Redemption in the Half Iron

 I saw this quote posted at my spin class last week.  In general, most quotes I see are overused, cheesy, untrue, or the dreaded overused/cheesy/untrue Trifecta.

"You can do anything you set your mind to” is a nice example.

Overused?  Check.  Cheesy?  No doubt.  Untrue?  Yup.

The Lombardi quote stood out to me though as it was none of the 3 and also very timely to my situation.  I was freshly off my recent attempt to break 6 hours in the Half Iron Distance Triathlon and the quote was relevant leading up to the race, on race day, and in the 2 weeks post race.

Leading up to the race

Let’s rewind the calendar 5 months to May 5^th.  You’ll remember I made my first attempt at the Half Iron goal and it didn't go as planned.  The weather was brutally hot, I was still working my way into Triathlon shape, I had been dealing with terrible pain in my left knee, and I cramped so badly that tears were literally raining down my face coming across the finish line.  I missed my goal by 10 minutes…and my brother beat me. 

But I didn't surrender. 

I made a guarantee later that day that I would drive half way across the country in July to race in the Muncie, Indiana Half Ironman.  I wanted another chance.  I would train harder, stretch more often, and be ready for my next opportunity.

So what happened?  Well, I ran into 114 degree heat in the middle of one of the hottest summers the Midwest has ever had.  After driving ~12 hours with a pregnant wife to get to the race, the event officials and medical personnel deemed it too risky to allow a Half Ironman in those conditions.  They notified all participants the night before the race that they were shortening the event. 

My 2^nd opportunity was taken away from me.  It was another setback.

But I didn’t surrender.

My only remaining option to accomplish the 6 hour goal was to register for another Half Iron distance event on September 23^rd…less than a month before my full distance Ironman attempt. 

That definitely wasn’t ideal timing as it was a week after baby Grant was supposed to be born and close enough to the main event that any injuries would be difficult to overcome in time for the full Ironman. 

It was also taking place on an extremely hilly bike and run course that would be sure to test my endurance, leg strength, and perseverance.  Going through with this was a terrible plan.

But I didn’t surrender.    

Race Day (September 23)

There is one advantage of having a baby 8 days before a Half Iron; 3:30am wakeup calls suddenly become routine.  Maybe Grant crying every couple of hours each night was his way of training me for getting out of bed for the big race.  Thanks Grant!

Despite my perkiness popping out of bed, it was a little sad race morning when I got into the car by myself.  This was my first race where Sue couldn’t go as she was still recovering from surgery and we didn’t think taking a little 8-day old baby on a long trip made much sense. 

Sue and Grant assured me though they would follow my progress online and cheer virtually so that was good enough for me.  Plus, Adam and April Bain were in North Carolina from LA so I was pumped to know some familiar faces would be at the race.

The wetsuit legal swim started in 2 waves:  all the men followed by all the women.  This was the most confident I’ve been going into any Triathlon so far.  I had done the 1.2 mile swim many times now in a pool so was no longer nervous about the distance.  

Swimming in open water is still intimidating but I knew I would find my own line after a few hundred yards and could settle into my pace.  Experience in the open water is huge and mine paid off. 

I exited the lake and couldn’t believe when I looked at my watch…25:47.  As a point of reference, I was 38 minutes in my first half iron back in May.  Granted, I thought the course may have been a little short of the 1.2 miles, but I knew I had a great swim and an awesome start to break 6 hours.

After a smooth transition, I hopped on the bike and was ready to hammer for 56 miles.  Similar to the swim, I wasn’t intimidated any more by the distance.  I had several 50+ mile training sessions so knew my legs were ready. 

The course was a series of rolling hills with some intense climbs in the last 20 miles.  I maintained a solid pace throughout and finished the bike course in just under 3 hours at 2:56.  This meant I had a little more than 2.5 hours to do the 13.1 mile run.  

As I was thinking to myself how easy that should be, I remembered my time was 2:32 for the run course back in May.  With cramping, stomach sickness, and injuries all a possibility on the run, you can’t take anything for granted. 

I had a very fast transition and saw the Bain crew for the first time.  This definitely gave me an extra kick as I have a rule to act like things are going much better than they actually are when people I know are watching…

The run course was 6.55 miles out and back that racers had to do twice.  My legs felt great to start and my cardio was never an issue at all.  I was running at a very steady pace and handling the hills well. 

After the first lap, I looked at my watch and had done the 6.55 mile run in just under 56 minutes.  I had more than 1.5 hours to do the last 6.5 miles to finish the entire race in less than 6 hours.  I was going to do this…

As always seems to be the case, as soon as I got cocky about my chances the Triathlon Gods decided to make things tough on me.  This time, they chose severe pain in my left knee as their weapon of choice instead of cramping. 

Mile after mile the pain was getting worse and my decisions were getting tougher.  I had worked so hard to get to this point and was determined to break 6 hours in this race but my mind started thinking ahead to my full Ironman in October. 

Was I doing damage to my knee that may prevent me from racing the Full Iron?  Was stopping to walk the smart thing to do?  Probably.

But I didn’t surrender. 

I finished the last 6-7 miles in a lot of pain but I was able to maintain my pace at well under 9 minutes per mile.

As I crossed the finish line, I couldn’t believe what I had done and was very proud.  

5 hours and 23 minutes!  I absolutely blew away 6 hours and finished 39^th overall.  All the race stats are below.

This was definitely my most complete race and most rewarding goal so far.  I had worked all year for it and overcame a ridiculous number of obstacles along the way.  

Goal #12 complete!

Post Race         

After the race, I checked my phone and had a text from Sue with this pic.  

Back home, little Grant lived up to his promise and was following online.  I can’t wait until he’s old enough to understand the picture.

The joy I felt in breaking 6 hours was short lived though.  For the next 10 days, I was barely able to walk.  My muscles weren’t terribly sore but my knee pain was awful.  Walking down the stairs was nearly impossible. 

I was now living the downside of not surrendering.

My Ironman was only a few weeks away and I was also signed up to do an Olympic Tri at Pinehurst on October 6th.  If you remember, I was still trying to finish in the top 30% in an Olympic Triathlon as one of my goals as well so this was a critical race on the calendar.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t clear how I was going to do either the Pinehurst Olympic or the full Ironman when I could barely walk.  While I knew resting was the smart thing, I’ve heard the Ironman isn’t kind to “resters.” 

Luckily, swimming and biking are still ok for me so I’ve been continuing to put in more than 120 miles per week on the road and about 3 miles per week in the pool.  I can’t run, but I’ve been keeping up my conditioning through other means.  I’ve also been doing a ridiculous amount of physical therapy and more than an hour a day of stretching. 

When October 6^th rolled around yesterday, I thought about skipping my race at Pinehurst.  But when you’ve worked this hard, surrendering is hard to do.   I decided to make the 2 hour drive and compete in the swim and bike portion and test my knee on the run. 

Long story short, I had a solid swim and bike and couldn’t even run 10 feet of the run course.  I almost called it quits after the bike portion but then thought finishing was more honorable.  I slowly walked/hobbled the entire run and finished with the 342^nd slowest time out of 344 racers on the run portion of the race.

 

But I didn’t surrender.

Plus, while I obviously didn’t make my goal of finishing top 30% in an Olympic Tri, I was able to check another one off the list by biking 1 mile at faster than 26.7 mph. 

Below is the link with all my mile splits on the bike course during the race taken directly from my Garmin watch.  If you look toward the bottom of the page (you may have to scroll down), you’ll see my average speed greater than 26.7 mph on splits 15, 20 and 25.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/231002588

Another goal knocked off the list!

So where does this leave me? 

13 goals achieved and 13 days until the Full Ironman. 

I’m seeing an Orthopedic doc tomorrow and considering a Cortisone shot for my knee prior to the 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, and 26.2 mile run. 

I don’t know how my knee is going to make it through the race, but I do know I’ll make it.  Remember, the harder you work the harder it is to surrender. 

…and given how hard I’ve worked, I guess that means I’m about to be an Ironman.

Schmeis