Sometimes all you have to do is show up...
Posted by Bill Shaw at 10/16/2007 11:09 AM and is filed under uncategorized 
Sometimes all you have to do is show up at our age to triumph. I finished my 25th triathlon in Sugar Land, Tex., Sunday, Oct. 14, and won third place in the 65-69 age group because no one else in my age group showed up to compete. I made the 300-meter open-water swim, the 10-mile bike route, and the three-mile run in 1:36:01 and finished 509 overall in a field of 750.
I was anxious only during the swim because it was open water, and we started in the open water treading water before our wave of 40 plus males started. I struggled through the swim in open water because I train in a pool, and I can hang onto the wall a few seconds after every twenty-five yards. There's no wall to hang onto in open water, so I take it slow and cautiously. In fact, some of the 40 plus women in the second wave who started six minutes after I did passed me before I hit the shore and the transition area for the bike ride.
In a triathlon, our race number is marked on our arms, and our age is marked on our calves. It is a special thrill when a twenty or thirty-year-old runs past me on the run route and tells how much he or she admires me and says that he or she hopes to be able to complete a triathlon at 68. One female runner called me "awesome" in a triathlon in May. It gave me a chill.
I am luckier than many of our classmates. I can still struggle through the swim, labor through the bike route and slog through the run. For these abilities and my spirit and discipline, I thank God every day, and I pray for my old friends and classmates who are not as fortunate as I am.
Live the life you have left as best you can and prosper. Perhaps some of our old memories and the strength of our friendships and fellowship will sustain you in times of crisis and ill health.
I was anxious only during the swim because it was open water, and we started in the open water treading water before our wave of 40 plus males started. I struggled through the swim in open water because I train in a pool, and I can hang onto the wall a few seconds after every twenty-five yards. There's no wall to hang onto in open water, so I take it slow and cautiously. In fact, some of the 40 plus women in the second wave who started six minutes after I did passed me before I hit the shore and the transition area for the bike ride.
In a triathlon, our race number is marked on our arms, and our age is marked on our calves. It is a special thrill when a twenty or thirty-year-old runs past me on the run route and tells how much he or she admires me and says that he or she hopes to be able to complete a triathlon at 68. One female runner called me "awesome" in a triathlon in May. It gave me a chill.
I am luckier than many of our classmates. I can still struggle through the swim, labor through the bike route and slog through the run. For these abilities and my spirit and discipline, I thank God every day, and I pray for my old friends and classmates who are not as fortunate as I am.
Live the life you have left as best you can and prosper. Perhaps some of our old memories and the strength of our friendships and fellowship will sustain you in times of crisis and ill health.
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