I did it! I finally did it! I became an Ironman. I’m thinking about getting a tattoo as a reminder in case I ever forget what I’m capable of accomplishing. It’s been about a month and a half since that day, but I’ve just now found some time to sit down and reflect on my performance. I missed my goal time by almost two hours, but I’m so happy about finishing the dog-gone thing that I can’t even bring myself to be disappointed. Its humbling to learn that a 78 year old man can out-bike and out-run my 56 year old self. He was the oldest person to complete the race and he beat my finish time by about 20 minutes. After the disappointing DNF (did not finish) of Ironman Chattanooga in 2017, where I missed the 13.1 mile run cutoff by three minutes (3!), all I really wanted more than anything in the whole wide world at IMAZ2018 was to finish. I didn’t even care that I totally blew my goal times. Not a bit. My family was there, my daughter got to put my finisher’s medal on me, and Mike Reilly gave me a high five just before I crossed over. My race came down to what mattered most to me in the end, and I don’t feel the need to ever do it again (famous last words).
In summary, here’s how I did overall. The details are spelled out below in greater detail than you probably want or need to read.
Goal Finish Time: 14:50:00
Actual Finish Time: 16:45:51
Division Rank: 38/72
Overall Rank: 2230/3275
THE WEEK OF THE RACE: When I signed up for this race we decided to make a family vacation of it since it was an easy trip for our two oldest daughters and son-in-law. Our youngest daughter and her boyfriend worked things out with their employers so they could join us also. Lastly, my little sister and brother-in-law, who live in the U.K., decided with just weeks to spare that they wanted to join us as well since we had the room and they didn’t want to miss the mini-family reunion. We rented a condo a few miles away from Ironman Village for the week, which was plenty big for the nine of us. With all the scooters in Tempe it was very easy for everyone to have their independence and quickly go back and forth into town without having to take a car. In fact, we rented only one large van for all nine of us for the week. The family took turns going on adventures in and around Tempe while the athlete (that’s me) rested her legs and stayed well hydrated. The same day we arrived (Thursday) we went straight to Ironman Village to pick up my race packet, check out the vendors and sign up for free stuff, get a visual of the transition area, and pick my bike up from TriBike Transport. It was only after that had been done that I could finally “relax.” I didn’t go back again until it was time to get my bike inspected and turn it and my bike and run gear bags over to the volunteers (Saturday).
IRONMAN EVE: I’m a bit of a weenie when it comes to prepping for the half and full Ironman. I like to stay as close to the transition as I can get starting at least the day before to minimize walking and so that I can sleep a little more on race morning. That’s why we decided that even though we had rented a condo for the week we would reserve a room for Lou and me at the Residence Inn for Ironman Eve and post Ironman (to minimize the walking AFTER the race). Check-in time was 4:00, so our son-in-law dropped us off and we headed straight to the pool to relax. Bad idea. It was over-crowded with children and other athletes all trying to do the same thing. Most of the other athletes were having conversations about past races and how they’re planning to approach IMAZ, so I went back to the room to read. I didn’t want them getting inside my head and making me second guess myself and my own approach. I need my brain to be quiet the night before a race.
Nutrition/Hydration: I kept my water bottle full all day. Every other fill I dropped in a tablet of Nuun. For dinner I had spaghetti with lean ground beef and mild tomato sauce. No veggies starting 48 hours out from a race. Fiber is not my friend.
THE SWIM: I time my breakfast so that I poop before heading to transition. This doesn’t mean nervous pooping won’t happen again once I get there, but the big load is taken care of in the privacy of my own bathroom. Once that was accomplished Lou and I shared the load of taking to transition all the stuff I would need that hadn’t already been turned in the day before. It didn’t take long to find my bike, fill my Speedfill with two bottles of Tailwind, pump up the tires, and slip a couple of Honey Stinger gels into the bento box. After that, I just needed to drop off my run and bike special needs bags. It wasn’t immediately evident where the drop offs were, so I asked someone in my row if she knew and she very snootily responded that she didn’t know because she doesn’t use them. Most athletes are usually pretty helpful, so the very next person I asked was able to tell me where they went. I was a little surprised at how far I had to walk to turn in the run bag, because it was quite a trek from there to the swim start. I picked Lou up at the place where we agreed to meet (very important to do this in advance because I had given my cell phone to my sister to use). On our walk to the swim start I felt the need to use a porta-john so got in line for a couple that turned out to also be accessible to spectators, which meant a longer wait. Finally, it was time to put my wetsuit on and find my place in the rolling start line. I didn’t quite make it to the 1:30 marker, because there were fences on both sides of the sidewalk and people were packed in like sardines already. It was because of this that many of the people who should have started with the faster groups didn’t start until well after MY group. That translated into what should have been a fairly uneventful swim for me turning into a nightmare of gobs of swimmers faster than me swimming over my torso, dragging me under water, and grabbing and pushing at my legs. Going into the water my biggest fears were how cold it was going to be and whether it would make me sick (like what happened in Chattanooga the year before). I needn’t have worried about either of those things. Although the water temp was the coldest I had ever done in open water, it wasn’t as cold as the pool I practiced in the day before, and the quality wasn’t as dirty as I had expected and heard it would be. Even still, I was so happy to feel the volunteers helping me out and onto the rubber mats, and even happier to see that most of my support crew had made it to the spectating area to cheer me on. It was the first time I had ever heard Jeff cheer. He is wonderfully LOUD. I heard him before I heard or saw anyone else. For the rest of the day I could tell I was getting close to my family because I could hear him well before I could see them.
Goal: 1:30:00
Actual: 1:48:40
Water temp: Mid-50’s
Air Temp and Wind: 52/6mph E
Nutrition/Hydration: For breakfast I had oatmeal, two hard boiled eggs, coffee, and half an Imodium AFTER I pooped. I sipped on a bottle of Xtend BCAA on the way to transition and ate a banana after I got my bike set up. Five minutes before jumping in the water I had a Honey Stinger Energy Gel.
SWIM-TO-BIKE TRANSITION (T1): The run from the swim exit to the changing tent was about 1/3 mile, which is included in the TI time. In addition, I had decided to change out of my wet tri kit into a dry one so I wouldn’t be so cold during the first half of the ride. While I was getting changed there was a woman sitting next to me shivering uncontrollably and being helped by another woman who did not finish the swim. My daughter, who worked the medical tent, said they saw quite a few people in the medical tent that day who were suffering from hypothermia, or close to it.
Goal: 00:10:00
Actual: 00:18:35
Nutrition/Hydration: 1 cup of plain water; 1 shot of agave syrup (to coat my stomach); 1 Honey Stinger Waffle
THE BIKE: I wasn’t worried about whether I would finish the bike. Of the three disciplines, this is the one I trained the most for, was riding on a brand new Quintana Roo time trial bike with carbon wheels, and felt the strongest in. My only concern was staying warm through at least the first loop of the course and staying on top of my nutrition and hydration. I typically don’t have a problem with the latter, but I don’t like riding in the cold. Its just not fun, and I’m of the mind that if its not fun I shouldn’t be doing it. I knew that riding with a jacket was going to slow me down a little because at some point I would have to stop and take it off, but I was willing to sacrifice the time to be warm. I was very, very happy to have that jacket on the first loop, especially on the way back on the Beeline when I was hitting speeds of 29mph. I had done my homework on this course and knew the elevation gain was only going to be about half what Chattanooga was. I also knew that the challenge was going to be the wind through the canyon on Beeline. Sure enough, I ended up riding into the wind on the way out the first two loops, and then the wind direction changed and I was riding into the wind on the way back on my last loop. I was pretty happy with my decision to keep telling myself “easy spin, easy spin” every time I felt myself working too hard at pedaling. I did end up stopping a couple more times than I anticipated to refill my water, but I got off the bike only twice to pee. And no, I didn’t pee ON the bike … this time. I also stopped just before starting my third loop to get a hug from my family. Again, it was totally worth the loss in average moving speed. I had about five miles left on my last loop when I got the scare of my life. A car decided to ignore the barrier cones and tried to cross them to make an illegal turn right in front of me. They barely missed me. Fortunately there were volunteers doing clean-up at that location and they saw what happened and confronted the driver, leaving me to finish my ride. Not too long after that I saw my son-in-law riding towards me on an e-scooter and he told me how much further I had left on the course. It was a little confusing where I was supposed to dismount as I got closer to transition. I started to do it when I saw my family but they yelled at me to keep going. I was disappointed that I didn’t get to turn my bike over to someone I knew from the B.I.T. group I belong to, but anyone would have done at that point.
Goal: 07:00:00
Actual: 07:33:01
Air Temp and Wind: 73-89/9mph w/gusts on Beeline
Elevation Gain: 2,221
Nutrition/Hydration: One 20oz bottle with two scoops of Tailwind per hour; 1/4 Lara bar per hour; plain water as needed
BIKE-TO-RUN TRANSITION (T2): As soon as I turned my bike over I grabbed my gear bag from another volunteer and ran into the changing tent. I immediately asked for Kendra, and she came over to help me get changed. This transition was much easier than T1, because all I had to do was change my shoes and head gear, grab my race belt, and stuff my back pockets with the nutrition and hydration I needed to get me through to special needs.
Goal: 00:10:00
Actual: 00:06:59
Nutrition/Hydration: Cup of water
THE RUN: This is where I knew I would struggle. I’m not a strong runner, and don’t particularly enjoy running long distances. My plan was to run 14 minute miles, but after the first four miles I just didn’t have that pace in me. Time to adjust the plan. I started alternating running one minute and race walking one minute. That worked for another few miles. Meanwhile, it started to get dark and I was seeing fewer and fewer people on the course. The oldest athlete passed me at a fast race walking clip. I was getting discouraged, my legs were cranky, I had to pee, and I didn’t have an appetite. Time to adjust the plan again. The great thing about this course is that I got to see my family LOTS. I had warned them in advance that I would need them most at this point, and they did a great job of keeping me going. They jog/race walked with me until they had to turn back to meet me at the next point, and then I would see another one of them waiting. They were key to my finishing. Every time I saw one of them I would ask them about my time. I knew I was cutting it close, and wouldn’t be able to take any more walk breaks. When I got past the special needs station (13.1 miles), I started to again adjust my expectations. I told myself it would be OK if I didn’t finish. At least I got past the half-way point, which is further than I got at Chattanooga. I told myself I would be happy with that accomplishment. But I kept going because my family said I still had a shot. They were doing the math for me. Even with a fresh mind I struggle with math. They took that burden off my shoulders. “If you keep this pace you’ll make it in plenty of time,” they kept telling me. Through the entire run I still hadn’t eaten anything solid. Maybe a few gels. I did take water at every aide station, and drank some of my Tailwind water, but I couldn’t bear the thought of eating anything. I began to focus on the chicken broth. I had it at every aid station that offered it. When the chicken broth started running out I started to whine about it to the volunteers and my family. One station said the next station would have it. When I got to the next station they said the last station had it. My family started hunting it down for me, and would tell me when it was coming up. I lived for that chicken broth. I lived for seeing my family. I almost cried when I heard a B.I.T. volunteer screaming at me with five miles left to “GET YOUR SHIT DONE.” Chris ran with me. Dan rode along side me on a scooter. Lou helped me make the 24 mile cut-off time. Kendra ran with me the last 2.1 miles and held my Buddy Pouch while I peed one more time (in a porta-john). She encouraged me to just pee in my kit but I didn’t want it to soak my shoes (blisters) and have the volunteer who ended up removing my timing chip to have to smell my urine soaked bottoms. The last half mile to the finish line felt like the longest half mile I had ever run.
Goal: 06:00:00
Actual: 06:58:36
Air Temp and Wind: 73-78/6mph
Elevation Gain: 486
Nutrition/Hydration: Water, Honey Stinger Energy chews; Tailwind; Chicken Broth
FINALE: When I ran up the last little hill and around the bend, I could I hear people screaming and banging the finisher shoot walls and Mike Reilly calling out names and saying “YOU ARE AN IRONMAN.” Next it was me in the finisher shoot, running back and forth across the carpet, giving people high fives and smiling a huge “I can’t believe I did it” smile. I was so focused on the finish line that I ran right past Mike Reilly, who was standing there waiting to give me a high five. I reversed course to slap his hand and thank him for being out there all day keeping the energy electrified. When I stepped across the finish line I expected a total stranger to give me my medal, but was delighted to find that Leah was waiting with it. In fact, my entire family were in the V.I.P. area because we had gotten free passes from the company who produces the medals. You can see in the video that I came across the finish line with a clock time of 17:32:17. That’s the total race time from when the pros jumped into the water. My personal race time was 16:45:51. I beat the individual athlete cut-off time by barely 14 minutes. I’m calling that good enough for done, and I’m officially retired from that distance.
RECOVERY: After hugging everyone we walked over to the massage tent so I could sign up for one and put my sweats on. Turns out they had stopped giving massages for the night, but they let me stay in the tent to get warm and drink my chicken broth. Chris made sure to bring TWO cups to me, knowing how much I needed them. I didn’t want to stiffen up so walked around a little bit and chatted with the family about the day until it was time to get me back to the hotel. Of course, the first thing I wanted to do was wash the stink off. My normal tradition is to have a shot of tequila immediately after my race, but we forgot to get a bottle. Lou picked up a couple of small bottles of champagne instead and I had a small glass and some potato chips (for the salt), both of which I almost immediately threw up. I guess my stomach just wasn’t ready, and wasn’t until the next morning when I managed to eat half a bagel. The family was surprised that I was already up and ready to go home by 10:00am, but I didn’t want to waste a moment of time with them. A few of us went for an easy hike at Papago Park, and we all came back together for an early dinner before Leah and Dan had to catch their flight home.
GIVING THANKS: If it hadn’t been for DNF’ing Chattanooga, I wouldn’t have been blessed to become an Ironman with my whole family supporting me and watching me achieve this goal. When I first signed up for Tempe, it was just going to be Lou, Dan and Leah with me this time. Then Kendra said she wanted to volunteer again. Then Jess and Jeff said they wanted to be there, too. So we decided to make it a family vacation. The addition of Chris and Karl in the last month was the icing on the cake. Every single one of them contributed in their own way to my success at IM Arizona, and I am a very lucky woman to have this much love and support in my life. They pulled me through and kept me believing in myself and confident that even if I didn’t finish again, they were proud of me for even attempting such a feat. Finally, I wouldn’t have been here and persevered without the guidance of my coach of three years, Chris Rotelli of Rotelli Performance Racing. He guided me through some tough challenges over the years, and was patient and understanding when I had to set aside training days (and weeks in some cases) in favorite of personal commitments.
Dan, Leah, Lou, Me, Jeff, Jess, Kendra, Chris, Karl