Who would've thought?

One way to get the most out of life is to look upon it as an adventure. - William Feather

So - this past weekend was a very interesting series of experiences... a ride on Saturday to support my TNT friends, an ugly first-Olympic-distance triathlon, a possible opportunity to become a motivational speaker, and an invitation to be part of a year-long documentary which will culminate in the completion of my 2nd Ironman... okay, let's back up a bit.
Because I was participating in the Olympic on Sunday, I wanted to just spend some time Saturday in the saddle to keep the legs loose. Coach Jeff put out an email about weekend rides for the alumni group (the fundraisers this time around will be doing the Hill Country Wine Ride again this fall) so I thought the ride up Parmer would be convenient, because of location and the fact that there would be SAG support. So I rolled out of bed early Saturday and got road-bike-ready... no tri bike with this group! Rode a bit with Coach until he had a flat, and then rode alone until I saw Tim W. riding back in - he looked a bit worn out from the wind, so I decided to ride him back into the finish. I turned around, caught up with him and the woman that was "kinda" with him (she couldn't keep up with Tim), and pretty much tag-teamed back and forth between the two of them until they finished.
After the ride and a short run, I left since I wanted to stop at Hill Country Running to look at some new running shoes. I ended up spending over an hour there talking to Troy about shoes...and Kansas...and Galveston...and kayaking the Danskin (he is coordinator)... and IMFL. 
Then, it was home to finish packing, load the truck, and head for Waco. Uneventful drive in oddly heavy traffic for a Saturday afternoon, went to packet pickup and then checked into my hotel. A very entertaining dinner at Gratziano's with the Blue Moose herd, and then off to have a discussion with a pillow.
Sunday came way too early. Loaded everything back in the truck after getting prepped for the race. Drove over and parked at the Marriott which is right next to transition. Got the bike checked in and transition set up, then headed back to the truck for another 30 minutes of nap time. Once it was time, I headed back over to transition to drop the running shoes, grab the swim gear and a goo, and then over to the pre-race meeting. Our wave was the last wave in the race, so from the outset I figured I would be one of the last out of the water. The start is a matter of sliding down carpet-covered rocks into the water and then treading for about 3 minutes. At the very start, I get kicked in the throat twice by people crossing in front of me, and then once in the face. After being swam on top of twice, I knew my swim was pretty much a matter of just being able to get out of the water. Longest race swim so far for me without a wetsuit, so that was a first-time experience for me as well. On top of all that, just about every time I was trying to sight on the buoys, kayaks seemed to always be parking themselves in my line of sight, so I kept adjusting to that. It really sucked, to be quite honest.
I managed to not be completely last out of the water, and made it up the long sidewalk without falling on my face. My bib number naturally put me on one of the very back racks, so it was a long trip through transition rolling the bike and trying not to fall while still moving quickly in the bike shoes. Once out on the course, it was just a matter of seeing how many bikes I could pass, pretty much playing hunt-down-the-next-rabbit game for the whole ride. I caught David and then Kristi. At this point I thought I could catch Julie too, but I never saw her... more on that later.
I did a reasonably decent job of passing a number of bikes, but I was disappointed with the ride. With the winds kicking up, I spent some time just trying to keep from falling. I was wanting to maintain at least a 20mph average, but only managed 18.4, darn it. Back into transition, change into the running shoes and grabbed a powerade and a couple cups of water. We had driven the run course Saturday afternoon before dinner, so I knew this was going to be really ugly... lots of hills from mile 2 to mile 4, up through Cameron Park. One runner I encountered told me this was supposedly part of the 4th most difficult marathon in the country... just what this plodding elephant needed to hear! I ended up walking a lot of the hills. It was getting really hot as well, so for the first time, I would dump ice down my shirt at the aid stations. I tried ice under the hat too, but my bald head would get a brain freeze from the outside, so I dumped the ice out. Water and powerade at every aid station, and on occasion volunteers dumping cold water on my head. 6.6 miles later, I was just really glad to be done.


Swim: 1500 meters       46:54
T1:                                6:04
Bike: 25 miles           1:21:24 18.4 mph avg
T2:                                3:35
Run: 6.6 miles           1:25:36 6.6 hot, ugly miles


So - Julie...I found out after we finished that she had crashed the bike at mile 1 and broke her clavicle, along with some serious road rash. I really feel for her, I think her wreck is definitely worse than mine. She will be out for 4-6 weeks. But she is one of those competitive people... she made sure her wreck was worse than mine! :-) Just kidding, Julie, I hope you heal quickly.
That was all the bad stuff for the weekend... now for the good stuff! At the end of last week I received an email from the founder of the IronHeart Racing group asking if I would be interested in being part of a motivational/inspirational speaking team, to promote what we do as cardiac survivors and endurance athletes, and the charities we serve. I was thrilled, honored and humbled all at the same time! This is going to be a great opportunity, and I hope it works out.
Then to top off the first email, Dave sends a 2nd email, inviting me to become part of a documentary he wants to produce, which will take this group all the way from registering for an Ironman through to the finish by the team. Holy cow, a 2nd Ironman in the future! And with such a great group of people. I hadn't even considered anything beyond Ironman Florida this November, and now it looks like my next year is going to be a busy one.
So here we go --- but let's get through Florida first!