TriRidgefield

Administrator April 18th, 2008

Ironman Arizona, April 13, 2008..finishing time 13:34:57

Alright, I am finally getting to this. I would like to thank everyone who supported me on this crazy journey of training and completing my first ironman. Everyone told me I was out of my mind for considering Arizona as my race of choice..in retrospect you were all probably right, but I am stubborn and like to find out the hard way.

Race week, came and I was a nervous wreck. I am sure some of you knew from the frequency of the phone calls and emails…thanks for dealing with it, nobody complained, at least not too me. The Sunday before my race, my son, Ethan came home from NYC with some sort of stomach bug. Over the next three days the three other members of my family got it and were vomiting. My daughter who slept six inches from me on Tuesday night, woke up throwing up. Right there I thought it was over…we were looking for hospitals in Tempe to see if I could get iv fluids when I got there, because we were pretty positive I was a going down as well. Long story short, I didn’t get sick. First bullet dodged.

Race day forecast, mid 90s, windy, desert conditions, oh my. IT HASN’T BEEN HIGHER THAN 85 FOR THE LAST MONTH!!

The swim..The water temp was said to be 65..not sure about that, it was cold..Oh well..I can do cold, I have been doing cold all winter. The pro start was 6:45 am, they got in at 6:30. Our start was 7 am, they started trying to get us in at 6:40. Most people stood on the edge pretending that they didn’t hear the PA blasting “jump in the water!” I got in at 6:43..17 minutes of treading water. I went right into the thick of the pack…scary feeling. When that cannon goes off the roar of the crowd is amazing, you really can hear the spectators even though there are over 2000 people all over you. It really wasn’t as bad as I thought. I held my own, nobody swam over me, I didn’t get kicked too much, no punching. I stayed strong, meaning swimming with my elbows high guarding my face and before I knew it the panic subsided and we were just swimming. I felt that I made relatively decent time on the first 1.2 miles down, but I took the turn too wide and really fell out of the draft and that is where I lost a lot of time. Hey, chalk it up to a rookie mistake..next time that won’t happen, but you know what?? When I got out of the water I felt good. I wasn’t hyperventilating and was ready to knock out the bike.

Not much to say about the first transition..I gobbed on some vaseline on my cut up armpits..the seam of my shirt got me..something to do with how it lined up with the sleeveless wetsuit seem..ouch… “You’ve gotta be kidding me” That’s what I said on mile one to the rider next to me. Wind..already, a lot of it. That is not how I planned to make up my pedestrian swim time. I settled in for a long ride and looked at my watch. Perfect, 1:40..start my nutrition..nice even number to work with. Every 20 minutes for the next 6.5 hours I ate a gel (GU) and washed it down with some sort of sports drink. (started with 3 bottles of GU2O and finished with the gatorade endurance formula that is offered on the course.) I cannot say enough good things about the Gu products after 18 gels I felt great..just a good product. The course is a 3 loop 36 mile out and back with the last loop slightly longer. 18 miles out of constant wind in your face..I mean real wind..blowing your bike from side to side hang on for dear life at some points wind. Oh yeah, there’s a hill too, any other day, that hill is nothing, but not with the headwind..My speedometer actually read 10 mph at some points…ugh.. There are rewards to this though. The way back had a great tailwind and a downhill. I was able to easily keep it between 25-30 mph for a good 10 miles on the way back. After that 20-25 was pretty easy to keep up until you got back to the downtown section where it gets all twisty and congested. Oh yes, one more thing, on that fast downhill there was a really nice dust/sandstorm that ripped across the highway and plastered me with dirt..it was huge, the kind of thing you see in movies..like “The Mummy” when the giant sandstorm is trying to eat them..nice. 6:20..time to eat..no gels left..no big deal, aid station ahead..If I ever find the guy who gave me the 120 degree chocolate power gel..there will be words. It was disgusting..burned the whole way down, left me nauseous and basically just an unhappy guy…oh well move on.

The run..I was optimistic still, I was under 8.5 hours at this point(I dont feel like looking up the exact time) so realistically with a 4 hour marathon I was looking at 12 and change..I’ll take it. First mile, I am just running and not thinking of much…scratch that, I am still pissed at the gel guy. I’m beginning to feel crummy, and my hr is starting to rise..159..hmmn lets take it down a notch..I drop it back to 148 and and continue on. Aid station one..I can’t eat. My brain is telling me that if I put that gel anywhere near my mouth, I will not like the results..hint taken..I grab a gatorade and water and keep going. Aid station two..same thing..starting to get nervous..more hydration. Third one, I get an orange slice and I am able to eat that. Unfortunately there are next to no calories in a single orange slice..doesn’t go far. The heat at that time was unbearable. At least on the bike course you had the breeze from moving to cool you…somewhat. By this time, my arms are purple, I mean really purple..not too attractive but not going to stop me. The run course sucks, I just cannot think of a better way to describe it. 3 loop course, you run like mice through a maze of city street sidewalks, dirt paths, and all round crummy areas. The pavement at that time has got to be over 100 degrees and it is just killing you. I really cannot remember a lot of the run after mile 4 to mile 16..I was delerious and just surviving…still only eating small pieces of fruit that didn’t do much for my demeanor. The sun was really killing me, I hated it, would have been happy never to see it again. At the start of the 3 loop it was going down..I instantly felt like there was a chance…I grabbed a cup of chicken broth and said to the volunteer, “this will either help me, or finish me” She gave me a concerned look and said I cannot think that way..she was right. You cannot let your mind get that way. Thankfully it was the best tasting thing I have ever had, and I now attribute it to the turning point..my stomach felt better. Next I tried a gel..within a few minutes I was smiling..There was an athlete on the course who had finished for the day..on the highway overpass to be exact..pretty positive he was a pro..not sure which one, but he had an accent..maybe Rutger Beke..not sure. he was out there cheering us on. He looked at me and said with smile “This is your last loop, I can tell” It really meant a lot to me…not sure why. but it was cool to see someone giving back. The smile came over me face and I knew I could make it..running..hard..I had about 5 miles to go and was doing a gel every other station..I had to pass at least 100 people over these last few miles..it felt good and really turned a bad marathon into a win for me. I crashed on that run and was able to overcome it..

Ironman is no joke. To anyone who is thinking about it, take it seriously..the sum of it’s 3 parts was definitely harder than I thought. The conditions definitely played a part in this, but that is what makes it so tough. You never know what it is going to be like on race day. I will do it again..(without a newborn, not training in winter, and hopefully not with a 4 hour commute)

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