Why I Pester You For VOTES...

I know you are probably tired of me asking for votes, but I really hope you understand how much it would mean to the Shawn's Anomaly mission if I made it.  Just in the past two local events (Kemah Triathlon & Ironman Texas) that I have been a part of, we have found two families that we are providing education, hope, and help to while their children are undergoing treatment.  This just happened on a local level.  Imagine what the exposure the Ironman World Championship will do since it is on a world stage.

Thank for everyone that is helping.  You are doing a great job! Remember, sharing the link with all your friends is the GREATEST way to get votes that we need!  Click the Vote Link Above!

Please click the link below for our latest video:

Ironman Texas 2012 Results & Photos

I am still not sure if what I have done has really sunk in yet, but sometime after 10pm on May 19th, 2012, I became a part of the 1% of the world that has finished an Ironman.  I can't believe that I did it, and most of all, I can't believe how good I feel today.  I know that it would take several posts for me to tell all my stories because most of them are coming back to me little by little.  Here are the immediate things that I remember:  the familiar faces, the lens cap, the two angels of the bike leg, my running partner, and the announcement at the finish line.

Over the past two years, I have really gotten to know so many new friends either through training, Facebook, events, etc.  I could not believe how many of them showed up back in my life immediately prior to IMTX including Edward Raudez, Dave Shaw, Carlos Suarez, Brandon Pounds, Jeff Farmer, Justin from Bicycle World, Sylvia Escobedo, Aaron & Rebekah Palaian, Chad Cook, Sabrina Haun, Bill & Gabrielle Baumeyer, and many many more that I just can't remember right now.  I am sorry if I did not mention you by name and we had some interaction.  In reality, the whole weekend is still somewhat a blur to me, and it is coming back to me in bits and pieces.  

The one that stood out the most was Lillian Sockwell.  I first met Lillian at a HRTC meeting a few months ago and we interacted on Facebook, but I could not believe how much she was going to be in my life this weekend. Lillian was there to check me in on Wednesday, then she was there at the body marking before the swim, and finally she was there there as one of those catching me at the finish line.  To have a familiar face like that show up  in so many place will be branded in my mind forever.  Of course after further interaction with her on Facebook, I realized that she may be branded in more than just my memories of becoming an Ironman, but many, according to her arm notes.  Top it all off, she is one of the nicest people you will ever meet and her smile is infectious.  Thanks Lillian for helping me  through the whole weekend.  Hopefully I can do the same for you next year.

As I came through the canal just yards from the swim exit, I wanted to make sure that that I got close to the family and friends that made it out to the Ironman Texas.  This was really the first time that they were ever able to see me  up close while swimming.  Usually they just see me take off and wait till I come out of the water.  Sometimes they would catch me as I came out of the water, but other times they didn't.  I saw Todd, Shawn's Anomaly Volunteer Coordinator, and I yelled out to him while I was swimming.  He heard me and started gathering up everyone to come out to the dock.  I finally saw Veronica (Shawn's Anomaly Associate Director), my mom, Todd, and my beautiful wife with our camera.  I was so proud of her that she grabbed the camera, but then I realized that the lens cap was on.  This should not show any reflection on Rachel or her ability to use a camera.  I have done this several times in my life too, so I knew I should try to tell her.  As I was breathing, I decided to yell, "RACHEL", stroke, "THE LEN'S CAP IS ON", stroke, "RACHEL", stroke, "I LOVE YOU!"  She took the cap off, and took some pretty amazing shots.  Let's hope she does not make me sleep on the couch for telling you that story.

There were people that God sent my way during the bike portion of the race, and I wish, I knew them better.  If you have come here to see this blog and you can verify who these people are, I would greatly appreciate you getting us in contact with each other.  First person came to me in the transition tent.  I was taking out all my gear when I noticed that I did not have my socks.  I could not believe it.  I was mortified because I new that I would be going a good 60 miles or so before I would have another pair available.  It was really the only mistake I made in my gear bags.  Fortunately, while I was talking to a fellow competitor about my situation, he yelled out, "Does anyone have an extra pair of socks!?!"  Suddenly, #828 (I think) threw me a pair.  I was so grateful, and I would love to show you my appreciation now that the race is done.  Second was the unnamed angel that may or may have not been an athlete in the race.  You were somewhere around mile 100 on the bike.  I was spent, and I was 99% sure that I was not going to be able to finish.  All of a sudden you look up, you saw me, and said, "Shawn is waiting for you at the finish!"  That is all the motivation that I needed to not only finish the bike, but take it one step at a time on the run.  Who were you?  How did you know me, our story?  Either way, you will definitely be my 2 angels of the bike.

At the run aid station 4 on my second loop, I was walking with my new friend Andrew Reina (coincidentally the brother of Michael Reina of Texas Children's Hospital who posted our story on their blog on Thursday). I saw another familiar face whom I had gotten to know in the past few months with OnUrMark: Shauna Hall.  Until that time, I was struggling, a lot, and you could tell she was too as she was stretching on the trash can.  We had seen each other on the bike a little, but we did not have much time to converse till now.  This timing was perfect, however, for both of us.  We both needed support, and we found it in each other.  We decided that we were going to finish this run (or walk) together, and nothing was going to stop us from becoming an Ironman that day.  She pushed me, and I pushed her, but when it was time to rest and walk at a fast pace, we felt it together.  It was amazing!  Just thinking about it right now is making me tear up.  My wife was relieved that we had found each other and I am sure her support team felt the same way.  Shauna, together, we became an IRONMAN, and I would not have wanted it any other way.  Thanks!

Finally, it was time for the chute.   Shauna and I had already decided that she was going to go first, and I would follow up behind her so we could both enjoy the moment.  I had everything planned out in my head on what I wanted to do.  I was going to high five as many people as I could through the shoot, pump up the crowd as I always do, stop and kiss my wife and son by the stage, and run through the finish.  All of that ended in a completely different way.  As soon as I made it to the shoot, a rush of memories entered my head. I remembered all of the 14 previous finishes that I had completed in the last 2 years of smaller races or "just marathons", I started to see all the struggles and fights that Rachel and I had while I we were trying to find life balance with training, I remembered that I quit smoking to finish this race; and I remembered...Shawn's 3 Surgeries...and why I was doing this.  I threw my hands up in the air, and I prayed my thankfulness to a God that obviously loves and has blessed us in an overflowing way.

It all hit me at once, and I could not contain my tears.  What happened next? I will let you see for yourself as captured by my good friend, Gabrielle Baumeyer:



Thank you Mike Reilly (Voice Of Ironman) for making my finish as unique as our son's anomaly, and thank you again Gabrielle for capturing that moment!

I am proud to say, "I AM SHAWN'S IRONMAN"!

Now let's get to Kona...

The Team SA Badge

This is currently the total number of miles finished in competition by Team Shawn's Anomaly!  Way to go Team.  See you at the Kemah Triathlon!

Eating the Elephant...

During my training I have found myself sometimes looking too far ahead of where I should. When I do, it can somewhat become very discouraging about what I have to do. In the past few weeks I have found myself doing that, and I don’t know why. Maybe it is because I had officially pony up the money for the Rohto Ironman 70.3 Florida, or the fact that I have had to plan my total schedule and budget for the season, but either way, discouragement seemed to creep in. In what way you may ask? Well, let me explain a little better for you.


I started to look at the times of the previous participants in the IM 70.3 Florida to set a goal for my training. Once I established my goal, I went out to train one day and noticed that I was considerably slower than what I set for my goal. I immediately started get down on myself, and I started to think about how impossible it is to complete my goal. I had to get refocused and fast. I started to do some research and ran across this paragraph:

You're going to have good days and bad days. There are going to be days when you really do not want to train. All of that is normal and ok. Don't worry about all the miles you need to cover; just focus on today's workout; just focus on the next mile. Live in the moment and don't worry about anything else. Break down your training and your workouts into smaller, more manageable segments and just focus on them. You can always take one more step or do one more lap. Stay in the moment and focus on right now.

That paragraph immediately made me realize that I was looking too far into the future instead of dealing with the training of today. I found further encouragement in 6th Chapter of Matthew:

Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don't get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.

When Rachel and I were going through the overload of information that we were given about Shawn’s conditions, it was really hard on us at first, but we were soon surrounded by friends and family that were there to love on us and support us through those times. Through God’s direction they became our rocks and crutches when we were weak. Now that I look back at it, we only had time to focus on one thing at a time, because we could not wrap our minds around everything that was happing to Shawn. We were staying in the moment and focusing. I still can’t believe that we got through what I would have considered the impossible before we went through it.

If you ever heard the old saying, “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time,” it can be used several ways in our lives. For me, and for right now, I am rephrasing it to say, “How to you get to the Ironman? One workout at a time!”

From now on each workout has become its own individual event before the Ironman. Since each workout has become an event, all my focus is on only finishing that workout, and celebrating each completion. Sunday was a Brick Workout for me consisting of a 1 hour bike ride and a 30 minute run. I was actually able to make each section an event and it resulted in the workout being one of the best training sessions I have ever had. I am sure I looked like an idiot in front of my house jumping around and celebrating like Michael Jordan did after making the winning shot, but I did not care. I was victorious…now let’s us move on to tomorrow’s event.

To all my friends and family, I appreciate your support so much. We are built to laugh, cry, and live life together. Without your encouragement, I could not do this alone. Thank you!

Update 2/9/2011:

I am overwhelmed by the support that I have received from my friends, family, and followers of this blog over the past few days. I can definately see that I am not on this journey alone. Thank you so much for taking the time to share your stories and words of encouragement in the past two days.

Someone sent me a link to this video. Greg went through a lot of what I went through and this is his small story: