Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Oh my Gosh!

20 Apr 12

I almost feel like a little kid getting ready for Christmas… Six months from right now I will be in the middle of my first FULL iron distance triathlon.  After this week of training (which isn’t even complete yet) I am feeling really good about this race. 

I realize today is only Friday, but I would put this week of training WAY up there on the scale of awesomeness.  So far I have more than 11 miles on the treadmill, 2 ½ miles in the pool and an butt kicker of a spin class done.  I had planned on hitting a yoga class today, but the day got filled with medical stuff, which isn’t a bad thing.  Tomorrow is my long run, I am supposed to meet with the ladies of the BRC Fit group, but I am not sure my lungs would be happy if I tried to do a long run in Garden of the Gods, so I might just hit my favorite trail and keep it nice and easy.  Sunday depending on how I am feeling, I will either head up north to cheer on a friend or I will hit the trails on my bike.  I guess we will have to see. 

Six months… You hear me???? SIX MONTHS… I can’t wait!

Oh! And I have successfully written down everything I have consumed to far this week AND only had one soda a day!

Please keep them in your prayers!

~If you hear that someone is speaking ill of you, instead of trying to defend yourself you should say: "He obviously does not know me very well, since there are so many other faults he could have mentioned"~

Blow it out your ear!

I think that is my new saying these days! For the longest time (ok, since about 2002) I have dreamt about doing a fully ironman (specifically IM CDA), I have hit bumps and gotten some bruises but every time I get up, dust myself off and continue moving forward.  The latest saga is requesting the possibility of wearing gloves for medical reason during the swim portion of the race.  After Ironman said no even after USAT said yes for medical reason I decided Ironman can blow it out their ear!  I am not a competitor (by any stretch of the imagination), I am fat and slow, but I am a triathlete and no one or nothing can take that away from me.  Sadly, most of the 140.6 mile races are owned by Ironman which makes accomplishing my dream a little more difficult.  I started doing my homework; low and behold I found a few that aren’t Ironman owned.  I found one that won’t stop screaming my name; it seems like it would be the perfect race (they have said gloves are fine, if needed).  I found another around the same time of year (which should let me hit my goal of having an ironman under my belt by the time I am 35).  Either race will just take a little more maneuvering to get my cheering squad to the finish line.  But I don’t care, I will be an ironman (please note the lowercase ‘i’). 

While on the hunt for some answers, I used social media to my benefit.  First I posted on my local tri club’s facebook page and was given some very helpful advice (I will come back to this part shortly) and I posted on Ironman’s page because I am downright confused as to why USAT says one thing and Ironman goes and does something completely different.  As far as the tri club goes, I found out there is another member who suffers from an autoimmune disease, Rheumatoid Arthritis.  I know I am not the only person out there who suffers from one of the God awful diseases but it is nice to know that there are others out there who are in a similar boat.  I have people in my life who are sympathetic to what I am going through, but do not fully understand. I have to say through, I have no idea what I would do if I didn’t have these people in my life. 

By the end of next year I will have either completed Beach2Battleship or Great Floridian Triathlon.

~If you hear that someone is speaking ill of you, instead of trying to defend yourself you should say: "He obviously does not know me very well, since there are so many other faults he could have mentioned"~

You have got to be kidding!

You have got to be kidding!

It would appear Ironman does not necessarily follow USAT’s guidance. 

We started off with this from IM:

Hello-

Thank you for your email. I am sorry to hear of your recent diagnosis and I wish you all the best.

Neoprene caps are permitted if worn under the swim caps we provide. Booties are permitted in water temperatures colder than 65 degrees. Gloves are NOT permitted.

Please let me know if you have any further questions.

Thank you and see you in Coeur d'Alene!

Lauren (last named removed per request)
Athlete Services Coordinator
Ironman Headquarters - 2701 North Rocky Point Drive
Suite 1250- Tampa, FL 33607
(p) 813-868-5920|(f) 813-868-5930
(skype) ironman.lauren
http://www.ironman.com/

Then this from USAT:

Hello Sammie,

We allow gloves to be used with a medical exception.  Simply bring a note from your doctor indicating your diagnosis.  You will not necessarily be asked to show it, but you should have it just in case  Print this email and keep it with your doctor's note.

Charlie Crawford | Commissioner of Officials | USA TRIATHLON

5825 Delmonico Dr | Colorado Springs, Colorado  80919 office and cell :: 334.332.9092 | fax :: 719.597.2121 | http://www.usatriathlon.org/

And this this from me to IM

Lauren,
I received an email from Charlie Crawford (Commissioner of Officials, USA Triathlon) stating they allow gloves to be used with a medical exception. Would this policy apply to Ironman? As directed by USAT I would have a letter from my doctor stating my condition and the reason for needing the gloves. I am hoping I would not need to wear them, but I can’t take the chance of needing them and not being able to use them.
Thanks again,

Hope you have a wonderful day!
Sammie

And then this from IM:

Hello-

Thank you for your email.

Gloves are NOT permitted.

Please attend the mandatory athlete meeting to speak with race officials directly. Ultimately, they are the only ones able to make the call.

Please let me know if you have any further questions.

Thank you and see you in Coeur d'Alene!

Lauren (last named removed per request)
Athlete Services Coordinator
Ironman Headquarters - 2701 North Rocky Point Drive
Suite 1250- Tampa, FL 33607
(p) 813-868-5920|(f) 813-868-5930
(skype) ironman.lauren
http://www.ironman.com/

All I can say is it is VERY disconcerting! These events are NOT cheap! But they still want me to sign up and talk to an official on race weekend to find out they may or may not follow USAT’s guidelines?  Seriously?  Not only are we talking about registration fees we also need to factor transportation costs, lodging, a SERIOUS amount of training!  I can’t not do something like that while flying by the seat of my pants, it does not work that way!

Any and all suggestions would be appreciated!

~If you hear that someone is speaking ill of you, instead of trying to defend yourself you should say: "He obviously does not know me very well, since there are so many other faults he could have mentioned"~

Roller Coaster

After finding out the hard way about my hands and contacting race directors I was pretty happy yesterday and then I got an email back from Ironman…

Hello-

Thank you for your email. I am sorry to hear of your recent diagnosis and I wish you all the best.

Neoprene caps are permitted if worn under the swim caps we provide. Booties are permitted in water temperatures colder than 65 degrees. Gloves are NOT permitted.

Please let me know if you have any further questions.

Thank you and see you in Coeur d'Alene!

Talk about heart breaking!  I can’t not drop THAT much on a race only to drop out after the first event.  Needless to say I was not happy with that answer so I went higher up and contacted USAT directly!  I fully understand “4.9 Illegal Equipment. Any swimmer wearing any artificial propulsion device, including but not limited to fins, gloves, paddles, or floating devices of any kind shall be disqualified.” I get that, but I am not talking about swim gloves I am looking at dive gloves, if anything I see them more as a hindrance than a help. 

This morning I was greeted to an email from USAT…

We allow gloves to be used with a medical exception.  Simply bring a note from your doctor indicating your diagnosis.  You will not necessarily be asked to show it, but you should have it just in case  Print this email and keep it with your doctor's note.

Talk about being on Cloud 9! Needless to say I wrote back Ironman…

I received an email from Charlie Crawford (Commissioner of Officials, USA Triathlon) stating they allow gloves to be used with a medical exception.  Would this policy apply to Ironman?  As directed by USAT I would have a letter from my doctor stating my condition and the reason for needing the gloves.  I am hoping I would not need to wear them, but I can’t take the chance of needing them and not being able to use them.

Hopefully they will come back and say they will comply! 

~If you hear that someone is speaking ill of you, instead of trying to defend yourself you should say: "He obviously does not know me very well, since there are so many other faults he could have mentioned"~