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brianb58 -> from my deathbed to the Ford Ironman Triathlon World Championship (10/17/2007 8:37:37 PM)
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After dying 8 times and spending two months in a coma, 36 blood transfusions, 13 plasma treatments, I lost a total of 100 pounds and had to go to a rehabilitation center in Baltimore, I had to learn how to talk, eat, walk, shower, and live independently again. This was less than 3 years ago and after that agonizing experience, I had to go to outpatient therapy in Waldorf, MD. After spending a few months in a wheelchair, I took baby steps to walk on my own. It was a miracle that I could walk again, but I wanted to prove the doctors wrong and not only walk, but run. After I accomplished that, I wanted to get back in the pool again. After a few lung tests, I was able to go in the pool a little bit each week. After a few months of swimming a few laps here and there with my training partner and good buddy, Sam Fleming, and motivational letters from Gary Hall Jr. I decided that I was not going to let my injuries stop me from living my dream, and six months after that I began my freshman year at St. Mary's College of Maryland and also was one of the swimmers to watch on the team. With the 50 year life expectancy I was given from the doctors, I am just trying to live each day to the fullest and motivate and hopefully inspire other people.
I just got back from the Ford Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii. The moment of truth...I FINISHED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It took 14:42 and I came to the finish line full steam ahead with every last bit of strength and emotion that I had. It was the greatest day of my life and I tried to savor every second that I could but as I look back at those fourteen hours, the memory lasts only minutes.
I felt great on the swim, I came in the transition with the elite age groupers, had a pretty good transition time, and then powerhoused that bike as best as I could; those headwinds were giving me a hard time all the way through but I just kept it steady and stayed positive and came back down to the next transition in 7:30 hours. The run started out great with about a 10 minute mile pace and I stayed strong; with it being my first marathon and first ironman I really didnt know how to pace myself but I just kept it going as best as I could. I had three different NBC news crews following me during the day, one group in a red mustang, a silver mustang, and a moped, and there were helicopters following me on the bike in certain areas - the feeling was intense! I surprised everyone when I came in around 14 hours because my lifesport coaches were predicting around 16, and for the last few miles of the marathon, I had a news crew on my right, both of my coaches running with me, my Cannondale bike sponsors following me in their SUV and we were all just pumping to the finish line, and the feeling coming down to the finish line just cant be explained, the crowd went absolutely crazy and Im going to attach the finish line video below so you can see it (scroll down to the link where it says "watch me finish").
http://ironman.com//events/ironman/worldchampionship/?show=tracker&y=2007&race=/events/ironman/worldchampionship/&bib=163
The funny thing is, I could have went so much faster but I held back because I knew it was going to be a long day, and in the swim I ended up pulling my right hamstring but I just tried to focus on the positive and use mind over matter to push through, and I ended up really hurting it on the bike and run, and when I got to the finish line and was able to sit down in the rest area, I sat down and couldnt get back up. So long story short, I went to war with the human spirit... and won again lol I can't even describe the feeling, but I want to thank everyone who believed in me because we crossed that line together, my next goal is to turn pro in the next 5-10 years because I don't want the story to end here and next year I would really like to do the ironman race with my dad becau
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