I AM AN IRONMAN! I did it. Not that I ever doubted I could do it but the unknown has a way of biting you in the ass sometimes and Ironman is the greatest unknown. From the minute we swiped our credit cards, called the coach, asked for the wife's blessing and put the date on the calendar we have never really known what to expect. The tales of Ironman misery and glory are all over the internet and everyone who calls them self an Ironman has more than a few horror stories to tell. However the one thing that stands out amongst these tales of woe is the all say they would do it again. Not all do do it again, life gets in the way sometimes, but you will never hear someone say they wish they hadn't done it.
That is just the way it is. A very satisfying acheivment which I would not ever compare to a birth or a wedding like so many do. I can only speak on one of these things (married one year one week) and I would never compare the two. Your wedding day usually does not consist of 3000 sweaty miserable people all struggling to get somewhere but never really going anywhere. Basically we swim, bike and run around in circles all so we can get back to where we started. I will say without a doubt my wedding day was far more enjoyable and it did not include cliff shot bloks.
That being said completing an Ironman is by far one of my greatest accomplishments. It took the most dedication, the most sacrificies, and TONS of money. And it was all worth it. Coming into that stadium finishing in front of hundreds of specatators, family and friends was a special moment. I have done a lot of things in my 31 years, many of which I had to struggle to acheive and this is one I am very proud of. I put it right up there with finally reaching my life long dream of becoming a firefighter. It took the same dogged determination and mindset to acheive both goals. I set my sights and I took aim. I made sure I crossed the t's and dotted the i's. I did not rely on luck, or wait for things to come to me. I went out and did what I had to do to make sure I got what I wanted.
The day did not go as planned. From what I hear it never does. I took in a ton of lake water and got sea sick on the swim. Combine that with a non-wetsuit swim and I got out of the water 24 minutes after I thought I would. Hanging on to a kayak as I puked twice in the water exactly .6 miles from shore was not in the plan. But the day never goes as planned so I pushed on. From there I hopped on the trusty bike and set out to finish what I had started. The bike went exactly as planned. I wanted a 6 hour ride and aside from 3 minutes (got to at least slow down when you pee on your bike) I nailed it. No problems, no dark moments only my desire to erase that poor swim and set myself up for a sub 12 finish. So I got off the bike just before the 8 hour mark leaving almost to the minute, 4 hours to run a marathon which I had been trained to run in 3:45. Perfect right? This did not goes as planned. From what I hear it never does. Went out with the right mindset and just plugged along. Walked all the aid stations to make sure I got my nutrition down and then ran to the next one. This went on for 14 miles. 1:58 for 14 miles, perfect now I just need to maintain and I can check that sub 12 goal off my list. Then Ironman decided 128.6 miles into my race to put up a wall and make me earn my stripes. They did that and more. From there on it was all mental. The legs were spent the sun was hot and the gatorade was warm. Nothing was gonna stop me but there sure was nothing there pushing me either. I reached into the well and dug deep and the body just said enough. With about 8 miles to go I did the math in my head and realized sub 12 was out. I was ok with that because I was gonna be an Ironman regardless of time. And so I just plodded along and made sure to enjoy the moment. Lake Placid offers a great run course for enjoying the last few miles and especially entering the olympic stadium on a downhill and getting to soak in the cheers from hundreds of spectators.
And then it was over. Never having set up a meeting place with the wife so I just kinda stood there. It was over and I had no one to share it with. Then it happened. I looked back and saw the faces of the other finishers as the came down the shoot and I realized what we all had accomplished. I was now a member of a fraternity and we were all family so to speak. We started congratulating each other and everyone had that I just did something special kinda smile. After that I meet up with my wife and I felt such a relief come over me. It was done. There was no race tommorrow and if I never choose to do another (yea right) I could do it knowing that I saw this to the end. The medal was around my neck, I had just become a part of a very exclusive club and I could finally stop moving in circles. The day was perfect. Bad swim? what bad swim? hitting a wall on the run? ahh it wasn't that bad. 12:19 and change, not bad for my first Ironman.
So what now. Big let down right? No not really I cured that post Ironman fever with plans for a half Ironman in September to wind down the season. Already had planned on Ironman Cozumel in 2012 to just so I would not wonder what is next. But regardless what ever happens from here I am branded an Ironman and I am very proud to say that. Might even get it branded on my leg just to remind me of what I accomplished but more importantly that ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE!
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Race Week
Long time since last post and all I can say is that Ironman training schedule combined with 2 jobs hit a peak a week or so ago. Luckily for me I have discovered Base performance supplements which have been a saving grace in keeping me fresh for all my workouts and the long hot work days ahead. Another great tool is putting on the compression socks nightly for a couple hours to get the legs fresh and ready to absorb a good nights sleep. Like I have said in previous posts, rest and recovery is the key to Ironman. If you are not able to put the miles in then it is gonna be a really long day. And let's face it from what I hear even for the best trained athletes it is gonna be a really long day.
So it is the Tuesday before Lake Placid and the excitement is building. Well the excitement and the ever present thoughts of "Am I tapering too much?" or "I have ridden my bike in 3 days". I will say having a coach whom has an outstanding track record with Ironman athletes is a great relief and allows me to relax and not have to question the plan. So the final taper is in full swing and consists of a 60 min swim each day until Friday and two short runs with some short bursts thrown in to build confidence. Friday will be a short swim and a quick EASY empahsises on EASY spin on the bike to keep legs loose. Saturday is a complete rest day and Sunday at Sun up is go time. Amy and I are leaving Friday morning for LP, we will head over to race registration and then back out to Wilmington where we are staying and I will do my easy workout. From their all that's left is to check the bike in on Saturday and wait, and wait, and wait. If you can't tell I am dreading the waiting part but hopefully all that will do is keep my fired up to unleash hell on Sunday.
Looking back at the log book for this year, from January 1st till now I have logged 150,000 yds in the pool (85.2 miles), 2700 miles of cycling and just shy of 700 miles running. What this tells me is that I am ready, without a doubt in my mind I have done the efforts, I have logged the miles, and I will go into the race injury free. I am in a great place leading up to the biggest race of my life and I feel confident that I can exceed even my own expectations. The weather reports are trickling in and it looks like a chance of rain (rains everyday there it seems) and a fairly hot day with some humidity. Without question the biggest key to my race and that of everyone else will be how we handle fluid intake and nutrition. Being out on the course in the heat for 11+ hours is going to require meticulus attention to the fueling plan. My plan has been locked in since June and I have practiced it in every training session since then.
These are the things that should make the difference come race day: A proper taper, come in injury free, know and have in place a solid nutrition plan, having done the amount of miles required to be fit and ready to race. So with that I am going under the radar until Sunday night. At that time I hope to call my self an Ironman, celebrate with a few beers and a bunch of new friends and we can swap war stories until the magical hour of midnight when the last finsishers will cross the line. Hell worst case for most of us is that we are pushing that 17 hour cut off and that would be ok too, because wether you finish in 8 hours ( avg pro times) or 17 hours you get the same medal around your neck and get to call yourself an Ironman. So I am off to rest up, do some laps in the pools, eat healthy and try not to do anything too crazy between now and then.
To follow the race and keep an eye on me go to Ironman.com on Sunday July 24th at 7pm and type in my last name under the athlete tracker tab or my race #1038. Thanks and stay tuned for what I am sure will be a in depth post race report.
So it is the Tuesday before Lake Placid and the excitement is building. Well the excitement and the ever present thoughts of "Am I tapering too much?" or "I have ridden my bike in 3 days". I will say having a coach whom has an outstanding track record with Ironman athletes is a great relief and allows me to relax and not have to question the plan. So the final taper is in full swing and consists of a 60 min swim each day until Friday and two short runs with some short bursts thrown in to build confidence. Friday will be a short swim and a quick EASY empahsises on EASY spin on the bike to keep legs loose. Saturday is a complete rest day and Sunday at Sun up is go time. Amy and I are leaving Friday morning for LP, we will head over to race registration and then back out to Wilmington where we are staying and I will do my easy workout. From their all that's left is to check the bike in on Saturday and wait, and wait, and wait. If you can't tell I am dreading the waiting part but hopefully all that will do is keep my fired up to unleash hell on Sunday.
Looking back at the log book for this year, from January 1st till now I have logged 150,000 yds in the pool (85.2 miles), 2700 miles of cycling and just shy of 700 miles running. What this tells me is that I am ready, without a doubt in my mind I have done the efforts, I have logged the miles, and I will go into the race injury free. I am in a great place leading up to the biggest race of my life and I feel confident that I can exceed even my own expectations. The weather reports are trickling in and it looks like a chance of rain (rains everyday there it seems) and a fairly hot day with some humidity. Without question the biggest key to my race and that of everyone else will be how we handle fluid intake and nutrition. Being out on the course in the heat for 11+ hours is going to require meticulus attention to the fueling plan. My plan has been locked in since June and I have practiced it in every training session since then.
These are the things that should make the difference come race day: A proper taper, come in injury free, know and have in place a solid nutrition plan, having done the amount of miles required to be fit and ready to race. So with that I am going under the radar until Sunday night. At that time I hope to call my self an Ironman, celebrate with a few beers and a bunch of new friends and we can swap war stories until the magical hour of midnight when the last finsishers will cross the line. Hell worst case for most of us is that we are pushing that 17 hour cut off and that would be ok too, because wether you finish in 8 hours ( avg pro times) or 17 hours you get the same medal around your neck and get to call yourself an Ironman. So I am off to rest up, do some laps in the pools, eat healthy and try not to do anything too crazy between now and then.
To follow the race and keep an eye on me go to Ironman.com on Sunday July 24th at 7pm and type in my last name under the athlete tracker tab or my race #1038. Thanks and stay tuned for what I am sure will be a in depth post race report.
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