IRONMAN

FEATURE STORY

Never Say Never
This picture was taken during my first triathlon after I was injured. It was July 1996 in Carlsbad California and as my friend Todd Jacobs (a former runner and Ironman triathlete) was carrying me up the beach, one of the volunteers shouted, “Medical attention, we need medical attention over here!” It was hard to keep from laughing. From there it was a 15-mile bike ride. Since I swam so slow, we did the ride pretty far back in the pack, which was something Todd hadn’t seen much of. There were people in way too big of a gear, jean cut-offs, helmets on backwards and a guy on an $8,000 time trial bike in a pair of running shorts! It was comedy, but I was laughing with them because I was a rookie and pretty dorky when I think back. I wasn’t fast, but I finished. That race was a defining moment. Shortly afterwards, I quit my job and started training for the Ironman, a race my wife and I spent the first couple of days of our honeymoon watching clear back in 1986. Several months after that first trip to Kona, I was crashed and figured the goal of competing in it one day was gone along with the use of my legs and other things, but as they say, Never say Never. Two years after finishing that little triathlon in Carlsbad, I qualified for the Ironman and finished it in ’98, ’99 and 2000. I was retired. No need to go again.

Several years ago I had a minor pressure sore that snowballed into a major ordeal that had me down to 120 pounds and required a few surgeries to dig out of. I never planned on doing any more racing, let alone an Ironman, but as I began to get my health back I started thinking about it again. Last year I did some training with Ricky James and still felt pretty good. It was awesome to watch him finish and I really started to think about finishing it myself once more if for nothing else, to put closure to all the health issues I endured. So the day after the race, I took a ride out through the lava fields to see if I really wanted more. I went without much water or food to purposely struggle a little and remind myself how hard that race is. By the time I got back to the hotel, I had my mind made up. It was on!

In a couple days I’ll be leaving for Kona to do some training. It has been 9 years since I competed in Kona and the course is slightly different. There is also no place like it when it comes to wind, heat and humidity. That place sucks the strength out of you and I want to refresh my memory as well as get in some great training. Todd is coming with me to be sure I get the most out of the week over there and if all goes well, we will have some pictures and video to share when I get home.

Aloha

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