What to expect when you’re not expecting....anything to go wrong.

Plan for the unexpected.

This was not the plan. That is the point. If it were the plan I wasted a lot of money and a ridiculous amount of time for nothing. I ran my first half marathon in 2009, my first marathon in 2013. I was hooked. I started training for my first triathlon this year with Steven.  Even though I grew up with a pool and could “swim” and had a great tan I was in no shape to swim a triathlon.  This required me to take swimming lessons from someone who could give me that extra edge.  I had run a half marathon with my mom and even though this secured my spot in the “favorite son” category lets face it if I can’t run faster than my mom there’s a problem. I was running enough to make Forest proud.  Biking at this level was totally new to me. I wanted to excel. I wanted the best. I spent a lot of money, I trained hard…. really hard. I was proud of myself and thought I was ready. Little did I know the first time I would hear that the ultra light titanium frame I had so proudly invested in was too light for my weight at the speed I was traveling at the time of my crash was on my ride to the ambulance via the SAG (Support and Gear) vehicle. They were amazing. Thank you Roseville Bike and Cycling team.

Purchase quality equipment. 

I’m certain that without my helmet I wouldn’t be writing this today. Not only had I lost consciousness I was unaware that I had lost consciousness.  Between the stories of those that witnessed the accident and the data from my Garmin watch I realize how fortunate I am.
My broken Garmin watch provided valuable data as well as protecting my wrist.  It’s very evident when and where I lost consciousness when looking at all the data.  Luckily I had kept the warranty information and for $99.00 I can replace my broken watch, which will of course be with me on the next ride  

Stay in touch.

As much as we’d like to plan to meet up at the finish line this actually was the first sign that something was wrong. My family was tracking me on Find my Friends (free) and my location hadn’t moved for several minutes.  No, I don’t recommend you chat during the race but have a way to stay in touch if something should go wrong. This was how I was able to let my family know to meet me at the hospital. How would they meet me? How would they get my bike?  These are all important things to preplan.   

Have medical and financial information readily available

I had focused on the race not on anything that could have possibly gone wrong.  My Fiancé was at work 400 miles away. My wallet was in my training buddy's car and I was in an ambulance on the way to a trauma center.  Insurance info….ummm. No joke they came in the room and said Mr. Thomas would you like to pay your deductible today? I had been given morphine and said YES!. My pants were cut in half in the garbage can and my wallet was in someone else’s car that was running a triathlon. Email yourself and someone you trust that will be there your important information. Trust me you won’t want to be figuring this out the day of.  That fancy tracking chip, ask where it can be returned in case you are unable to complete the race.  The despair of not completing the event coupled with the pain of broken bones doesn’t need to be compounded with a fee for an unreturned timing chip. 

Have a backup plan            

I’ll be the first to tell you that if you break any major bones the Emergency room will only release you if you promise not to travel for 24 hours.  Be smart! Have back up lodging; additional spending money and if you car-pooled to an away destination a back up ride home. 

You might also want to pack a change of back up clothing and keep it with whoever might be joining you at a hospital. All of my clothes were cut off. Yes all of that fancy equipment I purchased to be competitive in this race was either lying on the floor or nearby garbage cans.  This is a picture of my sister holding the shirt they gave me to wear home I’m pretty sure it was from a homeless man. They also gave me pink cords to wear but I opted to wear my mom’s shorts out instead. Yes failure to plan a crash on my part ended up in wearing my mom’s shorts and a homeless man’s shirt.  Definitely not what I had trained for, not even close.