On May 17, 2014 a few thousand athletes stormed The Woodlands, Texas (where I live) to compete in the full 140.6 mile triathlon. This is such a beautiful area of Houston and a great course as well. I volunteered to help with one of the run aid stations. This station was manned by Team RWB (the Team I raced for). Team Red, White, Blue is made up of Active duty military, veterans, spouses, and civilians and they serve to promote an active lifestyle for all service members. I was proud to represent the Eagle!
I set up shop passing out oranges to the passing runners from 6pm until the last runner crossed our station at 11pm. In this 5 hour time frame I saw so many different ages pass me. Triathletes in their 60's and 70's!!! Holy wow!! Seeing what these people are doing really puts into perspective the amazing things that the human body can do when pushed. Pushing your body through 140.6 miles is insane and amazing.
What really hit home for me was when a man came walking through the station with a yellow vest on that said "Guide". Behind him was a Deaf and Blind triathlete. Are you kidding me! Deaf and Blind and just finished what very few people on this planet are willing to even try to accomplish. This man was beyond inspiring and I am not even going to lie, when he passed me for the last time I knew in 4 more miles he was going to have that medal placed around his neck and his family would hear the words "You are Ironman!", I shed a tear. I was moved and so happy for him.
After this experience volunteering, I was determined. I can do it. I will do it. When.... now that is debatable :-) We could be moving to Sakhalin, Russia this year and, well, there is no Ironman there. There is in Japan, which is not far from the part of Russia we will be in, but I'm not sure if I want Japan to be my first race. We shall see. If this Russia move falls through, then l see a domestic Ironman Triathlon in the near future.
In the mean time... TRAIN, TRAIN, TRAIN!!! So when the time comes, I'M READY!
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