Thursday, November 30, 2006

I did the tattoo thing...


A few days later I had it done...right calf.

Days after...


I am very proud of the hard work of training and my race accomplishment. I was very happy to not have had any problems. It's a day where many things can go wrong, and thankfully they didn't.
There's was definitely post Ironman depression. I hard a hard time a few weeks after the race...then get this box in the mail. I was one of 3 raffle winners from the Ironman race expo. The nice people at GU sent me a jersey, bid shorts, sox, hat, and water bottles. I was really stoked! This helped to get me out of my funk.
I was also a bit bummed out because I never heard the "“you are an Ironman"” thing in the finishing chute. I had such "tunnel vision" on the finish line. Surprisingly it bothered me that I missed that.

Thanks GU!

Race plan re-examine

I think I had a solid race plan. I broke each part into smaller parts. I think it’s the only way to do it, just focusing on the next piece. The swim was 2 loops. The bike was to Verona, loop 1, loop 2, and from Verona back to Madison. The run was two loops broken down into 4 parts. It’s the only way to mentally attempt such a large undertaking.

The aftermath


All I wanted to do was enjoy being warm. I thought I might be hungry my wife “L” calls her mom back at the hotel and order a pizza. We get back to the room and I get a great big hug from my daughter “S,” it felt great! She asked me to read her a story, and I agreed. About 3 pages into it, my wife offers to take over and I agree. I couldn’t concentrate, I could see the words but I couldn’t really get them out. Strange. Soon after…bed. It felt so good. The next day we saw “K” and his family, and we are both surprised at how good we each feels. We walk to the Ironman Village and pick up our race photos, and buy some more race swag.

I am an IRONMAN!

Post-race


Now I ‘ve got my super space blanket and some WARM soup broth standing in line for a finisher picture since I don’t know if I’ll do this again. Someone starts talking to me, and I feel someone and it’s my wife. She pushed her way through the fence to get to me. She has the best smile; I can almost feel it radiating heat. My heart warmed up to be there together. The picture standing with my medal on trying hard to smile…it’s not too good, but that’s cool. We go to transition changing room and the best part of the day happens…dry, warm clothes. It felt so good I can’t even think of how to describe it!

Race - Run


Out back into the cold, wet day to run the marathon. I feel pretty good, and tell myself no mater what just keep moving. One it will help keep me warm, and two stopping in the wet & cold might make it very hard to get going again. I would check the race clocks here and there trying to do about a 10-minute mile. During the first loop I see “K” he looks good, and he asks how I’m doing. Less than one minute later I see “E”, and we both acknowledge each other. It’s nice to see someone you know "knee deep" in it with you. As I turn around (at the finish line) for my second run loop I can hear the people finishing and the “you are an Ironman” and I get totally chocked up! Out on the course, and now I’m checking out things from the first loop and running from landmark to landmark. I am about 3 miles from the finish…I am TOTALLY sick of being tired, wet, and cold, so I start running “hard.” After going for 12+ hours “hard” has a whole new meaning. I ran about a 9-minute mile, no one passed me, and felt like I was on a mission. The harder I went the sooner I could stop! I come up the little hill right by the finish. I can’t believe I’m almost done… I think for a second what to do crossing the fifinsh line for a picture I will be very proud to have, and maybe my only Ironamn. I turn the corner and am in the final stretch, I run right past the volunteers waving people to start their second loop with a smile. I get into the finish shoot, I look back, I’m all alone…cool. I put my arms up, the "beep" of the champion chip. I am an Ironman. **12:38:34** Two people “catch” me. I am rtying hard to unlock the keys on my watch so I can stop it. The guy on my right asks something to the effect that it’s important to stop my watch…I reply, “actually it is.” He then asks if I am okay and I say “yea” with I am sure a very puzzled look on my face. You are really out of it at that point. I think since your brain has been processing movement for 12+ hours it takes it a bit of time to "recalibrate.”

Race – Bike & T2


Out to the bike, hop on and ride down the other helix and out for 112 miles. About 4 minutes into the bike there was a large crack in the road and there's a volunteer pointing out the crack and and yelling to hold on to your water bottles. LAUNCH! There goes one of 4 water bottles. I think about 15-20 minutes into the bike it started to rain. This is going to be an even longer day...a rainy day! I hear “nice swim" as “K" rides quickly by me on his Felt B2...he’s strong on the bike and super strong on the run. Wow, I was surprised to be out of the water before "K." Wisconsin is a very hilly bike course. Wet roads and trying to really push it, it took a large amount of concentration. I never thought a would do 43 MPH in the rain, downhill, with some good crosswind sections, BUT this was the Ironman!!!! Half way through the bike I stop grab the special needs bag, re-suppuly, and down a Red Bull. Out to go at it again for the second loop, trying to push, but also keep the “metering" of energy in check. I was so stoked to make the turn back to Madison. On the final few miles it was into the wind, raining, it SUCKED, and then you've got to ride up that freakn'’ helix again! It doesn't sound like that big of a deal, but at that time it was. Bike done and feeling pretty decent. **Bike time 6:41:14** Into T2, it felt so good to take off these cold wet clothes. Dry socks...so good! Change and make sure you've got everything. **T2 9:27**

Race – Swim & T1


In the water for about, I think 15 minutes prior to the start. Bobbing up an down…nervous on “high alert.” CANNON BLAST 7am “Game On!” I really like the mass start…it is crazy! The water was a bit rough, which suited me well since the first 26 years of my life I grew up surfing in California. The people who only are pool swimmers it was quite a change so many people, and the lake conditions (choppy) themselves. I find this part the hardest mentally. It’s one hour plus totally inside your own sensory deprivation chamber. The 2.4-mile swim was a two rectangular loop course. One loop done, still hard to relax, trying to keep a reasonable pace. Keep the excitement in-check it’s going to be a long day. Making the last turn toward the shore…the end is in sight. It was a great feeling to be done with the swim, with a time I was very happy with. **Swim time 1:05:39** I get the help of the wetsuit strippers, say “Thanks” and start running toward the helix. You go from water level up a helix (parking lot round about) about 2 floors up to transition. I take a quick look at my heart rate 171, whoa…way too high. Relax; get the heart rate under control. T1 Deep breathe. Make sure you get all your stuff since you’ll be on the bike for I hoped between 6:30 to 7 hours. It’s cold still low 50’s. I have the arm warmers on and most importantly a wind proof vest to help keep the core warm. **T1 10:21**

Big morning - September 10, 2006


Transition opened at 5am and the race started at 7am. I wake up at 4:30am. Got my gear together and meet “K” in the lobby and walked down to the race together. Having people to hang out with who are going through this is VERY helpful. You each feed off each other’s nervous energy. You also have great ideas and suggestions to kick around. We get to bike transition and I pump up my tires. As I finish pumping up the back tires and tighten the valve…the whole valve pushes down inside the stem. I was freaked out a bit. I take my pump over to “K.” When he’s done I ask him to come check out my “situation.” He and I look at it and determine that it’s holding air, so it “should” be all right. We then go down into the convention center (it’s where T1 & T2 are) and make a bathroom break, and kind of hang out. It get’s close enough and we put on the wetsuits and head toward swim start. The air was cold, low 50’s, and the water felt warm. “K” and I pick out a spot toward the front of the 2400+ mass swim start

Sat. swim & transition bag drop


Saturday morning I went down to Lake Menonoa and did a short 20-minute swim. I walked down with my friend "K" and we met "E" at the lake. We swam a bit, and stopped and talked about things we'd heard, strategies, and then swam a bit more. It felt great to get a little nervous energy out.
After the swim we had lunch, and then back to the hotel and gather up the transition bags and bike. The day before the race you need to drop off your T1, T2, Special Needs bike, Special Needs run bags. The bike must be dropped off at transition. Since there was a chance of rain overnight, so people where making make shift bike covers to keep them dry overnight. When this was all done I felt much better.

Travel to Madison & Pre-Race expo

Luckily I live near an Ironman race. I can actually drive 3 hours to Madison. This makes it a much easier. I think the hassle of flying, packing your bike would add a large amount of stress.
So I get up there on Friday to the Double Tree, and canĂ‚’t check in yet. I park my car at the hotel, and make the 10-minute walk to “Ironman Village” and register, pick up the race packet etc. One interesting part is there is a “weigh-in” for the unfortunate medical problem. They use this number to determine whether you are dehydrated or are suffering from hyponitremia (spelling?)(too much fluid, not enough salt). It kind of makes you go whoa. You are totally freaked out, nervous, excited!

Friday, November 24, 2006

picture test



I am trying to bring myself up to speed quickly on my blog site and how to post photos etc. I am trying to make up for lost time.

Taper aka Time to really freak out!

I did a 3 week taper for IM Wis. It's time for you body to recover and getting ready to really kick your own ass! You go from doing all the training to progressively less and less. As we train less and less your level of "freak" grows more and more! It's a stressful time. I am very glad I only had to drive 2:30 hours to Madison. I can't imagine flying somewhere, that must only exacerbate the stress! Make lists of what you want to bring, what you need for race day...it helps you maintain somewhat normal stress level. Trust your training.

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

I am still alive...

I have failed miserably! To keep this BLOG up. The Ironman is over and I plan to get this going, AND give a race report. I will forge ahead and make this......as good as I can. I will attempt to fill in from July 2006 to November 2006.

Have a happy and safe Thanksgiving!!