Results and Raves

...sorry no rants this week…

Shaved Leg Tough Guys

Curtis Long and Karel Sumbal had fantastic results in the ATL this weekend with Curtis taking 2nd in the Crit on Sunday and Karel placing 14th in the 100K on Monday. This race is “real” deal and the final sprint was over 50MPH.




Congrats to the Lindner team!!!

Tri Guys can run

Paul Cantin, VMS Client #1, took 2nd in a 5K in Rancho Santa Margarita, CA with an 18:36 (5:59 average) placing him 2nd in his AG and 24th our of over 1000 athletes. Congrats Paul!!!


The BIG show on the O-HI-O

Hercules and I rolled into “Lewey-ville” late on Saturday and proceeded directly to 4th street live to get our grub on. Starving from a couple of plane rides we rolled into Hard Rock and they were on an hour wait at 9:15pm and this was just from the local’s.

We opted for the Bar at TGI Fridays and got our spectator “pre-race” meal in – chicken sandwiches and LOTS or fries :) Hey it is hard being a Sherpa and we needed to make sure we were fueled up.



Sunday morning started INCREDIBLY early as the IM Louisville start is a time trial start were the athletes go off every 3 seconds. It is 1st come first serve for the swim start so we got down to transition with Lyndon, Kellie and Carrie at 5:10am and it was a 15 minute walk to the swim start.




Sitting around for close to 2 hours before the start you get to see a LOT of people freaking out. Really Freaking OUT!!!

Our 3 were NOT part of this – they were calm, cool and collected.



The rest of the crowd was panicking enough to really make me wonder (silently) why the hell would anyone do this?

Seriously, 90% of the people out there are NOT going to be even close to front.

They are going to suffer all day and for what? Bragging rights? Personal Bests?

It was actually a little unsettling. I was starting to wonder why I do this distance?

Hell, it is stupid to train as hard and as long as we do. It’s NOT healthy, in fact it’s probably UNHEALTHY – it’s not good for our jobs, not great for our families, why do we do this?

I must have been thinking about this for a while as Hercules said – “man – your quiet”. I choose not to relay out load my inner voice and just chalked it up to 3:40 wakeup.

The bugler played his tune – the gun went off and so did the iron lemmings one by one into the river…




We strolled back down to the swim exit to watch T1 – send them off.





Once they were off, we figured we would go for a run on the bike course to check out the riders. Let’s just say Hercules and the map didn’t coincide and we ran close to two hours and the only people we saw on the course were the 2:00+ hour swimmers.

Hercules, not known for “inside” voice wondered "outload" the benefits of an aero helmet on a 220+ pound athlete on a road bike after a two hour swim…I just said “be nice”.


After figuring out we could not watch without running 22 miles one way – we decided to turn around and watch T2.

Then the drama started.

Apparently my phone had been ringing off the hook with family, well wishers and worries (me soon to be included on that list) wondering what was up with our crew. Lyndon was not showing up at all and Kellie had only a swim time. After trying to contact anyone and everyone who would talk to us the organizers finally said you’ll just have to wait it out.



Around 5:45 into the bike we found Lyndon’s bike in T2 and realized we had somehow missed him. At least we knew he was on the run and that was good news.

The midget was still missing and when she showed up at 6:30 into the bike she was without her chip. An overzealous volunteer in the T1 tent ripped it off and put it in her bag for her.



We got her another chip and on to the run.

Hercules and I took up our “post” at the turn around point and started crunching numbers.

Lyndon was in 33rd coming off the bike but was running REALLY strong and he had a BUNCH of guys in front slowing down drastically.



Kellie was somewhere around 13-16 off the bike and was running smooth.

Carrie (Kellie’s twin) made it off the bike at 7:21 and was running 10’s which is FANTASTIC for the training she was able to get in and this being her 1st Ironman.


Lyndon finished up the marathon closing 20 places in age group and pass over 100 people to finish in 10:39 and 13th in his age group – ABSOLUTELY GREAT EFFORT!!!

He crossed the line – said hello to Lesleigh and slumped down on a park bench for a good long sit – he gave it his all.

After walking him back to the room, we headed out to find the midget and make sure she was ok and she was all smiles at mile 24 and still running strong. 1st and 2nd in her AG where the only people left in front of her and they were simply out of reach on the day.



Her marathon of 3:52 was one of the fastest amateur times of the day and she moved past 10 people in her age group to finish in 11:52 and 3rd place. Not to be out done by Lyndon, Kellie took a few minutes to sit down and then we put her in a wheel chair and rolled her over to medical.



Our broken Midget was repaired by the medical staff and returned to us in one piece.



After the two finishers had a chance to get cleaned up and the Sherpa’s picked up all of the VERY DISGUSTING gear – really – it was BAD – we headed back to bring in Carrie and then sit down for a well deserved meal.

Carrie was all smiles as she brought home her first time finish in 14:38 – CONGRATS CARRIE – YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!!!!



All the crew was all smiles, the goals attained and the tanks emptied.

My momentary confusion of the early morning as to whether all of this was worth it of not, completely resolved in the smiles of my friends and strangers.

The wide eyed deer in the headlight looks of the predawn still were now replaced by the quiet content of accomplishment.



Hercules and I had a BLAST!!!

It was a FANTASTIC EXPERIENCE and capped off by getting to see the Midget on stage accepted her 3rd place AG award in front of over 1000 people.



We are ALL so incredibly proud of the efforts these guys gave – all of the hard training they endured – the sacrifices they made and the results they achieved.


Kia Kaha – hey wait - you already did that!!!