Finally

After 1.5 years of some pretty hard work and 3 coaches, I have finally qualified for 70.3 World Championships in Clearwater.

Ironman Rhode Island 70.3 – July 11th, 2010 – Eugene and I hit the road Saturday morning at 5am. Breakfast at Cracker Barrel and back on the road. 8am we arrive at Providence and I get my athlete packet at 9am. We leave to go to Naragansett, arrive around 10am and I get in a swim. The entrance and exit for the swim are coated with rocks that will cripple the field and it’s almost impossible to get in and out of the water without wincing. Next is a bike ride and it seems flat and hot, but good roads. I park my bike in T1 and get ready to drive to Providence again. Some dark clouds come rolling in and then just stop before they reach us. Good thing too because I was determined not to put the bikini top back up on the Jeep. Drove to Providence, checked into the hotel and went out for a run. 20 minutes later I’m back in the hotel, setup my run bag, drop off the bag at T2, and get some food. 8pm, final check on bike and swim bag, go to bed.

3am Race day morning. Wake up, brush teeth, get dressed and walk out to find the shuttle that will bring 1000+ athletes to the swim start in Naragansett. 4am – the suttles leave and I ftry to sleep as the dude next to me nervously jabbers about something. 5am, setup transition for the bike and go out for a run. I love the morning of a race and looking at all the “athletes” with their looks on their face. Scared, nervous, way too intense. Funny as hell. Breath and smile, kind of like shock and awe to others. Get on my wetsuit and of course, I immediately need to pee. I haven’t even gotten into the water yet and I need to pee. Oh well, I’m not taking off the wetsuit to get the job done. Go for my warm up swim and get the pee out of my suit, only to pee again. I see Chris Thomas getting ready and say Hi (Chris Thomas is number 2 in the World for amatuer triathletes).
Race time – I line up right behind Chris Thomas for the swim. THe canon goes off and we leap into the water like Salmon heading upstream for mating season (kind of weird because we are all dudes). The water isa bit choppy but it doesn’t really affect me. I see 4 other guys in front of me in my age group. A few minutes later there are only 2 in my age group. Then just one. Chris!! Time to get him. Next thing I know, I round the corner and head for home. I’m leading this pack. And someone is slapping my feet. I take a quick peek. Chris is slapping my feet and drafting off me. Me!! I plow through a few of the waves/fields in front of us and run out of the water. This is when I lost the lead as Chris went flying by me out of transition.
The bike was hot and we had a head wind. Roads got tough. Climbs weren’t bad. Saw a few guys drafting pretty badly (792 and 793, I know who you are you bastards).
Got into T2 and out onto the run. Noticed right away my right hamstring was pulled. Not a good start for a hilly run. I take all my pills and move on. I run up the crappy hard hill and still feel okay. I switched up my stride to accomodate my hamstrings. I’m still passing my age group (2 waves and I was in the second wave, so I am catching guys that started 5 minutes before me). Second loop and I hate running at this point. It’s hot and humid. I’m a pro at the aide stations and grab everything like a champ, even doing 360′s to make sure I get it all. Water in the mouth, over the head, down the shirt, sponges, and a thank you to all.
The last 2 miles of the run are pure hell and I consider just sitting down. I have nothing left. What started as a 7:15 pace is now an 8 pace. But I really want that damn Clearwater spot. I push it up the last hill and come to the finish line and remember that I promised to do the Blazeman roll. I drop and give it a roll. I hear the announcer call it over the PA and when I stand up, their are John’s parents and they give me a big hug and a thank you. I felt really good about that.
Eugene takes care of me like a child afterwards. I really don’t know how I survived races before Eugene. He’s proabably more of the reason than anything that I finally qualified.
Anyhow, I get down to awards and they start calling out slots for Clearwater. It gets to my name and I jump up and down and go up to get my spot.

Finally, I have made it to Worlds 70.3!!!

Thank you to my family, especially my wife Jenn for all the support, my coaches, Doug, Juan, and now Jordan for getting me from where I was to where I am. Huge thanks to Eugene and Sandra for everything they do for me. Thank you to my kids for understanding all the missed mornings where I was biking. Thank you to all the volunteers to every race out there. Thank you mom for all the support. Thank you Brian for helping me run long distance. Thank you Budden family for being a target on my race list. Thank you slowtwitch for all the info, whether it was useful or not.

Thank you.