My first post!

I am just getting home from Clearwater Florida and the Ironman 70.3 World Championships. But first a little back ground is in order. Over the next few weeks I will try to post some older races etc. to even things out a bit. I started Triathlons about two years ago, after a number of years of working and stressing out in an effort to find something meaningful in life. Once I was totally burned out and had some time to sit back and look at what I was doing; it was obvious to me that what I missed was my previous athletic life. A life that was a big part of who I was in my teens and my 20s. Since that time I had focussed on work and let my fitness get to embarrasing levels and my weight balooned to 30-40 pounds over what it should be. I purchased my first road bike about 3 years ago and found some group rides - I loved it from day one. Over time the weight came off and the fitness started to return. My job was - well just a job and in my oppinion the way it should be. No longer was I thining about work all the time, instead I was always thinking about the group ride that afternoon. Nothing wrong with having goals with your career but most people really have no life and think their job means everything. Of course they never admit this, they say things like my family comes first, etc. however these are the very people that you see working late, comming in early, claim to have no time for working out and eat fast food at lunch every day. This was me as well just a few years ago. Not any more, not for me. I have always wanted to ask these people just one questsion: Have you ever met a man on his death bed that said "I wish I would have just worked a little harder at work to get that promotion" I doubt it! A little later I will tell you about a true hero and someone who really understands the meaning of life; but for now let me use some of his words to give you more perspective as to what I mean about work and life in general. As "Jon Blazeman" would say I do not want to know what you do for a living, I do not want to know how much money you make. I want to know what your passion is. I want to know do you have the guts to go and try something even though there is a very good chance you may fail. I want to know that if you fail you have the guts to pick yourself up and keep trying. I want to know are you someone who ignores conventional wisdom in an effort to find wisdom. I echoe those thoughts and have found Triathlon a place to find peopel just like that. Maybe that is what is so appealing to me, "The people" the people you meet in tri are just great, you see very talented people that have been doing tri for years helping out pure amatuers like myself and you see those same veterans finding renewed strength from seeing the effort of the newly annointed in the sport.

Ok just getting back from Clearwater like I said earlier what a great experience. At the end of my second season in triathlon I had signed up for an innaugrual 70.3 Ironman in Cancun. Upon doing this I saw that Ironman was also starting and will be having the first ever 70.3 World Championships in Clearwater. Somewhere in the back of my mind I thougt, "While that is cool" but knowing I was only in my second year of Tri and that I had not even done a half Ironman at that point I doubted I would be at that event. "Anything is possible" as Ironman said and after racing my first Half at Whitelake and training hard through the summer I went to Cancun in what I thought was pretty good shape. turned out to be barely enough - I finished 16th in my age group and grab a roll down slot to the Clearwater 70.3 World Championships. Needless to say what a year for me. I could not beleive it. I think this really proves a point - sometimes you just have to go for it and let the chips fall where they may, you never know and you will never succeed if you do not show up first. I learned a lot about myself and fell in love with Tri at that point. Sure I had done some local races but nothing compares to the way Ironman races are run and the competitors, volunteers and fans that are associated with such an event. So after finding myself qualified for Clearwater I knew I would be a Back of the packer due to the very talented people qualifying for this event but that was ok. I was there, I qualified and I will always be able to say I was at the very FIRST ever 70.3 World Championships in Clearwater. In my oppinion this series and this championship will grow very rapidly and will be very competetive in just a few years and could even possibly gain a similar status that Kona has today. I guess time will tell. I had a great race, set a new PR for me, had perfect weather and had a great day. I will post a race report for Clearwater and Cancun and maybe a few other things in the next few days.