Malibu, California
This is race sold out in under 3 hours, so I was glad to get a chance to do it. This race has a celebrity division. Hollywood celebrities have their own division and awards. Jay Leno hosted the awards this year. racing 2 days in a row does take a toll. I gave this race my all. The bike hurt, but I fell just shy of a 20 MPH average. The run was shorter than the day before, but much more difficult for me. I was still able to pull off a sub 9 minute pace however and complete the 4 miles with a 08:55 average. Even though my speed suffered a bit, I hit the podium again with 3rd. For these Races I competed in a rare category. These races have a 225+ Clydesdale division. I weighed in a 233 for these races, more than qualifying me. I don’t ever sign up for the Clydesdale division even if it is available, but I wanted to drive a point home to myself. I have long known that I am handicapped by my weight. This was solidified for me by the fact that when I compete with athletes with the same handicap as I bear, I can take the podium in back to back races. I have got to find the discipline to lose the weight. People at races always assume I am a beginner because of my weight. On loop courses they always assume that I am on my first loop as opposed to my second or third because of my weight. I am getting tired of hearing “way to go BIG guy!” or “Let’s hear for the big guys” I appreciate that fact people are just being nice, but I feel like an embarrassment to this sport. This sport is a sport of Extreme discipline and I need to find the discipline to eat better. I can get up at 4:30 every morning and bike and run for miles, but so far I have failed in the discipline to eat right. Being able to compete with others who are 225+ helped me confirm that I am still a good athlete underneath this self imposed handicap. I am competing in these races wearing a fat suit and it makes me slower. I spend money to be aero, when losing weight would make me far faster than any aero equipment.
This is race sold out in under 3 hours, so I was glad to get a chance to do it. This race has a celebrity division. Hollywood celebrities have their own division and awards. Jay Leno hosted the awards this year. racing 2 days in a row does take a toll. I gave this race my all. The bike hurt, but I fell just shy of a 20 MPH average. The run was shorter than the day before, but much more difficult for me. I was still able to pull off a sub 9 minute pace however and complete the 4 miles with a 08:55 average. Even though my speed suffered a bit, I hit the podium again with 3rd. For these Races I competed in a rare category. These races have a 225+ Clydesdale division. I weighed in a 233 for these races, more than qualifying me. I don’t ever sign up for the Clydesdale division even if it is available, but I wanted to drive a point home to myself. I have long known that I am handicapped by my weight. This was solidified for me by the fact that when I compete with athletes with the same handicap as I bear, I can take the podium in back to back races. I have got to find the discipline to lose the weight. People at races always assume I am a beginner because of my weight. On loop courses they always assume that I am on my first loop as opposed to my second or third because of my weight. I am getting tired of hearing “way to go BIG guy!” or “Let’s hear for the big guys” I appreciate that fact people are just being nice, but I feel like an embarrassment to this sport. This sport is a sport of Extreme discipline and I need to find the discipline to eat better. I can get up at 4:30 every morning and bike and run for miles, but so far I have failed in the discipline to eat right. Being able to compete with others who are 225+ helped me confirm that I am still a good athlete underneath this self imposed handicap. I am competing in these races wearing a fat suit and it makes me slower. I spend money to be aero, when losing weight would make me far faster than any aero equipment.
