So a few months ago I was talking to this friend who is a guy that works at my school's recreation center. He kept telling me how I should enter in this falls triathlon. I was very reluctant to sign up because I wanted to win, but I knew since I have never done a triathlon that winning it probably would not happen. So I started swimming....
(Can I look any goofier?)
My swim, as shown by my times, was my weakest event, but in my heat I was the first male out of the pool with the 8th overall fastest swim time of 500 yards in 7:30. Not bad, but not great. I knew I could open some distance on the bike, but this was only my second time riding one of these bad boys...
(notice the red shorts on the ground)
Funny story with that guy. He actually bet a burrito with another guy that he would beat me. More on that later. So like I said this was just my second time on that bike and the one other time was the day before. I biked the 12 miles in a personal fastest time of 27:32 and just like that I was the first one out the door...
(I just did that chant from the movie 300 to my friend there on the end really loud "HAROOO!")
Now, keep in mind there are transition times inbetween so I had to hurry up and put clothes on. The reason I say this is because there was a girl who had a faster swim and bike than me but I transitioned faster. That's why I was the first person out, but I knew I had separate us on the run...
("I feel pretty, oh, so pretty and witty and bright!")
It was a brutal 5k in the snow! I do not ejoy running, ESPECIALLY in the cold and the snow, but I knew it wouldn't last long.
(oh baby! nice legs)
The last lap I "opened up the tank" to finish strong. I know a 3.1 mile run in 22:23 isn't incredibly fast, but keep in mind it was freezing, and I just biked 12 freakin miles after swimming 500 yards. I remember asking my friend months ago about good times for the fall triathlon are. He said fast people can do it in under an hour. I used this as motivation because I had a hard time believing people actually completed this in under an hour, but I made it my goal. I made it my goal not to suck, not to make excuses, not to loose. So thats what I did...
(Thats me in the center :)
My overall time was 58:51. I won! Well, kind of. There was another winners circle and one guy beat my time, but I didn't seem to care (out of 60 people 2nd aint bad. plus we were the only 2 that finished under 60:00). He was way older than me and had done this race before. I achieved my goal of one hour and that's all that mattered. People told me to compete for myself. They told me I wasn't going to win. I never really amounted to a whole lot growing up in high school as far as sports were concerned, so I felt like I had something to prove. I mean, all my distance running friends are tall, Michael Phelps is what? 6'4"? I'm 5'6" and fit nicely in most luggage cases. I don't want to make this a Rocky underdog story, but yeah I had a chip on my shoulder, but you know what? I put it there. I had to train by myself so something had to keep me going.
(Inspirational quote time)
When it comes down to it I guess this is best summed up with the saying "It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog."
What motivated me the most was something I told myself every time I went in to train: "To be the best, you have to beat the best."
"Never underestimate the heart of a champion."
-
Rudy Tomjanovich
P.S. That guy never had to pay up the burrito. Our friend just wanted to make a point.
P.P.S. Eat yo broccoli!!!