Last Sunday afternoon, my foot landed across the finish line at the Ironman 70.3 Galveston.
6 hours and 28 minutes earlier, I entered the 62 degree ocean to begin a 1.2 mile swim. My training season had been riddled with illness, injury and a minor surgery in late-January. Life had crowded out over half of my training time. I was unprepared and having a little pity party right there in ocean. A lesson was coming my way.
When the the race started, I remembered that I was committed. I was going to finish this race or die trying. There were two things I was depending on to carry me across the finish line. The first was God. The other was the chance to see my wife, kids and family at the finish.
Twenty minutes into the swim, both of my calves cramped up. I pressed on.
Thirty miles into the 56 mile bike, I started having GI issues. I pressed on.
A couple miles from the bike finish, my back tire went flat. I pressed on.
Six miles into the 13.1 mile run, my legs were giving out. Then, I witnessed the most amazing thing.
I saw two men tethered to each other with a chord as they ran. I wondered what was going on. In mile 7, I saw them again. Then I figured it out.
It was a blind man competing in an Ironman 70.3 while a sighted man guided him through the grueling course. Try to imagine it for a moment. Close your eyes and imagine swimming over a mile, riding 56 miles and running a half-marathon all without sight and completely dependent on a guide. This is rich on so many levels…
Is there really anything left to say?
PS. I beat my 2010 time by 3 minutes. God has a sense of humor 🙂
Great story and lesson. You are a constant inspiration.
You are too my friend. Thanks
Seeing them was so awesome!
You were pretty good too : )
TLOL! Thanks dear
I am so proud to call you my cousen Lance.
Thanks, cuz. Have a good day.
very cool! congrats and great story!!
Thank you sir. 🙂
That story gave me chill bumps…could be the cold breeze but I really think it was your story. Amazing! Congrats on those 3 winning minutes! You sure earned them!
John, Yeah, seeing those guys out on the course had a huge impact on me. I was at a loss for words. Thanks!!!
Good to hear from you Lance, and also for the great motivating story.
Thanks! Glad you liked it…. we can all use a little encouragement now and then 😉
great story <3… so intense
…and tiring… thanks Bon
I remember listening to them talk to each other as I ran by and the guy with sight encouraging the blind guy as I passed them and thought it was amazing too! I didn’t know he was blind at first either. I saw the rubber band type hand cuff thing and wondered as well. It’s an amazing thing to race these races on your own, the spiritual depths you plunge to (not just on race day but certainly in training) and then to see this type of thing on race day really just makes you feel the depths of meaning at a whole new level. Thanks for posting their pictures! 🙂
Holly, thank you. I’m glad you had a similar race experience. Some amazing stories and experiences come from these events. Hope you have recovered well 🙂
Lance, you rock! Thanks for sharing this awesome experience in words. Very encouraging and a reminder to us when we feel blinded that there’s someone much greater that knows the road ahead, is always connected to us, and always desires to encourage us. What an amazing God we serve. As always, I greatly value your friendship!
Thanks Andrew. We all could use a little encouragement from time to time. I’ll see you soon 🙂