Ayerd{dot}com :: Triathlon

We left home on Tuesday to drop the dog off with mom for the week. While we would have loved to bring her, pugs don’t dig the heat and it would be tough to leave her in the hotel room on race day. Made the trip out to West Virginia in about 5 hours, dropped the pup, and then hit the road for a few more hours. We wanted to get in as much driving the first day as possible to cut down on the driving hours on day 2.

Why drive? Florida is around an 18-22 hour drive from New Jersey — about the same time with the dog drop as without. Down and over vs. over and down. It is the same distance no matter what, just a matter of picking the spot where you drive the breath of Florida to get to Panama City Beach (PCB). By driving we were able to avoid the bike shipping and any possible re-assembly problems. This way I knew the bike would be okay when I got there and local-bike guy didn’t forget to tighten something or the other before race day. Plus, shipping all the race gear would make for an expensive flight in terms of bags. We also didn’t have to rent a car while here. Now we’re talking big savings vs. two days of driving.

Arrived at the hotel in PCB around 9:00 PM after a leisurely drive down 85. There is nothing along I-85 after Atlanta and PCB. Nothing. When we hit Alabama, all the stores and roadside shops closed up around 5:00, even the McDonald’s were dark. Weird.

The hotel is nice. Right along the water and they have a pool and hot tub. Even a stove and fridge in the room. It is about a 30-minute drive from here to the race site. This trade off is more than worth it for the price. Weighing $60 a night with a small drive on race day against a walk to the start but $160 a night (or more depending on the room) with a 5-night minimum — no contest, really. Plus being away from the other athletes and all that pre-race stress is huge plus.

All week here, every time we went out we’d see people running or biking. Talking to the other athletes at the expo we stressful. Doubt set in right away. Ohhh, that gel? Well, no, that isn’t want I have planned to use. No my last 4+ hour ride was more than 5 days ago. And, it went down hill from there. Better to drive to and from the event than stress myself to death before the race starts. I’d be willing to bet there were push-up contests or something every few hours at the host hotel just to see which age grouper could destroy their body the most before hand yet still finish the race.

Thursday morning we headed over to the race bag pickup/expo/Gatorade swim. On Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday before the race Gatorade sets up at the swim start with people to watch your bags while you go swimming. Not only did I get in the water on the race course, I also scored a free water bottle or two and some drink. A pretty sweet deal.

The water on Thursday was great. The gulf had little tiny waves and hardly any current or swells before the race. (It picked up a little on race day, but more on that later.) It isn’t even that salty. An easy 30-minute swim took me from the shore to the furthest buoy and back. Didn’t see any jellyfish, but they were supposedly floating about the course.

After the swim it was off to the expo to pick up the race packet, talk to the bike guys, and score t-shirt type gifts for the dog sitters. If you can put a M-Dot on it, it will be for sale at the Ironman Expo for $15 more than you could buy it elsewhere. Case in point, $12 for “Ironman sun screen.” We spent way way WAY more time at the expo than expected – all of it waiting in various lines. Next time, I would do the Gatorade swim, go back to the hotel for a few hours and come back in the afternoon to register. There was no line around 2:00PM; there was a line again at 3:30 (just before they closed).

I think the only real disappointment at the registration was the Ironman bracelet. As with other races, this bracelet is your pass into the transition area, bike removal, and so much more. When mine got put on, it was loose, way too loose. The key at bracelet attachment time is to just stick your arm out and shut up. Don’t try to adjust the tightness, just let it ride.After the expo, we went back to the hotel and I got in an hour ride and 10 minute run. This was the last ride before the race; just a chance to make sure the bike survived the drive down. The sneakers, as always, where ready to go.

Thursday night was spent packing and quintuple checking the transition and special needs bags.

In the registration packet there are 5 bags. Four of them are no brainers: “swim-to-bike” transition bag; “bike special needs”; “bike to run” transition; and “run special needs”. The last one was tricky: “dry clothes” bag. So many places you may want dry clothes over the course of an Ironman. After some Q&A, we found the bag is there to hold the stuff you wear in the morning before the swim. The swim-to-bike and bike-to-run bags get dropped off on Friday with the bike. The two special needs bags got dropped off the morning of race day.

Friday we went back to the expo to have the mechanics from Elite give the bike the once over and to drop off the swim-to-bike and bike-to-run bags. The bike passed with flying colors.

After making the drops and leaving the bike in the transition area, we went back to the hotel to take a nap generally do nothing for the afternoon. Getting lots of rest and fluids was the only things on the "to do" list for the day.

Race day it was up at 1:00 AM for a drink of Boost and then back into bed until 3:30 AM. Surprisingly, I slept pretty well. At 3:30, had breakfast, pulled on the tri-suit, checked for the 100,000,000,000th time I had my goggles and headed to the race site.

After dropping off the special needs bags I went to inflate the bike tires. At the pre-race meeting the guy said to leave the pump at home as there would be plenty of pumps being worked by bike support to get you going. Like a fool, I believed him. Next time I’ll know better and bring the pump. Everything got done with just enough time for a quick trip to the Port-o-John for a wiz before the swim start.

This was my first mass start of this size. 2000+ people lined up on the beach is pretty awesome to see. When the cannon went off we all started walking to the water. I walked until it was up to my waist and then tried to get to the swimming. Far easier said than done. It took about half of the first loop to find swimming room. For all the kicking and pulling, the first loop only took 29 minutes by my watch. I then walked, slowly out of the water, across the timing mat (sadly, we didn’t get this time split so I only have my watch time to go by) and then back into the water. The second loop was much easier, but a few minutes longer. The swells really started to pick up but with my love for open water swimming I have had plenty of practice timing my breaths to catch the top of the swell without killing my stroke. Coming out of the water at 1:02 was exactly where I wanted to be.

T1 was different. For starters, there were people there to help you get your wet suit off. That helped a TON. With the suit off, I walked up the hill to the changing tent.(That's me in the blue Sugoi.) Getting to the tent I was handed my swim-to-bike bag. I flopped down in a chair and pulled on the socks, shoes, gloves, helmet, and sunglasses. I had hoped that someone would be there to apply sunscreen but if they were, I missed them. In fact, I didn’t realize this until I was about half a mile down the road, sans sunscreen. I knew I could look forward to crispy shoulders by mid afternoon but hoped it wouldn’t be too bad by the time I started the run. Lesson: after body marking, apply your own sunscreen or have some in the bag.

Starting up on the bike, I felt great. Not winded or anything. I did need to take another leak so at mile 10, the first rest stop/aid station, I handed my bike over to a helper and made use of the Port-o-John.

Just past the rest stop I had my first real problem of the day. My back tire was starting to get a little soft so I pulled over to change it. Better to change the tube sooner than put it off any maybe split the tire. After 5 minutes I had the new tube ready for inflation so I attempted to hook in the CO2 cartridge. It didn’t work! Just before I could have closed the inflater-thingy, the cartridge pierced and emptied. No problem, I had another. Same thing on cartridge 2… and 3. Crap. I was done. Trapped at mile 10 with no way to inflate any empty tire. After a few choice curse words and maybe tear or two, I picked my bike and tire and walked the 100 yards or so back to the aid station to see if they had a pump. They did not, but a race official did call for the support van.

I sat for 17 minutes watching people zip by. It hurt. It hurt bad. When the support van showed, it was Andy from Elite who somewhat quickly checked my tire and pumped it up. Total time from stopping to make a simple tire change to going again was 21 eat me minutes. 21!

Back on the bike I settled in to a comfortable 19-22 mph at an easy cadence. I passed a bunch of people and that may have made the ride easier overall. Around mile 40 I had fallen into group and we kept passing each other again and again. Not drafting, we were just all moving at around at the same pace. At one point, as we moved though a slower group that was being followed by a race official. I don’t think they realized it because after watching them 4-5 minutes, the official pulled over a whole bunch of them. Their own fault, they shouldn’t have been drafting.

By mile 70 our little group had fallen apart and all the riders had really spread out. The last pack I passed had slowed down when a race official pulled along side them. I figured passing the race official and the people they were looking at was still legal, so I changed the gears and starting passing. When I got next to the official I told them they were great! In fact, just as good as real cops as everyone slowed down when they were around. We all got a good laugh and I pushed on.

The last 15 miles of the bike were hard. Turned a corner and was back on the bridge that was initially at mile 12 of the bike. After 95+ miles of very flat this hill was like climbing a Cat 2. On the other side of the bridge, the wind came up and it took a toll. I think some of that toll was mental. Once I hit mile 100, I was mentally done with the bike and really wanted to stop. I guess I was so focused on the century distance, I overlooked the last 12 miles. In fact, the final 12 miles where worse than the first 25 — minus the tire change, of course. Riding down the main drag in to town, the wind really picked up. Some guy with Zipp Wheels almost killed both of us when gust caught the disc and blew him towards me. Some quick brake work and a strong pedal or two from him saved us both. It was close.

Getting back to the transition was a Good Thing. I can honestly say I’ve never been happier to start a marathon in my life. I knew the hardest part both physically and mentally was coming up, but I was ready for it. Look at that hang time coming around the corner!

My goal was to run the first loop and then see what I could do for the second. My run splits reflect that. First 13.1 was a 2:28, the second at 3:06. The run for this race is out and back through the neighborhoods and into a park. Turn around in the park and head back.

I was just about to the end of the first loop when the sun set. It then started to cool down quite a bit. Luckily, my run special needs bag had a shirt for just such an occasion. The second loop was long. I was running until around mile 16, at that point I dropped to a walk-run until mile 19 when it became a walk fest. In the dark. Alone. At mile 24 and a bit, I decided Ironman don’t walk to the finish and after a false start or two, got a pretty good forward shamble going.

From there it was up the hill in the parking lot and…

I was an Ironman.

I didn’t hear the guy say my name, but I was told he did. Today (day after), I feel really good. My ankles are a bit sore and some sunburn on my shoulders, but that is about it. Don’t think I could run more than a few yards, but walking around to get the finishers certificate and other post-race stuff is pretty normal.

Tons of thanks to everyone who helped me get to the finish line. All the long bikes, runs, and general tri-talk about food, weather, speeds, and everything in between was invaluable. Special thanks to Bill for making the trip to see me get the race done. Finally, untold thanks for Bretta for putting up with over a year of training, not to mention the general pre-race angst.

YEA!