Race Week-Ironman 70.3 Texas

Finally! After 850 miles of training since January, triathlon season is finally here. Next weekend will be special for a number of reasons. It's the first race of the year, it's close to home, and it's the site of my first ever race. That was just over a year ago. When I dipped into Galveston Bay that morning I had no idea how much life was about to change. Both within this sport and in my "real life" everything seemed to turn upside down soon thereafter. Ups, downs, downs, ups, you name it. What a ride it's been. There were some difficult days in the beginning, but I wouldn't trade any of them for my experiences over the past year and I'm thankful and incredibly blessed to be where I am today. Proverbs 16:9-"In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps." Good thing I'm not in charge!

Amazingly, we've managed to raise just over $1000 for Wears Valley Ranch thus far. Thank you! I'm hopeful that as the season goes on your generous contributions will continue. If you're looking for an excuse to give, pick a race and pledge. Big or small, it all helps. If you'd rather me work for it, how about a little challenge? My time for my first half ironman (Longhorn 70.3) last October was 7:01. Slow. I'm shooting for 6:15 in Galveston on Sunday. Post a comment or send me an email with your challenge in whatever dollar amount you'd like. If I'm 6:15 or better you pay. If I'm not you don't.

Thanks again for your support and words of encouragement. I'm excited to be back at it and looking forward to racing again. For those of you in the area, come on out next Sunday. These races are fun to witness. And if you're not able to make it, I hope you'll keep me and my fellow competitors in your thoughts and prayers.

Have a great week.

Success at Gateway

What a great weekend! The first area triathlon festival was down in Kemah this past weekend. "Gateway to the Bay" took place Saturday and Sunday. I did the swim-leg on a relay team Sunday, but the real stories happened Saturday. First was Chad (my older brother) finishing his first race and looking strong. Some of you know his story already. After watching me race and following along last year, he decided to make some big life changes. He began training last August, and in the process, found something he enjoys doing and lost over 40 pounds...FOUR-ZERO. That's him pictured on the left after crossing the finish line. It's not easy to make that sort of decision, even harder to follow through. He's looking better, feeling better, and has really embraced a new lifestyle. Awesome. I'm proud of what he's accomplished and have enjoyed mentoring him along the way.

You may recognize the face on the right from previous posts. That's our old friend Joe. He's been feeling better after our road trip and after a brief layoff he got back to training. He also finished the sprint triathlon on Saturday, officially back from months out of the sport due to his injuries.

Two great stories to start 2010. Motivating for sure. My next race is down in Galveston, 4/25/2010. That's two weeks away. For those of you who've generously contributed to my cause for this year, thank you. And for those who haven't yet...now's you chance. I hope you'll consider chipping in. Just click the first giving link to your right.

Tri4Him

So you're telling me a bunch of amateur triathletes can use this sport to change lives and make a difference?

Actually, yes. A big difference. In addition to being a community of believers who share in their love of this sport and encourage one another in their training, racing, and lives, the folks from Tri4Him (www.tri4Him.com) are doing something more. When I joined the Houston chapter last year, there were 6 of us. And now with nearly 30 active members, things are starting to take shape.

Of course we'll be present at most of the area races, volunteering and offering support and prayer for competitors and their families. We're also collecting used shoe's to contribute to a Dallas-based non-profit, The Shoe Bank (www.theshoebank.com), which delivers them to folks in need both in the U.S. and abroad. To date, over 200 pairs have been donated many of which were shipped to our friends in Haiti after the recent earthquake. Most recently, through some generous contributions by members, we've invested in a few triathlon bikes (shown above) to use as loaners. We've come across several people who are interested and flirting with the idea of trying the sport, but may not have the means to invest in a bike to get them started. No longer a problem. We loan them a bike.

Pretty awesome to witness this sort of progress in just a year. I hope you'll check us out.

Ouch!

That's my foot. A few weeks ago, while out on an evening run, I hurt it stepping on a tree root. No, I didn't go see a doctor...not a big fan of going to the doctor. In fact, I made it worse trying to do my usual weekend run a few days later. So I decided to give in and rest it for a week or so and compensated with some extra swimming. You guessed it, then my shoulder started acting up. The next couple of weeks were spent mostly moping around, whining, and generally feeling sorry for myself since I couldn't get my usual training in. Whaaa.

Amidst my little mini-crisis, I got a clear message from The Big Ironman in the Sky. Simply put, "Tobey, it's not about you." Ouch. I realized that it had become just that in the weeks leading up to the tree root incident. It had become about performance, getting faster, stronger, me, me, me. An easy trap to fall into in this individual, sometimes self-serving sport and that's not what got me to where I am today. That's not why I come home from a long work day and head right out the door for a long run and that's not why I'm up with the AARP polar bear club the next morning for a 5AM swim. Not at all. My hope is to glorify God, serve, and hopefully inspire a few others with my racing and with my "real life." That's what this is about. That's what started this little adventure we're on.

So this week, I was blessed with a renewed focus. We had good weather, all of my parts were working again, and all of my workouts were great. Not because I set personal records or logged huge mileage, but because it was for Him again. It's scary how quickly we can get back into that, "what's in it for me?" rut. Even scarier, sometimes, how long it can take and what might be required for us to realize it.

They say the truth hurts and apparently so do renegade tree roots. But I'm sure thankful to have stumbled on it that night. It was just the friendly reminder I needed to get me back on track.

A bit of advice, do what you love, do it well, and find a way to use it to make a difference for someone else.

Joe's Comeback

After overcoming a broken back and suffering through months of leg pain, it looks like Joe is back on track. Joe and I took a little road trip up to Temple this week to see an old friend. Early indications are that Mike was able to fix Joe's leg and he should be up and running again in a couple of weeks.

What a story. We're all looking forward to his return in 2010. If you happen to be in the Kemah area on April 10th, I hope you'll come out and root for Joe in his return. You won't see the scars, just the smile on his face, and after our pilgrimage, a Tri4Him jersey on his back.

Road Trip

Cindy, Kelly, Ronnie, and I headed to Austin this weekend for the 1/2 marathon. It was a great trip and a nice change of pace from our usual training work. After a chili start to the morning, the weather turned out perfect and all of us were happy with how we finished, self included. Ronnie pushed me to a new personal best, beating my previous 13.1 mile time by nearly 20 minutes. Thanks Ronnie!

A motivating race that was much needed with just 2 months left until our first tri of the season.

Have a great week.

And we're back...

After six weeks of riding in the garage, we finally made it back out onto the road today. Looking forward to rising temperatures and mileage in the coming weeks and months. Next weekend some of the Tri4Him crew will be road-tripping to Austin for the half-marathon. The transition from maintenance to training has been a long time coming.

On the fund-raising front, we're off to a good start as well. I've matched our to-date total, which brings us up to a $500 grand total. Thanks to those who've given generously thus far. Your contributions and words of encouragement inspire me more than you know. Not to mention the good that we will be doing for our friends at WVR.

Once again, I would appreciate your help in spreading the word. Facebook, email, Twitter, whatever. The more people we reach the better.

Have a great weekend.