IRONMAN X 2!!!
Before getting to the specifics of the day I have to get this out of the way first… If you read my blog last week about goals, you know that I did not meet the bike, run or overall time goals. But, on Sunday, I gave it everything I had, and I know that I couldn’t have done any better, and there is absolutely no way I can be disappointed with that. Instead I am extremely happy, satisfied and ecstatic about the results of the day!
PRE-RACE
We got up at 3:30 a.m. I had some breakfast, eggs, toast, and a big glass of water with electrolytes. I got my last minute gear together and we were out the door by 4:10. Transition opened at 4:30 and I was close to the front of the line. As soon as I got to my bike, I loaded my nutrition/hydration and then dropped off my bike and run special needs bags. Then I realized that I forgot to put my electrolyte tablets on my bike so I had to hurry back and do that. Electrolytes are a major piece of my nutrition/hydration so I knew I had to go back and put the tablets on the bike – it was a little stressful but, I was still doing ok on time. I said my final goodbyes to Pat and Jen. I put on my wetsuit about 5:20 and then headed down to the beach to do a little swim warmup. When I got in the water, it felt warm – not like the water I swim in here which is always cold no matter the time of year and I really liked that – very comfortable for me.
I think it was about 5:45 a.m. when the National Anthem was played. I was still in the water warming up so I quickly got to a shallow enough area that I could stand and face the flag. It was pretty fantastic – I love hearing our anthem. After that they called all athletes out of the water to line up in our starting positions for the swim.
I am feeling amazingly calm and excited to start the day. :)
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| 4:00 a.m. SMILES! |
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| Jen hasn't had her coffee yet but, still functioning at 4:00 a.m. |
SWIM
The swim is a 2 loop course, kind of shaped like a rectangle. We swim out, away from shore, make a left turn, swim parallel to shore for a short distance, then another left turn, and back to shore, get out of the water, run across the sand, then repeat the loop again.
It is a rolling, self-seeded start. I thought I would swim about 1:45ish but, I figured I could handle myself if I lined up in the 1:16-1:30 group. I think I got in the water about 6:10-6:15 a.m. (not really sure). It is really congested right next to the buoys since that is the most direct/shortest line but, swimming there also means you are more likely to get knocked around a bit by other swimmers. So I purposely tried to swim on the outside of most swimmers. I got bumped every once in a while but, nothing too bad. I did not look at my watch at all while swimming and when I got done with the first lap I saw 48 minutes – WOW! Quick mental calculation and I knew I had a chance of swimming 1:40 which would be a dream time for me. So I just swam during the second lap – I wasn’t thinking about time, just thinking about my stroke, my body position, and swimming as straight as possible.
Speaking of swimming straight … the buoys going away from shore are yellow, the buoys going back into shore are orange. On my second lap, when I made the final turn to head back to shore I was sighting the buoys and I saw the yellow buoy really far away. Thought to myself - ‘how did you get so far off course in such a short time’ but, I just kept sighting it and swimming toward it… and still wondering how I got so far off course… Finally I feel this tap on my head – one of the safety personnel said you are really getting off course – go back that way. Somehow I had forgotten that I should be sighting on the orange buoys not on the yellow ones! :) HAHA! I just laughed at myself, got back on course and kept swimming.
2.4 mile swim time = 1:36!!! WOW!! That was the fastest I have ever swum!
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| Exiting Swim |
BIKE
The bike course is a 2 loop course. It goes out and back along the lake for about 15 miles, then continues out of town on an out and back for about 40 miles. The out of town part is about 20 miles of uphill – some really steep, some more gradual. There are a few short downhills but, it is mostly up (keep this in mind for later).
Starting out on the bike I felt really great – I was pumped about my swim and the weather was awesome (not too cold or hot, and no wind). I got into a groove during the first 15 miles, then tackled the climb. I was doing really well. I passed a lot of people on the hills which really surprised me. Matt had me working hard on hills/climbing all summer and that effort really paid off. I wasn’t riding outside my comfort zone to pass people, it was just happening. I told Matt “I was just riding my bike”! It felt really good. I was happy to get to the turnaround because with the downhill I knew I would really fly and pick up my average speed. By the time I got done with my first loop I think my average speed was about 15.5 - 16 mph – right where I wanted it.
2nd lap – oh boy! By the time I hit the course heading out of town again, the wind was blowing really hard (headwind). I knew it was going to affect my speed but, I did not pay too much attention to speed because there was nothing I could do about it. I just kept pedaling. Again on this lap I was still passing people on the hills – amazing! Thanks Matt for including the Hyalite ladder workouts – they were grueling but, I was well prepared for the CDA hills! :)
This lap was hard for everybody. There were a lot of people walking their bikes on the hills, and even when the hills kind of flattened out people were still walking because the wind was too much. I did not walk! :)
I was really glad to get to the turnaround because now I got a tailwind and hoped to make up some time. I went as hard as I could without blowing up (still need to get through a marathon run) and did make up some time but, it wasn’t enough to get my average back to 15 mph. I wasn’t worried or disappointed – just glad to be done.
One other side story here – on the way back into town it’s not all downhill – there are still a couple uphill climbs. On one of these uphills (2nd lap and everybody is tired and wind-blown), there were 3 guys riding 3 abreast which is not legal in the IRONMAN (drafting rules) but, they were just chatting trying to get the bike done and it didn’t bother me at the time. But when I rode past them one of them said – ‘geez do you have a motor in that thing?’ He was probably just kidding but, I kind of took offense to the implication that I might be cheating when they were the ones breaking the rules (again I’m tired and wind-blown). I replied “Nope, it’s just my legs” and kept pushing. I didn’t see them again (at least not on the bike)! :)
Back in town, about a mile left I see and hear Pat, Jen, Jody and Kraig. Jody is one of my WWT friends and Kraig is a Navy friend of ours who now lives in CDA. It was so nice to see and hear them! I can’t even begin to explain how much of a mental boost it is to have a cheering squad. Thanks you guys!! :)
112 Mile Bike = 7:34, Avg. speed 14.8 mph
RUN
The run is a 3 loop course through some neighborhoods and then along the lake, each loop about 8.5 miles with a little bit of distance before and after the loops to get 26.2 miles. At the end of each loop, the course does a circle around a park where a lot of the crowd was watching/cheering (my reason for telling you this becomes significant later). My plan for the run was to run 10 minutes and walk 2 minutes.
When I came out of transition I was still tired and flustered from the bike. My legs were wobbly and my stomach was queasy. I saw Pat and Jen almost immediately and told them that miles 70-90 were the hardest miles I have ever done on a bike and then I almost started to cry. I was so tired and so happy to see them that I got emotional. I started running again just to get away – Pat said to me as I took off – take it easy, build into it and something like “you are going to be fine” (not sure exactly but, it was some good words of encouragement).
Lap1
I ran my first 10 minutes but, did not feel good. AND, big mistake – I forgot to grab my nutrition and electrolyte tablets when I was in transition. SIGH! I was hungry, my stomach was queasy so I knew I was dehydrated, and I knew that the food at the aid stations would not be anything I could eat (which is why I carry my own). After the first 10 minutes of running, I needed more than 2 minutes of walking. I could not get on track with the 10/2 plan and just randomly ran when I thought I could but, I was not feeling good.
There are aid stations almost every mile so at each station I tried something different – Gatorade – made me nauseous, diluted Gatorade – nauseous, cola – nauseous, red bull – nauseous. This was not good, nothing was working for me.
At the last aid station before getting back to the park they had chicken broth. Now me and chicken broth – blech! I have had so many colonoscopies over the years and chicken broth is one of the things I am allowed to have when prepping for a colonoscopy. So I do not like it – it has a mental tie to unpleasantness for me. But, at this point I had tried everything else the aid stations had to offer so I took the broth. Surprisingly it didn’t make me nauseous and it actually tasted kind of ok! That was encouraging!
Right after this aid station, I saw Pat and Jen again. Pat had some of my food with him and some electrolyte tablets. So I ate some food and stuffed an extra in my pocket. And then was off again on my walk. I was walking but, I told myself to walk faster than 15:00 minute pace and I would be fine. Then I got to the park and Jody saw me. She jogged/walked with me around the park, talked to me and provided great words of encouragement! I loved seeing her there! In the park there was a table of water (not a complete aid station – just bottled water). So I grabbed a bottle and headed back out of the park. Saw Pat and Jen again, took 3 electrolyte tablets and was off.
Lap2
About a mile into my second lap I noticed I was feeling better. I decided to try running 2 minutes. Surprisingly I was able to do that without getting sick and my legs worked too. So I thought – what changed… chicken broth, food, electrolytes!! So I stuck with the 2 minute run and 2 minute walk for the whole lap. One guy went running by me and told me good job, then he commented that I looked strong and smooth! I thanked him and smiled – what a nice thing to say!
I skipped the broth at one aid station and immediately regretted it – because as soon as I started to run I felt nauseous again. So at the next station I took the broth and felt good again. OK – I need to drink the broth – it’s working. At some point on this lap (about mile 15 or so) I looked at my overall time and did a quick calculation and thought “I can still break my 14:30”! That surprised me, I thought with all my walking during the first lap that the 14:30 goal was out of reach. So I kept running/walking 2/2. I was feeling fine. I saw Pat, Jen and Kraig again, told them I was feeling good, that broth was working. :) I think they were relieved.
When I got to the park I saw Jody and she walked/jogged with me around the park again. She was so awesome! Jody I can’t even begin to tell you how much you helped me by doing that – I am so grateful! THANK YOU!
Lap 3
I’m still doing 2/2 and drinking broth at every station but, somewhere along the way I needed more than a 2 minute walk before I could run again. My walk breaks got longer and I knew my 14:30 goal was out of reach. But, I wasn’t discouraged or disappointed. The sun had gone down by now and I was just really enjoying the evening by the lake. The lake was lapping up on the shore and the crickets were chirping. It was actually very pleasant.
I walked the last 2 miles of this course – still a fast walk but, I didn’t even try to run again until I got to Sherman Street (the finish line street). Once I turned onto Sherman I yelled at myself “now get going”. I started to run, the crowd was cheering and again I got teary. It’s amazing what that crowd does – the fatigue in my legs vanished, I felt like I was running fast, strong and hard (not sure that’s how I looked but, that’s how it felt). I high-fived people along the street and then just focused on the finish line!
I made it!!!
26.2 Mile
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| Finishing |
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| Love this picture!! |
LOOK AT THIS
Look at the Division, Gender and Overall Rank columns. I moved up quite a bit after getting done with the swim – that’s really neat for me to see. :)
FINAL THOUGHTS
Once again this year (like last year in Louisville), I didn’t hear the announcer say “Chris O’Connor YOU ARE AN IRONMAN”. I don’t know what happens to me that I miss these words but, I do. I have to hear it on the video replay! :)
Like I said at the beginning of this blog I put everything I had into this day and getting to the finish line. I feel a great sense of accomplishment knowing that I left nothing out there, and I learned a great deal about myself on Sunday! AWESOME DAY!!!
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| Chris O'Connor YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!!! |
Wtg chris
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