I will start from the beginning. . . January 1st, 2008. I was 220 lbs and had signed up for Ironman (2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, 26.2 mile run) in
July of 2007. I was now faced with the fact that in order do the best that I know I could do, I would have to loose anywhere from 30-35 lbs. Well, to make a long story short. . 31 lbs was lost. . . and the final time showed that when I crossed the finish at 6:27.05 PM on Sunday June 22,2008. So here we go. . . .
Wed June 18th, Amy and I left at 6:30AM for Sokane, WA and then a 20 minute drive to Coeur D'Alene (CDA), Idaho. We met a fellow athlete from Kansas City on the plane, her name is Dawn McPherson and it was her first, we sat next to her from Denver to Seattle and from Seattle to Portland, which seemed to make the time go faster since we were able to talk about triathlons and the people that we both knew. Once we landed in Spokane, it was total chaos and waiting for the next 3+ hours. I had Amy get our bags while got in line for the rental car. To make a really long story short, we had to wait 3+ hours for our rental car before we could head to CDA. Plus. .Amy was getting physically sick, head cold and aches.
Got into town and I went on a 30 minute run down to the race start and back. .I felt good and the weather was great. Although, I started to feel a little head cold coming on too.
Thursday June 19th: I woke up at 5:00 AM (remember they are two hours behind us here) and got some things togther and headed down to the lake for a 7:00 AM practice swim. Amy stayed in bed to get some sleep (which she needed. I got to the lake and met up with some BeginnerTriathlete.com friends. We all got ready and headed down to the lake. I went in the lake and the water was COLD!!!! It was 56 degrees and I started to swim and my face was freezing, my brain was cold and even though I am VERY comfortable in water, I started to have my doubts. I pushed through the cold and finally started to settle down and swam 1.2 miles in 32 minutes, which I was very happy about. I wasn't going for a specific time, but I was happy that even though I would stop and sight and just recover from the cold, my time was still really close to 30 minutes. . . The rest of the day I just hung around the house and took it easy. Amy's parents got in later in the afternoon and my parents were already in town but staying over close to Spokane. Amy's parents and us went to eat at Mongolian BBQ. . . which would come back to haunt me in about 24 hours.
Friday June 20th: This was a planned rest day, so all I had to do today was to go register and get my packet and race stuff. Amy was starting to feel a little better, but still not 100%, my head cold was a little better too. . . I just didn't want to get really sick. After we ran around town and got some stuff and I registered, we sat down to eat dinner. . shortly after my stomach got cramps and pains and suffering etc. . to make a disgusting story short, I was up all night on the toilet. . .the whole time thinking, I have an Ironman race in about 36 hours. . that was really tough on me physically but emotionally I was having a tough time. I had spend the past 6 months training day and night, watching what I eat, taking care of myself, spending money (oh yeah, this is not a cheap sport) just to get ready for this moment. AND here I was sick. . . very sick. . .I drank a whole bottle of Pepto Bismol that night. :)
Saturday June 21st: Amy and I woke up early (she was feeling better by now) and we went to the grocery store and I got some more Pepto Bismol. . took a few more swigs and then we all went to the Coffee shop. We tookd my bike and gear bags down at around 11 or so and we went through the merchandise tent so NA sports can get some more of our money. I didn't eat anything till 12:00 that day when I had some crackers and chicken noodle soup and applesauce. I had been drinking water and gatorade, to try and get fluids into my system. I started to feel somewhat better by the afternoon and things seemed to have "stopped" happening. I continued to eat just applesauce, chicken noodle and crackers (I think I ate a half a box of crackers). By the evening I was feeling better still with just some grumblings. . . but there was at least hope. I do want to mention that I prayed about every 2 hours that the Lord would make me better. . .as always he answered my prayers. NONE OF THIS WOULD BE POSSIBLE WITHOUT MY HEAVENLY FATHER.
GOAL TIME: BREAK 12 hours
SUNDAY June 22: RACE DAY. . . I woke up at 4:30 and felt great. I didn't have any more stomach pain/feelings and was able to eat a GU, Accelerade, piece of bread and banana. Actually I felt the best this morning than I did any other day of the week. We loaded up the car and headed down to the transition area/start. I checked over my bike and put air (not too much) in the tires (110 psi). Went to the my transition bags to put my orthotics in the bag and then check on my swim to bike bag. Everything seemed good to go. It had rained the night before, but I waterproofed my bike and bags, so all was dry.
I hung out with Amy and her mom while Andy was off to get Coffee for everyone (besides me). My parents showed up a little later. It was great to have my mom there. .she wasn't able to be there last year because of her monther (which I 100% understand) but I am glad she was able to experience the whole experience with us this year. I put my wetsuit on and gave Amy a kiss and headed down to the swim start. I saw Dawn on the way and we walked onto the beach and then I told her good luck and I headed to the far left to get out of the main crowd and as far to the front as I could.
We stood on the beach and watched the pros come in from their first loop. Standing there getting ready to start is perhaps one of the most nervous and greatest feelings in the world. Everyone is ready to go, the crowd is pumped up and then a helicopter comes buzzing overhead. . .the whole experience is like no other.
Shortly after the pros went on their second lap it was our turn to start. We played the Star Spangled Banner and then the announcer got us ready to go.
BANG!!!!!!! The cannon goes off and before you know what is happening your legs and arms start going and you have begun an Ironman race with 2100+ people.
THE SWIM: I had a good first lap, although my sighting was bit off, I am a much better pool swimmer than open water swimmmer, but I do hold my own in the lake. I didn't get hit or hit anyone on the first lap, and the whole time I am just thinking this seems to be taking forever. I made the far turn and started back towards the beach. Before long I exited the swim, ran on the beach and then was back in the water for lap 2. My watch said 27 minutes, so I figured I was about righ on track and wanted to pick up the second loop a little quicker. The second loop went quicker and on the final leg coming back to the beach the group I was with started to catch some of the slower swimmers who were still on their first lap. I was just thinking that I was glad I was not them. . and I was almost done with the swim. I finished the swim and ran over the timing mat. 56 minutes and 36 seconds
Transition 1: I made it to the wetsuit stripper and the wetsuit was off in a second, the only thing is my goggles and cap got caught in the sleeve, but at least I was out of the wetsuit. I ran and grabbed my bag, was in the tent and changed into my bike gear. Time was 5 minutes 49 seconds.
Bike: I started on the bike easy but my heart rate was up high around 179 or so. . I worked on getting it back down during the first 10 to 20 miles and it finally setteled down to 155 or so. I did notice that my lower back and hamstrings were really really tight and sore. I tried to stretch them out as much as possible on the first 56 miles, I knew that if they didn't get loose then it could be a long long day. The first lap wasn't too bad, I was averaging around 20+ mph on the first 30 miles and that was with some big climbs. The wind was picking up out of the south, which meant heading back into town to start the second loop would be met with winds of around 20-30 mph. I just tried to stay as aero as possible and conserve as much energy as I could. I made it back into town just in time to hear the announcer say that the group that was going by now was among the top age group women. . .that made me smile. There are some fast women out there, no doubt about that. At mile 63 is the special needs bag stop, so I stopped for about 30 seconds to get some essentials and then headed back out for the final 39 miles. The second loop seemed a lot more difficult than last year, although that is because last year I was on the side of the road for an hour and half waiting for tech support, so this year I got to experience the real pain of the bike. Some of those hills on the second loop killed a lot of people. Going 8mph up the hill was a good thing at that point. On the way back into town the wind was gusing up to 30+ mph, but I just tried to stay areo and back off a little, because I realized that I still had 26.2 miles to run.
I also realized that I needed to be off the bike and on the run in under 7 hours in order to guarantee myself a sub 12 hour finish.
Time: 5 hours 46 minutes 23 seconds Avg speed: 19.4 mph.
Transtition 2: I was off the bike quick, to my bag and to the tent. .helmet off, shorts changed, shoes on and I was off. 2 minutes 26 seconds. I knew that 12 hours was doable. . . I was on the run in under 7 hours.
RUN: Well, never been much of a quick runner, but I just telling myself that I need to run no matter what. . I would only walk through the aid stations about every mile apart. So I started running, and the thing is, I felt really good. I was clicking off 9 minute miles through mile 6 and then with the walking of aid stations, went to around 10 minutes till mile 13 or so. Here is where I knew I would have to push through the pain. Each time I run long, when it starts to get to mile 15-18, the pain really starts to set in. I also know if I can get through this 3-4 mile stretch then I will be ok, because my body settles down and realizes that we still have more to go so don't get so stressed out. Well, mile 14-18 was the hardest, I just kept running and focusing on making it to the next aid station. Somewhere around mile 20 I started feeling good again and knew that I would make my 12 hour time no problem. . but then I realized something else that would make me realize more pain. .. If I pushed a little, I could possibly break 11hours and 30 minutes, which if you would of asked me if that was possible a week or even a day before I would have said NO!!! Well, it was possible, and I started to pick the run up. The final 2 miles were pure pain, I saw Travis and Bonnie (BT friends) on the course and each gave me encouragement. .. the last .2 miles are perhaps the best thing. Turning down the final street you can see the finish and the place is just packed with people. .I knew I was going to break 11 hours and 30 minutes and I started to look for my family. . they were about 3/4 way down towars the finish and I saw them and gave it a fist pump. . I was very excited. RUN TIME: 4 hours 35 minutes 51 seconds.
FINISH:
I had planned out my finish in my head and had to remind myself to not look down at my watch as I finished the race. . instead throw the arms up and enjoy the moment. . . .I got the crowd going when I was nearing the finish and made sure that I was all alone so not to get in anyone's way as I crossed the finish line. . I finished in 11 hours 27 minutes 5 seconds. I was very excited. . and also very tired. I pushed myself on the run, something that yes has to be done, but does not feel good. . .
After: I say my whole family and it was great having everyone there. Mom, Dad, Andy, Stephanie, Amy and Aunt Janet and I got to talk to my Aunt Connie on the phone. I tried to eat some pizza, but spit it out. . because my body couldn't handle food. . I drank some water, walked around and then got my bike and bags. walking was very hard after the race, but I was so happy to be done and with the time I had.
Thoughts: The only problem with going 11:27 is now, I wonder how much faster can I go??? If I could take a half hour off, then that would be a sub 11 hour. . which is very respectable. Then if I could take another 45 minutes that would be 10:15, which puts me in World Championship qualifaction territory. . . who knows. . .
We will see. . . I am already thinking of doing Ironman Wisconsin in 2009. . .then maybe back to CDA in 2010.
