Coming Full Circle on The Big Island

Aloha from Kailua, Kona! As you all have probably noticed I have been pretty quite on the social media front and blog posting lately (Excluding the last couple of days since I’ve been in Kona, lots of pics on facebook so check them out!).  I raced the Vegas 70.3 world at the beginning of September and coming off that race I went right into the biggest weeks of training for the World Ironman Championships here in Hawaii.  So since then I have been focusing all my time and energy on trying to prepare myself both physically and mentally as best as I can.  Overall I have to say the training block went very well.  A couple nasty weather days made the mental part of the training a bit hard but that’s to be expected at this time of the year.  I mean a 7 hour bike ride is just not hard enough already.

I’ve struggled with letting myself get excited about being here in Kona for a while.  It just seemed weird to me as the date got closer and closer.  Most likely because it has been on the horizon for so long.  If you don’t already know, I qualified to race here in Kona last November at Ironman Florida by winning my age group.  My result was not a world beating effort but it was enough to get me here on that day and that is what matters.  I executed my race and my plan on that day and that is what you need to do at this sport.  This qualification was supposed to be a conclusion to a big goal of mine. Honestly, it was an amazing feeling to check that box but maybe it came to quick in my triathlon career.  It was my 2nd full season of training/racing and when I started the sport it seemed like getting to Kona was the most important thing in the world.  However, life changes and you start seeing things differently.  I began to want to see how far I could take it in this sport and as selfish as it may sound I felt like yeah I qualified for Kona…well I should have because if I am serious about the sport this is where I need to be.  So I don’t know, I don’t want to say I was unthankful but I just felt like if I was serious about making something of myself in this sport I needed to start having some results.

Well, over the last 11 months I did get serious.  I left my comfy sustaining job as a CPA, moved west to work at a bike shop and train and essentially put all my efforts towards bettering myself as a triathlete AND giving myself a much needed break from the corporate business world to figure out what I really wanted out of this sport, and more importantly LIFE.  I must say that one of the BEST things about finding this sport of triathlon is that it has given me such an amazing perspective on life.  I was in a pretty big hole while working in the Public sector.  I made myself sick…I had lost my “ID”, that thing that makes you, YOU!  That is a sad thing when what makes you unique is lost because of something beating you down.  Well this sport has refocused me and given me a reason to wake up every morning before dawn ready to take on the world.  For that single reason I am soo happy that I found this sport.  I am happy that Kona was my singular goal in the beginning and I am equally happy that I’ve sort of moved beyond that searching for the next challenge…because if there is nothing else on the horizon to challenge you than what is going to keep motivating you?

With all that said I want to express how amazing it is to be here in Kona, HI.  Yes, I said above that once I qualified it was like, “What’s Next?” But that’s just my nature, always looking for the next thing to dive into head first.  100% all the time, every time.  Being here in Kona is an absolute REWARD and HONOR.  Something that is the product of by my estimate over 1,200 days of focus.  My big tip of the day for all those who would like to race in Kona and compete at a high level in the AG race is to structure your life around triathlon.  Train or do something to better yourself in the sport (ie rest when you need to, eat right, do at least some sort of workout every day) and do that for 3 years strait…about 1,200 days in a row.  This is essentially what I did and how I got here.  No special tricks or gimmicks and not a whole lot of natural ability.  When I started swimming I was in the lane with a 70 year woman who kicked my butt.  But perseverance pays off.

And so now I am here in Hawaii and experiencing this amazing spectacle.  Scratch that, its not just amazing.  It’s magical.  This is my first time here and I am going to cherish it forever.  Hopefully I will be back again to race and spectate, but that is in the future and all I can focus on now is the present.

I guess my final thoughts for the day focus on the title of this post and how its come full circle.  It has done so in a couple ways.  I competed in my first Ironman 70.3 in Galveston, TX back in April of 2010.  It was here I had my first immersion into the Ironman world and was absolutely taken fully and completely.  I won a trophy for my race and was even able to meet my idol in the sport, Chris Lieto.

Meeting Chris was absolutely amazing.  He chatted with me about the race, gave me tips and added to the growing desire to be somebody in this sport.  To be somebody good that is.

Now here in Kona it truly has come full circle as I met Chris once again and had another great conversation.  Chris is not racing this year but still is a huge presence as he is promoting his extremely worthy cause “Do More Than Sport” which focuses on doing good for those in need.  Specifically in Kona this year it is raising enough money to sponsor 141 kids in a mentoring program.  In order to reach this goal Do More Than Sport is looking to get enough people to donate at least $250 which fully sponsors a child through the mentoring program.  I am proud to say that I have sponsored a child this year and am very excited to possibly meet them or at least learn about their story at the post race brunch that will be held on Sunday.  Chris has done amazing things on the course but also off the playing field and this is a great example.  I am very glad that I could be a part of his cause. He has inspired me in many ways, so call it my way of saying Thank You!  And here’s the full circle part…another awesome picture!

I’d also be leaving a large part of my triathlon experience out if I did not mention the lady who started me on this journey.  Mary Eggers was my first coach and the woman who took me through my first two Ironman and led me to the QT2 group from whom I have been coached by for the past year, although I have been extracting knowledge from them since the beginning!  (QT2 Systems is world class and if you are serious about triathlon you should look into what they offer!) Mary was the person who I first told on a very cold morning way back in November of 2009 (my second month of training for triathlon) that I wanted to race in Kona.  A lot of people would have told me I was crazy, because I meant that I wanted to be racing in Kona the very next year.  Why wait right?  Well it took me a year longer than originally thought but I am here now and it is truly amazing to reflect back on all the experiences I have had and all the amazing relationships I have formed because of this sport.  Mary had a lot to do with those relationships and she deserves a huge Thank You from me.  Again everything has seemed to come full circle here as Mary is on the Big Island this weekend too.  So once again the triathlon Gods have worked their magic.

This place is special…even magical and I am honored to have the chance to race on this course.  This first time here is A ONCE IN A LIFETIME EXPERIENCE and I wouldn’t be here  if it weren’t for people like Mary, my good friend Mike Corona who has been a training partner since the very beginning, Travis who I aspired to be like from the moment I met him, Wheeler who has been a measuring stick since I first saw his name as the AG Champ at IMLP IN 2009, Don for letting me into your home and treating me as family, RAMS swimming for teaching me how to swim, Scott Likly and Towpath Bike for dealing with me all these years and seriously 100 other people.  It would take me 2 hours to even attempt to list them all out.  So don’t think I forgot you, I remember each and every person who has crossed my path.  So to all you guys and of course my amazing parents.  THANK YOU FOR GETTING ME HERE AND LETTING ME HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO EXPERIENCE THIS!  I WILL NEVER EVERY FORGET IT AND I HOPE TO MAKE YOU ALL PROUD ON SATURDAY.  WIN LOSE OR DRAW I WILL LEAVE IT ALL OUT THERE LAVA FIELDS!