"Fucked Up Beyond Any Repair"
Muhammad Ali said it best when he said, “I hated every minute of training, but I said, Don't quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.”
The Owner of Ironman expresses a similar concept,"Swim 2.4 miles. Bike 112 miles. Run 26.2 miles. Brag for the rest of your life!"
Shortly after my arrival into Rochester, NY I picked up my bike from FedEx and put it together. I was reminded of why I live and train in Boulder when I was greeted with 60* temps and a mix of rain with a shot of cold. I also found that when you fill your bike tires up at alt. they will be under less pressure here at sea level, they were flat! Which made for an interesting test ride after no pump was found.
Other then the tires the ride went well and I reintroduced the legs to this thing called biking. It wasnt more then 5 miles and everything seemed in good shape except for having a miss alignment of the front wheel and handle bars (quick fix). I guess sometimes I just cant see straight, Its like those times you hang a picture and swear that the ceiling or floor is crooked.
The next day I went for a short run of 1.5 miles at 7:48 pace and I actually had sore hamstrings from my test bike ride the day earlier. This leads me to believe that I may have tapered a little early (which is tough when you have to ship your bike 5 days early). We then packed up the car for an hour ride headed to Syracuse for packet pick up around 2pm under sunny skies and warmer temps that were not destine to last. The expo was pretty much the weakest I've ever seen but the pick up was very organized.
After signing my life away and getting my wrist band we headed down to Jamesville Park to check in our bikes (to leave overnight). I had a great TA spot about 3 rows from the bike out transition and was even greeted by a sticker with my name on it. After pumping up my tires to 105 psi and changing the gears to prepare for the short hill that started at the mount line, we went to the water to check out the swim course. The water was 62*, cold, but manageable in a wetsuit. The Transition from the swim to the bike however was about 800m long spanning across a rocky parking lot. I felt like they could have had the transition a little closer to the water, but I guess this isnt Nam, there are rules.
I had Grilled chicken and garlic pasta for dinner and went to bed around 10pm, after visiting with some old friends who were just in awe at the mere mention of this race.
The morning of the Race:
I got up at 4:45 not feeling nervous or tired in the slightest. I opened a good luck card as I ate my bagel. Apparently the secret surprise awaiting me at the finish line was that Ky, flying and traveling through the night from Ashville to Syracuse to be there. Cue the nerves, but more so I was just in disbelief and concentrated my focus on getting to that finish line. The drive to the start line was about 40 mins with an added 40 mins due to limited park access and the morons directing people to park (they seriously needed additional training), dont worry, I told them a thing or two.
Due to our late arrival the bathroom lines were already long so my sister and I opted for the woods. We set up our transition areas just as they were closing it, got kicked out of there and then 5 mins later they delayed the start by 15 mins and reopened. We got our body marking out of the way and picked up our chips (not sure why they did this the day of the race but it ran pretty smoothly).
I was the first AG wave (30-34) right after the Pro Men and Pro Women. My wave seemed stacked!! I waded into the water at about position center, offset right. The air temp was about 58*, much warmer then the 44* expected and I enjoyed the fact of not having to stand around in my wetsuit for an hour waiting for my wave start. The announcer seemed a bit groggy still and really didnt get the excitement from the crowd.
My swim was extremely bumpy at first, but I stayed calm, steady, and strong throughout, and fended off my space with honor. I had moments where I was next to someone and did manage to draft a little. With 1000m to go I felt strong, and even passed a pro male. I could have pushed it maybe 2 mins faster but took it easy as this is a long race.
My T1: Ran without a stagger but huffing pretty good to my bike. Took some water and got the rest of my wetsuit off. I decided to put my socks on now and not have my bike shoes already attached to the bike (since it was a wet grassy run to the mount line).
It was still dark when I got on my bike and my sunglasses instantly fogged up making it hard to see anything at all. At mile 2, the first turn, I hit a storm grate but kept on trucking. At mile 3 I was greeted by a massive hill that slowed progress but I did pass a few people still recovering from their swim (I guess thats the Boulder in me).
At mile 5 there was trouble! My front tire went flat. I stayed calm though, knowing that it was way too early for a flat but nothing I could do about it, I formed solutions not hysteria. It only took me 7 mins to change out and I was back rolling. At mile 6 however my back tire started to thud a bit and I thought I may have bent my rim from that sewer grate.
Downhill at mile 10, my first opportunity for a little rest I had a massive blowout. Air was rushing out of somewhere and at first I thought it was just my compressed air, but about half way down the hill I had my second flat. Second flat with no way of repairing it because I had already used my one reserve tube. Basically I was screwed! I took off my wheel and walked up the hill in my bike shoes (I figured no one would stop on the down slope but there was a chance of flagging someone down at the top of the hill when they were still going slow). I managed to flag down #218 telling him its over for me, I just want to finish, and he let me have a tube. Thanks man!
I was starting to hate the bike section and even though I had spent time off the bike, my legs and body were by no means recovered. I took it slow, determined stay on the bike and not to have another flat.
That was until mile 15 when that back tire I had just repaired, went flat. Those compressed air cans really are only a one time use thing even if you get the size 16. This time I had to borrow air and a tube but I was on a flat and the riders passing me were going much slower. Rider 246 felt my pain and without stopped dropped supplies beside me in the grass and pedeled on. I wasnt even half way yet and I was starting to feel like I was on some pit crew or something. By this time it had started to rain and I stowed the sunglasses. A dense fog had rolled in preventing anyone from seeing more then 2 miles in front of them and the inability of seeing how high the next hill was. An hour had already passed since I left transition and I had a lot of race left to go. The first water station was around this point and I grabed some G2. I was surprised of how many spectators were out cheering us on and making noise, that was awesome!
At mile 20 I passed by a ski resort which had mowed the face of the main run all but the a HUGE Ironman M and the Dot. Wish I had a picture of that. Half way, it was time to get back to my plan and have a gel, I mean not having a flat tire for over 10 miles was something to celebrate at this point. The party was short lived when faced with another massive hill to conquer. This one even took a few bikers off their bikes and on foot. Something that I refuse to allow in my tool shed!
The next 30 miles were a blur exept for the 12 Warriors standing at one of the turns roaring their heads off (finishers of the Warrior Dash, NY a day earlier). To be honest I dont know what happened to me in the last 10 miles but I know it was slow because I was getting passed by people that I should have never seen the whole race.
I reached the dismount line itching to get off, along side another guy with similar feelings but poor exicution. As he teetered over still clipped in I skidded down the wet grass to my spot. My socks were soaked so I decided to change them and I had had to go to the bathroom for 2 hours now so I stopped by the jon on my way out to run. My legs were beat but not entirely heavy, I thought to myself.. im off the bike, there is nothing that is going to stop me from finishing now.
The run course started out with this wacky u-turn and apparently the bathroom idea was contagious. At mile 3 the curse returned and I was overcome by the worst stomach cramps of my life. I was slowed to a humbling hunched-over walk. I stopped at each water station for liquid intake and left it in search of the next a mile a way, taking it a mile at a time. At mile 6 it wasnt getting better, I pulled off into McDonalds, no not for a Big Mac. I began to shake and I even threw up. Downed more water and after 30 mins of this I decided it was time to get to the next mile. As I got back on course my sister was there trotting along and looking strong. We walked a little and I told her my troubles so that she would be able to relay the info to my fans at the finish (a destination I was now 3 hours late to).
I spent 30 mins at mile 7 sitting on the curb in the fetal position hoping for the pain to subside when Ky came running up from the finish nearly 6 miles away to try to find me. Before that moment all they knew from Ironmanlive.com was that I had finished the bike and was somewhere out on the run. I was in rough shape but after 4cups of water I started to feel a little better.
I got to mile 9.3 and reached a point where I couldnt go on. My first Ironman 70.3 was going to be a Fail. I couldnt stand up straight, It was too painful to even move, I was wet and now cold from the lack of movement. Getting your timing chip taken off is one of the worst feelings in the world. This is when you succumb to the realization that the dream will not be coming true today.
As it turns out, the training was the easy part and no amount of preparation can see you through when luck is not on your side. So How do I feel? Part of me agrees with Thomas Edison, "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that don't work," but what have I learned from this? Much of it was out of my control. Either way I will forever have the experience under my belt and I wouldnt take back my decision to enter, they dont call it a "Tri" because its a walk in the park. I guess we can consider this attempt #1 and every training cycle and race from here on out will be that much stronger because I redefined my limits that much more.
Looking at the positives: I had a great swim and new PR in that, I was able to finish the bike course even though I couldnt keep air in my tires, and I did complete 66.3 miles which is more then enough activity for one day.
Whats next?
Not sure. Right now its dependent on how my body recovers. In the days that followed I had sore ankles, knees, shoulder and my bodily systems were not representative of the well oiled machine I was going into the race. I'll be seeking medical opinion to try to figure out what happend and if its even safe to have a second attempt.
SWIM BIKE RUN OVERALL RANK DIV.POS.
35:40 3:25:13 --:-- --:-- -- --
LEG DISTANCE PACE RANK DIV.POS.
TOTAL SWIM 1.2 mi. (35:40) 1:52/100m 402 59
TOTAL BIKE 56 mi. (3:25:13) 16.37 mph
TOTAL RUN 13.1 mi. (--:--) --/mile --
TRANSITION TIME
T1: SWIM-TO-BIKE 3:33
T2: BIKE-TO-RUN 4:54
I want to thank Ky, and my family for coming down and showing their support (sorry for the scare), and my fans for their support through my long 10 months of training. My goal was to at least inspire others and modivate them to get out there and try new things. Feel free to ask me any questions you may have about the race or my experience.
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