NeopreneWedgie.com's Greatest Post Ever

In all modesty, I consider myself to be a decent storyteller. I like to think I can capture the emotion of a funny or embarrassing moment and share it with others. Well I have to admit, I'm in over my head here. I won't be able to fully describe what has happened in Idaho; I can simply present the facts and hope that you can fill in the emotional impact.

I won Ironman Coeur d'Alene.

Oh sure, the race isn't until tomorrow. And Michael Lovato should finish about 6 hours ahead of me. But it doesn't matter, I won the event. Let me explain.

Rich and I went for a short bike ride yesterday and went back to the rental house. While we were there, Annie showed up from the airport as expected. So we all did the usual "how was the flight, so glad you're here" stuff. Then 2 minutes later I saw Robert coming up the front walk. Turns out,he had been planning on coming to Coeur d'Alene and just never told me. How awesome is that!

We all went into the back yard to look at the chickens (yes, the owners of the house keep chickens) and a few minutes later Steve comes out of the house! Followed by Ben! They all came up to surprise me.

And remind me never to play poker with my Tri team. Rich, my CDA Ironbrother knew everyone was coming up but never told me. His wife Stephanie knew. Stephanie's parents and Rich's dad came out for the race, they knew. Apparently just about everyone on my tri team back home knew and no one spilled the beans. They're all just a bunch of lying, sneaking cheats.

But here's the thing that gets me most emotional. It isn't that the four of them- Annie, Robert, Steve, Ben - took off time from work, and flew from L.A. to Idaho, and got a rental car and a hotel room to watch us race. It's that in a way, I'm really NOT surprised to see them. These are the kind of friends I have on my Tri Team. And it just feels right to have them here.