Road to Ironman Arizona 2008

http://davidandnik.blogspot.com/

2008-04-27T08:21:00.000-07:00

this concludes "road to ironman arizona 2008"

blog is moving :)

change your links

much love,

d

http://davidandnik.blogspot.com/

Ironman

2008-04-22T13:08:00.000-07:00

I did it. The Ironman, that is. I swam 2.4 miles. I cycled 112 miles. And then I ran a marathon, 26.2 miles. I finished in 12 hours, 48 minutes and 57 seconds.

What an experience. I have learned so much through this experience. The thought of trying to put it all in to words has deterred me from starting this post, but I'll do my best to give you my take on everything.

Cliff Notes version:

1) I trained a long time for the Ironman.
2) I sacrificed A LOT in training for the Ironman.
3) I completed the Ironman.
4) I was completely humbled by the Ironman.
5) I am grateful for the experience of Ironman.

Now for the dedicated readers...here is a play-by-play:

Nikki and I showed up to transition to drop my bike off the day before the race. Here we stopped to take a pic at the entrance to Ironman village

Here's a pic of me obsessing over how I want to rack my bike

more obsessing...

It was so great when Nikki finally arrived in Tempe. Sometimes I wonder how I got as far as I did in life without her... She is an angel. My own little angel.

Here are some pics in transition about 45 minutes before the swim start on race day

Soon after this picture, we said our goodbyes and Nikki went up to the bridge to watch the swim start with Andrew and my mom

It didn't hit me that I was doing an Ironman until I was standing on the dock about to jump in to the water. Now this is weird...Nikki took a picture of a group of people having no idea if I was in it or not. I don't know how she knows this but if you look at the purple circle, apparently that's me with the sun shining in my face. I was about to jump in to the lake and swim to the start line...

the swim start

yes, the swim start was this crazy...

THE SWIM

When I first started triathlon, the discipline I was the worst at was swimming. So it just blows my mind that I had such a great swim...1 hour, 5 minutes and 16 seconds. Good enough for 352 overall (out of ~2100 people). But there's more to it than that...

My goal was to get the good water and sprint for a bit at the beginning and then merge in with a pack and draft the entire way. Well...I think I got a little too excited when the cannon when off. I sprinted out and started to back off, but there were some folks behind me that weren't done sprinting just yet! Goggle kicked into my eyeball and then other goggle leaking....can't stop to fix it to risk being drowned by several hundred animals wanting to climb over me and get on down the road. Result? I think I had me-self a little panic attack. Mind you, this has NEVER happened to me in a race before. Never. I've been kicked and scraped and swam over many times, but never like this. I literally couldn't breathe. I would come up for a breath and it felt like I couldn't inhale. It was strange and frightening. I tried to settle down but it was hard. I estimate that with the panic attack my heart rate was near the 190s, and I have no idea how long it stayed there... Translation = not good.

In my mind, I had screwed up the swim royally. The rest of the way I felt like I was just trying to salvage my mistakes from the very beginning. Looking back I think I was just caught up in all the Ironman hype. It was too big of a deal in my head to just relax. I guess that's just part of being a first-timer, I don't know.

I drafted most of the way and was happy to get out of the water...not too bad. The first time I knew that I'd had a great swim was after I crossed the finish line.

T1
I ran to get my T1 bag and headed for the tent. What the hell?!! Not what I had expected. This tent was MADNESS. People everywhere, chaotic. I had envisioned much less people and more space to move around. Oh well, put the bike stuff on and get the heck outta there. Hopped on my bike and off I went.

running out of T1

here i am getting on my bike after the mount line (back left, blue shirt)

THE BIKE
As soon as I got clipped in, I looked down at my heart rate = 170. too high. I had been sitting down in transition for 5 minutes and it was 170. That spoke to how rattled I got in the swim. I knew I needed to relax and my goal was to get my heart rate down to 130 before I began to go after it on the bike.

While I was waiting for my HR to come down, 500 people must have passed me. It was hard to be patient and I tried to listen to Ahmed's words stuck in my head saying "Stick to the plan!" So I let them all pass while my HR came down slowly but it never settled until 45minutes in.

On the bike I was met with a stiff headwind a few miles outside the transition and it lasted about 1hr and 20minutes until I got to the turn-around. Then I came back in 40minutes. Repeat 2 times. The winds started to wear me down a little bit on the 2nd loop but on the 3rd loop I felt really good and was hopeful to continue feeling good.

At some point during the 3rd bike loop the temperature started to creep in to the 90s. Hot. I was drinking over 50oz of water an hour and felt pretty good about my nutrition. However there just came a point later on to where I just physically couldn't take in as much water as I was losing. I passed 100-200 people on the last loop and while it wasn't 500 people I passed, I still felt good that I was finished stronger than anyone around me...

The winds were tough and I was definitely ready to get off the bike, my time = 6:10:46. With the 30mph gusts and temperatures in the 90s, I later heard that to break 6 hours was a big deal that day. I was close...

As soon as I dismounted my bike, I tried to run to get my T2 bag. Let me just tell you, I felt like the most un-coordinated person in the world trying to run after 6 hrs on the bike. My body just didn't want to, but I did anyways.

I could really feel the heat now, I knew it would be a tough run. I ran out of T2 after a long transition (even though I went as fast as I could) and had high hopes for a good run. I mean, I had hit my nutrition perfect on the bike, so why wouldn't I?

THE RUN

Mother Nature laughs!

I ran 10miles before I was forced to walk. And when I started to walk, it was really hard to get running again. I set little goals for myself, jog 5minutes, walk 5minutes, stuff like that. The heat was brutal. It really was. It got to the point that I was making mile goals for myself. Then at the next mile marker, I would set a goal for the next mile. That was the longest 16 miles of my life. I felt pretty bad until the sun went down and as soon as my body cooled off I could function better but the damage was done.

a picture speaks 1000 words...

Many times during the run I would glance down at my arm and be reminded that I wasn't alone. I got this decal from the IronPrayer service the night before where I was encouraged by other believers, including Heather Gollnick...I highly recommend this service to anyone doing Ironman

It also didn't hurt to know that this lovely young lady was waiting for me at the finish line. That kept me putting one foot in front of the other...

After walking so much I promised myself I would run the last two miles, no matter how much it hurt. I don't know how fast those last two miles were, but I didn't feel them I can tell you that. It was almost easy to suffer knowing that it would soon be over. I could hear the crowds now. Running faster. I can see the finish line. And honestly I couldn't tell you much past that. Before I knew it I was hugging Nikki and just so glad to be done. run 5:22:27

Anti-climatic finish. Please read Kathi Werden's blog, she explains it much better than me!

In Kathi's words:

"Well, not to spoil things for you… but… My Ironman FINISH LINE really… not that AMAZING… not that AWESOME… nothing LIFE CHANGING… however IT WAS.... painful, it was dusty, it was sweaty, it was very quick and it was half blurry (one of my contacts had to come out)….and IT WAS loud, crazy, even energetic..borderline chaotic… but not so much AMAZING."

I think the start line feeling was amazing. Finishing my first sprint distance triathlon was amazing too. But finishing the Ironman...

I do remember not being able to stand up straight. Or maybe I didn't want to stand up straight. I was just straight up tired.

The real heroes of this thing are all the people that came out to support me and spectated in 96 degree heat all day. THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart to Nikki, I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you, to Mom, thank you for all the sacrifices you made to get there - I love you, to Dad, for always being there for me no matter what, to Andrew, you have been my friend longer than anybody else on this earth and I respect you to no end, to Eric and Lauren, what a special new friendship and how I have enjoyed getting to know you guys and can't wait to get to know you better.

Eric and Lauren got engaged the previous day!!!!

Post-Ironman Thoughts
I think it was good for me to be humbled. I definitely have a greater respect for that distance now. I am looking forward to doing some shorter distance stuff for now and taking a mental and physical break from everything!

I am glad the Ironman didn't live up to my expectations. It reminded me of how I have put others things up on a pedastool in the past, only to be let down over and over again. Maybe one day I'll learn. Until then, I still love triathlon...it is a great way to stay healthy and it's fun. And slowly I am realizing that the more seriousness I bring to triathlon, the less fun I have. But I am still competitive by nature and probably always will be...I'll keep searching for that balance :)

Thanks for keeping track of the journey. I'll never forget it.

As for now, I can walk away from Ironman and be proud of what I accomplished. I learned a lot on april 13th, not so much about triathlon, but about life and myself.

The Storm before The Calm

2008-04-11T13:47:00.000-07:00

Today is calm, finally. I have been able to relax and exhale from all of the stress from the past two days. I've had some time to rest my mind, and I slept like a rock like night so my body feels great as well. As the race gets closer and closer I must steal Nikki's words to describe how I feel:

"I'm psyched outta my mind for Sunday!!!"

The forecast shows for a hot day...it will get up to 96 degrees while I am running the marathon. Ouch! But I welcome the challenge, I wouldn't want a cake walk to the finish line.

Okay, now to tell you about the last couple of days...NIGHTMARE.

Wednesday

Found out at 11am that my 4:20pm flight was canceled but couldn't do anything about it because I had class until 1pm
Spent a total of 3hours on the phone with the airlines, car rental, etc. trying to clean up the mess
Got confirmation for a flight later that evening connecting through Vegas, would put me in Phoenix by 1am
Nikki took me to the airport and I noticed a direct flight leaving for Phoenix in 30 minutes, so we sprinted across 2 terminals
The guy at the counter told me the standby list was 15 people deep and that I didn't stand a chance
I hung around anyways and sure enough, only 4 of the 15 people were there, so I got on the flight!
Problem: Luggage was checked in at AA and headed to Vegas... I was on a US Airways flight to Phoenix
Realization: This is not good!
Got to Phoenix and no luggage of course, filled out a lost luggage file and left to go get rental car
Showed up to Brad and Lorie's house about 10pm with only my carry-on
Hopeful for my luggage to show up in the AM so that I could do some light workouts on Thursday
Tried to sleep but plagued by the possibility that my luggage is in outer space

Thursday

Woke up and called baggage people first thing, no luck
Went to pick up packet at race site and stood in lines for about an hour
Called baggage people again and they could not locate my bag
Noon: I think I lost it! Seriously started freaking out
I began to make a list (THANK YOU Kathi Werden, you salvaged some of my sanity) of everything I would need to get to replace almost ALL of my gear
My sister Sarah called me and let me know that her flight was canceled as well and they couldn't put her or my mom on a flight to PHX until Monday, so she canceled the trip
Overwhelmed
Headache, a big one. Feeling sorry for myself? a little bit!
The whole time I am talking to Nikki and she is feeling all of this stress with me - thank you baby, you saved me from a mental breakdown!
Sam Whiting then called and offered to fedex me his wetsuit (we wear the same desoto 2 piece size 5) and all of his race gear including bike necessities - thank you Sam
Gail Leveque already had an email in to local bike shops and personnel to help as much as possible
I was gonna get this done, how could I not with all of these amazing people helping me?
And then in that moment I realized what AMAZING PEOPLE I have met in triathlon and how in that moment so many people came together and were willing to help me
Wow
I then decided to go to the airport just because I have learned that there is only so much you can do over the phone...it ALWAYS helps to be there in person to work through things
So I showed up and they gave me hope that for some reason they did not want to share with me over the phone: "Sir, your bag 'should' be on the next flight from Vegas which arrives in 30 minutes."
Hallelujah! But I tried not to get my hopes up because...well, I don't know why. I just found it hard to trust the whole process anymore
So I went to the bagel and coffee shop, ate, surfed the web, and prayed
I wanted my bag to show up soooo badly, I didn't want to have to go through all this other mess...
I went back downstairs to baggage claim after some coffee and saw the big blue duffel with the nike swoosh on the side and I am not kidding you I got emotional about it.
Relief. Relief like you have no idea relief.
Breath
And off to pick up my bike from tribiketransport.com
Stood in line for another hour - it was in the sun too and I remember thinking after 45min "this is hot" -- later on the way home I found out it was 78 degrees. god help me when I'm running and it's 96! anyways...
So I finally get somebody to escort me to my bike and neither of us could find it for a bit. Par for the course, I thought. It was the last bike on the end, hiding a bit.
Ah, I get the first sense that it's all going to come together.
I take my stuff back to Brad & Lorie's and then get back in the car to meet Aaron Patel up at 87th and McDowell.
I never found him, and I swear I was at that intersection. Now I'm wondering if it was 82nd... I drove back home in rush hour and looked at the clock and realized I'd been driving for 2 hours with no bike ride.
What a day
I rode around the neighborhood for a bit and then headed in
Lorie cooked an amazing dinner and told Ironman stories. Brad told stories about his working life. It was a fabulous end to a hell of a day.

And like I said, today has been so peaceful. I was listening to "New Day" by Robbie Seay and I truly felt it and was grateful for new beginnings and the fact that we can put yesterday behind us.

And then I listened to "Fix You" by Coldplay and closed my eyes to try and feel what it'll be like to cross that finish line on Sunday with Nikki and mom and dad there... More emotions surfaced as I began to feel connected to the big picture and realize that all this has nothing to do with me racing but everything to do with life's experiences

Heavy on my mind lately are the souls in my life that are either on their way out or just arriving:
Mandy and B, both in their last days...
Strohm and Campbell, newborn babies

More to come later. Nikki arrives this evening and I can't wait to see her. Next time I blog will be after April 13th.

I'm sure there will be a lot to tell...

9 days away...

2008-04-04T08:09:00.000-07:00

Since 2003, I have run 3,930 miles.

And since 2005, I have cycled 12,270 miles and have swum nearly 602,000 meters.

I started running 5 years ago.

I clearly remember being in grad school and setting the goal of running 5 miles without stopping. I wrote it down and everything. This was huge for me at the the time.

One night later that semester I was feeling motivated and went up to the Student Life Center at Baylor with my new shoes from Luke's and attempted the 5 mile run on a treadmill. I was stepping in to the unknown!

It was such a satisfying feeling to finish that run. I remember how invigorated I felt. A few months later I attempted the 8 mile Turkey Trot and then a few months after that a half marathon and on and on and on it went...

In 9 days I will attempt a full distance triathlon in Tempe, Arizona. 2.4 mile swim. 112 miles on the bike. A 26.2 marathon run. Five years ago if you would have told me I'd be doing an Ironman, I would have told you that you are crazy!

So much has gone in to preparing for this race on April 13th...

I can't wait to do this! The journey has been amazing. And the training has been a lot of fun.

You can track me on race day at: www.ironman.com

I'll be wearing bib number 318.

Thanks for all your support along the way!

David

P.S. I can't even begin to describe to you how much food I have eaten over the past few months to keep up with this training...it's ridiculous!

Nikki gets clip-in shoes :)

2008-03-27T10:27:00.000-07:00

Nikki is taking up cycling with me and I couldn't be happier about it! I see it as something we can enjoy together for a long time to come. So she got clip-in shoes and she was really excited about it to say the least!

She's a natural of course, like in everything she tries....including swimming

She looked so beautiful in her new dress that I had to get a pic of her!

Mandy is dying

2008-03-04T10:44:00.000-08:00

Sorry for being so blunt. Mandy has lymphosarcoma and it is uncertain how much longer she will be with us.

I took her in for her yearly visit and mentioned to the vet that her lymph nodes had been a little bit swollen. I also said that one day she had been breathing funny and had been randomly vomiting. I thought it was just a virus or something. I was wrong.

Cancer.

Wow, this is pretty hard. The day I found out I was pretty emotional about it. Mandy has been by my side for 8 years now. She has been such an awesome dog.

But I am choosing to focus on the fact that she is still alive and everyday she wakes up with me is a good day, regardless of how hard it is to see the cancer slowly take over.

More to follow soon...

Since we found out, Mandy has had many visitors come over.... apparently she is very loved!

Kona Hawaii Camp

2008-02-04T11:48:00.000-08:00

Well, a blog posting has been long overdue. I need to update you on how training has been going...

I just spent a week on the big island of Hawai'i training in the little village town of Kona. It was an amazing experience. I learned an endless amount of information about triathlon. And of course, I got in some killer training as well. I can definitely say that I will have a better season because of it. No question about that.

My first challenge upon arriving in Kona was to put my bike together

It took me 1hour and 20minutes, but I did it. A big "THANK YOU" goes out to Adrian at Bicycles Plus for teaching me EVERYTHING about how to build up my bike. Cheers bro.

Here is the view from my condo

We swam at the pier every morning...right on the corner where Palani turns into Alii Drive. It is the same spot where the Ironman World Championship swim start and run finish are located.

The swims were so beautiful. The water was perfectly clear and I could see the bottom of the ocean the entire swim. Most days consisted of a 1.2mile swim followed by 1hour of open water swim start simulations.

The open water swim simulations were not beautiful! They were more violent, but really good practice for racing.

Most of the rides we did were along the west coast of the big island on a road called the "Queen K." I would ride for 100 miles and never clip out, all while looking at the ocean while I was riding. Not kidding. Unreal, eh? Well, there could be some pretty unreal winds as well! Which was really nice when it was a tailwind, but the headwinds...oh my. On Thursday we cycled to Hawi and back, which the same route they ride on the Ironman Championship course. It was an experience because we got into some pretty chilly, wet weather in Hawi and we weren't sure how long we were going to have to deal with the nasty weather. It ended up fine and we rode a tailwind for a good portion of the way home. With inclement weather and all, I did the Ironman course in under 5:30 and that was in my training pace. Those of you who know my cycling ability just thought, "Damn that must have been a HELLUVA tailwind!" haha, it was though - i looked down at one point and we were holding 37mph for quite a while. When we stopped for a break once, Ahmed said, "This is what we do in heaven." Well, I think heaven will be a little better than that, but it was still sweet. What a great finish to the week that ride was...

Here's a pic of a small group of us at the halfway point in Hawi (from L to R: Chris Moody - my roommate for the week, Aaron Patel, me & Wayne Reid)

The runs were on Alii Drive. I ran alongside the ocean...it was sometimes hard for me to focus on training because the scenery was so breathtaking to me. It's been a long time since I have experienced God's beauty like that. I found myself staring into the ocean a lot and watching sunsets, marveling at God's creation. I mean, come on, it's not like you see those kinds of things in Dallas, Texas ever!

Chillin' after a tough tempo run

Me taking in some Accelerade at one of the SAG stops on the run

Just enjoying a run...

When I wasn't training, I was sleeping. When I wasn't sleeping, I was eating!

When I wasn't eating, I was in a lecture

So by the end of the camp I got around ~30hours of training in. That consisted of 7-8hours of swimming, 16-17hours of cycling and 5hours of running. I ate A LOT!! And as hard as the camp was, my body responded well and I feel great. I am more confident about my abilities and am more excited as Ironman day approaches.

I will return here one day :)

The best part of the camp was the people I was able to train with. The people involved with Playtri are such amazing people and I consider it a honor and a pleasure to get to know all of them.

Last day in Kona

Cookout

Here is a picture of everybody after the Kaloko climb (the HARDEST climb I've EVER done)

Until next time, hang loose!!

-d

New Hope...

2007-12-23T07:02:00.000-08:00

For the last year or two, I noticed that Mandy had somewhat lost interest in fetching. She used to be a maniac! I would have to cut her off at 20 throws and that would usually take about 15 minutes or so. I use the "Chuck it" which is amazing and launches the ball really far. I highly recommend!

You see, Mandy doesn't know when to stop and take a water break so I would always have to cut her off to make sure she didn't overheat or something (especially in the summer).

Well, that 20 number has slowly diminished to about 5 over the last two years. After a few tosses with the Chuck it, she just loses interest or runs back to me really slowly or would rather sniff around and pee on every other dog's pee instead of fetch. I thought she was just getting old and this was part of it. I've always tried my hardest to keep her in good shape and take her on walks and throw the ball with her so it kind of bothered me when this was happening.

Today we threw the ball 20 times and I had to cut her off. Maybe it was because it had to be the perfect day...maybe it's b/c her dog friend Autumn wasn't there to compete for her attention...maybe she's not "getting old" after all and she's getting healthier every year! She'll be 8 years old in March. I love pets, I really do. I think we can learn a lot from them if we just slow down, listen and observe.

Here she is today after her 20 fetches (I did give her longer rest intervals between #'s 10 & 11 and 13 & 14 - haha, that was a joke but i really did):

I also have new hope today because I had a pretty scary experience on the bike yesterday. I got cought out in some bad weather. The temperature dropped significantly and I found myself riding into 40mph gusts of wind. I was truly fearful because my body was acting funny and I had to pee like every 5 minutes. Everytime I stopped to pee I got colder and colder. I prayed. And god sent me an angel in Joe Sullivan from Sherman, Texas. Joe picked me up in his mail truck and drove me to safety. Thank you Joe. I was desperate and you helped me. I see life through different lenses today. Merry Christmas.

Matthew 25:35-36
35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.

December 9th - Nikki says "Yes!"

2007-12-10T15:50:00.000-08:00

I knew it was going to be great. But I had NO IDEA getting engaged would be this wonderful. There are so many precious moments from this past Sunday. It almost seems impossible to capture them all but I'm gonna try! I had an amazing time planning all of this out for Nikki. I wanted this to be the BEST day of her life!

Pre-Race

Nikki showed up to my place in Carrollton around 6:30am. Why? Because she was going to run the Dallas White Rock Marathon. That's why! 26.2 miles. I filmed her as she walked through the door... see for yourself! {the video is at the very bottom of this blog post...}

Nikki was really excited about her "race outfit" and "pre-race outfit." I assured her how beautiful she looked as she modeled them for me. I was so impressed at how calm and confident she was before the race. I told her that this was her day!! And that I didn't want her to have to worry about anything at all. She seemed to really appreciate that.

Marathon start - American Airlines Center

We arrived at about 7:30am with virtually no traffic. Nikki enjoyed not having to know anything about the directions and all that stuff. She just sat there and smiled, very giddy and obviously excited for the race!

We sat in the car about 5 minutes too long. Nikki wanted to take pictures of our clif wristbands. Also, Nikki lost a pin for her bib so that took extra time (haha).

At around 7:50am we started running to the start line and Nikki was shivering she was so cold...so I lost my jacket, but she looks good in it, huh?

About this time I get a call from Jill & Terry and we meet by the start line to send Nik off. Nikki was so happy to see some family before her race! That's Victory Park in the background.

Nikki ran the race for her late grandfather who passed away about 1 year ago. Her mom brought his picture to show to Nikki right before the start to remind her. Nikki tried not to get emotional...he's the one to introduced Nikki to running when she was a kid.

Nik & I said our goodbyes and I gave her one last little pep-talk. Look at how excited she is!

The Marathon

Jill and Terry rode with me in my car and we went to see Nikki between miles 5 & 6 in Highland Park. She looked like she was barely even trying! We dropped by Starbucks to kill some time and then we saw her again right after mile 12 (see below).

We saw her one more time around mile 16 and that's where we met up with David, Laura and Chris. I was wondering if Nikki was cold out there...Jill decided to offer Nik her warm headband and Nikki didn't hesitate in accepting it!

Nikki's brother, Chris, ran with her for about the last 6 miles of the run and he ran in his jeans! You are the man, Chris. Here's a picture of me trying to keep up with them at mile 26... Clearly, Nikki is too fast for novices like myself :)

Post-race Analysis

Okay, so who knew we had a future Olympian in our midst? Nikki finished her first marathon WITH EASE in 4 hours, 2 minutes and 9 seconds. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? I was so impressed. We thought at best she would finish in about 4 1/2 hours. I was so proud of her in this moment (see picture). I still am so proud and she has some amazing potential in endurance sports should she ever want to pursue it.

This is definitely my FAVORITE moment of her race, right when she came out of the finishing gate.

As we were walking back to the car I caught a moment of Nikki playing around with Jill, Terry and Chris.

Food time!

Nikki wanted to go to Fadi's off 75 & Knox. I took her there after the U.S. Open Triathlon back in October and she loved it. So we shared a Fadi's Sampler with Chicken Schwarma like we always do. At lunch Nikki said "This is the best day of my life!" My plan was working, but she had NO IDEA what was about to come!

Some time to kill...

Nikki finished the marathon so fast that it threw a kink in my plans! We had some time to kill so we went to my mom's house and napped a bit during the Cowboys game.

1st Surprise

I told Nikki I had a surprise for her and we got in my car and started driving. We went to the Cooper Fitness Center and I had scheduled her a massage. She loved it and I tried to build it up like that was the "big surprise!" haha

The Best Surprise

After she came out of her massage, I took her to my car and got out a bag and then convinced her to go on a walk with me. We went to a pretty area with a pond and a fountain and a white bench. It was a beautifully misty, cold evening around 5:30pm and about 40 degrees! I had started a memory book for her and even had pictures from that morning's marathon in there. I had fun building it up like a scrapbook (and you all know how OCD I am about that kind of stuff!) It had to be perfect for her.

She loved the book and I handed it to her to look at it herself. She turned it to the last page and the title read "The Day of My Engagement." Nikki froze. No emotion. It was like she wanted to believe it but thought there was NO WAY I could sneak something like this past her! I had been playing dumb about the whole ring thing to her, when in reality I had been doing lots of work behind the scenes. I had also spoken to her parents, of which she had no idea about. I tried to tell her that "yes, today is the day of your engagement." I then read a poem to her that I wrote myself. I don't think she heard a word of it! Then I got down on one knee and got to tell her how much I loved her. And then I asked if she would marry me, and she said "yes!" Here's a picture like 5 minutes after I proposed:

We spent about an hour out in the cold just enjoying the moment. We prayed together and just laughed and giggled a lot. It was a very special moment I will never forget.

Dinner

I wasn't done surprising Nik. We had never gone out to eat and "dressed fancy" before. That's how Nik says it. So I surprised her with a really nice dinner at La Duni. It was amazing food. Nik couldn't stop looking at her ring :)

In the middle of dinner, the waiter came and surprised us with a bottle of champaign. Reed and Whitney had sent it to us from Nashville. HOW COOL IS THAT?!! Wow, we felt so grateful to have such amazing friends at that moment. The night couldn't get any better if it tried...

Look how happy she is!

The ring...

What an amazing day...

2007-12-07T13:06:00.000-08:00

Ok, so it's December 7th. December.

I had a 2 hour ride this morning and I knew it was going to be warmer outside, but I didn't know it was going to be so stinkin' BEAUTIFUL! About 20 minutes into the ride the arm warmers came off and I enjoyed the warm sun on my skin. It was perfect. I was smiling as I was riding, just laughing at how wonderful of a day it was and how I was getting to enjoy it.

Ah, it was so nice. And then I surprised Nik for lunch and we had a great time. She's so beautiful...We don't see each other near as often as we'd like.

So after that amazing ride and a wonderful lunch with Nik, there's no way this day could get better! Well, actually I got a bluetooth today and that's pretty cool (I HATE holding telephones to my ear, HATE IT!).

Got lots more to do so I'd better go!

D

P.S. Nik and I did not get the Discovery Channel gig. We were finalists and some couple from Oklahoma got it. BOO! It was for Alaska week in November...it would've been sweet. Next time we'll get 'em.

Nikki and I on The Discovery Channel?!

2007-10-20T09:58:00.000-07:00

Stay Tuned!!

October 2007

2007-10-19T14:02:00.000-07:00

elite age group overall

Let's do this in picture-book format...I mean, pictures are always better, right?! A big thank you to Nikki for taking all of the pictures...you are AWESOME!

Nervous before the swim start

Watching the pro wave go off

I was so tired of waiting and ready to get the show on the road! (friends: do not allow me to stand like that! Insist i have better posture, pls!

Uhhhh, I can't believe Nik took this pic. You figure it out!

It was a great swim, I felt strong coming out of the water but my freakin' goggles wouldn't stop fogging up!

Sweet bike, huh?

Start of the 10k run...my goal was to run a sub 7min pace per mile. I ran a 6:45 :)

This is the start of the second loop on the run. I was feeling good but it still hurt.

September 2007

2007-10-19T13:46:00.000-07:00

Texas Man Sprint

This was a fun race but I'm sick of the location. I think I've done like 3 or 4 races out at Lake Ray Roberts and I will not be going back there any time soon! age group overall

Tour des Fleurs
Nikki ran the 20k and I was the start/finish line director. This was an amazing race - Stacy and Bart do a spectacular job at managing a race. This is a top-notch event! I felt honored to be a part.

Stonebridge Ranch Triathlon

I am starting to get it...this whole triathlon thing. For the first time I came to grips with how far I have to go before I'm ready to really compete. This was a good realization because I think it's good to pay your dues. I'm just really excited that I've started this sport while I'm so young... open division overall

August 2007

2007-10-19T13:11:00.000-07:00

River Cities Triathlon

This was an interesting experience. I stayed in Shreveport with 3 people I had never even met before. They were Elizabeth Halliburton's friends and I just went along with it. Turns out one of the girls went to Lake Highlands HS and one of the guys went to North Mesquite HS. Small world! It made for some good conversation, anyways.

So the race was OK. I'm not doing River Cities next year. I just don't care that much to go down there for it again. I mean, the race packet is always amazing but I'm over it.

I had unrealistic expectations going into this race. My results were not as good as last year's and I made judgments based on that fact alone. Stupid reasoning really. My training has been awesome and to use my "time" as a measuring stick from one year to the next, given my goal right now is to do an Ironman, is just not too smart right now. So this race allowed me to re-focus really what the heck my goals are and why I'm doing what I'm doing. age group overall

Accelerade

I teamed up with Justin Finck from Austin to start representing and promoting Accelerade in Dallas. This has been a cool way to get the word out on a great product and meet tons of great people.

July 2007

2007-10-19T12:47:00.000-07:00

This blog update is soooooooooooooooooooooo overdue! I knew I would eventually get around to it. It's been 3 months since I last updated it. You know what it took? I finally had to schedule it on my calendar, haha! Seriously, life has been so busy that "updating my blog" has become an appointment on my calendar. But anyways, I'm glad to finally be here and share what has been going on with me the last couple of months.

New Car
The 1996 Honda Civic finally died. The transmission gave out on me. It had about 140,000 miles on it. I wanted to drive that thing for another year or two but oh well. I ended up donating it to the Dallas Can Academy...I think it sold for like $2250 at a car auction, which totally surprised me.

I love my new car and it's so much more convenient for triathlon stuff (and much more comfortable for a tall guy). It was a LONG and stressful process to find a car for me. Let's just say I will be driving this one until it dies, just like the Civic. So I got a brand new Honda CR-V. I bought a bike rack from craig's list for it and really overall I like it more and more everyday. The dealership insisted that they take a picture of me with the car, so here you go!

Ella
Lauri came in town to Dallas for her last medical school rotations and she brought little Ella with her. We had a birthday party for her at Mom's house, and I found it funny that a group of about 10 adults was sitting there watching a one-year old open gifts! It was funny how short her attention span was...Lauri was having to re-direct Ella back to the next new gift to open. Funny stuff. Here's one of many pics I made Lauri take of me and Ella. She's cute, huh?

Job!

2007-07-17T12:09:00.000-07:00

I got the job at SMU!

Awesome.

I'll be teaching a class called 'Concepts of Wellness.' It's a required course comprised mostly of college freshmen.

I'm really excited about this opportunity! It really is a perfect fit for me right now.

A lot of you are asking and the answer is "not sure yet!" - I am looking in to PhD programs now, so we'll see...

Thanks for your prayers along the way. I really appreciate it.

Disco Mania!

2007-07-08T14:38:00.000-07:00

The Disco "Duathlon" was held at Lake Ray Roberts for the second year running now. The first year (2005) it was at Lake Grapevine over by Sand Bass Point...I'll never forget it because that was my first tri! Wow, if I'd only have known maybe I never would have gotten started...jk!

The swim was 86'ed because the water levels are too high. Nobody would have believed that to be possible a year ago. So since a swim was not possible, another run was added...thus making it a duathlon - run, bike, run. It was my first one.

I took the first mile super easy...I knew that tons of people would go out too hard and that I would pass them on the bike. So I believe after the first mile I was 55th or so?! Whatever, no worries because I passed about 50 people on the bike. My success on the bike this year has been the biggest surprise for me...I didn't expect that but I have put in a ton of miles over the last year so most likely it is paying off (not to mention a better training program as well). The 5k felt good after the bike. I finished the race strong again and was very happy with the results.....6th place overall. I'll take it. But all in all, I really don't care about 6th place (I know, I can hear the snickers out there...), but it's true. To me the most important thing is that my confidence is growing and that my best years are yet to come.

Speaking of that, I read this the other day and it really fits where I'm at right now as far as training goes:

"If you have the desire to be the best, you must be willing to serve an
apprenticeship. It takes a very long time to become a master at any skill.
Typically, those who are new to the sport place too much pressure on themselves
to perform at a high level (ME!). By realizing that an apprenticeship is required, and committing to paying your dues over the long term, you will enjoy the journey more and enable yourself to achieve a higher level of ultimate performance."

I can be patient :P

Race Results click here

Yes! - A triathlon...........finally

2007-06-25T06:23:00.000-07:00

So I finally got around to doing a triathlon - the Tri-Raider Sprint in Lubbock, Texas. It was great weather and a solid training race for me. Overall I was pleased.

I woke up around 4am but made myself lay there until about 5am. I didn't get much sleep because I just couldn't, but I had been getting good rest all week it wasn't a big deal.

I went downstairs and got some coffee. I didn't drink coffee the entire week leading up to the race so that it would really have an effect on me! Too bad for me that when I went down for a second cup I found out that I got decaf the first time. Idiot! Oh well, I got caffeinated every time after that so I was good to go. Caffeine really does work by the way. I found this out a couple of weeks ago when I did a swim workout after a venti drip from starbucks...Let me just put it this way - I looked down at my watch after a 600-yard set and thought that I'd skipped a lap! I did the set again just to make sure I wasn't crazy. Well, it was legit! Caffeine improves my performance big time.....anyways, moving on!

So I show up to the race site with plenty of time to warm-up. I get on my bike first and go for a quick 15-min spin. Then I went for a 10-min jog and everything was still feeling good. It was overcast and felt pretty cool, maybe in the high 70s. I made my way down to the swim start and got about 10-min of swimming in after a dryland warm-up. I was ready.

The swim was a beach start - everybody lined up shoulder-to-shoulder on the shoreline and then went for it at the horn. I ran out and purposefully sprinted the first 100m or so. After that I was looking for somebody to draft behind but never really found a good opportunity. I basically went it alone, which was fine but I was still a little disappointed. My swim felt "average" and I know I can do better than that.

The bike was sweet. It had a few serious hills but other than that it was flat and fast. I found a good group to stick with and rode nice and easy the entire way, staying in my race pace HR zone. This was so simple to do because normally I just red-line it and go all out. My T2 transition sucked though. I came in to transition and went down the wrong bikerack isle. Idiot! #$%@!!! That's such a stupid mistake to make, but I did it.

On the run I stayed in my race pace HR zone as well. It felt really good. For the first time in my life I finished a triathlon feeling STRONG! Seriously, it was nothing compared to how I usually push myself. And I still finished in the Top 10 overall. It's hard to to not think about all the "what if's", for example "What if I did go all out, I could have placed so much higher and maybe I could have......" but that just isn't my mindset right now. There'll be time for that later. I did what I was supposed to do and had a solid performance.

Race results click here

USA Triathlon Coach and Summer update

2007-06-05T09:19:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I just got back from Clermont, Florida where I completed Level I certification to be a USA Triathlon coach. Pretty cool stuff. I learned a ton and am becoming more and more confident in what I have to offer as a coach. I brought the rainy Texas weather with me...didn't see the sun in Florida until the last day due to the tropical storms all around. Overall, great trip but I'm glad to be back in Texas so I can get back to some training.

I enjoyed the week off from school. Man I needed the rest and break more than I knew. Teaching in public school is over...time for a change!

This week I am more focused on following through with contacts and networking to line up a job for the fall. A lot of people seem intimidated by this process and freak out if they don't have a job lined up. I welcome it and am actually excited about searching for a line of work that will be a great fit. It's out there and I trust that God will lead me to the right place.

I finally have some races on the schedule that I'm excited about: Tri Raider sprint in June (Lubbock, Tx), Disco Triathlon in July (Denton, Tx) and River Cities in August (Shreveport, LA). I'm sure I'll have a late season Olympic distance and Half IM but not sure which ones yet...maybe Texas Man Half in September, we'll see.

That's it for now. More to come soon I'm sure.

Buffalo Springs Triathlon Camp

2007-05-20T10:47:00.000-07:00

Hah, my first tri camp was a blast! I got to pretend for two days that my job was training. It's a tough life, huh?!

Thursday night I was hanging out with some of the other people at the camp and I heard them talk about how it was supposed to be rainy and cold all weekend. I thought they were joking. But they weren't. Well, I hadn't packed ANY warm clothing! What I brought was based on the weather that week in Dallas - 70s & 80s and sunny!

So I show up to Buffalo Springs Lake on Friday at 7am for a 62-mile ride and it's about 50 degrees and raining. Of course all I have on is my short sleeve jersey and bibshort, feeling like a schmuck for not bringing the right gear. But the honest truth is that I was not cold once on the ride. I just had to block it out. About 20 miles into the ride, it was pouring down rain and I have the biggest grin on my face and was thinking to myself, "I'm the luckiest guy in the world right now!" And I am :)

Saturday we had an open water swim session from 7-9am. Then hill repeats on the bike on the 70.3 course from 10-11am, and then ran 11 miles with hill repeats on the course at 1pm. I haven't run that long or far in over 6 months because of the injury. So I was pumped to do that! A transition clinic followed and then it was time to eat. My appetite was insatiable! Seriously, I kept eating all night long and never got full.

Awesome trip.

Coaching Triathletes

2007-05-20T10:24:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's true!

I am coaching with Ahmed Zaher and the good folks at Playtri. This is going to be a really good partnership that I couldn't be more excited about. Check out the website: http://www.playtri.com/david.php

I spent a weekend with Ahmed and the other Playtri coaches, going through the certification and learning the in's and out's of how they train their athletes. I couldn't believe the amount of detail that goes in to structuring periodization for a client. It's unbelievable how thorough and much attention to detail is spent on every plan. For those who know me well - perfect for me, huh?!

Overall, I am pumped about helping others reach their fitness-related goals.

See you next time!

Just like old times...

2007-04-30T19:43:00.000-07:00

I love it when circumstances bring friends together.

This weekend that cirsumstance happened to be my best friend Reed coming in town from Nashville. He turned 30 on Saturday. Whitney's present to him was a trip to Dallas to hang out with his friends.

THANK YOU WHIT!

It was long overdue, I must say. It had been almost 2 years. But after about 2 minutes of hanging out, that 2 years vanished.

Having all the college roommates together for the weekend brought back so many memories.

The coolest part about it was that even though we are 8 years older now, when we got to hanging out it felt like no time had passed.

I was sitting on the couch listening to Reed and John get excited about playing Burn Out on Playstation, and if I closed my eyes for a second, I was back in the year 1999 in a shack on the corner of 11th and James in Waco, Texas.

Honestly, in a weird way, it made me excited about getting older. Aging is not a big deal when you're sharing life with loved ones and living deeply. And even though the only thing constant in life is change, it's refreshing to know that some things don't change...

Kretz still does the weird smelling thing, John is still 2 years ahead of everyone in fashion sense, Swamy is still buying shots for the entire bar, Reed still eats ice cream or oreos every night and slouches on the couch in the exact same manner, and Blair still somehow manages to bring every conversation back to hunting on a deer lease somewhere in rural Texas.

Best weekend of the year.

Hands down.

Looking forward to the next excuse to get together.

D

Playtri Festival Weekend

2007-04-22T13:25:00.000-07:00

Saturday - 1 mile swim race

I would never enter a swim race on my own accord, let's just start off by saying that! But Ahmed, my coach, wanted me to do it. But I'm glad I did b/c if there's anything I need more practice on it's open water swimming.

Before training with Ahmed I was maybe swimming 5000 yards/week. Now I swim at least 3 times a week, sometimes 4 all at about 3000 yards a pop. I know my stroke is improving, as well as my stamina, but there really is no substitute for the open water. I was reminded of this fact about 15min into the swim...

I was completely gassed! Of course I started off too fast and just couldn't keep up the pace. I was forced to slow down so that I could take in more oxygen. The water got really choppy at about this point in time and that didn't help much either. But I managed to salvage a 32:57. Results here http://www.doitsports.com/newresults3/client/160331_193951_2007.html

Sunday - Aquabike (1.2mile swim, 56mile bike)

The thinking behind doing the aquabike was that it just wouldn't be smart for me to run in a race just yet. I still need to be conservative with the hip bursitis injury I suffered back in November 2006.

What I didn't realize until today is that I probably shouldn't be racing "hard" on the bike yet either.

The race started off great I thought. Took a turn for the worse, then ended up just OK.

Woke up at 4:30am and made sure I got about 500 calories in: oatmeal w/ yogurt, 1/2 bagel w/ peanut butter, 1/2 banana and about 4oz of soymilk. The only other nutrition I would take in before the actual race would be a gel and 2 salt tablets right before the swim start.

Drove to race site in Las Colinas and felt relaxed. However I was a bit more nervous than Saturday, even though I had already swum the course the day before.

The swim was great, I thought. I started all the way over to the right and sighted off Todd Luther for about the 1st 10-15min of the race. I kept him directly to my left. It's a good thing he was sighting ahead every 10 strokes because that meant I didn't have to. At about 15min into the swim, I started having to swim over the female wave that started 5 min ahead of us. This is where I lost Todd. I found some people to draft off of for part of the way, but never really found my rhythm like I had in the first little bit there. But I was still really pleased overall with the swim. Improvement from the previous day: 31:29! http://www.doitsports.com/newresults3/client/160332_194289_2007.html

Got out of the water and let the wetsuit strippers (sounds dirty, huh?) take care of things!

Actually, it didn't work out all that well - as they were stripping my wetsuit off, it got stuck on my heels and then they started dragging me. I got up, wetsuit in hand, and realized I'd dropped my goggles a ways back. I need to have a plan for this next time, I wasn't happy with such a careless mistake.

Hopped on the bike and off I went. I tried for the first time starting out with my shoes already attached to the pedals. I liked it. The first couple of minutes I just wanted to warm up and let my HR monitor start reading, but I soon realized that technology SUCKS! I hate it when things don't work like they're supposed to. My HR monitor never got a clear reading the entire race. I had to go entirely off of PE (perceived exertion), and let me just tell you I'm no good at that (please reference all my prior bonking experiences).

So I have no idea that basically I'm racing at "hard" well beyond race pace when I'm supposed to be in training pace. All of this could have been avoided with a functional HR monitor! So what ended up happening was that my hip starting flaring up with intense pain about 30min in to the ride. I have rarely felt pain in my hip while cycling, so I thought it was strange. I attribute the pain to my pacing at the beginning of the bike leg. I went out way too hard. My hip was hurting terribly.

I seriously thought I had re-injured the hip. At about the 50min mark, I took everything off the accelerator and started cooling down. I was going to DNF (did not finish). As soon as I got to the turn around I heard all the people cheering and didn't want to stop. And the 10min of cool-down peddling actually helped me. I went to a harder gear and the pain didn't seem as acute.

So I took it easy and tried to stay in training pace for the remainder of the 2nd lap. The weird thing is that on the 3rd lap I picked up the pace again and the hip didn't hurt nearly as bad as the 1st lap. Maybe it just needed to warm-up more before I started hammering? Probably, but I know for sure I went out too hard. I learned that.

Overall, I was a bit disappointed, but that's only because I know that I can do so much better than I showed today. I guess that's why we keep on racin', huh?

Success is never final! (that's churchill, in case you were curious)

April 13th, 2008

2007-04-21T16:48:00.000-07:00

Well, I did it. I signed up for Ironman Arizona 2008. I already decided I was going to do this race about a month ago - but coughing up the $500 for the entry fee somehow made it all a little more real. I really am going to do an Ironman.

The race seems so much bigger than me. I remember signing up for my first marathon and all the doubts that came along with it. All I knew is that it was calling me, and that I had to do it.

And so it is with the Ironman.

There's something about the Ironman distance triathlon that draws me to it. Maybe it's the mystique of the whole thing, or maybe it's the fact that swimming 2.4miles, cycling 112miles, and running 26.2miles all in one day just flat out seems ridiculous.

But the challenge of it motivates me. I'm intrigued by limits. Bring it on!