You can do it...

First off, I got to say, it felt great getting back on my carbon fibre horse tonight. Its' amazing how a 10 day break brings back the passion. I did no clock watching and even though it was about 10 C and I needed to wear gloves and a jacket, I enjoyed every moment of my ride.

My bike is so sticky from all of the Gatorade that dripped all over it during IMSG. If it was summer and the bugs were out, it would look like a Cervelo "bug strip". After hanging my bike up in my garage my hands were so sticky I had to wash them. A bike mechanic once told me that he can tell if the bike he's working on is owned by a triathlete, it's sticky and filthy.

Last night, I was out until midnight having beers with Gary Wood, a vendor who's become a friend. Gary is 42 years old and was telling me that he just got into skateboarding at 40 years old. He wanted to learn it so he could do it with his son.

I was blown away! Who STARTS skateboarding at 40 years old. I've never heard of that before. Gary even built a large pro skateboard ramp in his back yard. He was explaining that he can go up and down the sides. I was in disbelief. Gary then showed me his skateboarding "war wound".

He pulled up his sleeve and there was this crevice on his left forearm. Apparently he broke his arm in 3 places. It was so bad that he passed out and the next time he woke up was in a hospital bed AFTER the surgery. It truly looked more like a wound from the Iraq war.

I told Gary that he's proof that "40 years old is the new 20". At 40 years old, my dad didn't even wear blue jeans or an un-collared shirt very often. Fast forward 20 years and guys like Gary are taking up extreme sports. He also started dirt bike riding on a 250 cc machine. I was in awe. Even after his mishap, Gary's still skateboarding, albeit with full protective gear. I now envision Gary skateboarding and looking like "Robo-Cop".

I got a Facebook comment from Mike Dunbar today. He found one of my PFG shots and left the comment "PFG! Holy Cow Bry...that's a great shot!" I forgot all about that photo. It was a picture of me and Reid and it was just before the start of the June 2007 Milton Sprint Triathlon, which was my first triathlon in over 15 years. It was my comeback race and I trained lightly for about 3 weeks beforehand.

I didn't realize it at the time, but I had a wetsuit with a size problem. They silk screened the size 6 number upside down and I thought it was a size 9 when I bought it. Size 9 was for a 190 lb person, and size 6 was for 140 lb person.

At 229 lbs, other than shear determination, I don't know how I was able to squeeze into that size 6 wetsuit. Once I got it zipped up, I thought I looked good. No gut. The problem was that I couldn't breath or bend over. At the start of the swim, I had to walk into the water up to my neck and let my legs float up to the top with my body straight like a board. Only then was I was able to start swimming.

I remember the swim didn't go well. Within the first 250 meters the strap broke on my goggles and I couldn't fix them. Frustratingly, I threw them away in the water and had to swim without them. Then I couldn't breath. The suit was so tight, I couldn't take deep breaths. I started to panic. I knew I was in trouble. All that went through my mind was the headline in the newspaper saying, "Ex-Ironman drowns during sprint triathlon".

I've never felt that close to drowning in a race before, it was a real possibility. I made the decision halfway through the 750 meter swim, to pull down the zipper on the back of my wetsuit so I could take deeper breaths. It helped slightly. My next thought was to pull it down to the waist while I was treading water. I decided against it and it was a the best decision I've ever made.

By the time I finally got to shore, I tried to pull the suit off and couldn't. It was so tight, it got trapped around my wrists and ankles. I had to sit on the ground and put my foot on the suit and pull back with my arms with all my might. Even then it didn't work and a couple of volunteers had to help me. Had I tried to take it off in the water, I would have most definitely drowned.

I finally got the wetsuit off and was running to my bike with it on my arm and I passed by Alice. I yelled out to her, "I'M LUCKY TO BE ALIVE!!!!" She had no idea what I was talking about. I sincerely felt like I averted death.

I remember the bike and run being very tough. I just moved to Burlington from the Prairies of Winnipeg and the first hill was sixth line. It's a tough hill for even the fit to climb. At 229 lbs, it was hell.

The run was hot and the 7.5 km's felt so long. I was constantly praying for the end to come. Even to this day, I remember the entire race. It was traumatizing. I finished in 549th place out of 613.

Virtually everyone beat me, including fat, middle aged women, with a bad knees and severe asthma, although, I was lucky enough to catch that 85 year old who had to stop and was having difficulty putting the rubber foot pad back on his walker. In all seriousness, a guy in the 75-79 catagory, passed me on the bike and beat me by 5:00 minutes overall. His name was Klaus Boysen.

Fast forward three and a half years, at least 4100 beers and lots of cigars later. I'm now fitter than I was in my 20's and last year I qualified for the Ironman 70.3 World Championships in Clearwater. And this year, it's plausible I could qualify for Kona if I have a great day and a little luck.

Hanging out with Gary last night, hearing about his skateboarding escapades and then reflecting back on my triathlon comeback three and a half years ago, I realized that nowadays, "age doesn't matter". If you set your mind to it, no matter how unreasonable it may seem, "YOU CAN DO IT!" Gary and I are living proof. If we can do it, anyone can do it.

I thought today's post and picture was apropos. First, it's spring and Fat Guys that are looking to be Previous Fat Guys (PFG's) may look at this photo and realize it's doable. The second reason, is yesterday, I posted a picture of Reid and I at the Y. It's a great comparison shot.

Tempo Bike - 1:37:25 / 49.88 km / 30.72 kmp / 133 avg hr