It’s All About the Run
The Prep
Lots of it.
Many hours and miles of it. Gallons of
Perpeteum of it. Straddling three
seasons – spring, summer and fall.
Before the sun rises and after the sun sets – odd hours all throughout
the week. Hats off to Rob for being the
unpaid coach and to Shawn for being the training partner on at least 50% of the
program. The other 50% is solo mainly
due to the whacky hours and locations that you must train in. Dedication is key here. An understanding and supportive family is also
essential.
Lesson
Learned – Start early and have a plan.
Stay focused.
The Drive to the B2B
Full IM
I chose to
take the back way through Edenton NC because the ole 20 yr old Taurus would not
have enjoyed the 80 mph cruises on I-95.
Took about 4.5 hrs to arrive in Wilmington NC. Nice rural drive the entire way. Saw lots of cotton fields, something I have
not seen since my USAF days in west Texas.
Lesson
Learned – None actually. Choose the
routing that works best for you.
The Day before the B2B
Full IM
I arrive
about 130PM and finally hook up with Shawn at the convention center. It is Friday and he is drinking a beer
already (just kidding). We both quickly
learn that there is a lot of stuff to do and in various places. I read all the pre-race material so I knew
what to expect but I was still a bit overwhelmed with the huge “to do” list
facing both of us:
-
Check
in and packet pick up.
-
T1
bag prep and drop off.
-
Mandatory
athlete briefing (12, 2 or 5PM).
-
T2
bag prep and bike drop off 10 miles away in Wrightsville Beach.
-
Hotel
check in.
-
Dinner.
-
Supposedly
rest and to bed early. Yeah sure.
It was
unseasonably warm but at least dry. The
ride to Wrightsville Beach should have been quick but turned into a big traffic
jam because the beach bridge was being worked on and down to one lane. By the end of the day, I was truly toasted,
hungry and thirsty. The opposite of well
rested and raring to go. I did attend
the athlete dinner (for $1) and saw a repeat of the briefing at 5PM. Dinner was catered by the convention center
and it was very good. I was so darn
hungry I had two helpings of everything – the opposite of my nutrition plan …
but I was very hungry after an exhausting day.
I did eat healthy though. Shawn
had his family to take care and I had to check into the hotel (we were very
near one another down town). I think I
got to bed at about 8PM (to toss and turn) and I had the typical 3 alarms set. I stressed a bit thinking I may have
forgotten something critical in my T bags.
Nothing to do about it now, just go to bed and hope for the best.
Lesson
Learned – This is not a two night event.
Highly advise you stay three nights (Thr nite is nite one) to ensure you
start the check in process early Friday AM.
Otherwise, get ready to burn a lot of energy and nerves on the day
before the race, which is not a good idea.
BTW – I thought I would drive home solo after this event on the same
day. Rob was nice but the implied message from him in advance was “You are out
of your mind and you must have a death wish.”
He was right. A Saturday night
stay over is NOT an option.
The Swim
Shawn and I
meet up in front of the Hilton at 505AM Saturday and board what we believe is
the warmest bus (no way would we board an open air trolley). We made a good choice. We arrive at T1 and Wrightsville Beach about
530AM. I go check my bike and reorganize
a few things in my prestaged T1 bag and at the bike. I deflate all the air in every other bike
tire on my rack (just kidding). I go for
body marking and enjoy plenty time alone in the porta john in the pitch
black. Temp lights are burning bright
throughout the T1 area, otherwise its dang dark out. At about 6AM, Shawn and I board a trolley to
take us to the swim start. People are
huddled against the wall near a parking lot at the beach start. Folks are wearing their disposable shirts,
shoes, socks, etc. What you leave on the beach goes into the
dumpster after the start. I suggest we
stay in the low wind area until about 15 minutes before the race. Shawn pulls out a flask of whiskey to swig
and stay warm (just kidding). We then
head down to the beach which was a longer walk then I expected. I drink my watered down portion of two
servings of Hammer Gel for breakfast. I
toss the flask on the beach with other items destined for the dumpster. My first Hammer supplements went down about
an hour ago. We arrive about 5 minutes
before the start. Opps, my mistake. We are at the back of the pack and they have
everyone corralled into about a 50 foot wide starting gate on the beach. Why? I
thought they would give us at least 200 feet of beach front to mass start. This bites, we are at the back and it cost us
at least 1 minute (from when the horn went off until we hit the water). Unlike here in Hampton Roads (walk / swim the
first or last 200 yards), there was an immediate drop off within 10 feet of
hitting water. Cool. I can swim, let’s go. There was nothing remarkable about the swim
other than running into other swimmers as expected. Saw the sunrise which was neat. Also was kicked in the face a few times and
almost lost my goggles. I missed a turn
buoy toward the end and went far (that bites) and then I overshot the
finish. I was just warming up and some
54 minutes later, I was done. The swim,
as expected and announced, would be super-fast because it was in a channel with
the incoming tide. Typically, I would
have been in the water at least 1.5 hrs for a 2.4 mile swim. I sort of backed up and then headed to the
dock which I almost missed. Up I climb onto
the dock and I then look for the biggest wet suit stripper I could find. I settled for the first available, a lady,
she was good. Wet suit off and in hand I
blast off for a 300 to 400 yard run across what I knew would hurt … road
surfaces. I go for a side walk to avoid
totally destroying my feet on the asphalt road.
I side swipe some bushes to stay on the relatively smooth sidewalk. I somewhat slow down through the fresh water
shower and then think “Why do I need this?
I am gonna stink and sweat all day long.
Let’s go!” I arrive in the
changing tent and dump my T1 bag that I grabbed before I entered the tent. Not much in it because I am wearing what I
will be wearing all day long (a Hammer tri suit – my STC tri suit is to tight
and cuts me in to many places). Stuff my
T1 bag with my wet suit, cap and goggles and then floor it out the tent as I
toss the T1 bag to the volunteers.
Socks, shoes, head liner, helmet and glasses – that is all I need to get
on the bike. Then I forget that I have
about 7 Hammer Nutrition pills in my mouth (T1 dosing) that I took in the
changing tent. I tasted some powder in
my mouth and almost had a Rob experience of having one of them turn completely
into powder before I got to swig some water from my bike. My fault.
I forgot to drink water upon arriving at the bike first. I drink water and climb on the bike, all the
pills go down and off I go.
Lesson
Learned – Bring disposable warm clothing if you know it will be cold before the
swim. We were lucky. It was cool but not cold like in previous
years.
Lesson
Learned – Get to the beach starting area at least 15 minutes before the start
time even though this means you will be standing and burning some energy.
Lesson
Learned – Blow through the fresh water shower.
Not worth it and it was low pressure anyway with too many bodies
standing under it.
The Bike
Been there
and done it. I was ready for it. 112 miles, I can handle that. In about 5.5 hrs it will be done, just be
careful and don’t do anything stupid.
Watch out for the two grated steel bridges. It was exhilarating to get on the bike after getting
up so early (445AM) and swimming 2.4 miles.
I was cruising rather fast heading out of town because it was (1)
exciting, (2) I had a tail wind and (3) lots of race fans were cheering us
on. Within 5 miles I dialed it back to a
sustainable pace of 24 mph (just kidding, much lower than that). Overall, the roads were very good to
excellent with the exception of one 10 or so mile stretch (bone shaking). I loved the opportunity to ride on a closed
down interstate (about 12 miles of it).
Felt like a king on that portion.
I had my 6 hr bottle of frozen Hammer Perpeteum with me and it worked
great. Merely took in water every 1 to
1.5 hrs. For a diversion, I consumed two
Hammer Gels from an aid station but that was all. I also dosed hourly with Hammer supplements
(anti fatique caps, endurolytes and endurance aminos). Blew by the bike’s special needs stop halfway
and almost took out two riders that stopped on the side of the road to get
their bags. I did not understand the
purpose of the special needs bags because we were instructed to not put
anything valuable in it because the bags would all be tossed at the end of the
race. So short of placing a some perishable
food item in the bag, what is its purpose?
I surprise myself and never stop to pee though I feel the urge about
mile 80. As expected, it takes me a
longggggggggg time to warm up. I feel
like crap at mile 35 but much better at mile 80, go figure. By mile 95 to 100 I pick up the pace out of
excitement mostly. I trade places with
woman 2 and 3 during the last 20 miles.
I beat them both on the bike and almost run with one of them most of the
way on the run … the other one (no 2 woman) passes me at mile 8 on the run and
then kicks my butt for the rest of the run.
Neither of them choke on the marathon like I did. We are warned about the last mile, a steel
bridge which will have a 3 foot wide rubber mat across it. Go slow and stay on it. That I do.
But holy cow, what a scary process.
It was very unstable and plywood sheets would have been a better
choice. If you fell off your bike onto
the metal bridge there is no way you would get back up. You would be hamburger. They definitely need to change the bridge
crossing material next time. I enter T2
and roll the bike to bike handler with instructions “take care of her, she has
been good to me!” and they comply with a “yes sir!” I then follow the maze around the convention
center to the men’s changing area. I almost
take out 5 male teenage volunteers that were a bit too slow in front of
me. It is a 3 foot wide path and someone
needs to move so I yell at them and they scatter … I feel better. I also had to blow by several other guys (I
think from the Half) that were just to slow in the maze. I find my T2 bag and get into the changing
area. I don’t have a need to change but
I do pee alas. And that was the only
time I did that during the entire 11 hr process, wow. I put fresh socks on and shoe up. Grab my hat, different sunglasses and my
trusty sweat rag that I hand carry. Off
I go out of the convention center and into throngs of well-wishers and fans. And oh, I carry my T2 bag with my bike gear
(helmet, socks, glasses and sweat band) out the front door.
Lesson
Learned – Don’t get complacent on the bike.
112 miles is a long way and 5.5 hrs is a long time but it take less than
1 second to veer off the road the ruin your day. I came close to it at least twice.
Lesson
Learned – Slow down at the aid stations and yell to volunteers in advance what
you need/want. They were great but I had
one lady running after me to hand me something.
The Run
OK, this is
when the term “humbling” comes abruptly to mind. Within the first 3 miles I was waiting to
“get my legs.” A term meaning a
successful transition from endurance riding to endurance running. Well, I did not feel that transition take
place but instead I felt a lot of overall body fatique. At that point, I knew this was gonna
hurt. I checked my pace and it was too
fast (8 min/mi). So I dialed it back, so
I thought. By the first turn around
point (8 miles) I was just barely above 8 min/mi. You bonehead, slow down, you can NOT sustain
this rate. By mile 13 my stop at the aid
station was a bit more extended then it should have been. Not a good sign. I, like everyone else, merely pushed on. Initially I thought aid stations every mile
for the run was way overkill. Well,
guess what, half way through the run and I was craving every aid station
because I could not drink that much at each stop and would be thirsty by time
the next aid stations hits. I see Shawn
coming in on loop one as I am heading out of loop one. I yell and I think we high five (or maybe I
chose to retain that energy). He has a
big smile on his face and is eating a slice of pizza (just kidding on the
pizza). The second time, Shawn sees me
and yells. He has a smile still and I am
grimacing just wanting to finish this dang event. He has a daiquiri this time, with a lime
(just kidding). The run course was great
as it was shaded most of the way and went around a neighborhood lake and historic
downtown. Nice setting. It was a repeat course which was great
because on the second loop you knew what you were facing. However, there was a very tough hill leaving
the historic area (should have been stairs in the middle of that road) and lots
of rolling hills throughout. The messed
up cobblestones downtown were scary also.
It is easy to snap an ankle when you are exhausted. So what the heck happened on the run? Well, by mile 20 the lights went out, almost
literally. Actually, they were
flickering a few miles before that. And
you won’t believe this but Dr. Hammer had GI issues toward the end of the
run. Mentally I was toast and I veered
off my nutrition plan. Man, that orange
slice looks good, so I ate it. 5 minutes
later I regretted it. 10 minutes later,
I ate another one with the same results.
I am out of my mind. I can barely
eat any Hammer Gel (and that was my nutrition plan for the run). What is going on? My body wanted to shut down essentially, the
fatique was enormous. But was I weak
because I was not eating or was I weak because I started eating the wrong
thing? Who knows? All I knew was that I was not having a good stomach
day and that was a first for me. I now
know what Rob goes through. And then I get
the chills which I think is because of fatique and not enough hydration. But I am taking water (and sometimes Heed) at
every aid station, but not peeing. I am
craving ice now also. So now I know what
Chuck goes through also. Fortunately, I
am taking my hourly Hammer supplements though – at least I could get those
down. Otherwise, what a mess. So essentially, by mile 20 I am officially
toast and my goal of hitting a 330 to 345 hr marathon is merely a dream. Now what do I do, go cry or find a taxi back
to downtown (with no cash though)? I see
a lot of walking wounded and I soon join their ranks. But I only walk when I arrive at an aid
station. Hey, that is at least one
mental win. Still, I must have totaled at
least 20 minutes of walking …. that sucks!
This is not how this was to end.
I am in mile 134 of a 140 mile race and I am now blowing light filaments
left and right. Woman 3 passed me about
30 minutes ago and she appeared slow but she was NOT walking. Anyway, I am humbled and I push on. I see the mile marker signs go by and
surprisingly I keep going despite EVERYTHING hurting. Even my arms where in pain and felt like
lead. That was a sign to me that some
internal lights were truly going out. I
was trying to avoid adulations in the road surface because they even hurt. And I knew the last 2 miles of this course
was UP hill. Yikes. Surprisingly, by mile 24, I get PO’d enough
to apparently cook up some will power that allows me to pick up a decent
nonstop pace to bring it home. My
average pace for the last 6 miles was 12 min/mile. Wow!
That is what walking will do for your pace. Personally, I thought I should have been
pulled from the course for poor performance.
I slowly jogged down death man’s hill (so I call it) on the last curve before
you hit the cobblestones and head to the chute about 800 yards away. The fans and spectators are great. There was a live band way back in the
neighborhood loop and lots of inspirational signs on everything (it’s not
sweat, its liquid awesomeness). You
could be lying on the ground in a coma and they would say “looking good, keep
it up.” About 200 yards before the chute
is the turnaround for the second lap.
The officials have no clue if I am on my first or second lap and I
clearly indicate to them (with a waving hand/finger) that I am going to the
LEFT and toward the chute and NOT to the right for one more lap. Now that felt good. I mustered up enough energy to wave my hand
and clearly indicate my intended path for the next 200 yards. I arrive through the chute and say amen.
Actually I made the sign of the cross about 100 feet from the chute and then said
amen. DONE. Not the time I wanted or thought I would get
but I was DONE. And then the blood
pressure did exactly what I thought it would do, almost drop to zero. Got a bit dizzy and found a chair to sit
in. Tried to stand up about 5 minutes
later and almost saw the ground real close.
What a drain on the ole body. A
nice volunteer insisted on walking me back to the hotel about 2 blocks
away. I staggered back and was thrilled
to be DONE. The hot shower and Hammer
Recoverite both felt great. I checked my
cell phone and saw all the texts and messages from my STC family. It made me feel GREAT. You guys stayed with Shawn and me all day
long and we truly appreciated it. I wish
I could have seen the messages during the event (Shawn followed them on the
run). An hour or so later and with more
stable legs, I then went back out to the finish line to join the party and look
for Shawn.
Lesson
Learned – Never underestimate the difficulty of the run portion of a full
IM. Everything leading up to it is
merely a warm up, in my opinion.
Lesson
Learned – Never divert from your nutrition plan, despite signals coming from
your body. Assuming your nutrition plan
is sound and rock solid.
Lesson
Learned – When the lights go out, just keep flipping the switch even if the
bulb seems 100% burned out. It now
becomes a matter of mind over body. Really.
Lesson
Learned – Always be there for a friend.
One day you will greatly appreciate the returned favor.
The Day After
I go to bed
about 1030PM on Saturday night and surprisingly can’t sleep very well. I am up
at 430AM, hungry, eager to get to the nice breakfast that is waiting for me in
the Hilton. I could not eat much after
the race and the food was disappointing (some fresh fruit, all types of unhealthy
snacks, chicken broth and plain pizza again … man, I complain about pizza for a
post race food constantly and SetUp Events apparently does not care or want to
listen to me … if I am gonna eat a slab of saturated fat, at least make it a
supreme with a ton of vegetables and meat protein on it). In retrospect, I don’t know if I could have
eaten much if the food would have been better anyway. I can eat a lot after a Half, but this Full
really whacked my system, top and bottom.
I do go back to bed and get up at 730AM and have a great meal at the
Hilton. Had a free breakfast guest
coupon for someone else but no one was there for it. Gave my two Starbucks Coffee coupons to Shawn
for his wife (a Starbucks fan). I meet
up with Shawn at 915AM at the convention center to pick up our T bags and bikes. We exchange a few stories and say
farewell. I load up the car and head
back to Chesapeake feeling sore but otherwise feeling great. The race results were not on the B2B web yet
so I decided to blow off the brunch (paid a $1 for) and awards ceremony on the
battleship. Plus, I could leave a few
hours earlier by avoiding this. I had no
clue that I placed 2nd in my AG until Sunday night about 15 minutes
before I saw Jerry’s email stating the same.
Wow. You got to be kidding. Guess there was a lot of walking wounded out
there and that leveled the playing field.
But keep in mind, that
Rob is still the King of the B2B. In 08 he completed it
in 10:46 vs my 10:54. His swam 3 minutes
faster than I, our T1’s were almost identical, he biked 3 minutes faster than
I, his T2 was about 3 minutes faster (how did you do that?) and our runs were
painfully dismal and almost identical.
Go Rob go!
Lesson
Learn – Never underestimate your ranking.
When you hurt and want to toss in the towel, chances are that everyone
else feels the same way.
Lesson
Learn – Savor the day after. It is
indeed nice!
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