The Key to Keep Going: WWUBD

Being part of the LA Tri Club has many benefits, but last November, we had a very special event hosted for us. The club had a pre-screening of the 2014 Ironman World Championships in Kona which was to air on national TV weeks later. In addition to the broadcast, there was food and drinks as well as speeches by Hall of Famer Bob Babbitt and legends Julie Moss and Kathleen Hearst. It was really a special event!

However, the most memorable part of that screening was the participant stories. Every year, the broadcast highlights various participants' stories in addition to the bios and commentary from the various pros doing the race. There was a tear-inducing story about the wife of a soldier, the inspirational story about the Boston Marathon director, a brief segment on Apollo Ohno and a piece about one of the many challenged athletes participating.

But for me, a kid born and raised in Hawaii, the story of Big Island Mayor Billy Kenoi stuck out in my mind. Widely known as "Uncle Billy," the mayor is a BIG man! You definitely would not mistake him for an athlete, much less an endurance athlete, and he looked slightly uncomfortable in his spandex triathlon suit. But when he crossed the finish line with just 6 minutes to spare before the course cutoff of 16 hours, he became the first mayor of Hawaii to complete the dreaded course. But during his interviews, he talked about promoting healthy lifestyles in Hawaii. He wanted to finish the race and show the people of the great state of Hawaii that if you put your mind to your health, you can do anything!

As I watched and paid careful attention to his interviews, I started to realize that this daunting task of completing an Ironman shouldn't be that far off. I mean Uncle Billy did it, why can't I? He pushed himself, he struggled through training and injuries and illnesses and he persevered. He kept going in the race and pushed hard to cross that finish line before that time limit. He never gave up. And so the seed was planted.

So in my training leading up to Wildflower ("only" a half Ironman), I thought back to this screening. I thought back to the words of Uncle Billy. And I just kept coming back to one thing that I always asked myself whenever the times got tough or I didn't want to hit the pavement: WWUBD - What Would Uncle Billy Do.



Some videos for reference:

http://www.ironman.com/triathlon/events/americas/ironman/world-championship/ironfan/2014-oct-11/live-video.aspx#axzz3fvWqdf4o
(Video credit: Ironman)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfKAbs6913c
(Video credit: Big Island Video News)