Well, Cal.E. did not scratch or bite anyone for two days while she was in rehab. Her reward was one phone call or text. She is still mad at her dad for putting her in rehab, so she decided to contact me. Since I do NOT speak CATonese (I HAVE been working with Cal.E. for far too long!) she texted me. Here is how that conversation went: C: Hi, d.c; happy Halloween!
D: I don’t celebrate this holiday, now that all my kids are grown. How are you doing, other than celebrating your favorite holiday in rehab?
C: I am HUNGRY since I only ate one meal yesterday.
D: Why is that?
C: Well, they served eggs two days in a row for breakfast.
D: And?
C: I only eat eggs every other day.
D: Y?
C; Because, every other day the FDA says that eggs are good for you, and every other day the FDA says that eggs are bad for you. So, I only eat eggs on the days that the FDA says that eggs are GOOD for you!
Ok. Cal.E. lost her phone privileges after that statement. On with today’s story, Chapter two of Beyond the Thirteenth Mile; The Iron Man Chronicles“
CHAPTER ONE: DUATHLON; CONCLUSION
I’ll run in with you," she said, optimistically.
"Go on in," I said, downcast. "I'm done for," as I began to walk, and Millie reluctantly heeding my words, ran ahead.
Another attractive brunette overtook me, also shouting words of encouragement "It's just another two or three blocks, she'd said. (Author’s note: Runners often lie to each other when we think we can encourage each other-as I found out at this time.)
I trotted on in, not wanting to embarrass myself. I finished 149th out of three hundred participants. "An average day for an average athlete," I thought, but, strangely enough, I had enjoyed myself enough to participate in the second duathlon, which would go much more smoothly. I finished five minutes faster than the first duathlon (which may or may not have been due to the fact that, in the first duathlon, the first two-mile run was mismeasured, actually making it a two-point five-mile run.) It also brought with it a painful foot injury along with a decision to invest some money in a better bike, since my old Murray was too small and too slow. I had, however, enjoyed myself, and that was the most important thing to me at that time.
CHAPTER 2:
THE FIRST TRIATHLON
Bike Leg, mile five: Well, THAT was unexpected. No one warned me about that hill, just “Sugar Mountain.” I must navigate each hill six times in this race.
I thought that Central Florida would have the same terrain as Northern Florida, where I did that one-half IronMan Triathlon in May. It did not have ANY hills in the bike or run course, unlike this course. That is probably why I P.R.’d.
The other two one-half Iron Man courses that I attempted were harder courses to navigate, too. That course was a lot like Greater Houston, where I train. Flat and fast.
I enjoyed that race almost as much as the first triathlon that I ever attempted. I was not sure, at the time, that I could even finish a sprint distance triathlon, much less one of the longer races. I guess the people who started this tradition of torturing themselves to his or her physical limitations (or beyond) might have felt the same way that I did that day. I still like that course the best of any that I have ever done, even though I would have considered doing even a race of that distance to be impossible five years ago. I really DID consider this race to be outside of my normal parameters…
****************************************************************
Every now and then, one must step outside of his or her normal parameters and try something extremely unusual. In short, at least once in one’s life, one must try the impossible. That, to my understanding, is how the first Hawaiian Ironman came to be.
Comments