Photo by Bill Baumeyer
As I made the left turn to start the second lap along the
water way, I was met with the biggest crowds of the day. The walk way was filled with people cheering
and screaming. Kids running around,
people eating and drinking at the shops and restaurants that lined the
course. It was easy to pick up the pace
here and smile as the fans lifted my spirits and made me forget, briefly, how
hot it was. This was a section of the
run course that closed the loop for the first lap. There was a group of women dressed like
cheerleaders that lined each side of the side walk and as you entered their
cheering tunnel the two up front on either side would slap your ass. This didn’t come as a surprise as I witnessed
it happen to the men in front of me. Two
passes by them, two ass slaps! I don’t
remember being behind a female racer when I passed the cheerleaders so I’m not
sure if they acknowledged them in the same manner. Up the path from the cheerleaders were a
dedicated group of men and women who were mostly wearing under garments,
dancing with music blasting. They danced
all day! After them the path opened up
and the crowd thinned out as I began entering the back-side of the transition
area.
True to form I saw David and Brandon and got an update on
some of the other racers as they pushed my along to keep racing. The second lap had a different feel. Most of the top age groupers and pro’s had
already passed me by on my first lap as they headed on to the finish so much of
the traffic on the course were moving along with a run walk strategy as I had
been doing or were painfully walking.
There weren’t a lot of happy faces on the competitors at this time. I kept thinking about getting 4-5 more miles
to reach that half-way point. This was
the biggest struggle of the race, that first lap had taken a lot out of
me. I kept wondering when my body was
going to shut down, I kept waiting for a major malfunction or bodily fail. It hadn’t happened yet so I kept pushing from
aid station to aid station. I don’t know
if being familiar with the course after completing one lap was helpful or
hurtful. The stretch of the run that was
mile 2-4 was probably the worst. You
came out of the park where the swim started and had the section of the course
that had the least amount of people watching.
There was one longer gradual climb on a blacktopped road that normally
wouldn’t be much of anything, but that day in the heat and wide open sun, it
was exhausting. It was during this
stretch that I started talking with another competitor whom I ended up walking
next to briefly. It was encouraging as
he had no issues or concerns with power walking, his goal was to finish and he
knew he was going to, we were both on our second laps. We both commented on how that stretch was the
worst, we both hated it, even though we hadn’t even finished being on it a
second time. We weren’t looking forward
to doing that stretch a third time but happily sighed when we reached the top as it wasn’t just any top of an incline it was shaded!
I had slowed down about 3 minutes for the first stretch of
3.8 miles on the second lap compared to the first. Perhaps I should have made myself puke the
second time around. That section ended
up being my slowest of any all day.
After crossing the half-way point my confidence built. The shadows were getting longer and even
though it was still very hot, the direct sunlight was going away. I felt I was able to maintain longer
stretches of running and the time outside the shade was getting more
comfortable. I could tell it was
beginning to cool some as my sweat actually began to feel as if it was cooling me. It was this pass through the
water way section of the run that was the most jumping.
The crowds were their largest of the day in any one area. It was at this time that I watched a fellow
competitor at an aid station grab a big handful of Vaseline and apply it
liberally in his shorts. Heat, tired,
whatever the reason I hadn’t considered that up to that point. I grabbed a popsicle stick that was fully
loaded and pinched off as much as I could between my fingers and started
digging. At first it was more like
dumping bacon grease on a fire than anything, but the added slip ended up being
a positive in the end.
I was approaching one section of the run course that was
another short down and back. On the
first lap as I was headed out I passed a member of Team RWB that I had met on
Thursday at lunch, Drew, who was competing in his 4th Ironman. Drew and I chatted off and on from Thursday
to Saturday. He came over and hung out
most of the afternoon Friday at the homestay as we grilled out and
relaxed the previous day. When Drew and I first passed
each other going opposite directions on the down and back, I yelled out and I don’t think he quite caught who I was. This second lap we met at the same spot, we
recognized the other ahead of time and caught a high five as we crossed
paths. We repeated this on the third and
final lap as well. He was less than a
quarter mile in front of me. It was
another huge pick me up on that second lap.
After hitting the turnaround of the down and back it was a gentle down
slope that was mostly covered by some construction scaffolding. At the end of the scaffolding was the cone to
turn right and become an Ironman, or turn left for another 8 miles. I went left.
I was floating at this time running through the crowds
again, I had one lap from that spot, I just saw Drew and I was hitting the
large crowds. I could tell now that the
sun was going down, I felt better about running in the sun and tried to keep a
nice steady pace to avoid any more walking.
Before I got back to the transition area I looked across the water and
saw Rachel and her guide Caroline. I
yelled out and we all exchanged some laughter from opposite sides of the water.
I was also met by Matt Miller, founder of Cdifferent as he tried to snap
a quick picture of me. He was having
issues with his phone while on his bike so I stopped and let him get ready, then posed for
him. Got a high five and took off.
Photo by Matt Miller, CDifferent
I truly don’t remember much of the final
lap. It was the first time I looked at
my watch to see how long I’d been out there racing that day; 12 hours, it was 7
o’clock. I had mixed emotions about
seeing that time. I didn’t have a goal
time to finish in but 12 hours was where I thought I may end up. I wasn’t disappointed, wasn’t mad, I actually
took solace in knowing about where I’d finish giving the changes I worked
through and how I made my training my own with a different
attitude, better prioritization and confidence that I could finish my own way.
As I entered the water way area for the last time I still
saw all the same faces that had been out there all day. I know I wasn’t running that fast so it was
pretty amazing that these people were still there. There was one group that had set up a large
tent and had a big stack of hamburgers sitting out. As I passed I said “that looks really
good!” A woman replied “you can have one
on your last lap.” I said “it is my last
lap!” She yelled, as I had passed by
already, to come get one. After eating
GU, Gatorade Perform, Perpeteum, water and not much of anything else for 12.5 hours, I was
ready for something new. She handed me
a burger, I thanked her and kept running.
It was probably the driest burger I had ever had, but it was
incredible! My mouth was so dry it was
hard to eat; with the huge bite I took it was about 5 minutes of chewing before
finally swallowing. I ended up ditching
the burger after that first bite as it was just too much effort for that late
in the race.
The worst part of the final lap were the looks of defeat. I was coming through with only a few miles
left to finish and overheard others talking about only being on their first
lap. Some were sitting on benches, some
had it painted all over their faces in frustration and agony. It was hard, I felt selfish for being so
excited I had so little between where I was and the finish line, and here were
others that looked so beat. If they
were still out there then they had a chance to finish. They hadn’t been pulled from the course yet
so they had a choice to make, keep pushing and don’t stop until someone makes
you or you finish. It wasn’t my place at
that time to remind them, so I kept on running.
I had very little interest in the last two water stations, I wanted to be
done, it was a very real feeling that after this long race I’d be able to stop
moving and not worry about the clock. I
entered the last down and back and true to form, saw Drew, I encouraged him to
push it on in as he had less than ¼ mile.
I made the turn around, crossed the final timing mat on the run course
and pushed. I ended up side by side with
a woman coming to the finish as well. We
exchanged some congratulations and then I said “push on ahead, I’m going to back off for
a second. . “ Then I thought to myself.
. . “what the hell are you talking about. . . back off?!!” I picked it back up as I approached the fork
in the road cone one last time. Right
turn!
There was one last hill to go up as I neared the finish
area. At the top of the hill I could see
all the lights and the big screen TV that showed a feed of the finish
line. There was about a block that
appeared to be dark because of the brightness of the finish area that was up
ahead. The fences started along both
sides of the road that were draped with Ironman and all the major
sponsors. The cheers were getting louder
and I could start to make out faces of the people lining the fences on either
side. The finish chute then took a 90
degree right as you enter the crowd, music and The Voice. As I turned the road was split in two, I went
down the chute away from the finish high fiving people along the right, then at
the bottom of a small hill turned 180 degrees heading up the road to the
finish. I put out everything I had left,
as I got within steps of finishing I did what I can only describe as a
sort-of-high-step-arms-flailing-kind-of-dance.
I thought the crowd cheered louder after my celebration, but that was
probably me. I crossed the line, thought
I heard my name called as an Ironman, but couldn’t quite tell. I was met by a friendly volunteer who handed
me a small bottle of water and asked how I was.
I said I felt good, opened the bottle and did one of the things I had trained myself to do all day, dump the
water on my head.
Next thing I knew I had a shirt, a hat and a medal. I got my picture taken in front of the
Ironman back drop and started walking to the finishers’ area. Within a few steps from getting my picture
taken I saw Drew. We walked up and
exchanged a hug. It felt good to finish
and have him there, a coincidence I was happy to participate in.
0 – 3.8 miles:
11:51/mi
3.8 - 7.8 mile: 12:46/mi
7.8 – 8.9 mile: 11:14/mi
8.9 – 12.7 mile: 13.03/mi
12.7 – 16.7 mile: 11:59/mi
16.7 – 17.8 mile: 10:16/mi
17.8 – 21.6 mile: 11:54/mi
21.6 – 25.6 mile: 11:24/mi
25.6 – 26.2 mile: 11:31/mi
Total Run Time: 5:15:11, 12:01/mi pace
Total Finish Time: 13:03:46
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