Greetings. I have been quite busy as of late which is the reason for my limited writing. All is going very well though. Our TEAM IN TRAINING athletes are coming off an outstanding weekend in St. Petersburg Florida at the St. Anthony’s triathlon.
We had two slight casualties during the course of the race and as unfortunate as that is, the dignity and courage that both athletes displayed through their disappointment makes them both champions in my book.
One of our guys was kicked quite hard in the jaw within the first ¼ mile of the swim. He forged on for a little while but was eventually yanked from the water and sent to medical to be evaluated. Other than a slightly bruised ego, all else checked out ok. What he did next was what really counted in my book. After getting cleaned up, he made his way back down to mile 5.5 of the run where he hung with the other staff and coaches and cheered on each and every participant. That was a total class move.
We also had one girl strain her knee pretty badly on the bike and was taken to the hospital. The irony is that her true fear and worry about this race was the swim. She conquered that beast and made it through the swim with a sense of purpose. So whatever happened after that really didn’t matter. While some people may have retreated and spent the rest of the weekend feeling sorry for themselves, she did just the opposite. Although she was a little disappointed, maybe even angry about her injury, she showed up at the celebration party with a big smile on her face and felt good about her swim.
Both of these athletes proved that it’s not the stuff that happens to us that defines us, it’s the choices we make after that “stuff” happens. My hat goes off to both of them.
My Man of the Year campaign is in full swing. This Sunday is a big beef & beer featuring the music of Chico’s Mini Vibe and Dennis Selfridge. This is guaranteed to be one great afternoon. More details can be found HERE. We are also fine tuning some additional events and details will follow soon.
I also have a great package to the 2011 Philadelphia Insurance Triathlon which includes race entry, hotel stay for two, dinner for two, and a goodie bag valued at over $200. All of this will soon be auctioned or raffled off to benefit my cause. Stay tuned.
On the racing front, next up for me is the New Jersey Devilman triathlon next weekend, and the Ocean City triathlon the following weekend. I feel good. I feel fit. In a word; things are great.
More to come, stay tuned.
2 Comments
Hi Steve:
It was such a pleasure meeting you last week in St. Pete. You are a true inspiration to the TNT team and many others as well. Thanks for being such an awesome coach to my daughter. Her experience during training as well as during the Tri weekend was wonderful. It brought her so much joy and good friends as well.
Thanks so much for all you do for others!
Bonnie Barsa
(Emily Michaels Mom)
Thanks very much Bonnie. It was a pleasure meeting you as well. I am also one who understands and values the importance of support crews because my personal crew has always been so great. So I also want to thank you for being there and for being such a key supporter for not only Emily, but for the whole team.
I’m really glad that you both had such a positive experience.
Steve