Brian Hadley - Germany - Update

Our Friend, Brian Hadley went to Germany to live his dream of competing in their Triathlon.  Did living the dream come without complication or troubles?

Apparently not.  Brian writes about being in a new place and how having to deal with a different language and time zone while trying to stay focused and have all his equipment in correct working order on his web site and you will find a link for you to click on below.

But did these challenges daunt our Brian?  Absolutely not…he is a proven winner among us and even though we aren’t there in body to cheer him on we are there in spirit. Yea Brian!!!

I checked out his latest writing on his web site,  http://brianhadleymultisport.com/  and he talked about preparing for this race by "duking it out with friend and training partner Derek Garcia in sprint triathlons around North Idaho."

I love what he did to prepare so I included his comments here.  I honestly don't understand everything he said because I've never competed at his level but I loved reading about it and in case you wanted this also, here it is.

“I think I surprised him, (Derek Garcia) at Radiant Lake when he was on short rest from his Ironman in St. George, 2 seconds separated my victory at Hayden, and this week he held me off on the run to take the overall win at Race the River over at Riverstone. This race was especially competitive owing to the return of Roger Thompson, who DOMINATED the sprint and Olympic distance races in the entire Pacific Northwest just a couple of years ago; he raced with a well deserved bib number 1, and probably knew that Derek and I were especially excited (honored) to be able to try to chase him down. (Nothing wrong with a three way rivalry, but I can see the chase being a lot harder
when Roger has been back for a while, it was hard enough catching him in the last mile of the run today."

So, what does it take to create a hometown winner?  Apparently a lot! Along with people to compete with there are people, like me who stand on the side line and cheer.  I personally loved to run.  And I used to run and swim..when I was in my 20s and 30s, and 40s.  These days, bike riding, walking and cheering works for me. But there are lot of other aspects to creating a winner. I'll be blogging about that in the future.  So stay tuned.

Outcome Detachment

Brian Hadley ran a preparatory race for the Ironman Germany quest in Hayden this weekend. I didn’t get to see it. I had a crazy busy day that started at 3:00. Yes, 3:00 am…and on a weekend. I wrote for a couple of hours. And then managed to hit the save button just before my eyelids slammed shut.

I awoke a couple of hours later. Read what I had written, sighed and started editing. I have been writing a fictional romance that introduces Nance and Tom Saunders to the world. Basically I’ve written a fictional love story about, well, love, redemption and infinity. So how hard can that be? I mean, we read about this subject constantly….I think all of us married people are trying to figure out how to not have this happen to us. (the infinity part) and of course we want to know how to live joyfully like no one else. But for me, it’s been five years and 60,000 dollars. And I’m freaked out that it’s taking so long.

So how does this tie into Brian Hadley’s race? Actually it’s more about what he said on his blog and how he prepared for his races. http://brianhadleymultisport.com/2011/07/10/detaching-from-outcomes/

It seems that a certain detachment is needed. He equated it to his running and said. .” This year I discovered “outcome detachment”, meaning that rather than focusing or altering my effort ‘in the moment’ on a race or time outcome, I worked at paying more attention to process, i.e. steady effort, proper mechanics, great breathing.”

I read this and though..O.k. I’ll get out my tried and true books on romance writing for dummies and reread them…Maybe my starter book is actually finished and I’m stressing over nothing. We’ll see…or …..Anyways, I’ll write more about that later.

“Outcome detachment” must have worked this weekend because Brian placed 1^st by 2 seconds in the Hayden Triathlon and will be racing again this weekend at Riverstone.

Brian Hadley won 4th Place_Ironman_Coeur_d’_Alene

Brian Hadley placed 4^th, overall in the Ironman Coeur d' Alene, as a Professional Athlete. Yes, the Ironman race that I recently volunteered at. Did I know him or what he had accomplished then? No.

I received an e-mail at work from him. You know the kind: A well written thank-you to everyone for having volunteered at the event. Wow! I said to myself. I work with this guy. I’m going to have to meet and interview him. So I did. What a nice man! Here’s what I learned:

He works for Center Partners as a Reporting Manager.

He is married to Sollee and he considers what he has been able to do a family supported accomplishment.

He ran while in high school and college and became interested in competitive racing because his brother joined the Olympic distance triathlon and encouraged him to join. A race was being held in Sandpoint and in Coeur d’ Alene. Brian thought that it would be fun to be a part of a triathlon. He bought an old 10 speed bike from a thrift shop and started training. He won his age group in the Sandpoint race.

Encouraged, he competed in the Coeur d’ Alene triathlon. However his decision to drink Mountain Dew mixed with cranberry juice proved to be the worst thing he could have done to rehydrate and his racing career ended for the next year and a half.

When an announcement that the Ironman race was going to be held in Coeur d’ Alene for the first time, his Uncle, Don Hadley, an Ironman from Spokane, signed up and encouraged Brian to join via the open entry opportunity. He did so. He finished that race in 11 hours and 10 minutes.

Center Partners, through their corporate office out of Fort Collins, Colorado has supported Brian, not only by encouraging volunteerism but also by helping to pay for a racing bike for him.

Coming in at 9 hours 2 minutes and 4 seconds this year, Pro-athlete, Brian won $1500.00 which he says is going toward financing his next goal, The Ironman race in Regensburg Germany, which will be held August 7, 2011. http://brianhadleymultisport.com/

Stay tuned to this Blog. Brian has agreed to let me shadow him as he prepares for this trip. Periodically, I’ll post pictures of him and his family as they overcome the grind and grit that accompanies this quest and his future goals.