Team Timex Camp 2013 [part 1]

If you've been a reader of my blog for long you may have noticed a certain naivety that I bring to triathlon. I'm NTTS (new to the sport) but super dedicated and passionate, which means I often jump into things without either the perspective or understanding of a seasoned veteran. Bold claims such as "I'm going to break the AG WR" or "I'm going to run a 3hr Kona marathon" are outputs of that naivety. But sometimes a healthy disregard of the impossible (in my case more of a healthy ignorance) brings you to unbelievable places.

In my first "real" season last year (I type "real" because it was my first season training rather than just taking the bike out for local races on the weekends) I spent a lot of time as a lone ranger: driving out to races on my own, staying at a hotel on my own, carbo-loading on my own, racing on my own... Now triathlon is certainly an individual race, but I started noticing things on the race course that made me wonder whether it could be a team sport.  Things like:

1. Team Every Man Jack slaughtering the podium at Cali-based races.
2. Team In Training training together, everywhere.
3. An ass pat of encouragement from one Wattie Inc. teammate to another.
4. And not the least of which was the incredibly fast, humble army from Team Timex.

You may also recall my belief that you're only as good as the people around you. I wanted (needed) to surround myself by exactly this sort of excellence, but that's easier said than done we're you're young and unproven. Here's the beautiful thing - I know zip about triathlon. I'm immune to the hard-wired logic of long-time athletes, I have no notion of right vs. wrong... It's like going to a bar to meet girls for the first time and not understanding the concept of rejection. You are invincible. So I put a packet together -- Gui's story... who I am, why I am head over heals in love with this sport, and how I will go to all ends of the earth to be the best I can be at this thing. And get this... every single company believed in me.

It blew me away. I'm nothing special yet those three applications sent into the black pit of the internet were returned by three team offers. And TIMEX was one of those companies. I was familiar enough with the team by this point to know that they are the oldest and most prestigious triathlon group in the world and are supported by some of the sports' best products and companies. I spoke to their team manager on the phone and verbally committed on the spot. Sure there's swag, the iconic brand and the best equipment, but above all of that is a *&%$ing awesome group of people. Little did I know it would be so much more.

to be continued...