Chapter Three “…or die in the attempt”

“There are two types of suffering in the world; short-term and long-term.  You have to decide which one you want.”

I rolled up the staging at the Baja 1000 starting line with ten other Ironman competitors.  Bright lights took away the darkness.  It was just after 4 AM.  I was a Baja veteran now.  I knew how it worked. 

There is an emotion when you line up for the Baja 1000 Ironman.  The emotion had a story behind it,  the last two years.  Fear makes the wolf bigger.  I let go of the story.  A year ago I had decided I would beat Baja, or die in the attempt.  I would come back over and over and over until I finished.  In a strange way, the outcome of this race mattered less than before.  If it wasn’t to be this year, I’d be back.  That was already decided.  I was calmer than before.  Adrenaline is your enemy – especially in the Ironman class. 

I looked my competition over.  There was Jose Carrasco, a local who had finished well in this race before.  Rick Thornton, an American who lived in Baja.  I pre-ran with Rick last year.  He did not finish last year and wound up with rhabdomyolysis – a condition long distance athletes may experience where your muscle tissue dies and release their contents into your bloodstream and pollute your kidneys which could lead to their failure.  It’s very dangerous and he was hospitalized.  There was Boe Huckins, who had won the Ironman Class one year and did not finish another year.  There was Francisco Septien, who was a local that had a motorcycle shop in Ensenada where we were starting and finishing the race.  Francisco had won the Ironman before and had many different class championships to his name. 

Then there was Liz Karcz – almost the first Ironwoman.  She is a 32-year-old trauma nurse from Albuquerque New Mexico.  Her dream was to finish the whole race series.  She is a great rider and doesn’t quit.  She’s really tough and her competing was no joke.  Being a woman, she gets quite a bit of attention.  Many were rooting for her – including me.  I started 7^th out of ten, behind Liz. 

I decided I would not compete against anyone – I’d help them.  I told them if they needed any help out there to flag me down or look for my chase vehicles and 714x signs.  I told my crew to help any other rider, including Ironmen.  (Not that they wouldn’t anyway…) 

There was only one person I was competing against in this race and he was sitting on my bike.