Ended up in the hospital. But I finished.

Passed a person on the swim, another on transition, another on bike. Mile 4, three dogs run out and snap at my tires, and I flip over one. Bleeding all over the place, and thinking I broke my collar bone, I get up, fix my chain, and finish the race. It was all terrible times, except for the swim, and I couldn't get back in the arrow bars or change out of my spinning gear (no pressure on left side). But I FINISHED, doggone it. And I got another coming on August 30 to find out what I'm capable of without acts of God interfering.

Nothing broken, and no stitches, but still bleeding and have no range of motion with left arm. I got three pictures my roommate took back at the house, and another coming of me crossing the finish line (REALLY bloody).

http://picasaweb.google.com/t.drinkard/LuckyRattai l

Holy crap. Congrats on finishing, but you better put something on that!

"It was all terrible times"

Unless you are professional who cares about the times?
You finished!!! That's what matters.

And that you even finished after that circumstances OWNS!!!

Respect!

Ouch!!! But good on ya for finishing it!!! That is awesome!

Where the heck did the dogs come from? I would have died.

Dogs attacked you???? What the heck? That is ridiculous! Seems like the race officials shouldn't have let that happen. I would have been seriously pissed.

You are really hard core. Finishing after taking a tumble like that. Good job. Dang!

The race officials knew about another set of dogs that were not on leashes, and their owners (around mile 6) were holding them in the yard. These were just wild dogs, as far as all the locals knew.

I was very, very disheartened. I've worked on this for three months, and I was passing people, sitting somewhere around 8th place overall (out of 50-60). I think my time ended up being 01:27:something, but I don't know. But I trained for more than just finishing.

Still, it was like the end of Cool Runnings when I finished. I even beat four people. Everyone was cheering, and it was a good experience. I'm even more ready for the next triathlon on August 30.

Yeah, I can imagine that that would be incredibly disheartening. But you still finished, which is more than most people would be able to say after something like that. Hopefully your next race will be safer. Where was this race btw?

Union, SC, part of the Upstate YMCA series.

www.upstateytri.com

So this one had a pool swim? Planning on any open water swims? It's a totally different thing.

When a sprint opens up with open water, and I know I'll be in the country at that time, I'll sign up. My swim-time would be better then, anyway. I wouldn't say I prefer it over pool swims, but I like the idea of people starting off at the same time.

Grats on finishing bro. The fact that you finished after suffering an injury like that speaks volumes about your determination.

And remember what Bob Barker always said...

Come on down?

Spay and neuter those pets

Helps prevent the wild packs

I just got a mass e-mail forwarded to me sent to the South Carolina triathlete community describing me as a hero.... It really meant a lot, from people I didn't know. It was the difference between shame and pride.

Awesome!!

Loving your attitude and commitment big man!!

Just make sure you get the all clear before pushing yourself through the pain barrier next time.

Hahaha. Thanks for the laugh guys.



That's awesome Bean!! You are an inspiration!

Sweet Jesus that looks sore!!! That is well hardcore, good on ya for finishing after that!!! Congratulations