DANTE HATEM

MY FIRST IRONMAN 70.3

This past couple years have been crazy with COVID and trying to keep a positive mindset through it all. If you didn’t know, I have been working in the COVID ICU as a travel nurse between Rochester and Syracuse, New York. My first month as a nurse I decided I wanted to train for an Ironman. After a year of everything getting cancelled, I was finally able to race in Florida. It was a long awaited race, I believe one of the first triathlons to return after COVID. This video tells the story of how I got there, but I want to share the story of during the race. 

I started off the morning with a 1.2 mile swim in an aligator infested lake. I swam the course in 35 minutes which isn’t bad but not my fullest potential. After cruising on the bike for ten miles we got to a part of the road that was not blocked off to cars. People eager to race and someone not looking out for other athletes, my front tire got clipped as someone tried to merge while a car was also passing. I lost complete control of my bike and fell off into the gravel on the side of the road. As I got up and processed what just happened I broke down crying, the pain from the crash hurt, but what hurt even more was thinking that my day was over. I had committed nearly a year a half to completing this race. I said no to friends and family to train, I put everything into racing and it felt over because of someone else’s stupid mistake. 

As I spent time trying to fix my chain with my hands shaking, knees buckled and blood on my shoulders forearms hands and legs a course inspector came over and said let me take you to the medical tent, in that moment my first reaction was “No” and continued to attempt to fix my bike. He said let me take a look. He got my chain fixed and offered again to take me to the medical tent. I looked at my heart rate on my watch, it was 180. I said “I need to finish this.” He said well you’re in luck because your bike is still rideable, although I lost all my water and the next aid station wasn’t for another 15 miles. I got back on and rode away. Screaming from the pain throughout the rest of the ride I knew my time didn’t matter. I thought just get to transition and assess the damages (to my body) and take it form there. As I passed people on the course, I was asked didn’t you get in that crash, multiple times and each person who saw me down said I had won the badass award or told me I’m crazy. When I got to transition I saw my loved ones and just that gave me the courage to keep pushing forward. My heart rate was still jacked up in my peak zone and nothing was dropping it. The adrenaline kept me going, but on the hundred degree day I needed to be careful, I was walking a thin line between really damaging my body and becoming an Ironman. Crossing the finish line, I felt unstoppable. 

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Cheers.