Wednesday, September 22nd, 2010
Race morning had officially arrived. After a surprisingly good sleep, I was up, hit the bathroom and downed a bottle of EFS and some Clif Shot Bloks.
I decided that the whole day was going to be focused on two main ideas:
- Take the whole day one mile at a time
- Enjoy every mile of my only first Ironman
Those two mantras would end up driving me for the next 140.6 miles.
Other than a minor pre-dawn freakout in transition area. I was able to keep a pretty level head as I set up my bike, organized my transition area and filled up my nutrition bottles. I was pretty happy and surprised with my attitude. I’ve been a LOT more nervous for a LOT shorter races.
I’m not sure what it was, but I was just ready to race, get out there and start tearing up the course.
Heading over to the swim start and patiently waiting for the gun to go off. Sam was an amazing sherpa and helped me stay cool calm and collected up until the second I had to leave her and dive head first into the water. Just as I was starting to head through the start gate, she handed me her cell phone. It was my mom calling from Connecticut to give me some last minute last minute well wishes. Hearing how proud she was of me to just have made it to the start line brought such a big smile to my face that I couldn’t even muster up any response beyond “Thanks Mom!” before I handed the phone back to Sam and pointed myself towards shore and the start of the race.
Swim:
The plan was to keep it nice and relaxed and not to threaten the race before I even headed out on the bike. All of the FullRev athletes (about 450 of us) went off in one big mass start. No matter how far back you hung in the pack, you were bound to run into some people. I landed some unintentional kicks an punches and took my share as well, but it eventually spread out and allowed me to focus on keeping an even pace and smooth form instead of dodging kicks to the scull.
The first loop went pretty smoothly. I even had to pee and just let it rip instead of waiting until I was out on the bike. I’d peed in my wetsuit plenty of times before, but never while actually swimming. It was always while standing in the water waiting for the gun to go off.
I figured it was a good sign that I started the race well hydrated. It is good to know the digestive system is working and doing its thing, even if nature calls when I’m only 1 mile into the race.
First loop: 41:17 (2:08/100 m)
The second loop was a little more of the same. My arms felt strong all the way through and I was having a blast. Nature even called AGAIN! I didn’t even feel like I was drinking a ton on race morning, but just like the first time, I just went with it. My pace did slow a little bit, but I exited the water feeling awesome. My time was right in the middle of my prediction and I was psyched to start the bike.
See? I’m even turning around to smile and wave to Sam as I exit the water. I told you I was having a blast out there.
Second loop: 43:19 (2:15/100 m)
Total swim time: 1:24:36
Bike:
I didn’t have any major expectations for the bike. I knew that it was probably going to be my strongest sport of the day. I just wanted to get out there, hold a nice even pace and start the run feeling good.
The course was WAY flatter than anywhere I’d ever raced, but it was also WAY windier than anywhere I’d ever raced so it was tough for me to make any sort of average speed expectations. I just went out there and did my thang.
The bike started with plenty of drinking straight water to make sure that my stomach stayed as happy as it was during the swim and was processing whatever I threw down my gullet. The first bike pee came around mile 25 and I was as happy as a clam.
As we made a turn and headed West, I started FLYING. I had a nice tailwind and a nice clean stretch of flat road ahead of me. It was beautiful. I was cruising at between 22 and 23 mph and barely working for it.
That was until I took the next turn at around mile 35. From then on it was a constant battle with the wind. No matter where the course turned, it felt like the wind was following me. No matter how aero I tried to get, I was constantly battling the wind. Doing 13 mph (and working hard for it) on a nice flat even road definitely puts things into perspective after ticking off all of those miles at 22 mph with a tail wind.
I figured there was nothing I could do about the wind and just kept an even effort level. Eat, breathe, drink, pee and repeat. The course was beautiful and I tried to just soak it in as much as I could.
I got off the bike happy with how things went and psyched to slip on my Saucony Paramounts and start running.
Time: 6:14:43 (17.93 pmh)
Snuck a little good luck chat with Sam before heading into the changing tent and off on the marathon.
Run:
I threw on my run gear, filled up my water bottle and headed out on my way.
My run plan was to sip on just water for the first 20-30 minutes until my HR settled and I could start taking in calories without letting my stomach seize up. Those first three miles felt great and I was slowly ticking off the miles at a nice even pace.
At around the mile 3 mark, I tore open my EFS Liquid Shot flask and took tiny sips each 20 minutes. Unfortunately, that didn’t last too long. By mile 6 I realized that all the water that I was sipping on was just sloshing around in my gut. Crap. I wasn’t really pushing the pace, so the only real decision to make was to start walking. It was MUCH sooner in the marathon than I had expected to have to walk, but I knew that I didn’t have the strength to grit and bear it through another 20 miles of running without being able to absorb a single carb, electrolyte or ounce of water.
Miles 6-10 were slow and painful and included a lot of walking but eventually I could feel my stomach emptying and the next trip to the port-o-potty was by far my favorite of the day. It was an awesome sign that my stomach was functioning again and taking in the goodies I was tossing down.
My run performance was quickly turning out to be way less spectacular than I had hoped, but it was cool. I run walked and made some friends along the way. Meredith’s husband Dave caught up to me and we ran together for a while for a while before he left me in the dust. Then I ran by some girls at an aid station and over heard them say “What, you aren’t going to complement him on his butt?” They definitely didn’t think that I heard them so I caught them off guard when I stopped, struck a pose and called out “What, nothing?!”
After getting their approval, I proceeded to knock off the rest of the marathon, mile by mile. My pace got slower and slower and my quads were increasing amounts of pain, but I kept on ticking off the miles. Let me tell you, I’ve never big a big fan of all that random stuff that they have at aid stations. I’m usually just a gel and sports drink kind of guy, but a cup of grapes at mile 20 of an ironman marathon may be one of the most delicious things I’ve ever tasted.
For the last few miles, I made a new friend from Louisville, KY and we chatted it up, took run/walk breaks together and kept on moving forward. I can’t remember his name, but having him next to me for those last miles was perfect. It helped distract myself from my legs as they slowly disintegrated beneath me.
As I approached the finish line, I really had no idea how I’d react. To be perfectly honest, I was an emotional roller coaster and thought that it was entirely possible that I’d cross the line sobbing like a baby with tears streaming from my face. Or maybe I’d have some triumphant primal scream as I tore past the finish line.
In reality, I was too busy being being just plain excited to think about anything else. I wasn’t thinking about all the hard training sessions that it took to get me there. I wasn’t thinking about all of the people that helped me get there. I wasn’t thinking about all the things that I did right and all the things that I did wrong during the race. I wasn’t thinking about how my legs were screaming in pain and could barely take another step without having me trip and fall over myself.
I wasn’t even thinking about anything as I crossed the line. It was just elated. Huge smile. My mind was just blank, enjoying the physical experience of finishing my first ironman. I think there were just so many possible thoughts rushing thought my head that my mind just shut them down and forced out one gigantic smile.
All is good.
I broke the tape and was immediate surrounded by a hand full of my Trakkers teammates and found Sam waiting just outside the finisher’s area. I shuffled my way over to her and gave her a gigantic hug. Two seconds later we got a call from my mom who was watching me finish on the live video feed. While it sucked not having her there, it was awesome knowing that she was able to track me all day with my Trakkers GPS device (until the battery ran out just before the end of the bike) and watch me live as I crossed the line.
My chip didn’t register over the finish line, so I’m still not 100% sure on my time. I’m guessing that it is somewhere around 13:24, but I’m not all that concerned about it.
I did miss going sub-13:00 like I was secretly hoping for, but I’m not letting it get to me. I handled the obstacles that were thrown my way really well and that is all that I could ask for.
So in the end did I enjoy every mile of my first ironman? Heck yes!
Will I do another one?! Yell yeah! (but just not next year)
This year was filled with tons of epic training adventures, but far more time away from my friends, family and girlfriend than I would have liked. I’ll be definitely returning to the iron distance sometime in the future, but I’m looking forward to some shorter races where it’ll be much easier to balance racing and the rest of life.
Tags: cedar point, fullrev, Ironman, rev3 triathlon | Posted in Cycling, Ironman, Nutrition, Race Reports, Running, Swimming, Triathlon | 13 Comments »
