Scott DeFilippis's Blog

My first attempt at completing an Ironman turned out to be one of the most humbling days of my life! Manny said it best when we finally got back to our rooms Sunday afternoon feeling very defeated, he looked over and said, Well Scottie, you are not an Ironman. Boy was he right. Never ever in my wildest dreams did I think I would not make it to the finish line. We have been training in the heat and humidity for over 2 months and as the weeks by went I felt myself getting stronger and stronger. Coming into T2 with a pounding head ache and struggling to stay on my feet, I thought, how could this be happeing? It wasn’t just hot on Sunday, it was oven hot, but we knew it was going to be hot, Doc kept telling us how hot it was going to be but I guess I was hearing him but not listening. I can’t blame my DNF on the day because many made it to the finish and I congratulate and look up to every single one of you on an incredible performance, especially our girls and Matt who showed so much more courage and heart than I did.

As I begin my journey back to the States I feel the fire to compete coming back even stronger. I wish there was an ironman I could do next weekend because I feel the need to prove the strength I know I have inside of me. My ironman finish line lies somewhere in the near future but I have ton of work to do before I make it back to the starting line again.

Thank you to my good friend Edward, who finished the Boston Marathon in 3:18 on Monday for a 3 minute P.B. I have been helping Edward with his preparation for his last 2 marathons and in return he helped me get to Haikou. You are a good friend Edward! I also want to thank Edward’s family for all their support on race day and for hosting a wonderful dinner for Joceline and I. Sorry I let you guys down by not getting to that finish line.

And special thanks to Bliss, Minsok, and Hanna for having Tereza and I stay at your beautiful home in Singapore during our overnight there. Thank you Hanna for our special cards and we hope to see you on the starting line next to us in a few years.

I am now looking forward to getting back to work, since I did not complete the entire marathon, my body is feeling quite good and I am finding myself getting very anxious to get home so the work can begin in earnest. My standing 8 count has begun and I am ready to come out fighting once again!!!

SD

In 2 days we leave for Haikou Island, China and 1 week from today I will compete in my first Ironman competition. I have survived my first boot camp, heat camp, or what ever you want to call it camp. There were times when I felt my body could not take anymore punishment and there were times when I felt like I could run around that track all night.

I thought a lot about my child hood while here in Subic, I actually drew a lot of strength from the memories I have from growing up on Kristen Ct. The countless hours I spent shooting foul shots or hockey pucks in the garage till the wee hours of the night, or hitting the heavy bag in the Lazzaro’s garage. I didn’t realize it then but what I was doing was developing a work ethic and a passion for sport. I thought about how my brother and I would go from door to door to shovel driveways when it snowed and how bad my body felt by the end of the day. I thought about how being the youngest one in the family I was always getting picked on. I didn’t realize it then but I was learning was how to be tough. I thought about how in the 5^th grade I got cut from the school basketball team but came back the next 3 years and made the cut even though I was the shortest one in the class. I thought about the bike trip my Dad and Father Joe took us on to Vermont, when the hills got too tough for everyone else to climb, they got off their bikes and pushed them to the top of the mountain while I refused to walk, I would pedal and pedal, swerving all over the road till I got to the top. I didn’t realize it then but what I was learning how to do was never, ever give up. I feel like all these experiences were preparing me for this moment in my life. All the things I learned about life and sport as a child are now becoming the tools I need to give me the strength to carry on with my dreams, to continue my climb towards the top of the mountain. I need to thank my parents for raising me in a great neighborhood that supported such an active lifestyle and for getting me out the door to shovel the snow or ride my bike to Gram’s to cut the grass, you guys instilled the work ethic in me and for that I will forever be thankful. The number one thing I have learned at camp is that to get to the top, it takes work, hard work, and lots of it and if it wasn’t for you guys developing my work ethic as a child, I would have never survived this camp. And a special thanks to B.Shea for getting me fit enough to survive the first few weeks.

As I begin to pack my bags I am finding that I am a bit sad to leave the Philippines and return to America. I am actually a little scared to go home to be honest. You see the America of today is a completely different America to when I was a child. Today’s America has become too plastic, we are a society of individuals who demand instant gratification for materialistic possessions that make them feel good till they move onto the next gadget, garment, or vehicle that they think will make them feel even better. We spend hours and hours cooped up in our cars driving to and from work to pay for the big house full of crap that we think will make us happy but what I see is sadness and I didn’t realize how sad it is back home until I spent a few months here. At some point we have to ask ourselves, is this really why God put us here on earth? See, here in Subic, its poor and outside the gates, it’s very poor but no matter where you go, people are smiling and they even say hello. They walk, bike, or ride the buggies with no air con to work and then go home to their tiny homes or shacks in the hopes to maybe save enough money to one day migrate to a country like the U.S. But what they don’t realize is that even though they don’t have the big house full of stuff, they are actually winning at the game of life because the people of the Philippines seem to have so much more happiness than Americans. We Americans have everything at our fingertips and yet no one seems to be happy.

I want to thank Doc and Alex for their incredible support, you guys are the best and what you are doing for all of us is simply amazing! When I graduated from college I thought that my days of being on a team were over but I was mistaken as I am now a part of a very special team once again. Thanks to all the members of Team TBB for making my experience here so much more enjoyable and good luck to those racing with me next weekend, it’s like it’s our graduation party to race in one of the hottest IM’s on the planet. See you in Swiss!

Below are some of my favorite pictures from my time here in Subic. Enjoy!

Happy Easter!!!

The bike race going right by our house.