Ironman Texas 2012

Like so many things in life, if you don't take time to the enjoy the journey, the destination is less meaningful. What I find so intriguing about the IRONMAN is the constant struggle and problem solving required to get through it.  A person's "Success" on race day is clearly a reflection of attitude, flexibility, and his or her personal definition of what is "successful".  Sometimes "successful" is a result, other times, it's whether or not the process was successful, despite the result.

Having spread four IRONMAN finishes over the last five years, it has been like an old friend whom I have grown up alongside.  Sometimes you lose touch, but when you reconnect, you savor the relationship, even if it is only brief; it's invigorating to know there is always a unique relationship within arm's reach.  It's a relationship which puts you against the wall, forces a true look within yourself, and requires you to make choices, often with unmeasurable consequences.  The relationship evolves with time, and provides fulfillment in different areas at different times.

IRONMAN is like that: it's daunting, huge, complex, encompassing, expensive, variable, overwhelming, irrational, manageable, frustrating, and honest - sometimes all at once. Ultimately, there is only one way to get through 140.6 miles in 17 hours. YOU have to do it, and I love the basic integrity in that. No excuses, no blaming, it's just you against you, and what the day and the course throw at you.  If you did it "well", you can pat yourself on the back, if you did it "poorly", you can't look beyond the mirror. 

It would also be nieve to suggest, the process only affects you, the athlete.  An IRONMAN is a community achievement, and in our case, a family achievement.  As an athelete, you are certainly more nimble and can be more self-absorbed when you do it yourself, but a lonely road has a different dynamic than sharing it with others.  I grateful for sharing the journey with Andrea, Tre and Aly.

First off, The Woodlands, the volunteers, and EVERYONE who contributed to IRONMAN Texas 2012 did a marvelous job.  It was absolutely outstanding.  I can't emphasize that enough.  No detail was left undone, and for an event of this magnitude, it was a very impressive feat.

This race was one of those races which I tried to pay attention to the details; the type of details which, when you are "successful", people notice, and comment on the attention to detail required to achieve a particular result.  On the other hand, there is also leaving no detail undone, and falling flat on your face, and being looked upon as taking yourself too serious and being a crazed, obnoxious, self-absorbed triathlete.  Where I fell, is a matter of perception.
I could have kept a blog about the training up to the event, but, with a job, family, and the training itself, a blog just didn't fit into the priority list.  I only trained about four months, and it went pretty well. A few little nagging knee issues, but generally training went well.  The three-week taper included a week at Disney World, a cold requiring anti-biotics, the normal "weird" feeling associated with tapering, but approaching race-day, the cold was knocked out, and I felt rested, fresh and excited to race. 

For some reason, it was really nerve-wracking once I arrived in the swim start area.  The anticipation just eats at you the last hour or so before the race starts. I was calm in one sense because I have "been there before", but still anxious for what the day would bring. I followed a 3-2-1 nutrition strategy. Breakfast 3-hours before the race, 200 calories (AdvoCare Meal Replacement Bar) 2-hours before the race, and 100 calories 1-hour before the race. Nutritionally, I was sipping AdvoCare's incredible Arginine Extreme up ntil 30 minutes before the race.. I also used 1 new Rehydrate Gel and 2-O2 Gold pills about an hour the swim start. This of course, was in addition to a normal daily wake-up regimen: 3 Coreplex, 3 Catalyst, Amplify AT, BIO-RQ, Bio-Tools, Bio-Charge, Probiotic Plus, and Omega-Plex; And of Course, SPARK energy drink!

With everything in order, and I got into the water 15 or 20 minutes before we started.  It was real crowded treading water near the start line, and it was difficult finding ANY "personal space".   Then the gun went off. The IRONMAN mass swim start is so intense. It always is.  I started on the right side and tried to swim straight to the red turn-around point.  I just tried to outswim people, and other than getting bumped, noone pushed me under, or swam over me. Obviously, there is a lot of contact, and breathing requires an inner sense of calm despite the splashing and intensity.  Immediately, I knew I was working a little too hard, but it seemed necessary to get some space.  For the rest of the swim, I tried to draft, but, the swim is a big draft-fest, and its hard to gauge pace.  I found a comfortable pace, and breathed every stroke off to the right.  At the trun around, it was a bit crowded, and the swim back was quite challenging because of the sun angle. I found it tough to see the markers, so I followed the crowd; again mostly because the sun angle reflecting off the splashing water.  Finally, I made it into the canal and despite starting to feel some shoulder fatigue, felt pretty strong.  I knew I was in an OK position, but wouldn't know for sure until the exit.  The swim sets up the day, so once I exited, and saw the time, somewhere around 1:11, I knew the day could go either way.

On the bike, my computer didn't work for about 2-miles; finally, it woke up, and gave me an indication of effort and speed. My heart rate came down pretty quick, but my stomach was bloatey - if that's a word.  On the bike, I didn't have the OOMPH to get to work right away getting time back; I knew the people who beat me out of the water were probably solid cyclists too.  So, I worked hard within myself.  It is very easy to overdue it in the early stages of the IRONMAN bike ride.  I have done enough long rides to know, the "meltdown" occurs at 60-80 miles.  Around that point, people start to get tired, and their true IRONMAN bike fitness reveals itself.  So, I tried to be patient, and targeted a 22 mph average while monitoring my heart rate.  There were quite a few riders hammering , and people were working together, so legally, some not - it is what it is.  Nutritionally, I stayed on top of things with a system I devised so I could use AdvoCare's Fruit Punch Rehydrate during my bike leg.  Its nutritionally superior to the Electrolyte product served on the course.  I also supplement with Salt, and may have gotten a little behind, but managed it fine.  During the bike, my effort was hard enough, I didn't get hungry.  I drank constantly, and had a liquid mix of AdvoCare's Muscle Gain, Bananas, and Post Workout-Recovery in a bottle to provide calories - although, I didn't touch it!  At about 60 miles into the ride, I grabbed my special needs bag which included a bottle of Arginine Extreme - Again what an incredible product. It goes down easy, tastes good, and is effective beyond my wildest dreams.  The second half of the back was HOT, and people started falling off pace.  There was always someone to catch. At one point, a volunteer told my "256"; it confused me, but in retrospect, I guess it was my overall place in the race at the time.

The bike ride was HOT, did I already mention that??  Just over 100 miles, I still felt strong, obviously tiring, but strong.  I did get a few twinches of cramps in my quads....which I pacified effectively with Salt tablets.  I finished the bike in about 5:20 averaging almost/around 21 mph for 112 miles.  Not as fast as I needed, but given the heat, and a marathon ahead, I was still undeterred. 

In the transition area, I took my time because I knew I had to lower my core temperature, otherwise I'd melt on the marathon.  I carried and sipped a bottle of COLD AdvoCare Rehydrate as I set off for the marathon.  The heat and sun were intense. There was no cloud cover at all!  I actually started running well, had a respectable pace and felt alright, so the race wasn't done!  I wore a visor, and a Fuel Belt to Carry extra hydration. Both annoyed me, so I promptly dropped the Fuel Belt at an Aid Station and gave my visor to a volunteer - with the suggestion to wash it first.  I couldn't shed enough to cool down, and my temperature kept rising.  Essentially what happens, is the core body temperature climbs, and I end up having to spend more and more time at the aid stations to cool off. While the running splits would seem I spent a lot of time walking, if I recall, it was really running between aid stations, and loitering as needed at the aid station to cool enough and hydrate enough to run again.  It was fairly dry too, because a lot of the fluid would evaporate by the next aid station.  The first 8-miles of the run wasn't bad, but the subsequent loops, it was an ongoing meltdown; just impossible (for me) to cool down enough to "run". 

I am pretty happy though - my stomach never "locked" up; I wasn't bloated; I never threw up; I just couldn't get rid of the heat. In a self-critique sense, I woulda, coulda, shoulda been in better cycling shape, and not worn an Aero-Helmet. My head was baking!

In the end, I didn't mentally "Give Up", and I didn't "Suffer" until about 22 miles into the run; At that point, I swore I would never do another IRONMAN again, but that is pretty typical after exercising ten and half hours in the Texas heat.

I finished the race in about 11:20, saw Andrea and the kids, and made a quick visit to the Medical tent to lay down, cool down, and rejuvenate with 2-Cups of "magical" Chicken Broth.

Overall, a fantastic experience.  My fourth Ironman finish! Congratulations to all the finishers, and Thank You, Thank You Volunteers! Special Thanks to my supportive wife Andrea, my friend Josh Rubin at RMStriathlon, and the AWESOME nutritional researchers at AdvoCare for designing such incredible Nutritional Products!