Lavaman 2012: Race Day Words for Crea

Tomorrow is Lavaman 2012.  I have done this race the last three years but this time it is my amazing wife that will swim, bike and run this beautiful Kona course.  As her husband, this is what I would like her to know going into race day:

I have talked to hundreds if not thousands of people about race day and how they should be prepared mentally.  I have told these same people that Race Day ends up being  much more about the journey to the race than the race itself because it is all of the events leading up to the race that you reminisce about when you are covering the miles that lead to the finish line.  For some the journey is the exact amount of time that we met as part of Team in Training.  For others, that journey began long before we met when some significant event took place in their life.  These messages I shared and these messages I have tried to teach myself have never been more applicable than they are to you.  I am sad and proud and blessed all at the same time to have shared the events that led to this race.  I am sad we shared losses.  I am sad my Dad did not have more time to get to know you and I am sad we don’t have Isabella to fill our little condo with a lot more laughter.  I am sad that cancer knocked on your door once and even more sad it decided to visit again.  I am proud of your fight and your strength.  I am blessed by the same and I am blessed to have someone so supportive that affords me the time to fight back against the cancer that touched our lives.  Tomorrow……..I mean it so very much…………….when you toe the sand that is your start line, be proud.  Be very proud.  Everything from there is a bonus.  All you have to do is do everything you have done leading to this day…………….fight.  You are the strongest person I know……….by a landslide.  If doubt enters your head on the swim, remember that you stared cancer in the face and won.  When pain sets in on the bike or if you feel yourself not pushing as hard as you would like, remember that this day and the ability to race is a blessing.  A blessing you fought for.  A blessing you deserve and then hammer those pedals.  When you get to the run……which I know is not your favorite event…………remember all those unpleasant things you already faced and overcame and the run will seem like a cake walk.  Picture cancer trying to take that finish line from you and shove it out of the way.  Know that Isabella is out there with you.  I am sure you will feel her.  When you are tired, know she is at the finish line waiting for you and is proud of her Mom.  So are all your kids. So is everyone that knows you.  So am I.  You are an inspiration.