The Run
I came out of the transition area, and quickly saw Donna and Oaks on the sidelines holding a sign and cheering me on! It was great to see them! A great pick me up!
The first mile or so of the run is on a bridge that crosses the Ohio River. This is the biggest hill on the course. You run up to the middle of the bridge which is halfway to Indiana, then turn around, and run back down. This was very cool! There was an aid station on the bridge, and I grabbed some cookies. I ate one, and just wasn’t hungry for the other so I dropped it down a drain grate.
I think I saw Donna and Oaks at the bottom of the bridge too before I headed out on the road.
I trained as if I were going to run a 8:00 pace, without ever intending to run that fast. I had debated about trying a 8:30 or 9:00 pace and maybe try to run a 4 hour marathon. But I decided to take it easy, and just finish. I figured I could finish under 14 hours which I was more than happy with. I decided to run at a 9:30 min/mile pace and walk 1 minute every mile. I was actually having trouble keeping my pace at 9:30. I would look at my Garmin and find I was running at 8:30 pace, and force myself to slow down. I probably could have run at 8:30 pace, but I didn’t want to risk blowing up. I had a friend who ran this race the previous two years, and DNF’d during the run. My primary goal was to finish.
The metronome on my hat was beeping away at 90pbm, and I would try to match that cadence with either my left foot or right foot hitting the ground on the beep.
After the bridge, most of the run course is pancake flat, with the exceptions of an underpass that you ran through four times. There were lots of racers running, jogging and walking out here. The aid stations were spread out evenly about every mile. They all had water, Gatorade and cola. They also had stuff like gels, and cookies. You could also get sponges soaked in cold water. I had heard about the chicken broth, but they didn’t have any early in my run. Apparently, they don’t bring the broth out until later in the day, figuring the people that will be running at night will need it more.
The finish line was reachable! I could walk the rest of the way and finish. I would tell people along the way stuff like, “only 19 miles to my tattoo!!!” Along the course I had plenty of time to think about the tattoo, and decided to get it on Tuesday as I would be home Monday night, and I had Tuesday off.
I just kept up the running and walking. At the aid station at mile 8 and 9, I saw Bob from IAmTri.com, and he gave me encouragement. Somewhere along here, I saw Shannon on his bike, and he told me all my friends were following me on the LVM board. That made me feel great!
At the aid stations, they would call out what they had. Sometimes you would run through asking for stuff, like cola, or water, and they would point you to who had what you wanted. Sometimes I would ask for cheeseburgers, but none of the aid stations had them. I would always for the cola. I would also often grab a wet sponge and squeeze the cold water over my head. That felt good. I continued to take gels every hour, along with water.
At about mile 12, I saw the message sign. I was curious as to what message would pop up for me. I crossed a mat shortly before the sign. And when I got to the sign it said something like “R Jacob, you Rock –Terry” Terry? I have no idea who Terry is. LOL!
I kept on running. Somewhere about this point, I started taking minute long walk breaks every half mile. I talked briefly with some people, but not for long. Everyone was going at different paces. I did see a guy with a crazy looking tri suit that look sort anatomical. I told him it looked obscene, and said I liked it. I asked if I could take a picture, and he posed front and back. Nice!
At the halfway point, I stopped and got my special needs bag. I got my room key, I think I grabbed a snickers bar, and maybe a gel. There was a long sleeve shirt I put in here, in case it got cold. But I didn’t need it. I told the volunteer there was a nice Rochester Marathon shirt in the bag if anyone wanted it. He told me I could pick it up when I passed on the second loop. I said cool.
Around mile 14 I passed near the finish line, and then turned to start my second loop. I was excited to see the finish knowing that was where I was going. I heard other people had a hard time seeing it, and knowing they still had to run more. But I had no problem with this. If I had seen it a mile from the finish maybe.
I was starting to get some nipple chafing, and also under my left arm. One of the aid stations had a piece of cardboard with gobs of vaseline smeared on it. I ran my finger across it, and applied it to my chafed areas. Worked wonderfully!
I talked a little more with people on the second loop. For many of the people, it was their first loop. About mile 16 or 17 I passed a blind runner tethered to a guide. I only caught a glimpse, and thought I heard someone say the name Charlie. I remembered a blind runner named Charlie being featured on one of the Hawaii Ironman videos. I wondered if it was him. (when I got home, I looked him up, and sure enough, it was the same Charlie Plaskon).
I didn’t see Bob from IAmTri at the aid station near the turnaround. He must have finished his shift. The aid stations were now starting to serve the chicken broth. I tried some and it was cold and kind of gross. Maybe it was heated at other aid stations. I never tried it again. Donna and Shannon came out and rode along with me for a little bit. It was great seeing them. Again they told me that the LVM message board was following me online, and posting about how I was doing. It made me happy to know I had all these friends out there pulling for me, and cheering me on. Hey got a few pictures, and then took off to wait at the finish line.
As I was maybe 6 or 7 miles from the finish, I started seeing runners coming the other way wearing glow sticks. I was hoping to make it to the finish without having to wear one. The sun was getting low, but it was still light out.
I passed the message sign and it had the same message. I never stopped at the special needs bag pickup. I didn’t want to bother carrying the shirt. I had put a shirt in there that I didn’t care too much about. I rarely wear long sleeve shirts anyway.
About a mile from the finish, I took my walk break, and was talking to another guy who was walking. He had had cramping issues, so was going to walk most of the rest of the way. I was happy to be finishing under 14 hours, so I walked most of the last mile talking with the guy. As we approached the finish, we decided to run. We were going to cross separately. As I was stronger, I took off ahead. I caught up with a slower runner, and I pass him. Then I caught another slower runner and passed him. Now I could see the finish line. The street was dark, and the finish line was lit up very bright. It was like being in a dark tunnel with a light at the end. I saw another slower runner ahead, and a guy way up ahead sprinting. I decided to move into the gap, and sprinted at probably a sub 7:00 pace. I crossed the line. The feeling was wonderful! I heard the announcer say my name, and mention my recent birthday. I didn’t hear him say I was Ironman though. It was hard to understand him as it was very noisy in Fourth Street Live. As I crossed, I did what Donna told me to do, and raised my arms, and smiled. She said to make sure I wasn’t pictured stopping my watch. Great advice! A volunteer put a medal around my neck, and gave me a mylar blanket. Someone else took my timing chip. I stopped my watch which said something like 13:45. My official time was 13:43:02. Then the volunteer asked my shirt size, and went brought me a finisher shirt, and hat. She took me over to get my picture taken.
T2
I handed my bike off to a volunteer at the entrance to the transition area. They re-rack the bikes for us, how cool is that! I hobbled down, and got my run gear bag.
T2 was easer than T1 as now I had a little experience here. I went into the tent, and found a vacant seat. The tent was less crowded now, than when I went through it the first time. I took off my bike shoes and socks, and stripped off my bike shorts. I dug through my bag and pulled out my running shorts and pulled those on. I put on some fresh socks, and pulled on my running shoes. I had installed lace locks on them, so I didn’t need to tie them. I love my lace locks. I have installed them on almost all my shoes. For running races, you don’t have to worry about double knotting your shoes to keep them from coming untied. You don’t have the lace loops flying up and brushing against your legs.
I put on my running hat. I already had my metronome mounted on the back of my hat. I grabbed some more gels, and snickers bars out of my bag and shoved them into my jersey pockets. I also grabbed a couple fresh handkerchiefs and shoved those into my pockets as well, while discarding the already damp ones from the bike ride. I rotated my bib so that it was in the front now. I applied some more Vaseline to prevent chaffing. I moved my Timex watch to my right wrist, and put my Garmin 305 onto my left wrist. I turned it on so it could get a satellite lock. I shoved all my bike gear back into the bag, and handed it to a volunteer.
I exited the tent, and had a volunteer apply some more sunscreen to my exposed areas. I may have used the porta potty again, but I don’t remember.
My legs had loosened up by now. I started jogging along the path that wrapped around the transition area. When I crossed the mats leaving the transition area, I started my Garmin. I suddenly realized I was still wearing my heart rate monitor strap for my bike computer. Crap. I pulled it off, and debated about shoving it into a jersey pocket. But I figured it would fall out. There were volunteers holding out water cups at the transition exit. I asked one of them if he could stick it into one of my gear bags. He said yes, and got my bib #. I thanked him, and started off on the run course.
The Bike
Now I was on my bike. I was happy to be done with the swim! The bike and run were more familiar territory for me. I was spinning the cranks, working at keeping my heart rate between 138 and 158. My Cateye V3 bike computer was great, since I had my heart rate right there in front of me.
I was already a little familiar with what the bike course would be like. I had watch a video where Heather Gollnick had ridden section of it. I had watched the DVD of the 2007 Louisville Ironman. I have another DVD where it is a virtual ride of the course. Then I had gone over the course on MapMyRide to locate where the steepest parts were, and how steep they were. I knew the first/last part was flat but rough. And yes it was. I rode along over the bumpy road, while trying to eat some Fig Newtons. I was also drinking Pepsi to get some calories and fluids following my swim.
I was happy with my swim time. I didn’t know my actual swim time then. I looked at my watch in the transition test, and it said 1:45. I had estimated my time to be about 1:40 if I had gotten to wear a wetsuit. I was thinking about 1:45 without one. For the bike I was thinking my time would be about 7:30-8:00. I did the Tupper Lake Tinman bike course in 3:27. But that was half the distance, and I had swam only 1.2 miles in a wetsuit. So double that and add some time.
A few miles into the ride, I passed a guy jogging on the other side of the road. I heard something like “Go Rob!” I glanced over my shoulder but couldn’t tell who it was, as I was already a ways down the road. I figured it was Oaks or Shannon.
After the flat start, came rolling hills. At one spot on the road, someone had painted the word Ironman with a circle and slash through it. Apparently some people aren’t thrilled about the race. Somewhere around this area, there was a large tree branch laying across the should of the road. Bikes were swerving around it. I saw a police officer walking down towards it, to remove it. Later, I wondered if someone had thrown it there on purpose to thwart the cyclists. I have read reports of kids throwing sticks at cyclists, or throwing large sticks into the road, maybe hoping to see a crash…
I came to the first steep hill and knew it was probably one of the steepest hills on the course. But I powered right up it.
I loved the out and back portion of the course. I think I passed my first hour on the bike in this section as I remember taking a gel. I didn’t take my gels every hours, but was taking them about every 15 miles or so. The first part of the out and back is kind of flat, followed but a fast downhill. I was down on my aerobars, and coasted picking up speed and distance. That was followed by a long uphill. I like climbing. I get lots of practice where I live. I took advantage and stood on my cranks a bit to stretch my legs out. At the top of the hill, you go around a cone, and over a timing mat. Then you get another fast downhill. I tended to pass people on the downhills for some reason. I think many people are skittish about going to fast. Personally, I avoid the brakes at all costs, and stay aero, pulling my knees in. Then after the fast downhill, there was of course another climb.
We were supposed to avoid drafting by keeping a 4 bike length gap between us and the bike ahead of us. But in these early parts, that was just impossible. There were just too many bikes. I did try to not be riding anybody’s back wheel though.
I passed many expensive bikes many with disc wheels. I loved the distinctive sound of the disc wheels. The whir, whir, whir sound. I even worked out what the sound was during my long ride. The sound is not really created by the disc wheel itself. The big carbon fiber wheel is acting more like a speaker that is amplifying sounds of the road noise, and the chain going over the cogs of the cassette. Sounds cool though!
After the out and back, I was out on the main road again for a while. Then I was on the loop. On my first pass of the loop I got to see some of the pros go by on their second loop. You could tell they were the pros, because their bib #s were a slightly different color. Amazing, they weren’t going blazingly faster than the rest of us. But they were going slightly faster, and did disappear ahead of us. Not sure if I saw any of the leaders. Maybe they had already gone by.
Not too far into the first loop, I passed a guy dressed in a red devil suit cheering the riders on.
One of the best parts of the course is in the loop. It is riding through the town of LaGrange. There are tons of people here cheering on the riders. As I rode through LaGrange, I waved my arms, to egg the crowds on. They got really loud, and I had fun.
Then I was out of town. After LaGrange, you ride on for a bit. Then there is a pretty good downhill with a sharp left turn at the bottom. This is one of the more dangerous parts of the course from what I had heard. I managed to take it at a pretty good clip. It was pretty reminiscent of a corner I ride at home.
Then we were on a narrow country road with short rolling hills. Back here was an aid station. I finally took the opportunity to get off my bike, stretch my legs, and use a porta potty. I downed a gel, and drank some water. I also poured some cold water over my head.
After a bit, I took off riding again. My bike computer had stopped registering my speed. I stopped and resynced it. I had had this problem occasionally. I got a new sensor unit from Cateye, but have come to think that it was operator error. That the unit may have gone partially to sleep, and that I needed to wake it up by pressing one of the buttons. Still working on that.
I got going again. I passed many people repairing flat tires. There was a guy on a scooter riding around and helping people fix their bikes. Great job guy! My bike was making various strange noises. There was a ticking sound what seemed every second or third rotation of the cranks. And it felt like my left foot was racing to catch up with my right foot. I couldn’t figure out what was going on. (When I got home, I found my left crank arm was loose)
Along the way, I grabbed bananas from volunteers, drank Pepsi and water, ate gels, Fig Newtons, and even a Snickers bar. My Pepsi ran out, and I started drinking some orange Gatorade. I didn’t like it much.
Then I was out on the main road again. More pros passed me. I was on this road for a while. I passed a sign with an arrow pointing straight ahead, and saying finish. But they was not in my cards yet. I had to take the left turn and start my second loop. I seemed to be making pretty good time. I needed to be off the bike by 10.5 hours after the last swimmer entered to water. I should easily make that.
Before LaGrange, I came to the special needs bag pickup. Shortly before you get there, you shout your number. Then as you get up ahead, they have you bag ready. I got my bag, and starting pulling stuff out. I had two 24oz bottles of Pepsi, gus, Snickers bars, and more Fig Newtons. I got the stuff I wanted, and trashed the bag.
Then as I was coming into the LaGrange for my second time, I said to another cyclist, “Want to see something cool?” I rode up ahead, and again egged on the crowds in LaGrange. It was fun and I am easily amused.
I again stopped at the same aid station I did before. I used the porta potty again. I stretched my legs, and borrowed some sunblock from one of the volunteers. The volunteers were great!
Then after a while I was back on the main road. More flat tires. I heard from people after the race, that someone had put tacks out along the course. Near the finish of the second loop, a guy in front of me suddenly stuck out his left leg. I asked if he was alright. He asked if I heard anything. I told him no, just the sound of his Zipp wheels. He asked me if he had a flat. I looked, and both tired looked fine. But I kept watching, and then noticed his read tire was now starting to look low. I told him, and he stopped.
Now I was passed the turnoff for the loop. I was in the final stretch. I just kept cranking along. I was passing lots of riders now. On one downill section, I was coasting and gaining speed. I was coming up behind a guy slowly passing another rider. I yelled on your left. He didn’t move. I was getting closer. On your left!!! He didn’t move. I screamed, 19## ON YOUR LEFT!!! He moved over a bit, and I flew passed between him and an orange safety cone. I DID NOT want to hit my brakes. I started cranking even a little harder, pissed off at this moron for blocking.
I came to the steep hill that I climbed up earlier in the day, and flew down it passing more riders. It amazed me how many riders did not take advantage of their aerobars of the downhills. It was like this all along the course.
Then I got to the flat section and focused on spinning the cranks. I was maintaining a speed of 20-21mph and flying by other cyclists.
It was in the final section that I met up with Shannon. I think he was riding the other way, and I passed him. He easily caught up with me and rode with me for a little bit. We chatted while I continued cranking away. Soon, Shannon peeled off, and I made my way to the finish. The last mile or two is littered with rough patches on the road, and some potholes. I maneuvered my bike around these and kept going. As I approached the finish, volunteers were warning us to slow down for a sharp turn and bump. I slowed and hopped my bike over the bump as best I could. I came to the dismount line, and jumped off the bike. I pushed it to the transition entrance. A volunteer took my bike and I ran to get my run bag. Okay, I didn’t run. I sort of hobbled. I was hoping that my legs loosened up soon. Someone had said the bike course was long, maybe about 115 miles. But I hit the finish with almost exactly 112 miles on my bike computer.
I had arrived back in transition well under nine hours. I had a great shot to finish under 14 hours. I had debated about how fast to run. While on the bike, I pretty much decided to run it easy, and not risk blowing up.
T1
After exiting the river, I ran up the sidewalk, across a little bridge, and then down another sidewalk. I ran or maybe walked quickly to where my bike gear bag was located. A volunteer was already there holding it out for me. I grabbed it, thanked them, and ran towards the changing tents. As I approached the first tent, a volunteer waved me inside. This was the men’s changing tent. The tent was enclosed but had a big opening at either end for guys to enter and exit. So people were free to look in if they wanted to. Women were running passed the entrance. But I think they were so focused on getting to their own tent, they probably didn’t bother. I wonder what would have happened if the girls tent was first, and the guys had to run by the entrance. But then, the girls tent openings may have been shielded better. I don’t know. I didn’t notice.
Anyway, I ran into the tent. There were a lot of chairs, and a lot of guys in here. I found an empty chair and plopped down. I opened my bag, and pulled out a towel. I brought a beach towel. Next time I will bring a smaller towel. I pulled off my swim jammers, and dried off. I applied some Body Glide where my shorts sometimes chaif. I pulled on my bike shorts. I dried my feet some more, and put on some socks and my cycling shoes. I pulled on my LVM21 bike jersey. I had already loaded the pockets with stuff, and taped them closed with electrical tape. I pulled the tape off. I put on my heart rate monitor strap that syncs with my Cateye bike computer. I hung my Road ID tag around my neck. I strapped my race belt with my race number around my waist, the the number to the back. They had some small tubs of Vaseline in there for people to use. I scooped some out and applied it to pretty much the same places I used the Body Glide. I had never used Vaseline before. But what the heck, other guys were using it. Probably not a good thing to use something the first time during a race, but in hindsight, I think it worked better than the Body Glide. And it’s cheaper! I grabbed my helmet and sunglasses. I dumped the rest of my stuff into the bag. The volunteer offered to do it, but I wanted to make sure I got everything into the bag. I had some extra contact lenses in the bag just in case I lost one or both during the swim. Fortunately I did not need them. I donned my helmet and headed for the exit.
Outside the tent, there were some girls to apply sun block. I stopped and got sun block applied to my legs, arms, the back of my neck, the tops of my ears, and a little to the top of my head so I didn’t get sun burned through the helmet vents. I had her apply a little extra to the back of my neck since I had already gotten a bit of sun there the day before on my long walk to and from the swim start. Thinking about it now, I am wondering if the girls could see into the tent where all the guys were changing.
I put my sunglasses on. I may have stopped at a porta potty, but I am not sure. Parts of the day are a blur. I ran to my bike. I knew right where it was. I grabbed my bike, and pushed it to the bike exit. When I crossed the mount line, got on the bike and started to go. It was uphill, but the bike was already in a low gear. Up the small hill to the road, and now the bike portion was underway.
The Swim
I jumped into the water about 7:05am. I had read to jump in and not dive in. So I jumped in with my legs spread and one arm out, and the other holding my goggles. I immediately started swimming freestyle to get away from the dock. The water was warmer than the air. My heart rate must have been cranked, and my breathing up. I started choking a little on the water. There was zero visibility. The water was brown. I flipped over on my back to back stroke. I had people all around me. I was feeling claustrophobic. Water was going over my face, and I felt like I was sinking more than usual. I started to panic. Thoughts of finding a kayak flashed through my mind. I managed to find a little bit of space, and just worked at backstroking my way up the channel. Pretty much everyone else was swimming freestyle and were going faster than me. They would brush up against me. They would piss me off a little as I felt they were violating MY space. I tried to ignore them and keep going. Every now and then, I would flip over and swim freestyle for a bit, then flip over and swim backstroke again. I tried to position myself out of everyone else’s way and just swim my own race. I started to try to get into a rhythm of swimming 40 strokes of backstroke, and then 40 strokes of freestyle. I kept looking over and seeing the island. I would have to swim passed the top of the island a ways before I hit the turnaround. I kept seeing what I though was the end of the island, but it wasn’t. There was always more island. How long was this damn island? Finally I got passed it. There were helicopters flying overhead. And also hot air balloons.
As I approached the turn around buoy which is about 7/10’s of a mile from the start, I was swimming freestyle. My hand hit soft sand on the bottom. Hmm… a sandbar. Was I on still course? I lifted my head, and saw that yes, I was still on course. My feet touched the bottom, and I stood up chest deep in the water. I started walking. I looked over at a guy on a kayak and said “Look, I am walking the Ironman swim….how cool is that!?!?” I walked on the sandbar for about 50 feet or more till it feel away. Then I swam around the buoy staying wide to avoid the other swimmers.
Now I was out in the main river. I had the current helping me at this point. The sun was coming up over the trees and was shining in my eyes now as I was doing backstroke. Maybe I should have worn my tinted goggles. I continued swimming a combination of freestyle and backstroke. The swimmers were more spread out here, and I felt better. They still brushed up against me, hitting me with their hands. I was just wait for them to go passed. There were barges on this side of the island and it was cool swimming passed them. It was nice to see I was actually moving. It was hard to judge on the other side as there were just trees. It felt like my swim cap was starting to come off. I tried to pull it on tighter. But each time I tried, I started to sink. I gave up and hoped it would stay on.
I swam passed the bottom of the island and was thinking I had less than a mile to go. My reasoning was that it was a mile walk from the transition area to the swim start, and the start was just a little up from the bottom of the island. I had plenty of time to think of stuff like this. I swam under a railroad bridge. I was supposed to flip over and swim freestyle, but I enjoyed looking up and seeing the bridge. When I did flip over and do freestyle, then flipped over to do backstroke, I saw how much water I covered. I could tell my freestyle was way faster than my backstroke. I knew this already. Oh well. I gotta work on it more.
I could see tents up in the not too far distance. I figured this was the transition area. It didn’t look too far. I just kept swimming. I was getting closer.
Then I could see the end of the swim. I just needed to get there. It seemed like I was barely moving at this point. It was just over there, maybe 50 yards or less. Why am I going so slowly? Just gotta get around this buoy. I reached the stairs. There were volunteers to help me up. My legs were a little unstable coming out of the water. I never encountered this after a swim. But they came around quickly. I pulled off my swim cap and goggles. I pulled out my earplugs, and threw them in a trash can. Volunteers were handing out cups of water. I wasn’t thirsty but I grabbed one and drank it anyway. I headed to grab my bike gear bag. I was very happy to be out of the water! I finished the 2.4 mile swim in about 1 hour and 42 minutes.