The exact wording of the next line of that song would be the stuff of foggy conversation for decades....and some of you may not know that it was in fact the Boss - Bruce Springsteen, and not Manfred Mann, who wrote those fine lyrics that defied a generation. But that was the old Boss....the Boss of "Darkness...." and not of and "Tom Joad" or "Philadelphia". I think I'm getting ahead of myself.
Speaking of Philly, though - my buddy Phil could tell you a thing or two about being blinded: By the rain, mostly, and his eyeballs.
10th IN THE WORLD, people!!!! Here is his story....
Killer made the 6 hour journey to Concord, NC for the World Duathlon Championships, only to be met with torrential downpour and gale force winds (okay, so maybe not that strong). Where other men would've packed it in, Phil was "moderately amused" by the prospect of racing for 2 hours in unrelenting, stinging rain. From the time that the alarm clock rang at 5:30am, the rain fell continuously and didn't stop for the entirety of the race. Anyone who has ever ridden or run in the rain knows that, while glasses are nice to have so that the rain isn't pinging your eyeballs like mini hammers, the other side of the coin is that you're constantly battling fogging lenses. While most of us choose the comfort of glasses and just deal with the fog, 4 miles into the bike, our boy Philly said "rainy hammers be damned!" and threw his glasses out on the course (...or put them in his jersey pocket). Now, I'll spare you much editorializing here, but suffice it to say that Phil is blind without his glasses. This isn't even hyperbole, Phil really cannot see without his glasses. This fact is also part of what makes the name "Killer" ironic.
One look at the stats and it's easy to see that riding blind didn't hurt Phil at all. In fact, according to Killer himself, it probably helped him out because he couldn't see well enough to slow down for the massive puddles of standing water that had accumulated on the course over the past 12 hours. Like a Jedi rhinoceros, Phil plowed through rivers and lakes with reckless abandon to a final 40k time of about 57 minutes and while this story of riding blindly makes good theater, the real story of the race is Phil's run.
I asked Phil about his 10k run and I could tell that he was pleased by the result, but only because I've known him for a while. Phil doesn't smile, unless he's eating cookies. "I came through the first mile in 5:22 and I was in about 80th place. I'd never seen anything like it before, that many people literally sprinting the first mile, so I just settled in and started picking people off." Phil finished off the next 5.2 miles in a total time of 35:35 and what's most remarkable about this is that while 75% of those runners who were in front of Phil at the first mile lost minutes off of their pace, Phil only slowed by 20 seconds. That's called knowing your strength and running within yourself. Having run with Phil before, I can tell you that if you let him get into a groove, he is an absolute machine. He won't kick you, he won't surge on you, but he'll grind you down...slowly...painfully.
His final race time was 1:53:45 - good for 10th best in the world. I just want to say, also, that Philly and his wife and perennial team mom, Jilly, just had a beautiful baby girl, and like all new parents, have been steady averaging about 2 hours of sleep a night. Ask Phil how that can throw your training off just a smidge. I only bring it up to make the point that next year, Philly "Jedi Rhino" Martindale may just find himself on the podium in Edinburgh.
Stay tuned for more Phil news as he heads to the flatlander fest - Powerman Florida. Before I could even ask him, Phil just pointed to an invisible left field somewhere (not smiling) and said "I'm going there to win the whole damned thing." The End.
- Team Sonic-Treehouse Racing
Speaking of Philly, though - my buddy Phil could tell you a thing or two about being blinded: By the rain, mostly, and his eyeballs.
10th IN THE WORLD, people!!!! Here is his story....
Killer made the 6 hour journey to Concord, NC for the World Duathlon Championships, only to be met with torrential downpour and gale force winds (okay, so maybe not that strong). Where other men would've packed it in, Phil was "moderately amused" by the prospect of racing for 2 hours in unrelenting, stinging rain. From the time that the alarm clock rang at 5:30am, the rain fell continuously and didn't stop for the entirety of the race. Anyone who has ever ridden or run in the rain knows that, while glasses are nice to have so that the rain isn't pinging your eyeballs like mini hammers, the other side of the coin is that you're constantly battling fogging lenses. While most of us choose the comfort of glasses and just deal with the fog, 4 miles into the bike, our boy Philly said "rainy hammers be damned!" and threw his glasses out on the course (...or put them in his jersey pocket). Now, I'll spare you much editorializing here, but suffice it to say that Phil is blind without his glasses. This isn't even hyperbole, Phil really cannot see without his glasses. This fact is also part of what makes the name "Killer" ironic.
One look at the stats and it's easy to see that riding blind didn't hurt Phil at all. In fact, according to Killer himself, it probably helped him out because he couldn't see well enough to slow down for the massive puddles of standing water that had accumulated on the course over the past 12 hours. Like a Jedi rhinoceros, Phil plowed through rivers and lakes with reckless abandon to a final 40k time of about 57 minutes and while this story of riding blindly makes good theater, the real story of the race is Phil's run.
I asked Phil about his 10k run and I could tell that he was pleased by the result, but only because I've known him for a while. Phil doesn't smile, unless he's eating cookies. "I came through the first mile in 5:22 and I was in about 80th place. I'd never seen anything like it before, that many people literally sprinting the first mile, so I just settled in and started picking people off." Phil finished off the next 5.2 miles in a total time of 35:35 and what's most remarkable about this is that while 75% of those runners who were in front of Phil at the first mile lost minutes off of their pace, Phil only slowed by 20 seconds. That's called knowing your strength and running within yourself. Having run with Phil before, I can tell you that if you let him get into a groove, he is an absolute machine. He won't kick you, he won't surge on you, but he'll grind you down...slowly...painfully.
His final race time was 1:53:45 - good for 10th best in the world. I just want to say, also, that Philly and his wife and perennial team mom, Jilly, just had a beautiful baby girl, and like all new parents, have been steady averaging about 2 hours of sleep a night. Ask Phil how that can throw your training off just a smidge. I only bring it up to make the point that next year, Philly "Jedi Rhino" Martindale may just find himself on the podium in Edinburgh.
Stay tuned for more Phil news as he heads to the flatlander fest - Powerman Florida. Before I could even ask him, Phil just pointed to an invisible left field somewhere (not smiling) and said "I'm going there to win the whole damned thing." The End.
- Team Sonic-Treehouse Racing
Jedi Rhino...love it. And, seriously? 10th in the world. For the blind love...
ReplyDeleteI'll be following your story to the podium in Edinburgh and living vicariously through your Killer adventures. Owww!