oak hill flyer: ironman arizona--friday
it doesn't help that there are still dishes to do, bills to pay, or that lightbulb to change. it doesn't help that there is still a pile of laundry, work on monday or a quiet street outside my window. and it certainly doesn't help that my legs aren't sore, my bruised heel is of no concern and the digits on the scale are the same as they've always been because quite frankly i'm not entirely sure this weekend ever happened. but when i lay my head down at night and all of the nuances of life slip into darkness, every sight, sound and feeling comes rushing back, cooing me to sleep with one simple thought: oh, how so very real it was.
[...]
with health in hand and a forecast tailor-made for a triathlon, who could blame me for staring at the calendar for the past week, waiting for friday to arrive? besides: i've been staring at the calendar for the past 11+ months, why stop now? once the screech wheels on the runway brought the hampster wheel of training to a stop, my mind simply couldn't adjust. i thought it interesting that k and i were in an airport with southwestern decor and that a train just took us to a hotel that had a room reserved under my name, but don't tell me this is all because of ironman, especially if it's an ironman for which i am allegedly registered. these feelings were complemented by a instinctive sense of urgency upon settling into town: pickupthebike, gotothestore, findregistration, getmilkandcereal, startpackingdropbags, wheresagoodplaceforlunch, and for the love of god, don'tforgettorelax. by 10am, it was surprisingly warm.
athletes' village was at tempe beach park, and for any austinite it wasn't much of a stretch to confuse this place with town lake: flat grassland with a quiet lake flanked by bridges, condos and cityscape dotting both shorelines. perhaps the most notable differences were the dozen-plus circus tents, labor crews setting up various structures and hundreds of bikes racked neatly in the afternoon sun. an emcee was heard nearby, introducing a panel of pro athletes to a small audience; k asked me if i could see any of the name placards.
"uh, there's a Christy W...something, I think."
"Ah, Chrissie Wellington. Cool." it seemed there was a lot of questions and attention directed her way. k seemed more familiar with her than i; after five minutes we carried on toward the registration tent.
it should come as no surprise that ironman atheletes are type-A personalities (to say the least). most all have good money, successful careers and a drive to succeed. this also means that they all want to register NOW, even if that means standing in a serpentine line for an hour in the sun. i really didn't need more than five seconds to size up the scene: "umm, yeah... how 'bout we come back at 4pm?" i decided for the rest of the weekend that i was going to be the lone type-B entrant in this weekend's race.
instead, k and i went shopping for some souvenirs.
[youtube link]
after an hour of shopping and lunch, the registration tent finally died down. after a year of training and waiting, i had my bib number in my hot little hand.
[youtube link]
after registration, k and i went to the friends and family tent. it was here where we sat down at a table with three other pennsylvanians, one of whom was from the philly area but familiar with western PA and straub beer. fun and sociable, the older man asked for my name after a good round of joking.
"rich yavorsky, #548. you familiar with the old dolphins quarterback, ron jaworski? that's my last name, just with an americanized spelling."
"oh, you mean the EAGLES quarterback? of course! hey good luck to ya, kid. great talking with you."
[youtube link]
the athletes' wristbands disturbingly resembled hospital bracelets. i hoped that it was just coincidence.
[...]
with health in hand and a forecast tailor-made for a triathlon, who could blame me for staring at the calendar for the past week, waiting for friday to arrive? besides: i've been staring at the calendar for the past 11+ months, why stop now? once the screech wheels on the runway brought the hampster wheel of training to a stop, my mind simply couldn't adjust. i thought it interesting that k and i were in an airport with southwestern decor and that a train just took us to a hotel that had a room reserved under my name, but don't tell me this is all because of ironman, especially if it's an ironman for which i am allegedly registered. these feelings were complemented by a instinctive sense of urgency upon settling into town: pickupthebike, gotothestore, findregistration, getmilkandcereal, startpackingdropbags, wheresagoodplaceforlunch, and for the love of god, don'tforgettorelax. by 10am, it was surprisingly warm.
athletes' village was at tempe beach park, and for any austinite it wasn't much of a stretch to confuse this place with town lake: flat grassland with a quiet lake flanked by bridges, condos and cityscape dotting both shorelines. perhaps the most notable differences were the dozen-plus circus tents, labor crews setting up various structures and hundreds of bikes racked neatly in the afternoon sun. an emcee was heard nearby, introducing a panel of pro athletes to a small audience; k asked me if i could see any of the name placards.
"uh, there's a Christy W...something, I think."
"Ah, Chrissie Wellington. Cool." it seemed there was a lot of questions and attention directed her way. k seemed more familiar with her than i; after five minutes we carried on toward the registration tent.
it should come as no surprise that ironman atheletes are type-A personalities (to say the least). most all have good money, successful careers and a drive to succeed. this also means that they all want to register NOW, even if that means standing in a serpentine line for an hour in the sun. i really didn't need more than five seconds to size up the scene: "umm, yeah... how 'bout we come back at 4pm?" i decided for the rest of the weekend that i was going to be the lone type-B entrant in this weekend's race.
instead, k and i went shopping for some souvenirs.
[youtube link]
after an hour of shopping and lunch, the registration tent finally died down. after a year of training and waiting, i had my bib number in my hot little hand.
[youtube link]
after registration, k and i went to the friends and family tent. it was here where we sat down at a table with three other pennsylvanians, one of whom was from the philly area but familiar with western PA and straub beer. fun and sociable, the older man asked for my name after a good round of joking.
"rich yavorsky, #548. you familiar with the old dolphins quarterback, ron jaworski? that's my last name, just with an americanized spelling."
"oh, you mean the EAGLES quarterback? of course! hey good luck to ya, kid. great talking with you."
[youtube link]
the athletes' wristbands disturbingly resembled hospital bracelets. i hoped that it was just coincidence.
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