Now I'm a Try-Athlete, just a real slow one

San Diego International Triathlon

1000 meter swim, 20 K Bike ride and 10 K run

( I got passed by a 77-year old)

OK, so I didn't expect to win. I really didn't, I just wanted to be in the middle of the pack. Not unrealistic is it? Well I started in the middle of the pack in the swim, but then my goggles filled with water. I stopped, cleared them then they filled again. I stopped, tightened them and went on. They filled again. I stopped. A lifeguard on surfboard asked me what was the problem and I told her my situation. She said, "come over here (she wanted to call me a loser, I know) , rest on my surfboard and put your goggles under your swim cap." OK, that fixed it. But now, the wave of swimmers behind me had caught up. But I finished the 1000 meter swim and went on to the bike section.

I did OK on the bike section, finishing at about 18 miles an hour from down by the water, up to Cabrillo monument for two laps and then back down again. I didn't seem to pass any of the other 45-49 year old men who finished the swim earlier though.

Transition to the run - I felt pretty good and I figure I did about 9:30 minute miles. Still didn't pass any of my fellow 45-49 year old friends.

Finally, the finish line. A man passed me. On a triathlon, you get "marked" with a marker that says "S" or "I" for the two different distances, Sprint or International (the longer one I did was the International). So this man passes me and I see marked on his led I-77. A friggin' 77-year old man passed me. If I could have caught him, I would have knocked him over into the bay........

I finished 64th out of 68 men in my age category.

If I had registered for the Clydesdale (over 200 lbs.) and over 40 group, I would have been 12th out of 18. I'm only five pounds shy of a Clydesdale, hell that's 4 Bon-bons.

If I was in the 65 - 69 year old category, I still would have been 3rd out of 5.

But how many of those men had sausage sandwiches for lunch the week before in preparing for the race? Twice! But I did. Sausage - The fuel for my racing.

In this race I "completed" versus "competed".

I have another triathlon scheduled for July 19th. It is in Camp Pendleton. It's a 1500 meter swim, 40K ride and a 10K run. That's my last triathlon for the year I suppose.

If I see that old man I'll knock his wrinkly butt off the road.

The problem is I live in one of the most physically fit areas of the country. Most of the top triathletes in the nation are in this area and even the average athlete is in great shape. If I raced in Wisconsin or Canada or somewhere up north, they would be fatter, eat sausage and take their time in a race. Maybe that's my new tactic, not race faster, race slower people........

Last Class of the Biola McGee Cohort Group

I attended my last class at Biola with my cohort group, McGee. I started with these students 18 months ago, now they are friends that I have grown to love. Biola has helped me grow as a student and as a Christian. But I have a long way to go.

Current plans are that I'll graduate in December, if I can get all of my elective classes done.

Now I need to find a job. I had a great opportunity that I didn't get, but I know that there are opportunities for me, I must find them though. I want to thank all of the professors at Biola, Kathy Mavity, my academic advisor and my cohort group. I also must thank my family who had to put up with me being tied to my computer these past two years and away every Tuesday night.

The Lord has blessed me with the time these past months to be available for friends in need, to learn to swim and complete a triathlon and to take more classes towards my degree.

I feel that after I complete the Pendleton Olympic Distance Triathlon on July 19th (.9 mile swim, 24.8 mile Bike and 6.2 mile run) and finish some online classes at the same time, I'll be ready.

Ready for what, only God knows........

Mark and Karina move into our house

Some of you may remember my neighbors who used to live next to us, Mark, Oksana and their little girl Karina. Mark and Oksana helped us find and contact our relatives in Ukraine. My mother and I travelled to Kiev and stayed with them. After our trip, Mark and Oksana thought that the dry air of Las Vegas would be better for Mark's health. They bought a house there and rented out the house next to us. As time went on, Oksana's health deteriorated and on May 30th, she died. Mark is 75 years old and has been planning a "final" trip to Kiev to sell all of his remaining properties. Unfortunately he has to also bury the ashes of his wife and he left to do that recently.

Now we are taking care of Karina till Mark's return and they will live with us until the renters are out of Mark's house in September.

Karina is a joy of a child and Hannah is sharing her room, her toys and her friends (and her Mom) with Karina. This is difficult for Hannah but she is doing a great job.

Karina has been registered for kindergarten in the fall. She will be in the afternoon session so that she can go there with Darcy.

For now, we are taking one day at a time. Karina seems to be adapting extremely well to living with us and the loss of her mother. We have visited a counselor to talk about how we deal with Oksana's death with Karina and that helped us. Mark should return soon and we'll be one big happy family, all six of us.

Hannah and Tom visit Pittsburgh

Hannah and I spent a few days in Pittsburgh with my family. Hannah loved being with her cousins, especially Janice's boys, Liam, Declan and Kegan. I've been accused by some family in Pittsburgh (who shall remain nameless) that if you read our blog, you'd never know we had family in Pittsburgh. Well we do. We had a great time and Hannah was actually away from her mom for five days. They are so amazing close, at first I thought we had not cut the umbilical cord between them, in actuality, we must have replaced it with a bungee cord.

Hannah is 4th Grade Student of the Year

Hannah was named the Student of the Year for her school in the 4th grade. We're not sure of all of the requirements, but she has excellent grades, is amazingly responsible and helps others. All of the 4th grade teachers voted on it. Hannah didn't want to go to the award ceremony. It was with the school district and she would get her award from the mayor of San Marcos. Only after her teacher, Mrs McClymonds said she'd take her with another teacher, Mrs Holmes, did Hannah agree. She allowed her mother to go also (not Dad though). If you remember, Hannah's academic career didn't start so strong, but she has rallied and is organized, responsible and loves her school and her teachers. She did so well that I told Luke if he got the same grades as Hannah, he could have a televison in his room.

Hell, if his grades get this good, I'll get him a flat screen.........

Conquering Fear

Well, maybe I haven't conquered fear, but I have pushed it back a great deal. I actually swam my first triathlon at Glorietta Bay, off Coronado Island. Not a long race, but a 1/2 mile swim in open water. For those of you who have know my history of non-swimming, this was a personal accomplishment. I had been swimming in the pool at my gym since January. Struggling every week, but going to the pool 2 - 3 times. Making slow progress every week. I was not nervous the night before the race and was not nervous at the start of the race. I had been able to swim a mile in the pool in about 35 minutes so I knew I could do the distance, it was the open water part, swimming straight without lane lines and being able to swim a course marked only by orange buoys that was a challenge. I had a slight panic attack before the first buoy at 200 yards. I felt I was swimming in a zig-zag pattern and swimming too fast. Just then, a swimmer swam right over top of me. I was actually going straight and she was lost. She pushed me under the water with no warning. I had to stop and decide if I wanted to go on. Quitting thoughts did flicker in my head. But I didn't. I decided that I'd slow down, take longer strokes and ease up on my breathing.

I finished the swim and was in the transition area in about 21 minutes (in the back in this picture). Not fast, but not bad and my goal of finishing while not having to be rescued was accomplished. I was definitely at the back of the pack.

I then had a 12 mile bike ride on a flat road. No problem. I got passed a few times but passed them back so that was about even.

I had a 3 mile run that I finished in about 25 minutes so that was a pace I could live with and I had "speed" left at the end.
1 hour and 31 minutes after I started, I had finished my first triathlon.

Fear just moved back 1/2 mile.

I was tired but thrilled. It was the club race for the Triathlon Club of San Diego. They have it once a month. My next race is a shorter race, the Encinitas Super-Sprint on May 18th.

So proving that men can make anything a contest, I was waiting to meet a friend from Biola for coffee. We noticed a kite up in the tree and thought, "How hard can it be to just toss these traffic cones into the tree and get a free kite?" 45 minutes later we had 5 cones stuck in the tree and still no kite. We eventually got our cones down and I added the stupid picture of me (in the blue shirt) on one of my tosses (I did get the last two cones out though). If you click on the picture, you can also see a guy climbing out to try and get the kite while we throw cones at it! I thought that was the end of it. No kite, but a valient effort. Nope, that was not the end, Jonathan came back several hours later with a ladder, had his wife stabilize it, climbed up the tree and got the kite. Kind of like David Letterman's Stupid Pet Tricks - Stupid Tri Tricks.

Luke - "Don't look backward, just look at what's in front of you"

Luke and I had a great day. A father and son day. A day to skip school and see a baseball game day. A day to sign your son out of school because he has to see "Doctor Padre." Luke thought I should have signed him out with "baseball fever." We headed downtown to see the Padres game. It was a great game with Trevor Hoffman pitching the last inning and getting the save for another Padres win. The game ended at about 3:00 so we had time to go to Mount Soledad, which Luke saw on the way downtown and said he had never been there. Mount Soledad was awesome as it always is. Great views of the ocean and Luke got to see the plaque honoring my dad.

We then went to De Anza Cove in Mission Bay for my second week of open water swimming. Luke was going with me so he could swim with another 8-year old boy, Bobby, who is training for the same kid's triathlon. We were in our wetsuits ready to swim out 25 yards into the bay and float near a buoy for further instructions. We all got in the water to head out. But I couldn't find Luke. He wasn't with Bobby and his mom either. I couldn't see him. I then look out about 15 yards in the bay and Luke is with the leaders swimming out to the Buoy. OK, he doesn't have the fear his father has so I followed him out there. We floated in the water for 10 minutes discussing what the workout was going to be and I discussed a smaller workout that Luke and I might do. The group was going to swim 75 yards at a time, stop and then discuss triathlon techniques. I told Luke we'd swim a little less. Well the group started out and Luke started out right in the front of all theses adults. Swimming pretty good for the first 15 yards. I couldn't see him too much but I knew he was right by my side. After this he stopped and looked at me with those nervous eyes and said, "Dad let's swim closer to shore." No problem, and we headed in and swam with Bobby and his mom for the rest of the hour. Great day and we ended it at McDonald's on our way home. We try to always review our day and find our favorite part, what we should be thankful for or what we could have done better. I thought it would have been better to have seats in the sun at the game because we got pretty cold. I thought we should have practiced swimming in the bay before other people got there like Luke had suggested. I then asked Luke how it could have been better. He wanted to catch a baseball at the game. I agreed, that would be cool. We then discussed why he got nervous and wanted to head back to shore. He said he looked back as he was swimming and realized how far he was from shore. He said he'd never do that again because it distracted him. He said "Dad, that's the key, don't look backward, just look at what's in front of you."

I think I learn as much from Luke as he learns from me. He is braver. He has growing wisdom and I pray that we can keep him from any harm until he becomes a full-grown Christian man on his own.