I know, I know, me and computer technology generally does not get along. However, it is time for me to move my coaching business into the 21st century. As such, my very first blog is not about how I will help you reach your running or triathlon goals, but about my recent experience in completing IRONMAN Arizona, 2010. So here is my story.
This past Summer I travelled to the 100th Anniversary of the Boy Scouts of America and staffed the National Jamboree. I had the opportunity to spend a day with my best bud, Johnny Rosner who promptly took me out for a run and made me suffer so bad, I ended up walking. I thought, well the next day I would crush him in the pool...guess what, did not happen! In fact, he lapped me during a 500 and I knew that I was in trouble if I showed up in Arizona without significant improvement in my fitness.
I went home after Jamboree, and while I know I am a terrific coach for others, I am not a very good coach for myself as I tend to let everyone and everything else take over my limited time. I decided to call on a terrific friend and coach, Scott Jones for some help as he had previously called on me to help him prepare for his PR @ Boston a couple years ago. I discussed my goals for IMAZ with him and he decided he could help me get organized, but I was going to have to be selfish with my time. So I did it, I took a step back from Scouts, took no new athletes on and only worked with my Navy athletes and their programs. Jonser took the time to help me organize my training and while I altered his schedule a little when needed, it was essentially his program I completed...So, if you need a great coach, other then me, check him out at www.IMJCoaching.com
As I embarked on my crash program I was blessed with awesome training mates, Greg, Rich and others. However, I was looking over my log and realized, my friend Dale did roughly 75% of all my workouts with me, no wonder he was kicking my tail so often. To these mates, thank you very much for the support, advice and training. The training was great fun and I very much appreciate all your time.
So, after three dedicated months of discipline placed on top of 40 years of base training, I flew to Arizona on Wednesday, the 17th of November to participate in IRONMAN Arizona, 2010. Upon arrival, Johnny Rosner arrived and the adventure was underway. We hooked up with Rich and Justin, two of my athletes from the Kitsap Peninsula and drove the course and immediately we decided this bike course was one to crush.
The atmosphere around Tempe was electric with excitement and it was a thrill to watch Justin and Rich enjoy the special and sometime over-whelming experience known as IRONMAN. We swam in an awesome pool at Arizona State University, ran on some spectacular courses, and rode a very smooth and apparently fast bike course...well that is until weather watch 2010 began on Friday...yup, bad weather in Arizona is almost unheard of at this time of year...and of course, IRONMAN was Sunday so no chance the weather would be bad on our day...WRONG!
The morning broke, with heavy cloud cover, and cool temps. However, since it was not raining, I was not stressed with this as I am from the PNW...
The pro's were off at 0650 and I stood in amazement at how somber some people were and how giddy others were as we prepared to jump into the 61 degree Tempe Town Lake...which really was not all that bad. John and I decided we would line up close to the buoy line and just a few rows back...this decision was both a good and bad news story. Immediately, got kicked in the nose and realized all of the 1202 first time IRONMAN competitors took the advice of the Race Director from the arrival dinner and lined up there as well...even those swimmers who would take up to 2 hours to finish their swim...we were swimming over people and others were swimming over us. It was a frenetic and hectic start for certain...at one point during this chaos I thought about calling it an IM career. Finally settled in and enjoyed a very easy and steady swim, out of the water in 1:13 and out of transition in 1:20...so I was already 7 minutes ahead of goal, just by relaxing. My first leg of the bike was exactly as planned, if anything a little too quick...then the turn around...whoomp came the wind right in the face, essentially all the way back in your face...ugh, worked pretty hard all the way back and realized I was working too hard and now was 11 minutes ahead of goal pace. I decided to back off on lengths 3 and 4 so that I could comfortably make my goal of 6:30 on the bike. As I headed out on length 5, I felt great and the wind shifted a little so I had a little more of a tailwind. Then it happened...a repair kit/bottle cage suddenly flew off the back of a fellow competitors bike and I had no chance to even get out of my aero position before I slammed into it. The impact was severe and it snapped my seat post right off and suddenly I was without a bike seat. I slammed on the brakes, and did not fall. However, I was stuck without a seat and 24 miles more to go.
After having an epic, McEnroe level meltdown, a support vehicle came along and we tried to fix the seat, with no success as the carbon fiber post was ripped out. He suggested calling it a day, and I decided I could ride without the seat for awhile. He took it to the repair station at mile 94 and I rode my bike there with no seat for 6 miles...after working feverishly trying everything in his tool chest, the mechanic and I decided to try zip ties and duct tape. Amazingly it worked. I just could not stand up and just had to keep my weight in one place until getting back to T2. However, I was now an hour behind my goal pace...serious bummer.
I was thrilled to get off the bike and my morale was still up. On the run, felt okay and came upon one of my favorite athletes, Gina S. shortly after the start, she was super supportive and provided awesome support...first 9 miles went by quickly and I was certain I was at least going to finish. A real thrill came during my second lap when I suddenly heard John's voice behind me and we ran together for several miles(he was on his 3rd lap) before I did the math and told him he could still PR despite the relentless wind. He was really fit! Even his wife, agreed with me on this. Anyway, after a few hundred more yards he dropped me like a bad habit and I went into a dark period on the run. Somehow, I spotted Robin and Greg P. who had some encouragement and much needed Tums. This settled my stomach and my legs started to come back to life...when I later spotted Greg again, my brain was fried and I could not figure out what pace I had to run in order to at least break 14 hours...once he did the math, I was very determined to get there under 14 hours. AMAZINGLY, as soon as I sped up, my legs came to life and I was rolling by people and went into the finish line area all by myself with over 6 minutes to spare. I thanked God, my Dad, my wife and kids, my training mates, my brother Mike and Sister-in-Law Carol, Jonser and all my other supportive friends and then demonstrated my awesome dance move..."The Sprinkler" for all the IRONMAN world to see. You can check it out on IRONMANLIVE.com pre-race show and at the finish line. Finally, this day was great fun and prove that even though I am getting older, I am not slowing down, I am getting smarter. If you want to do an IRONMAN, I say it is a lot like the golden rule...it means nothing until you realize it's your move. PURE POWER!
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