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Mark Allen my idol! by Peter Reid |
Ironman 2004
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The first time I crossed paths with Mark Allen was at the end of September 1993. I was staying with a friend in Cardiff, California and Mark lived just around the corner. I started triathlon in 1989 and obviously I would spend hours reading Triathlete Magazine over and over again. From day one Mark was my Idol in the sport. He has always been my idol and will always be. Anyway, I was heading out for a ride when I crossed paths with Mark who had just returned from a run. He looked just like the pictures. Lean and fit. WOW! I can still remember that day like it was this morning. I was too nervous to say anything but I got a hello from him. It sure was a huge rush! The next time I crossed paths with Mark was while racing Ironman a few weeks later. I had 6 miles to ride to get to T2 while Mark was at 6 miles on the run. He was racing at a level that was beyond my realm of thought. I was blown away.
Through the years I have gotten to know Mark quite well. At first I thought he was reserved and hard to talk too which is kind of funny because people always say that about me. I don't see Mark very often but when I do it is very easy for me to talk to him. I like being around him - he is a very neat person. Actually, he is one of the coolest guys I know.
When I won Hawaii for my first time in 1998 I ran into Mark at a party after the awards banquet. He walked up to me, looked straight into my eyes and then gave me this huge congrats hug. There were hardly any words spoken; yet, I knew all of his thoughts and he knew all of mine. I was a very weird moment. There was this ESP thing going on. It still freaks me out when I think about it.
In the summer of 2002 I went to Ironman Austria to watch Lori destroy the field at yet another Ironman. Mark was there in Austria and we spent a lot of time together. I had just come off of 7 weeks of zero exercise which I needed to do to try and recover from being so burnt out from overtraining. Mark was really supportive of me and answered a ton of questions about his racing career, training, and some personal highs and lows.
I decided to commit to racing Hawaii about a month after spending time with Mark in Austria. He was one of the VERY few people that offered support. He called and e-mailed to make sure I was okay in my quest to return to Ironman. Most people had written me off; but, not Mark. To have Mark Allen support you when most of the media and others in the sport say that you are "washed up" meant everything. It didn't matter what they said or wrote - I had Mark Allen in my corner!
The same thing happened this past year. I tried some new training techniques over the winter and I just couldn't seem to get going at races. After Ironman Germany I was super frustrated and gave Mark a call. After a bunch of e-mails with Mark I was back on track. I knew I could win in Kona. Without those e-mails and conversations with Mark I would not have won this year! This is the truth! I was written off again by the media; but, I had my secret weapon: Mark Allen. Mark had shared some training info on how to run fast in Kona and was in my corner yet again. I won Ironman with the fastest run split.
Mark Allen you are my idol!
Thanks!
Pete
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