The end of summer

Well, it’s official. Tri season is over. The last tri of the season for the Boise area is called the YMCA Fall Sprint. This race was a huge mile stone for me. The last time I did a tri, I nearly drowned, barely survived the bike, and was the 3^rd to last person to complete the run. (I even got passed by a 65+ age grouper). This was in July of 2009.  I got kind of discouraged by this and didn’t really use it as motivation for my next race. Then, in May of this year, I stood on the bathroom scale and was shocked to see a 261. That was all I needed. I started working out again and after 4 weeks of run/walking, I started doing 2-a-days and my weight dropped like crazy.

Fast forward to today. I am still losing weight and currently weigh in at 227. But the biggest and best part of all the training is what happened at the Fall Sprint. I swam faster than I’d expected. Much, much faster. I had expected a 16 minute swim and I did it in 12:37! This put me in 15^th for the whole race. I maintained on the bike and run with faster than expected times and ended up with a 3^rd place finish in my age group and 25^th over all!!!! Here are some of the pics.

I have a lot of gratitude to give out with this recent success. First is God. I’m thankful for this amazing life and all I’ve been given. Next is my wonderful wife Kristy and amazing daughter Ryu. You are the reason I want to be healthy. You’re my target beyond the finish line. Jarom, you’re a great running partner, even with those bright green shorts. Wes, for motivating me, when I was really discouraged. Allstate Insurance for replacing my bike with the best customer service I’ve ever received  after Magnus fell on the freeway. And last, but not least, all my friends, followers, and family who encourage and support me.

I only have one race left this year. It’s a 5k fun run through a corn maze. Kristy has agreed to run it with me! That will be Saturday the 29^th. Until then, thank you all.