Well the time has finally arrived... Saturday 9/21/13 Ironman day (or not) for me. The day of the ultimate endurance challenge. I have been training for months and months for this.
On Thursday, I packed my bike in its plane bag, hauled it in my tiny 2 seater car and I was en route for Maryland. It was quite a trip, but after 2 flights and hours of traveling I was finally there. On Thursday night, the organizers had planned a complimentary buffet at the Hyatt hotel. I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the food. Various roasted vegetables, chicken breasts, pasta, deserts, all delicious. I made sure I consumed food in moderation though.
Friday I woke up around 7:30am. The day was mostly spent going to a pre race meeting, setting up my bike at the transition area (yeah one day before... kind of weird), shopping for a few groceries, watching TV and relaxing in my hotel room.
On Friday, I had also planned a little swim to get my bearings and a few visual markers for D-Day. However when I got close to the water the jellyfish were everywhere... Hundreds of them. So in the end I decided not to swim.
On Thursday, I packed my bike in its plane bag, hauled it in my tiny 2 seater car and I was en route for Maryland. It was quite a trip, but after 2 flights and hours of traveling I was finally there. On Thursday night, the organizers had planned a complimentary buffet at the Hyatt hotel. I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the food. Various roasted vegetables, chicken breasts, pasta, deserts, all delicious. I made sure I consumed food in moderation though.
Friday I woke up around 7:30am. The day was mostly spent going to a pre race meeting, setting up my bike at the transition area (yeah one day before... kind of weird), shopping for a few groceries, watching TV and relaxing in my hotel room.
On Friday, I had also planned a little swim to get my bearings and a few visual markers for D-Day. However when I got close to the water the jellyfish were everywhere... Hundreds of them. So in the end I decided not to swim.
In the center of the screen one of many jellies that day...
I went back to the hotel, had dinner in the hotel room and tried to go to sleep at 9pm.. Impossible to fall asleep.. At 10:30 I was still up. Eventually I managed to fall asleep around 11.
I woke Saturday morning at 5am, had a pancake, orange juice and cereals and drove to the race start area.
Loud music was blaring and the announcer was commenting on race day facts, interviewing some participants and such.
I set up my bike area , put my bike gear in the bike bag and put on my wetsuit. Then it was time for the national anthem, in front of the flag.
5 minutes before start, I got into the water towards the starting boeys.
I was looking around for jellyfish but I could not see any at this time of the day. It was close to 7am and still a bit dark though.
Soon the announcer started the countdown.
This was a mass start. No age group wave like I am used to. As soon as the countdown ended it was a bit chaotic. It seemed like the water was boiling, battered by hundreds of legs and arms at the same time. I plunged forward in the dark water and could only see the bright orange swim caps of nearby swimmers every time I was breathing.
I took a bit of a beating in this start. A few kicks to the face, a couple of punches at the back of my head, then more kicks to my stomach.. After a few minutes though, swimmers started to spread.
This was a 2 loop swim around a rectangular course, going clockwise.
The first half hour was pretty uneventful. I don't know if it was the current pushing me, but I was always 25 - 50 yards on the outside of the ideal swim line. I tried to correct it but it seemed that no matter what, I was drifting a bit.
In the first half hour, I kept waiting for a sharp sting from the jellyfish but got none and soon relaxed into an easy pace.
The sun started to come up and it seemed to wake up the jellyfish. Soon I started feeling a few stings a every couple of minutes. The stings were not as bad as I had imaged. It felt a bit like stinging nettle. maybe slightly worse. Still it wasn't pleasant, especially on the face. Occasionally I would feel the soft cap of the jellyfish under the tip of my fingers or my palm. Ugh...
I was eager to get out of the water. The more time I spent in the water, the worse it seemed to get. And boy did I spend time in the water...
I ended up swimming 2.6 miles (instead of 2.4) and it took me 2 hours. The third worse time of the day.. Ouch.
Coming out of the water was tricky. The end of the swim was set up on a boat ramp which was extremely slippery due to seaweeds. In fact some volunteers were helping people out of the water as it was incredibly hard to stand up. I lost my balance a couple of time but finally made it out.
I grabbed my pre-transition shoes and ran to the transition tent.
I then realized that in the process of coming out of the water, I cut my left big toe pretty bad. This could really be a bad problem for the run...
I grabbed my bike and was off
I woke Saturday morning at 5am, had a pancake, orange juice and cereals and drove to the race start area.
Loud music was blaring and the announcer was commenting on race day facts, interviewing some participants and such.
I set up my bike area , put my bike gear in the bike bag and put on my wetsuit. Then it was time for the national anthem, in front of the flag.
5 minutes before start, I got into the water towards the starting boeys.
I was looking around for jellyfish but I could not see any at this time of the day. It was close to 7am and still a bit dark though.
Soon the announcer started the countdown.
This was a mass start. No age group wave like I am used to. As soon as the countdown ended it was a bit chaotic. It seemed like the water was boiling, battered by hundreds of legs and arms at the same time. I plunged forward in the dark water and could only see the bright orange swim caps of nearby swimmers every time I was breathing.
I took a bit of a beating in this start. A few kicks to the face, a couple of punches at the back of my head, then more kicks to my stomach.. After a few minutes though, swimmers started to spread.
This was a 2 loop swim around a rectangular course, going clockwise.
The first half hour was pretty uneventful. I don't know if it was the current pushing me, but I was always 25 - 50 yards on the outside of the ideal swim line. I tried to correct it but it seemed that no matter what, I was drifting a bit.
In the first half hour, I kept waiting for a sharp sting from the jellyfish but got none and soon relaxed into an easy pace.
The sun started to come up and it seemed to wake up the jellyfish. Soon I started feeling a few stings a every couple of minutes. The stings were not as bad as I had imaged. It felt a bit like stinging nettle. maybe slightly worse. Still it wasn't pleasant, especially on the face. Occasionally I would feel the soft cap of the jellyfish under the tip of my fingers or my palm. Ugh...
I was eager to get out of the water. The more time I spent in the water, the worse it seemed to get. And boy did I spend time in the water...
I ended up swimming 2.6 miles (instead of 2.4) and it took me 2 hours. The third worse time of the day.. Ouch.
Coming out of the water was tricky. The end of the swim was set up on a boat ramp which was extremely slippery due to seaweeds. In fact some volunteers were helping people out of the water as it was incredibly hard to stand up. I lost my balance a couple of time but finally made it out.
I grabbed my pre-transition shoes and ran to the transition tent.
I then realized that in the process of coming out of the water, I cut my left big toe pretty bad. This could really be a bad problem for the run...
I grabbed my bike and was off
The beginning of the course was an out-and-back and then it turned to a 2 loop (about 45 miles each) until the run transition area (different area than T1).
The first part of the bike was fine. I was averaging 20 to 22mph with moderate effort, but when I started the first loop I met a strong head wind. My pace lowered to 18mph, As I tried to control my heart rate, I had to drop my pace down to 16 or even 15 mph!...
This wind was relentless and even though this was a loop, the only portion without headwind was about 15 miles at the end of each loop. Tough. In all my training I had never been confronted with this kind of headwinds for such long periods of time. I remember looking at my Garmin at mile 38 and feeling already pretty tired.. This was going to be a long day.
In the first loop, my between-the-arms bottle started to give me trouble. The plastic bottle holder was cracked and the bottle was coming off little by little. Towards the end of the first loop I met some pretty rough road and the bottle completely fell off on the road. I stopped, attached it back and pedaled away again. A few miles later it happened again. After the third time I decided to discard the bottle altogether. It is expensive so it was a tough decision but I had no choice. This meant that from now on, every time I needed water, I would have to stop completely to fill my other bottles (behind the saddle).
The second loop was getting tough on my back and it was getting increasingly difficult to maintain an aero position. Occasionally, I would stop pedaling and stretch my back while riding but it was getting painful.
I completed the bike in a little over 6 hours. Okay given the tough conditions...
The first part of the bike was fine. I was averaging 20 to 22mph with moderate effort, but when I started the first loop I met a strong head wind. My pace lowered to 18mph, As I tried to control my heart rate, I had to drop my pace down to 16 or even 15 mph!...
This wind was relentless and even though this was a loop, the only portion without headwind was about 15 miles at the end of each loop. Tough. In all my training I had never been confronted with this kind of headwinds for such long periods of time. I remember looking at my Garmin at mile 38 and feeling already pretty tired.. This was going to be a long day.
In the first loop, my between-the-arms bottle started to give me trouble. The plastic bottle holder was cracked and the bottle was coming off little by little. Towards the end of the first loop I met some pretty rough road and the bottle completely fell off on the road. I stopped, attached it back and pedaled away again. A few miles later it happened again. After the third time I decided to discard the bottle altogether. It is expensive so it was a tough decision but I had no choice. This meant that from now on, every time I needed water, I would have to stop completely to fill my other bottles (behind the saddle).
The second loop was getting tough on my back and it was getting increasingly difficult to maintain an aero position. Occasionally, I would stop pedaling and stretch my back while riding but it was getting painful.
I completed the bike in a little over 6 hours. Okay given the tough conditions...
At T2, I grabbed the run gear bag, put on my run shoes, attached my race belt and started running.
As usual in my triathlons, I started the run too fast. I always have this tendency. But thanks to my training and prior experience I quickly corrected my pace down to 8:30 per mile.
I started the run feeling actually completely spent. My toe was hurting, and I had a general sense of exhaustion that I have only felt towards the end of my marathons. But the most concerning was my back. Pain was shooting from my lumbar region up to the middle of my back at every stride.
I felt like the back muscles were ready to seize up and cramp. I knew that if that happened I would not be able to run. The pain was intense at the start of the run and getting worse by the mile.
After about 5 - 6 miles though, my back started relaxing.
I had a multitude of issues to solve though. The cut foot was okay. At this point my shoe was all red from the blood but the pain was manageable and I knew this would not stop me from running. However, another concern was the humidity. Never before have I run a marathon in such a humid environment (95% humidity on the day. A far cry from Utah's ultra dry conditions). The temperature was okay (~27 C or so at the start of the run) but the humidity made me sweat much more than I should. Given my condition I decided to stop at every mile rest station to drink. I alternated water and Gatorade,
The run was an out and back course repeated 3 times. On the way out, the wind was against me but this meant that the way back was a bit easier.
After about 15 miles I was feeling extremely bloated from taking too much fluid. This was very uncomfortable but I was still thirsty. Very strange and new for me.
Mile 20 was a turning point for the worse. I was feeling bloated and slightly nauseous from fluid intake and threw up a couple of times on the side of the road. My pace dropped significantly to 10 - 11 min per mile. At this point a light rain had started and was somewhat refreshing but it also made my feet worse and blisters soon appeared on my right foot.
After one last turn around though, I knew the end was near and I pushed hard to avoid walking.
The finish line was reached after one last lap around the high school stadium and at this point I had nothing, really nothing left in the tank. I must have looked like a zombie desperately trying to make my way to the finish.
I wasn't even able to pick up the pace in the last quarter mile around the stadium.
I lifted my fists in the air as I crossed the finish line.
My total time was a bit over 12.5 hours which leaves some margin for future improvement. But given the conditions and everything I went through that day, the victory was very sweet indeed.
I AM FINALLY AN IRONMAN
As usual in my triathlons, I started the run too fast. I always have this tendency. But thanks to my training and prior experience I quickly corrected my pace down to 8:30 per mile.
I started the run feeling actually completely spent. My toe was hurting, and I had a general sense of exhaustion that I have only felt towards the end of my marathons. But the most concerning was my back. Pain was shooting from my lumbar region up to the middle of my back at every stride.
I felt like the back muscles were ready to seize up and cramp. I knew that if that happened I would not be able to run. The pain was intense at the start of the run and getting worse by the mile.
After about 5 - 6 miles though, my back started relaxing.
I had a multitude of issues to solve though. The cut foot was okay. At this point my shoe was all red from the blood but the pain was manageable and I knew this would not stop me from running. However, another concern was the humidity. Never before have I run a marathon in such a humid environment (95% humidity on the day. A far cry from Utah's ultra dry conditions). The temperature was okay (~27 C or so at the start of the run) but the humidity made me sweat much more than I should. Given my condition I decided to stop at every mile rest station to drink. I alternated water and Gatorade,
The run was an out and back course repeated 3 times. On the way out, the wind was against me but this meant that the way back was a bit easier.
After about 15 miles I was feeling extremely bloated from taking too much fluid. This was very uncomfortable but I was still thirsty. Very strange and new for me.
Mile 20 was a turning point for the worse. I was feeling bloated and slightly nauseous from fluid intake and threw up a couple of times on the side of the road. My pace dropped significantly to 10 - 11 min per mile. At this point a light rain had started and was somewhat refreshing but it also made my feet worse and blisters soon appeared on my right foot.
After one last turn around though, I knew the end was near and I pushed hard to avoid walking.
The finish line was reached after one last lap around the high school stadium and at this point I had nothing, really nothing left in the tank. I must have looked like a zombie desperately trying to make my way to the finish.
I wasn't even able to pick up the pace in the last quarter mile around the stadium.
I lifted my fists in the air as I crossed the finish line.
My total time was a bit over 12.5 hours which leaves some margin for future improvement. But given the conditions and everything I went through that day, the victory was very sweet indeed.
I AM FINALLY AN IRONMAN
