IM Florida 2007

[Damon]

Race Day: Up at 4:15am and out to the kitchen to meet the other future Ironman finishers for some food and early morning stories. I had the usual pre-race breakfast: banana, a clif bar, and a mini bagel… about 350 calories. I also made sure to take in some water. For some reason I didn’t feel as nervous as I thought I would. And this was true for the few weeks leading up to the race. I think I felt like I was prepared… or at least much better prepared than I had been at Wisconsin. And I knew what to expect so that was a big help. I tried to tell the others what to expect in the weeks leading up to the race but it’s tough unless you’ve been there. They did a great job though. Transition area opened at 5am so we left the apartment after getting all our stuff together. I almost forgot my wetsuit but got it last second… yikes! That turned out to be my miscue for the day.

Got to the transition a bit later than I would have liked. Felt a slight bit rushed but not bad. I usually show up to races two hours early and this time I had only about an hour in transition. Got to the porta jon a few times, just about right. No further issues before the race. As usual, there was a big wait to get to the beach because the entrance was restricted. It’s amazing to see all the sizes and shapes of people that compete in this race. Most people are amazingly fit though, which is no surprise. Finally made our way onto the beach as daylight was beginning to emerge. We were able to say our thanks to Ashley and Gayle and they gave us the final “good luck.” We got a few pictures of everyone and then headed toward the swim start.

With the first cannon the pros went off and the excitement really began. Got in the water for a Quick warm-up. Asher was really pumped for the race. Alex and Brett both seemed pretty nervous. I was nervous but not like in Madison. I felt calm and it wasn’t til about that time that I figured out why. Like I said before, the experience of last year helped a lot. My training was more intense and I did more of it. And I had the motivation of the Madison failure. I knew that wasn’t going to happen this time around… barring an equipment malfunction. The second cannon goes off… now it’s the age-groupers turn to go. I let a couple hundred swimmers go in front of me then ease into the water with Alex and Asher. Brett is nowhere to be found at this point. Asher swims to my left and Alex to my right. Every stroke I take with my left arm I see Asher since he breathes to his right and I breathe to my left. It’s funnier in my head. Alex is out of my eyesight at this point but we stay right on each other the whole swim. About 100 meters in things get a bit crowded. This is the beginning of the Ironman swim. Very tight, not much water, just legs and arms everywhere. I get hit in the goggles almost immediately and my left lens takes on a small amount of water. Stings for a while til I get used to it. Crap! Now it’s just a matter of trying to find some room to swim without getting hit with legs, feet and arms. Just have to go and TRY to relax. Finally get to the first left turn. Swing wide and things clear a bit. Take the second left turn and head for shore. This leg is much more open and only a few times do I get caught up in a small group. These people have no idea how to swim in a straight line unless they are in a pool! The shore is a welcome feeling. Not because I’m tired but because now I can get that water out of my goggles. First lap went well and I know that the second lap will go even better. There are fewer people to contend with! As I wrap around the timing map I grab a very quick drink of water, not stopping at all. Swing wide right and dive back into the water. Dolphin dive a few times and it’s back out to sea. The second lap felt MUCH faster than the first and I did not feel tired. My shoulder didn’t hurt during the race. Just some chaffing on my neck. I exit the ocean for the second time and notice my time of 1 hour and 6 minutes. This is 13 minutes faster than the swim at Madison! Very exciting. I head to the stripper and they have a bit of an issue getting my wetsuit over the timing chip. Oh well, just a couple seconds. I’m smiling because now it’s on to the bike. On the way to the freshwater trickle shower and get a push in the back and my left big toe curls under. Damn, that hurt. I keep running and it’s already a bit sore but I don’t worry about it. Quick rinse then off to get my bike stuff. I get into the changing room and hear Alex yell my name. Great to see him. Apparently we were side by side throughout the swim and finished within 8 seconds of each other! So I get changed, put on the bike shoes and head out to the transition area. I hear volunteers yelling “336”, my race number. I get to my rack and my bike is in the hands of a volunteer waiting for me. Thank you! The toe feels a bit sore when I run with my bike shoes. But they are carbon soles and do not flex. Again, I don’t worry about it.

I get on the bike and head off along the coast for about 5 miles. I feel great at this point. I know that it’s the start of a LONG bike ride but the sun is shining, it’s 70 degrees already and the swim was faster than I had expected by about 10 minutes… and I wasn’t tired out by it. I start out fairly conservative, just trying to keep an average speed around 20- 21mph, which was the goal for the whole ride. I decided that this race was going to be about discipline. My thoughts on the bike reaffirmed the plan. This had been my goal from the beginning… race my own race, don’t worry about the rest of the athletes. This is hard for me considering my need for speed on shorter courses. I took very small swigs of water, mostly to rinse out my mouth but a small bit to swallow. I waited 15 minutes to take any more. At that time I began to take perpetuum every 15 minutes. I kept my computer set to clock so I could monitor when I took in nutrition. It really made the time and miles go by a bit faster. I get to the bay overpass around mile 12 and I’m amazed by the number of people on the bike. There are some people that are already flying out of the gate. I don’t worry about them because I’m keeping the pace I wanted to keep. They are not my concern. About this time I realize that I may have to take a crap. Shit! Maybe I just have to pee. About mile 30 I try to pee while on my bike. Can’t do it. Better practice this next summer. I stop at mile 40 porta jon. Had to wait a minute for a toilet that apparently wasn’t occupied. Damn guy in front of my lied! Anyway, get that out of my system and feeling good. Ten more miles to the special needs bags. Ok, my perpetuum is nearly gone, my calories are right on pace… about 250 per hour. Still feeling strong. I take water at every water station. Since the bottles suck I only take a big drink and throw the bottle back. It helps though to have that cold water. Get to the special needs at mile 50 (usually it’s at mile 56 but there was no place to put it at that point) and realize that my perpetuum is still slightly frozen! Should thaw fairly quickly. At least it’ll be nice and cold. I also remember that I’ve got some extra chamois butt-r. I am in need of this at the moment. At about mile 60 I put some on while riding. I had never tried this before but it worked out ok. I probably should have just done it while I was at the special needs drop. Oh well. The potatoes I had in my special needs bag were ok. The salt was nice and the taste was ok but I would have preferred a PB and J with the crusts cut off. I’ll do that at IMMOO take 2 for sure. Also, I lost half the bag of taters. It’s ok though, since I hadn’t planned to eat them all. Just didn’t do what I wanted them to do. This ride is very lonely and it’s harder than I had anticipated. When there are only rollers… and there were some decent rollers for Florida… you have to pedal the whole time and this gets a bit tough. I get to mile 70, pretty boring. At this point I begin to think in terms of ½ hours. “In 30 minutes I’ll be at mile 80,” etc. Lots of people drafting in this race, which is completely illegal… large packs even. It irritated me but at least I knew I wasn’t breaking the rules. Get a chance to share some words a few times on the bike. “This must be the biggest hill in Florida!” It wasn’t big but at mile 80 it felt like it. Got to mile 90 and though that in 30 minutes I’d be to the bridge over the bay. That was actually the hardest hill of the race. Over the bridge and then the wind hit. It didn’t bother much the whole bike ride. Usually it was a side wind and was probably only 10mph most of the ride. After the bridge though it was right in my face, 15mph. You could see the effort in the body language of most riders. I was likely no different. Here, almost everyone was drafting. It wasn’t as if they were trying but you would invariably catch up to the person ahead and then make a choice. I made the choice to ride strong and pass people. I knew that there was about 6 miles of riding head-on to the wind. Once we got to the beach it should be easier. Finally got to the stop-lights and I knew I was close. Made the turn onto the beach-front road and it was a dream. The wind was blocked by the hotels and the road was super smooth. I increased my pace about 4 mph to 22mph or so. About a mile in I realized that I had a wheel sucker on my tail. I don’t like this at all so I decided to kick it up a notch. It he/she can hang then ok. Otherwise, see you later! I pump hard for about 10 seconds and increase my speed to 26mph. I give a quick look back and don’t see anyone behind me… not even close. I keep my speed around 24- 25mph for the remainder of the ride. It felt great to finish that strong and I didn’t feel like I was giving too much. I made the right turn onto the race road and towards transition. Ok, this road sucks. Everyone slowed down here by a ton. Finally, get off my bike and hand it to a volunteer. I love that they do that in Ironman races! Well, my toe is definitely sore as I thought it might be during the bike. I can feel it with each step. I grap my run bag and head to the changing room again. The toe is swollen and purple… and sore. I’m hoping that running isn’t going to be terrible. Put on a pair of shorts, socks, my running shoes and a visor. Head to the porta jon for a quick piss. First time since mile 40 on the bike. Perhaps I hydrated properly.

As I head out of T2 and onto the road I get a little choked up because I know that Ashley will be waiting to cheer my on at mile 1. The whole way there I’m fighting off tears. Perhaps it was also because I knew this race would be different than Wisconsin. I made it through the swim and the bike with no complications. I would surely go under 12 hours for the race, which was my basic goal. But now, with a 1:06 swim and a 5:39 bike I would have the ability to go under 11 hours. All I needed to do was run a 4 hour marathon, which I knew I could do. Either way, I was on my way to an Ironman finish and I was feeling a bit emotional despite the fact that I had a few more hours to go. The toe felt fine, which surprised me and made me happy. Finally get to the condo and see the fan club. I head over to Ashley and give her a big hug and kiss. I was so glad she was there to cheer for me. No one really saw me coming til the last second so it was a bit of a surprise attack. I left smiling. Get to Mile 2 and “shit!” I’m really feeling out of energy. I walk the aid station and decide that it’s not a good idea to start running just yet. Get some calories and some fluids. I try to take some more perpetuum but it just doesn’t take good. I think I’m just sick of it at this point. After walking for about 10 minutes I decide to give it a go again. Starting to feel good but I’ll walk at the aid stations. Get to Mile 3 station and I realize that I’m half way to the turn-around. This really brings things into perspective and helps me a ton. The next three miles go pretty well. “Keep it small in your head,” I thought to myself. Got to the turn-around and it was only 6.5 miles to the marathon turn-around. Ok, I can do this. Little set-back early on but I’m recovered now. Just keep taking calories and fluids. I get to Mile 12 and I start to feel fatigue again. This time it feels worse. Make my way past the cheer section and get a brief pick-me-up. I can see the turn-around and I decide to run til I get to the aid station and then walk for as long as I need. Nope, I gotta walk before the turn-around. Oh well. Feeling wobbly so this is necessary. Still not taking in enough calories. That has to be the reason. I make sure to get a cookie, some grapes, an orange slice, some water… and I decide that it’s time for some coke. I’ll sip this at each aid station for the rest of the race. The caffeine will help and I can’t find gels with caffeine at each aid station. I find another guy walking and we strike up a conversation. Walk about 1.5 miles and then decide to start running again. Start off slow with some trepidation but I feel ok. Feeling better the more I run. Get to Mile 18 and I know I’m close to the turn-around just before Mile 20. I’m close to the journey home. I get to the turn-around and I’m smiling. I give the photographer a thumbs-up and keep going. The damn motivation mile doesn’t register me so I don’t see my message. Bummer. Oh well, there are only 5 miles left in the race. At Mile 21 I realize that this is the longest run I’ve ever been on. At Mile 22 I decide to make myself walk a bit, not because I was tired but because I didn’t want to get tired later. I walked about 20 seconds and had enough of it. No time for walking, the race is almost over and I’m going to finish strong. I still stop at each aid station but just long enough to get something to drink and a shot of gel. I chat with people here and there, give them a big smile and a thumbs-up as they tell me that Michigan is in the lead against Michigan State. That helps. At Mile 23, I know there is just over 3 miles to go. Pace has been quickening since Mile 20 but now quickens again. Miles 24 and 25 go by pretty quickly and uneventfully. I get to the condo for the 4th time and see only Alex’s parents. At this point there is about ¾ mile left in the race and I pick up the pace again. This does not go unnoticed by the spectators, who are impressed with my late-race pace. I round the corner and pass Club LaVela. Round another bend in the road and I see the finish line. Now I realize that I’ve been smiling for the past 4 miles of the race. I waited for this moment for 13 months and it was finally happening. Fish pumping in the air as people shouted “Go Blue.” I entered the finishing chute egging on the crowd to get louder. I could hear the announcer say my name (but I didn’t hear him say, “You are an Ironman,” though I know he did!) and I continued to pump my fist til I got to the finish line. I punched down on the tape as I crossed the finish line, a huge smile on my face. Of course, in the finish line picture, it looks as though I had been skipping across the finish line. Just like that, my race was finally over, 11 hours and 13 minutes after it began. Just under 13 months since the DNF at Wisconsin and I avenged myself. I achieve my goal to finish under 12 hours. I nearly beat the 11 hour mark as well. Gotta work on taking in more calories towards the end of the bike and throughout the run. This will help a ton! I finished while it was still light out, another cool feat. I almost beat Eric Fernando, one of the best triathletes in the state of Michigan (he got me by 4 seconds).

What a great feeling. I’m glad I had already signed up for Wisconsin. I am very excited to tackle that race again in September 2008. Almost started to cry a bit after the race. Lots of emotions but most of all happiness. Even though I had a good race by most peoples’ standards I saw room for improvement. I was very proud of my effort though and view the lessons learned in IM Florida as aids for future IM races.

[Eric]

D,

You know of all the time we've spent together training and shooting the breeze, i've never actually gotten to hear about FL in this much detail. I couldn't help but get a little emotional inside thinking about that feeling of avenging failure! I remember the very first time we talked about our Wisconsin 06 expience in Rush Street and we were bothing feeling defeated and depressed. Years have gone by since that time and we've accomplised a lot individually and together. Now, with 38 days to Moo 09 I finally have an opportunity to truly have a "re-do." Only this time we have experience, our teammates, and to top it off we'll have Ashley, who's rookie energy will help us get over the hump...in 38 days it'll be our time, our race, and the hopefully the end to a 3 year chapter of our racing. Thanks for writing and sharing the race report D.

E

[jared]

I finally went through and read this race report. That is awesome! A really cool race report and an awesome job! It seems like no one's Ironman goes exactly to plan but it looks like just overcoming that, staying positive, and moving ahead is how you finish. I like the self talk during the race!