TJ and Momo both tagged me - so here are my responses.
1. Describe a memory from your first triathlon ever.
It was the Manitou Sprint Tri in 2003. I did it on a city-bike with big knobby moutain-bike tires. I remember counting how many people flew by me on the bike and thinking, "good thing I can swim"....
2. Describe a memory from your most recent triathlon.
It was Ironman Florida, just a couple months ago. At body marking I asked the volunteer to write "for Coach John" on my leg. (John is my friend and ski coach - he was diagnosed with stage 3.5 [out of 4] non-Hodgkins lymphoma in May.) I just started bawling as the guy was writing John's name on my leg. TriBoomer, whom I had just met the day before, was there and I told him about my friend and why I wanted to honor him with this race, and so he wrote John's name on a piece of paper and carried it all 140.6 miles. TriBoomer is top drawer. John had told me before I left that if I didn't take a bunch of pictures on the bike and run courses that I could break 12 hours. So I left my camera in my gear bag, prayed for John and hung out with God pretty much all day, and finished in 11:48, which is now my PR.
3. What's the most embarrassing thing that has ever happened to you in a tri?
In my second tri (Lifetime Fitness Olympic Tri, 2003) , I wasn't familiar with the bike rules and was riding "with" some guy almost the whole course. Kind of leap-frogging. As the bike leg was ending, I called out, "thanks! it was fun riding with you"... and he yelled back that I was an idiot and he was turning in my number for a variety of violations (which I now realize I did commit). I ended up being assessed a 2 minute penalty and took 4th place in my age group (would have been 2nd). Now I am a true stickler for the bike rules!
4. What's the most thrilling thing that's happened to you in a tri?
Winning the Athena division at IM Florida in November. Totally unexpected. I had forgotten I even registered Athena. But at 5'9" and 155 I must have figured I may as well since I do qualify by at least 5 pounds... I got a plaque and a nice bag of schwag, and got to get up on stage and hold my plaque over my head with all the other division winners while we got our pictures taken.
5. What is something you discovered about yourself by doing triathlons?
That everybody is here for their own reasons. All the reasons are good ones. And even if nobody understands mine, that's OK.
6. What is The Big Goal that you're working towards?
Living in a way that I think will let God know that I am grateful for all of this.
Check out the latest post from Julia in Italy - and read the article she wrote... awesome! and what an adventure in Italy.
http://fiveinfive.blogspot.com/
Monday, January 29, 2007
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
