This past week-end a really good friend of mine, Robbie, ran and finished his very first ever ironman race in Louisville, Ky. For those of you who do not know what an ironman race is the easiest way for me to describe it is a tri-athalon on steroids pretty much. It consists of a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride, and then finishes off with a 26.2 mile run. The reason he entered into the iron man was to help raise money for children with down syndrome. His little brother has down syndrome and so he is very passionate about raising down syndrome awareness. He started his ironman at 7:30 a.m. and finished two minutes after midnight, just barely qualifying as an official iron man. He was the last one to officially cross the finish line. He said there were about sixty others who did not finish in time and even more who chose to drop-out throughout the day.
I finally saw Robbie for the first time since his big day to hear all the details that I missed out on by not being able to watch him. Apparently in the middle of his bike run he started to get pretty sick. He could not hold anything down and even threw up a couple of times. He said he seriously thought about dropping out of the race, but ended up deciding against it. He pushed himself to finish the race, and immediately after it went to the hospital. Apparently something went wrong with his kidneys, a chemical imbalance of some sort, which is why he got so sick. He had to stay in the hospital all Monday because the doctors were wanting to keep a close eye on him as he got re-hydrated. Knowing he was that sick and still wanted to finish that race is so crazy to me.
Hearing all of this I have come to the conclusion that an iron man race is the most intense torture one can put themselves through. It is inspiring to watch a person train for, and even more exciting when they actually do finish what they put their minds to. It reminds me how far we, as humans, can really push ourselves to. With the right training and frame of mind we really can accomplish those goals we set that seem so scary and unobtainable.
Robbie, came up to me last night and gave me a big hug and to tell me how grateful he is for all the prayers I have prayed for him in the past few months, and especially on Sunday. He kept saying how he is so incredibly lucky to have friends who have supported him and would not have been able to do it without our prayers. I have to say though, that I am truly blessed to have been able to, spiritually at least, be a part of his journey. I think I have learned a lot more through watching him, and in turn am the luckier one to be able to call him a very close friend.
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