should have) in T1 to make sure I was stretched and ready for the bike.

Out on the bike and I knew my 1:23 swim was a leading indicator of the day to come so I took it exceedingly easy on the first of three loops. I just cruised, enjoying the moment. When racing Ironman, fun can be a precarious word but I was actually having fun, lots of fun. I had a low spot at about the midway point in the bike but was able to control it. Heading back out for the third loop I felt good. I found a guy with a strong pace about 200 meters up the road, keeping him at about that distance I used him as a carrot to pull me along. We were passing lots of people which can be up lifting. All I was thinking was how I needed to make it to the turnaround at about mile 95 and it's slightly down hill to the finish. Mile 100 and not surprisingly the wheels came off. I blew up! There was no comfortable riding position and nutrition was a challenge. I go away from any solid nutrition supporting my calorie needs with liquids. I had mentally pulled the race into thirds but you can't do that with nutrition so I soldier on, taking calories my body needs but I really didn't want.

The Hot Corner
Photo By Greg Gallagher

Rolling into the hot corner for the final time and there they are, the support crew. Speedy G had, for a dollar, bought a "clown horn" for race day at a local bike shop. Just Speedy G being Speedy G. It was pretty silly and he got a look or two from his wife about the whole thing but as a racer, that horn was perfect. I was able to find them every time through. Be it out of the water where the crowds are huge or speeding by on the bike. Good purchase G!

T2 - Check. I hit the suntan lotion station and pull off to the side of the water station so I can get some electrolytes and a gel before heading out on the run.

Feeling the aid station love.
Photo by Natalie Gallagher

The run…This is where I had no idea what to expect physically and after my implosion on the bike, I had reason for pause. They changed the run course from a three loop to two so I wasn't 100% sure of the course. I previewed it the days leading up to the race but race conditions are always different both physically and mentally. My plan was to break the race in halves, then into quarters and then into miles. So I would be running from aid station to aid station.

I had so much race day support, from the people who had traveled to the race, to the neckless securely fastened to my tri top, to the many people that had reached out to me and were tracking me on race day. I wanted to pick something as a gesture of thank you for all the support they were providing so when I received the following text I knew how I could do just that: "I am with you in spirit the whole race but on the run in a special way....do this for me: Every mile marker you pass so 26 times...while you run past it no matter how you feel..flash a smile and say this is for Kathi…". I found great comfort in counting off the miles with Best and everyone else that were lending their support.

Booties, Speedy G and Nat had volunteered on a run course and were at about the mid point of each lap. When I rolled into their aid station the first time my sugar was a little off so I was at a low point but their enthusiasm helped lift my spirits.

Bootsie working the aid station.
Photo by Natalie Gallagher

On the second loop of the run I felt reasonably good. I was walking the aid stations to be sure I kept my nutrition in line but the concrete was beginning to wear on me. I had a hip flexor that was absolutely driving me crazy and my hamstrings were tightening up to a point where they need to be stretched. Any out right stretching in the latter parts of an Ironman has always proved interesting. As soon as I begin stretching the afflicted area in my legs the opposing muscles would cramp. So I would do a series of high knee lifts as I ran to stretch the hamstrings.

It had gotten dark and for me the course had taken on a different mood. I was slowing down and had time for reflection on what this race meant to me. Iron distance races are often judged solely on time. How fast was your swim? What were your transition times? I do it everyday. But I found what can happen is the way you precieve a preformence or result is different then how others precive it. Judgement is often reserved for when you cross the finish line. Sometime your race day identity can get tied up in that. I hadn't come here chasing a time goal of any kind. I had come to test myself under the conditions I was afforded on this race day. I had come to honor others and to see if I posses the same inner strength when challenged by things that are beyond my control. I pray this, the arena that is Iron distance racing is the only arena I am ever tested in such a manner. But as we know it doesn't always work that way.

The 2013 Ironman Arizona finish line was as different as any other I have been blessed with. This finish line was about reaching a destination both physically and mentally. Yes, I covered the 140.6 miles. And yes, I had found things to lift me when times got tough. I only hope I was able to do it with some kind of grace, some kind of dignity.

A search for an F-Dot: World Championship Addition.

Kona...

All those involved with Ironman racing know what that single word means. It describes the holy grail of the distance. For me, it's the World Series, it's Wimbeldon, it's the Super Bowl. I ask you, if your bother, sister, husband or wife were playing in any one of those events what would it be like...for you?

People outside the sport ask me all the time if I'm doing "that race in Hawaii"? And when I say no they ask why not. To which on occasion I answer with: You're a golfer? Right? I mean you own clubs and play in a Tuesday night league... So next year you're playing in The Masters? Right? Why not? You could. If you worked on your game 20 hours a week, why wouldn't you play? - Point made.

I recently was chatting with a dear friend about the fact that Bootsy qualified again this year for the Ironman World Championship in Kona and I would be headed back to the Big Island to see her race. Brittany has been there for our entire Iron distance career. Well, we were discussing how lucky I am that Bootsy is in the top 8% of the world at what she does when Brittney pointed out that I too am in that very same 8%, an 8% of people who have someone racing. One degree of separation from Kevin Bacon...if you will. Brittany asked if I would put something together about race day through my eyes. I of course balked at the idea, I thought it would be selfish. She quickly fired back "It would be selfish if you didn't. You have a real opportunity here that very few get. Please share."

So enclosed is the Ironman World Championship 2013 as seen through my eyes, the eyes of Sherpa, the eyes of someone who participates at the distance, the eyes of a partner. And through eyes filled with tears, tears of pride, tears of pure joy and tears of wonder.

4 a.m. race morning and Bootsy is up prepping for her day. I elect to linger in bed until almost 4:30 in an effort to stay out of her way. We are out the door by 5 on our way to the transition area. 

It's dark as sunrise here is at 6:15. We battle the crowds but find a parking spot about 4 blocks from the start line. The mood is relaxed or at lease quiet. I hear Mike Reilly the voice of Ironman in the distance, his voice very calm and instructive. 

Body marking is stationed behind the King Kamehameha's Kona Beach Hotel. Bootsy, her father, sister and I make our way in that direction. Last time Bootsy raced here I was able to get up close enough to take a few photos of her numbers being applied. This year it was different. Only athletes were allowed anywhere near body marking or any other athlete activities for that matter. The masses were held at bay...Boston! 

Body Marking

It makes sense, but it's hard not to be disappointed for both the athletes who want to share with their families and the fans as a whole. But anger or disappointment would only serve to empower the monsters who would do anything like what happened in Boston. So like everyone else we make our way back around to the front of the hotel to await Bootsy as she preps her bike and drops her special needs.

The barriers do nothing to dampen the spirit of the massive crowd.

The area where the fans and athletes were mingling was crowded but everybody made it work. The barriers where very evident but Ironman did, in my opinion, a good job of keeping the show of force at a minimum. I'm sure it was there but I think the majority of it was "undercover".

Soon enough it was time for Bootsy to head down to the water. Because I elect to hang out with her as long as possible prior to the race, I will need to walk over to the shoreline opposite the pier to get a view of the swim start. The crowd is massive and 4 deep for as far as the eye can see.

The swim start and a massive crowd.

There is a small church that keeps watch over the swim start. I elect to view the start from near there. I may not be as vertically challenged as others so the fact that I am four deep doesn't bother me much. I'll see what I came to see and still be able to get a shot or two.

As 7 a.m. draws near Mike Reilly prompts the athletes to get into the water. Surprisingly his voice is the only voice I hear. The crowd is eerily quite, almost silent. You can sense the angst that the people around you are feeling for their athlete. I wonder how this day, the day that Bootsy has worked so very hard for,  will go. I think about all the early morning runs, the late night swims and all the events she missed because she needed to get a big workout the next day. I pray that this day and the 17 hours she is allotted to complete The Ironman World Championship, will be enough.

Minutes before the swim start.

The cannon fires and they're off. Off in pursuit of a dream, whatever that dream may be. I am left to wonder what are their stories. Everyone here has a story. And a day that I can only hope will be a fairy tail ending for Bootsy is now under way.

There they go.

As the athlete make their way around the single loop, 2.4 mile swim course, we make our way over to the sea wall that over looks swim exit. The athletes are now pouring out of the sea and into T1. It's 1:10:34 into the race when Mike Reilly lets the crowd know that "Erica "Zymer" from Spokane Washington is out of the water."

Bootsy exiting the water. She is at the top left. Removing her swim cap.

We move up to the Kuakini Highway to get a quick glimpse of Bootsy and the others before they head up Palaini and out the Queen K on their way to Hawi.

On her way to Hawi.

There isn't a great way to follow the athletes out on the bike course and we had some domestic responsibilities to attend to at the condo so we headed back. I incessantly checked the web for any updates on time splits and trade winds. That's when I wasn't napping. I did get a short nap. Shhh. Don't tell Bootsy.

Ground Zero for the majority of the bike.

I checked the pro splits and listened for the helicopter to let me know they were approaching the run turn around on Ali'i drive. The condo is about a mile from the turn around so I walked down as the pros neared. I continued to walk down Ali'i as the pros and the first age groupers started to come through. I wanted to get down a mile or two before Bootsy came through so that, unlike if I were to stay at the turn around she would see me twice, as much as four miles apart.

Aid station carnage.

I am currently training for IM Arizona so I am working out while on the Big Island. I have done some running and let me tell you what, it takes some getting used to. The heat and humidity can be oppressive. To be very honest with you I couldn't imagine what it is like for the athletes, having never ridden my bike in the trade winds at Hawi or run a marathon in the hot Hawaiian sun. So I spent some time in and around the aid stations. I watched and listened to the carnage at what are the early miles of the marathon. They say it's not the actual course and its terrain here in Kona that makes this arguably the toughest Ironman on the planet, it's the conditions. It was nothing short of amazing to watch the competitors come through the aid stations doing everything in their power to cool off.

There was one other thing I noticed as I waited for Bootsy to come through. It was the size of the lead age groupers. Nearly all of them were in the 6'2" to 6'4" range in height. It's said the bigger athletes don't do as well in the heat, to much surface area. But the majority for these guys were big. I contend it's the fact they are big and powerful on the bike and were able to get in ahead of the trade winds that kick up as the day goes along, the winds that less powerful athletes get caught in. Just another irony of the Ironman. The fact the "lesser" athletes pay a larger price in the Lava fields.

Getting it done!

FINALLY Bootsy came through. Not that she was slow by any stretch of the word. I just wanted to see her, get in a few words and ask how she was doing. And to give some encouragement. She said she had lost her electrolytes. Not the end of the world, she had some waiting in special needs but for a girl who can have some cramping issues it could be something to contend with. I obviously didn't see this coming and it seemed she could use words of calm, some words of advice. Neither are my strong suit but I advised she work the sports drink and watch the road. Someone else surely has dropped their electrolytes. Which she did come across. Desperate times call for desperate measures.

When she came back through she seemed to have wrapped her head around it all and was doing great as she prepared to head up Palaini and back out into the Lava fields. She was smiling and up beat. That may have been more for me but I had to believe she would not suffer to greatly in the Lava fields. The clouds had rolled in so the cover should help keep the temps out there down. In the Lava fields the road temps have been known to reach 130 degrees.

She's smiling.

I headed back to the condo for some dinner then down to the finish. I have been racing and attending Iron distance races for quite some time now and let me tell you there is nothing quite like standing on Ali'i drive waiting for a loved one to finish the Ironman World Championship. The sights and sounds, there is no way to take it all in but you do your best. As I look around there are tears in the eyes of the fans as they watch their loved ones fulfill a dream. The same tears that are in my eyes as I do the same.

Ali'i Drive

For the second time on the day Mike Reilly calls her name. "Erica "Zymer" you are an Ironman!"

Collecting our athlete took a little effort this year with the changes to security. We move out to the front of the hotel where friends and families of the racers are gathering. Having never raced here Bootsy can talk with me until she's blue in the face about how hard it is out there and I would never truly get it. But for some perspective I encourage her to talk with other friends who raced. I stand and listen to them compare their days and talk about how hard it was. This helps me better understand what it was like on this particular day.

Back at the condo and it's absolutely pouring! The kind of rain you may only see here in Hawaii. We sit outside on the covered deck listening to the rain and stories of the day. Despite the rain when 10:30 p.m. approaches Bootsy, her sister and I go back down to the finish. The final hour of an Ironman is my favorite hour in all of sports. It's incredible, you have to experience it for yourself.

The finish line at midnight. It's a party!

I stand along side Bootsy near the finish line reveling in her day. I had worried that the sum wouldn't equal the whole but as I stood watching her dance, and sing and cheering on her final fellow competitors, I knew. I knew it was a day she could have only dreamed of. A day we will remember and cherish forever.

Recovery: An update

Recovering from an injury can be frustrating and even isolating. I have spent the Spring and now most of the Summer with a bit of a niggle in my lower back that has reduced the amount of training I have been able to do. The frustration of an injury during the race season can be a bit of a struggle.

I did get the honor of racing Ironman Couer d'Alene in June. Going into the race I knew I was under trained but had no idea how much. I hoped to get to the start line at 65% of where I thought I should be on race morning. Not sure I got there. Swimming is the discipline that really fires up my back and as a result the bike was a struggle and the run was out right hard. This was by far the hardest race I have ever had the privilage of doing.  But when racing IMCDA there is so much race day support. There are friendly faces at every turn.

Getting me some high fives!
Photo by Rene Guerrero

I learned a lot from this years race and I take away a huge respect for the level of fitness I have brought to the start line at other IM races. I can only hope that this will never happen again and I will be able to arrive on race day with a high level of fitness. 

Taking some time off after IMCDA I have been afforded the opportunity to be a race fan or pursue my "F Dot". Bootsy is having another great season and was first in her age group at IMCDA. She will be returning to Kona.

Always a proud moment for me to see her on stage. Headed back to Kona!

Lake Stevens was next on the race schedule. A great group of friend were racing and I was on the start list. My doctors had said if I was feeling good on race morning I could race. Great, a race day discussion. Or, I was listed as day to day. But aren't we all. I went through all the motions with hopes of racing. I checked in, did my pre race workouts and checked my bike. But earlier in the day while out on my light pre race spin, I knew the answer to the question. Ironman Arizona is my "A race" this year and I couldn't put myself in a situation where Lake Stevens left me months behind for Arizona. So a call to my Doc to be absolutely sure I was doing the right thing and he confirmed it in no uncertain terms: You cannot race! DNS!

A quick change to the mind set and I threw on my IronFan face. Not easy to do but with so many friends racing it made it O.K. to be just a fan.  And it kept me busy. As a fan it's easy for the racers to look to you and say thanks for giving your support. Reality was, they were giving to me.

Bootsy raced well, having a strong day. She wasn't interested in a 70.3 Worlds slot. "Not interested" sounds a little strange especially to a middle of the pack age grouper like myself, but she will be racing Ironman Canada and then Kona, so this was a race that was used as a long training day for her. We have family in the area so the trip to Lake Stevens is more then just the race. We were also in route to a "real" vacation where a week of recovery on the beach was perfectly timed.

Boosty on the run.

Monday after Lake Stevens Bootsy and I flew to Cabo to meet up with some family. My niece graduated from high school and invited us to go. A true vacation! Wow, what is that? Bootsy and I travel quite a bit but it's always race based. Don't get me wrong we love it and get the opportunity to travel to some phenomenal places. I just wasn't sure we would know how to act on a vacation that was not centered around a race. We figured it out!

Doing nothing can be exhausting!

Headed out for a little deep sea fishing!

Now it's time to try to get back to a level of fitness that will allow me to get back to my regular training schedule. Of course the Doc is saying take it slow. As an endurance athlete, that's a challenge. The weather is great right now and the calendar is starting to weigh on me a bit but in an effort to get to Ironman Arizona with a proper level of fitness I'm "taking it slow". Lots of recovery workouts. These workouts allow for some quality time with Bootsy as she tapers for Canada. So absolutely no complains!

Hanging with Bootsy.

We live in a great place for recovery!

No...I'm not buying a mountain bike!!

A mountain bike? Why would I buy a mountain bike? Be it borrowed or not, I have one. It's too small for me. It hurts my knee. It keeps me from riding.

Last September Bootsy and I happened into a local recreational equipment outlet. We weren't there for any particular reason other then to just get out of the house. It was Labor Day weekend and low and behold they were having a sale on most bikes in stock. Bootsy asked if I wanted to take a mountain bike for a test spin. Now I didn't particularly want a new mountain bike and had stated the fact on many occasions. We have many friends who ride trails in all seasons and all weather. As a result, some of them have been injured due to crashes. They have been cut, bruised and even broken. So no, I didn't need a new mountain bike. Besides I was deep into my training for Ironman Arizona. When would I have time to ride the thing and what if, God forbid, I got hurt. As the model has proven - MTB = PT! Bootsy would have none of it, "You're going home with a bike today". Oh, I get it. Tell me where to stand coach.

I absolutely love the mountain bike. I do. It's perfect for recovery rides during heavy training blocks and a great break both mentally and physically. Mountain biking allows me time to truly enjoy the beauty of the area we live and train in. Too many times I have left the house for a long training ride only to get caught up in the details of the workout, the duration, the numbers, how I am feeling within a particular workout or interval. When I am out on the mountain bike,  I "take time to smell the roses". I engage the changing of the seasons and all the beauty Mother Nature provides. The mountain bike feeds my soul. Who knew? But as Sir Isaac Newton stated, "To every action there is always an equal and opposite reaction". Or...What feeds your soul, steals from it.

For the last 5 years I have be lucky enough to race Ironman 70.3 California Oceanside each year. We have family in Southern California and it's a good excuse to visit them on an annual basis. The weather in Oceanside the last week in March is always great in comparison to the Inland Northwest. Everything in SoCal is green and alive, not the grey and brown we live with here for a couple months. As great as it is to race Oceanside, training for Oceanside has it's challenges. It makes for a long season to start racing in March and end in November with Ironman Arizona. Staying motivated can be an issue. Training in the northern part of the country can be daunting as well. We always seem to get our key workouts but LONG trainer rides and interval runs on snow covered roads can start to wear on you. Getting through "the muck and the mire" can be as rewarding as an Oceanside race day itself. A distinctive reason I train each year in Eastern Washington in February for a 70.3 is there always seems to be a few day each summer that are perfect days to train but for whatever reason I don't feel motivated. Maybe it's the latter days of a build and I'm physically or mentally tired, whatever the reason, I just don't want to get out the door. These winter workouts at 37 degrees in the pouring rain help me keep the summer days in perspective, they can gets me out the door and keeps me from wasting a perfect training day. Lets face it, who wouldn't take a sunny 78 degree training day right now.

Fast forward to early February.

It's a typical snow covered February day as I am headed to Riverside State Park to meet some friends for a light trail ride. I knew there would be ice and deep snow but I committed to the ride so against my better judgment I hit the trails. Now, on any other weekend I may have decided to stick to the roads, get a strong workout and then head home, but I knew these guys ride trails only so I played along. Darn male ego! Well as you may have guessed, there were crashes due to icy conditions and not only by me. Most of the crashes were harmless, only prompting a little light ribbing from fellow riders. Most crashes were harmless...except one. And that's where the larcenist that is the mountain bike began its work.

As I sit here, my love for the trails has put me, well, behind in my training. Lets just leave it at that. Oceanside 70.3 will be the first "major" race on my schedule I have ever missed so in that I've been lucky. But did the mountain bike actually steal this race? Not to sure about that, but falling off may have.

Don't get me wrong here. I'm happy where I am right now. A little disappointed but happy. I have other races to train for. I guess what I can surmise from this realization is that the decision not to try to push through this setback was, indeed, the right one. Not that it was easy, I mean, yes, the writing was on the wall. If you spent any time with me the past couple of months, you would have known. You could have guessed.

I talked my decision over with Bootsy. Initially, it was exploratory.  For a few weeks, I couldn't help feeling as if somehow my decision was less about my injury and more about the fear of disappointing her. We love our trips to Oceanside. They are about much more than the race itself, it's time away together and time with ones we love.

So what's the moral of the story here? Be careful of what you ask for. Or in this case, be careful what you speak of. The mountain bike giveth and the mountain bike taketh away.

At my house this Saturday early AM there will be Ironman Athlete Tracker to follow Bootsy's race and good coffee. Stop by. It will be followed by a long(ish) ride...on my tri bike. I will reserve the trails and mountain bike for Sunday after bunnies and colored eggs. And before what will be a big ars mid afternoon "recovery" meal.

What inspires?

Inspiration can come from anywhere and be nurtured by anything. It comes in an endless array of shapes and forms. But you have to choose to see it. The enclosed photo is to date my favorite portrait of myself within the realm of triathlon. It's a photo taken by Bootsy in the latter stages of Ironman Arizona. I posted the picture to facebook where a friend, unbeknownst to me, capture the image and had a poster style print made of it. That print is headed to the framers and then on to the wall. Thanks Rick-O!! 


Never lose sight of inspiration. Ironman Arizona 2012

The fact that this image of a young girl moved others to either like it on FB or actually have it printed got me thinking I should expand on what inspires me and why.

All Iron distance races are grueling. It's the nature of the race itself and frankly part of what keeps me coming back to the start line each year. Iron distance races are arguably the toughest single day endurance event on the face of the planet. When you swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 and then run a marathon there are going to be highs and lows. There just are, there is no getting around it. Bootsy and I have been fortunate in the fact we have been able to choose Iron distance race venues where friends and family are in attendance. Except for one, Ironman Wisconsin 2011. In most aspects of the race, swim excluded for obvious reasons, I look to the crowd for inspitation in both times of trouble and times of triumph. The times of trouble seem to stick in my mind a little better then times of triumph.

We have the best race day friends ever. Period! These crazies know how to work a race from a spectators point of view. They are popping up everywhere and anywhere on the course all day long. And if you're out there deep into the night, so are they. The knowledge that they are out there waiting absolutely makes it easier to run from place to place, from face to face.

When we signed up for IM Wisconsin in 2011 we knew we would be traveling and racing alone, just the two of us. I quickly realized for that reason it would be a different race for me and my ability to draw from the crowd. On race morning, Bootsy was a little more eagar to get into the water then I. She wanted a warm up, I did not. Sliding to the side of the shoot to stay out of the way of the other athletes pilgrimage to the water, there were families with small children being held so they could see over the fence. You see this at every race. The children had there arms extended in an effort to get a hand slap or "high five" from the passing athletes. I took the images of my high fives with those kiddos with me the rest of the day.

Not knowing another soul in Madison that day I wondered about the latter portions of my race. Where would I look for help, for inspiration? I found it in the children of Wisconsin. Be it on the bike or the run, if there was a child with a hand out looking for a high five, they got it from me. It is my guess these children were collecting high fives from the athletes. What these kids may never know is they are giving more then they could ever receive. At least they are giving to me when I race.

Iron distance racing strips me down. I can get to places within myself that I can only get to on race day. A pureity exists in the eyes of a child that embodies some of these places. There are sacred moments within a race that surprise me; they come without warning or prompting; they simply visit, then vanish, leaving me with peaceful joy or bliss that is beyond my ability to express or describe. These types of experiences were more frequent in my childhood but have become rarer as I age and cynicism or doubts jade me and separate me from these places. I draw peace, strength and inspiration from the out stretched hand of a child. 

Introductions

Having never been a blogger, I thought some introductions were in order. The invention of this blog is based in chronicling. Chronicling my triathlon adventures as well as "family" life. I would think this will be an image based blog, using photographs to tell the majority of the story.

I live in a home with two world class athletes. One with two legs, one with four. Bootsy is a triathlete who is consistently at the pointy end of most races she enters. Watching her grow within the sport has been a real joy.


Butch our Siberian is one of the now two "running partners" in our home. When you train with a Siberian you are training with a world class athlete. He is always at the ready to run, regardless the weather conditions. This time of year that can be a blessing or a curse. He has a way of getting us out the door in all conditions in all seasons.

Butch at his best.

We just added a German Shepard puppy to our family. Kailua, we call her Kai, is a joy but Kai is a pup. Puppies come with inherent challenges but at the end of the day it's all worth it. Butch is at a point in life where he will soon need to be retired from running. Kai will step in where he leaves off.



So that is all as far as the introductions go. I have a full race schedule this year and am going long twice, once in Couer d'Alene and again in Arizona. There will be other races along the way starting with Oceanside 70.3 in March. It's going to be a long season as far as the calender is concerned but I am looking forward to the challenges and life lessons that the training and racing will provide.