The Man in the Arena

A friend reminded me of a quote that had influenced me a long time ago by Theodore Roosevelt. I want to share that with you so that it too can maybe one day inspire you:

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the
strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them
better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena,
whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives
valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is
no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive
to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who
spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the
triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at
least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be
with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.

TR

Boston Race Report

Official Time 3:26:59 Overall 6340 (out of 26000+) Gender 5433 Division 2913

Well family and friends - "....and through it all when there was doubt I ate it up and spit it out" - My Way by Frank Sinatra

I was in pain from the beginning but nothing prepared could have prepared me for the obstacles I had to overcome in this race. The weather was significantly warmer in the beginning of the race than I had anticipated and my favorite pair of running socks (my adidas copas) which are usually so great because they compress and cushion had to be ditched at mile 11. My calves and my feet were really overheating and on fire and so for the rest of the race I ran without socks. What really got me though was my left IT band and quad failing about the 10k mark. That was in addition to my right knee which was bothering me from the start. So from mile 6 on I was in for 20 more miles of excruciating pain. Luckily for me at about the half marathon mark I discovered that if I poured the ice cold water from the aid stations over my It band and knee it seemed to numb them just enough to get by till the next aid station which were about every mile or so. This obviously added extra time but I was determined to finish without stopping and at least in under an three and a half hours. My original goal was under 3 but I knew that was a tall order since I was not at 100%. But I was determined to leave with my dignity and I did not want to let anyone down because so many of you wished me well and good luck that when I was down and thought I could not take it anymore it was your well wishes that kept me going. Of course most importantly I did not want to let down myself. Well fortunately for me I qualified for next years race so there is always next year. The course was fantastic though and was kind to me - it seemed that everybody turned up for the race and that definitely helped push me along. The course itself was what I would consider very easy and nothing that on a day when all things were equal I could tear up the course with a sub 3 time. I need to thank my Triathlon Coach, Reto, and his girlfriend Asheley for taking very good care of me while I was here. Reto dispensed great advice and was very supportive and Asheley was terrific race support and I could not have done it without them. God willing my recovery will be swift and I will be back out on the trails in no time. I took my first ice bath just a few minutes ago to aid the process. I will be taking it easy obviously the next few weeks. I am coming home tomorrow so I will see you all Wednesday or Thursday.

Well that is all for now from Boston and again I want to thank you all for your support and well wishes. It got me through my darkest times.

Boston Countdown T -36 and counting.....

Monday will be the race of my life so far and the countdown has begun.
I wish I could say that I was at 100% but in the past month my knee has been bothering me more and more. Fortunately the good people at the Sports Medicine Institute that work on the athletes at Stanford have fixed me up and I am feeling better now than I have since the pain began.

I leave tonight after watching my Earthquakes match up against the Galaxy.

I will arrive in Boston early tomorrow and take in as much of the city as I can before pre race dinner and mandatory lights out. I will be back Tuesday at noon.

The race starts at 10am ET which is 7am PT (Your time) on Monday April 20th.

My race info is:

5448 Tapia, Bernardo J. 36 M Redwood City CA USA

You can follow me during the race by going here before the race.

http://www.baa.org/BostonMarathon/Att-Athlete-Alert.asp

Well I will leave with you the quote I often say to myself just before the start of such things.

"May fortune favor the foolish and the wind be at my back"

On a couple of side notes:

Last weekend for Easter my family and my tri family competed in th Artichoke 10k and Half Marathon. It was great fun.

Also last night we Hallvard, Amy, Florian and I competed in the IM swim meet in the relays. We had a great time.