This is not the end...

“This is not the end, It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.” – Winston Churchill

On Thursday April 10 I blogged

I'm putting this blog up for all to witness:

• I will raise this money.
• I will finish this race.
• Getting fit is just a bonus.

"You only lose if you quit" is my motto for this event and I am not going to lose this one.

So there I stood 4 months 14 days since this first blog entry, staring into the blue water of lake Michigan at the starting line of the 2008 Chicago Triathlon. Initially the Swim is identical to my much maligned Athlone Adventure. It was 375m south along the peer to the Aquarium before turning 375m north back to the starting line. Unlike Athlone however there was a further 750m straight swim from this point to the finish line.

“Small goals” that is the order of the day. Don’t look to your left, don’t glance northbound, stare straight ahead and get to the first 375m marker. The hooter went off at 9:33am on Sunday morning 24^th August and I was underway. Only 51.5Km to the finish line.

The young one’s (Barry and Shane) started at 7:30ish that morning in wave 22. I was in Wave 49 out of 50 (joys of being old I thought). I was apprehensive about this as my goal was to take my time and finish when I finished. Now that I was one of the last to start, it meant I had to finish my race before the finish line was dismantled and before everyone went home.

One huge advantage of starting at the end was that I got the opportunity to soak up the atmosphere. The scenes around the starting line were amazing. I saw a few things that filled me with awe and gave me great belief in my ability to finish.

Getting into the water in the few waves before my 30-40 age groups was an 80 year old man, a large number (4/5) blind individuals, and a huge contingent of physically disabled athletes. One man in particular was head and shoulder above everyone for me. He was a double amputee just below the knees. He was lifted into the water and led the way in the swim when once his wave started. I later discovered that he had a specially designed tricycle type bike where the pedals come across his lap which moves using your arms. Subsequently he had specially designed prosthetic limbs to attach to his legs that allowed him to run the 10k. My dad once remarked to me that “adversity strikes everyone in life it’s how you deal with it is what makes you a man”. Here in front of me stood a real life definition of hope and overcoming adversity.

Once my race began I quickly discovered that my 4 weeks of essentially living in the Westin Hotel’s pool had greatly improved my swimming. I may have been going slowly, but I was moving in the right direction and wasn't swallowing half of lake Michigan.

After about 20m or so I came up on a guy who was really struggling. If memory serves his name was Fabian and he was a Chicago local. After my experience in Athlone when I was helped along by my fellow competitors, I felt it only fair to “pay it forward”. I stayed beside him and encouraged him from boat to boat (little goal to little goal) until suddenly we were half way through. At this point he said to me to continue on ahead without him. He said that he was "fine", was going to "rest here for a while" and he’d see me at the finish line. Reluctantly, I moved on ahead and finished the last 750m of the swim.

The cycle was the most enjoyable part of the entire triathlon. 10Km out of the city on Lake Shore Drive, 10Km back to Chicago and then “rinse and repeat”. Now I’m no writer and no words I can put down here can describe how incredible the Chicago skyline is, so I won’t even try. After a slow swim, I blitzed the cycle and posted a fairly respectable time IMHO. Towards the end however as the Chicago Sun reached its high point and the mid day heat kicked in (80+F), I slowly began to wane. My arms and legs were burning and I was unsure if it was the Sun or the lactic acid that hurt more.

2h 54Mins into the triathlon and I was two thirds there. Now with the swim and bike completed, came the hard part. All that was left now was a leisurely 10K run in the Chicago heat to the finish line. The run itself was 5K south along the lake front and then back the same way to the finish line. This to be honest, was the longest part of the entire event for me. Three things stood out for me in this section that will stay with me for a long time.

1^st was the Chicago people. I cannot in any way explain how it feels to be cheered from start to finish along this 10K route. One group in particular amazed me. About 2K into the run while I was getting water a family of 5 stopped me and asked what Team Crumlin was (it was written on the front of our tri-suits)? I explained that there was a team us out here doing the event and that we had all raised money for a children’s hospital in Ireland.

50mins later as I reached the same point on my return to the finish line, all 5 of them were still there waiting to cheer me as I passed. As I turned the corner a little up ahead, I looked back and saw that they were leaving the area. I couldn’t believe that someone would wait nearly an hour, with kids, in that heat, just to cheer a complete stranger.

2^nd was when I passed Fabian on the return leg of the run. I was delighted that he had made it through the swim and was about 20mins or so behind me. He waved and shouted see you at the finish line.

3^rd and finally was the run to the finish line. 2 fellow Crumlin team members Janet and Stephan ran out the course to meet me and ran with me that last few meters before my sprint/dash/stumble over the line where the majority of the team were waiting to celebrate as the last member of the team finished the race.

And yes thankfully the finish line hadn't been dismantled yet...

So here I am at the end of the 1st leg of my journey. 4 months 25 days later I stand proudly in front of you all as a fully fledged Tri-athlete.

I posted a personal best time of 4hours 30mins, but more importantly:

We raised over €15,000 for Crumlin Children's Hospital

I completed the Race

I got fitter :) 

Roll on Chicago 2009…..