mike neill said that his coach told him a while back that it takes 10 years for everyone to be good at something. man, how am i going to be able to get this triathlon thing right? oh well...., i guess maybe that's why they said to keep on tri-ing. and, i also do believe as what the Bible said in Flp4:13, 'i can do all things through Christ who strengthens me'.
the pain won't last forever, but the memories will, especially when everything can be written down on this blog. and, if nobody understand, then it is just like what is written in the ironman book, 'it's a line that u have to cross to understand'.
so why do i do all these? as what george bernard shaw said, 'some people see things as they are and say why. i dream things that never were and say why not?'
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Monday, May 12, 2008
art of racing
what it means
"There is something in every human being that seeks testing; a yearning to discover just how far one can go, how much one is capable of achieving. From this desire was born the most demanding athletic endurance test ever... the Ironman"
"There is something in every human being that seeks testing; a yearning to discover just how far one can go, how much one is capable of achieving. From this desire was born the most demanding athletic endurance test ever... the Ironman"
trip down south
a very interesting trip down south to panama city beach, florida. as many times as i've been to florida and as much as i love the state, since the weather kind of resemblance to where i came from, i never been to this city.
we started at 6pm from the gym. 3 vehicles heading down. i was in 'the golden eagle' van with mags, j, rach, and matt. the other vehicles were 'the two duds' and 'mother'. the whole trip was filled with rain along the way. we had three stops. one was somewhere by bowling green, then next one was 'buckets' at somewhere in nashville, not sure exactly where i was, then the last one was somewhere by the border of florida and alabama. and, that's when we were joined by 'the white neon'. we got to the destination at around 7am local time.
on the way home, we leave the bungalow at 6am sharp. although, i almost owe everybody one minute, i totally made myself to the van at 6am. this time, it was only 'the golden eagle' that went on. we had four stops. one at the 'buckets' before we were out of the city, one at the gas and mcdonald, then gas and wendy's , and the last one was another 'buckets' stop. we got back to the gym at around 8.30-ish.
a couple of interesting things that i got a chance to see along the way. got a chance to see the paul brown stadium, usbank arena, gaylord center, titans stadium, and a rocket on the side of a highway. oh oh...and also, i forgot to mentioned i met sister madonna buder a couple of times and i did get her autograph.
one other interesting thing that happen to me on the trip, specifically on race day. on the morning of the race day, everybody was in-line to get their body marked by numbers. as i stood there with this lady writing down my number on my hand and calf. she asked, 'what is ur age?', then i answer, 30-34, so she asked again, ok, so which one do u want?. then, i just realized she was actually asking for my actual age. then i remember a joke that jeremy put up on the e-mail abt u know u'r a triathlete, when they asked u abt ur age, and u answered, '30-34'. i couldn't even believe that i said that......LOL............
overall, on the trip i found many new buddies and mates. i got running mate (tim), catapult/slingshot buddy (jeremy), shower mate (geretta), shaver girl (geri), van mates (mags, j, rach and matt), age group buddy (j), and bungalow mates (mags and mikey). all in all, it was definitely an interesting trip that i will never forget.
we started at 6pm from the gym. 3 vehicles heading down. i was in 'the golden eagle' van with mags, j, rach, and matt. the other vehicles were 'the two duds' and 'mother'. the whole trip was filled with rain along the way. we had three stops. one was somewhere by bowling green, then next one was 'buckets' at somewhere in nashville, not sure exactly where i was, then the last one was somewhere by the border of florida and alabama. and, that's when we were joined by 'the white neon'. we got to the destination at around 7am local time.
on the way home, we leave the bungalow at 6am sharp. although, i almost owe everybody one minute, i totally made myself to the van at 6am. this time, it was only 'the golden eagle' that went on. we had four stops. one at the 'buckets' before we were out of the city, one at the gas and mcdonald, then gas and wendy's , and the last one was another 'buckets' stop. we got back to the gym at around 8.30-ish.
a couple of interesting things that i got a chance to see along the way. got a chance to see the paul brown stadium, usbank arena, gaylord center, titans stadium, and a rocket on the side of a highway. oh oh...and also, i forgot to mentioned i met sister madonna buder a couple of times and i did get her autograph.
one other interesting thing that happen to me on the trip, specifically on race day. on the morning of the race day, everybody was in-line to get their body marked by numbers. as i stood there with this lady writing down my number on my hand and calf. she asked, 'what is ur age?', then i answer, 30-34, so she asked again, ok, so which one do u want?. then, i just realized she was actually asking for my actual age. then i remember a joke that jeremy put up on the e-mail abt u know u'r a triathlete, when they asked u abt ur age, and u answered, '30-34'. i couldn't even believe that i said that......LOL............
overall, on the trip i found many new buddies and mates. i got running mate (tim), catapult/slingshot buddy (jeremy), shower mate (geretta), shaver girl (geri), van mates (mags, j, rach and matt), age group buddy (j), and bungalow mates (mags and mikey). all in all, it was definitely an interesting trip that i will never forget.
my first ever 70.3 journey
the race was good. i started the swim in a great way. as rough as the water, i thought it was part of the challange and i took it in within me. i felt good in the beginning and as i look down and see that the bottom part of me change from dark to light, i was glad and i truly felt great. i was expecting to be in the swim for an hour, and it turned out as i walked towards the shower and look at my watch, it was 47 minutes. so, i thought, WOW.....THIS IS GREAT.....THIS IS WHY I LOVE THE SPORT....i am solo the superfan......
then, i got to my transition area to prep myself for the bike. i took my time to eat half of powerbar and drink to wash all that salt in my mouth, then i took my bike to the start of bike line. as i got on my bike, i said to myself, here we go...!
as i started on the bike, mike caught me and gave me a pat on my behind, that definitely was encouraging. thanx, mike. then, i started to see my teamates along the course, one by one passing me going to the other way, unill i got to the highway and i saw mike neill flying through and i thought, hey, i'm on the same team as that guy....at the same time, i realized, hey, i got to eat and drink, so i took my the other half of the bar. then i looked up and saw the bridge. and i said to mysef, hm..... after going up through the bridge, i thought to myself, thank GOD i was at the camp in portsmouth, since i was so afraid before with hills, but now, i think i kind of get an idea of how to handle it, not entirely though. then after the bridge, i saw a speed bump and one of bottle came off the cage, but wait, it got hold up between my legs, since i put my feet position at 9 and 3, again, thanx mike. so i said to myself, bottle, stay, stay, and YES! i was able to get it and put it back in the cage, yeach......!!!
as i get to the turn around for the bike, this truck in front of me hit the brake, so i yelled, come on....!!!! but then, she got off the road, as this one guy beside me said, retarded....!
so i thought, oh well, let's move on, we are racing....
as i was at the end of the bike leg, i said to myself, all rite, just keep pedalling until transition, even though my behind was pretty uncomfortable, but i knew what i had to do. so, i got to transition, unclipped my shoes and walked my bike to be racked. then, i took everything off that i needed from the bike, to put on everything that i need for my run. again, i took my time to eat and drink beforehand. as i started running, i looked down to my watch. i was thinking of being on the bike for 3 hrs, instead my watch showed 2:52:30. so i thought, YES....THIS IS GREAT......
as i started on the run leg, i felt ok. i was able to keep on running for the first 3 mile, then something hit me, now sure what and not sure why. so, i thought to myself, is it the heat? is it the food/nutrition? so i started to take another leftover powerbar and some drinks from the aid station. and i started running again. after i saw rach coming back at about mile 4, or 5, not sure, something hit me again, then i realized it was definitely the heat. i started to feel the sun was actually frying my skin. after that, i started walking, running, walking, running, until i passed mile 6 in the park, then my teammate tim caught me and he was asking whether i was ok or not. i told him, yes, i'm ok, but just not sure why i can't run at the time. so he suggested to run and walk with him. i took his suggestion and it actually help. until about mile 11, then i started to feel the same as i was at mile 5. so, i thought to myself, i know i can finish this, and i will finish this. then, at mile 12, i started to think about what i had done, what had been happened to me, what i had been doing that whole day from 7 am that morning. i started to get emotional, but i hold it back. until at the last run/walk session with tim, he said, all rite, run all the way to the finish?! so, i said, YES.....! so, i kept on running from the stoplight all the way to the turn and as i promised to myself to always do a sprint finish, i sprinted all the way to the finish line.
as i crossed the finish line, i pumped a fist to the air and hit the ballon on the side, then i kneeled down, kissed the finish line and high five to it. after that, i just couldn't hold back my emotion anymore. i cried, cried and cried for a while. got my medal, sit on the sidewalk and just kept on crying, thinking about what i had just done.
all in all, i was happy and even amazed to myself. 5 weeks ago, i thought i had to pull out of the race. in the end of this race, i thanked GOD, mike and mike, all my teammates of Human Powered Racing, that are racing and also the ones that are not racing in the GCT'08.
then, i got to my transition area to prep myself for the bike. i took my time to eat half of powerbar and drink to wash all that salt in my mouth, then i took my bike to the start of bike line. as i got on my bike, i said to myself, here we go...!
as i started on the bike, mike caught me and gave me a pat on my behind, that definitely was encouraging. thanx, mike. then, i started to see my teamates along the course, one by one passing me going to the other way, unill i got to the highway and i saw mike neill flying through and i thought, hey, i'm on the same team as that guy....at the same time, i realized, hey, i got to eat and drink, so i took my the other half of the bar. then i looked up and saw the bridge. and i said to mysef, hm..... after going up through the bridge, i thought to myself, thank GOD i was at the camp in portsmouth, since i was so afraid before with hills, but now, i think i kind of get an idea of how to handle it, not entirely though. then after the bridge, i saw a speed bump and one of bottle came off the cage, but wait, it got hold up between my legs, since i put my feet position at 9 and 3, again, thanx mike. so i said to myself, bottle, stay, stay, and YES! i was able to get it and put it back in the cage, yeach......!!!
as i get to the turn around for the bike, this truck in front of me hit the brake, so i yelled, come on....!!!! but then, she got off the road, as this one guy beside me said, retarded....!
so i thought, oh well, let's move on, we are racing....
as i was at the end of the bike leg, i said to myself, all rite, just keep pedalling until transition, even though my behind was pretty uncomfortable, but i knew what i had to do. so, i got to transition, unclipped my shoes and walked my bike to be racked. then, i took everything off that i needed from the bike, to put on everything that i need for my run. again, i took my time to eat and drink beforehand. as i started running, i looked down to my watch. i was thinking of being on the bike for 3 hrs, instead my watch showed 2:52:30. so i thought, YES....THIS IS GREAT......
as i started on the run leg, i felt ok. i was able to keep on running for the first 3 mile, then something hit me, now sure what and not sure why. so, i thought to myself, is it the heat? is it the food/nutrition? so i started to take another leftover powerbar and some drinks from the aid station. and i started running again. after i saw rach coming back at about mile 4, or 5, not sure, something hit me again, then i realized it was definitely the heat. i started to feel the sun was actually frying my skin. after that, i started walking, running, walking, running, until i passed mile 6 in the park, then my teammate tim caught me and he was asking whether i was ok or not. i told him, yes, i'm ok, but just not sure why i can't run at the time. so he suggested to run and walk with him. i took his suggestion and it actually help. until about mile 11, then i started to feel the same as i was at mile 5. so, i thought to myself, i know i can finish this, and i will finish this. then, at mile 12, i started to think about what i had done, what had been happened to me, what i had been doing that whole day from 7 am that morning. i started to get emotional, but i hold it back. until at the last run/walk session with tim, he said, all rite, run all the way to the finish?! so, i said, YES.....! so, i kept on running from the stoplight all the way to the turn and as i promised to myself to always do a sprint finish, i sprinted all the way to the finish line.
as i crossed the finish line, i pumped a fist to the air and hit the ballon on the side, then i kneeled down, kissed the finish line and high five to it. after that, i just couldn't hold back my emotion anymore. i cried, cried and cried for a while. got my medal, sit on the sidewalk and just kept on crying, thinking about what i had just done.
all in all, i was happy and even amazed to myself. 5 weeks ago, i thought i had to pull out of the race. in the end of this race, i thanked GOD, mike and mike, all my teammates of Human Powered Racing, that are racing and also the ones that are not racing in the GCT'08.
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