Scott Ragsdale

“It’s very easy to let the drudgery of climbing distract you from your goal….”  Adam Fletcher

I went to boarding school for three years with Chipper Jones … who today is one of the best baseball players in MLB. He has played for the Atlanta Braves for his entire career, broken many records, won the National League MVP, won a world series, earns 17 million dollars a year salary … and without question will end up in the hall of fame.

I think it is worth noting that Chipper signed a contract when he was first drafted in 1990 which several agents and players complained was not big/good enough. Many people claimed Chipper signed for too little money.

I remember reading a quote by Chipper – although he was just 18 years old at the time, I admired him for his maturity — he said something like: “my goal is not to be the highest paid player in the minor leagues … my goal is to play professional baseball.” (8 years later he would sign one of the biggest contracts ever in baseball)

Chipper did not rush to his summit.

Instead of rushing to the majors (like I would have wanted to do if I had been in his place), Chipper spent 4.5 years in the minor leagues preparing/training/developing for the day he would be sent to the big leagues.

Back in 1990, the same year Chipper was drafted 1st — another young, up and coming super talent was drafted 4th overall pick …. Todd van Poppel. Van Poppel was expected to become the next great pitcher, maybe even the greatest ever and I remember him being on the cover of several sports magazines.

Van Poppel’s agents fought to ensure he went to the big leagues as soon as possible – and fought and fought with the team that drafted him to ensure he made as much money as possible upon signing.

He rushed to his summit.

A few years later …. no one remembers Todd van Poppel because he went to the majors very quickly, ended up getting injured, bounced from team to team for a few years and retired completely unfulfilling what was expected from his talent.

Recently, I watched a documentary on Mt. Everest — the film was about the 1996 tragedy on Mt. Everest where eight people died.

The night of the tragedy … David Breashears – the man who filmed the documentary discussed how he and his team were at camp 3 … all set to go for the summit, everything seemed good – he commented that the weather was good — just a bit windy, but no sign of a storm coming.

However, they decided not to rush to the summit …. he commented that he and his team leader looked down the mountain and saw 65 people climbing up and they did not want to be in a position where they were coming down from the summit at the same time as so many people were climbing up.

So he and his team walked back down to base camp and put off their summit climb for another 10 days — and missed the storm that killed 8 people.

He made a point of stating to the interviewer that he and his team were not “lucky” for turning away and missing the storm — they were “consistent, prudent and focused.”

Unfortunately, 8 people died that night.

I would have been one of those that would have been in trouble stuck near the top, maybe even one that died because I would have wanted to get to the top as soon as possible.

I think many people — me included, sometimes start a climb … but when we do not see immediate results…. we quit, or break our consistency.

…trying to rush to the summit too quickly, sometimes forces us to make mistakes and ultimately we fall.

Losing weight; learning another language; developing into a leader; achieving ones goals…. does not happen over night.

Instead of rushing to the top of your mountain; or goal ….stay “consistent and focused.”

Even if success does not come right away … surely, by staying consistent and focused one has a better chance of getting to their summit.

Next time you are about to quit your climb … remember that the man at the top did not run there.

and never forget that some of the best things in life are the hardest to get.

….although I am in the south of france …. like nearly all of America, for the past week or so I have been captivated by the sheer force of focus the American media has put on a 25 year old basketball player … as this player decided where he would play next season.

I have been captivated because I don’t understand how & why this commands so much attention and interest. 

Like 99.9999% of the people in America, whether he plays in Cleveland or Miami has zero impact on my life, job, family, and overall existence.

 Before I continue …consider this:

The guy is 25 years old and went straight from high school to the NBA where within 7 years has become one of the greatest players in NBA history.

He has lived his entire life in Ohio …

Now he has the opportunity to live in New York City, Chicago, Miami, or Cleveland.

Regardless of money, more sponsorship opportunities, incomparable market place and overall life style … lets be completely, honest…. Where would you choose to live? 

The Cavs owner called LBJ “spoiled” and “narcissistic” …

Of course Lebron is spoiled and narcissitic… he is 25 years old worth 100s of millions of dollars; the media all over america entirely focuses on him - even the President of United States said 7 times throughout the week “I hope King James goes to Chicago…” 

the truth is…

American culture,  the fans and Dan Gilbert are the ones who have created this “spoiled, narcissist …”

 … but who am I/who are we to give any input on where a 25 year old NBA star wants to live and play basketball? 

Lastly…

Why do so many people live vicariously through celebrities, sports stars, movie stars, etc? 

…don’t waste your time and energy living someones elses life — make your own life happen.

Where is John Galt?

As you go through your day today, notice how many times you are aggressed/assaulted and pushed back by senseless negativity from people in our lives- my reference to ”people” includes all types, including the media.

The world markets are struggling not to fall apart …. unemployment in America is climbing in just about every state….
Oil is gushing nonstop in the gulf of mexico ….without question, 10,000′s of people who relied on tourism, fishing, etc have been hugely affected by this oil spill ….  yet american media focuses our attention on Lindsay Lohan.

Each time I post a blog attempting to battle the negatives in the media, naseba’s marketing director tells me with a smile on his face:  the media is just supplying what is demanded…

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
I posted this blog 13 months ag0 – but it sets the tone for tomorrow’s post, thus I re-post today.

(repost from May 2009)

Yesterday, I saw on CNN.com a headline, the 4th headline news article (this is no joke) “are some sexual toys harmful to your health?”

Today a few headlines on CNN:

3rd headline: “Hulk Hogan: I totally understand O.J.” a story where he says he understands why OJ killed his ex-wife

5th headline: “unlikely singing sensation eyes date with queen” this story is not worth commenting on

6th headline: “cuddly robot seal impacts the lives of elderly.” I didnt waste my time to read this story

1st headline: North Korea poses real threat to the world (Lets be honest – the reality is that Guam is about as much of a threat to the world as North Korea)

Other headlines: there is a graphic (although entertaining) video of a 911 call where we get to hear a woman screaming on the phone about a drunk man who was trying to break into her home, then we get to hear her husband shoot and kill the drunk man all on the headline video.

There is not one story on the greatness in man.

Yesterday, I saw a small article in the news about Isiah Thomas accepting to become the Head Coach of a tiny, almost non existent college basketball team at FIU in Miami.

Isiah Thomas is a NBA hall of fame player turned coach who had 3 very successful years coaching the Indian Pacers to the playoffs, 3 years in a row during the period he was the head coach.

Then he got hired as the General Manager and Head Coach of the New York Knicks, had a great beginning, but from what I have read, Isiah had a very difficult time managing/coaching mega spoiled baby super star athletes who did not work as hard as he expected them.

He lasted two years before resigning; he was probably forced out.

It is worth noting that when Isaih Thomas was a professional, super star NBA basketball player, he was never in the news for getting into trouble; he is not covered in tatoo’s and never had an asshole haircut.

He just performed.

… many months after he resigned from the Knicks, he recently turns down two other NBA head coaching jobs, but accepts to coach a tiny, almost non existent college basketball team in Miami – FIU.

But it gets better — he announced yesterday, he is donating his 1st years salary back to the University who just hired him.

A great, inspirational story which is not even in the headlines on ESPN.com right now; it is not even mentioned on the first page of the CNN sport site.

HOWEVER….

I guarantee …. IF Isiah had accidently, run over a pit bull puppy with his car while driving, he would be commanding headline news/breaking news coverage for his cruelty to animals.

Furthermore….

Another great story, I never heard about — the Voice of Reason sent me 3 emails telling me to blog about it, but it wasnt until his 3rd email that i finally read the story …

The story of another sports hero, this time in the NFL, James Harrison …

Harrison was drafted in 2003 and made $5,000, but was cut from the Steelers — over his career, he was cut 3 times by the Steelers and once by the Ravens (4 times he was told he was not good enough for the NFL), but he believed in himself and kept fighting.

Last year, Harrison was named the NFL Defensive Player of the year – he also had the longest interception return in super bowl history and starred on the team who won the super bowl.

He recently, signed a new contract worth $51.5 million which guarantees him 20 million dollars.
He earned less than 800,000 dollars a year over the past 4 years – so suddenly, he is extremely, wealthy.

Harrison’s response to his big contract was “I want to make them proud and not let them down ….. this is what is going to drive me.” And the article I read comments that he was back in the weight room training two days after the super bowl victory.

The story I refer to above – it didnt make headline news — in fact, it never came close to being headline news worthy.

Why would we want to hear a story about a man who gets cut 4 times in the NFL, but never quits — ultimately, becoming the best defensive player in the game, wins a super bowl, has the longest interception in the super bowls history – and is back in the gym training two days after the super bowl…he gets rewarded with a $51.5 million contract — and his response is to say how grateful he is the the Steelers – and that he doesnt want to let them down….this story is not interesting …

its much more interesting to read about Madonna trying to adopt a couple of Nigerian babies.

Although Harrison’s greatness did not command headline news last week — the super star Terrel Owens made the headlines for not showing up to practice…

I guarantee, IF Harrison had been pulled over by some white cop in Alabama and discovered to be driving his Ford Explorer with expired registration, it would command headline news.

Seriously …

why don’t we ever hear stories on the greatness in man in the news today?

Who really gives a F…. about “a robot seal helping the elderly?”

How does this news item have any positive impact on anyone?

Although I completely understand Hulk Hogan’s sentiment, in his headline worthy article he discusses that he is not allowed into his 20,000 SQF home (which he paid for) and a 19 year old is driving his $75,000 car (which he paid for) as well as sleeping with his ex-wife whose only claim to fame was marrying the Hulk and riding on his success, thus Hulk mentions in the article he understands why OJ killed his wife.

BUT why does this negativity command the 3rd headline news story on CNN.com today?

What does it say about the world we live in today (or maybe I should say what does it say about America) when what readers are more interested in reading/hearing about are dangerous sex toys; people killing people with guns; teachers having sex with 13 year olds (one story recently was about a 13 year old sleeping with two different teachers in the same school and neither teacher knew about the other); movie star break ups; stories on the failures of man ….. instead of wanting to read/hear about stories on the greatness in man.

Where is John Galt?

Sophie and I were in Amsterdam for two days in the beginning of last week …. (easy 90 minute direct flight from Nice)

Our last night there, we had dinner with a close friend of ours who wanted to (as he put it) “share someone special with you guys” and to introduce us to his best friend since childhood, Henry.

Our friend is in his late 50’s so I assume his friend is also in his late 50s or early 60s.

The dinner was at our friends home which is an hour gorgeous drive outside Amsterdam.

Amazing home.

Henry met us at the door when we arrived, and treated Sophie and I as if we were his special guests.
He was extremely well dressed,  the best dressed  out of everyone.  He walked with a cane, but he walked so smoothly, I wondered if he really needed the cane or not.

Anyways…

I sat next to him at dinner and spent most of the evening with him because he had a lot of interest in discussing my vegan diet, ironman training and my other adventures, especially my swim across the English channel.

Throughout the evening he smiled and radiated happiness –  he didnt say anything which was remotely negative.
I assumed by the way he carried himself he was in great health – to be honest, I never even considered his health.

Henry made us all laugh with his jokes and happy go lucky demeanor during the dinner.

We talked a lot about my swim across the English channel – he showed so much interest in my swim that I invited him to come on the crew boat which will go with me as I attempt the swim in September.

But he said with a big grin on his face:   “I might have an important trip to take before” and pretended to look through his diary which he had in his sports jacket pocket…. Henry and our friend laughed a lot at this joke.  I didn’t understand what was so funny and assumed he just didn’t want to go.

After dinner, we all sat around talking until around midnight – maybe Sophie and I got back to our hotel by 1:30am … we talked about Henry the entire drive back to the hotel.

I really looked forward to seeing him again.

Early yesterday morning…  around 6 am, Giovanna (my 6 year old) and I walked down to the boulangerie  (baker) near my home in La Turbie to get fresh bread for breakfast.

The weather was perfect – but the first thing the woman behind the counter said to me, even before the perfunctory “bonjour” was:  ”it’s hot….”

I never pay attention to this senesless negativity, ordered my bread, paid and left … on the walk back home Giovanna asked me:  ”papa why did that woman say it’s hot … it’s not hot at all. It’s still dark outside.”
(in French its much funnier)

I explained to Giovanna that most probably the woman had nothing else to say, and to fill the space she says “it’s hot.”
Giovanna mumbled to herself something in French about the woman being ridiculous… (even a 6 year old understands)

Maybe 15 minutes later ….

After Gio and I had made our toast together and taken Sophie her breakfast, I  sat down in my chair with my coffee & toast and logged onto my computer which opened with facebook.

I do not promote my blog on facebook, thus I am not sure if and how many of the 91 friends I have on FB read this blog …so I am not sure whose feelings I might be hurting, but….

The first several “status updates” by various friends, most of whom I have not seen since high school, are all negative comments or ramblings.

a few examples:

“I don’t want to go to work tomorrow!!!”
“ I ate too much ice cream!”
“I woke up in the middle of the night and could not fall back to sleep WTF”
“my kids have to go to the doctor tomorrow…”
“I feel sick, maybe I have food poisoning?”

As I am wadding through the muck of moaning, negativity … thinking to myself: “what is the use of telling your friends you dont want to go to work…”??? Sophie comes down stairs with her mobile phone in her hand and tells me with a dazed look on her face: “Henry died last night.”

My first response was “who is Henry?” … but as soon as the question came out, I remembered he’s the nice man we had dinner with less than a week ago.

A man whom I just enjoyed a dinner with less than 6 days ago died???

We later learned that Henry had terminal cancer and knew he was going to die very soon –but he remained a beacon of positivity focused on the good in life,  so positive and upbeat —  we now understand what our friend meant by “I want to share someone special with you.”

Sophie went back up stairs and I looked back down at my laptop …. and went back to reading through all the whining, moaning…. status updates by various friends of mine.

Then I thought of my grandparents….

My Grandmother is 88 years old and my Granddad is 94 years old.  In my entire life, I have never once heard them say a negative word — never once have I heard them say “its hot” “i am tired” “i dont feel good” etc.  I have never heard them complain or say a negative word about anyone or anything.  Surely, their positivity is why they have lived such long fullfilled lives.

Perfectly stoic and focused on the positives in life, very much like Henry.

Henry had terminal cancer — Instead of spending the rest of his time feeling sorry for himself, he made the most of it – and remained positive until the end, celebrating life.

It puts things into a perspective.

… meeting someone who knows he has terminal cancer; knows he is going to die very soon, but remains positive and upbeat until the end (doesn’t even tell you he is sick)….at least for me, this person is very inspiring.

The world we live in today…

all the moaning, complaining, feel sorry for ourselves platforms …

Seriously — notice today how many people bitch about something; how many people focus on something negative vs how many people focus on something positive.

Why has the world become this way?
Why do so many people go through life feeling sorry for themselves?

…..unfortunately, I didn’t ask Henry if he knew where John Galt is living.

I finished 2030 out of 2558 people  …. that’s a lot of people who finished before me.

Although I have friends who are professional ironman competitors, a friend of mine who Mario is the coach of has won two ironman this year …I also have two friends who did the EPIC5, 5 ironman in 75 hours.

I don’t pretend to be good at this stuff…I started biking and training for ironman’s about a year ago.  When I do an ironman,  I’m just a fat white guy trying to survive.

Nice was my 2^nd ironman in less than 4 months …

to be honest, what drove me to do Nice was because my coach, Mario Huys told me after IM New Zealand that Nice IM is “probably too difficult for you to do this year.”
Mario considers Nice to be the 2^nd hardest IM bike course (the hardest being Lanzarotte)

Nice IM was fully booked …but I chased and chased until they finally accepted me, and I got registered.

My training had been ok – but not great because I have been traveling a lot for work.

I lost another 5 kilo after IMNZ so I got my weight down to about 200 lbs. (the lightest I have been since my senior year in high school)

Mentally I was ready.

The day before the Nice ironman, Sophie and my 6 year old daughter went with me to register and walk around the expo.

I overheard Sophie whisper nervously to one of her friends, “everyone looks like a professional….”

I laughed and told her that I had noticed the exact same thing – then I told her how at ironman New Zealand, more people looked like me than looked like a Roman warrior  … but at ironman France (Nice) more people looked like a Roman warrior than looked like me…

I saw only a few men who were as big (heavy) or bigger (heavier)than me.

Over lunch the Saturday before the IM, Mario explained to us how the European’s are very serious about triathlons and especially the Nice ironman… “most of the competitors will be racing aggressively.”

I was most nervous about the swim.

I swam low 55 minutes  at IMNZ back in March (which is a respectable time), but I got run over, punched, pulled and kicked for majority of that miserable swim.

1000-1200 people competed at IMNZ ….

Nice ironman has 2,600 people registered ….  and the swim is notorious for being aggressive and rough.

Two days before the race, my friend, one of the organizers of IMFR told me about a man last year who nearly drowned because he was run over by hundreds of people – he had mistakenly gotten in the front of the line on the swim.
This man had flown from America to do the race, but within 15 minutes of his ironman starting, he was finished.

Only someone who has swum in an ironman can understand the power and mess of 2,600 people all swimming at once … and I admit, this is the part of IMFR that I was most concerned about; ironically, the swim is my strongest area.

The day before the race, when Mario and I set up my bike in the transition area,  I was surprised to see how long the transition from the swim to the bike was …. the guide said it was 800 meters once you left the sea and reached the place my bike was set, but it seemed much  longer.

Slept maybe 3 hours …

Unlike IMNZ where I stayed at a hotel for a week, I stayed at my home in La Turbie, France (20 minute drive to Nice) which made the race seem less exciting than IMNZ.  I didn’t sleep well the night before.

I woke at 3 am the morning of the ironman – showered and shaved – drank a strong coffee, drank 2 liters of water, ate my oatmeal – and  tried to get myself pumped up for the day.

The race started at 6:30, but we arrived to Nice around 5am and got to the bike setup by 5:30 – and I placed my water bottles and food onto the bike.

Mario had loaned me his racing wheels, so my bike was fitted with some very fast, expensive wheels.

I have been riding a bike for less than a year – so I am a very slow cyclist, but with my cervelo P3 and Mario’s expensive racing wheels, at least I looked good – surely, I looked ridiculous once I was on the course because I have a fancy, fast bike and I am so slow.

At 6am, I pumped fists with Mario, said goodbye  and went down to the beach to get ready for the swim

…. A friend of mine I swam with at university 15 years ago who came out of the water 3^rd two years ago at Nice IM emailed me a couple days before and told me to focus on keeping my elbows up … and to fight like madness to hold my place in the water…

The last thing Mario said to me as I pumped his fist was “stop being a pussy and get in the front” … he wanted to see if I could break 50 minutes, but to do so would mean I would have to start in the very front and hammer it from the start.

As I walked down the steps leading to the swim area, something clicked and I said to myself “stop being such a pussy…”

I moved toward the front of the “55 minute” section (the swim had sections lined up together:  pro, 55 min, 1 hour, 1:05, etc.)
The faster area was in the middle of the pack with the slower area to the right and left side … this is done so to best organize for 2,600 people to be able to run into the water and swim towards the same red buoy.

I had been a nice guy in New Zealand … I didn’t fight and push on the swim; and consequently got run over ….

I was in the 4^th row of the 55 minute section when the gun went off … and within seconds I was in the water fighting, punching and kicking … you don’t really swim for the first few hundred meters because you are touching so many people and I used my  6’5” 200 lbs to keep my position and I swam over people who were front of me ….and kicked my legs like madness to ensure no one pulled me back.

Within a few minutes I was with the front pack of swimmers, and I felt good – much better than I had felt at IMNZ.  I sincerely think that I sprinted 1,000 meters … I don’t see how I could have gone any faster.

When I turned at the first buoy, I was in the lead pack of 5 – 10 swimmers, I assumed they were pro and I tried to drag as much as I could off the guy in front of me.

As we swam toward the next buoy – the glare from the sun made it so I could not see in front of me – I would lift my head, but couldn’t see anything because I was blinded by the light …. So I kept swimming and swimming, breathing every stroke …  trying to follow the cloud in front of me ….

….. Until I felt a tap on my head – and looked up, it was a race official in a kayak telling me I was swimming off course.

So after my gorgeous swim start, I fucking swam several hundred meters to the left of the course and lost the lead pack….

The swim is two laps … you have to run back on the beach and then back into the water …. the 2^nd lap went by uneventful and no one touched my feet or body– finally after 1 hour and a few seconds I finished my swim – I was disappointed when I saw my watch because I thought I had swum much faster than NZ, but I guess I lost a lot of time when I swam off course.

Run to Bike transition

The transition was not as smooth as IMNZ … at IMNZ a friendly woman helped pull off my wetsuit, and it literally took seconds –  but this day I had a man who just stood there as I struggled to get my wet suit off my legs … after several minutes, I was at my bike … then I had another long long long walk/run with my bike to where I could get on it and start riding …

As soon as I hooked into my bike and started riding, I got in the TT position and tried to eat, drink and put sun cream on my face …  taking advantage of the flat Promenade des Anglais.

This is when the “passing” started.

Within minutes …. What felt like hundreds of people started flying by, passing me …

The Nice bike course is beautiful … but at least for a weak cyclist like me, indescribably difficult.

It seems like the first 70 km is nothing but one massive climb.

I did not pass one single person for easily the first 70km of the bike …. I kept thinking to myself as more and more people passed me “how can there still be people behind me…so many people have passed.”

On the longest hill, which was in the sun and seemed to last forever …

…. probably the toughest part of the bike route, the last 1,000 meters or so of this climb – a group of several men were passing me when a young, hyper active American girl came FLYING by us as if she was going downhill instead of up …she said very excitedly, as if she wasn’t tired at all:   “come on guys, you can do it ….go…go…go…”

One man in a thick British accent shouted in a long slow drawl of a voice … in complete seriousness:  “Fuuuuck offfff!” and several people laughed – I laughed to myself about this for the rest of the bike ride.

I think it’s worth mentioning that I saw very few women competitors.  The organizer told me later that out of 2,600, only 6% were women …

The Pirate Ship of Fools…

I wore a yellow bike jersey with a black skull and cross bones on the front (pirate kit) which was given to me by one of the original pirates, a man named “Candy” …  I was the only Pirate doing IMFR this year.

The “pirate ship of fools” or “Pirates” as we are called is a sort of triathlon club in the UK … although some members are serious competitors, to me it seems the main focus of this club is about having fun and achieving together as a group …
In this club, my nickname is “egoman.”

Leading up to the race, I received many emails of support from pirates, nearly all of whom I have never met – even though they don’t know me, they showed me the most interest and support out of everyone in my life except for my wife … many of them even followed my race online – very cool.  (thanks Pirate’s!!)

Throughout the race … many people passed me and would shout “come on pirate…” Or make a reference to the “pirates” …

One british man, as he rode by me told me that I was two years late because the PSOF club did Nice in 2008 … and then he mentioned something about them being “drunk and wild.”

I also heard about a pirate smoking a cigarette at the start of the swim two years ago…
Another guy told me about a pirate being photographed smoking a cigarette and drinking a beer during the 112 mile bike ride at another ironman.

I got so much attention in my pirates kit that I sincerely, felt like a celebrity … I was very proud to wear it.

I have only met a few pirates - and that was at IMNZ, but the support of this club is impressive and without question this support helped me finish this race.

Furthermore, because of the original gang of pirates and their challenge and support, I got into doing ironman’s – so I wear my pirate kit with pride.

The bike course (for me) was indescribably difficult – as mentioned before, it seems like the first 60-70 km is a nonstop, never ending climb in the sun …

When I reached the top of the hardest climb, I thought to myself:   “ok the hardest part is over…”

80 miles left!!??

within 3 minutes of saying to myself that the hardest part was over, I rode by a sign which said “120 km/80 miles left”
(my polar did not work so I could not track how fast I was going or how many KM I had gone)

80 miles left … is a long time, esp. when one is dead tired.

I rode and rode and rode … each climb (long hill)  I came across I would plug away … and then get to the top and go downhill and feel better.

I ate as much as I could, took a salt tablet every hour – and drank as much water as I could get which all played a big part in helping me finish.

“come on, it’s only 6kms!!!”

I thought we had finished all major climbs when we started one …. A smiling French woman on the side of the road cheers:   “come on, it’s only 6kms…”

6 kms is not much if you are sitting in a car driving 120 km/h.
6kms is not much if you  are in an airplane flying in the sky.
…but when you are on your 100^th km of a 180 km bike ride, going up a very steep hill at about 6km/h….6 km is a long painful time.

This is the only part of the ride where I had to stop in the middle of a climb.
(I was so tired, I didn’t even pretend to fix my pedals – like I normally do when I have to stop on my long training climbs)

I just stood there, tried to catch my breath and drank some water…and took 800 mg of Advil.  (I had planned to take 4 x 200 mg of Advil at the 160km mark, but I was dead and my legs and back needed all the help I could give them so I took the ibuprofen much earlier)

After a few minutes of standing on the road with my bike at my side … still trying to catch my breath…. some nice guy I didn’t know named “Christophe” rode by and cheered me on and told me to get back on the bike and to keep fighting ….

(later on the run I would see this man collapse and his body go into convulsion and start shaking all over and the ambulance took him away)

Towards the end of the ride, I started to pass several people for the first time …

finally… after 7 hours and 36 minutes (one hour slower than my IMNZ bike split) I finished the 180 km/112 mile bike.

My first thought when I came into the bike transition was “damn that’s a lot of bikes …. “

Seriously, It looked as if there was 2,599 bikes parked in their places … incredible to see how many people had finished the bike before me.

During the bike to run transition at IMNZ, I rushed around to get out as fast as I could … but this day I took my time.
I grabbed my bag, changed my shorts, put sun cream on my face and neck,  drank some water and then put on my running shoes.

Absolutely no core strength ….

I lost a lot of weight over the year and I am no longer “chubby” … however, I noticed on the run that I could not hold my stomach in …. so I was running with my gut sticking out.

… I would try to hold me stomach in and have better posture, but I was too tired so my stomach turned into a gut and just hung out.

My stomach muscles were sore for several days after the race.

My goal was to break 5 hours on the marathon and I made a plan to only walk one aid station per lap, and at the half marathon to start to drink flat coke (the run was 4 laps)

Unfortunately, my plan did not go as I expected … not only was I dead tired and hot — the coke was not flat and the gas from it hurt my stomach so I didn’t get the same kinda kick the flat coke gave me in IMNZ.

At the end of the 2^nd lap, at the half marathon point ….I saw Sophie which gave me more energy to try and run faster.
I had fantasized all day about my finishers photo and never once during the day considered not finishing.

I saw many people collapse on the run (including two people I saw collapse on the last 20 km of the bike) I saw 11 people pass out, faint or collapse during this race – I didn’t see anything like that in NZ.

The last 5 km of the run was very difficult – I became dizzy and I thought I was going to black out.

Mario was riding a bike next to me and told me to walk (later he told me my face had gone completely white and he thought I would faint)

Finally, after 14 hours and 30 minutes (my goal had been to break 14 hours) I ran through the finishers shute and Giovanna, my 6 year old daughter was waiting and gave me my finisher medal.

Although my time was slow (the winner finished the race 7 minutes before I finished my bike leg)  Not to mention the 66 year old man (whom I remember passing me on the bike) who finished under 12 hours and beat me by nearly 3 hours …

I am very satisfied with finishing this ironman.

I will do one more ironman this year, Western Australia IM in December — the secret to my next race is going to be making my core strong….this way I will be able to go faster and look better in the race pictures.

Thank you Sophie for all your support and encouragement and tolerating my waking up at 3am to train, not to mention the Saturdays where you and the girls had to wait for me to finish my training….

And a special thank you to all the Pirate’s who helped me get off my fat ass and start making these challenges happen.

I will turn 40 in January so I am trying to fit in as much adventure challenges as I can this 39th year.

My next challenge is September 3rd when I will attempt to swim across the english channel.

I look forward to painting the pirate skull and cross bones on my chest….and making that challenge happen as a pirate.