Iron Life

The Story of the White Lake Half IronMan Triathlon

I decided that when you put your mind to something and just decide that you are going to do something it's a whole lot easier than everything thinks it is. Before we started I overheard some other guys talking. It was the first for one of them so he was asking what it was like. Yeah, I realize that it was about an hour before the race started and that that individual probably should have inquired earlier yet regardless I decided to listen in. The guy that had done them before said that "There comes a time when you want to quit" so I asked "How often does that time come?" He answered with, "It varies depending on the person." Then the other guy said, "One last question and I'll leave you alone. How long does each time last?" The guy thought and responded, "It's different for everybody." I kind of chuckled because he was pretty much saying that you could suffer the whole time in a roundabout way.

So! During the race it was wonderful. The water at White Lake in NC was perfect! It was fun, we started out and I thought, where are we supposed to swim to anyway? So then I started asking people. They proceeded to point to imaginary buoys that were supposedly somewhere out in the lake. They had divided it up to a triangle. 2/5 of a mile out, 2/5 over and 2/5 back. Yes, that actually equals 6/5 which translates to 12/10 which is equal to 1.2 miles. BUT it was glorious! I may add, that Friday night my father gave me a blessing and in the middle I suddenly remembered that I didn't bring my goggles or my ear plugs. You may think, no big deal. But for me it was. In case you are unaware, because of the problem with my right ear the doctor told me to be careful swimming because if water got in my ear I could become dizzy and swim down thinking I am swimming up. Yeah, that kind of poses a problem. So, I left the hotel in Clinton, NC at 10 o'clock at night to find some goggles and ear plugs and got lost and frustrated. All I could find were those little kid goggles with frogs and seahorses on them. That wasn't going to cut it. I may add that I was going to wake up at 4:45 to get to the race sight and set up. I resolved to just pray that they were selling some at the race sight, and miraculously they were. THANK YOU!! My Dad was telling me that I shouldn't do it if I didn't have them, but I was going to anyway. I would have just kept my head above the water the whole time ;) riiiiiiiiight.

Well, my "wanting to quit time" came about half way through the 56 mile bike course. I thought, I don't want to do this anymore. But I did. Then I had to go to the bathroom. There were no restrooms. Anywhere. I guess that is what I get for drinking 5 bottles of water. Better that than heat stroke. Oh, and while on the bike we passed some old church that had the saying on their marque, "With God, nothing is impossible." haha so I chuckled at that. I split the bike up into 3 hour increments. The first hour was my fastest, then my second hour was slow, and the third was faster than the second, I don't know why yet. I'll have to ponder on it some more.

Then! I got to the run course, and I was cooking good. Yes, so fine they wanted me on Iron chef. Okay, what I mean is that I felt good and I started running and was feeling great... until mile 3. Then it hit me like a brick wall. I got sick to my stomach and couldn't run, but I could walk, so I did. I was going to finish, that was my goal, that was what I was doing. I resolved to walking, which was quite humbling. Seeing all of the old people pass me, yeah, I didn't like that. But I literally could not run. So I had to do what I could to finish. I met some good people like Alex and Wendy. Then with a mile left Wendy and I started running. Then I finished.

Yup, kind of anti-climactic sorry. It was funny because the finish line was no party. It was no "HURRAY!!!!" or anything special. It was just a finish line, and something that you did. They said my name and that was that. My dad was there. He'd been there waiting for two hours because I thought I would finish sooner. But he was there.

As I've thought about it, it's a lot like life. People tell you what it is like but nothing can replace experience, and that is why there is life. There will be quitting times that come and go, potty breaks, walking moments, and times where you have to be passed to recognize you're not all that. There will be encouragement, trials, popped tires, blistered feet, and cheering spectators. Unspoken support from times past resurrected in your heart as a tender mercy from above. There will be your Father and father waiting for you at the finish line. It is not a big celebration, it is a peace. It is a since of accomplishment. You do what you are sent to do, and you do the best you can. Sometimes you think that you can do better than you're doing, so you try to run, just to stop again. Then Wendy and Alex come along and befriend and support you.