Eagleman 70.3 is in the books as they say. The first thing on my mind is how I got here, million miles away from my home, emptied of all the blood and sweat that I could give wondering where to go from here.
That is always the question after one of these races. An insatiable appetite for some kind of validation for the things that you put yourself through day in and day out, of your own choosing. How do you measure yourself, by the level of satisfaction that you get from a certain activity? It seems that we can't measure success in relation to what others do but it's so hard to do. Being human, we want some external measurement of our place in the world and I guess the key to happiness is in being content with that place, or not caring because everybody is exactly where they are supposed to be. You may not be a VIP, star athlete, movie star, or a CEO of a major corporation, you may just be some envelope stuffer or pencil pusher or something akin to that, but do you go home at night and lay your head on the pillow wishing you could be something else? Mostly it's just a matter of will and guts, I mean, yes, we are all hindered (or helped) in some respects by genetics and natural intelligence but the rest is just a matter of do you want something bad enough to focus all your energy and will towards one thing, and are you willing to make the sacrifices necessary to achieve that end, even though you may have to invent a reason why it's so important to you in the first place.
I'm sure by now you are saying to yourself, "what the hell is this guy talking about?!!?", and the truth is, I'm not sure I know myself...Is it bitterness, jealousy, regret, envy, all of the above?...
Where was I....Oh, How did I get here? Well in the strictest sense by plane to Baltimore, then to Silver spring Maryland, and then on to Cambridge, Md to race in the Subaru Eagleman 70.3 Ironman event. Bike shipping was no problem because I used ShipBikes.com on the way here and will use BikeFlights.com (http://www.bikeflights.com/) on the way home. This is a pretty convenient way to do things if you can stand taking apart your bike twice and have a half bottle of degreaser on hand. You just get the shipping labels from those guys, and fed-ex will ship your bike anywhere. I was able to ship my bike for about 80 bucks each way which is considerably less than many of airlines, especially U.S. Airways, which wants $200 each way for a bike....RIDICULOUS!! It's also really easy to get the labels, they just send you an e-mail after payment and then you just print out the label and affix it to the cardboard box (or travel case) of your choosing. The website interface is really easy to use as well, and the communication is quick by e-mail or phone.
So, the eastern shore of Maryland is a beautiful place, if you can get to it, and you can see through the haze that tends to permeate the area when it's 95 degrees out! If anyone breaks down or has an accident on the bay bridge (the one bridge over from the D.C. area) it's all over, you will be sitting in traffic for hours. I'm just saying, bring a healthy dose of patience in a spare bag just in case... My family and I stayed in Easton, MD which is a great little town 15 minutes from Cambridge, and although we had to get up a little earlier on race day, it turned out alright as the parking situation was easier than advertised. For Carbo-loading in Easton, I would recommend Ledo's pizza. Kid friendly, cheap, and good, what more could most of us want in a restaurant when traveling?..My little nephew must have spilled a half pound of pasta on the floor and the waitress just shrugged it off saying it happens all the time. Ledo's is also the official pizza of D.C. United (MLS soccer) for those who care.
Race day: The choptank river is 82 degrees, so no wetsuits, but the start is very nice, spread out, no climbing over each other for the first 1000 meters, though towards the last 200 meters of the swim the water is so shallow, there were people just running it as opposed to swimming, which provided an interesting twist, more like a one mile swim with a 200 yard water run! For the record I swam until my hands were digging into the sand about 50 yards from the shore, so I can take that with me at least...Come out of the swim and hop on the bike: Inevitably in the ironman races, you will fall in with four or five guys that you just can't shake, so you might as well just rotate every so often, and use each other as motivation. The group I fell in with was accused of drafting more than once but I can honestly tell you that there were always 2-3 bike lengths between us all for the most part except around turns and when things got crazy trying to get around slower riders. Most of the people who get mad are the ones who can't keep up, I mean if you can stay 15-20 feet behind me, fine; If not, shut up! All of you boy scouts and goodie-two-shoes need to go into the priesthood or something and stop racing Ironman, because if you are going to get mad at every person to be engaging in what you deem to be "drafting" or "cutting you off" then you need to just ride by yourself out in the country somewhere you won't be bothered...GEEZ! Okay, okay, moving on, the bike is flat and windy, on really nice twisting country roads, overall really enjoyable! So jump off the bike and put on your running shoes: At this point I still feel as fresh as a daisy, which tells me I haven't been racing fast enough, but what can one do, I'm not going to hammer on the bike, and ruin my running legs to gain 20 seconds over a bunch of people that you could use as carrots, and I'm just not a good enough swimmer yet I guess to push the pace past the comfort zone. Anyhooooo, start running get into a good groove, roads are as flat as pancake, but it's starting to get oven-hot out there! Finish strong for 10th in age group and 43rd overall, 4:27:30; not good enough for World Championships, but then again, I didn't have to write any large checks...And so it all circles back to the first paragraph of this story...
Overall, as usual, Ironman puts on a spectacular race, well organized with first class competition, and so I guess I will keep on chasing that dragon known as the World championships although I have no reason why, just gotta keep moving on...Thank you to Erin Baker's, and Kestrel, but most of all my sister her husband and two nephews for their support this weekend!
Next race: IRONMAN Lake Placid!
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