Ironman Arizona ’08

2008-12-07T16:22:00.000-08:00

Approximately seven years and two weeks following my most successful Ironman, I have completed my 13^th Ironman. My time, 9hour 21minutes 20seconds… only three minutes slower than 2001 Ironman Florida. Did I mention I am 41?

As I stepped across the finish line the rush of accomplishment was overwhelming; more than any level of satisfaction ever in my life. I had run, biked, and swam… at the highest level I could on Nov 23^rd. This was honestly the first time I had ever felt this level of achievement. I walked away from the finish line and my mind repeated over and over, “You have done it, you have done it”.

In August of 2007, I set a goal and exceeded my expectations every step of the way.

The Race

Keep in mind the final preparation for a race of this importance, not to mention the distance of each leg, begins days before we ever arrive on race morning. I did make some serious changes in the days leading up to the race from previous events. Most of my thoughts were revisiting the errors I made at Ironman Florida. During that race, I never felt calm. I’m sure this was because I knew I had the potential for a top finish.

On this day, I was determined to take each leg at a very relaxed emotional level and not let anything distract my focus.

But as usual… on race day, I was scared to death to get in the water. I was told the water temperature was in the low 60s… that is pretty cold… and after hyperventilating in a race earlier this year… I was really afraid it could happen again. I made the decision to go with two swim caps. A decision which turned out to be the right one; as I had a growing concern the cold temps could really affect my swim and the remainder of the day.

As 7a.m. grew near, I could tell there were a lot of others with the same thoughts… I literally had to push my way through the not so eager crowd to find the water. I leapt in to find out, YES it was freakin’ cold. A few dunks of my face, and several gasp to catch my breath and more importantly my composure.

As I mentioned, my plan was to remain calm… no matter what came my way. A quick confirmation; my plan was going to work when, within a few strokes I began to feel great and relaxed. I began to tread my way to the front of the pack; as I reached the point of about three deep… I felt confident things were going to go my way.

The next moment in time can be the most intense few minutes in a triathlete’s life. As you tread water… the intensity / anticipation grows… you feel both apprehension and the most intense, “let’s get this damn thing started” -- BOOM!!! -- And we were off!

As always the first few strokes were a little scary as I waited for the inevitable pounding from the person directly beside, behind or on top of me. Today, it never came. In fact and almost immediately, I had clear water in front of me. I decided to take full advantage of this and really poured it on for about 200 meters. This was my first good move of the day because I immediately found a pack of guys that seemed to be twice my size and settled into an easy pace. With the edge of the lake so near, I could tell we were moving at a pretty good pace.

Now I don’t know if someone was reading my mind at this point or just decided to throw darts at me to test my resolve. But I was surprised I was not being pummeled and as soon as this thought entered my mind; two chicks swimming on either side of me, went to work.

I don’t know your experience with touching women in the water… but my advice is DON’T DO IT! A piranha would not stand a chance as each time I made contact with one of them, I experienced at least 10 black belt moves.

Eventually, I was able to maneuver away from them and from that point on, the swim was pretty non-eventful… everyone seemed to settle into the task at hand.

“Swim to the turn around,” which we did.

At the turn-around however it was a “Chinese fire drill;” everyone lost their minds and went about 50 different directions. As I scrambled to find someone’s feet I could tell I was with a large group but a big gap had opened in front of us. Eventually, everyone calmed down and the ride back was also non-eventful and fast (relative to our group).

I was so glad to cross under the last bridge and turn toward the exit. At this point, I repeated to myself, “remain calm, you have a plan.” Out of the water (56:52 – short course but hey, I get that time next to my name). And on the ground … two people rip my wetsuit off like I was being mugged.

As I ran to the change tent, I was asked by a very calm guy next to me, “what time do you have”. I looked and realized we were under 58minutes… so we exchanged a reassuring grin and proceeded to grab our bike bags.

I took my time in both transitions; toweling off, sunscreen, water, double checked my food, salt, etc.

As I ran through the transition I was very happy with myself. Because I knew I was carrying out my plan. I wish I had a video of my bike mount. I have to say it was one of my better flying mounts… and it was good for passing at least 5 people. Not my goal, but each one counts. Once on the bike I knew this was to be my strength for the day. Again my plan; stay calm, ride easy.

Now a few of you may look at my time (4:57:42 = 22.6 mph avg.) and say “yeah right, easy.” Well let me say, if anything was freaking me out in training, it was how well I was riding in September. For the entire first loop (37miles), I was continually standing up and coasting… relaxing, stretching.

If you have never done a triathlon you can not imagine how challenging the first mile of the bike leg can be to ride at an ‘easy pace,’ as the crowds can really get you going.

As I began settling into my relaxed pace and most suddenly… and I swear it was the same chick from the swim, she stands up out of her saddle and immediately passes me back! What the hell! I looked at the speedo (24mph)… What the hell lady… so ego starts pressing the pedals and I decide okay, I have about 10 people here I need to ride away from. Which was not too hard considering each person on the road is trying to settle into an easy pace.

Once we were on the open road, I quickly recognize the other athletes I will be riding with. You can tell these people have experience (or a power meter)… because each one is continually looking down at their handlebars and then checking their watch.

So now it’s me and two others guys riding at 24mph and we’re riding past people with ease… The entire 1^st lap of the bike was spent checking splits, standing up, and breathing. The Arizona course is really nice because I was able to set time goals at each turn around. By the beginning of the 3^rd lap I had gained five minutes cushion for my time goal… and saw that I could relax and enjoy the final lap and still go under five hours.

I have never ridden the final miles of an Ironman bike so easy. I first realized how easy I had ridden when I stepped off and entered T2… I have never gotten off my bike and felt this good… my back felt normal. I repeated, “Tim, stay relaxed, you still have to run a marathon.” And I did.

I am not going to bore you with the details of the run. Because I repeated myself twenty-six times for the 3hours 20minutes of the run; which included a process of walking almost every aid station and repeating in sequence; water, Gatorade, Coke… 2 salt tabs, 1 gel. Over and over, one step in front of the next. I knew I had to do this for 3 hours, because as with any Ironman, the final two miles always seem to be the easiest, mentally anyway. I can say that my run form is by far the ugliest thing on earth at this point, because my “sprint” finish is reduced to eight minute miles.

My one concern at the end, don’t miss the turn to the finish line. I did not want to run a forth lap.

Resting Metabolic Rate

2005-06-09T19:53:00.000-07:00

This is a test...

TK Tri

Ironman Arizona ’08

Resting Metabolic Rate