Tri My Will

4 Years & Counting...

2012-01-15T13:59:00.000-08:00

It has been a few months since my last entry in my blog and it continually amazes me how fast time is flying by. Today marks exactly 4 years since I had Bariatric Surgery, so I thought a bit of reflection and update might be in order.

When I think back to the time I was 400 pounds, holding my wife's hand in the operating room, preparing to have Bariatric Surgery, which would alter my innards as well as permanantly alter the way I view food, I remember that the most important reason for having surgery was to live a longer healthier life, be here for my wife and kids, and improve my quality of life. Looking at the picture below reminds me how huge I was, when I could barely fit on the operating table, weighing 400 pounds, 60% body fat, 58" waist, 5XL shirt, deflated self esteem, and I could do little for myself let alone for others...

I recall having a sense of rebirth or a fresh start after I had Gastric Bypass, performed by the most awesome surgeon in the world, Dr David Kim of Colleyville, TX. I didn't know at the time what the future held for me, but I knew that anything would be an improvement from the life or direction I was headed in. A few weeks after surgery I hopped on the treadmill, which I was barely able to stay on for 10 minutes at 2.5 MPH. I tried to increase speed and distance a little more everyday and soon graduated to a slow jog. One morning on the treadmill, I noticed the Spin Class going on at the gym, heard the loud music, the instructor pushing the group, and thought to myself... "Maybe one day". A few months after surgery, I had already lost 100 pounds and mustered up the courage to go to my first Spin Class, which I only made 20 minutes or so of because of the shear agony on my jewels... (nuff said bout that)! I went back the next day and stayed a little longer, until I found myself completing the entire class and soon became hooked on Spinning. Speaking to a friend about Spin opened the door to getting a great road bike and set up for a few hundred bucks which then led to a love of cycling.

As I continually pushed myself running, and Spinning, I remember coming to a point where my legs were absolutely shattered, but I had the desire to workout, I just didnt know what to do next. I decided to brave my fears, put on some swim trunks, take my shirt off, and jump in the pool for a swim. I could barely do a lap without having to stop, but each day, like I did on the treadmill, tried to go a little further and a little faster every day. One day I was sitting back thinking that I am running, I am cycling, and now I am swimming... This is what they do in Triathlons!!! So, I hopped on line and started to look for events, and found my first race, which I would complete EXACTLY 9 months post-op. It was the Denison Dash Sprint Tri... IT WAS AWESOME!!! Here is a picture from that day in Summer of 2009.

After that race, I knew I was hooked and immediately found another triathlon I could compete in the very next month. After I finished that, I knew I was capable of more. So I registered for my first marathon which would fall on the 11th month anniversary of my surgery date. I finished that marathon in 4:52:-- and loved it. Without going through every race in detail here, I will list what I have done since that time in the past few years:

5 x 5K's (Run)
4 x 10K's (Run)
1 x 1/2 Marathon
3 x Marathons
9 x Sprint Triathlons
1 x Olympic Triathlon
6 x 70.s Half Ironman Triathlons
3 x 140.6 FULL Ironman Triathlons
2 x 50K (31 Mile) ULTRA Runs
2 x 38 Mile ULTRA Runs
1 x 50 Mile ULTRA Run
2 x 75 Mile ULTRA Runs
1 x 104 Mile Run (28.5 hours straight)
4 x 100 Mile Cycling Races
2 x 10K (6.2 Mile) Swim

and thousands upon thousands of miles and hours in training. Below is a picture of some of the rewards for these races...

These awards and medals mean so much to me, but not nearly as much as what I have discovered about me, my life, and my family along the way. Somewhere along the last 4 years of my journey, I got caught up in my own "Hype" and began focusing more on ME and lost sight of the very reasons I had my surgery in the first place, which I stated above. I found myself neglecting my responsibilities at home for the sake of 8 hour training days on Saturdays, which in turn lead to missing ball games, fun mornings and other things with my family. I wish I could go back and do these past 4 years with the 20/20 sight I have now over again, but life is about living, taking stalk of yourself, recognizing when we are at fault, and then making the necessary changes to put things back in proper order in our lives. Since refocusing and recommiting to that which matters most, not only have I found more happiness at home with my family and beautiful wife, but I have had countless memories that I may have otherwise missed. One of which, was watching my 8 year old son and his football team go undefeated and go on to win the Super Bowl, aside from numerous opportunities to emberass the heck out of him while bringing the "TEAM SPIRIT"... GO IRISH!!!

In June, I got an awesome opportunity to begin teaching Indoor Cycling (Spin Class) at 24 Hour Fitness. This has been such an awesome experience. I remember when I first went in to business for myself many years ago, my mom gave me a plaque that read "A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, then shows the way". It is so incredible to be able to teach these classes, help people reach their goals, and see that permiate into all aspects of their life. In teaching classes, I have also been able to have much more intense training sessions, coupled with longer rides on the weekend, and this past year, improved my Ironman time by 1 hour, and finally completed my Mount Everest, 100 miles of running in under 30 hours! I did this with less hours of training, with much more intense sessions, which in turn, allowed me to have more time with my family. Proper balance and perspective in all things is the key!

So, with all that said, it has been an incredible 4 years. There is absolutely no way in the world I could have even done half of these things without the love, support, and encouragement of my beautiful wife. She is my strength, is the love of my life, and over the past year, our love has transcended beyond what I ever thought was possible. Life is so good, I am so abundantly blessed, and there are far too many people to thank. There are countless people in my life, everyday, that inspire me, and make me want to do better. To those who have supported me and sponsored me in my journey, Xterra Wetsuits, Mad Duck Cyclery, Suplicy Bikes, Champion Systems, Playtri, Trident, TriCowtown, Erin Baker Cookies, Active Spine & Sport, 100 Mile Club, Obesity Help, and everyone else who has supported me in my ventures, I can't thank you enough!

I am not sure what 2012 holds for me as far as races are going, but I know I will be doing the 100 Mile Endurance Challenge Run For Kids again in October, and another Ironman. I am just not sure as I am trying to figure out if I will be having my 2nd round of Plastic Surgery to remove the rest of my loose skin from the weight loss. I will keep y'all updated of my schedule as I figure it out.

The more time that passes, the more I realize that I really dont care how much I weigh. What I care about now is Body Fat %, endurance, how well I feel, and pushing my physical limits. While I have lost 200 pounds, which is awesome, what is far better is that I have gone from 60% body fat to between 11-12% now. One of my goals is to get below 10% this year. So, without rambling on too much, I just want to thank each and every one of you for your continual love, support, and encouragement. Many of you tell me what an inspiration I am to you, and I know I do not always respond to each of you directly, I want you all to know that when I am running for 20+ hours, I recount every one of those kind words in my head, and they are what keep me going. All of you are as much an inspiration to me as I may be to you.

I hope this year brings you all prosperity and I hope that we all can continue to focus on persuing our worth-while goals while keeping those things of greatest importance in perspective. Here's to another incredibly awesome year of successful weight loss & maintenance!!!!

Below are some before pictures that were taken the day before surgery 4 years ago, and some taken yesterday. (Sorry I didn't dress up for them)

Yours In Health & Sport,

Dan Benintendi

100EC - 104 Miles Ran In 28.5 Hours

2011-10-29T13:48:00.000-07:00

It has been one week since I completed this epic race and I feel like I have recounted all the details sufficiently in my head so I can help you get a glimpse of how awesome this journey was! So, I ask for your patience with my VERY winded report of one of the most gratifying but by far, the most dificult thing I have ever done in my life.

Without going in to too much detail about this race last year, I will just say that I got through just about 75 miles in 19 hours, and since that day, I have wanted to get my vengance on this course! This would be my 4th attempt at the 100 mile distance. 2 times I got to about the 75 mile mark and could not continue. My 3rd attempt earlier this year got called short when I rolled my ankle twice at mile 25 on some roots, and could not continue. Go in to this race, I KNEW I was going to finish it! I have found that when you go into a race with full confidence in your training, your ability, and your motivation to get through some serious pain, there is a great chance you will complete your goal, and probably BETTER than you expected to. This was the very feeling I had when I registered for this race many months ago.

My training for this race was far more effective than past attempts at the distance. A lot of that is due to the fact that my base was uber strong, and I just needed to maintain it while increasing my strength, which I did, and proved to be spot-on. My longest run leading up to this race was an 8 hour ULTRA which I got in 37 miles, and was really pleased with. My preperations included lots of cross-training and more intense, shorter workouts, which enabled me to avoid injury and toe the line without injury and at 100%! I really tried to listen to my body, and most importantly, I found a WONDERFUL balance between work, family, training, church, etc, which as a whole, made me a very happy man when race time came around.

One of the biggest bummers for me was going in to the race knowing that my sweetheart and children were not going to be there with me, but I knew they would be there in spirit. As the race drew closer and closer I found a general sense of peace, confidence, and assurance come over me, that let me know this was going to be MY victory. Last year in my race report, I stated "Perhaps this distance is bigger than me, RIGHT NOW, but it is my Mt. Everest, and I WILL conquer it". Those very words were my own motivation throughout this past year, and when race day came, I knew my motivation and ability was far bigger than the Mt Everest that stood in front of me.

On to the race... I had asked my buddy, Andy Meadows, several months ago if he would be interested in crewing for me at this event, and he said yes. I also asked my best friend of 18 years, Aric Hill, if he would crew for me as well, to which he of course said yes. So these guys were my support throughout the ENTIRE race, and I owe much of this milestone to these guys...

Andy and I flew in to So Cal from Fort Worth on Thursday morning and the race started on Saturday. Thursday we all went out for a little round of golf and dinner and got some solid sleep. Friday we spent the day getting the rest of our supplies dialed in and went over our strategy and game plan for the race. Aric also had some friends come over Friday night for a friendly game of cards, at which, Aric made a bet with one of his sceptic friends. No, the bet was not about me, it was about Aric's ability to ride a bike for 15 miles along side of me, which could take 3-4 hours depending on what stage of the race we were in, and he had not been on a bike for about as long as we have been friends! He gladly accepted the bet, I internally prayed for him, and we went on with the game. More on this later... Andy is a very strong cyclist and I knew he would be able to handle pacing me on the bike for the duration without a problem. He is just starting to get in to triathlon and his longest run to date was about 6 miles. More on that later...

As race morning was upon us, I got up at 4am and started the rituals. After checking everything and ensuring we had everything we needed, we headed to the race start. The atmosphere was lively and cheery, and it was great to see so many familiar faces! My mom came to the race start which was a nice treat. After the race director and founder of The 100 Mile Club, Kara Lubin, made some general announcements, gave some recognition, and laid out some particulars about the course, it was time to line up and get ready to head out. As the horn blew, and the beeping of all the GPS watched commenced, the adrenaline kicked in, the crowd was cheering, spirits were soaring, and that calm peace I spoke of earlier came over me, and with a confident nod-n-a wink to my mom, I was off.

I told Andy that my goal for the first 25 miles was to maintain a 10 - 11 minute per mile pace. My nutrition plan was simple... One can of Chicken broth (1890mg of Sodium) every 2 hours (broken up by sips of it in my handheld every 20 minutes), a gel every 30 minutes, a 100 calorie snack at the top of each hour, and every 3 hours a mini meal. I also used straight Gatorade in my Camelbak and would alternate that with water every few sips. My mini meals typically consisted of peanut butter sandwiches, pizza, french fries, soup, and milkshakes. My snacks at the top of the hours typically consisted of Bananas, chips, candy, and whatever else sounded good along the way. Throughout the whiole race, my nutrition was absolutely spot-on and could not have worked out better. The night before the race, as Andy and I were going over strategy, we made maticulous notes, being sure to put down what time and what item I needed to eat or drink and out on the course, pretty much kept that schedule to a "T". On the first section, my pace was perfect, not too fast, not too slow and finished the first 25 miles in 4:29:-- (They did not record the seconds).

At the first aid station, it had warmed up pretty good and I decided I wanted to change. So, I threw on some new digs, taped up my feet where I was starting to feel some "Hot Spots" where blisters were starting to form, refueled, and was off again. This stretch leads right down the Santa Ana River Trail, which basically runs next to Angel Stadium all the way down to the ocean shore. At this point, Aric, decided to switch off pacing duties with Andy and took reigns over the bike and trailer and to fulfill the bet he made with his friend at the card game the night prior. Andy would speed ahead in the car and meet up with us every 6 miles or so to make sure we were all set. This point in the race is where I would typically blow it! I would try to keep running fast, using all my energy, and subsequently, pay for it down the road. I knew I had to stick to my game plan and start walking a bit. I have to admit that it took me swallowing a lot of pride to watch people run past me at mile 25-50, but I knew I was doing the right thing. This section was pretty uneventful. Just kept the head down, pounded out the miles, stuck to the nutrition plan, and enjoyed some time with my bro Aric. As we finally hit the ocean, we ran along the bike trail where many RV's were parked to camp out. We got glimpses, on the big screen TVs that adorned these RVs, of the USC game score, and other interesting things as well. Random people would ask us how far we were running, we would tell thim, they would proceed to use explatives to describe their feelings about running that far, and we would carry on. As we made our way down Bolsa Chica Beach, I told Aric that some hot Curly Fries from Jack In The Box sounded pretty good. He phoned ahead to Andy who was waiting there and had them for me when I arrived. At this point it was dark and I had about 4.5 miles to go until the 50 mile Aid Station. I told Aric to call ahead and have my mom, and mother-in-law, Grace, to have a warm Cheese Pizza waiting for me when I got there in about an hour. I finally got to the station on 2nd Street & PCH by Belmont Shore and found many runers hanging out and refueling. I also found that my Mom & MIL decided to WALK to get my pizza... Those of you who have ever walked with my mom KNOW that it is not exactly as "BRISK" pace she carries. So, after waiting 20 minutes for my pizza, I chow down, regroup, and head out to the 3rd stage... Mile 50-75. (2nd stage total time 7:18:--)

This is the stage of an ULTRA I had never been passed, but I KNEW I had it today, and still had that confidence and swagger in my step. Now, to digress just a moment... Aric ended up riding the ENTIRE 2nd stretch on the bike. My prayers turned from hoping he could do it, to praying that his underparts didn't look like chop meat as he opted to NOT wear cycling shorts for a 6 hour trek in the saddle!!! So, needless to say, Andy picked the bike back up at 50 and as we ran off in to the mist and fog, I think I got a faint glimpse of Aric "Flipping Off" the bike & trailer! We made it down to the shore and again began running on the bike trail. The fog was so thick you could barely see 4-5 feet in front of you in the darkness. After several miles, I knew we were in a place that was pretty hallowed for me and Christie. On March 12th, 1992, I asked Christie to be my girl on the very steps we were running past. I asked Andy to take a picture of the steps as I reached into my pack to grab the laminated picture of my family I brought with me, kissed my sweet Christie's face on the picture, and we set off again. I knew Christie and the family couldn't be there with me, but they were in spirit, and with the picture of them I carried with me, they actually ran the whole way with me!

This section wound through Shoreline Village in Long Beach, down the marina breezeway and then paralleled the Los Angeles River along the 710 Freeway. This part had a couple VERY big areas that were full of Vagrants / tranziants and would have been very "Hairy" at the midnight hour without Andy along my side. We made it out of dodge unscathed and continued on until we hit PCH again. Once we were back on the road, we ran along the refineries, which smelled heavenly, and then down towards Wilmington. I asked for Andy to have Aric hook me up with a Vanilla shake, which he did. After chugging that, we finally arrived at the 62.5 mile sub station. This was probably the only "Dark Spot" I had in the whole race. Doubts were starting to creep into my head, the air had turned bitterly cold, the fog was thick and soupy, my legs were throbbing, and morale was pretty low. It took a lot of convincing to get myself up again and started to make my way out of the station back onto the course. As I began to move, I started feeling better. I took in a lot of calories, chugged fluids, took a pain reliever, and soon found myself putting together some good runs here and there and began to feel good. I also noticed that we were heading directly south through San Pedro Harbor, where I had fished many a time, and enjoyed the familiar surroundings. When we finally made our way all the way to the coast, we were supposed to follow this bike trail as we began our ascent up to Rancho Palos Verdes Estates. The fog was as thick as soup now, and Andy and I did not know where we were to go. Andy gave the bike back to Aric before we got to this point, and was walking / running along with me. We later found out that the road we were supposed to take was CLOSED, but we did not now that, nor did we have any clue how to navigate around it. THANK GOODNESS FOR OUR GPS WATCHES!!! We ended up turning UPHILL which led us in to the hills and soon found ourselves on a mountain trail! There was no way this was right! We continued on and began to see a street below us that our Garmin said we needed to get to, the only problem was the 100 foot drop off to get down to it. We continued on until we found a resonable enough path to get to it and as we descended, found some headlights coming at us. It was a member of the crew of another runer, basically asking us what the hell we were doing in the sticks! He pointed us in the right direction and we soon discovered that we added almost 3 miles to our journey and 1200 feet of elevation climb on that trail!!! My legs were trashed!

After we got through that, we had another 5 miles to get to the 75 mile aid station. We could not see anything except occasional headlights. We passed The Donald Trump Golf Course, which we obviously could not see, and this section was literally uphill the whole way. 5 miles up into the aid station. I had finally made it, and found Aric, Grace, and my mom waiting for me there! HALELUJAH!!! (Total time for 3rd section 8:37:--) I put my jacket on, posted up next to the fire, drank a couple cups of soup, and was pleased to discover that there was a gentleman there performing ART for athletes who needed it. SIGN ME UP I said. He loosened my quads and calves and I felt much better! This is it, unchartered waters for me... These are the championship miles, but I was in it to win it and there was not going to be anything that would keep me from finishing at this point! I called Christie, told her I was good to go, and Andy and I headed back out in to the dark fog. 2 more hours until the sun would come back up!

The words that kept popping into my head in this first part of the last section were... "Does this hill EVER end???" It seemed like we were literally going uphill for the better part of 10 miles. So, we just kept slogging out the miles until the sun lightened up the sky. I finally was able to take off my jacket and my beenie, and was ready to hit the beach again that would lead me to the finish. We finally crested the hill, and I got back on the bike trail at Redondo Beach. At this point I was really hungry, and REALLY tired of Gatorade, gels, snacks, and all the other stuff I had been eating for a day straight. I told Andy to call Aric and have him get me some breakfast from McDonald's. A bit later, Aric met up with Andy to deliver the greasy Mana, and mana it was! I probably would have gladly eaten anything that was half warm at this point. I chow down, and realized I was less than 10 miles away!!! I kept running along the beach, walking when I had to, and struggled to stay awake! That was nothing a 5 Hour Energy shot didn't fix! There was a group of about 4 runners that were playing cat and mouse back and forth with me. They were walking VERY fast, and I do not walk that fast, so I had to jog/walk to stay with or ahead of them. As we came in to the home stretch down the madness that is Venice Beach, I knew I had this thing. I plug away and keep grinding it out. When I saw the chase pack get close, I would run and then walk when I had to. Less than 2 miles to go now!!! I had Andy call Christie and tell her I was almost done and to have her phone next to her. As we get near the finish, I see the FINISH banner!!! I got my phone out and called Christie. I asked her to round up all the children and get them on the phone. As they all cheered for me over the phone, I crossed the finish line with them! I cried a little, told them I loved them, hung up, and collapsed on the ground. Colapsed in exhaustion, exhileration, in astonishment, and in humility...
(4th Section total time 8:06:--)

Overall Total Time 28:30:00

After getting hugs and my shiny finisher's belt buckle, I just sat on the ground, burried my head between my legs and sobbed for a bit. I am not sure if it was the foul stench that I emminated or the sheer hunger and desire to get a greasy burger that compelled me up from my prone position, but either way, it was a long way up, even with the help of Aric and Kara Lubin! There were several folks who requested that I dedicate 1 mile of the race to them... Andrew Miceli, Mile 69, this mile was yours because at mile 62.5 I almost gave up on myself, but I knew you were pulling for me and I ran that whole mile for you brother, because you did not give up at Ironman in August! Katrina Mumaw, she didnt request a specific mile, but I gave her mile 89. I was so tired, so exhausted, falling asleep while walking, I thought about her and her service to our country overseas in the military, and remembered it is because of her and all the others that have, are, and ever will serve our country in the Armed Forces, and protect our freedoms and my dream of running 100 miles. To all the others who contributed to this run and cause I thank you sincerely, I kept moving because I knew you ALL were pulling for me.

In retrospect, I think about the enormity of what I did, and here are the things that stick out in my mind, and are really the true challenges that are associated with this challenge.

1) Have you ever stayed awake for 30 hours?
2) Have you ever stood on your feet for 30 hours?
3) Have you ever continuously moved for 30 hours?
4) (If you have ever ran 100 miles) Ever done it on concrete?
5) What is your motivation to finish?
6) How much pain are you willing to endure?
7) How prepared are you?
8) Do you believe in yourself?
9) Are you affraid to punch through the darkness to see what's on the other side?
10) Do you believe there is a strength within you that lies deep in your soul, that is yet to be unveiled?

My feet were basically entirely covered in blisters, my legs were so sore, but all of it was worth it. 6 days later and I am RECOVERED! I am racing in a triathlon tomorrow and the only thing that I can say to those who say that I am crazy is...

"I am not crazy, I am just not affraid"

Thank you all for your continued love, support, encouragement, and care... I did NOT run this race alone, you all were there with me. A special thanks to the best crew a man could ever ask for... Aric "Sorenuts" Hill, and Andy "howdidienduprunning30mileswithDan" Meadows. Most importantly, I want to express my love and appreciation to my wonderful wife Christie. She is my strength, my support, my everything, and truly without her, I am nothing. The truest quote I ever read was... "Behind every good man is an even better woman". THAT IS THE TRUTH!!!

So that's it, 104 miles in the books, and on to the next challenge! "The greatest reward for success, is the opportunity to do MORE". BRING IT ON!!!

Your Friend,

Dan Benintendi

Ironman Louisville 2011 - Race Report

2011-09-03T09:31:00.000-07:00

It has now been 6 days since I finished the race, and I have had plenty of time to digest what was accomplished and account for all of the feelings, emotions, and triumphs that occured last weekend. I hope you enjoy this somewhat winded account of my journey at Ironman Louisville.

My journey to this Ironman started long before we got in the car to drive the 900 miles to get to Louisville. It started, as it did for everyone participating in the event, many months ago. I trained harder, smarter, and more effectively for this event, than any other event I have done. I am now a believer in shorter much more intense training sessions, versus hours and hours of wasted miles with no real purpose. My biggest battle leading up to this race was keeping balance in my life. I will touch on this a bit later...

As Christie and I loaded up the car late Thursday night / Friday morning, we kissed the children good night, and headed out for the 14 hour drive. The drive was pretty uneventful, and Christie & I had some good conversation about life, the children, the race etc. We finally arrived in Louisville late Friday afternoon, in just enough time to check in to the hotel, unload the car and head to downtown for the Welcome Dinner. Once downtown, we headed to the dinner and were able to find my buddy Andrew, and Jillian and their families. Between the three of us, we have lost over 500 pounds and it was an honor to finally meet them in person, especially considering this was their first Ironman. They were both called up to the stage and were recognized for their great weight loss and were wished good luck by the thousands of people at the dinner. Afterwards, we left to head back to the room to get some sleep...

Saturday morning we woke up and grabbed some grub, then headed down to check-in. I felt awesome and slept REALLY good! After packet pick up, we headed back to the room and finished packing up my transition bags, and ensuring my bike was all dialed in. Everything was good to go so we headed back downtown to catch a quick swim with Andrew and then to check our bikes into transition. Everything went smooth, and before you know it, we were all checked in and now there was nothing left to do but drink a ton, eat a lot, and get plenty of sleep. So, Jillian and her husband Joel, along with Andrew and his wife Stephanie and his two boys, along with Christie and I , headed to The Old Spaghetti Factory for some AWESOME grub! After a wonderful meal and great convo, we drove the bike course. Ahhh yes, I remember this! UP, DOWN, UP, DOWN is the theme on the bike course. It NEVER lets up! It was great to see the familiar roads, but I was not concerned and was ready to attack this course with all I had on Sunday. After the drive, we stopped to grab some Pizza, and headed to the room, ate and fell asleep.

3am on Sunday, RACE MORNING, the alarm rings, and I start chugging Gatorade and getting in some calories. I slept really good and was ready to rock n roll. After double checking all my preperations, we loaded up and headed downtown. As I saw my bike sitting in transition, I looked at my Black Beauty, gave her the old nod & wink, and told her (my bike) we HAD to rip it up today, and I needed all she had! I checked everything on my bike, topped off the air pressure, loaded up my bottles, and called it "READY". Christie and I then headed out to walk the mile to get to the race start. Once over there, I got body marked and began to stand in line for the swim start. Louisville has a time trial start so there is no mass start and you jump in the water according to where you are in the incredibly long line. After finding my place in line, there is nothing but waiting until the cannon goes off...

At 6:50am the Pro's cannon went off and the race was officially under way. The line moved quick and then, after about 15 minutes came to hault for several minutes. I later found out that it was as a result of a man passing out and subsequently dying in the water just minutes after the start. More on this later... As the line picked up again, it moved quick, and before I knew it, I was running down the ramp to start my swim. I saw Christie and gave her a huge hug and smooch and told her I would see her in a bit. Down the ramp I went and I jumped in the warm water and began to immediately find a comfortable groove to settle in to. The swim was very uneventful, went by pretty quick, and I ended up setting a PR on the swim. Total swim time for the 2.4 miles was 1:09:44.

As I went into the transition tent, it finally struck me that, although I have always felt I am a decent swimmer, I was fully able to say that Cycling is now my strongest discipline in Triathlon. So, as I am gearing up for the ride, nothing but positivety was flowing through my mind, and I knew it was going to be a great day on the bike. The first 10-12 miles are pretty flat, and then the unrelenting hills begin. My plan of attack was to survive the uphills and attack the downhills as hard as I could so the momentum would help carry me up the next hill, which worked well. The bike leg went by fast and it was a HUUUUUGE lift to see my gorgeous wife waving at me as I passed through La Grange for the second time. After that, a little wind kicked up and I slowed a bit, but made it back in to transition with a total bike time of 5:49:59 which gave me a 19.2 mph Average for 112 miles and a HUUUUGE PR (almost 2.5mph avg faster than 2009). Garmin said we had just about 5,000' of elevation on the bike...

Back in to Transition to get ready to run, I WAS feeling pretty good, and my spirits were soaring after hittin 2 PR's on the first two disciplines. I get sun screen lathered on, turn my race belt around, and headed out. It took me a little bit to get going, but after I hit the bridge to go out and back on, I felt some energy kick in, and then I began running and felt like I was on cruise control. After about 11-12 miles of running, I start feeling like crud. My gut started turning and I became very queesy. I was reduced to a walk and then began dry heeving. This was going to be a death march! It goes to show you that you never know what the day is going to bring. It could have been too little sodium, swallowing some of the nasty Ohio River on the swim, or any other number of things... Either way, it was NOT good and I was struggling. After walking for a few miles, I noticed they started putting out Chicken brothe. I started chugging it, and very soon started feeling better. I picked it back up and was able to do a little better. Between mile 14 and 20 were the darkest miles and hours of my race. Here were my run splits, you can easily see where the worst of the struggles were:

RUN SPLIT 1: 3.39 mi 3.39 mi (38:24) 11:19/mi
RUN SPLIT 2: 8.2 mi 4.81 mi (55:38) 11:33/mi
RUN SPLIT 3: 13.1 mi 4.9 mi (58:42) 11:58/mi
RUN SPLIT 4: 15.33 mi 2.23 mi (29:55) 13:24/mi
RUN SPLIT 5: 20.1 mi 4.77 mi (1:15:16) 15:46/mi
RUN SPLIT 6: 25.04 mi 4.94 mi (1:05:27) 13:14/mi
RUN SPLIT 7: 26.2 mi 1.16 mi (14:10) 12:12/mi
TOTAL RUN 26.2 mi (5:37:32) 12:52/mi

As I look down at my watch and realize if I can throw a quick shuffle together until the finish, I can finish in under 13 hours. So, I gave it all I had, fought through some severe discomfort and turned the corner to 4th St. Just as I remembered, the atmosphere at the finish was ELECTRIC! THOUSANDS of people lining the street, music blaring, bright lights shinning, and after a very fun and challenging day, I realized this was it! I saw Christie in the crowd, ran like I stole something, and finished strong to the words "DAN BENINTENDI, YOU ARE AN IRONMAN". I look down at my watch and check the official results, 12:58:10!!! YESSSSSSS!!! In 2009, I finished in 14:14:13, so, even with a horrendous marathon I still improved my overall time from Ironman Arizona last year by over 30 minutes! I DID IT!

Ironman #3 in the books!!! Another sweet finisher's medal, many more incredible memories, and another race I can say that I improved dramatically for. In the past week I have contemplated what meant the most to me about the race. I have deduced, that it really was not the race at all, it was the life lessons learned in the process. I have been thinking about the guy who passed away just moments after the swim start. After reading a bit about this man, I found out he had never competed in a triathlon before, and he had been treating high blood pressure with medication, and suffered from an enlarged heart, which neither he or his family knew about. While it is tragic the way he died, there is glory in it. He died trying to fulfill a dream! I immediately thought back to a slogan I used as my monacur after I lost weight a couple of years ago... "What good is adding years to your life, unless you add life to your years". This man was the epitome of that very slogan and I consider it a honor to have toed the line with him.

The MOST incredible and meaningful thing about this race, to me, was the opportunity to spend several days with the love of my life, free from worries and the kids, as they were being cared for by my mother-in-law, Grace. We fell in love all over again this past weekend, and shared so many cool moments. Mostly laughing, holding hands, and having great conversations. I KNEW I had WON the race on the car ride home. As we got closer to home, I felt the need to ask Christie: "What can I do to be a better husband to you"? Her reply: "Nothing that I can think of". And she went on to mention all the things she appreciated about me. Anytime you can train for an Ironman, have a demanding carreer, teach 6 Spin Classes a week, attend your childrens practices and games, mow the lawn, etc, and have your wife tell you those words, in the grand scheme of things, an Ironman Finsher's Medal doesn't even come close.

The moral of the story? I think I have finally got it right. Focus on your faith, your family, your career, and let all the other things, INCLUDING Ironman fall in behind. When you train, train HARD, train SMART, and realize a 2 hour ride at near threshold is far more beneficial than 4 hours of wasted time not challenging yourself. When we fail at home, we fail at life. When we WIN at home, we WIN at life. THAT is the lesson I learned at Ironman Louisville.

I am so very blessed, beyond any words I have within me. Grateful for the opportuinity I have been given to get out and do these awesome events. Blessed with the most beautiful and wonderful children. And so undeserving of the greatest wife and mother the world has ever known... My Sweetheart Christie. This one was for my family. Because, now that I have my priorities in check, we ALL won this Ironman together.

SO that's it, a GREAT event, a great weekend, wonderful memories, and a deeper respect and grattitude for all the great things I have in my life. Now, on to the next great adventure! Thank you all for your continued support, encouragement, and love. These are the things that make me want to keep trying harder every day. Let's get out there and live!!!

Your Friend In Health & Sport,

Dan Benintendi

Quite Some Time...

2011-06-20T19:03:00.001-07:00

Wow, time flies and it has been forever since I have updated my blog, which I vow to do a better job at doing. Since Grasslands 50 Miler, I have not been running as much. I took some time to focus on family and reprioritizing so I could give the best to the things that matter most, then letting my hobbies fall in line behind those priorities. I have found that when I balance things properly, I am able to do all that needs to be done, and I am finding that my times and fitness have remained the same and actually improved in some aspects, while the training load has not been as much, rather more intense in shorter spurts.

I have been teaching Spin Classes at 24 Hour Fitness for about a month now, and absolutely love it! People are working hard, finding some inspiration from my story, and try each and every day to better themselves, which, in turn motivates and inspires me. Ahh the proverbial circle of life! My family is doing so awesome, Christie is training like a mad man and has the goal to become a "Marathon Maniac". As for me, I am competing in Ironman Louisville in August and am hoping to shave off at least 2 hours from my time at my first go around with this course in 2009
(14:14:13). So, training is ramping up, I am feeling strong and am poised to peak just perfect for Ironman. After Ironman, I am registered for the 100EC again in So Cal in October. This is a 100 Mile ULTRA that starts in Corona, CA and ends at the Santa Monica Pier. Do it in under 30 hours and you get a sweet belt buckle, and bragging rights for life.

Anyways, I can't thank my family and all of you for your support, love, and encouragement. All of your kind thoughts and words go with me every day. So, I will keep pushing myself and will hopefully see you out on the road or in my class someday soon. Here are a few pictures we took as a family...

GRASSLANDS 50 MILE TRAIL RUN - RACE REPORT

2011-03-22T18:14:00.000-07:00

WOW... What a day this was!!! Contemplating how last year's Grasslands race went with the 20* weather, pouring rain, sleet, snow and ankle deep mud, it's hard to imagine that this year could be any worse, and thank goodness it wasn't!!! Last year there were over 100 people who were doing the 50 miler, a total of 7 finished the race. Anyways, this was a very rewarding day and I hope you enjoy my account of the transpirings.

About 5 weeks ago I set out to run the Rocky Raccoon 100 Miler, but unfortunately, I rolled my ankle twice and had to drop out. For the past 4-5 weeks I have done little running, and I am thankful I didn't because it completely healed and did not bother me a bit. The day before the race, the family spent the day at the Grapevine Mills Mall, and I was on my feet all day, but it didn't seem to effect my day at all. I got to bed at around 10pm and awoke at 2:30am and began getting all my items together and began fueling and hydrating. The drive is about 45 minutes from my house to get to the Grasslands and when I got there, I was the first to arrive and got primo parking and a perfect locale for my chair, ice chest and drop bag. I got checked in at about 6am and the race was scheduled to start at 7am SHARP! There were only about 45 people registered this year for the 50 (I guess last year's results scared the people away!) but it was a super nice group of folks. There is also a Full and half marathon that start on a different loop and at a different time than us, and it appeared that there was a tremendous turnout for those. At about 6:45am the race director asks us to huddle around the start line for a briefing. We all take note of his wisdom, and check the last minute things and prepare to "Git er dun"!

He yells for us to start running right at 7am, and we were off. It was still dark so we had our headlamps on for the first 30 minutes or so. The first loop was a distance correcting 4.80 mile out-n-back loop. It was mid 60* weather, and was perfect, but we knew warm weather was coming. I took just a handheld for this loop, and that proved to barely be enough, but got me through. My pace was a little too quick, but I held it together with a 9:14 pace for the first 5 miles. The course is shaped like a clover leaf, with all loops starting and ending at the main aid station so it made it really nice for self support (But the aid stations were awesome too). When I got back to "Tadra" The start / finish / main aid station, I chugged a 42G Myoplex protein drink, half a bottle of pedialite, and loaded up the camelbak and set off for the first loop which was 13.5 miles.

As soon as I hit this trail, I finally realize (although I had been running for 5 miles already), that what we were running on was similar to the soft, deep sand on a beach. IT WAS TOUGH! There were sporadic sections that had compacted dirt, but the majority of the entire run was on this soft sand, which later, would prove to shatter the legs. On this first loop, my pace was holding steady at 9:45's and I was really feeling wonderful. There was a cool breeze and there was still a good amount of cloud cover, so I was thankful for that. This loop was very pleasant, quiet, uneventful, and quite enjoyable. As I finish up this loop, there was a pretty good crowd assembled at Tadra, as a result of the half and full marathon runners who had family and friends to cheer them on. Once I get back into my little area, I chug the rest of that Pedialite, another Myoplex, a Snickers, refill my Camelbak, and boy was it warming up. I put on another layer of sunscreen just for good measure and then head out.

On the second loop, I feel my chest starting to get a little heavy, which typically happens with the Sports Induced Asthma that shows it's ugly face sometimes in races. So, I reach in my pack to find the inhailer, only to then realize I forgot it at home! That sucked... I had to basically walk for 35-40 minutes to keep the heart rate down and get the breathing under control. After this period of time, I felt GREAT, and started running, and didn't have a single problem from then on with the Asthma, thank goodness! This second loop was 12.8 miles, and after about 3 miles in to the loop, I really felt like giving up. I was really down on myself, doubting my training or lack thereof, doubting a lot of things, but I decided to keep moving forward. I started running again, and slowly, over the next few miles, I began to feel better and better, my spirits lifted, doubt departed, and suddenly I was thinking with a clear head and realized this race was mine! I power through this loop, dealing with the sand, and the heat that had now reached 80+ degrees! It didn't matter though, I was drinking a ton! Basically going through 5-6 Enduralytes p/ hour, along with 70 ounces of GU 2x Sodium Sports Drink, along with gels, m&m's and all the other typical ULTRA food Fare between each aid station that were typically 4-6 miles apart. This formula was perfect for me, and got me through the race without performance or hydration issues. I finish this loop strong and was beginning to hear the screaming coming from my legs! I make my way back to Tadra and chug another Myoplex, a full bottle of Pedialite, another Snickers, and was off again.

As I begin the 3rd loop, which was 10.4 miles long, I look down at my watch and was happy that with all the stops at aid stations and such, I was still averaging 11 minute miles for the first 50K. This third loop was really sandy. This entire course is on horse trails, so when it's dry, it's sand, when it's wet, it's mud... PERIOD! Also, it is in "The Grasslands" which is basically meadows and pastures, so there really is not much shade to speak of. The cloud cover had worn off, the sun was beating down on us, and I honestly had a few thoughts that I was running in the desert! Anyways, this loop was pretty uneventful and very pleasant as well. I did not wear any iPOD, or music at all, and I am so thankful I did not. The sound of nature is a beautiful thing. Seriously, trail running helps me better understand and realize how lucky we are to live in the world we do. A world where there is so much evil and bad things everywhere, but moreso, a world that is filled with even more beautiful and happy things than bad. Because there were only 45 people doing the 50 miler, I really didn't see many people on the course, except at the aid stations and Tadra, which was really nice. After rounding the bend and coming back into the Tadra aid station, I realize I have a few hotspots on my feet, but decide to block them out and just head out for the last loop. I chugged my final Myoplex, pedialite, salt tabs, Snickers and pretzels, and it was "Go Time" for the 4th and final loop.

The last loop was 8.9 miles. The wind was whipping around at about 25 - 30 mph and for the first 2.5 miles of this last loop, we were running dead into it. The bulk of this first section was all uphill, and as I had done throughout the entire day, I walked at a brisk pace, up the inclines. I knew eventually we had to get back down this hill so I would make up the time. My legs were pretty shot, and I was feeling the fatigue set in, but I was determined to leave it all out there and attain my goal of a sub 11 hour finish. Sure enough, after about 4 miles, the majority of the rest of the loop was either flat or downhill. I am so thankfull I walked the uphills! As we approach the final aid station, that leaves us about 5 miles from the finish, I take in tons of food and drink, stuff my front and back of shirt with ice, and mentally prepare myself to pound out the last section. From that aid station, to the finish line, I averaged 9:05 miles and passed 7 people on the way in. This is what it is all about! Pushing through with everything you have left. I was also fired up because I knew my family would be waiting for me at the finish. Sure enough, I round the final corner, and hear my son Austin yell "DADDY DADDY DADDY" and there they were! I run to the finish, score my sweet finisher's belt buckle, get hugs and kisses from everyone, then plant myself in my chair!

So, official times have not been posted yet, but according to my Garmin, and what was on the official race clock, my total time for the 50 miles was 10:55:56. So, I achieved my goal, finished strong, and had so much fun in the process. As I sit back in my chair, we snap some pictures, I suck down another Myoplex, and we begin to pack up the gear and head home. I almost fell asleep 100 times on the drive home but somehow made it there safe and sound. When I got out of the car at home, I realized how sore I was, and could not think of anything accept a warm shower and sleep. As I peel off my shoes and socks before I go in the house, I see two feet that are riddled with blisters, one really huge one on my middle toe on my left foot. I did not wear my gaters on this run, and what I guess happened is sand snuck in my shoes and made a home in the arch of my feet and between toes. This is what caused the friction and subsequent blisters. I have two toenails on the other foot that are purple and will probably be lost to the cause, but I really don't care. I had such an awesome time, and pulled of a huge victory. While I have ran farther in several races than 50 miles, this is the first ULTRA I have finished beyond 50K (31 miles) so it feels really good to have a finisher's medal for an Ultra.

I had such a great time, such a sense of accomplishment, and a stronger sense of self, family, and my surroundings. I am thankful for the strength I have to run these races, and have so many things to be grateful for. The thing I am most grateful for in my life is my family. I love them beyond words, and the thought of seeing their faces waiting for me when I finished carried me through, as always. So, that's it, a great day, a great result, and another memory to stockpile with the rest. I can't thank you all enough for your support, encouragement, friendship, and love. On to recovery and the next challenge...

Your Friend,

Dan

A Lucky Man

2011-03-13T09:51:00.000-07:00

As I sit here in my room, look out the window to see the sun shinning, watching my children collect rolly pollies, while eating the best breakfast burrito in the world, made by my awesome wife, I can't help but think about how lucky I am. I think in life, we all tend to take the "Important" things for granted. For a while now, I have only been focused on my own goals and ambitions... I think that when I was 400 pounds, I really didn't have any goals or ambitions, the daily goal was to make it through the day without dying... Since losing the weight, I have constantly focused on "The next challenge", the next race, the next adventure, but somehow got consumed in that, and forgot the MOST important things. My thoughts lately have been drawn to a passage that reads... "For where you treasure is, there will your heart be also"...

Over the past several weeks, I have had to do a major "Gut Check" and have continually asked myself about "My treasure". The truth is, once we bring children into the world, our treasure SHOULD be their success. I think many of the things that I have accomplished are GREAT, with regards to athletics and endurance sport, but, the truth of it is, in the grand Eternal Scheme of things, none of it really matters. While I doubt I will EVER stop doing endurance sports (Especially considering I have a 50 mile trail run in 6 days in Decatur... The Grasslands), I have to make sure that it is NOT my #1 priority. Faith, Family, work, then all the rest... It is so easy to forget...

I wish we could go through life and never make mistakes. The truth is, we all do, some small, some big, but none-the-less, we all make them. I think what builds and shows character is what we do with those mistakes. Do we wollow in self-pitty, anger, frustration, doubt, hurt, anguish, disgust, or even worse feelings, OR do we recognize things for what they are, face the music, and do the proverbial 180* turn and change? I think of a song I heard a few years back... "Like stones in the river, we are tossed and turned, and are shaped 'til the edges are made smooth"... Life is certainly like a rough stone, but as we grow, and have experiences, both good and bad, we can become a little smoother, and a little better everyday, IF we seek that change.

I am so grateful for my life. So grateful for my children and especially grateful for my beautiful wife, Christie. Yesterday marks 19 years ago when I asked her to be my girl. I could not ask for a better woman or better mother to our children. She is the love of my life, and I am so lucky to have her. I hope we can all strive to focus on those things that REALLY matter, and not let the small and insignificant things distract us from the things of real importance...

3 YEARS AGO TODAY...

2011-01-14T17:39:00.000-08:00

Three years ago, to the date, I was laying on an Operating Table, wondering what the future would hold for the man who weighed 400 pounds. NOBODY, including myself, would have ever dreamed that I would be where I am at today. Many of you have followed my journey from the beginning, and so, I thought it would be relevant on a day of reflection, like this one is for me, to give a summary of what the last year looked like for me...

January:
I found myself training VERY hard for my first attempt at running 100 miles in one day. My first race of the year was BOLD IN THE COLD. A 15k where I took 7th in my AG.Aside from that, just tons of miles in the cold

February:
February 6th marked my first attemot at running 100 miles in a day at The Rocky Raccoon Trail Run. I completed 76 miles and you can read the report at http://trimywill.blogspot.com/2010/02/rocky-raccoon-2010-race-report.html

At the end of February, I also ran in The Cowtown ULTRA Marathon (31 Miles or 50K). Read the race report at http://trimywill.blogspot.com/2010/02/cowtown-ultra-marathon-race-report.html

March:
On March 14th, I raced in my first Triathlon of the year... The ST. Paddys Day Tri. I made a promise to my son that I would try to win for him, and sure enough, I won my division for him... http://trimywill.blogspot.com/2010/03/st-patricks-day-triathlon-2010-race.html

On March 20th, I competed in The Grasslands 50 Mile Trail Run. It Snowed, sleeted, rained, and there was ankle deep mud and sub-freezing temps, which made for an awfully miserable day. 6 out of the 250+ that started finished. http://trimywill.blogspot.com/2010/03/grasslands-50-mile-trail-run-race.html

April:
Most of April was spent training, and being asked by the folks at PLAYTRI Racing to MC their triathlons. I did my first in April and loved it!

May:
I just worked, trained, ate, and slept a little...

June:
June 17th I had Plastic Surgery to remove 11 pounds of loose skin from my weight loss. Extended Tummy Tuck, Chest Reconstruction, Pubic Lift, and Hernia Repair. The story is at http://trimywill.blogspot.com/2010/06/new-chapter-begins.html

July:
I spent the bulk of July recovering and working from Southern California, and also went partially insane as a result of not excercising for so long...

August:
Again, August was spent recovering

September:
After almost 3 months of recovery, I competed in my first longer Triathlon of the season... Prairie Man 70.3. After 3 months off, I took 2nd in my division!!!
http://trimywill.blogspot.com/2010/09/prairie-man-703-half-iron-race-report.html

A couple weeks after the 70.3, I found a little ULTRA to compete in... RUN FROM THE DUCKS. An 8 Hour race, on a .084 mile loop, as many times as you can. I finished almost 39 miles, and took 8th overall!!! http://trimywill.blogspot.com/2010/09/run-from-ducks-8-hour-run-race-report.html

October:
I flew to California at the end of October to compete in the 100 Mile Endurance Challenge (100 EC) that would start in Corona, CA and finish at The Santa Monica Pier. I finished 74 miles in 19 hours and was very happy with the race, even though I did not finish... http://trimywill.blogspot.com/2010/10/as-this-airplane-took-off-from-lax.html

November:
In November, I took part in Ironman ARIZONA and had an incredible experience. A Very Tough day but was able to improve my time by an hour over my prior Ironman race... http://trimywill.blogspot.com/2010/12/ironman-arizona-2010.html

December:
I was able to run The White Rock Marathon, along side my beautiful wife, who was running her fist FULL marathon, and was able to be there for her when she finished. Not an incredible race for me, but an incredible experience to witness my wife accomplish such an awesome thing.

So, all-in-all, I had an incredible year. Aside from racing, I had the honor of speaking at 2 Obesity Help Conventions... One in Costa Mesa, CA and one in Houston, TX. I DJ'd & MC'eed Multiple triathlons and running races, met some amazing people this year, and learned a lot about myself. Even though I was forced to take 3 months off to recover from my major surgery, I still sit here and scratch my head, trying to figure out how I still was able to squeeze in so many races. I could not be happier about where I am at today. I still have 12 pounds of skin to be removed from my back and legs, and while I want it removed, I am not sure I want to be down for several months again next year, so that is yet TBD.

I can't thank all of my friends and family enough for the continued love, support, and motivation you all give me everyday. Life is such a blessing and 2010 was an amazing year for me. I KNOW 2011 will be an amazing year for me and the family, and I cannot wait to see what is in store. I wish you all the best in your persuits, and here's to another incredible year!!! CHEERS...

Dan

IRONMAN ARIZONA 2010

2010-12-03T18:22:00.001-08:00

It has been exactly one week since I raced at Ironman Arizona, and have had ample time to digest and contemplate how my day unfolded out there on the course. Since this Ironman involved so much more than just racing, I will start from the beginning and hope you will enjoy my recount of Ironman Arizona 2010.

My journey started off packing up the bike and gear, my wife, and our three kids in the car on Wednesday evening to make the 1000 mile drive westward to Tempe. We drove through the night and finally arrived at my brother, Jeff’s house, in Gilbert, AZ (About 20 minutes from the race) in the early afternoon on Thursday. We lay low Thursday evening and then headed to the Ironman Village and Athlete Check-In on Friday Morning. As I stand in the long line for check-in, a volunteer came around asking for Bib #s. I told him I was bib #98, and then he says “What the heck are you doing standing in line???” I said, “Isn’t this athlete check-in?” He says, “Yeah, for Age Groupers… You need to go check in with the pros”! AWESOME, but, I think you got the wrong dude, bro… So he directed me to the tent where I needed to go, which was chalked full of volunteers waiting to help me, and within about 3 minutes my check-in was done. I was also finally able to meet Erin Baker, maker of THE BEST BREAKFAST COOKIE IN THE WORLD!!! She hooked me up with some granola and a bunch of my favorite Caramel Apple Breakfast Cookies and snapped a couple pictures. I then went over to transition to check out the “Lay of the land”. When I got there, my rack said “BIB #95-98 MEDIA” and I was the second row away from transition in and out! AWESOME!!!

While I was there, an Ironman ICON was there, and I learned she would be on my rack 2 bikes down… Sister Madonna Buter! She is 80 years old and has finished countless Ironman events, and has the biggest heart of any woman! Here is a picture of us…

After I am all checked in and goofed around at the Ironman store and expo, my buddy Anthony, my brother Jeff, and Anthony’s girlfriend and I drove the bike course. As I was driving it, I could not get over how smooth and flat the roads were. As we head up Beeline Highway, I saw “The Hill” that everyone was talking about… Hill??? It looked like the elevation gain in my driveway, so I was VERY excited to see that it should be pretty smooth sailing. I will briefly mention that there was a slight breeze as we drove the course, but the sun was shining (which was a far cry from how it was on race day) and Anthony and I were VERY excited about the race now that we had seen the course. After that, we went back to Jeff’s house, went out for some killer BBQ at Famous Dave’s, and then hung out until the Welcome Dinner. At the dinner we sat next to a BUNCH of folks from www.IAMTRI.com , which is Ironman’s online Social Network for Triathletes. We sat next to a couple gentlemen from the UK, one of which was a Royal Marine, the other was hoping for a 9:20 finish!!! WOW! It was a great evening, got to hear a few guest speakers, and watched my friend Marie Hughes win “The Erin Baker Lifestyle Fitness Award” for losing more weight than any other athlete in preparation for this race (120 pounds)! Afterwards, we all go grab some frozen yogurt, and then we call it an evening and enjoy a good night’s sleep.
As Saturday morning comes, Jeff and I head down to the swim practice at The Tempe Town Lake. After I jump in, the 61 degree water slaps me in the face, and ensures that I am now awake! After I was in the water for a couple minutes and started swimming, the coldness went away and I enjoyed a smooth 1000M swim. Afterwards, I met up with Carrie, who is a writer for LAVA Magazine, and we had a 20-30 minute interview which went very well, and is now posted on their website at http://lavamagazine.com/features/lava-talks-dan-benintendi#axzz16hSpHij4
We then headed back to the house to pick up my family and my gear to be checked in to transition. We arrive back at Ironman Village, and again, I get the awesome opportunity to bypass the lines and head straight to my rack to place my bike in position. After checking all the gears, and doing another “Glance-over” of the bike, all is well and there is nothing left to do but prepare for the big day tomorrow! When we got back to Jeff’s house, he informs me that his friend “Christine” who is an incredible Massage Therapist, was coming over to hook me up with a massage, WHICH WAS AWESOME!!! Later that evening, Anthony and Jill came over to Jeff’s and we had quite a carb load, which consisted of Pizza, Pasta, Lasagna, Salad, and Garlic Bread! YESSSSSSSSS!!! After that, a few friends came over, we watched the UFC Fights and then turned in for the evening.
My alarm rang on Sunday, RACE MORNING, at 3:30am and the rituals began. After bathing, applying PLENTY of Body Glide on various parts of the body, I begin fueling with a Banana, a waffle with peanut butter, some Gatorade G2, and of course, an Erin Baker Breakfast Cookie! I ensure I have all of my race gear and we head on down to the start. Jeff and I went together and got decent parking because he was volunteering at the Finish Line later in the day. When I get to transition, it really is awe inspiring to see the sea of AWESOME bikes! 2500 of the fastest and sweetest machines money can buy!

I double check all my gear, make sure my tires had enough pressure, exchange some warm thoughts with neighbors, and then finally it hits me… THE WIND IS HOWLING!!!! Before we started swimming, the winds were at a steady 10mph. As the minutes creep away, and we get closer to the start, I put on my wetsuit, grab my goggles, and start making my way to the swim start. We watch the cannon go off for the pros and the energy in the air was ABSOLUTELY electric! I was so excited to jump in the water and get the race going. However, I waited until the last moment to jump in the water. As they announce we are 5 minutes from race start, I jump in, and make my way to the start line. I positioned myself in the middle of the crowd, and was about 4 rows back from the front of the pack. After the cannon blows, I find a pocket and start stroking! I took a few knuckles to the head and a few random kicks, but nothing too crazy. Honestly, the swim was VERY enjoyable… My sighting was spot on, my pace was comfortable (maybe a little slower than I would have liked) and the time flew by VERY fast! My total swim time was 1:11:06 which put me in 642 place for overall swim time out of 2500ish athletes.

I come out of the water and am feeling pretty fresh. It was a pretty good jaunt to the transition tent, I got my wetsuit peeled off me, headed over to get my Transition Bag, begin drying off, wipe the grass, gravel, and funk from my feet, put on my socks and shoes, helmet and sunglasses, and I then headed to the far end of transition to grab my bike.

As I jump on the bike, I sense that the wind had picked up a bit and the sun was beginning to peek out. I start spinning and I was feeling REALLY good heading down Rio Solado Dr. Once we got past downtown and away from the big buildings, the wind let me know it was there!!! It had now turned to 15mph winds and was a cross wind for the first quarter of the loop leading out to Beeline. Once we hit beeline and started ascending “The Hill”, the wind was directly at our back, and I was climbing at 24mph. When I hit the turn-around at the top of the hill, I looked down to see I was averaging 21mph! AWESOME!!! THEN, I turned around and WHAMM!!!!!! The wind slapped me in the face. It was brutal! I was doing 17mph going DOWNHILL… What the heck? Anyways, it wasn’t so bad as long as I stayed Aero, and the first loop went by pretty quick. When I was getting close to starting the second loop, there were thousands of people there at the turnaround and it was an amazing spectacle to come in to!

I make the turnaround, hop out of the saddle and head out for the second loop. By this time, the clouds had moved in, and the wind had INCREASED to 20+mph. I am a big dude at 220 pounds, and I was getting blown all over the place. I hit Beeline again and am flying up the hill at 24-25mph again. I knew I was in for some pain on the way back down… Well, I make it to the top, hit the turn-around, and yup, BRUTALITY! This was the most brutal loop for sure… About 5 minutes into my descent, it started to rain, but then it started to hail! WHAT???? Where was the sunshine and slight breeze we had hoped for? All there was to do was keep pedaling, stay aero as much as possible, and keep on keeping on. I come in to the turn-around again, and got a much needed pick-me-up and headed out for the third loop. About 8 miles into this loop, I had to pee. So, I hopped off the bike, went to the port-o-joy, took care of business, did a little stretching, and hopped back on. I tried to stay on top of my nutrition and hydration, and thought I was doing a pretty good job (this would prove to be the contrary when I hit the run) so I kept plugging away and as I got to the top of Beeline, I had to pee again. So, I hopped off again, peed again, took in more fluids and nutrition, and made the final 16 miles back to the bike finish. About 5 miles from my finish I saw Marie on the bike. I asked how she was doing. She was coming in for her second loop and was concerned about cut off times. I told her to keep on pedaling and I would see her at the finish (She finished in 16:52:-- AWESOME… I knew she would do it).

As I head in to the Bike Finish, the crowds were amazing! However, I was not feeling so hot. I grab my transition bag and head into the tent. I was VERY cold and was fading due to poor hydration and nutrition. The guy helping me asked how I was feeling, he grabbed me some water, I took in a gel, and he hooked me up with some ART to help loosen me up, which was great. I put on my jacket and headed out to the run. When I am dehydrated, it taxes my respiratory system and if my heart rate goes up I have a very hard time breathing. So, I spent the first mile or so walking to get hydration and nutrition back. At the first aid station I took in a Power Bar, cookies, pretzels, Powerade, water, and salt tabs and once that hit my system, I felt better. When I would finally get on top of my nutrition, I would find it start slipping away again and I would find myself chasing my tail like this for the whole marathon. I was hoping for at least a 4:00 marathon, but because of nutrition issues, I was stuck with a 5:44. My running base is super strong right now, especially after coming off my 100 Mile Run 5 weeks ago, I just wish the nutrition would have been dialed in a bit more so I could race to my potential.
The loops went by fairly quickly, and there were a lot of spectators and some really funny / cool aid stations to help break things up. As I came off the bridge on my last loop, I remove my jacket and give it everything I had to the finish. I turned the corner, saw the lights, heard the music, and then it hits me, I did it! I run down the chute to the cheers and screams of everyone there, and get the honor of becoming an Ironman for a 2nd time! This proved to be a VERY tough day, but that is why they call it Ironman! As I ran through the finish line, my brother was there waiting for me to “Catch” me, and that was awesome to see him. He made sure I got my medal, finisher’s shirt, pizza, pictures, and most importantly, he led me to my family that was waiting for at the finish. MAN it was good to see them!
I had hoped for a 12 hour finish going in to the race, but I did not expect the weather conditions, nor did I expect the nutrition issues. All-in-all, I still improved my time over Ironman Louisville by almost an hour and I am VERY happy with that and my final TOTAL time was 13:16:24. It is easy for me to forget that I have only been doing Triathlon for 2 years, and I have come a long way in a short time. If I could shave off an hour each Ironman, I will definitely be Kona-bound by the time I am 60! Maybe someday, but I am A LONG WAYS away from that now. So, that’s it; 400 pounds 2.5 years ago to 2-time Ironman Finisher and a very satisfied soul! There are far too many people to thank individually for love and support given to me over the past couple of years, so please accept my heart-felt thank you for everything! It is time to recover and move on to my next challenge. I know the coming year will present some challenges as I will be going in for my 2nd round of surgery to remove the tremendous amount of excess skin from the weight loss. I will continue to cross each bridge as I get to them, and again, can’t thank each and every one of you enough for all you do to keep me going!

IRONMAN ARIZONA PRE RACE!!!

2010-11-20T18:42:00.001-08:00

Wow... I am absolutely pumped up for the race in the morning. It will be an exclamation mark on a great and challenging year! From entering the wolrd of ULTRA Running, to having plastic surgery, to recovering and taking 2.5 months OFF of training to recover from it. This will be an amazing race tomorrow. I will absolutely leave everything I have in my body and soul on that course, and I KNOW I will be a proud man when I finish. I truly consider myself the luckiest man in the world. Surrounded by an incredible family, the most amazing wife any man could ask for, the most incredible friends who serve as a catalyst to keep pushing forward! I love and appreciate all of you and will catch you on the flip side when I become an IRONMAN for the 2nd time...

100 Mile Endurance Challenge Race Report

2010-10-29T19:58:00.000-07:00

As this airplane took off from the LAX airport on the way back to Fort Worth with my wife, Christie sitting next to me, I felt a strong prompting that now was the time I needed to write my race report. I cannot express with adequate words the immense emotions and experiences this past weekend has afforded me. I will try to recount all the details of this past weekend, and the immense gratitude and joy I have experienced as being one of the few who toed the line to embark on the inaugural 100 Mile Endurance Challenge.
The Tasks:
• Run 100 Miles from Corona, Ca to Santa Monica, Ca
• Finish in under 30 hours
• Raise funds that will allow children who do not have the means to be a part of The 100 Mile Club, which is a program that strikes an effective blow at the heart of a MAJOR epidemic sweeping our nation… Childhood Obesity
• Give my best effort and leave NOTHING in the tank when I am done
• HAVE FUN!!!!
The weekend started off with parting kisses and tight hugs to all our children who would be staying at home in Fort Worth while Mommy & Daddy headed to California for a little run on Thursday evening. They had the awesome opportunity to spend some quality bonding time with their Grandma Grace, and everyone was set to have a wonderful weekend. Christie and I have an uneventful flight to Los Angeles, and were pleased to see my sister Shawnah, who flew in from Utah to help support me at the race, and my mother. We arrive at Christie’s Mom’s house where we settle in and sleep VERY well. Friday was uneventful, just got our last final preparations together for the race. My brother Jeff was making his first attempt at 100 miles and my wife was making her first attempt at the marathon distance. She was part of a 4 lady relay team that would be running the course as well. We had a nice evening out, enjoying some pizza and a GREAT night’s sleep.
Saturday morning, my alarm goes off at 3:30am and it is go-time! I hopped in the shower and lathered myself with a large amount of Body Glide and Vaseline (if you read my race report from the ULTRA I ran 3 weeks ago, you understand why) on every part of my leg and other various “Manly Parts” to avoid chaffing, and I was ready. Christie’s brother, Fred, his son Alex, Christie, and I made our way to McKinley Elementary at about 6am to make it to the race briefing and check-in. My breakfast was simple… Leftover Pizza from the night before! THAT WAS AWESOME! I wanted some breakfast food but the cupboards were pretty bare and we just rolled with the punches, so, PIZZA it was, and there was NO complaining!!! As we arrive at the school we begin to see runners emerging from cars and the excitement building in the air. I go get weighed in, get my goody bag, have my number drawn on my arm, and picture taken, then it was a brief wait until the race briefing.

A few moments later, we begin the race briefing, review the course layout, get the particulars on the mobile bike support provided by Jenson USA, and other key points to know for the day’s adventure that awaited us. After the briefing is complete, EVERYONE is extremely anxious and excited. I make my way back over to my family, and hook up with my brother Jeff, my sister Shawnah, my Mom, Jeff’s family, and my buddy Caue Suplicy, who is an awesome man and makes one HECK of a fast bike!!! I am so lucky to have all of these folks in my corner!!!

After exchanging warm thoughts with friends and family, Kara Lubin, the founder of the 100 Mile Club begins the announcements and the race is pretty close to getting underway. We hear the singing of the National Anthem, which was awesome, and was performed by the race director, Darren Van Soye’s, daughter. After some brief remarks, Kara then announces the amount of funds raised for the 100 Mile Club through this epic event, and I was VERY PLEASED to learn that I had raised almost 25% of all the funds that were collected for the ENTIRE race. Thank you to all my family and friends who contributed. For this effort, I was awarded the most AWESOME quilt, which was made by Kara’s mother, with love, out of 100 Mile Club T-Shirts…

I also must give a HUUUUGE shout out to the good folks at Champion Systems for hooking me up with my incredible running gear. The jersey was custom made by them, and I am absolutely honored to have them as one of my sponsors!
After all the pre-race festivities are over, we begin lining up at the start to head out to the sound of the fog horn, right at 8:30am. I give my family and friends hugs and kisses and it was go time! 100 Miles to glory was the war cry…

I make my way to my bro Jeff, tell him how proud I am of him, tell him I love him, and as we start running, that would prove to be the last I would see of him for a very long time. As we head out the pace is solid at about 10 minute miles, which was probably a little fast, but was definitely comfortable and as the group started to spread out a little, we all began to fall into our own pace. The first 8 miles or so wound through Corona with some rolling hills which would eventually lead us to run on the Santa Ana River Trail. This section was mostly flat and would end in Anaheim. The pace was solid, hydration and nutrition were well and I ended up finishing up this first 25 mile section in 4:51, which again, was probably a little too fast. I was happy to reach the aid station and see my family and friends waiting for me there.

Christie was running the 2nd leg of her relay and I was hoping to run with her, but Michelle, who ran the 1st section was a little back, so I headed out, and about 5 minutes out there, I see Michelle, and decide to slow down to let Christie catch up…

This section was “Interesting”. It pretty much stayed on The Santa Ana River Trail, which is somewhat of a River Bed… Long, boring, nothingness. There were countless homeless “Villages” that consisted of makeshift tents constructed of trash bags and blankets under each overpass, and we saw numerous groups of people and individuals smoking pot as we ran by. I am so glad Christie ran with me here, because I would not have felt safe if I was a woman running there. We ran past Anaheim Angel Stadium and continued on southward towards the ocean. This section proved tough because we saw NO mobile aid station support until about 16 miles into the section. I placed a call to Jared, the man in charge of the mobile aid stations, and he tried to coral help before we both were completely out of water. To top things off, the printed instructions we were given for the route, were wrong, and we were forced to stay put until we could be given clarity. After about 45 minutes of waiting around for proper directions and support to show up, we head out on our way. As the support gal rides up to us, she asks if we need anything… She had no back pack. A half empty water bottle in her cage, and one small bottle of water she gave us. I was dehydrated by this point, and I put a “Mayday” call out to my buddy Aric to meet us up ahead and bring me some fluids and grub. It was around this time that I learned that my brother Jeff had dropped from the race at the first aid station due to a tendon injury suffered at mile 18. I was really bummed for him, but when he told me he was going to help be part of my crew and help get me through the race, I was EXTATIC! After we got our fluids replaced, and took in some food, we hit a pretty good clip that would land us onto PCH, and we would run down Huntington Beach and Bolsa Chica Beach shorelines en route to aid station #2 at mile 50. This section, with all the delays and waiting took us 7:36:00 to complete, and I was so thankful Christie and I were able to spend this time running, walking, and suffering a bit together. After reaching the end of Bolsa Chica, I asked Christie’s brother to have a chicken sandwich and burger waiting for me from Jack in The Box. I pounded it on the way back to Aid Station #2, and was feeling pretty tired…

After taking some time to change in to dry clothes and eating a little bit, I began to get real light-headed. So, I sat down, got some encouragement from my family. Jeff and my sister Shawnah were rubbing my legs and shoulders, and I was beginning to feel better…

As I get up to head out, Christie tells me she wants to run a little bit with me. So we head out and I begin my slow “Crippled-Old man” walk down the road.

It takes me a while to loosen up but I eventually start to warm up again and I begin to jog. About 2 miles into it Christie tells me she is beginning to get a little tired and in a little discomfort, so I tell her to go home with her brother Fred, who was following closely in his Suburban. I give her a big hug & kiss and tell her how proud of her I was and thanked her, and sent her on her way to get cleaned up and some rest. After she left, I seriously got a HUGE burst of energy and started to hit it. I was running at a real good clip, around 10 minute miles for probably 15 miles straight. I started off this section in about 14th to 15th place. Within 2 hours I had worked my way up to 5th. I was feeling really good! I stopped at a Carl’s Jr and got a Western Bacon Cheeseburger in Long Beach, just past The Traffic Circle, and that helped a ton. I hit it again and ran all the way down to Wilmington on PCH. I started to fade a bit here but was still holding strong…

A few minutes before this, as I was running through LBC, I had a dude come slowly driving by me on his bike. After passing me, he dismounts his bike, starts walking it up the hill, and I begin to see wet splatters on the ground! (It was around 1am). I quickly realize this guy is “Piss-Drunk” literally and was pissing all over himself, his bike and the ground while he walked. AWESOME! A few minutes before that, when I was running through the ghetto, I had some sketchy looking hoodlums cross the street right in my path! Thanks to my brother and Aric who were following closely who promptly rushed those fools and they went on about their business. A few minutes afterwards, I was prompted to throw up my “Gangsta” Style!!!

As I realize I am only a few miles away from “Big Kong” (A hill that ascends about 2000” and lasts 5.5 miles) I realize I am REALLY fading and I needed some serious energy. I tell Jeff & Aric to grab me some tacos from Del Taco. I pound those, chug a ton of Cytomax, a few Enduralytes, and was gearing up for the huge climb. As I approach Crenshaw Blvd, Aric hopped out of the car and was going to make the trek with me. We turn on to Crenshaw, and my calves immediately scream at me. They were DONE! I keep pushing forward and I was literally fading fast. I had nothing left. My quads, hamstrings, and calves were locking up with every step, my core temperature was dropping fast, I begin to have my teeth chatter, my lips were turning purple, and I could feel myself slipping away. I kept trying to push forward, but less than a mile in to Big Kong, I had to stop. I sat down on the curb and tried to chug fluids. I ate some snacks, in an attempt to try to get the strength I needed to make it up this BRUTAL climb. There was nothing else I could have done, I was completely on empty and realized my day was done. I told my brother and Aric that I was dropping out. I really appreciated their encouragement and support, but there was nothing that they could have said that would have kept me out there. I was shaking and trembling a little from the cold, I was completed depleted of energy, and I was ready to go sit in a hot bath and lick my wounds. After standing up from the curb, I get into the car, they crank up the heater, which was like a bit of heaven, and I begin to get the unpleasant aroma of myself!!! The distinct aroma that only a person who had been running for 19 hours can have, and it wasn’t pretty! We make the 3 mile drive up the road to the aid station at mile 75 and we inform the race crew that I was done. I really appreciated the positivity and warm words expressed by the volunteers who came to the car and shared some time with me. They presented me with a letter that was written by one of the children who runs in the 100 Mile Club, and it was awesome!

All-in-all, I had a GREAT race. I learned some VERY valuable lessons. I believe, in retrospect, I started out too fast, and paid for it later. However, I felt surprisingly ok when I quite, I just think it was a lack of calories and fluids in my system. I don’t think I did a good enough job keeping up on that. If I am going to increase my pace, I need to increase intake, NOT keep it the same or less. I also learned that running on pavement for 19 hours is BRUTAL on your body. My body felt like it got ran over by a truck!!! More of an exclamation point rather than something I learned is that Ultra Runners as a whole, are the salt of the Earth! There really are no better people than those who push the limits of normalcy and dare to dream big, but do NOT let their egos go before them. Humble is the word that comes to mind when you rub elbows with an Ultra Marathoner. We all know someone who has ran a marathon and probably talks about it a lot. Very few of us probably know an Ultra Runner, and if we do, you probably found out they run Ultras by accident or in passing conversation. I want to try to become more of an Ultra Runner on the road / trails, and in life.
In closing, while I have now attempted the 100 mile distance twice, and got about as far on both attempts, the main difference is that on my first attempt earlier this year, it took me 23.5 hours to do, and in this one, 19 hours. Improvement!!! Now, with the extra experience under my belt, added confidence in my ability, and the valuable lessons learned regarding hydration and nutrition, I believe I have an EXCELLENT chance of completing my third attempt at “The Distance of Truth” at The Rocky Raccoon 100 Mile Endurance Run in early February 2011 in Huntsville, TX. There is absolutely NO WAY I will hang my head in shame or regret over this DNF. I truly left it all out on the course, and when I stopped, I literally had nothing left to give. 73+ miles is a long way to run, on pavement or any other surface, and at the end of the day, this journey was a success. Perhaps this distance is a bit bigger than me right now, but it is my Mount Everest, and that is precisely the mountain I WILL conquer. In life, it is NOT about how many times we fell down, it is about how many times we got back up, dusted ourselves off, and dared to look insurmountable odds in the face again and not let our shortfalls keep us from pushing forward to our goal. Life can be summed up in an allegory comparable to every distance of running. 5K, 10k, 13.1, 26.2, and then the race beyond all that…THE ULTRA DISTANCE. This is a race and distance that challenges each person to believe in something bigger than themselves, pushing boundaries beyond what is considered normal, that teaches everyone to believe that anything is possible, to discover what you are truly made of, and to recognize that life is not about the fast fleeting moments of pleasure that come and go with the wind, it is about living every day to the fullest, taking time to enjoy those things that are of lasting happiness and joy, and can be remembered and pondered upon for a lifetime, and most importantly, to have a legacy to leave behind where your family can walk with pride and sometime after we are long gone from this Earth, say with pride… “One day, my Dad did something that nobody else has ever done…”
Thank you for reading this VERY long account of my experiences. May we all be abundantly blessed in our journey to discover why we are here and how we can best find true happiness in every breathe we take…

Your Friend,
Dan Benintendi

The Truth Is...

2010-10-19T19:27:00.000-07:00

I want to start off this entry with a picture of what I looked like before my swim this evening.

Today before my swim, I told Christie that I was going to swim tonight with my shirt off. This is the first swim I have done since Plastic Surgery without a compression top or Tri Suit on. You may not think that this is a big deal, but to me it REALLY was. Ever since surgery, even though I really have not admitted it to anyone, I am VERY self-conscious about my MASSIVE scars and the ones on my chest are so thick and dark red, I was so affraid of people thinking I was some sort of a freak or maybe even a trans-sexual (NO Joke)! Who has a big scar under their breast? I do not know a single man with this. Aside from that... While the front of my body may look decent, I still have a role of skin on my lower ribs and sternim that could not be removed yet due to blood supply issues to my lower abdomen, which I am frustrated with. Also, I probably have another 12-15 pounds of skin on my flanks (Where my love handles used to be), my butt, and upper legs. So, needless to say I was VERY apprehensive about going shirtless this evening, but I did it.

As I got to the pool and watched all the older somewhat over-weight folks begin to exit the pool after the water aerobics class, and as I witnessed and elderly couple, who consisted of a white-haired man lovingly help his wife, who was an amputee with only 1 functional leg, out of the water and back into her wheelchair, I began to think "What is wrong with you DAN". THE TRUTH IS, this evening at the pool, I had an epiphony. I felt at peace with the fact that I may never LOOK like a shredded athlete, cut up with muscle, but the FACT is, I have worked DANG HARD to get to where I am at, and I am proud of what I have accomplished, and should have no reason to feel shame about myself. The Fact is, we all are imperfect, whether it be a weight issue, cellulite, amputation, wrinkles, scars, severe burns, etc... And each one of us MUST come to a point when we can allow ourselves to love and ACCEPT who we are both on the inside AND outside, whatever that may mean. So, here is a picture of what I looked like after my swim this evening...

Yes, it is the same person in the picture but NOT the same person inside. I changed during my swim tonight. Once I took my shirt off, and jumped in the pool and started lapping the folks lingering there, I found a certain pride that came from within me, and the scars really did not seem to bother me anymore. So, if you take anything away from my post this evening, take away the FACT that none of us will ever be perfect, and while we will always be our own worst judge, we also need to learn to be gentle on ourselves. I think when we die and meet our maker and are reunited with our families at some point, I doubt those we love will really care or remember our cosmetic imperfections, rather, they will care and remember all of the fond memories made while sharing in happiness and joy. So, to sum everything up... THE TRUTH IS, WE ARE WORTH SO MUCH MORE THAN THE REFLECTION WE SEE IN THE MIRROR! This includes what a scale says, what foolish people may mock you and call you, what anyone may say about you. We were NOT sent to this Earth to FAIL, we were sent here to succeed, find happiness and joy, and to build friendships and relationships that will endure through eternity... Let's start today to achieve that which we were sent here to do!!!

Dan

Just A Few Days Now...

2010-10-19T06:01:00.000-07:00

Here I am on Tuesday morning of race week, finding myself consumed by excitement and anticipation of the big race on Saturday! Who would have thought that I could actually be EXCITED to run 100 miles in a day? It's funny how much I have changed. I know I have prepared as much as I possibly could have in the time I had. Having to take 2.5 months off training due to my MAJOR Surgery to remove my excess skin from weight loss, I thought, would be a major hinderance, but I have come back stronger and more determined than ever. So, in a few days, it is 100 miles to glory, and then a couple short weeks after that, it is off to IRONMAN AZ in November to take on that awesome challenge.

I don't know if this sounds sick or not, but I truly find enjoyment in pushing myself to the limit. I think when I was Obese, I constantly had to find ways to validate my worth. Now that I do Endurance Sports, The farther I go, the less validation I need. In other words, I look within my own soul for validation versus having to get validation from OTHERS. I know that I am worth SOMETHING now, and I hope that I can one day inspire people to follow their dreams, to not let fear stop them, and to help them understand that there is SOOOOOO much more to life, than just what a stupid scale says. If you can learn to love yourself from the inside out, the outside in will take care of itself, eventually. I am looking forward to this challenge and I cannot thank everyone enough for their love and support. I am a very lucky man...

Dan

Dan

Awesome Run & Ride Plus A MORON....

2010-10-09T20:06:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone,

I had an AWESOME day! The day started off with heading over to the local bike shop around the corner from my house to meet up with a group that rides 30 ish miles at
8am. I believe this will be the last time I join them... We made 3 stops in 30 miles, and I was done with it. I needed about 5-6 hours in the saddle, and unless I rode with these guys, I was solo the whole day, so I stuck it out with them. At stop #2, this guy and I struck a conversation up. He looked like your average weekend warrior, and he was going on and on about his epic 6 mile run yesterday. I said wow, do you run a lot... He says "Oh yeah"... "about 20 miles a week". LOL ok my version of run a lot is a little different then most, I get that. Then he asks me if I run. I say yeah, a little. I told him I had a race coming up in a couple weeks and I was mainly going to be focused on cycling and swimming until my running event passes. He asked about the race, and I told him it was a 100 mile run. Then this "Piece of work" who had chicken legs and a little gut says "Has anyone told you that you are a little "BIG" to be running?" I said just once, by a person who probably has never attempted it", and then I proceed to tell him that 2 years ago I was 400 pounds. WHAT THE.... ? I asked if he had ever done a marathon, and he immediately begins to tell about his experience. As the rest of the group made it's way to the stop, I said "I did 3 of those in one day"... LATER... And I was out!

Dude, REALLY? I probably have WAYYYYYY lower body fat % than him and he try's to pull rank. LOL Comedy. Anyways, the best part of the ride was droppin him at mile 22 and finishing up the rest of my 86 miles solo. I rode down to Benbrook Lake after riding around Eagle Mountain Lake and had an awesome ride. Nothing incredibly fast but right at 19mph which is solid for almost 90 miles. After the ride, my wife came home, we dropped the kids off at the playgroup, and headed out for our date. We started it off with a TOUGH 5 mile Trail run at Sansom Park, then we jammed home, showered, and headed to Ghangis Grill for some AWESOME grub!!! What an awesome day!!!

The best part was that when I hit halfway on my ride my wife sent me a text, I called and they were headed to the zoo, which was right on the way home. She stopped at a restraunt right off the route and I got to give everyone hugs and kisses, which fired me up for the rest of the ride. Life is so good, and I TRULY have THE BEST Wife & Children in the world...

Dan

A NEW PR IN THE WATER TONIGHT!!!!

2010-10-07T19:57:00.000-07:00

I had exactly 1 hour and fifteen minutes before I had to leave to get home from the gym so my wife could make her hair appointment... I dove in the water and got after it! A little into the swim a young gal with a FRHS Swim cap jumped in the lane next to me... Fossil Ridge High School (Which has an awesome team) in the house. So, of course, the young 15 year old is shredding through the water making it look effortless, so I pick up my pace, and really appreciated her quiet, fast company for the little bit she swam (About 1000M). I really felt strong but the last 500M the shoulders were pretty tender. I put it out of my mind and finished string and was stoked to see my time when I got done. A PR by almost 5 minutes! I'll take it. Anyways, just a great day, and taper is looking nice for the 100 mile run in a couple short weeks!!!

Dan

The Time Is At Hand...

2010-10-06T05:21:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe that in a couple weeks, I will be heading to Southern California for the 100 Mile Endurance Challenge! For those of you that don't know, it is a 100 Mile run with a 30 hour time limit that starts in Corona, CA and ends sometime the next day at The Santa Monica Pier. Since having Plastic Surgery to remove a lot of loose skin from the weight loss, I have ramped up the mileage VERY quickly, and I honestly feel like I have done everything I possible can to prepare. The rest of the preperation is mental now.

There is little doubt this is going to be a painful run. I ran 76 miles in under 24 hours earlier this year on trails, but this race is Urban, and on pavement, so it will not be as nice on the joints. Again, after the pain starts, it's all about your mind telling your body to keep going. I would REALLY like to finish the 100 in under 24 hours, but just finishing would be an incredible victory... HEck, getting the start line is a victory. My wife Chirstie, whom a year ago barely ran 5k, is doing a 4 man relay at the same race, and I am really looking forward to running beside my sweetheart.

Now that I am tapering for my race, I will not be running as much, and will be more focused on Swimming and Cycling. 3 weeks after the 100 mile run I will be competing at Ironman Arizona in Tempe. I really want to get my cycling base extremely strong by that time and I cannot express how excited I am to do this big races. So now, as the body recovers from the many training running miles in preperation for the 100 EC, it's all about positivity, and my continually belief in my ability to "Will" myself through whatever needs to be done to reach my goal. THAT is what TRI My Will is all about! Let's get out there and make it a good day!!!

Run From The Ducks (8 Hour Run) - RACE REPORT

2010-09-26T13:36:00.000-07:00

Before I dive in to the report, just a quick background on the race itself. This was a DISTANCE race, NOT a TIME race. What I mean by that is this was a .845 Mile loop that you tried to complete as many times as you could in 8 hours, and this was the races 4th year in existance. EVERYONE had the same time, but distances varied. This was an event that helped honor and contribute funds for the Veterans of The Vietnam War Museum in Weatherford, TX. With that, on to the report...

On Thursday evening, as I contimplated the 30 mile run I needed to knock out for training, in preperation for the 100 Mile Endurance Challenge in So Cal next month , I logged in to the North Texas Trail Runners (NTTR) website to see what was going on... I saw an 8 hour Ultra Race that sounded PERFECT and was only an hour from my house. I have to admit that at the time, a .845 mile loop that you run for 8 hours did NOT sound very appealing, but it was well supported, and you would have constant flows of people to run with, so I signed up. The forecast called for cooler temps on the weekend, and given the fact that I have been training in 100+ degree weather all summer, the coolness, with a supported run, not too far from home sounded perfect. I was hoping for about 30 miles or so, but decided I would push as far as my body would let me without pain...

I began my race preperations Friday night as I bought plenty of ice for my cooler, plenty of Gatorade G2, Recovery Protein Drink, and had it ready to go before bed. I slept pretty good Friday night but was VERY anxious to race so it was interupted sleep, but good none-the-less. The alarm rang at 3am and I bounced out of bed to start getting ready. I shower, eat 4 waffles with Peanut Butter, a Whole wheat Baggle, 32OZ of Gatorade and a yogurt and was feeling pretty good. I load up the car, notice the coolness and slight breeze in the air, and see the clouds looming off to the west, where the race was. As I head down the road, a couple of sprinkles hit the windshield after 10 minutes in the car... UH OH! I keep driving and it begins TO POUR!!! BUCKETS!!! I had my windshield wipers on full speed and it wasn't doing the job... So, I knew this is going to be a fun day! As I approach the race site, the rain did let up, but that would prove to be short-lived. The race was at the Botanical Gardens just outside of Mineral Wells, TX, and was about as gorgeous a venue as one could ever ask for. Amazing plants, beautiful swans , geese, and ducks, and a lightly graveled / grass covered trail the whole way. Does it get better? We even saw a couple Albino Peacocks. Check out this one on the roof of the shed!

As a few other racers arrive to the start / transition, we are pleased to see a HUGE tent there filled with tables and chairs for us to set all of our stuff on and as we started to feel a few more raindrops, we all agreed we should set up inside to keep our things dry "IF" it started to rain again. About 5 minutes after that, the skies absolutely opened up, and it POURED down rain in buckets! Then the lightning and thunder started and we got word that the start was going to be delayed as a result of close lightning strikes. About 45 minutes beyond the original start time, the Race Director calls us in a huddle (we had to do this because we could barely hear his voice over the pounding rain on the tent top and thunder) and he gives us the lay of the land and tells us to get ready to do a practice run around the loop to see all the twists and turns. The course was absolutely gorgeous and breath-taking with it's natural beauty, but the immediate ankle deep water and mud that penetrated my shoe on the first step outside of the tent sent a "Shot across my bow" as to how this day was going to be. After we complete the practice loop, the director announces there would be a short devotional out by his car, again in the rain. He proceeds to talk about how his life was changed 8 years ago as a result of Ultra Running, and began to talk about how a passage in the bible talked of Jesus Running to us. It was a great moment and he played a minute of a song that talked about that very thing. A peace came over me and I knew this was going to be a great day, rain or shine, because I have air in my lungs, feet under my body, and a strong desire to do my best. Shortly after, the race director announces we will be getting started...

As we make our way to the start, the race director announces that he is going to keep with tradition, and draw a line in the mud which will signify the official start. He then counts down from three, and we are off. From the beginning of the race to a covered Gazeebo where the timing mat and official finish is was about .10 mile and from there, you head out on to the loop. Again, the beauty of this run was incredible, and while I fully admit that running a .845 mile loop for 8 hours did NOT sound appealing, I now have to admit, this was probably THE MOST enjoyable run I have ever had. Pouring down rain, tree branches hanging low because the weight of the rain so you have to duck under them, mud up to your ankles every step of the way all were muted by the sheer beauty of the surroundings and the fact there was a bathroom (Not port o pottie) on the loop and a fully stocked aid station with the typical Ultra Fare (M&Ms, cookies, chips, pretzels, soda, etc) that you would hit every 10 minutes or so. I was feeling incredible! My pace was right around 10:30 miles for the first long stretch of miles. My fuel mainly consisted of chips, chips ahoy, oranges, bananas, and water & Gatorade G2, which was awesome. I don't EVER eat sweets so I look forward to ULTRAs where I can kind of pig out and it is for fuel!!!

I held third place for the first 20 miles or so, and everything was going great. I hit 20 miles at the halfway point of 4 hours, at which time I decided to change my mud-soaked shoes and socks out. As I headed to the tent where my stuff was stashed, I remove my sock and see HUUUUUUGE blisters on my toes that were bright red. I ignored them, and put on my fresh socks and shoes, took in a few salt tabs, pounded a Snickers marathon Protein Bar, chug a Gatorade Recovery Protein Drink, and head out again.It rained hard all the way up to about hour 5 or so, and it was nice to keep my core temperature realatively low for a change. Again, the second I stepped out of the tent with my freshly changed shoes & socks, they immediately pooled with cool water and mud, and on went the challenge. Everything was going great, my pace was holding pretty steady, however I did take a few walk breaks. As I finish mile 32 and head into the Gazeebo where the timing mat was, I see my beautiful family there chearing me on! WHAT A TREAT!!! I knew my wife had talked about coming but this late into the race and with the horrendous weather we had, I figured she would stay home. NOPE, Christie is such a trooper, and it made my day to see them. Here was a picture she shot when she saw me...

I knew I had slipped in the rankings a bit, but I didn't care! I was running my own race, and would continue to give it my all. I had some great conversations with many people out on the course, and again, had an INCREDIBLE time running this race. As I continue to rack up the miles and loops, I feel the fatigue kicking in, but still keep pushing forward. As I clear the Gazebo with only 12 minutes left, the race director yells "Dan, can you be back here in under 12 minutes?" I say, YES SIR, and begin kicking it in gear. I run at a pretty good clip and ended up getting a HUGE clump of mud in my shoe that I had to resolve. So, I find a hose, squirt off my sock and shoe, and make my way towards home. As I round one of the last turns I hear the director yell out "3 minutes Dan"... (I guess I was the last one out on the course) So I kick it with everything I had left, EVERYONE is screaming for me to finish, and I round the turn and into the Gazeebo with over a minute to spare! It was awesome to be the last one done, and even more awesome to come to the finish line with all my new-found Ultra friends and Family cheering me on. Here are a few pictures 3 hours AFTER it stopped raining, to give you an idea of the conditions...

At the end of the day, I ended up finishing 45 loops for a total distance of 38.43 miles in 7:58:30. I took 2nd in my age group and ninth overall. The 7th and 8th place finishers completed the same distance as me, just a little faster. Again, I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed this race. A great event, gorgeous surroundings, a pretty sweet loop, great support, a great cause, and this solidifies the FACT that I love trail running / Ultra running SO MUCH more than road running. The people involved in Ultras are INCREDIBLE people from the #1 finisher to last finisher, all GREAT people, and I was so thankful to have had this experience. On to the aftermath (Which I will not be posting pics of)

As I got home from the race, I was so cold, and I couldn't imagine anything more meaningful to me than a nice warm bath!!! So I walk in the door, and start filling the tub! It is not until I sit down in the water that I realize that a warm bath WAS NOT pleasant! I didn't realize that my "Man Parts" were being chaffed raw during the run, as well as my thighs (Even though I covered myself in Body Glide & Vaseline). I didn't feel any of it, probably due to the fact it was cold and numb, but man, when I hit that water, I screamed and cried like a baby!!!! That was the worst! But, I am better now and again, NO PICS!!! :) The blisters I had on my toes popped on the second half of the race and while my toes are VERY tender, I am feeling OK! I greatly exceeded my goal for this race, had a great result, felt strong the whole way, and was so happy to see my family.... THAT REALLY MADE MY DAY! 14 weeks ago I had majory surgery to remove 11 pounds of excess skin, and to go from 8 weeks of no training to a 38.4 mile training run is really beyond belief to me. I know I am being watched over, and I can't thank all of you for your continued love, support, and encouragement. I am looking forward to my next race... The 100 Mile Endurance Challenge from Corona, CA to The Santa Monica Pier on October 23rd. I KNOW I will be ready!!! Thank you for reading this long report of an awesome day! Another chapter in the book of my life! As I have said before... What good is adding years to your life unless you add life to your years! Get out there and live!!!

Dan

My Journey...

2010-09-20T10:28:00.000-07:00

My Journey...

2010-09-18T23:27:00.001-07:00

Prairie Man 70.3 Half Iron Race Report

2010-09-13T17:09:00.000-07:00

I will preface my report with a recap of the past 3 months leading up to this race, then you can truly understand how much this race meant to me. 13 weeks ago, I was on an operating table being cut open from one side of my body to the other to remove 11 pounds of excess skin I had been lugging around since my significant weight loss. I was cut at the waist from one hip to the other with an extended "Tummy Tuck", Chest Reconstruction via Male Mastopexy, Hernia Repair, and Pubic Lift. This MAJOR Surgery had me down for the count and was restricted / banned from excercise for 8 weeks. Recovery was slow, but the off time was worth the wait! This means I went from doing nothing to prepairing for a Half Iron Triathlon in 4 weeks! I trained my butt off and got myself ready for this race. My mind was in a GREAT place, and I was feeling awesome. My surgery WAS WORTH IT!!! Now, on to the race...

The alarm rings at 3am, I JUMP out of bed and begin thinking through my race preperation, being sure to have all of my items needed for the race, my strategy, nutrition, etc... After double and triple checking everything I set out at 4:30am to drive to the race. It was a balmy 82 degrees PLUS Humidity at 5:30am, and we all knew we were all in for a "Doozey". The water temperature was reported at 88* so obviously, wetsuits were NOT allowed. There was a SPRINT Triathlon at this race too, and they started before we did at 7am. After getting transition set up, picking up my timing chip, and taking a quick warm up swim in the lake, I made my way to the shore to watch the start of the Sprint. As I find some grass to stand on, my feet start "Stinging". I look down... YEP, an ant hill!!! I got chewed on and my foot was red, blistered and on fire. I dust off the ants, make my way to the water, and all is well. I AM AWAKE NOW!!!! As the Sprint starts, the race director, Jack Weiss, begins to prep us for the race. I was totally filled with excitement! During the race breifing, a cool dude makes his way through the crowd and asks me if I was "That Guy" in Competitor Magazine that had lost all that weight... I said, yeah, that's me... He went on to tell me what an inspiration I was to him and he told me how he clipped that article out and shared it with his fellow employees the day after he got the magazine. That was so awesome. (He said he recognized my big leg tattoo, that's how he figured it was me)

As the breifing ends, I thank my new found friend for his kind words, and then we began lining up. I was in the 3rd wave out of 4 and was filled with anticipation. My goal was to swim an easy, smooth pace, conserve for the bike and run, have a strong bike, and get through the run. As I make my way into the water to start, the race director yells "30 Seconds to go"!!! It then hits me that I JUST had MAJOR Surgery and this was going to be an epic day, regardless of my time. Then.... "10 Seconds!!!" ... "3,2,1..." BANGGGGG and we are off!!! It's on...

The swim was smooth, uneventful, and VERY pleasant. I did not push my pace, but I did not slack either. My total swim time was 40:27 for this 1.2 mile swim, which is pretty slow for me, but judging from the swim splits posted across the board, I believe the course was a little long. The TOP finishers barely broke 30 minutes (which is RARE) and I had the FASTEST swim split in my division. I make my way out of the water, and have a pretty good jaunt to my bike across pavement riddled with nagging gravel that enjoyed embeding itself in my foot! I get all my preperations for the bike dialed in and head out...

The bike course was relatively flat with a few rollers and some "false flats", it kind of reminded me of Ironman Orlando 70.3's bike course, except for the fact that this one had 4 loops. My goal was to negative split each loop, which I believe I did. My goal was to have an overall average on the bike between 20-21 MPH, which I DID!!!! 20.5MPH to be exact, and after 2:44:59 on my bike through this 56 mile ride, I could not be happier! By this time the heat had really picked up, around 95 degrees plus humidity, which basically told me I was in for a world of hurt on this run!!! Back into transition, put on the running swag and head out.

The run... oh boy... THE RUN... This might also be known as the "walk of the living dead"! As I leave transition and begin to run, it becomes VERY appearent that my core temperature was red lining, and I HAD to get it down. The most brutal part of this 13.1 mile run you might ask? The 3.5 mile out and back (7 miles total) across a black asphalt dam, with NO shade at all!!! BRUTAL!!! INHUMAN!!! DOWN RIGHT NASTYYYYY!!! So, me being the genius that I am, and being the bald-headed man I am, put 2 + 2 together and somehow came up with the brilliant plan to wear a visor on the run instead of the hat. I knew my newly aquired tan line on my head would make for an interesting topic for discussion at the presentation I was to give to 50 of my colleagues the next day, so I had to find a resolution. I found a towel on the ground at about mile 2. I pick it up, slap it on my head, put my visor over it, and "Ta Dah" problem solved! It turns out they used towels instead of sponges here and thankfully there was an aid station at every mile marker!!! Even with stuffing my front and back with ice and towel and dousing my head with cold water, and shoving ice under my towel / hat, I could NOT cool down... The pace began to slow, but I HAD to stop at every station to re-ice and hydrate, otherwise I would have probably killed over! I kept a slow and steady pace between aid stations and was only reduced to a walk 2 times between aid stations. EVERYONE looked like they were about to meet their maker... The FASTEST run split was over 7 minute p/mile average, which is not super fast for a race like this. This was a suffer fest, but I was game and hung in there! I was so thankful to sense the finish line. The heat index had to be around 105+ and it was truly a struggle to finish. As I round the final turn, I hear the music, see the finish and try to finish with whatever I had left. I got through this run in 2:52:43, which is about the slowest time I have ever posted on a run at 13 minute miles, but I could not be more proud. Looking at the run splits across the board, EVERYONE struggled and the times DO NOT LIE, they were all slow. It was flat out, a BRUTAL finish to a GREAT race, but I could not be happier.

Throughout my entire journey, I have found the GREATEST satisfaction in the races or training sessions that I just felt like QUITING, but didn't. This was no exception! At mile 2 of the run, I rounded a corner and saw my car in the distance and truly thought about just packing it in and heading home, I won't lie, but... I DIDN'T!!!! And, I am so thankful that I did not. While my run time was not what I hoped it would be, my TOTAL time was good enough to win 2nd place in my division! WHAT??? Yup, Like I said, a TOTAL suffer fest for everyone. So, that just goes to show you, all you can do is your best, which can vary from day-to-day depending on elements, health, conditions, terrain, etc... And then hold your head high knowing you gave it your all at the end. At the end of the day, I know I tried my best, had a solid swim, an excellent bike, and a run that was not fast, but almost equally as gratifying as running a 1:40 half marathon in 60 degree weather! I am so grateful to live the life I do. I am the luckiest man in the world to have such a wonderful wife that loves, supports, and encourages me, and always pushes me to be the best! For my wonderful kids who I love more than any words could express, and for the watchful eye my Heavenly Father always has on me. I will be the first to EVER admit that the things I have done along this journey, I have not done alone, and I could not have done it with ALL of you! The strength to get me through races, training, and life DOES NOT come from the strength in my muscles, joints, or tendons, it comes from the strength in my heart, the fighting will I have to never be 400 pounds again, and for the simple fact that I touch peoples hearts when I show them ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE!!! As I reached the finishing line, a young man who was a VERY solid Triathlete leaned over to remove my timing chip, after doing so, he stood up, looked me in the eye, and said "You are that guy who lost a ton of weight aren't you?" I said yes bro, I am, he told me I was his hero... I choked back a few tears, reflected on who I am, what I have done, and then proceeded to remove all my running garb from my body as I made my way to the lake to sit a soak in the "Cool" 88 degree water... It truly felt like an Ice Bath!!!

In closing, a simple line from one of my favorite movies "What we do in life ECHOES through Eternity". Thank you all for your friendship, love, support, encouragement... Every mile I run, I carry every kind word with me in my heart...

Your Friend,
Dan

100 Mile Club Kick-Off - Rosa Parks Elementary

2010-07-13T22:46:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I had the honor of speaking at Rosa Parks Elementary School to kick of this year's 100 Mile Club. This is a program that challenges the children to run 100 miles during the school year with over 30,000 participants and 40 schools. Here is a video from yesterday's kick off...

3 Weeks Post-Op... DRAIN FREE!!!!

2010-07-11T22:19:00.000-07:00

I cannot tell you how amazing it is to not have drains in anymore. The last of 5 drains was removed on Friday and I am now a little over 3 weeks out from my surgery, Life is good!!! I turned a year older yesterday, the old 35, which means I also move up an age group as well. Christie and I went to Red Lobster for Dinner, then to see Grownups, and we picked up the kids and went out for smoothies. I was asked to speak at Whispering Hills Elementary School in Corona, CA tomorrow and talk about my story and journey. It is going to be awesome. Also, I have my final post-op check-up with Dr Afifi on Wednesday, and if I get her final blessing, we will be heading home to Texas and will hopefully be there by Sunday. Here are a few updated pics...

2 Weeks Out And Feeling Great!!!

2010-07-03T11:25:00.000-07:00

Here we are 2 weeks post-op plastic surgery, and I am feeling amazing! I have been up and about this week. This week I recieved a promotion at work and accepted my new position as a Businees Account Manager from my previous role as a Technical Consultant. Life is good and I got drain #4 of 5 out this past week as well. 1 More drain to go and I am back to human status, and then we can head back to Texas and get on with living our normal lives. Here are a few pics of the progress. Still a bit swollen but the results are beginning to show nicely...

A Pretty Cool Day...

2010-06-30T18:41:00.000-07:00

Well, I had a follow-up visit with Dr Afifi this morning at about 2 weeks post-op, and everything is healing and looking very good. I had one more drain removed so that leaves me with just 1 left. She took the other out because it was beginning to look a little red and irritated (Not Good), so better safe than sorry. I hope there are no problems with infenction, but I will just have to keep an eye on it... It should be ok.

Also, my wife and I were invited to have lunch with the folks at Obesity Help. www.obesityhelp.com . We enjoyed some PF Changs and it was great getting to know all of those folks. Also, Mike, the Arts Director for the magazine, gave me a preview of what my article in next month's magazine looks like. It looks awesome! Anyways, all is well and I will be posting some pics soon...

Dan

White Rock Marathon Race Report - 2009

2010-06-27T11:40:00.000-07:00

Post Date: 12/15/09 6:16 am

Well, this is kind of a bitter-sweet race report. Bitter in the sense that it will be the last race report for this incredible year for me. Sweet in the sense that it is another finish to a marathon and caps my running miles raced this year at 137.2 total miles. With that, here is my report...

For the days leading up to the race, I had been battling a chest cold, and am still fighting it off now. It really worried me about this marathon, but I was going to finish it no matter what! Also, one of the things that has plagued me in many of my longer races is dehydration and electrolyte embalance, so I wanted to come into this race properly hydrated and ready to go. Protein load for days 7-3.5 leading up to the race went well, and carb load for the few days leading up to the race went awesome as well, and was capped off with a plate of lasagna at Joe's Pizza and Pasta accompanied by Darrell and his 2 sons. Everything was looking great and my cold seemed to be somewhat in check. I got to bed early Saturday night, did my normal toss and turn routine for several hours, then woke up at the sound of the alarm at 4:30am in preperation for the 8am start. I ate 2 Eggos with Peanut Butter, a couple big bottles of Gatorade Focus and some banana chips to top off the tank. I make my way to Dallas, and once there was able to meet up with Darrell and we hung out until race start.

So, we find our place in the sea of people and position ourselves in the appropriate corral. With 20,000 people running, it seemed like a sea of never ending bodies, but we found our spot and waited for the start. We saw the start of the race on the jumbo tron and it took us 22 minutes from the time of the gun sounding, until we were able to start running. Once we crossed the start line, it was so congested we ran a 11+ minute mile the first mile and it thinned out a little. Now at the 2 mile mark, my bladder felt like it was going to burst, I had to pee so bad. And, actually that was the main theme for the day... 4 potty breaks in the first 13.1 miles, and 3 potty breaks the second 13.1, WHAT A DRAG!!! I guess being overly hydrated beats the alternative. These stops ate up a lot of time, but it's all good. Things were going well and after the 1st aid station at mile 2 I lost Darrell in the crowd and caught him again as I was exiting my 2nd potty stop before we hit the lake. so we ran for a bit and I started to push my pace. At about mile 6 the marathoners go to the left, and halfer's go to the right, this helped with the congestion of the field as the majority of people racing were doing the half. Out around the lake and enjoying the scenery. For nutrition I a did a Gel, and did not hit the wall at all.

At mile 19-20 we get back into the residential communities and you are then pleasently greeted by the infamous "Dolly Parton" hills. The title is self ex planatory... I made it up those hills while be accompanied by my buddy Derrick who was struggling with back spasms, but we chugged along for a couple miles and it was great to chill with him, thanks for getting me through the wall buddy! Now the final 10k is completely downhill... Sounds great and fast IF your legs are fresh, which mine were surely not! The last 6 absolutely shattered my legs and I was in some serious pain. I ended up walking an aggregate of about a mile on the last 6 mile stretch. No harm done... I figure with ALL the potty breaks and the mile I spent walking, it probably equated to a 25-30 minute short-fall from my goal, but I am ok with that. It was just a severely painful last 1.5 miles, but as anyone can attest to who has ever raced, once you hear the sounds of the finish line, people screaming, music blarring, all the pain seems to subside, so I pushed on and finished with a smile on my face and the pride that comes with finishing a 26.2 mile run.

Regardless of Ironman finishes, other races, etc... You must ALWAYS respect the marathon. It is no joke! All-In-All, I am very happy with my finish, not terribly impressed with my time, however I did manage to improve from last year's results by 11 minutes, so that's a good thing. So that's it, a great race to cap off my year. It was a cool experience to be there at the finish when Darrell finished his first marathon, and overall, was am imcredible day. With that, I bid farewell to an incredible racing year, which in the past 12 months has included 4 Half Ironmans, 1 Full Ironman, 3 Marathons, 2 Sprint Triathlons, 4 x 75+ mile Bike rallies, multiple 5k & 10k's, and has been one of the most rewarding years of my life. This is what LIVING is all about. This journey has been so rewarding, and it would not be the same if I did not have all of you, which I consider my friends, to share it with. God Bless us all in our journey to find fulfillmet, true happiness, joy, and the never-ending journey to fill the measure of our creation....

Dan Benintendi #2275
Fort Worth, TX, USA
Age: 34 Gender: M Distance MAR
Clock Time 4:55:10
Chip Time 4:43:50
Overall Place 108 / 251
Gender Place 105 / 218
Division Place 105 / 218
Age Grade 44%
10K Split Rank 114
10K Split Time 1:03:27
Half Split Rank 105
Half Split Time 2:12:59
20 1 Mile Rank 100
20 1 Mile Time 3:27:45
24 Mile Rank 107
24 Mile Time 4:16:48
Final 2 2 Rank 108
Final 2 2 Time 4:43:50

Sorry For The Mass Upload...

2010-06-27T01:02:00.001-07:00

Hey Ya'll.... I apologize for the huge upload of all my race reports. I am done so that won't happen again but it will be business as usual going forwrd. Have a good one...

Ironman Austin - Longhorn 70.3

2010-06-27T00:43:00.000-07:00

****Ironman Longhorn Austin, TX 70.3 Race Report ******

Good Evening Everyone,

I have finally arrived at home, bathed, am eating a bowl of spaghetti and have been thinking about writting this report all afternoon. So, without further adeu, here it is...

The morning started off early, as always! My buddy Craig and I roomed together, and drove together, he was in one of the first waves, I was in wave 15, next to last, so I had a little extra time to stand around and do nothing, which was kind of nice. We finally make our way to the water, gun goes off, and we are on the way. The swim was smooth, everyone commented that it seemed a little long, but it is all good, I had a great swim and was happy. There was a bit of a bottle neck at the swim exit to get to the wetsuit strippers, and after I get mine stripped, I make my way up a steep uphill climb into transition.

There was a lot of gravel on the ground in transition and it did not feel real good on the feet, nor did the gravel that remained stuck to my foot after I put my socks on and started cycling. What a 56 mile annoyance! Anyways, the bike was VERY challenging! There were 10-15 MPH winds, lots of hills and from my closest count, over 60 turns on the course! What that means is that you cannot carry ANY momentum for any period of time because there is a flippin turn coming up. On the 2nd or 3rd turn, it was a sharp right, and goes directly into a 9% grade hill... I literally saw 3 people fall off their bikes because they could not make it up! Anyways, everything is going well... I was taking a gel every 20 minutes, salt tab every 30 minutes, and a Cliff Bar at the halfway mark. I thought Gatorade was making me feel terrible so I practiced without taking Gatorade and up my gels to 3 per hour versus 2 and it worked well in training so I thought I would be money. So the Bike ends, and into T2...(Oh yeah... It was AWESOME to see Darrell and his daughters at one of the turns. Thank you guys for volunteering!)

After arriving in T2, it becomes apparent that I feel like CRAP! I did not push it on the bike at all, I just generally felt "Not good". I drank 1 full Camelbak of water, 5 x 24 ounce bottle of water, and turns out I came off the bike severely dehydrated!!! What's up with that??? If I drank more my eyeballs would be floating.... Oh well, I have to get that all in check in the off season. So I start running, and for the first real time, I get a taste of what you all talk about experiencing with Gastric Distress!!! I think it was probably due to the excess of Gels. The run course was 3 loops and had some ridiculously ssssssssssstupid steep hills that were looooong! Good times because you get to do these all 6 times! Out and back x 3.... UGH!!!!! So again at mile 3, just like Augusta last month, I get that familiar "My chest and throat are on fire" feeling, and I am again reduced to a walk. Here is what I have determined is going on... I AM ALERGIC TO CITRIC ACID!!! Through process of elimination, that's what it HAS to be. So, I will toy with that in the off season, and will get this confirmed with my PCP, but I am willing to put money on it that that's the problem. Anyways, the run turned into a death march, and for the first time, I actually felt like quiting! But, I didn't... I normally give all sorts of details about my race in my report, but I am keeping that bare-bones and wanted to get to the "Real" report.

Last year when I met with my surgeon to discuss my goals regarding Ironman, he said he would support me and took care of my entries. Keep in mind, I had only done a Sprint distance Tri at this point. Well, I end up registering for 4 x 70.3s and 1 140.6 MDOT brand races! When I first starting talking to people about my goals and races for 2009, everyone in my Tri Club said I was nuts, along with all my family and friends, and many were "Nay-Sayers", believing that a "Newbie" could barely handle one of these events, let alone 5, in one year! I have to say, in retrospect, that if I knew then what I know now, I maybe would have only done half of the races I did this year. Today, as I was struggling, and finding myself getting dissapointed in my result for the last race of my year, while on the final loop of my run, it finally hit me. This is the first time in my life I have EVER accomplished EVERYTHING I set out to do. And yes, I struggled on my run, yes I wish I could have been faster, yes I wish I could have placed in my group, the bottom line, is that I finished. I finished much more than just a race today. I put an exclamation mark on my goals! I turned the mocking of seasoned athletes, who would never dare to have such a crazy race schedule, to respect. I have proven to my friends and family that thought I was crazy to think of doing this in one year, that I am certifiably crazy, but also that I AM a finisher, and I am a doer now and not just a watcher. I think my life, in general, was summed up today in my race, and here is my thoughts...

I try my hardest to be a great father, and although I fall short, everyday, I wake up each day with a brightness of hope, that I can do better. I focus on trying to be a good husband to my beautiful and loving wife everyday, but usually fall way short of that goal. But, each day, of the last 17 years we have spent together, I try harder to love her more, in my own way. I concentrate on work, and try to be an expert at what I do, but I may fall a little short of being an expert, however, everyday I try to improve and gain more knowledge. In every aspect of my life, I may fall short of my ultimate goals, but in every aspect of my life, I am HAPPY, and I TRY a little bit harder each day. This leads me to my final thought... Life, triathlon, running, etc.... is not about perfection, there's only one who is perfect, however, it is about constant improvement. Today was the toughest race I had taken part in, to date, and by far the slowest finish I have had to date, but, it was the MOST gratifying, because when the easiest thing to do would have been to QUIT, I kept marching forward, and for that I am extremely proud. Well, that's it, Ironman Race #5, in the books, another SWEET medal to hang on the wall, and a course that would humble any who try to do it. VIVA LA VIDA.... My body is absolutely shattered, and I will not be working out AT ALL for 3 weeks. So, if I am not around as much, know that it is temporary, know that I will be focusing on the things that truly matter in life (Being a dad, good husband, soccer coach, provider, etc...) and when I get back to it, IT's ON LIKE DONKEY KONG YA'll....Much love to all of you who have supported me in this crazy journey called LIFE!!!

Ironman August, GA 70.3

2010-06-27T00:42:00.002-07:00

********Ironman Augusta, GA. 70.3 Race Report********

Hey Everyone,

I hope everyone is well! I have eaten a lot, took a good nap, and am now packing and getting ready to embark on the 975 mile drive to get back home in the morning. I have had a chance to recall the days events and thought I would knock out the RR before I go home, so here it is...
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So I was scheduled to be off Thursday and was going to leave mid-afternoon to arrive in Augusta, GA in the morning. Well, I ended up working all day and did not get under way on until 9:30pm Thursday and arrived in Augusta at 6pm on Friday. THAT DRIVE WAS BRUTAL! 975 miles of joy, but ey, at least the scenery was gorgeous. I stayed with my wife's aunt and uncle who live 10 minutes away from the race site, and that was awesome! I got settled in and woke up at 8am Saturday to do a quick 10 minute run, 20 minute spin on the bike, and jumped in the Savanah River for a 15 minute swim. Boy was that current moving! I swam downstream 1st then worked my way back upstream and that was kind of cool, just a little more work. I headed over to the host hotel, do pre race briefing, packet pickup, bought a sweet Transition bag at the expo, checked my bike in, and I was ready to roll.My nutrition leading up to the race was solid, and my body water percentage was 67% so I was VERY hydrated (Thank goodness, more on this later). We went out for dinner, I had some BBQ shrimp skewers with rice pilaf and a baked potatoe and I was ready to go.

Of course I just tossed and turned all night and got about 2 hours sleep, which isn't a big deal because I slept like a log the night before when it mattered! 2:30am rise and shine, and the pre-race rituals begin. I was feeling so good and so ready for this race! I head to transition and was there right when they opebed at 5am. I got everything situated. Bike dialed in? Check! Helmet? check! Glasses? Check! Bib? Check! Camelbak? Check! Tires Inflated? Check! Wetsuit, goggles and cap? Check! I AM READY! So I catch the shuttle that heads down to the swim start and got there early and took my place in line. Soon enough the pros were making their way down to the start, national anthem, prerace thanks from announcer, etc... And the race is under way! I was in the 5th wave which was nice for a change. I usually am at the back of the race passing people, it was actually kind of cool to see all the elite athletes pass me, they are amazing folks! The weather was low 70's a bit humid and the water was a balmy 69 degrees, def wetsuit legal. When our wave is called, we make our way down the dock, and it was a start where everyone begins holding on to a rope so the current doesn't float you down the river. The horn blows and I was off. My stroke was feeling great, water felt great, all was going well... UNTIL some random dude decides it's not very important to site and was swimming at about a 90 degree angle OPPOSITE to where he should be going. So, yeah, I was the lucky guy who had the pleasure of watching this guy swim to Cuba, and in the process take a HARD elbow to my face! It did not feel good and kind of rattled my cage, I readjusted my goggles, calmed down, and got back under way. Overall, the swim was great, especially given the fact that we swam downstream, and I PR'd with a swim time of just over 26 minutes for 1.2 miles (2000 Meters).

There was a 300 yard run from swim exit to transition, so not too sure if that time was tacked on to my swim time or transition time, but either way was not a big deal. I get wetsuit stripped and get to my bike. I see my Camelbak on top of my helmet, I see my glasses, bib and so I set the Camelbak to the side as I get everything else on. I have 1 bottle cage on my bike, as I usually ALWAYS use the Camelbak, and my bottle was half-full as I drank some Gatorade from it before the race. I am coming off a GREAT swim and am so amped up to go attack the bike course so I run out of transition, mount my bike, start spinning, then buckle the shoes and I am off. I usually wait 10-20 minutes to start taking in nutrition and fluids on the bike, so I just focused on a nice high cadence spin to get things going. 54 of the 56 mile ride was in South Carolina and the first stretch is through the Friggin Hood.. Very interesting. My pace is good, and I am starting to get thirsty, so I reach for my Camelback mouthpiece only to then realize 3 miles into the ride, that I NEVER PUT IT ON!!! I am royaly screwed! Not only does it have all my hydration for the ride, but it also has ALL of my tire repair, replacement stuff in it. So, needless to say I was living on a prayer! I realized 2 things at that point... 1) I am going to be VERY dehydrated by the end of the bike because I only have 1 bottle cage, and my salt tabs were in my Camelbak so electrolytes were going to be out of whack as well. 2) If I flat on the course, I am for sure a DNF. I said a quick prayer and hoped for the best for the ride. It was a GREAT ride... Lot's of rolling hills and some pretty scenery. up until mile 38 I was averaging well over 22MPH until I hit the headwind the last 14 miles ALL THE WAY back to transtion...UGH, so I ended up averaging 20.21MPH on the bike and my goal was 20-21MPH, things could not be going better.

After arriving back into transition, I come to discover that a mound of ants had decided to keep my running shoes and socks warm for me, as well as my hat, and then look down to see my sunglasses laying on the ground CRUSHED! Man, something on every leg of the race! Oh well, so I run without glasses. I start off at a nice easy pace and run steady. When I hit mile 4, I start to feel "Light-headed" and my vision starts going blurry. I was wobbling and probably looked like a drunken sailor to an extent. I knew this was the electrolyte imbalance / dehydration catching up with me. At that point, right next to me, was an ambulance, and as I started to walk towards it to ask for an IV to be put in, I glance quickly down the road and could see an aid station about 1/4 of a mile down the road. Ok, let me get there and see if I can make myself better. I stop at the station, stuff 5 sponges in my hat and shirt, drink 5-6 glasses of water, which tasted like hell, took in some Gatorade, a power bar, a gel, and 2 salt tabs. I started to feel better, and I felt the nutrition really hit my system about 20-30 minutes down the road. So for water, they were using tap water from hoses off houses, which was absolutely disgusting, and a lot of stations did not have ice... Talk about a beat down! I heard of several people DNF'ing because they got sick from the nasty / warm water, which sux. I was feeling a little better as time went on and was at least able to have a negative split on the half marathon... Still VERY slow, but a finish none-the-less! I think my 1/2 mary time was 2:38:00 or there-abouts. I was really hoping for a 5:15:00 finish, but given the circumstances, I am VERY pleased with my results. I killed the swim and of course was a PR, the bike was a PR for a 70.3 distance race for me, and overall was a PR for total time by 18 minutes at this distance!

Given all the adversity / mistakes in this race, I am still very pleased! It was a challenging race and as the sun came out on the bike and humidity became present, it made for a pretty good challenge. I am glad I did this race, I have not decided if I would like to do it again, but it is always great to finish an MDOT event because there is just an incredible spirit about them. So this is Ironman event number 4 for 2009 in the books for me, with 1 more 70.3 to go next month in Austin (Longhorn 70.3) and volunteering at IM Arizona in November. So, that's it, a great race, a good result considering, and now the brutal drive to get back to my family.... I miss them a ton. Thanks for taking the time to read this, and happy trails to all...

Ironman Louisville - August 2009

2010-06-27T00:42:00.001-07:00

*****Ironman Louisville, Kentucky Aug 30, 2009**********

I have been sitting here for what seems like hours trying to figure out how I am going to put all my experiences, emotions, highs, lows, and everything in between into a somewhat condenced version to give you a full scope of how incredible this past weekend has been for me. So here is my official race report for my first 140.6 mile Ironman triathlon in Louisville Kentucky on August 30, 2009...

My preperations to leave for Louiseville were somewhat bitter-sweet because I knew I was going to become an Ironman in the coming weekend, but also was somewhat sad because my family would not be there with me. Our daughter Ava was starting school the day after Ironman and my wife, Christie and I agreed that it was more important for Ava to have her mommy there for her 1st day of school rather than her being at a race for daddy! So, after some thought, I told my wife, why don't we just not send Ava on Monday, and send her Wednesday for her 1st day instead.... After all, it is just pre-school and 1 day won't matter. A light went off in her head and she made the decision to go with me to Louiseville with our youngest boy Austin at the final hour, and I was on cloud 9!!! So we pack up the car and set out at 2am on Thursday morning to conquer this 875 mile drive. Everything went well on the drive except the time it took, and we finally made it to Louisville late afternoon on Thursday. Our friends Anthony and his wife Lori met us at the hotel, we got some groceries and called it a night!

Friday morning I wake after a solid night's sleep, Anthony and I head down to the river to get some practice swimming in on the Ohio River during the official Gatorade Practice Swim. The water was 80+ degrees and it felt amazing!!! The swim went well, we got in about a mile, then we headed out of the water and I went back to the hotel to pick up the family. After I picked up the family, we head down to the host hotel so I could pick up my packet. On the way I get a call from my buddy Ryan, who says "Hey bro, did you know you are a "Featured Athlete" in Louisville on www.ironman.com ???" I say no, and I head to the website and found this in the Louisville Ironman Preview...(Scroll 3/4 of the way down the screen)

Ford Ironman Louisville Preview
Record sized field set to compete in third annual event
Published Thursday, August 27, 2009

Sunday's Ford Ironman Louisville event could feature the largest field in Ironman history with almost 3,000 athletes registered from 20 countries for the third annual event here in Kentucky. In addition to the huge age group field, a competitive pro field is also set to take part, headed by defending champions Max Longree and Mariska Kramer-Postma, but both will face competitive fields including a number of Ironman champions.

Australian Luke McKenzie, a two-time Ironman champion already in 2009 (Malaysia and Japan), arrives here in Louisville as the man most likely to take the crown away from Longree, but South Africa's Raynard Tissink with five Ironman titles on his resume, also arrives as another favorite. Added to the competitive list of male pros is two-time Ford Ironman Wisconsin Dave Harju.

Kramer-Postma will face multiple-Ironman champions Nina Kraft, Fernanda Keller and Lisbeth Kristensen as she tries to defend her title. Kraft was a runner-up here in Louisville two years ago, while Kristensen finished third here last year, just eight months after the birth of her daughter, Astrid. Keller is trying to continue a 21-year streak of qualifying for the Ford Ironman World Championship in Kona.

The 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike and 26.2-mile run course will utilize a variety of Louisville’s scenic areas, including Waterfront Park, Oldham and Henry Counties and the city of LaGrange. Athletes will end their journey with a finish line celebration at Fourth Street Live!.

Approximately 150 Louisville residents are scheduled to participate in this event that serves as an official qualifier for the Ford Ironman World Championship, taking place on Saturday, Oct. 10, in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii.

Some of the interesting age group stories we'll be following include:

Zach Hadfield, 28, Muldraugh, Ky. – Zach is an active military member and has been deployed twice to Iraq.

Andy Holder, 41, Collegeville, Penn. – Andy, who lives with Type I diabetes, is the national spokesperson for Good Neighbor Pharmacy. He created the Iron Andy Foundation, which aims to help children, young adults and their families dealing with diabetes and other chronic illness by providing inspiration, resources and assistance to help them achieve their life goals.

Dan Benintendi, 34, Fort Worth, Texas – Dan has lost almost 200 pounds since the beginning of 2008 and is participating in his first Ironman.

Debi Hatton, 43, Louisville, Ky. – Debi is a mother of five children. This will be her second time participating in Ford Ironman Louisville.

Charles Plaskon, 65, Punta Gorda, Fla. – Charles is a legally blind athlete who races for the C Different Foundation. This will be Charles’ fourth Ironman, as he previously competed at Ford Ironman Coeur d’Alene, Ford Ironman Florida and the renowned Ford Ironman World Championship.

We'll have live coverage of this year's race including video, text updates, live athlete tracking and photos from Action Sports International. Our coverage is set to start on Friday afternoon.
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After registering and getting acclamated with our surroundings, we head back to the room to relax for a bit and then head back to downtown for the welcome dinner. When we arrive at the Convention Center, where the $30 run-of-the-mill mediocre pasta dinner was served, there were thousands of people there already. Dinner is served, Anthony, his wife and my family sit down at a table of nice folks from Cincinatti, OH and we enjoyed each others company. After dinner it is announced that Mike Reilly "The Voice Of Ironman" was going to be the MC and everyone was going nuts! So he presents a few guest speakers, shows a couple of VERY inspiring and motivational videos, and then begins calling people to the stage. Some interesting folks were the youngest competitor who turned 18 the day before the race and got his mom and dad to race with him!!! Another was a 72 year old man who has completed 35 Ironmans!!! At this point MIke Reilly starts talking about the changes one makes in their life in preparing for Ironman and talked about health. He then proceeds to ask everyone in the audience who has lost 30 pounds training for this race to stand. A lot of people, including myself stand up. He then says if you have lost 40 pounds, stay standing, quite a few sit down. Then 50 pounds, most people were then sitting. Then he asks 60 pounds to stay standing and there were just 3 of us in this sea of people still standing. He asks the three of us to come all the way up to the stage. Next to me on the stage was a man who lost a whopping 65 pounds and the crowd went wild...

Next to him was this gal who was asked by Mike... "If I would have said 70 pounds would you still be standing?" "Yup, she said... "80?", "Yup, "90?", "Yup"... "100???!!!) "Yup" HOW MUCH HAVE YOU LOST??? She stated she had lost an amazing 120+ pounds, which is incredible!!! The crowd went nuts...

Then he comes to me and asks "130??" Yup... 140??? YUP... 150?????? YUP.....175????????????????? YUP... HOLY CRAP>>> How Much Have You Lost??? 200 pounds my friend... The crowd went absolutely bonkers and the amazing reception I recieved was so emotional and incredible it took all my strength not to start crying like a baby! So after everything calms down, MIke says, you know what we give the Biggest Loser? I say no, he says an INCREDIBLE Body Scan scale by Tanita (Which I have to say IS THE BOMB), and a year supply of Erin Baker's Cookies and Granola which I am soooo stoked about, I love that stuff!

So after I exit stage left, I am immediately approached by sooo many people congratulating me on my journey and just really made me feel like a king. One of the amazing people who came to greet me was this incredible Ironman Champion Amanda Stevens...

This was an incredible way to start the weekend and after the event I get another call from my brother saying that there was some mention of me again on www.ironman.com and this is what was posted there....
The biggest loser ...
Anyone who has done what Dan Benintendi (pictured here left with Mike Reilly) has done over the last few years could hardly be described as a "loser," but he did win himself a Tanita Body Composition Monitor and a year's supply of Erin Baker's cookies last night.

Benintendi has lost 201 pounds during his journey to becoming an Ironman. It was when he reached 400 pounds that Benintendi's wife told him she was sick of living life as a single mom with a husband who was always too tired to help out.

"I decided to make the choice of health over food," he said.

Health has led him to competing in his first Ironman tomorrow. Good luck, Dan!
overage/updates.php?type=U&race=louisville&year=2009&page=0&order=ASC">http://ironman.com/coverage/updates.php?type=U&race=louisville&year=2009&page=0&order=ASC

OK, so we head back to the room and get some rest... We decide to sleep in Saturday morning and go for a brief 10 minute run and a 25 minute ride to make sure everything was in order. Everything was well, race prep went great, I finished packing up transition bags and special needs bags, loaded up the bike and headed down to transition to check my gear in. It was so awesome! You are treated much differently at an Ironman versus a 70.3 for sure. You have a volunteer that carries your gear, shows where your bike is to be racked, and checks in your bags for you... White glove treatment for sure. I place everything in order for the morning and head out of transition. We then met up with a couple other friends, Duane and his wife at the Spaghetti Factory, enjoy a nice lunch and then head out to drive the bike course. OH BOY... This course is no joke... Hill after hill after hill, this was going to be a challenge but I was up for it!!! No matter how hard, I was going to finish, period! Get back to the room and toss and turn all night in anticipation, of course, and begin the rituals at 2am.

Leading up to the race, I had been battling a cold, and I was really hoping it would just go away for the race, but unfortunately, it didn't... This would come in to play later in the race. So, I begin the morning trying to get in 1000 calories for breakfast, begin hydrating, and my hydration level was over 60% so I was good to go. I get all my last minute items together, snap a few shots of my son and I and head out. I have to say I look rather "Dapper" with my nasal Breathe Right strips on my nose...

The morning was gorgeous... A brisk 60 degrees with a little wind and clear skies and relatively low humidity... Does it get any better than this? We arrive at the race site Sunday morning and tend to our morning rituals there. Then it is a .75 mile walk from transition to the swim start, which was no biggie.... That is until I got to the swim start. Louisville is different than any other Ironman in that it is a time trial start, meaning people enter the water one by one in a line, similar to what is typical of a Sprint Triathlon and by the time I got to the start I had to walk another 1+ mile to get to the end point in the line where I could take a place in the "First come, first serve" set up that Louisville has. Dang, over 2.5 miles walked and the race has not even started yet! Anyways, it was no biggie, I took the time to reflect a bit on my journey, on the task at hand, and to just take in all the surroundings, which were amazing. I finally hear the cannon go off for the pros... 15 minutes later, the age grouper cannon blows and the race is under way. The line begins moving quick and I am anxious to get in the water. After a 35 minute wait to get started, I start running down the boat ramp to the water entry point, jump in feet first and start the 1200 Meter (Approx) swim UPSTREAM to get through the channel. My stroke was feeling solid and everything was groovy! We hit the turn buoy and begin to swim downstream to complete the swim. My cadence was solid and consistant the whole way and I felt like a million bucks after the 2.4 mile swim. I hit transition, get my bags, head to the tent, put my cycling socks and BIB on and head out to the bike. Once I get to my bike, I realize I put my sunglasses in my running gear bag, oh well, I will just ride without shades, there are worse things that can happen. So, I strap up my helmet, Camelbak, and double check everything and then head out onto the course... TOTAL SWIM TIME 1:18:09

I mount my bike and start pedaling away, trying to spin in a smaller gear with a higher cadence, waiting about 15 minutes to start taking in nutrition. Things were going well, I was feeling awesome and was gearing up for the hills that were awaiting me beginning at about mile 14 and would continue throughout the remainder of the ride. This course was TOUGH!!! I was going at a good pace, keeping my heart rate low and not pushing it as I knew my cold was still present and could feel it zapping me a little on the longer climbs, so I decided not to push or tempt fate. At about mile 65 I felt my back starting to get a little tight and was feeling a little light-headed and was probably somewhat dehydrated and had a bit of an electrolyte embalance. So I stop at the aid station, drink 3 bottles of water, a gatorade, a Cliff Brownie Bar, and a couple Bananas. I then did some lower back stretches that felt amazing and I was good to go... I figured I took about 8-10 minutes on this rest and was the best 10 minutes I spent all day!!! I felt great getting back on the bike and for the last 50 miles or so averaged above a 19 MPH pace, which I was very pleased with. Other than the constant ups and downs of this course, everything went VERY well and was ready to get on to the run. I hit transition, take my time getting my running gear in order, do more stretching and head out for the last leg of this challenge. It was stated that the total approximate elevation climb on this course was well over 5000 feet. TOTAL 112 MILE BIKE TIME 6:19:13

I get out of the transition area and ran down the stretch that leads to the marathon course and the whole place was filled with spectators and well-wishers which was awesome! We headed out and begin running down a bridge that crosses the very river we swam in and then turned backaround and headed through the downtown and residential parts of Louisville. The run had a few rollers in it, but nothing crazy. I had decided in transition that my game plan was going to be to walk each aid station and run to each station. This worked great for the 1st 9 miles or so, and I was feeling good, UNTIL my cold decided to show it's ugly head and slap me in the face! Suddenly out of nowhere, I began to feel like I had a bag of rocks on my chest because of all this congestion, and felt light-headed and not well! I stopped at the 10 mile aid station and drank about a gallon of water, a little gatorade, 2 lava salt tabs (Thanks Eugene) eat a power bar, 2 bananas, went pee, and felt better! So I was reduced to a walk/ shuffle for the rest of the marathon, and that's ok. I got to run / walk with some amazing people, shared some incredible stories of life struggles and joys, and felt such a true "Ironman Spirit" throughout the entire day, there is no way to describe it. As the day and night tarried on, I kept moving forward, knowing that I was going to be close to my 14 hour goal. at mile 22, I was able to run for 2.5 miles straight and that was encouraging. I got through the motivational mile, got some encouragement, and headed towards the finish line. It was starting to get cold, but everytime I tried to run, my chest was burning from this cruddy congestion and my throat began to get really sore. Anyways, I get close to the end, and remember the goal I had for this race, to finish strong. I ran the entire last mile and as I turned the corner to run down 4th street, it felt like I was running to the white lights at the "Pearly Gates". Music was blarring, the streets were packed, people were screaming, and when I hit the home stretch I hear Mike Reilly yell out, "Here comes Dan Benintendi... This guy has lost 200 pounds to get here and Dan Benintendi from Fort Worth, TX... YOU ARE AN IRONMAN" As I hear these words, I raise my hand in triumph over my battle from Obesity, I swerve down the final stretch high fiving all the incredible spectators, see my wife and my boy Austin, and it finally hits me that I did it.... TOTAL 26.2 MILE MARATHON TIME 6:16:45

It is hard for me to put into words the elation, sense of accomplishment, pride, and grattitude I feel as a result of becoming an Ironman. It has been a looooong road. A road filled with dedication to training, dedication to changing everything about my life, dedication from my family who has supported me soooo much in this journey, and a road dedicated to pushing myself to do what so many people who thought and still think that this achievement is way out of grasp for an Obese person. In closing I want my wonderful wife to know how much I love her and could not have asked for a better woman. She has stood by me since we were 16 years old and I am so lucky to have her as my sweetheart. The time that training has had me sacrifice away from my children is not something I am prepared to continue doing to this extent, but I want my family to know that THEY ARE my #1 priority, and I dedicate this monumental milestone to them. There is no medal that could replace the hugs, kisses, and words "I love you Daddy" uttered by my angel children, and I hope to hear a lot more of those as I will be spending a little more time with them now. I love all of you who have supported me through everything I have undertaken, I cannot possibly name you all one by one, there isn't enough words or time, but I want you all to know that your words of encouragement, support, love, and hope have allowed me to push myself beyond what I thought was possible for me and I truly am a blessed man to have each of you as part of my life. May God bless us all in our journey to discover who we are, why we are here, where we are going, and what we can do each and every day to make the pathway a little brighter and filled more with True Happiness. The tears I shed in this final picture, were not shed when I crossed the finished line, they were shed when I finally found my wife and son and were able to hold and hug them. THAT is what this life is all about. Again thank you all for your love and support and thank you for reading this very long account of one of the most amazing experiences of my life...I DID IT!!!

Ironman 70.3 Buffalo Springs - June 2009

2010-06-27T00:40:00.000-07:00

**********Ironman Buffalo Springs 70.3*******************

Hey Everyone,

Bare with me as I write this winded report:

So Friday morning comes around, I am packed, the family went out for breakfast (Whole wheat pancakes with sugar free syrup....yum yum) Then we got home, gave each other big hugs and kisses, said a little prayer, then loaded up my buddie's car with our gear and luggage and said our goodbyes to our families. The drive was 320 miles, and was completely flat and boring desert driving, but it went by quickly as my buddy Ryan and I chatted about the challenge that awaited us in a couple of days. We arrive at the host hotel where we stayed, checked in, met up with a few friends for dinner, went back to our room and a few of us had a friendly poker game, then called it a night and were in bed by 10pm.

Saturday morning arrives, I woke up at 7:30, which is sleeping in big time for me, start eating and taking in fluids and prepare to get to the race site for a brief race day prep workout with Ryan, me , and our coach Brent (Who raced pro). So we drive to the lake, pay $6 each to get in the park, and begin the drive to the race start. The whole drive from Fort Worth, along with the drive to the lake, I was thinking, the elevation chart online about this race has got to be wrong because this is all just flat farm land. Well.... As we drive the road in the park that leads to the lake, we were soon met with a taste of reality. Clarity comes into our mind as we descend a 9% hill for 1/2 mile then ascend up an 8% hill for about 1/4 mile, then back down the back of that hill that leads to the transition area. Oh Boy!!! So, reverse that order, and that's what we are faced with coming straight out of transition.

So we park near the transition area, and Ryan and I set out for a 15 minute warm up run. We paced 8:45 miles and had 4 x 20 second excelerations.... I was feeling great. Then we clipped in our bikes and headed up those hills out of transition to get used to them and do a 25 minute warm-up ride. Going up the hills was not as bad as it looked from the car, but it certainly was not a cake walk. The ride goes smooth, and I was wondering why everyone says this is such a brutal race, there was relatively no wind, it was somewhat overcast, and I felt great. We finish our ride, and head to the lake for a 10-15 minute swim, nice and easy. Water temp was 76... Wetsuit Legal, and we had a nice relaxed swim and were ready for the big day. As we are packing up our bikes, I ask Brent, who has done this race 3 times, if the hills out on the course are about the same as the ones we rode inside the park.... His reply: A slight chuckle as he said, uh... no, these are just the little hills to get out of the park. Gulp, me and Ryan drop Brent off and decide to ride the course in the car. More on that later...

We head back to the hotel to meet up with Todd Gollneck to get the GPS Trakker device I wore during the race, grab some dinner, and try to get an early night sleep. That did not work so well as I tossed and turned in bed thinking with excitement about the day to come. I fell asleep around 11pm and set my alarm for 2am. I slept well and felt great when I awoke. Now, to the race.....

We headed out really early because there is only one small road in and out of the race site, and we were told that you need to be there really early because of traffic congestion. So, we were there by 4:30am, got a great parking spot and headed down that hill to set up transition. There were only a couple of bikes racked and as I start calming down and get into a groove, it finally came to my attention that there were 22-25mph winds blowing!!! GULP.... About a half hour into setting up transition, we were then introduced to our good friend... Mr. Rain. Where did the beautiful race weather fom yesterday go, I thought! This was going to be the race it was cracked up to be for sure. I visit the "John", I double check my setup, put the bottom half of my wetsuit on, and make my way down to the start to see my buddy Brent off with the Pros. The race started right on time, and once again, I was in the very last wave so I got to see all my friends go off. The water was a little choppy, my wave was about 75 deep, and I felt great as our wave made it's way to the beach for the start. I bought new goggles on Thursday before we left, the most expensive ones out there, and was so excited. As I put them on 45 seconds before the start, they fog up! OK, so I wipe them off, and within seconds they fog again! I rub some spit inside the goggles, and fog again! I am screwed, I mean literally, I could not see!!! Oh well, time to go. MIke Riley, "The voice of Ironman" yells... GO!!! So we head out. I was able to see the flailing arms and just followed those best as I could for the first 5-10 minutes, the foggy goggles were pissing me off. I roll on my back, keep kicking, and wipe them out... I did this 4-5 times... Then I was struck with the idea to let them half fill up with water, which was genius! As they would begin to fog, I would look straight down and wiggle my head all over the place, and created like a windshield wiper effect, which worked great. The rest of the swim was nice and smooth, uneventful, and I felt fresh coming out of the water in around 36 minutes.....

I head into transition, get everything put on, including my trusty Camelback, didn't bother with sunglasses because they would just be covered by rain, and there was no sun, so I unrack my bike , make sure I am in the smaller gears, and make sure I am clipped in, because literally, once you crossed the "Mount" line, you begin your ascent up that lovely hill, it was for this reason that NOBODY left their shoes clipped on in transition, they actually put their shoes on in transition, and ran to the mount line with them on,which is rare to see. Anyways, feeling good, off on the bike...

As we make our way up the first hill, the girl in front of me is weaving all over the road, making it very impossible to pass her as she was probably going about 4mph, literally. We get to the top of the hill, I fly down the back of the hill, hitting 39MPH, then prepare to ascend the next hill which was 9% and boy was that fun!!! I keep my head down, make good peddle strokes, focus on push/pull and make it up. Now, 15 miles of flatness! I get into my aero bars, start hammering out a good cadence and am averaging about 22MPH. I start taking in nutrition, and am feeling pretty good. We get to our first out and back leg on the course headed south, which gave us a tail wind. The beauty of the Buffalo Springs lake is that it is in a canyon, so we got the pleasure of ascending and descending the canyon 8 times!!! On this first out and back, I averaged around 28, and once I hit the first descent into the canyon I hit a max speed of 48MPH... Holy cow that was fast. I was flying by folks as if they were standing still. a few seconds of flat, then time to ascend back out of the canyon... The climb averaged 5% for 3/4 of a mile. I averaged 10mph going up it.. GOOD TIMES!!! I finally reached the top, and hammered out the rest of the southbound leg. I hit the turnaround, and get "Pimp Slapped" by the wind in my face headed north bound on the same leg. Descend into the canyon flying again, and have an even slower ascend back up out of the canyon. Ok, 2 out of the 8 big hills completed!!! We then head east bound to reach our next out and back leg that heads north and south again. I hammer it out with the wind heading south again, making up as much time as I can and again fly down the canyon descent. This descent is 1.4 miles and I think I hit 50MPH on this one, ascending the other side was not as long, just a little steeper. Towards the end of this leg, there is a mountain climb which is technical and on a very winding road, and is VERY steep and long... It seemed like it would never end. It eventually did and I hit the turnaround to go very slow down that descent. One more out and back leg that had a very technical ascent and descent laid waiting for me, and I took it head on and powered through it. As I turnaround and begin the descent, I saw a 5 bike crash!!! Why anyone would want to go flying around the hairpin turns in the rain on slick roads is beyond me. But, 5 people wrecked and were very seriously injured... A ways down the road I saw 4 ambulances speedng to the wreck... Not good!!! Anyways, I have one more good climb aside from the one going back into the transition area, this is the 1.4 mile climb getting back out of the canyon that was not so enjoyable. I just put my head down, hammered it out one peddle stroke at a time, and lived to tell about it . Ok... another 15 miles of flatness, into the wind and rain, but I will take it. I felt sluggish for some reason, I look down with about 8-9 miles left and my tire looked a little low, but no biggie, I was still rolling along at 19MPH. The reason I was having such a hard time finishing up the race did not become appearent until I picked my bike up out of transition after the race to discover that my rear wheel was flat, and probably had been for the last 6-8 miles. I finally finish the ride in just under 3 hours , averaging 18.7 MPH and I am pleased with that, wish it were faster, but wind and hills don't favor the big boys! Into transition...

I hit transition 2 and am feeling pretty shattered. I take my time putting my socks on, getting my whitts about myself, no Port-O-Joy stops, just took my time regrouping and did some stretching. Onto the run... I start at a nice easy pace to wait for my legs to come to me. We run the flat section around the lake and I was feeling OK. We get to the first climb at about mile 2.5 and OH MY GOODNESS!!!! This climb was steeper than the hills on the bike and lasted longer!!! My hamstrings completely lock up and I am reduced to a walk up the hill. I decided that walking up the hills would be the only way I would survive the run without severe cramping and begin jogging on the flats and descents. I did this and as I came to the halfway point, I took in 5 cups of gatorade, and did some serious stretching, I wanted to finish strong. I was running at an ok clip and continued for about 2.5 miles, then I came to the bottom of the beast of a hill I previously mentioned and began my walking again. I would then jog easy from aid station to aid station and would take breaks as needed. My legs were completely destroyed! I really have not ran that much since my marathon in February because of the IT band issue. I am thankful to say I had no knee / IT band pain, but was just shattered from the ride. Anyways, I put a decent last mile together and finished strong, and was thankful for 2 things. 1) I was a finisher 2) That the day was over!

In retrospect, I had so much fun being out there. If you are ever looking for a SERIOUS challenge, come to Buffalo Springs! I learned a few things that I am going to take to heart:

* Never under-estimate the difficulty of this or any other venue
* I need to drop a few more pounds to be able to get up the climbs a little easier. I am fluctuating between 210 - 215 now and am 6'2". Louisville Ironman is in a couple months and is just an extension of what I went through yesterday so any advantage will help. I think 185 might be a good lean fighting weight, but if I start to look like a concentration camp survivor, I am going to stop the weight-cutting for sure.
* I need much more hill work on the bike and the run, then combine them both on some intense brick workouts
* Never use new goggles for the first time in a race, no matter how expensive or how "Good" they are supposed to be

All-in-all, I am happy with my result. I only came in 6 minutes behind my time in Florida 70.3 last month, which was dead flat and by far a much easier course. This course was Brutal!!! It will test you physically, mentally, and will push you to your limits. I did learn that the hills were not as hard to climb as I thought they would be from sitting in the car, and I think this analogy can apply to life. So many people people think that they can't do things, and are so affraid to try, but when you make the commitment to do something, and determine yourself to keep your head down and fight through whatever obstacle is standing between you and success, you will truly discover who you are and what you are made of. Today, I am a 2 time 70.3 Ironman finisher, today I am feeling alot of pain, today I am not obese, today I look back and see where I have come from, and could not be happier with the path my life is on. I am thankful for this race that kept me humble, but what was so cool about this race were the people. I literally had 6 complete strangers walk up to me at the race and 1 on Saturday during my race prep workout, and say, are you Dan? I said yes, they said to me, I have been following your story and your blog and want you to know that you have been a huge inspiration to me. I cannot express to you the pride I felt running to the finish line, when our names were not even printed on our bibs or were anywhere on my body, and countless people yelling out "Go Dan", You are the man Dan, etc... It is the people that encourage me everyday, which include my family, my friends, and all of you, that help drive me to keep pushing forward and never look back. Thank you for being in my corner, thank you for being part of my journey, thank you for helping me realize my potential, and thank you for reading this VERY long report......

Ironman Orlando 70.3 - May 2009

2010-06-27T00:39:00.000-07:00

*****Ironman Florida 70.3 Race Report*****

I am sitting on a plane flying home from Orlando, and have had a full day to recall and replay one of the most gratifying and exciting days of my life. On all of my race reports in the last year, I have made mention of my battle from Obesity. I typically reference where I came from (400 pounds to 200 in 14 months), the trials I overcame with losing my weight, and then would reference my results. This race report will be the last I do that with. I have thought about this a lot over the past 24 hours, and I have come to the conclusion that completing my 70.3 Ironman in Florida is the moment in my life I hammered the final nail in the coffin of Obesity in the life of Dan Benintendi. I will now be the Triathlete that improved upon his results, not just the obese guy turned Triathlete. With that in mind, let me take you through race day through my eyes.

Saturday evening was a time filled with much anxiety! My brother Jeff from Arizona raced along with me, and my sister, Shawnah, flew in from Utah to hang out with us and get some good photos of our day out on the course. I went through my game plan over and over in my head, and had 100% confidence in my nutrition, strategy, and positive reinforcing thoughts. I ended up falling asleep at about 1:30am Sunday morning, and awoke at 2:45am to begin getting ready. That was the most solid sleep I have ever had, no joke, I felt like I had slept for a week when I got up! So, I double and triple check everything to be sure I didn’t forget anything and I was set. I started off with a big bottle of Cliff Shot Lemonade (My Electrolyte drink of choice). I then had a whole wheat baggle with crunchy peanut butter on it and then a Vanilla Boost drink to get the day going. My brother’s stuff is ready, my stuff is ready, let’s roll!!!

We head over to The Magic Kingdom parking lot to catch the shuttle that would take us to the race start. We were among the first there so we got good parking and had plenty of space to set up transition and be comfortable. By this time it was about 5:00 am and the temperature was only in the high 70’s, however, humidity at a staggering 90%! I knew it was going to be a scorcher! I go down to the water’s edge, survey again the swim course, again check my points of reference for sighting, go pee, meet up with my buddy Brent Paulsen who is a pro and took 7th at the race last year, wish each other well, and head to the start for the singing of the national anthem and the pro start. I cannot tell you how “Electric” the atmosphere was. Once the DJ turned on the famous “Sandstorm” techno song by Darude, there was not a person in the crowd that could not feel the adrenaline as the clock clicked down from 3 minutes, two minutes, 10 seconds, BANG!!! The cannon blows and the race has officially started on time to the second at 6:20am. There were a total of 22 waves that were determined by age group. Guess what wave I was in… YUP, dead last. I got to see my brother head out and do his thing, which was really cool. 4 waves later it was my turn to go, I am so excited. I am at the front far right of the beach to get out of the way of the “Washing Machine”. There were 3 waves starts that were for my age group alone, each having a little over 120. My game plan for the swim… Take it nice and easy, relax, enjoy the swim, and conserve my energy for the bike and run. It worked out to a “T”. The swim went by quickly, pretty uneventful and very relaxing. Sighting was not a problem. I was weaving in and out of people without incident, and only had one “Issue” on the last 400 meters. I caught up to people that were in my brother’s wave and as a dude swam back onto the course from going outside the buoy, he decided he wanted to do a random breast stroke and ends up “Scissor-Kicking” me dead in the middle of my thigh! The pain went away in a few seconds, I kind of laughed about it, and a few moments later, touched down on sandy ground and began the 400 yard run into transition, it seemed like it was longer, WAAAAYYYY far away from the swim exit, which is probably why swim times were a bit higher than normal, but it was all good, my heart rate never got above 110, and I felt as fresh as a cucumber going into transition...

The good news is, my bike was on the very first rack inside transition, the bad news is I had another 400-500 yards to run with my bike to get to the “mount line”. No biggie, I did my thing, kept my heart rate down, hopped on the bike, and was fully prepared to attack this bike course like no other. The ride was described as flat, which is partly-true, but it did have a few unexpected hills that were no big deal. I am feeling great on the bike. I decided the week before the event that I would wear my Camelback and use my own hydration, rather than the ones provided to avoid the clusters at the aid stations that are notorious for being home to many gnarly accidents. I could not have made a better choice. I was taking my salt tabs every 30 minutes, sports beans every 20 minutes, and sticks of honey every 30 minutes. I am flying by people on the bike! I have never ridden on such smooth surfaces, such flat roads, and without much wind, advantage me! I especially love flying by the guys who are riding P4’s, DA’s, P3 C’s, and Plasma’s with 808’s and full disc carbon wheels. I hit mile 30 and look down at my computer for the first time, just to discover that I have been averaging 23.4 mph!!! Holy cow, I knew I was grooving but “Dang Gina!!!” Anyways, the last half of the course, a lot more hills and we were into a head wind for about the last 15-20 miles. No harm done, I still averaged 20.5mph and I will take it! Hopping off the bike back into transition, my legs felt GREAT! I felt so fresh and was ready to get into a groove on the run. (If you are wondering, I patted my brothers rear end as I passed him at mile 6 on the bike J )

As I make the long run from the dismount line back over to my rack, I couldn’t imagine things going any better. I really take my time in transition, I made a last minute decision to put my BLACK compression socks on for the run, that took a little bit of time, I visit the port-o-joy in transition, put on the fuel belt, turn my race bib around and head out to the run. Boy was it hot, reached 88 degrees by this point, and I couldn’t understand why my head was so dang hot until I hit the first aid station and go to take off my hat to put ice on my head, only to then realize, I FORGOT MY DANG HAT IN TRANSITION! That explains that, and the bright tomato that is sitting on my neck now. I decided that because of the heat, I would do 9:30 – 10:00 miles and would walk each aid station. Get plenty of Gatorade, plenty of water, plenty of ice cold sponges, and plenty of ice to stuff in my shirt. It was going great. I hit mile 5 and uh oh… Knee pain! Dang-it! Oh well, got to keep going. It was a 3 loop run course and as I complete my first loop, on to my second loop I caught up to my brother who was hanging his head a bit and was on his first loop. He was a little discouraged, and was concerned he was not going to finish in time for the cut-off. I walked with him for a while, talked to him about the fact that he was 415 pounds a few years ago, and here he is 250 competing in an Ironman. I told him to not give up, and assured him that he belonged here and had every bit as much right to be here as any other person on the course. One foot in front of the other bro, and I will be there for you at the finish line. The moment I caught up to my brother, I realized just being there and supporting him in his journey was way more important than finishing a few minutes ahead of schedule, and it was the best decision I had made all day. To put my arm around my brother and realize a couple years ago we weighed almost 825 pounds collectively, and now weigh 450 collectively brought tears to both of our eyes. I told my brother, when we reach that next fence, I am going to get running again and will see you at the finish line. I smacked his butt and headed off. I felt like I could have ran all day at the pace I was running, I really felt great, except the knee. Just before the mile 12 marker was the final aid station. I stop and pour ice all over me and am ready to hit it with everything I got this last mile. I start to run and my knee was completely done. I had Biofreeze, and lathered a whole packet onto my knee, no help, I kept trying to start and run, no good, I stopped to stretch, no good, oh well, I will walk until I can make the left that says “To finish line”. I did just that, I managed to put a light shuffle together to cross the finish line, spotted my sister in the crowd who snapped a photo, and was so proud to cross the line a “Finisher”. Tears did not flow, in it’s place was the same smile I had been wearing all day. I am sure that when this plane lands and my wife and children meet me at the airport that they will flow then, but the joy in my heart is indescribable. I think the only thing that could have made this day better was if my wife and children were there to hug me at the end.

What a great day! What a great journey! What a great challenge! What an amazing life this is! Everyday we all make decisions that will impact our lives forever, and I am so thankful I made the decision to get my life and health back and begin living again. The pain in my knee is pretty bad right now, but the happiness, joy, and sense of accomplishment I now feel in my heart makes the pain subside. I am Half of an Ironman now! I have another VERY challenging half Ironman next month in Lubbock, TX, then it will be onto the BIG DADDY in Louiseville, KY in August for the FULL 140.6 Ironman. Thank you to all my friends, family, sponsors, surgeon, and strangers alike who have done nothing but encourage, uplift, and inspire me each and every day. I will never forget this day, the feelings I felt that are too great to try to put into words, and the unavoidable desire I have to do Ironman again, just not tomorrow. Thanks for reading the very long account of my race, but believe it or not, this is the condensed version. Thanks for reading and being a part of this journey with me…..(Total Chip Time 6:15:15)

Keller St Paddy's Day Tri - 2009

2010-06-27T00:37:00.000-07:00

****Keller ST. Patrick's Day Triathlon****

I woke up at about 4:30am felt great and was ready for the race. I drank a 16oz bottle of Gatorade Focus to get my hydration going, then ate 2 slices of wheat toast with some margerine, had a couple spoonfuls of peanut butter a granola bar, and was ready to rumble. I drank a few more fluids closer to the race.

Now for the reality:
a balmy 39 degrees with light drizzles going on... BRRRRRRRRRR!!!
The thought of jumping out of the water and getting on a bike wet and
cold was not very appealing at all! There were over 700 people registered
for the tri so it was a great turnout and everyone froze together!!!
It's sad that to "Warm-up" I had to jump INTO the pool and swim some laps
before-hand. Anyways....

They started us off according to our estimated 300 meter swim time
we put on our registration form. I put 5 minutes flat for my time.
(My fastest time for 300 I have is 4:11) So I was very conservative in my
estimation and was seeded as BIB #119. Appearently, folks have no idea what
a 5 minute 300 meter swim consists of because I passed 2 swimmers on the
1st LENGTH (Not lap, length) 5 minutes? yeah right... Anyways, I spent all
5:03 that it took me to swim, dodging people who need to get their heads
and rear-ends wired together I guess. Anyways, I was happy with my swim
time, could have done it quicker, but why tire for a few seconds?
I made it out of the pool and was slappped with the weather when I ran out
the door of the Natatorium in to Transition #1 and my feet almost
immediately froze on contact with the concrete! On to the bike...

I had only got a chance to ride my new Tri bike 1 time before this
race and it is NOT like riding a road bike! I felt like I had never ridden
before and the muscles I engage being aero felt like they had never been
used before yesterday. My bike split was awful! I averaged almost 20 mph on
my road bike on this same course last year in The Monster Tri, yesterday I
averaged a weak 17.5 mph... ugh! Anyways it was cold, wet and miserable
out on the road, and I know in just a few weeks I will be a force to be
reconned with on my new bike, just need to get a little more saddle time in!
Going into Transition #2, I got out of my shoes on the bike and hit
the frozen ground running into transition. My feet were so cold they felt
like they were getting stabbed! I got to my setup, racked my bike,
with my frozen hands tried my hardest to get my socks on, I finally did,
pulled on my shoes & used my Yankz and I was ready to jam on it on the run...

The run went by WAY fast... I guess anything feels fast when you just
ran a 26.2 mile marathon 2 weeks ago. The 5k was pretty much flat and there
were a lot of people on the trail. I ended up running the 5k in 23:48 which
translates to 7:41 minute miles... I'll take it. It was not until I hit
mile 2 that I could actually feel my feet again... I think that if my feet
would have felt 100% and were warm, I could have ran in 21 minutes, but we
will get em next time!

Overall, I am very happy with my race, I ended up taking 4th out of 43
in my division. There were only 4 minutes that seperated me and 1st place,
and had I even had my road bike out there, I would have mopped up 1st place,
no problem. Anyways, I have some work to do on my new bike, thank goodness
it is warmin up outside, and everything else is progressing nicely! Thanks
to all my friends and family who always love and support me, you are the
best!

So, year-to-date for my events, I have ran a full marathon, finishing
10th out of 61, and a Sprint Triathlon finishing 4th out of 43 people in my
respective divisions. I am very happy with the results and I will be a
fine instrument of Triathlon Warfare by the end of the 2009 season!
Take care ya'll...

2nd Marathon - The Cowtown

2010-06-27T00:36:00.000-07:00

Well, today was an awesome day! I came in 10th place out of 61 in Clydesdale division with a finishing time of 4:23:01 for 26.2 miles! So let me back up and tell you about the day:

I woke up at 4:45 am, did some lite stretching, pounded a 32 ounce bottle of Gatorade Focus, and followed that with a big bowl of oatmeal. I took a couple big bites of peanut butter, took a shower, got dressed, got my hydration / fuel belt loaded up, and waited for my friend to pick me up to head out to the race. When I walked out to get into his car, I immediately felt like I was getting stabbed by the cold air and 22mph winds that were blowing. I went in to the house, grabbed my jacket and we were off. The race started promptly at 7:30, and we arrived at 6:30. We hung out in the car to keep warm until about 6:50, then we headed to the "John" I chugged another thing of Gatorade, ate a banana and was ready to go. They had a 5k 10k half marathon, full marathon, and Ultra marathon. The half, full, and ultra started together and the start line was packed! Over 17,000 people this year between all events!

I started off strong!! Maybe a little too strong, but I was feeling great, aside from 35 degree weather and 20+mph winds, and a course that had hardly and flat spots, it was all hills... the longest one being 2.5% for over a mile at mile 21 or so!!! My goal was to finish between 4:00:00 - 4:20:00, knowing that if all the stars aligned and we had optimal conditions, I could probably pull of a sub 4 hour run. The day actually went by pretty fast, and aside from the conditions, it was a great race. Yesterday I drank so much fluid and this morning I drank so much fluid to be completely hydrated, however, I ended up having to stop 5 times on the course to tinkle because I was not sweating out the fluids! (Probably 10 minutes of wasted time!) For nutrition, I took in Gatorade at most stations, I went through 4 bags of sports beans, and went through 1 pack of electrolyte tabs (Salt & loads of potassium). It really helped me to not hit the "Wall" this time around. Leading up to the race... Monday, Tuesday, and half of Wednesday were protein load, the rest of the week was carb load, it worked great!

As for my pace, my splits are below:

Dan Benintendi #131
Saginaw, TX, USA
Age: 33 Gender: M

Distance MAR
Clock Time 4:23:49
Chip Time 4:23:01
Overall Place 447 / 920
Gender Place 350 / 622
Division Place 10 / 61
Total Pace 10:02/M
1St Half Rank 433
1St Half Time 2:01:27
1St Half Pace 9:16/M
2Nd Half Rank 484
2Nd Half Time 2:21:32
2Nd Half Pace 10:48/M

If I would have started out a little slower, I probably would have had a stronger 2nd half, but I will not complain with an overall average pace 10:02 p/ mile. It has been 13 months since my surgery and as long since I weighed 400 pounds. I am so grateful to be able to do what I now love to do... Endurance Sports!! My family was there to greet me at the finish line... I rode out with my buddy so they would not have to sit around freezing for 4+ hours waiting for me, so they got there about 45 minutes before I finished, and I was so happy to see them. Well, that's it, a great day, a great event, a great result, and a great start to 2009 that now has 2 sprint triathlons, 4 Half Ironmans, 1 Full Ironman, and another Full Marathon. Here's to marathon #2 under my belt with a 30+ minute improvement from my last one, in much more difficult conditions. Thank you all for your love, support, and encouragement, I could not have done this without you...

1st Marathon - White Rock - December 2008

2010-06-27T00:34:00.000-07:00

I will preface my report with a deepend respect for all those who have completed a marathon. With that, here's how it went....

88
96
Dan Benintendi 33

60
2:07:59

88
3:30:25

118
4:27:04

114
4:55:35

4:54:13

So the race started off right on time. Today was record winds, 15-20 MPH with gusts up to 40mph, and that is no joke, I am 210 pounds and I was getting pushed around the road by the lake! I was running my game plan perfectly for the first 18 miles, between 9 and 10 minute miles the whole way. at mile 19, mother nature called so I had to stop and go, no big deal, until I head back out and start to try to run again! My left calf and right hamstring COMPLETELY locked up on me. I would spend the remaining 7 miles punching my calf to try to get it loose, coupled with many stretch stops! I actually had never heard of this thing called "Hitting The Wall", when your glycogen stores are all used up, until I got home from the race and watched the TVO'd version of it where they explained it. Appearently I hit this point right at the same time I stopped for mother nature. I would finish out the race walking .2 miles then run the remainder of that mile. Some miles walking a little bit more, others not so much. It was a struggle the last 7 miles, but I hung in there. I really wanted to break the 4:30:00 mark, but I will settle with 4:54:13. At mile 13 I was at 2:07:59, perfect pace, but the wheels came off at the end, so it's all good. Overall in the clydesdale / Athena division I finished 96 overall and 88th in Clydes out of 200 in Clydes and 400 overall. All-in-all, I am just thankful I finished. I am registered for the Fort Worth Cowtown 26.2 mile marathon in Feb 09 and will look to prepare for The Wall with a better Carb load the night before. Overall, I feel ok, my knees are a little sore, but I feel pretty good considering I just ran what I would still consider a Long commute in a car!

My nutrition plan worked very well during the race, but appearently I could have done a better job last night topping off my stores of glycogen. I will not make that mistake again! I got a sweet finishers shirt and a nice medal to boot. Now, I am trying to get packed as we are driving from Fort Worth to Southern California tomorrow. I am looking forward to recovery, and am even looking more forward to getting some open water swim practice in the Pacific ocean over the next few weeks.

So there you have it... Today is my exact 11 Month Surgiversary of my RNY. 11 months from 400 pounds to 210 and a FULL marathon under my belt. Who would have thought....

Oh yeah.... I did not cry when I crossed the finished line. However, I balled when my wife came running towards me through the crowd after I had finished with the 2 kids in tow and gave me a giant bear hug! I love that woman and my family. This day was for them.

Thank you all for your friendships, support, encouragment, and helpful tips on all things endurance sports!

November 2008 - Fort Worth Turkey Trot

2010-06-27T00:33:00.000-07:00

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone,

I think The City of Fort Worth puts on the biggest Trot in the country!!! Over 10,000 people this year....Holy Cow!

So my 5 months pregnant wife and I ran the 5k together as a warm up for me for the 10k. We finally waded through the crowd to the start line, ran the 1st mile at a real slow pace due to the obvious congestion. After about the first 1/2 mile it opened up a little and we ran until the 2 mile marker. We walked at a pretty brisk pace for the 2nd mile, and finished up the race running. We crossed the finish in just under 38 minutes which is cool. I am so proud of my wife for taking on her first 5k being 5 months prego... She rocks!

About 10 minutes after we finished the 5K my 10K started. I have not been feeling 100% with some congestion and limited lung capacity. Anyways, I wanted to finish my first 10K in about 52 minutes. The course was a lot hillier than I had thought it would be, but it was a lot of fun, through some nice neighborhoods. I finished in 54:02 (Unofficial) according to my watch when I crossed the start and finish line. It was a mass start and there was no chip reader at the start so those who were stuck at the middle or back of the pack had to wait a few minutes to get going, and the official times will reflect that misfortune. Official results to post in the morning. All-in-all, I am pretty happy with my time on my first 10k!

My son Ayden, and nephew Alex ran the 1K Gobbler Trot. They both were pretty quick and got their finishers medals... That by far will be the highlight for their 2008 Thanksgiving! It is amazing to think that my first Thanksgiving post op was spent at a running event, rather than sleeping in until 10am, eating a bunch of donuts, and harasing my wife about turkey not being ready! What a difference 10.5 months makes!! I love my life, love my family, and am looking forward to spending the day at home relaxing.

October 2008 - Keller MONSTER Tri

2010-06-27T00:32:00.000-07:00

on October 27, 2008 7:12 pm
Published

Ok,

So yesterday was an awesome race. The sun was shinning, the air was brisk, and the atmosphere happy and cheerful! This was my 2nd Triathlon since my surgery in January when I weighed 400 Pounds. I have now lost 180 pounds and was feeling so great for this race.....

The event was sold out with over 515 entrants, and I ended up estimating my swim time for 300 Meters at 6:00, knowing full well I swim it in about 5:15. The lanes were 11 feet across and you only went up one lane then moved over to the next lane in a snake pattern, so no traffic coming from both directions, so I knew it would be easier to pass the slower swimmers as I had been seeded as number 217. Well, I blew by 7 people on the swim finishing in 5:48. (The chip reader was a good distance away from pool exit so alot of seconds attributed to that). First transition took a little longer than I would have liked at 1:46, then I was off to the 2 loop bike course.

This bike course was 13 miles, and had some brutal hills. The front end of the course was pretty flat with a few rolling hills, but the last half was pretty challenging. I ended up with a time of 38:29 averaging just about 19 MPH. I'll take it! Transition 2 went fairly smooth, still a little longer than I wanted at 1:20, but acceptable....Off to the run.

The run was pretty flat, and very scenic on a paved trail through trees and a nice park. I passed a bunch of folks on the run, and my confidence in my run has dramatically improved! I finished the 5K run (3.1 miles) in 27:14....I'll take it! I could have pushed a little harder, but I am way happy with my results.

I competed as a Clydesdale along with about 30+ guys in the 1-39 year old division. At packet pickup I met a couple dudes who have completed multiple Full Ironman distance Tri's andwere competing as Clydesdales, along with a dude from my Tri club who is an Ironman finisher as well. So, needless to say, I had no real hopes of walking away with hardware, but I took a respectable 7th! I ended up finishing 120th overall and had an absolute blast competing. Last month at my first Tri, I finished the same distances at 1:34:00... Yesterday, I shaved 20 minutes off that time! I am heading in the right direction!

I have signed up for a full marathon here in Dalls in December, and it will fall on my 11th month surgiversary. I think I a ready. I am running about 30-40 miles per week, and will build up for the full marathon, I can't wait. Also, I am going to register for the Louseville, Kentucky FULL Ironman in August of 09....I am addicted to this sport! Thanks for reading and I have copied some pics for you to check out.....Thanks for all of your support and encouragement.

9/20/2008 My First Triathlon - Denison Dash

2010-06-27T00:26:00.000-07:00

on September 20, 2008 4:50 pm

Ok Guys,
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Today was such and awesome day!!! We had to leave at 4:30am this morning to get to the triathlon race site in time, so we packed up and headed out. The morning was absolutely gorgeous and the staff and volunteers at the race were incredible. All-in-all, I am VERY pleased with myself in regards to my performance. I went into my first race with 2 goals. #1 Goal....DON'T FINISH LAST....#2 No matter how tired I got, I would not stop swimming, pedaling, or running.

Well, not only did I accomplish these two goals, but managed to come in 2nd in the Clydesdale division ages 7-39!!! My splits were as follows:

Swim: 5:48 in a VERY crowded pool (Placed 33 Overall on swim time)

Bike: Averaged 18.7 MPH on the hilliest course I have ever ridden!

Run: Averaged a slow 10:12 Mile over a very rugged terrain & trail run.

Of course as we are about to start, the guy who has been in this race the last 4 years itterates how much he hates the bike ride because of the hills! I am thinking the worst.... I will say my legs were shot and they certainly did not feel like moving at all after the ride, but we got em moving, and I am still alive to tell about it. I loved my first outing and am hooked...For more pics go to my profile and view Triathlon folder. Thanks guys for all your support & encouragement.
Results:
http://results.active.com/pages/displayNonGru.jsp?pubID=null&rsID=69612
***Finished 92nd overall, however, they did not put me in the Clydesdale division, which is where I was supposed to be. If they would have put me in the right category, I would have taken 2nd!

A Retrospective...

2010-06-26T14:09:00.001-07:00

Since I am pretty much down for the count for a while recovering from surgery, I was going through some older pics and threw this little Collage together.

1 Week Post-Op... FEELING GREAT

2010-06-25T11:17:00.000-07:00

I am now 1 week post-op and am feeling amazing! Swelling is subsiding a little and I am starting to see the beginings of results! Here are some pics. 3 out of 5 drains out now, the last two to come out on Wednesday.

A New Chapter Begins...

2010-06-23T00:36:00.000-07:00

It has been some time since I have posted on my blog, but I wanted to update it with a pretty big milestone. Many of you know that I have lost 200 pounds. In doing so, I had a lot of excess / loose skin as a result. Here are a few pics of what I looked like at the beginning of last week...

After doing everything I could to lose weight and gain muscle, I was left with a choice. A choice to continue to wear layers of compression / supportive clothing that makes me overheat and dehydrate during my races, or get plastic surgery to get it removed. I chose the latter and as of Thursday last week, underwent an Extended Tummy Tuck, Hernia Repair, Pubic Lift, and Male Mastopexy (Chest Reconstruction) or breast reduction. I found THE BEST Surgeon in the WORLD, Dr Ghada Y Afifi from Newport Beach, CA and she absolutely rocked it!!! Below are a couple pictures of me just 4 days after surgery, still very swollen, but could not be happier with my results! I appreciate all of your support, good thoughts, and prayers through my journey. I will keep posting regularly on my progress...

I Have To Brag

2010-04-27T11:04:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to share a picture we took this weekend with the two most beautiful women in my life. Christie, why gorgeous wife and my little princess AVA!

Training With HR Monitor

2010-04-27T11:01:00.000-07:00

Well, considering I am probably the only person to have completed an Ironman and competed in multiple Ultra Running races who doesn't even own a Heart Rate Monitor, I decided to break down and get one. I LOVE IT!!! The info is great, I doubt I will ever become a slave to it, but it is good to know that at a 7mph pace my average HR is under 145 BPM, which isnt bad for this big ole bloke! I am so excited to have this excess skin cut off next month, and even more excited to see how much I improve at Ironman Arizona this year! Life is going well, aside from these allergies that are kicking my tail! Have an awesome day all...

TRIATHLON... From A Different Perspective

2010-04-19T15:09:00.001-07:00

So I was asked by a local Triathlon Racing Group to be their Emcee for all of their events. Yesterday was my first one (The 2nd annual King Tut Tri). It was a Sprint and they also had a 2nd race called "My First Tri". The sprint was 500M OWS, 14 mile ride, and 5K.... My first Tri was 300M Swim, 7 mile ride, and 2 mile run...

Watching all of the folks (60-70% were first timers) squirm around transition, not sure where to go, not sure how to set up transition, ask me questions like "Where can I get a set of goggles", etc... Brought me back to a time and place 18 months ago when I did my first Triathlon. It was so awesome to be able to help in this capacity, to bring smiles to people's faces, to cheer them on and call out their name and number as they crossed the finished line for the first time was an incredible experience, and really gave me an opportunity to have some reflection. (Getting paid to do it is kind of cool too)

Anyways, yesterday's experience just reminded me of how awesome this sport / lifestye is... It truly is for EVERYONE. There were young and old, tall and short, thin and overweight, seasoned athletes and beginners, they were all there... AND, regardless of all of these differences, the one common thread that bound them together is they decided to wake up yesterday and make something good happen for themselves... which 99.999% of the rest of the folks in the Dallas / Fort Worth Metroplex did not do!

Kuddos to all of you who get up everyday and form incredibly good habits and decisions that help you to navigate through this life with prolonged health, self-confidence, and open the door a little further each day to the endless possibilities that this life holds for us. Make this a good week!!!!

It's Been A While

2010-04-15T20:19:00.000-07:00

Well, it has been several weeks since I have updated my blog. I have been so incredibly busy with work, life, and training. I have lost 15 pounds in the last 3 weeks, and am training hard, ramping up for tri season. A couple VERY cool things that have come up is that I have been asked to speak at a Weight Loss Conference in Orange County, CA in May, and I am officially registered for IRONMAN ARIZONA this year!!!! I cannot tell you how excited I am. This are going great, and I will be better about updating this more often. Thanks for your continued support and encouragement...

My Birthday Boy

2010-03-31T16:44:00.000-07:00

I have been training pretty good and have been dropping weight. I just wanted to wish my son, Austin, a Happy Birthday!!! I can't believe he is already 1 year old. I love you son...

GRASSLANDS 50 MILE TRAIL RUN... RACE REPORT

2010-03-21T14:06:00.000-07:00

I knew that when I stepped out of my car when I arrived at the race site and had my shoes completely fill with wet cold mud, this day was going to be a beatdown! With that, here is how the day went...

Actually, when I awoke to howling wind, thunder and pelting rain is when I knew it was going to be a pretty crappy day. The day before the race, 70+ degrees, sunny, with a slight breeze. Race morning, 31 degrees, 25-30mph sustained winds with 40-50mph gusts and raining. By the time the race started, the rain had turned into sleet, by the time I left the race site, it had turned to snow. The trails in this area are usually compacted dirt and or sand, on race morning, due to the torrential downpour early in the morning, had turned into a mudpit. My buddy Dave and I drove up to the race together and we got a late start. Actually we finally got on the trail 15 minutes after the race started, which in a 50 miler, is not that big of a deal. After checking in, pinning on my bib and putting on my Camelbak, I headed out onto the mud slopfest. Within .25 miles my shoes had again filled with mud AGAIN, and after trying to navigate around the standing pools of water, I finally just said "Forget It" and started running right through the middle of them. It was a good idea until I saw a couple people LITERALLY lose their shoe in the mud! Then I stayed off to the side. Everyone was miserable, it was tough to run for any decent clip of time as you would slip and lose your footing on almost every step. This was not just mud, this was clay mud, the kind that sucks your foot down when you plant, and made it so hard to run, and if you did, you would have to pull up 3-4 times harder than a normal run, and that would probably explain why it feels like I ran 100 miles yesterday!

After my gloves were soaked through with water (Which didn't take long), I pulled out some hand warmers and made a decision I was going to drop out of the race when I got to the end of the loop at about mile 20. Everyone was miserable, and to give you an idea of how bad this day was, the LEADER crossed the 10 mile mark in 2:45:00... (Less than 3.5 mph) The rules state you have to complete your 3rd loop by 5:00pm which is 10 hours from race start at about mile 42. There is NO WAY ANYONE would finish and hit the cut off, and as of yet, have not seen any results saying that anyone finished! If anyone did, they are truly my hero... The craziest part was about 12 miles in, we had to cross a VERY steep ravine twice. The hills were about 35% grade. 2 different times I saw people almost make it to the top only to slip and slide all the way down the hill while taking several people out with them. I chose to crawl up on my hands and knees and made it up safely without incident, it was like something out of boot camp or a reality show! I was thankful to reach the Start / Finish line, and was even happier to see that my buddy Dave chose the same option as me!!! The race director was at that aid station and we talked about dropping out... Even he said, if it were any other day, I would try to convince you to keep going, I told him that if it were any other day, I would not need convincing, nor would I consider dropping. To make the cutoff, I would have to run 22 miles in under 5 hours, there was no way, especially considering the Race Director said the last 2 loops were muddier than the 1st!!!

Anyways, it was a good experience, and I am glad I got out there and gave it a shot, but there was no beating mother nature yesterday. I luckily avoided blisters, which is incredible for running 20 miles in completely soaked shoes and socks, however I will probably lose 2 toenails as a result of my exploits yesterday. I will probably try this race again next year, but as for this year, a big fat Did Not Finish (DNF), and one that I am really not upset about. Thanks for reading and until my next adventure, take care...

-Dan

St Patrick's Day Triathlon 2010 RACE REPORT....

2010-03-14T17:55:00.000-07:00

What an awesome race. I always have so much fun at this race in Keller, TX. Last year it was in the low 30's and raining for this race... Today, high 40's and sunny, not too bad...

There were 700 ish people registered for this Sprint and in was a perfect day for a perfect race. The typical no-sleep night for me, followed by a good breakfast and we arrived at the race site with plenty of time. After I set up transition, I met up with the family to say goodbye before going and warming up in the pool. I also told Ayden I would try to win this race for him!!!

Warm up went well and they were ready to start the race. I take my spot in line as position 57 based on my estimated swim time of 4:30 for 300 meters. The swim went well... It, of course was VERY congested with people who "Estimate" their swim time as 4:30, but 6:00 is more realistic. After swimminng through the crowd, I make it into transition in 5:05, spend a couple minutes getting out of transition, as I was as far from the bike start as you could be, and I was off. The bike went pretty well. This was only my second ride outside in 3-4 months, so I wasn't expecting to be Uber strong, but respectable. This 12 mile course rolls a bit and is pretty fun with 2 loops. I ended up averaging 20.6 MPH on the bike. Not GREAT, but respectable and had enough in the tank for a good run. 35:02 was my time for the 12 miles. After 2:31 in T2, finding it necessary to put on socks, because my feet were frozen stiff, I made my way out to the run course.

It seemed like I was running so slow, and my watch had given out on me during the swim, so I had no idea what my pace was. I was affraid to run any faster than I was because I could not feel my feet and was affraid of rolling an ankle or worse, so I stayed at this comfortable pace, not knowing how fast or slow that was. I passed some folks and was passed by other folks, but I felt good during the run, and enjoyed the bright sun shinning on me. There was a guy who started 5 positions in front of me that I kept playing leap frog with on the bike. He got out of T2 about a minute ahead of me and I wanted to catch him no matter what before the finish because I was certain he was a Clydesdale too, and didn't want to lose to him. He was running at a pretty good clip, but I could see when we hit the turn around on this out and back run that he was slowing a bit. I picked it up and when we were about .5 miles from the finish I had him in my sites. I gain on him, and he sees me out of the corner of his eye as we can see the finish line now. He picks up his pace, I pick up mine, he tries to answer, but didn't have it in him, and I bust into whatever sprint I had left in me and dropped him...

My total run time was 24:11 which gave me an average pace of 7:48 miles. I was thinking I was running 8:30s - 9 minute miles, but there is a lot to be said about speed and a strong base, seeing as I have not done ANY speed training in 4 months.

So, my total time was 1:08:52, which was good enough to take 1st PLACE in my division!!! There were 32 others in my division and while it was cool to take 1st, the coolest part was keeping my commitment to Ayden! So, that's it, the first Triathlon of 2010 in the books, with a great result and some great memories. The thing that is interesting to me is that I am about 15-20 pounds heavier than I was last year at this race, seeing as I have been making some muscle gains this off season, and I improved my time by over 5 minutes from last year! This tells me that I am A LOT stronger, and after my last Ultra marathon next week, The Grasslands 50 mile trail run, I will begin shredding and drop 15ish pounds. My body fat % has dropped since Ironman in August 2009 to just about 10%, so I KNOW that when I drop the weight and keep the strength I have gained, I will be a lot more competitive and a lot faster. Thanks for supporting and encouraging me, and thank you for reading my account of this very fun race...

Back In The Saddle!!!

2010-03-06T14:14:00.000-08:00

Hey Everyone,

Today was AWESOME! I heard early in the week that today was going to be in the mid 60s so I knew it would be the day for my first outside ride in 2010. The weather was great, aside from the 15mph. It was with me the whole way out and against me the whole way in... I wish it would have been reversed, but I got in 41 miles and averaged 18.8mph, which is decent for not having ridden outside in 3 months. The trainer, and spin calss DO NOT compare to being outside. I loved being out in the elements today, and cannot wait for my cycling fitness to come in line. Time to start ramping up for Tri Season!!! I am racing next weekend in the St Patrick's day Sprint Tri, and it should be a lot of fun, and MUCH warmer than last year! (34 degrees and sprinkling). Anyways a great day and my wife ran a 10K this morning in 57:36, she rocks. Got a few pics today after the ride. Have an awesome weekend and thank goodness for the warmer weather!!!

The Cowtown ULTRA Marathon - Race Report

2010-02-28T19:17:00.000-08:00

Before I say a word about the "Race", I have to say that today was a PERFECT day for a race!!! The morning started out at 4:30am when the alarm went off. I woke up, took a shower, took care of preping the feet, body glide in various places, and a cliff bar and peanut butter sandwich were on the breakfast menu, along with some Gatorade and a couple Salt Tabs. The best part about the day??? My wife, Christie, was running her first Half Marathon, which was awesome! After we both were ready, we loaded up the car, we headed Downtown and parked without complication or delay. It was a balmy 33 degrees at race start, so I had a cheap beenie on and a wind-breaker type Addidas jacket that I could ditch on the road if I got too warm. I chug a FRS, a salt tab as my wife and I stood hand in hand waiting for the race to start. The National Anthem is sung, then the Para-Athletes head off, then it was our turn. 20,000+ people this year at the races combined! WHOAAAA...

Within the first 2 miles, the sun had completed risen, and was shinning bright and clear, eliminating the need for my beenie and jacket, so they were removed and tossed. I love that they encourage you to discard your jackets along the route because the race volunteers collect them and donate the discarded clothing to battered women's and homeless shelters. The Half, Full, and Ultra Marathon share the same route for the first 8.5 miles, so I got to run with my wife for the majority of her race, and she did sooooo awesome. We averaged about 10:40 minute miles for the first 8.5 miles, which was a little slower than my desired pace, but nothing could top running with my wife. Once we split I picked up my pace a little bit and was averaging a comfortable 10 minute p/ mile pace. I have found in these longer runs, that aside from nutrition and hydration, pacing is the key, and running 31 miles would require a realistic and comfortable pace. The sun continued to shine, I was wearing a smile, and suprisingly feeling GREAT!!! Hard to imagine saying that, given the fact that 3 weeks ago I ran 76 miles at The Rocky Raccoon trail run.

I am in a groove, pace is great, hydration, electrolytes, and nutrition were MONEY! At mile 13.1 I pass by Active Spine & Sport, my Chiropractor, Dr. Brian Mulhall and Massage Therapist, Tim Tarpley's office, and they were out there with some good friends from my Tri Club, Tri Cowtown, cheering me on. I really don't have much to go into detail about, because the day was exceptional. I took a GU Roctane every 45 minutes, carried 30 OZ of Cytomax, a salt tab every 45 minutes, and rotated Gatorade and water at the aid stations. Running through the gorgeous neighborhoods near TCU was fantastic, and seeing so many familiar faces was great. At about mile 23, the Ultra Marathoners split from the Marathoners and do a 5 mile out and back along the Trinity Trail. A few miles before that I ran into my buddy Derek who also ran Rocky Raccoon a few weeks back, and his hips were'nt holding up as well and were pretty tender, but he was looking strong and pushing forward with his great positive attitude. I told him I would see him out on the trail and sure enough when I did, he was running and looking strong. I also saw a friend, Sarah, chugging along as I was passing the 25 mile marker, she was almost at 28... Super Strong!

As I hit the turnaround, I took a few minutes to walk, take in the rest of my Cytomax, another Salt Tab, and my last gel of the day (Thank goodness). My legs were pretty tender, but nothing that would prevent me from running in. I hit a few good hills in the last couple miles, and decided to walk up those, but ran the rest of the way in. As I hit downtown, I pick up my pace, and give it all I got for the last half mile. As I came running down Main, there were not a TON of people there because the majority of Marathon runners had already finished, so it was easy to spot my family, especially given the fact that my 6 year old Ayden, decided he would run through the finish line with me. Well, that was the plan my wife said, but once I got to him, about 200 yards from the finish, the little guy turns on after burners and sprints into the finish leaving me in the dust... It kind of gave me a chuckle but was super cool that he did that.... I love that boy. My wife went home, showered, and picked up the family and brought them back to watch me finish. It was great seeing them all there, along with my Mother-In-Law Grace, who is always so good to us. All-in-all, a WONDERFUL day. I truly had so much fun, loved every minute of being out there, did not hit "The Wall", and never had a "Low Point", which is tremendous. I had 3 Restroom stops throughout the day, which is no big deal and my total finish time was 5:39:20 which gave me an average pace of 10:55 p/ mile for 31 glorious miles. My time was not incredibly fast, but was steady, and I was never reduced to a walk. My body is getting used to running longer distances and I love it! Speed will come with time, after all, I have only been running for less than 2 years. Last year I ran this race doing the Full Marathon (26.2 Miles) and averaged 10:11 miles, and I was about 15-20 pounds lighter. I have been trying to make muscle gains this winter, and will start cutting weight here shortly, but to keep pretty close to the same pace, with a little more weight to pull, and for 5 miles longer, I could not be happier. What a great day, a gorgeous sunny sky, a slight sun burn on the neck, and a sweet finisher's medal to me and my wife. She finished her first Half Marathon in 2:14:36. I cannot tell you how proud I am of her, and I can't tell you how excited I am to run another ULTRA SOOOOOOON. March 20th Grasslands 50 Mile trail run is on the plate next. Thanks for reading this lengthy report, thank you for your support and encouragement, and most of all, thanks for being my friend!

ROCKY RACCOON 2010 - RACE REPORT

2010-02-09T05:31:00.000-08:00

Having a full day to recount all of the experiences, emotions, and pain experienced in my 1st attempt to complete any foot race over the marathon distance of 26.2 miles, I have decided to give a VERY extensive account of my journey to complete the 100 mile Rocky Raccoon Trail Run. I want to be extremely detailed in this race report for a couple of reasons... 1) Because this is, BY FAR, the most challenging thing I have EVER set out to do, and 2) Because I never want to forget the extreme highs, and extreme lows and everything in between. With that being said, I hope you will be able to visualize this epic day through my eyes.

Before I dive into the day's events, let me put the "Givens" out on the table. We were to complete 5 x 20 mile loops on this course that wound through the beautiful forest in Huntsville, TX. What there were plenty of, were these:

ROOTS!!!! Miles and Miles and Miles of ROOTS!!! Aside from the roots, we were starting in 40 degree weather, would warm to low 50's during the daylight, and drop to below freezing on Saturday night! We were praying that the rain would hold off for the race, which it did, however, the days leading up to the race were a different story. It pounded down rain for several days prior to the race start and in spots along the trail left big pools of mud that could not be navigated around. Let's dive into the day...

My brother Jeff, and nephew Tristan flew in from Gilbert, AZ to be there to help support me during the race, along with my wonderful wife Christie. We headed down to Huntsville on Friday afternoon and arrived there in enough time to pick up my race packet, go to the last few minutes of the race briefing, check into our hotel, and grab some pizza and pasta for dinner. After returning back to the hotel, nerves began setting in, more like excitement, but we will call them nerves because it is still up for debate. I began going over my race plan over and over in my head, and probably only slept about 2 hours worth, which is nowhere near enough. At 2am, the alarm rings, and the rituals begin. 2 peanut butter sandwiches with banana chips were on the menu for breakfast, along with a Cliff Bar and plenty of fluids, which included a couple of FRS's. Everything is checked, and rechecked, and we head down to the race site at 4:15am. Once we arrive, we stand in line to get checked in, and after I was checked in, I see my buddy Derek in line...

As the Race Director yells out "5 Minutes 'Til Race Start"... The excitement is overwhelming and everyone starts making their way to the start line. There were roughly 350 people who were setting out to run the 100 mile race, and about 275 to attempt the 50 miler. As the minutes go by, I tell my wife how much I love her, how much she means to me, and we exchange some "Warm Thoughts" and a tight hug and kiss and she says, "You Can Do This".

As time eeks down to the wire, I hear people at the front of the pack start howling like wolves, and there was a primitive, yet incredibly awesome spirit in the air... The type of spirit that can only be felt by the few people who would dare to embark on such a daunting task. All the emotions are on the table now, the race starts... PEOPLE ARE GOING NUTS, the line starts moving, and there we were, an army of fools running down a single track into the dark cold forest with headlamps and flashlights in tow...

LOOP #1:

The first loop started off a little slow. Since we were all on a single track, we were kind of forced to do what the people in front of us were doing, which is fine, because everyone has 30 hours to finish the race. I learned quickly that my pre race plan of running 30 minutes and walking for 5 would not do the trick here on this course, mainly for a few reasons. 1) The uphills would absolutely shatter your legs 2) the uphills came pretty quickly 3) The roots made it very challenging to descend the hills without putting a VERY big injury risk factor into play. So I went with the flow. The first aid station is at mile 3.1 at The Nature Center. I stop VERY briefly to drink a few cups of water, grab a couple slices of oranges, and hit the road again. The next aid station at Dam Road, would come at 6.19 miles into the loop (3.09 mile from the previous station). It was going great, the sun had risen by this time and the beauty that surrounded me was awe inspiring. From that point, there is a 6.01 mile loop around the far side of the park, that can be pretty lonely, as the 50 milers peel off from this portion and cut it short. 6 miles is a long way to go without support, and in the darkness later on in the evening, would prove to be brutal! In this 6 mile stretch, you run for a good bit along side the lake, which was absolutely gorgeous, especially with the sun rising up through the trees on the first loop. I make my way back around to the Dam Road aid station at mile 12.20 and refuel, top off the Camelbak and hit it again. 3.41 miles down the road would be Park Road aid station, and from there another 4.39 miles back to "Home Base" at the Dog Wood Aid Station. I finished the first loop in a little over 4 hours, which was awesome! I felt great, took about 20 minutes changing into dry clothes, taking off my little jacket, drink some Cliff Recovery drink, another FRS and refuel with some salty and sweet snacks at the aid station, along with a pocketful of Banana chips! One sidenote I will mention is that 5 weeks prior to this race, I got slapped with Plantar Faciatis, and boy did it hurt. My massage Therapist, Tim Tarpley, did the best he could with it, but I was doomed to have pain, and exactly 2 miles into the race, the pain reared its ugly head and would plague me for the rest of the day! Also, the mud previously mentioned, found its way into my shoe and began the pleasant start to what would lead to some pretty good blisters later.

LOOP #2:

I headed back out onto the course feeling AMAZING!!! I was so full of life, so happy to be doing what I was doing, was well nourished, well hydrated, and enjoying the warm glow of the gorgeous sun on my face. A couple interesting things happened on this loop. 1) I saw a man in front of me trip on a root and crack a rib as he landed sideways on another root. He was probably in his 50s and as I approached him and asked if he was ok... He looks at me and says, it's no big deal, the pain is getting better, I asked if I could help him up or run ahead to send back help, he grabbed my arm, I helped him up, and said the he felt fine... That right there is what ULTRA's are all about... Gutting it out and always moving forward. I am not sure what happened with him, but he earned a silver star in my book. 2) I found that walking up the inclines would be the smart thing to do, and payed very close attention to save my legs for later in the day. I came into the Park Road aid station to see my family waiting for me, and I felt incredible, and so alive :

I give my wife a kiss and tell her "I'll see ya in a few miles back at Dog Wood, she said "OK, YOU ARE LOOKING AWESOME" and I was off again...

As I made it back to Dog Wood, sure enough, the whole gang was there to tend to my needs. My feet were so very tender, and a little massage from Christie felt like a little piece of Heaven... I refueled, changed clothes again, knowing that sun would set on me during this loop and made sure to have my headlamp, flashlight, and spare batteries packed. I was feeling great and was back on to the road for loop 3 in around 10 hours!!!

LOOP #3:

If I were to assign a title to this section of my report, it would be titled: "The story of a Trash Bag and Chicken Noodle Soup". As I head out for the 3rd loop, there was no doubt in my mind that I had things under control. Perhaps the course had a few lessons in store to humble me... I keep to the plan, hydration was ok, nutrition ok, sun was beginning to set, and it was starting to get cold. In the picture above this paragraph, I was wearing nothing more than some compression and that dry fit Addidas top, that really isn't that warm. My feet were really hurting at this point, I was certain I had a good blister on the outside of my right ankle, and fatigue was setting in. I hit the Dam Road aid station to top off the fuel and Camelbak and then embark on that dreary 6 mile trek. In the first 4.5 miles of this stretch, the sun had set, and there was not a single headlamp behind me or in front of me... It was a bit creepy as I had not ran this section in the dark until now. This section has some pretty steep downhills with LARGE gnarly roots and is very technical. I decided to walk a lot of it as I did not want to hurt myself. I felt myself starting to fade, and did not have my iPOD on me to keep my mind busy. Thoughts started running rampidly in my head... Doubt, fear, uncertainty, and a feeling like what in the world was I thinking doing this race!!! As I turned onto the road that would lead to the Dam Road aid station at mile 52, I was in so much pain, I was light-headed, was absolutely freezing as the temps dropped into the low 40s and had resigned myself to the reality that I may not finish. I arrive at the aid station to find chairs in a circle around a heater in the tent... These were folks who dropped out of the race. I thought about how nice it would be to sit in a chair and huddle around the fire! As I got into the tent to where the food is, I felt like I was going to pass out! I was shivering so bad to the point of almost convulsing and my teeth were chattering so hard, I do not know how I did not chip a tooth.

An aid station worker came up to me and said can I get you anything. I said yes please... Whatever you think will do the trick. He brought me some homemade chicken noodle soup. Man was that good! I pounded the cup and then saw them set out a fresh batch of Mac and cheese... YES!!!! I took a cup of that too. As I sat there enjoying my food, I realized that I was beginning to get delirious and found that I was drooling on myself. My spirit was absolutely shattered. I asked the same guy who gave me the soup, with my slurred speach, "If I drop out of the race, can I get a ride back to the start?"... He said, "See that group of folks over by the heater?" I said "Yeah", he said "They have been waiting for that same ride for 2 hours+. So, you can wait like them, or you can try to walk to the aid station at Park Road 3 ish miles up the road". I had to think long and hard about that decision. In doing so, I made my way over to a seperate group of workers from the station who had a small fire going in a hibachi type contraption, it felt like Heaven! I sat there shivering and all-in-all, I believe I had been in the aid station for 40 minutes or so. It did not look good. I kept hearing over and over about the incredible healing power and magic "JUJU" that was in that soup, so after listening to the giberish for a while I yelled, can I get some of that Damn soup! The guy brought me a cup, I said I need 3 more please. He laughed and said, "you betcha!" I then began feeling my "Whitts" coming back to me, amidst the encircling freezing temps, trying to figure out how I was even going to be able to stand up from this chair, let alone walk 3 miles while freezing, literally. I looked next to me in the chair along the fenceline and saw trashbags full of rubbish. A thought came to me; "Hey bro", I yelled to Linn (Spelling??) who was running the aid station manned by North Texas Trail Runners (NTTR) Do you have an extra trash bag? He informs me that they had put a call into the race director that they needed more because they were all out and trash was starting to pile up, and they had not been delivered. Then from another worker, I hear the words, "No, I think we have one more under some boxes, I saw it a few minutes ago". Out comes Linn with a trash bag!!!! YES!!!! I said listen, if I can, I will bring it back to you, he said that sounds good, we will just tie the hole in a knot to make it work. I ripped a hole in the bag, poked my head through, began to warm up, and quietly headed down the long dark road to the Park Road aid station.

As I pass people, they kind of chuckle at me because of the loudness of my bag, and I got many comments on my interesting appearel! I caught up to my buddy Monty, who also heard me coming, and said, "Nice Jacket". I proceeded to tell him I did not have a jacket at the Dam Road aid station, and this was a last resort. We chatted for a bit, then I began running again. About 1.5 miles from the Aid Station, I see a couple lights running towards me, and I'll be darned if it isn't my brother, Jeff. He tells me how worried He and Christie were about me, since this loop took almost double the time of my previous laps, and he walks to the Park Road station with me, trying to keep me talking and coherent. When I arrived at the station, I could see the worry in my wife's eyes, and I knew I was in a bad way. I don't remember what I said, but I do know I was slurring really bad, and was not in a very good place. I began eating a ton of food at the aid station, taking in a bunch of fluids and electrolytes, and began feeling better. My goal was to get to this station so I could drop out of the race and go home! But, I felt OK, and decided that Dog Wood was only 4 miles away, so I kept on plugging away. I struggled really bad here, was in a very dark and lonely place, but my Chicken Noodle Soup, and trash bag saved me on this loop! I Finally reached Dog Wood. HALLELUJAH!!!

Once I get to the Aid Station, my family starts working on me like Rocky Balboa's corner does when he has been taking abuse for 11 rounds. My brother starts rubbing my shoulders, Christie is dressed in warm running gear with a headlamp on and tells me she is running this loop with me, my nephew Tristan is bringing me cups of warm soup and hot cocoa and I was literally getting "New LIfe" breathed back into me. I took an hour at this stop, I got my legs rubbed, refueled, spirits lifted, and was deeply moved with my wife's willingness to take on a piece of this journey with me. They allow pacers after 60 miles, so it was all good... She signed her waiver and met me at the tent to help me re Body-Glide myself, change in to fresh warm clothes, and tend to whatever I needed. Before we headed out, I sent my brother to ask the folkks at the Dog Wood aid station for a bunch of trash bags. He brought a handful back, and I tucked them into my Camelbak.

So, we snap a quick picture and head out into the deep dark abyss together...

LOOP #4:

The 4th loop starts off with my wife getting acclamated to running in the dark with a headlamp, and then learns quickly that she needs to pick her feet up off the ground higher than normal because the roots will reach up and grab you out of nowhere. We stick to the plan of walking up the inclines and running on the downhills and flats. She, in a loving way, asks me if it was easier for me to be doing a quick little shuffle, or if it would be easier to do a faster-type walk, LIKE WHAT SHE WAS DOING!!! It was funny to me, but I just kept doing my thing. I was moving pretty good, but my feet were complete hamburger, and my legs were spent. I knew when I would stop to walk, I would get tight and cold, so I tried to keep running as much as possible. I was peeing every 20 minutes or so, so I knew I was hydrated, and suprisingly, I was feeling pretty good. We get to the first aid station, get some goodies, and head out. A few miles up the road, I see the lights for the Dam Road aid station, and ask Christie to get the trash bags out of my bag. I carry them in my hand, and make it a point to find in the crowd of freezing runners, aid station workers, and those same folks who dropped and were still waiting for a ride to the race start, Lin, who gave me his last trash bag. As I approached him, he looked at me not really remembering who I was, but I certainly remembered who was, and I held out my hand and handed him the bags and said "We're even my friend". He then said something like "I love this guy", and I grabbed some food, topped off the pack, and headed out for the dreaded 6 mile loop around the far side of the park. This is where things got as bad as things could get!

It seemed like the whole section was uphill, more rooty than I remembered, and had mud soaked into my freshly changed out shoes, exacerbating my blister and feet problems! we got 3 miles into the loop and I began halucinating. As we were walking / running through the trail, I saw three black cats jump at me and run down the trail! Unfortunately, my wife who was running right behind me, saw no such thing. A few moments later, along the same stretch, I saw a Venus Fly Trap pop out of the bushes and try to bite me!!! Christie didn't see this either, and I was really beginning to worry. I slowed to a walk, and thought it was a nutrition or electrolyte problem. Certainly not hydration because I was peeing clear liquid very often, which is a good sign of hydration. I pop some Enduralytes, and eat a Cliff Bar... I feel a little better, but still not good. We finally hit the road that leads back up to the Dam Road aid station. I told Christie that the only thing I can attribute this condition to is severe exhaustion. I only had 2 hours of sleep the night before, and since everything else was in check that is all it could be. I asked her to run ahead to see if the had a cot they could set up for me to take a 20 minute power nap in. She said there was no way she was leaving me alone on this road and assured me they would take care of me once I got there. Completely shattered, in pain, freezing cold, and extremely exhausted, I told Christie I was done, I was going to drop out of the race at the Dam Road aid station. She told me I needed to do whatever I thought was the right thing to do, and encouraged me to do whatever I could and assured me I had done an incredible job. We finally made it back to the aid station and I collapsed in a chair... The same chair I sat in, next to the same fire I sat next to, many hours before, when I was ready to drop out on the 3rd loop.

I asked Christie to bring me a little food, and I fell asleep for about 1 minute when she got back to me with some Ramen noodles and a slice of quesadilla. It tasted good, but I was shivering and convulsing again, and was completely done. I asked an aid station worker, who I am sure was a seasoned trail runner, when I could get a ride back to the start, he said it might be a couple hours, he told me the best thing to do would be to try to walk up the road to the next aid station 3 miles away. Hmmmmmmmm, this sounds familiar! I told him there was no way! He asked, "Are you hydrated?", I said yes, he asked,"Did you eat?", I said yeah. Then I said, I have done everything I can, what should I do. He said you should get up and start walking! I told Christie to get me more food. She brings back some quesadilla pieces, I said no, get me a BUNCH of food!!! She brings back a handful of quesadillas and I eat them all... I stand up, and could barely put one foot in front of the other, and was shivering uncontrolably. The most amazing experience of my life occured here... Christie put my arm between her arms, and began pulling me, like a pack mule, up the hill that leads back onto the trail, I tried to choke back my tears, and I don't think Christie even knew I was crying, but pulses of love passed through my body that I have never experienced before, and my life was literally changed in an instant. As soon as we hit the trail, I BEGAN TO RUN! I felt INCREDIBLE!!! Better than I had felt in 13 hours! I stopped to pee and looked my wife in the eye, and began putting time into perspective. Time not until we got to that aid station, but time I would have to FINISH the race!!! We walked a few ver steep uphills, but we ran that entire section in 44 minutes and we reached the Park Road Station at 5:24am Sunday morning. I had a little over 4 miles to go to get back to Dog Wood, and the rules state that you have to start your last loop by 6am... There is no way I can run 4 miles on this trail in 35 minutes, so I have the aid station worker call the race director and ask if it was a firm 6am "Hard Stop" or if he would let me keep going! There was an 8am cut-off to be at Dam Road, which is 6.2 miles in. That would give me 2 hours to run 9 miles, which I believed I could do...

After waiting a couple of long minutes, the aid station worker looks at me and says, unfortunately, it is a 6am hard stop. As I began to process that I was not going to finish, many thoughts went through my mind, but here is a picture os me as I recieved my news:

I must state that I am NOT dissapointed with my result. I am PROUD of what I accomplished. To run 75.5 miles in 23.5 hours, is no small task or feat. The main reason why I am walking away from this DNF (Did Not Finish) with my head held high, is because of the FACT that I RAN the entire last 3+ miles with the determination to continue on! Yes, there was not enough time to do so, but I hit the absolute pinnacle of endurance sports. The point in which your body is telling you it is time to quit, but your fighting spirit overcomes that pain, and compels you to push farther, faster, longer than you ever have, or ever thought was possible. I experienced it, I lived it, and I WILL have my vengence in 1 year and counting on this course. Of all the life lessons I have learned in this amazing experience, it is the fact that life is about LOVE! I loved being out there pushing myself, I did not love the pain, but the love I have for excelling out-weighed that pain. The love that my brother and nephew showed to me in tending to my every need, especially to have Jeff come running after me on my 3rd loop out of sheer concern for his brother, made me want to push on without quiting. Most of all, the love of my sweet wife Christie. When she took me by the hand and led me down that dark road that would lead to more pain, but indefinite victory opened the windows of Heaven and showed me how truly blessed I am to have her as my Eternal Companion! I am a happy man. I am so richly blessed, and going into this race, I knew that this experience would change my life forever, and it certainly has, in so many more ways than I ever could have imagined. 2 years ago when I was sitting on an operating table to have Gastric Bypass Surgery weighing in at 400 pounds, I remember clasping my wife's hand praying that what I was about to do for my health, would prolong my life with her and would allow me to be around to see my kids grow up. As I consider the past weekend's transpirings, I have come to the realization that I may have added more years to my life, but what I really have done is added life to my years, and I am incredibly grateful to have you all around to help share and participate in that with me. My feet are pretty blistered, I am finding it hard to walk, and I wish my feet would fit into my shoes, but I have NEVER felt more alive, and have never felt like such a winner. Winning IS an attitude, and does not always come in the form of a medal. In closing, I will say the best part of this past week, was coming home and seeing the warm smiles of my angel children. Ayden, Ava, Austin, and Christie, Daddy gave his best for you!!!

-Dan

Nerves Setting In....

2010-02-02T19:24:00.000-08:00

Is it possible to truly be excited about running 100 miles in one day??? I have to say.... YES!!! I am in such a good mental place right now, and am sincerely looking forward to this run on Saturday. Taper is going well, legs are feeling good, one more trip to Sports Massage Therapist, Tim Tarpley, who is the friggin Bomb, and I should be good to go. I have gone over my game plan a thousand times in my head, I have studied the course maps, have anticipated my nutrition plan, all that is left to do is put one foot in front of the other. I fully expect that this event will change my life in so many ways... They call the 100 mile run "The Distance Of Truth"... I will learn more about myself in one day than I have in 34 years and I cannot wait to come out conquerer. Thank you all for your thoughts, prayers, and well-wishes, I will have many hours to reflect upon your kind words, and the friendships and relationships I hold so dear...

Ironman Louisville Finish 2009

2010-01-26T06:28:00.000-08:00

I thought I would share this video from The IM Louisville finish. IT WAS SO AWESOME!!!

A Very Fun Race....

2010-01-24T06:57:00.000-08:00

Yesterday morning, my wife, Christie and I ran the "Bold In The Cold" 15k race in Grapevine, TX. There were a TON of people, around 500 I believe, and it was a perfect morning for a run. The course was somewhat rolling, with some decent little climbs and descents, some flat spots around the lake, but overall, a great course! This was Christie's first race over 5k distance, and she was a little anxious and nervous, but I knew she would do great! She has only been running for a few months, and is preparing for The Cowtown half marathon next month. She averaged just a hair over 10 minute miles and she said she could have gone harder, next race I am sure she will. I averaged 8:30's, which is not lightning, but it was a comfortable pace and I felt good. She ended up in 12th place out of 25 in her Age Group, I ended up 7th in my group out of 17. What an awesome way to spend the morning together. Thanks to my Mother-In-Law, Grace, for wathcing the little ones, allowing us to race together.

A Couple Funny Sidenotes...

2010-01-21T06:55:00.000-08:00

So yesterday I had a light 5 mile run on the treadmill scheduled and a 2500 Meter swim. In the past month, I have been conditioning my body to be prepared for the Ultra coming in less than 3 weeks... I have been finding my "Sweet Spot" at running for 30 minutes, then walking for five. Sure enough, last night on the treadmill when I hit 30 minutes at about mile 3.50, my body told me it was time to walk. It was a small, but true testament to me that the body will do what you train it to do. If I train my body to sprint for short periods of time, it will adapt. If I do speed work, it will respond, it is really a cool thing to see this happen. Not so cool to want to walk after 30 minutes on the Dreadmill!

After hopping into the pool at the gym, and swimming the lane solo, a gentleman asked me if I would share the lane with him. I said sure, no problem, I'll swim on this side of the line, the other side is yours for the taking. So I start swimming again, got to the other wall and turned back towards the home wall, when out of the blue, I look forward into what appeared to be a school of fish swarming... No, no fish in the pool for sure, even though it is a salt water pool, it was this gentleman doing about the worst interpretation of the Butterfly stroke. Really???? The flailing and splashing was a sight to behold, but now came the tricky part of navigating through this aquatic episode. For two laps, when approaching the guy, I grabbed a deep breathe and submerged to the bottom of the pool until the coast was clear. After a couple laps I just stood on the wall and would not-so-patiently wait until he was done with his workout, which would prove to be about 225 meters away from the start of it. GOOD TIMES!!!!

That's all for now. I am beginning to get VERY excited for the coming race. My mind is getting into "Race Mode" and the pre race "Pump Yourself Up" internal discussions have begun. I do not know how painful running for 100 miles is going to be, I have never experienced foot blisters, I never thought something like this is possible. With all that being said, I am going to finish this race, and it will be a huge triumph for sure. Now, let's begin the day and make it one to remember...

Dan

A Threefold Kind-Of Day....

2010-01-16T17:50:00.000-08:00

Today was filled with a plethora of different emotions amongst other things...

My alarm sounded at 3:30am, knowing that I needed 40 miles of running today. I pulled myself out of bed, and began to fuel. I hit the road bundled up with headlamp, gloves, beanie, Camelbak, and no iPOD to boot (Battery Dead arghhhh). The run went great aside from hitting 2 trains and having to visit Walmart to "Drop The Kids Off at The Pool", and I must say that the folks that end up on www.peopleofwalmart.com might very well come from this Walmart, and might be found looking for Bologna, shotgun shells, and bait at 5:30am on Saturdays. (Not that I have anything against any and all of these things, except the Bologna)Anyways, I finish up my 17 mile loop feeling good, wanting to go more, but had to head to the next part of the day...

This part of the day was attending the funeral of a good friend, Danny Vivar, who is survived by his wife and 4 young daughters. To see him rolled into the chapel with his young daughters grieving behind him, left an image and a lump in my throat that will be stained in my memory forever. During the service, my mind continually reflected on my gorgeous family, and how blessed I am to have them as my own, and how fragile and short life truly is. It was a beautiful service with uplifting music and speakers, and we left with a brightness of hope for the future. Spiritual food is always the best kind to ingest...

Immediately following the funeral service, I realized I was several minutes late for a conference call, that would be the last in a series to get me the designation as an Official Obesity Help (OH) Support Group Leader. The call lasted 1.5 hours and as I watched the clock tick to 12:30pm while stuffing my face, I began to turn my thoughts towards the running I needed to complete. I was hoping for 40+ miles and had 17 under my belt thus far...

After "Suiting Up" for the run and refilling Mr. Camelbak, I headed out to do the 17 mile loop again. My legs felt fresh, but the bottom of my left arch in my foot was killing me for some reason. I kept running and it got worse. I took in nutrition, salt tabs in the off-chance that it was just a cramp, and still hurt. I called my wife to tell her I was in rough shape, and if she wanted to get out of the house, come find me on the streets and see how I am feeling. As the time went by I began to feel A LOT better and was running at a pretty good clip, however the weather was starting to turn sour. As I was about 4-5 miles from home, I see my wife drive up onto the shoulder to wait for me. She asked how I was, I said pretty good surprisingly, and told her I wanted to keep going. Then I looked in the back seat to see my daughter on the verge of falling asleep, waiting to find daddy running, and my two beautiful boys, in an instant my mind flashed back to the funeral earlier in the day, and all I wanted to do was be with my family. I hopped in the car, and called it a day. I would not have it any other way. Fast or slow time, 30 mile training run or 40 miles, I am finishing this 100 mile Ultra, and I am glad I have been home for the rest of the day with my family. (And of course with my friend... Mr. Epsom Salt)

It has been a great day. A day of reflection, a day of grieving, a day of happiness, a day of solid training, and another day I decided NOT to be idle. Have an awesome day and enjoy the rest of the weekend...

Dan

2 Years And Another Chapter Begins...

2010-01-14T14:35:00.000-08:00

Well, today marks exactly 2 years since I had Gastric Bypass Surgery weighing in at 400 pounds with 60% body fat, and words cannot express the feelings I have experienced as a result. I posted on my website a summary of 2008, so I will bring you up to speed from January 14, 2009 to today January 14, 2010 that includes 2 marathons, 4 x Ironman 70.3 Triathlons, Ironman Louisville, and multiple other foot races and bike races.

Beginning in February, I ran my second marathon at The Cowtown Marathon in Fort Worth, TX. I remember the temperature being under 30 degrees at the start, 25+ MPH winds and a VERY challenging course. I finished that marathon in 4:23:01, and improved on my 1st marathon time by almost 30 minutes.

March and April were months that I stepped up the training and prepared for the coming triathlon season. Volume was key!

May 17th marked my first Ironman event, and also marked my first attempt at a triathlon longer than a Sprint distance. The event was one to remember. I raced it with my brother Jeff and shared some special moments recounting both of our journeys from being Morbidly Obese. I will always remember this event and am thankful that my Brother Jeff and Sister Shawnah were there to experience it with me! I finished this race in 6:15:15.

June was a month that I was faced with my first true experience of hills! I raced Ironman 70.3 in Buffalo Springs which is dubbed one of the most difficult of all
70.3's. I should clarify because there really are not many hills in Lubbock, there is only one main canyone that runs through it, and it is our joy to climb in and out of it 5 times on the bike with some incredibly steep hills to climb on the run. This was a true challenge considering it rained and winds were blowing 20+mph and I rode the last 15 miles on a flat with me riding unawares. This was probably one of the coolest finishers medals I recieved. Total time 6:25:34.

July was a crazy month with intense volume in preperation for Ironman Louisville in August. I did a few Cycling races that included The Peach Peddle, Tour De' Goatneck, and 3 seperate Century rides, one of which was up PCH in beautiful Southern California.

August was my pinnacle! My chance to become an Ironman awaited me. All my hard work, all the sacrifice, all the highs and lows came together. Not only an incredible event that was a true challenge but the honor of being dubbed "Biggest Loser" and winning a Tanita Body Scan Scale and a one year supply of Erin Baker Breakfast Cookies was so awesome!!! Not once did I ever consider giving up, I met so many incredible people and this, aside from having my children and marrying my beautiful wife, was the GREATEST thing I have ever accomplished! The fact that I lost 200 pounds in the process was trumped by the success of just finishing. Total time 14:14:13.

September took me on a journey that would have me drive from Fort Worth, TX to Augusta, GA by myself (Almost 1000 miles each way) to race in the innaugural Ironman 70.3 in Augusta, GA. This was a very memorable race in many ways. The first way was the fact that swim times were crazy fast. Swimming downstream in a wetsuit led to very fast times, 26 minutes for a 1.2 mile swim for me, followed by a great ride, followed by a deflating run. I was 2 steps away from going into the ambulance due to severe dehydration and getting an IV put in. However, I held on and dragged myself to the aid station that was a couple hundred yards away where I tried to gain hydration, fuel, and ice cold sponges to cool my core down. Once again, I did not give up, and although this was a tough race, I was excited to be a part of it and thankful for the finish. Chip time 6:00:51

As the season winded down, my finally triathlon of the season took me a few hours south to Austin, where I took part in the Ironman Longhorn 70.3. I have to say that this was about the toughest race of the year for me. Tough in the sense that I had put my body through hell over the past year and it was ready to shut down, tough in the sense that there were bad roads to ride on and over 60 turns so as not to allow you to carry any rolling speed for any length of time. Tough in the sense that the run had some brutal hills and we had the honor of repeating these hills for multiple loops in the heat. This was the slowest time I posted, but to me, one of the most gratifying finishes of the year. Another great race completed and another medal to hang on the wall. I can seem to find my final times but it was over 6:30:00... And times don't really matter to me at this point.

November was a time when I did not have any scheduled races but was able to help my awesome wife hit her goal of running a half marathon, and we did that together in So Cal just after Thanskgiving. It was awesome, and she is awesome. A little bit of rest and the beginings of ramping up for running season.

December brought The White Rock Marathon that was a blast. My time was not great, but I am happy with the finish. I improved my prior year's time by 15 minutes and that's always nice. The rest of the year was spent hitting a milestone of running 1000 miles. I achieved that, I rode a total of 2475 miles and swam 226 miles in 2009. If you add those all up, that's almost enough miles to cover the USA coast to coast.

2009 is the first year in my life I can honestly say that I accomplished every goal I set out to do. While my schedule was something most people would never want to even attempt, I enjoyed every minute of it. To have accomplished all this in less than 2 years from being 400 pounds leads me to believe that there are no limits to what we are capable of, and that the only limitations to our lives are the ones we put there ourselves. I could go on and on about my experiences, feelings, etc... that I went through in 2009, but this will at least give some insight and as this chapter of 2 ears post-op closes, an even greater chapter opens for the 3rd post-op, which is scheduled to include a 100 mile Ultra Marathon, a Swim from Spain to Africa, Ironman, and who knows what else. May God continue to bless us all in out journey to find out who we are and what we are capable of... As of today I am 219 pounds and have 10.8% body fat.