Race Morning @ Hotel:
I got about 9 hours sleep and woke up refreshed and excited to get going around 3:45 AM. Got washed up and headed downstairs to get my race day breakfast of oatmeal with peanut butter. Jon and I were greeted downstairs at the microwave by several other athletes with the same idea. My nerves had calmed after seeing everyone else doing the same as I was and I headed back upstairs to eat my meal and spend sometime on my self massage tools. I rolled around on various rollers and massage balls for 30 minutes to loosen up all the key muscle groups, grabbed my wetsuit and headed out to the truck for the quick drive over to the transition area at Tempe Beach Park.
Race Morning @ Transition:
We got to transition plenty early and it was a bit colder than I imagined it would be. I really wished I had worn warm up pants instead of shorts and was worrying that my legs might tighten up a bit from the cold. Not trying to think about that too much, I dropped my special needs bags for the bike and run then headed over to my bike in transition to give it a last once over before the race began. The only thing I really had to do was get some air in my tires which I was able to do by borrowing a fellow competitor's pump. I was about 50lbs low in my front and was pretty glad I took the time to get some air in it. I had an hour to kill after that so I just walked around and tried to stay warm while making small talk with people who looked like they'd been there before. Jon was on his own program doing what he needed to get ready for the race so we only saw eachother for about 15 minutes before we hopped in the water. We waited until about 10 minutes before the pros got in the water before putting on our suits. I put about a half a can of tri-slide on to eliminate chafing and help me get my wetsuit off after the swim. All lubed up and ready to go, we headed over to the water gave eachother a high five and wished eachother luck and got into the water.
Swim:
Jon had warned me the water would be cold and advised me to wear 2 swim caps to try and keep my head warm. It seemed to help and the water did not seem as I had assumed. The last couple of swims I had at the bay were easily as cold and the temperature was not affecting me. I jumped in about 150m away from the start and started my swim over to the start line just as the pros got going. The minor swim to the start was good for a warm up and got me acclimated to the water conditons as well as temperature.
I had given a fair amount of thought into where I wanted to start the swim to try and keep the anxiety levels down while in the water. The start was a mass start of around 2400 swimmers and I knew it was going to be a street fight for the better part of the swim so I wanted to avoid as much combat as possible and get as relaxing start to the day as possible. Luckily, the start was about 75m wide and there was plenty room toward the outside edge to get a start at the front which I did. I'd imagine somewhere aroun 1500 swimmers decided to cluster towards the inside of the swim and ensure themselves a helacious hour plus swim. All I could do was smile and be happy that I was pretty far from them.
Once the race started, it was impossible to avoid all aqua confrontation. I found myself constantly kicking and hitting other swimmers as well as being kicked and hit by other swimmers for the first 1000m or so until a good amount of the field fell off and the pack was able to thin out. Water visibility was terrible and those who were not confident in their swimming lines were often cutting me off and screwing up my rythym. I stayed calm and fell into a group that was swimming close to my pace for the rest of the swim. I never once was overwhelmed and felt like I was swimming pretty good the whole time without over exerting myself. It was a long day and I did not want to kill myslef during the first event.
T1:
Getting out of the water was interesting as they had everyone funneled down to a 30 foot wide set of stairs where volunteers helped to pull you up out of the water. It seemed like a pretty sketchy scenario but worked out and I came out unscathed. I ran over to the people who were helping strip wetsuits and was pulled across the ground for about 20 feet while a guy "helped" me take my wetsuit off. I wish I would of just done it myself, but hind sight is 20/20.
I got over to my Bike bag and ran over to the changing area to dump it all out and try to get it all sorted and on me as fast as I could without forgetting anything. I tossed out my helmet, shoes, sunglasses, socks, nutrition, watch, and suncreen. Slowly put my cycling gear on and took my time applyng sunscreen. I knew that if I allowed myself to get sunburned it would put me in a bad mood and drain my energy, so I wanted to avoid that even if it added a couple minutes onto my transtion time. Loaded up my pouch with nutrition, let a volunteer take care of my wetsuit, and then headed over to my bike.
I was a little more disorriented than normal and had a hell of a time putting on my sunglasses as I ran over to my bike. Another volunteer grabbed my bike off the rack as spectators screemed for the competitors in the transtion. I did not realize until I was 30 feet away from where my bike was racked that it was my friends and family that was making all the ruckus! That got me pretty fired up and I waved to them and knew it was going to be a great day.
Bike:
Lap 1 I moved as quickly as I could to get through transition and onto the course. I smiled at some friends from Active as I was headed out, quickly mounted my bike and off I went. My bike felt great and I started flying right off the bat. I was clipping about 25 on the flat and knew I would have to settle down a bit in order to conserve my energy. It felt great because I was blasting by a ton of people as I made my way around the 37 mile lap. There was very minimal wind and I was able top average over 22mph. The loop was a pretty flat and exposed with only aroun 500 feet elevation gain every lap. Not a very hard ride if the wind stayed calm but that was not historically the case with AZ Ironman and I counted on it being a factor later in the day.
When I came into the turn around for lap 1, it was amazing. I think there was somewhere between 5,000 - 10,000 spectators lining the big u-turn area ringing their cowbells, holding out signs and shouting words of encouragement. It was overwhelming and hard to focus. Before the race, I'd imagined that it would be easy to see my friends and family in that area but I quickly realized it would be an issue. Regardless, I still gave the spectators a hard look and tried to spy some friendly faces. I didn't see anyone before the turn around, but about 100 feet after the turnaround I spotted Jon's dad, Tom Christopher's, white handlebar mustache and knew everyone else was close by. I decided to wick it up and do a little show boating as I passed my peeps on lap 1. Once I got down the road a bit, I quickly backed it off and my legs told me I shouldn't do that anymore. I was able to keep my excitement bottled up for the rest of the race after that burner.
Lap 2 was fairly uneventful. I just put my head down and worked on the task at hand. I was passing less people that lap as I had started to reel in people that road more at my pace and I felt the wind picking up as I plodded down the Bee Line Highway. The 12 mile uphill grind was a bit more demoralizing this time around but I still managed to crank out 20mph plus as my average. Somewhere around mile 65, I started to get a bit bummed out and hit a bonk. This had happened in training and I knew that if I just stuck to my nutrition and hydration program I would get through it and catch my second wind. Coming into the tunr around this time I saw my cousin and brother before the turn and a cluster of other friends in the same location they were in on the previous lap. They helped to lift my spirits and get me ready for the final lap which was going to be the hardest.
Lap 3 did not have the best start to it. I was still in the middle of my bonk which lasted about 10 miles and was not very excited about the escalating wind conditions. I got about 5 miles into lap 3 and caught fire. I stayed tucked in aero as much as I could and just hammered out the remaining lap. There was a tail wind pushing me up the hill which was nice but it was brutal riding back down into it. I almost got blown off the road with one of the gusts that caught me and I backed it down and set up out of aero for a bit until i got through the worst of it. Once I turned to go back into town, the wind seemed to not be such a factor and I started to get excited about the hardest part beginning.
During lap 3 I had run out of my Gu nutrition and was using the on course Powerbar Gels. They were absolutely foul and I was pretty dissapointed I had to consume 3 of them in order to keep up my caloric intake. Why a company as big as Powerbar makes such a poor tasting, poor digesting product like that is beyond me, but I won't be getting any in the future. I tried to put that behind me, but it did stick in my mind as my stomach churned from not accepting the unfamilar nutrition.
T2:
I was greeted coming into T2 with a the same friends from Active, Jen and Karen, that I saw as I was leaving T1. That put a smile on my face and I quickly road in, dismounted, grabbed my run bag and got down to business. Once I pulled my bike shoes off, I noticed that my feet were accessively cramped and I knew it would take getting through a bit of pain until they loosened up on the run. I took my time once again loading up on nutrition and getting my running shoes on while a volunteer helped me make sense of my fire drill. I ran out of the changing tent, got a quick lathering of sunscreen from volunteers and took off out of the transition in a bit of pain but stoked to start the race and see what my body would allow me to do. I high fived Tony from Active on my way out and got on with the final 26.2
Run:
Lap 1 was all about settling in and surviving. I took it super easy and held an 8:45 pace as my legs got acclimated to the run and my feet started to uncramp. Lots of people had different methods and started the run much faster than me. I was happy with my way and just wanted to go as far as I could without stopping. Aid stations were sprinkled about every 1 mile on the course and I took full advantage dumping water on my head and grabbing fresh sponges at every chance I got. Being a 3 loop course helped out a ton and gave me a good sense of where I was on the course at all times. It also was very spectator friendly and I was able to stay motivated my the constant cheers from the various strangers who came out to show their support. Half way through lap 1 I saw my nephew, Collin, and the rest of mine and Jon's family. That was a great moment as it was the first time I was actually able to make them all out at once. They were inspiring and that moment made me want to push on and kept my spirtits high. I knew one other thing that would make me happy would be using the rest room. I proceeded to do so around mile 6 and it was glorious.
I finally came up on Jon Jon around mile 7. He actually spotted me coming and yelled out to me. Jon is a strong swimmer and cyclist and I knew he would most likely be gapping me during the first 2 events and that if I had any chance of reeling him in that it would be on the run. However, I did not expect to be able to do that until a lot later in the race, probably lap 3. When I caught up to him, he looked like he was having a rough day and told me his body was not accepting his nutrition. He wished me the best and I went on my way, bummed that my bestfriend was having a hard day but stoked that he was feeling good enough to offer me some encouragement.
Lap 2 I was able to still hold a pretty good pace, around 9:00 mile. Somewhere around mile 8 I started getting a stitch and just tried to run through it. I am pretty sure it was caused by eating and drinking too much so I decided to skip a few nutrition and hydration points. The stitch escalated for about 2 more miles and I walked for about a 100 feet and stretched to relieve the pain. This was the part of the race I was dreading. I figured once I started walking I would end up doing a run/walk for the rest of the race. I asked God for his help and strength one last time during the race and the stitch pretty much vanished and I got back to finishing the final 16 miles I had.
Lap 3 I could tell the run was taking a toll on me, but I knew it was crucial to keep a run going if possible. I backed it way down to somewhere around 10:15 miles and just tried to hold the pace. I ended up running with a couple other people who I traded positions with all through the final lap. It was surprising to see a lot of guys who had flewn by me at the start of the marathon now walking and feeling the wrath of 10+ hours of endurance. I am sure they learned some self restraint on that last lap and wished they had taken it easier. Either way, I was plenty happy to slowly pass by them and get the race over with.
As the sun faded into the desert, I realized around mile 22 that I had been excercising for a long time and got a euphoric feeling knowing that I had not given up and was going ot finish the event running. I also got a bit emotional thinking about how awesome my friends and family were that made it to the event and how much they cared about me finishing as I did as they cheered us on all day. It felt fantastic!
I waited until the final mile or so and then got into a better stride so that I could finish strong. Coming down the finish chute, it was completely dark out and still hard to believe the day was coming to an end. I saw my family and friends about 100 feet before the finish line and was able to give most of them high-fives as I came down the runway. I tried to soak it all in and enjoy it without rushing the final moments of a day that I will never forget.
Crossing the finish line, I knew I would have friends in the VIP area waiting for me. Sure enough, I went under the finish arches, looked up to the right and saw Jen, Christina, Karen, Tom and Kathy all there waiting to greet me. I high fived them, said a quick thanks and quickly began to realize how tore up I was.
Post Race:
Immediately after I stopped, a volunteer came over to help me out and give me a heat blanket. I noticed that my left calf/knee was pretty banged up. I didn't know if I had blown something or what the exact deal was. I toughed it out and just went over and got some food. It was hard to get anything down and I ended up getting a protein shake and a little bit of pizza. I recapped the day with a few other Ironmen and went over to see my friends in the VIP area and continue to cool down. I had a quick beer with them and then got a hold of my family to thank them all for coming out and give them hugs.
I was able to reassure everyone that Jon was still on his way and that we was just having a hard day and would be by soon. I hung out with my family 100 feet back from the finish line and waited for Jon to pass. We saw him finish strong and all screamed our lungs out in congratulations. Once Jon was across I gave him a big ole man hug and hung out with him while we both continued to cool down. He quickly recovered and was in good spirits. As much as I loved the support of my family and friends, it was nice to be seperated from everyone in the athlete's area for 30 minutes while we recovered and recapped our stories of the day.
We skipped getting massages and left the athlete's area to hang out with our Active friends and cheer on other finishers until about 11:00 PM when we had no more to give and had to get some much needed rest.
Ironman is something that must be witnessed to appreciate and something that must be completed to understand. Thanks to all those who supported me on my journey over the last couple of years and god bless those who I might have inspired to take on the task.
