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Congrats to Chris Kittel, Jimmy Dunn, and Travis Buonocore for completing the Mighty Montauk Triathlon and raising a ton of dough for the Schneider Children's Hospital!
Way to go Guys!!
To All –
First things first, I completed the triathlon and I am living to tell about it. In all seriousness I competed in and completed the Mighty Montauk Triathlon this past Saturday, putting up a time of 2:40:38. I was very excited about how I finished as I set a personal goal of 2:45:00 going into the race. The good Lord above blessed us with beautiful weather on race day which simply meant there were not going to be any excuses related to the weather.
With a calm Lake Montauk staring me in the face I took a dive into the 59 degree water prior to my heat going off to become acclimated with the water. WOW was that first dip a doozy. By race time though my heart rate had settled down and I was ready to roll. 5,4,3,2,1 and off I went along with 50 - 60 men in my heat ranging in ages 35 – 39 (550 total did the race) and not quite sure what the day would bring. To my surprise I completed the 1 mile swim in 29 minutes. While I was happy with the result it wasn’t the time so much as the fact that I had completed the “dreaded” swim which got me thinking “I can do this.” It was that mentality that carried with me for the next 2 hrs and 10 minutes.
With wet suit off, I strapped on the helmet, boarded my bike, and headed out for my 22 mile jaunt on the rolling hills on Montauk. Having driven the bike route several hundred times in my fortunate lifetime, nothing prepared me for the experience of doing it on a bike. It was awesome. From the grueling hills going to and from the horse ranch to the breath taking views of the light house up close with Brian Doherty fishing in the background on Great Eastern Shoal. OK so I didn’t actually see Brian but I looked quickly for him on the loop in the park as he was out there enjoying some of the world finest bass fishing the world has to offer. Check in with Brian if you want the results of the fishing. After cruising down East Lake Drive past the Airport and Gone Fishing Marina and back I was coming in for the home stretch with my lovely bride cheering me on in just over an hour. In fact about 1 hr and 3 minutes. Two events down. “I can do this.”
I left the bike in the rack put on my Tri-ing for kids shirt and visor and was off for what was in my opinion was to be my Achilles heel of the race, the 10K run. Again with Jenn screaming words of encouragement I headed out towards Gossman’s slowly putting one foot in front of the other trying to get may hamstrings to loosen up after the bike ride has them tighter than a guitar string. I got into a groove as the first two miles of the run are fairly flat. Its miles 2 – 5 that put you to the test. For any of you who have never been to Montauk, it truly is hilly and I know the race coordinators kept that in mind when they laid out the run. As Mike Dunn passed me at mile 2 on the run he said the “best was yet to come” as he left me in the dust.
Unfortunately I knew he was not exactly telling the truth. The good thing for me was that when we descended into our first cull de sac, when I saw him coming up and out as I was going down and in he said, “Kitty, don’t look up.” That proved to be the psychological edge I needed to overcome that first ascent and the other two that followed. Mile 5 complete, calves screaming, and I am at the top of Flamingo Road by Montauk Manor. “I can do this.” The last mile is not entirely down hill but nothing like what I had just come from with the cull de sacs. Faintly you can now hear the race announcer yelling names of racers as they cross the finish line. Before I know it I was turning the corner myself and witnessed the sea of people encouraging everyone to finish strong. Again I immediately picked out my wife who was cheering her head off. I was giving a few high fives to some of my buddies who had already finished ahead of me and bam, it was no longer “I can do this” but “I DID IT.” I finished the Might Montauk Triathlon in 2:40:38 and no worse for wear.
All the 5 am wake up calls to go biking and running, the late night swim classes, the swims in the bay, the spin classes at the YMCA had paid off. I can truly say that next to getting married and having three lovely kids in my life, this was truly an experience in my lifetime I will never forget. I was telling Jenn tonight over dinner that for some odd reason I feel a void in my life since the race came and went. There is so much build up to the event that when it’s over its like, now what. While I will continue to work out I will miss the camaraderie that came with being a member of a 52 person team, the new friends I made as a result and the feeling that all of you and I can perhaps in some small way be making a difference in the lives of someone who is less fortunate.
Speaking of making a difference, through the kindness and generosity of many of you on this email, our grass roots group of 52 was able to raise over $35,000.00 dollars, all of which went/will go directly to the Schneider Children’s Hospital. You should all be commended for the good work you did in helping a great cause. Me running this race was nothing compared to what these kids are going through. What we are telling these kids, their parents, friends and love ones is that you too “can do this.” We are giving them hope at a time when there may not appear to be any. As many of us are parents I think you’d all agree that our job from the day our kids joined us on this earth is to serve and protect our most precious asset(s), our kids. We do all we can to see that they get food on the table, clothes on their backs and a roof over their heads. When those priorities change to just living for another day, which puts it all into perspective.
I could type forever but I am trying not to surpass the email diatribes my good buddy Travis sends out (many of you know what I am talking about) who also completed the race in 3:01:16(?) I believe. Trav, I want to thank you for being my work out buddy. I also want to thank my buddy Doug Rabin for coordinating the entire effort soup to nuts. We will have stories for a lifetime to tell. I want to thank my wife and children for putting up with me while I kept to such a strict work out regiment for the past four months. And to all of you how have helped serve a higher cause and make a difference in the lives of families who truly need it. For that I thank you.
Enjoy some of the pictures from the race. I hope to see or hear from you all in the not too distant future and if what I have written has inspired you to get involved, many of our team members will be participating in the TOBAY – Town of Oyster Bay Triathlon on Sunday Aug 23rd. It’s a Sprint which half the length of the Olympic I just competed in (half mile swim, 10 mi bike, 5k run). If you are interested just let me know and I can send you the particulars. “You too can do it.”
God Bless
Chris
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