We Are All Brothers Part III

"We all have a gift...we just need to open it up and share it."
-Kyle Pease

Part III

Headed down to the race was a great experience for me. I talked through our nutrition plan from coach Matthew Rose with Brent and relaxed with my pal Sam, while taking our time getting to town. As we went through our walk through on Saturday, I could tell the extra strength training Brent had completed with Witzlib was paying off for him. They looked and felt ready for Sunday and helped put my mind at ease. After dinner with our friends from Tri-Kids, and a few laughs amongst friends I was off to bed to get ready for Sunday.

Race Day:


My day started at 4:40 on Sunday morning when Sam started getting me dressed for the big day. I remember telling Sam, Amy, and Kelsey that morning that I was not ready and I did not want to do it. They kept pushing me and telling me it was time to go, I have to do it. From there, we grabbed a quick breakfast and I spent some alone time with my iPod, listening to one of my favorite Widespread Panic songs, "walkin" as it reminds me of our theme "Walking with KPeasey. The wind that morning was intense! I was a little nervous at that point and it didn't help when the swim portion of the race was moved to a different location at the last minute. My brothers helped calm me down and we headed to the start. Funny story - as we were getting situated with the boat, a bird pooped on me and splattered everywhere! Anyways, so we got loaded in the boat... the waves started making me nervous again but I was out of time and the race was starting with or without me...

I liked it better with me and we waited for the horn to sound. My friends and family were there to keep me company while we waited to start, keeping me laughing and relaxed. Then we were off! It felt like I was sitting 5 feet above the water and at times, as I watched Brent push through the swim. We turned the corner quickly to head back in and heard the crowd as we pulled onto the beach. Brent did an amazing job on the swim and kept the energy going. Evan was the first thing we saw though and as brothers we began the next portion together.

Evan and Brent transferred me from the boat to the jogger and we made our way to the bike transition. The crowd was going crazy and it really gave me a lot of energy. We transitioned to the bike as quickly as possible and Brent and I headed out for a long 24.2 mile ride. My position on the bike was amazing, along with my new gear from All3Sports, it definitely was the most comfortable part of the day. There were so many other riders out there telling us "great job" and saying hello along the way. I stayed extremely hydrated on the bike to make sure I was prepared for the rest of my day. As we began our final mile of the bike, Brent reminded me to stay calm and wait to release all of my adrenaline on the run portion. He was such a strength out on the bike.

Evan met us for the last transition back into the jogger for the last piece of our puzzle.

The jogger was pretty comfy too thanks to the pads we installed from albopads. We had great support from the Dynamo crew during the run as they followed us like a couple of wild cards all over that course. We all ate a ton of ice and shared many laughs, keeping loose on the run. Towards the end I could taste it! I was so excited! I arched my bike and screamed from excitement! I cannot put it into words to cross the finish line and call myself a triathlete alongside my two amazing brothers.

I would especially like to thank my brothers for this amazing journey. From all the well-wishers and our family/friends and all of our sponsors, thank you for helping me achieve my goal of becoming a true athlete. WE ARE ALL BROTHERS!!!

All my love,
Kyle
& Team KPeasey

We are All Brothers Part II

The time leading up to the race was filled with anxiety and excitement as we readied ourselves for this journey together. Kyle and I rode down together in the van along with Kyle's friend Sam. Once we arrived we immediately began preparations for the race. On Friday we went down to register for the race and people kept asking Kyle if he was part of the Pease family. It was pretty exciting that people were expecting us and the folks from St. Anthony's Triathlon were incredibly accommodating and helpful. We had to register Kyle for a day pass to the USAT (governing body for Triathlons), but something tells me we won't be needing day passes anymore but rather the annual pass! After we registered we waited for the rest of the family to show up and prepare for our race.

On Saturday morning we prepared the bike and jogger for our race

I was glad we did the equipment check though as it gave us all a level of comfort for Sunday's race. As we readied ourselves for bed I was reminded what one of our friends told us, "that no matter how much you plan the race, it goes down the way it is supposed to go down" That thought could never be more true...

Race Day:
As we awoke at 4 15 for race day, Evan and I prepared all our nutrition and fluids and headed towards transition. As soon as we got there though we were informed the swim start had been moved due to the high winds. Additionally, I had to leave my new Blue Seventy wetsuit at the hotel as the water temps had risen over night. I got a nervous energy almost instantly and made some quick calls to alert Kyle and the rest of our family to bring Kyle all the way to transition for a revised swim start. Once Kyle arrived he looked a little nervous and all I kept thinking was that we had to remain calm and let the day play out the way it was supposed to play out. As we readied the boat a nice calm started to set in. I knew in only an instant it would just be me and brothers on the road together and that was it. As the horn sounded, I took off on the swim and settled in for the day.

Being out there with Kyle was amazing, I couldn't believe how light the boat felt. I got excited took a few glances back at Kyle and before I knew it the swim was over. As soon as I got out of the water Evan was with us helping get Kyle squared away for the long jog back to transition.

As we headed out for the bike the crowds were amazing, not only our friends and family but also all the other spectators. They all rooted us on and their energy was something else. As Kyle and I headed out on the bike I warned him to just relax and save it for the final stretch of the run. It was going to be a long day and we were just getting going.

The bike was amazing, Freedom Concepts had Kyle comfortable and had us on a bike that was ready for a race. What might have been the best part of the bike, was being able to enjoy a bike ride with Kyle. We had never done anything like that before together for a ride like this...
When we were kids we used to have to put Kyle inside a buggy behind the bike and never got to enjoy the rides with him. Today was different though as we flew across the road and before we knew it Evan was grabbing the bike from us and helping push us back to the run.

The run was hot but our family was all over the road and thanks to some last minute help from AlboPads Kyle was pretty settled in for a race to the finish! Evan and I kept talking with Kyle to make sure he had enough Gu to fuel the run as well as talking to each other to stay on pace together. As the miles started ticking away we got closer to our goal as brothers!

Not sure how to describe the finish line but it was unlike any other. Our feet seemed to get lighter, and we found that extra kick to blaze across the line!!
I wouldn't have asked for it any other way that day, but to cross the line with both of my brothers. Everyone had worked so hard to get to the start line and from that moment to the very end we were working together. As we all lay exhausted near the finish and before the dust had even settled Kyle was asking "what's next..."


-Brent

We Are All Brothers Part I

We are putting together a Three part blog post this week as we all have so much to say after our first triathlon together. Each post will be from one of the "bozos" this week so please feel free to share your comments or just share our story. Thank you to each of you and of course to all our wonderful sponsors for helping make this dream a reality.
-Evan, Brent & Kyle
Walking With KPeasey

Part I.

I didn't arrive in St Pete until late on Friday evening. I was super tired from my week and I think my exhaustion hindered some of my excitement. As soon as I got to dinner and felt the breeze from the ocean I really felt the rush that you can only get from a race like this. Saturday was a pretty whirlwind of a day for us as we prepped for our race. I walked with Brent around 8:00am to check out the water, and to keep an eye on him during a warm up swim. The surf was pretty incredible and I wasn't exactly sure that Kyle would be safe riding around in waves that were white capped and cresting pretty consistently. Brent actually disappeared about 100 yds away from the beach as the surf was so high. Next we got on our bike and I had a few more bad feelings as we had some struggles to get the bike tuned up for the race. By 10:30 in the morning the heat was beating down on us and I realized we would be running in this heat tomorrow. We finally made some practice laps with the bike and then with the jogger to shore up our preparations.

I should note that after we prepped for the race I rode the bike over to the transition area while Brent and Kyle got the jogger over. Although I am not much of a biker, I was amazed at the bike from our friends at Freedom Concepts, but wondered how Brent and Kyle were going to make this tandem work on race day.

Saturday afternoon was probably my favorite of the weekend as odd as that sounds. We sat down with Matt Pearl for one last interview. Plenty of cutting up and total relaxation. Don't even remember what he asked us, but it was just good to feel relaxed during the weekend. I actually slept pretty well and didn't have any problems falling asleep.




RACE DAY:

Waking up at 4:15 am was totally easy. We walked over and had everything set up by five. As we walked to the new start for the swim, a bird decided to calm Kyle's nerves by pooping right on. I think this really helped all of us relax and put our minds at ease. As we zipped Kyle up in the kayak I got a huge rush and that feeling didn't subside until we crossed the finish line.
Brent came out after a few minutes of us holding Kyle in the water, strapped himself in, and took off. Brent came out pretty quickly and before I knew it he was done. We raced up the beach with Kyle in the jogger to a HUGE applause. We ran the half mile or so towards the bike-- this was the first time I saw all of our friends and family cheering for us. It was probably the reason we were running so fast to the transition area.


We got Kyle all situated into the bike, and Brent took off for the course. After about 2 hrs I could see Brent coming in for the bike finish and they looked great on that bike! They seemed to be pretty excited to see me as we began to push Kyle back into transition and get ready for the run. It was pushing 90 degrees out on the course but other than that it was freaking awesome! One of my favorite parts of the run besides people congratulating us was watching some of our friends from Dynamo Multisport running alongside us for encouragement. Our coach Matthew Rose and our training partner Erik Johnson ran almost double the run course just to catch us at every turn. That extra effort on their part really helped push us through that final stretch.



Crossing the finish line is sort of hard to describe. We were sprinting and cheering and then we were swarmed by our friends and family. I guess it was just the way I wanted it to end. Kyle was so excited it pretty much made any aches go away....


A few beers at lunch and now we're ready for the next race....

-Evan

Final Thoughts

One final thanks to all of our friends and family! We have truly appreciated all of your support throughout our training. We are looking forward to having it all pay off for us this weekend in Florida! See y'all at the finish line!!
-Evan

Just a final word of thanks to all our friends and family who have supported us throughout this journey. The support has been overwhelming and has made this experience all the better. We had no idea what to expect when we started but we can now see the direction and look forward to Sunday for our first triathlon together!!
-Brent

This journey has exceeded my expectations without a doubt. From all of our fantastic sponsors to amazing friends and family. I can't put this into words I've been waiting all my 26 yrs of life to feel like an athlete.
-Kyle

The clock is ticking

We are almost a week away from traveling to Florida for the big race...and I am so excited, but of course nervous, as any athlete would be with any major event that is taking place. A lot of people have asked me over the past couple months, "How are you doing?"...I would be lying if I said that I am not a bit nervous, but the outpouring of support has helped in so many ways. This has truly been an incredible journey with my two "crazy bozos" and is going to be an incredible expereince come race day 05.01.11!!!

I feel nervous because I have never done anything like this before. Training for this event has been a roller coaster. Some days I feel in control, then other days, completely out of control. At the end of the day, I am 100% confident about the equipment...and most of all my brothers' strength and ability. It's awesome to say that I will become a triathlete after next weekend. Hats off to Evan and Brent, and a host of others who have made this experience incredible.


Below is a picture that I took from my wheelchair on my way home from work the other day...I often think about what drives me in life. This picture, to me, symbolizes how a dream can become a reality. As well as how an athlete is born. Thank you for your continued support and we'll see ya at the finish line!

-Kyle