So here I am 7 days after my first Ironman. I sit thinking am I to author a race report about whole the experience? That somehow I’m supposed to sum up the last 9 months of my experiences, the ups, the downs and possible revelations I’ve had, into some manageable report with pics. The task seems almost as daughting as the Ironman itself. I could make this practicaly a novel but I have decided to try and keep it has short as I can.
Thursday.
I have packed and repacked about 3 times. I probably have a small bike shop packed in my two bags and bike box. I’m ready for the three weather scenarios that Madison, WI could dish out. So if it’s hot and windy, cold and raining or just perfect, I have the gear to handle it.
Up at 4am, Kelley and I make an eventful trek to Chicago from Tampa. Once there we pick up the rental car. In no time flat we are headed to Madison. Kelley’s Garmin StreetMap GPS guids us the whole way. Just outside the airport on I-90, the gps said we had 112 to go. I look at Kelley and say, “Want to see what my bike ride is going to look like? Well here it is.”
We eventually met up with Brett and Emily from College Station Texas. We stop for a quick lunch along the way where Kelley gets to meet Emily and Kai for the first time. Once we arrive into Madison, we go straight to the Hilton at Minona Terrace. Brett and I checked in and got our bib #’s. I was 904 and he was 706. I comment that adding both #’s up, each come to the number 13. Unlucky for one of us.
Later in the afternoon Brett went off with Stu to drive the bike loop. During my registration I got a chance to meet with the “Queen of Kona” herself, Paul Newbie Fraser. I felt like a music fan meeting a rock star.
Checking into our room, I couldn’t help but notice the HUGE banner on the bed that read “Go Jetpack”. Jetpack being my username at Triscoop.com. Thank you Kelley for doing that.
Friday:
Kelley and I had breakfast and then met up with Emily and Brett. We’re were going for a swim in Lake Minona. I got to see some of the other team members from RaceAthlete.com. I also ran into two buddies from NJ, Chad & Ed. I have ridden with both in NJ when I was living there. Ed was racing and Chad was support.
I quick phone call to Mike Ricci of D3 Multisports to talk about my game plan. He helped focus my thoughts and drive home the fact that nothing I could do now would make me faster. Right now I needed to focus on how not to ruin each event, therefore ruining the whole thing.
Saturday:
Kelley and I met up with Stu and a big group of web bloggers. Met up with the parents again and had lunch at Paison’s. I was eating nothing but fish and pasta for the past couple of days. I could start to feel the ache in my legs. They started to feel very “full” and restless. I was expecting this after an interview with Eric Reid that has done a couple of IM’s. Those glycogen stores were red lining. At lunch I also got to meet up with Mark (Moonpie) and CindyJo (Cindy) from Triscoop.com.
I wake up just before 4am. I take down a banana and a drink of BOOST. Downstairs in the lobby I get some oatmeal, bagel , orange juice and coffee. Emily and Kai meet me and we all head back to the room. I then get my bottles ready for the bike and head to transition. On the way I get body marked and meet up with Chris Sweet. I check the tire pressure and then go to my special needs bag where I bump into Stu and Tricia.
Part of me thinking I should be thinking "Holy crap I'm about to do Ironman!" But I wasn't. I was excited and happy to be there. I just wanted to go the distance and have fun doing it. However, mixed in that was a very clear picture of a sub-goal. To beat Brett. I took him on and won at Wildflower. That whole smacktalk thing got started by Stu. Don't let anyone tel you different. I fell into it to help create some drama and get some attention for raceathlete.com, my podcast and brett's podcast. From there the smacktalk went nuts. I never figured I would win at Wildflower.
When I did, it got only worse (the smacktalk) Which was great. I loved it. In my mind no matter, which way it turned out, Brett and I were going to "win". If I lost, he redeemed himself from Wildflower. If I win, the smacktalk and rivalry would go from sub-orbit to the outer reaches of the galaxy. It was a win-win scenario.
But make no mistake, I planned to win. My plan of attack was always focused on the run. I figured that I had got him at Wildflower, in a 13.1, by 18 mins. Add in the swim and I "knew" that anything under 45 mins off the bike in an Ironman and I was golden. Anything over 45 mins and I was going to have trouble and from there on out it was going to be just about finishing the race. Never in my wildest dreams did I count on the final finish time I got.
I thought about this moment for a ling time. I thought I would be nervous, yet I was very excited and just wanted to start the swim. The water was flat and a nice temperature. It was perfect.
Swim:
BOOM! The canon goes off. I look at my watch and it reads 7am on the dot. I was only going to use my watch and look at what time of day it is. It’s an odd feeling timing yourself with a watch and your times are breakfast lunch & dinner. This race might take me until midnight so what was the point in using the timer.
So there I am. I am smack in the middle of the washing machine. I'm lined up with 2100 + other triathletes. Some were racing each other, some racing the clock, while others were racing themselves. I was doing a bit of all the above. I had a goal time in mind, I wanted to prove I could go the distance and I wanted to beat Brett! It was becoming my mantra "Beat Brett" "Beat Brett" "Beat Brett".
I was positioned in the middle towards the front. It was chaos. Just chaos for the 1st twenty minutes. I was kicked in the chest, once my goggles were pushed across my face, my feet were being swiped at and I was loving the whole thing. That was until after 30 minutes of that sh$t. Soon I realized I was stuck behind some pretty crappy swimmers.
Like my Ironman friend Eric said, “It’s a lot easier to get swum over than to swim around someone, so start out in the front.” I should have taken his advice. However, I was just too intimated to actually start out in the frontline on the swim. Next time I will. I say this cause I came upon some people that were literally kicking. It looked like they were pedaling their bikes underwater. Many times I wanted to lift my head and yell, “Stop pedaling, we’re not on the bike yet!” I was kicked a few times in the chest by their wayward feet that had come off their pedals.
I finished the 1st loop in 36 minutes. With very good sighting and good swim lines next to the buoys along with the herd thinning out, I was able to just relax and swim easy the rest of the course. When I thought I was going too hard I eased in the reigns on my effort level. Always thinking it’s going to be a long day, what’s the rush here. I was feeling great. I just maintained a certain level of exertion and kept stroking, breathing & thinking “Where’s Brett?” That’s all there was to it.
I could see the swim finish chute. Up and out I went. I caught a glimpse of Coach Adam on my right side. Just where I had left him when I went into the water. “Where’s Brett?!”, I yell to him. He snaps a picture and yells back, “He came out 1:05:00”. I look at the clock and I’m at 1:17:00. I felt great about being way under my guess time of 1:25:00. Everyone knew Brett would take the lead on the swim and the bike. I thought 12 minutes is nothing. I can make that up. Then I thought, “Did I swim too fast?” “Did I use up too much energy too soon?”
I pass my buddy Chad from New Jersey. At the top, I run into T1, grab my bag and go. Not very fast but it was smooth. In the changing room, it's all business. Some people looked like they were at the mall shopping for new clothes and trying them on. I had heard that the volunteers help you with your stuff. I was just taking care of myself. I threw my stuff out of the bag and onto the floor. I put it all on as fast as I could, stuffed the wetsuit and goggles into the bag and left.
To be Cont'd Part 2 on the way.