Making the Team: 2008
Making the team? Am I still young enough to make a team? Do I still have what it takes to be on a team? 20 years ago, all yes, in a heart beat! I would have not taken no for an answer. I swam competitively at fairly high levels through most of my youth and childhood. What strikes me as so similar about swimming on a team to what I envision being part of a triathlon team is the competition and camaraderie of your teammates but ultimately it comes down to you and your internal drive. There are so many long, lonely miles during training. But they are like coming back home to me. It’s so good to be home!
What happened in between then and a year ago, when I really found a sport I always felt I’d love? Life, plain and simple, the paths chosen in ones life can lead you down such strange and often incomprehensible paths. What started this new obsession a year ago? It was initially a desire to get into a little bit of shape and lose some weight so I could be around for my wife and kids as long as possible. A friend of my wife wanted us to join her in this crazy race she found called a sprint triathlon. All of a sudden my training had a goal. I found I enjoyed working out again. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed working out! That first triathlon was an amazing experience for me. I was back!! I felt alive. I tasted the sweet taste of competitive adrenaline and oh how I LIKED it again! That was July of last year. I swam for an olympic triathlon relay a month later then raced another sprint tri in September. I placed 3rd in my age group in that last tri of the season and began making plans for 2008.
Through most of the season I had known something in my shoulder wasn’t quite right. Something was downright painful but I sucked it up figuring it was just age and 20 years not working out catching up with me. In October I went to see a sports doc, just to make sure. I found out I needed surgery to repair a torn labrum. Long story short, I had my shoulder scoped on November 27th 2007. Before I could even raise my arm above my head again I registered for the 2008 Steelhead 70.3 triathlon. I know this sounds a little nuts, but I wanted a hard goal in front of me as I went through physical therapy. I wanted something to not only motivate me but scare me away from failure. I have since finished PT and resumed base training. My shoulder feels stronger than it has in years. I am confident I am on track to attain my goal of a sub 5 hour Steelhead.
I want to be on the 2008 and beyond Team Evotri. Please vote for me.
What happened in between then and a year ago, when I really found a sport I always felt I’d love? Life, plain and simple, the paths chosen in ones life can lead you down such strange and often incomprehensible paths. What started this new obsession a year ago? It was initially a desire to get into a little bit of shape and lose some weight so I could be around for my wife and kids as long as possible. A friend of my wife wanted us to join her in this crazy race she found called a sprint triathlon. All of a sudden my training had a goal. I found I enjoyed working out again. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed working out! That first triathlon was an amazing experience for me. I was back!! I felt alive. I tasted the sweet taste of competitive adrenaline and oh how I LIKED it again! That was July of last year. I swam for an olympic triathlon relay a month later then raced another sprint tri in September. I placed 3rd in my age group in that last tri of the season and began making plans for 2008.
Through most of the season I had known something in my shoulder wasn’t quite right. Something was downright painful but I sucked it up figuring it was just age and 20 years not working out catching up with me. In October I went to see a sports doc, just to make sure. I found out I needed surgery to repair a torn labrum. Long story short, I had my shoulder scoped on November 27th 2007. Before I could even raise my arm above my head again I registered for the 2008 Steelhead 70.3 triathlon. I know this sounds a little nuts, but I wanted a hard goal in front of me as I went through physical therapy. I wanted something to not only motivate me but scare me away from failure. I have since finished PT and resumed base training. My shoulder feels stronger than it has in years. I am confident I am on track to attain my goal of a sub 5 hour Steelhead.
I want to be on the 2008 and beyond Team Evotri. Please vote for me.
Thanks for reading! If you think I should be the next fully-sponsored member of Team Evotri, please write down the URL of this web site and have it ready for voting when you click the EVOTE button below. Thank you!
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