Common Man

"Aloha and Congratulations William Davenport



You have been selected as a winner in the 2010 Ironman Lottery Program to compete in the Ford Ironman World Championship in beautiful Kailua-Kona, Hawaii on Oct 9, 2010! Crossing the finish line on Alii Drive is sure to provide you with many fond memories."

http://ironman.com/events/ironman/worldchampionship/lottery/congratulations-to-the-lucky-athletes-who-have-qualified-to-race-in-kona-on-october-9-2010

" Thanks to the vision of Ironman founder John Collins, who insisted that a system be maintained to allow the "common man" a chance to compete in this great race, 200 far-from-common age-groupers will join the rest of the 1,800 strong in Kailua Bay on October 9, 2010 for the Ford Ironman World Championship. Once you're done celebrating ... get training!"

About the Race

I received this e-mail on April 15, 2010 while I was driving to lunch with my Wife and sister in-law. I set my phone down and dismissed the notice on the screen. After we parked the car, I took a second look at the e-mail and read it in its entirety. I just handed the phone over to my wife without saying a word. She quickly read the e-mail and handed the phone back to me. "Is this for real?" she asked. I never told her I had signed up for a Lottery spot for the 2010 Ironman World Championship.

About 5 months ago, right after the 2009 WC Ironman came to a close, I signed up for a lottery spot. Of course never thinking I would get a chance at a spot and never know anyone who had ever won a spot when they entered. And I have known a lot of people who have signed up several times. And yes, about every emotion started passing through me when the annoucement settled in. Sorry to my sister-in-law, Julie, because this topic dominated the entire conversation at lunch. And after we dropped her off at work, my wife and I quickly drove home and started planning.

Where I stand - I am a competitive cyclist, who rides every day and races the local Texas Cup events. I lead a very healthy life style with my diet and exercise routine. At the age of 29 going on 30, I have never been in great shape these past few years. Introduce triathlons to my life and that is a different story all together. Swimming and running are not even on my daily radar. I have completed several sprint tri's, but always looked at them as "cross" training. Always relying on my cycling fitness to carry me through the events. A sprint tri and the Kona Ironman are on totally two different planets!

After some back an fourth with my cycling coach, Momenta Training Systems, I decided to seek out a coach that could provide all 3 disciplines at once, swim bike run, and have me ready and confident go into Kona. After talking to a close friend about the mater, who has completed several ironman and Kona twice. She suggested, Multisports, which turned out to be just what I needed. I signed up for Hawaii training program and was on my way.

Now the only thing left to put final touch on my trip to Kona is that I have to complete a Half ironman before the WC in Oct. Which is another distance that I have never competed in! But a distance that at the moment seems a lot more attainable. So, I signed up for Lubbock, TX 70.3 on June, 27. I did so because it was "close", nothing in Texas is close, and it gave me enough time in front of Kona to make adjustments in my fitness. And know I am starting to find out the Lubbock is not as "easy" as I thought it was going to be. So here we go. . .