ironman

     There I was� on the beach, clad in a wetsuit, cap, and goggles, standing amidst 1,000 triathletes, all of us waiting to run into Lake Minneola, swim 2.4 miles, get out and bike 112 miles through the hilly Central Florida orange groves, and finish the day by running a marathon. A total of 140.6 miles. But this journey began not on the beach, but about fifteen years ago, the day I first watched the Hawaii Ironman on television and said that one day I�d do it. Years passed, and this goal slowly sank to the bottom of my mind. About a year ago it crept back into my consciousness, and I started considering whether I really wanted to go for it, as it seemed the most opportune time. I had a job that would allow me time to train and a wife busy with her third year of med school. Eight months ago I sent in my fee and officially became an Ironman hopeful.

   These eight months saw me spend much of my free time working out, preparing to work out, or recovering from working out. I averaged 10 workouts/week, and probably about 20-25 hours/week. My common greeting from Lisa when I arrived home was, �Hi hon, what �cha doing for workout today?� About Thursday of each week it became, �What are your workouts for the weekend?� Saturday was typically a long bike ride, from two to six hours, and a long swim, about an hour. Sunday was the long run day, usually lasting from one to three hours. Lisa would often ride her bike next to me on my long runs. This was how we got in our �quality time� together. She was an unfailing support in this endeavor, and any success I achieved must be equally shared with my �gear girl� and life partner.

    So after far too many hours on a bike, far too many weekends with schedules determined by training, and far too many sweaty socks, the day had finally arrived. Sleep came fitfully the night before the race, as I grew more nervous to begin the race and end the journey I�d begun so long ago.

    We arrived at the race around 6:00, and I pumped up my tires and made sure my bike was ready to go. Then I dropped off my bags with clothes and supplies for the bike and run at the transition area. Then the pre-race checklist: apply sunscreen, stretch, apply skin lube, don wetsuit and cap, one last hug for Lisa and handshake for Byron (my good buddy who drove down from Panama City for the race), and say a quick prayer. Standing at the water�s edge was a little surreal. So much thought, planning, and preparation had gone into this day, and here it was. The national anthem was sung, and then � the gun went off.

    Anyone who has watched television specials on the migration of African wildebeests can have an idea of what it�s like to run into a lake and start swimming with 1,000 other people. When the wildebeests reach a river and all plunge in one sees whitewater splash everywhere and parts of wildebeests bounce in and out of view. I found myself in the middle of the wildebeest pack. It was rather like swimming in the middle of a blender on �ice crush.� Arms, legs, hands, feet everywhere. I finally moved to the outside where it was a little less crowded, and tried to relax. It�s very important in the Ironman to not use much energy on the swim � when you get out there�s still 138.2 miles to go. My plan was to keep my heart rate below 150 for the swim. When I checked after about 10 minutes it was 168 and climbing. I thought I�d blown it. I began to repeat, �Slow down, relax, stretch each stroke� over and over. Soon the HR was back down under 160. As we approached the end of the first of two laps, my head started to hurt from the tightness of my goggle strap. This small nagging pain was soon a pulsing headache, and it�s pretty tough to loosen the strap in the middle of a lake, so I toughed it out until we reached the shore at the end of the first lap. The lap concluded by running over a mat that recorded your time (by scanning the computer chips we wore on our ankle), running a few yards down the beach, and then back in for another lap.

    I walked this portion, loosening up my google strap in hope this would relieve the pounding in my head. As I was heading back in I heard a loud "GO MATT" and found Lisa cheering for me, standing in the lake with water up to her thighs! What a trooper! If you ever run a race, get Lisa to come and cheer. After loosing the googles, I plunged back in and started swimming again. After a bit I found I was swimming the same pace as the fellow next to me, a very big (chubby) older man. I slowed down and moved directly behind him - the draft was incredible. It was as if I wasn't swimming at all. I just stared at his feet, lifted up my head every so often to make sure I'm was going straight, and enjoyed the ride! A couple times I tried to pull out and pass him, but my HR jumped up fast, so I just moved back behind my big friend and enjoyed his wake. Unfortunately, the goggle headache which had initially improved, started pulsing again. There was nothing I could do but keep going and hope the shore came back to me fast. When it was about 200 yards away I moved out from behind my new friend, started kicking a little harder to warm up my legs for the bike, and finished up the swim. It felt great to take off those goggles! My time was 1:16, exactly where I thought I should be, and I felt pretty good thanks largely to the draft I got on the second lap.

    As I left the water I was introduced to the wonderful volunteers of this event. I heard Lisa and Byron cheering, and then two volunteers stepped in front of me. "Sit down," they ordered. My brain was a little slow, and I started hoping I wasn't in trouble. They repeated, "SIT DOWN," so I sat on the grass. Each promptly grabbed a side of my wetsuit and started pulling. Soon my feet were up in the air and they were tugging to get it off my legs. They handed me the suit and gave me a pat on the back on the way to the transition area. For those that haven't taken off a wetsuit, it's pretty tricky, especially when you just finished swimming and your arms don't work so well.

    After picking up my bike bag I went to the changing tent, sat down, and began changing. A man came and started looking through my gear bag. When I asked if he needed anything, he told me to just keep changing. He pulled out my wetsuit bag and put my suit and swim gear in for me. These volunteers were awesome! I finished changing, put on sunscreen, grabbed my bike, and got on for a very long ride...