Race day went well overall. I had my best swim of the season, with a 1:43 time. My goal was 1:45. I mention that because swimming was my biggest challenge in doing an Ironman race. I have come a long way since training started in January.
I got to the transition area and changed clothes to get ready for the bike. As I was heading out of transition to the bike, I noticed that I had a flat rear tire. Crap! Fortunately, there was a bike tech who was in transition, and he changed my tire for me...what a blessing, and in a faster time than I would have changed it.
So, I headed out on the bike for my 112-mile bike. The weather was going to hit 90 degrees for the day, so I knew that I had to hydrate well. I felt good about going out on the bike, as I had ridden the course twice before and the familiarity with it was a relief.
I felt good through two loops and about 80 miles of biking. The heat started to bear down and I started to get tired. I was glad to have Ellen and tri friends along the bike route to cheer me on, especially the second time.
There were many people who had gotten off of their bikes due to flat tires or for a break from the race due to the heat. I found out later that 14% of the people who started the race did not finish the race.
Unfortunately, someone had thrown tacks out on part of the bike course, and 30 athletes' bikes got flats from that. I was glad to have avoided that. (apparently, there are people who do not like the Ironman event and the "inconvenience" it produces for them getting around on race day).
I made it through the last 32 miles and headed for T2. I knew late in the bike that I would not have the legs or the energy I thought I might have for the run. I sat in transition and changed clothes, getting ready to go out on the run. My thought was, "crap, I have to go out and run a marathon!"
The funny thing about that is, the marathon is all that I used to do. On this day, I had swam 2.4 miles and biked 112 miles, and now ALL (emphasis added) that was left was a 26.2-mile run.
It was still hot outside, even though it was 4pm. For perspective, I started my swim at approximately 7:05am, so I had already been in my race for 9 hours.
I felt okay for the first three miles and then it got tough. It was great to see my friend Ron at the beginning of the run (he had come down to watch me race and finish).
I realized on the run that my energy was low and nutrition was off due to the heat. I needed to eat, but gels did not sound good...I didn't know what to consume. So, I had to experiment with some items that were at the aid stations (oranges, bananas, pretzels, and various drinks such as ice water, Ironman Perform, Coke, and chicken broth).
In the meantime, I had to draw from past experience in a marathon when I was not feeling well. I walked for awhile and then would run for awhile. That is what I did for the first half of the marathon.
When I came to the halfway point, I could see the finish line, but that would have to wait for another lap. Fortunately, I saw Coach Sean and then Ellen and my tri friends, who encouraged me to finish the rest of the marathon.
I started feeling better as I made the turnaround for the last loop of the marathon. My goal had been to run a 4:20 marathon; my goal now was to complete the second loop of the marathon and become an Ironman. My strategy now was to run to the next aid station, walk through it and take in nutrition, and then run to the next aid station.
I was able to see some of my teammates along the way during the run, which was good.
With three miles to go, it really sunk in that I was going to complete my journey and become an Ironman. With about a mile to go, I caught up to my teammate Joe, and we ran the last 1.2 miles to the finish line. When we made that last right turn, we could hear the crowd loudly cheering.
After visualizing the finish line and having a picture of it on my phone, I got to cross the finish line.
I got to hear, "Vince Auten, you are an Ironman!"
Here is a picture of me and Joe at the finish line.
Here is a picture of me and Ellen after the race. I was SO glad that she was there the entire race to cheer me on and support me!
I was glad that my good friend Ron was there to experience the race and see me finish.
It was great to see Carla Happel (who completed IM Louisville in 2011) at the finish lne as well.
What a celebration! The atmosphere was electric at the finish line.
I am very proud of my accomplishment of training for and becoming an Ironman.
Congratulations to my teammates Ginger, Joe, Raj, Whitney, and Polly for completing the race as well and for Mark, who had a good race but went out on the run. I enjoyed training with them and going through the journey with them.
A big thank you to Ellen and my daughters for their support and encouragement along the way, and putting up with me being gone a lot for training, especially on the weekends. Thank you to Coach Sean and Jackie Dikos for helping me coach me on my training and nutrition for the race. Thank you to my teammates for being there and supporting me, and for the fun we had on our training days and races (and for being there with me to endure the tough training days, when we would rather have been doing something else).
Thanks also to my friend Ron, who supported me throughout the entire process, with encouraging texts, phone calls, and emails.
Thank you to our support crew on race weekend. Kendra, Rachel, Sam, Dru, Ross, Hank, Brooke, Brenda, Ashley, Shawn, for being there along the course. (I apologize if I missed anyone).
What is next, I'm not sure. I do know that I will need to do something, as I want to maintain the fitness that I have gained.
It was strange yesterday to not have to get up and do a long training day. I slept in until 8:00am!
I told Ellen and some friends that I would get a tattoo if I completed an Ironman. Now, I am deciding what to get.
Thank you for reading my blog. I hope you have enjoyed reading it as much I as I have had writing it.
