Wanted: New Friends

Throughout this year I have never second-guessed my commitment to doing this race.  I had a mandatory re-evaluation of this a week ago Saturday.  I decided to do an indoor workout on the trainer and after getting set-up, I embarked on what would be a 4 hour bike ride.  With my computer nearby to help pass the time, I started clicking through my email about 15 minutes into my  warmup when I opened the following.

Letter of Disqualification

My jaw dropped, my pedaling crawled, I was nauseous.  I re-read the email thinking how could this be?  How could they do this just 6 weeks before the race?  All the time over the past year spent training, the money paid by friends and family who would be traveling to Hawaii to support me during the race…all for nothing. 

I went into the bedroom to see if Melissa was awake, thankfully she had just awoken.  With my eyes in disbelief, my hand on my head, and my jaw still on the floor, I’m sure she thought someone had died.  “I’ve been disqualified” I muttered in shock.  We went to the Ironman Hawaii rules guide online for swimwear (which I've read no fewer than 30 times over the past year) which stated absolutely no neoprene.  I pulled my wetsuit but couldn’t find the materials on the label.  Next frantic stop was the wetsuit manufacturer’s website which state 5mm of neoprene!  “Yikes!  It was illegal.  I cheated!  How could I have let this happen?!?”  were some of the PG-rated thoughts racing through my head clouded in the emotion of what had just happened.

What to do now…how do I appeal?  Who do I call?  Is this actually real?  Where’s the contact list on the website to call or send an email?  Who is this President of Rules and Regulations, Charles Cone?  I did a Google search of the name and a few things came up but nothing that helped.  I certainly wouldn’t be able to find another race this late in the season.  Do I just show up and do the course the day before the race?  Do I just go up to Madison to race the course before the race?  Such an emotional letdown.  Again, how much time did I waste focusing energies towards this?  Certainly I’m in better shape now than ever before in my life, but at what cost?  There’s been less time for family, friends, nights out, work, reading, research, other life goals.  All of those have taken a hit to some degree because of my commitment to this single race.  I knew that going in and made that decision with the support of my family and still feel comfortable with it.  But now it was all for naught.

This went on for an hour or so making Melissa late for work.  As she was getting ready I still sat in disbelief looking over the letter.  I asked her to come take another look. 

1. The letter had a picture of me, but not of me in my wetsuit. 
2. It didn’t mention my specific wetsuit.
3. It was sent from a an email account "Iron Man" at ironmankona2012@gmail.com
4. I had received it at 1:30 am that morning. 
5. The letter was dated that same day, August 31.  (my math that this might be sent from Hawaii was completely backwards at the time of extreme emotion, otherwise this might have been a giveaway).

Melissa looked at the name again, Charles Cone.  “Would Charle Player and Jon Cone be behind this?”

Both were finishing up an overnight shift at the hospital.  I got on the phone immediately to check before launching into a daylong escapade of emails and phone calls.  I couldn’t decide who to call first…Charle who would fess up first…or Jon, who I wanted to yell at more?

I bit it.  100%.  I can’t believe how much I had fallen for it.  In the raw emotion of it I completely forgot the rules I had been paying attention to for the Hawaii race, where wetsuits are not allowed, are different from Ironman Wisconsin, where wetsuits (which almost all have neoprene) are completely allowed and within the rules.  I was not a cheater.  I would still be racing in Hawaii but I was still in a little bit of shock over the whole thing.  Was I really still in?  For some stupid reason, it took me a couple days to actually believe this again.  I went to the participants list on the website and I was still listed but it stated “last updated August 28”.  Little help there. 

Charle (he forgoes the 'i' when spelling his name) and Jon certainly meant no malice in this.  They thought it was a simple prank that I’d be smart enough to pick up on.  They obviously overlooked my naivety.  While this took its toll on my Saturday workout, I can’t be bitter toward these guys.  I have a ton of respect and love for both of them.  They have really been in my corner throughout everything over the past few years.  Charle has done stretching and osteopathic manipulations on me before races and covered my home calls for me while I was training, and Jon was among the first to help me celebrate last year after I returned from Ironman Wisconsin and has also stepped in to help me out with switching clinics for vacation or family stuff.  It is with support from friends like that by which I can train and compete while in residency.  It did make me feel a little better, however, when they each told their significant others about what they had done and subsequently gotten yelled at.  Thanks Jen & Brit for sticking up for me.