From XL to XTERRA

Since signing on with the Saipan Tribune back in April, I have had the opportunity to cover a lot of exciting events, meet a lot of interesting people, and see a lot of the island that I may not have otherwise had opportunity to, had I embarked on another career in the CNMI.

One of the first assignments that I was tasked to report on was the 2004 XTERRA Saipan Championship. Basically I was to interview a bunch of crazy triathletes who were tired of life on the road and had decided to take their sport into the jungle.

After listening to these people talk and watching them train, I couldn’t help but wonder where the heck they got the energy to do all of these things. I was in good shape, but the idea of swimming, biking, and running all in the same day sounded like more of a punishment from a drill sergeant than fun.

I spoke with the organizers, the pros, and the regular Joes that came to Saipan to compete in this off-road triathlon, and within a couple of days, I was starting to get hooked on the idea of swimming, biking, and running. I even started to feel guilty about smoking, so I would be sure not to puff on a heater before interviews and photo opportunities in fear that the athletes would smell the smoke on me the way dogs detect fear.

I was even offered a spot in the event by Trey Garman two days before the race, but without ever having trained for a triathlon before in my life, and not having a mountain bike, I gracefully declined.

The only thing about it was that the offer to race was stuck in my head, and when the media was racing around the course to get to the best locations for photos I felt as if I was missing out.

As we made our rounds to the finish line, I saw people of all levels of fitness cross the line. One by one the extreme racers completed their journey at the American Memorial Park, and though there was a wide margin between the time of the first place finisher and the last, they all had one thing in common—they made it.

I saw joy, pain, and relief upon their faces when they made it in. When the world-class studs from the pro tour made their way across the line I thought, “Wow, that’s amazing!”

When the well-conditioned amateurs crossed the line I thought “Wow, that’s impressive.” And when the regular Joes came in I though “Hey, I’m in better shape than that guy!”

I spent a lot of time with the organizers and participants of XTERRA following the race, and I told them that if the event were to return in 2005 that I would toss my hat into the ring and become a triathlete.

That being said …

Fast forward a bit to about a month and a half ago, when I was at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium in Oleai watching some local athletes who were preparing for the island-wide volleyball league. While scanning the floor for photo opportunities, one of Saipan’s young athletes, whom I have befriended, came up behind me and grabbed my side and said “Man, someone’s getting’ a little chubby! What happened, man?”

I was caught a little off guard to say the least; I mean here’s this athletic kid saying that I’ve let myself go.

Granted, when you work for a newspaper, one tends to sit in front of a computer for hours and eating while writing about the next Derek Jeter or Carl Lewis from the CNMI. When there are deadlines to beat, sometimes the quick burger, fries and cola are all that I have time for, and before you know it, a trim frame can become super-sized.

So now I’m faced to come up with an answer for this kid on why I’ve suddenly grown a set of love handles. In that second or two that I struggled to come up with an answer, I was instantly whisked back to Lancaster High School in the early 90s, where I was forced to defend myself from the local name-caller.

“You know how it is,” I said, “Too many barbeques, I guess.”

So after an exchange of a smile and a half-hearted chuckle, I began t think about it.

“Yeah, the pants are a little more now then when I started with the Trib, but that’s cool right? I mean, in some cultures the bigger you are the more prosperous you are, right? Yeah!”

Okay, so now I was trying to defend my new found “prosperity” to myself. The problem is that I am an older version of that MHS senior poking fun at myself now. The only question that remained was “What the heck am I gonna do?”

It’s either be fat and happy or get back in shape and be healthy.

Thanks to young Jeremy Winfield I have decided to just say no to McFatty’s and fulfill that promise that I made to the organizers of my first event—I am going to enter the 2005 XTERRA Saipan Championship.

While I am going to do this, I figure that somebody is going to go down with me. That’s why I turned to my friend and new training partner, Hopwood Junior High School teacher John P. Douglas to don the gear and join me on the road from XL to Xterra.

Over the next five months, John and I will chronicle our journey toward endurance excellence once a week in the Saipan Tribune from the perspective of a couple of guys on a mission to get in shape for an off-road triathlon.

While we both have different levels of fitness, our goals are the same—to finish the race before they close down for the night. In order to do this, the two of us are going to have to resort to some drastic measures.

The first thing that we have decided to do may have also been the hardest—no beer until we finish the race. The mere thought of not having a frost brew on a sunny Sunday afternoon at the beach is enough to make our plan seem difficult, but we have done away with all forms of alcohol, and we are determined (bye beer, we’ll miss you).

Secondly, we have made a pact not to eat foods that are fatty—i.e. Mickey D’s, KFC, and the like. Sad to say that I won’t be able to have a burger and fries from time to time, but a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do.

Third, no candy! No cookies, brownies, fiddle faddle, ring dings, ho-ho’s, candy bars—you get the picture.

Fourth on this list applies to me more than John, and that’s just saying no to tobacco. I am giving myself two months on this one, I mean, let’s not get too drastic here. The official date of my lungs becoming a smoke free zone is Sunday, Jan. 9, 2005. That’s a solid three months before the race, and if I stop earlier it’s okay too.

We have decided to go in this together, so the fifth thing is that we have pledged not let each other down. If we stray from the path, we’ll be honest about it and figure out what screwed us up.

That’s basically the gist of our plan, and in the coming months we know that we can count on our friends in the community for support and well wishes. XTERRA, here we come! (Cue the Laverne and Shirley music)