For the most part, I don’t get blisters. Before IMTX I had never had a bad blister. Well that has all changed now. Now I’m the king of them. I can’t imagine anyone having blisters much worse than what I have. I’m not saying it couldn’t happen, but a quick peek at google images confirms that mine are about as bad as it gets. I had my second trip to the doctor on Wednesday and confirmed they still aren’t infected. I purchased several reminders of IMTX, but this is one I could do without. With that said…I’m not complaining. The nurse at the doctor’s office asked me if it was worth it. Without hesitation I answered “Heck Yes!”.
Well almost. It started with my friend Marianne stopping by my desk asking me if I was going to sign up. She knew I had previously completed some sprint triathlons. I looked at her like she was crazy since I don’t follow the news and I was out of the loop. Sure enough the previous night, Ironman Texas had been announced. I had been planning on attempting an Ironman event sometime in the future, sometime waaaay in the future. The fact that this event was in my own backyard changed that plan.
I emailed my wife and discussed the cost of the race with her. I remember reminding her that this was a lifelong dream of mine, and her classic response was “it seems early in your lifetime to fill a lifelong dream”. So with sign-ups opening up in two days I had to decide quickly if I was going to give it a shot. I discussed it with my friend Kevin who is also my swim training partner. We agreed I had time enough to train, if I started right away.
I signed up as soon as registration opened for fear the event was going to sell out. I was already going to the gym and doing some light workouts. Official training started the next day. When I left for work that day, my sweet and loving wife sent me off with the note below.
What if I don’t finish?
What if I never signed up?
What if?
What if my kids saw something spectactular?
What if I could do anything?
What if?
What if is part of my why.
Why wouldn’t I sign up? Because I might fail.
What if I didn’t fear failure and all it represents?
Coming into my first Ironman, I’ve been thinking a lot about the mental aspects of a race this long. Being strong mentally is going to be as important as being physically strong. I think about the voice that goes through my head now and what it will say during the race. My plan is for positive, upbeat talk, throughout the entire race. What I know is it will be a mix of voices from the past and upbeat talk from the present.
The voices from the past come from two people. My stepfather and my grandmother. What I heard from my stepfather growing up was always negative. Negative about my weight, negative about life, my abilities, negative about me and my brothers and sisters. The type of person my stepfather is best summed up by what he left each of his five kids in his will. Drum roll please… $1.00 dollar each. He died year before last, and believe you me, the world is a much better place without him in it.
My grandmother was just the opposite. She always preached to me that I could do anything I put my mind to. She supported me in anything I tried and never had anything but a positive word for me. She thought I hung the moon and I thought the same about her. Growing up my grandmother was a beacon of light in what was a pretty dark childhood. My grandmother died in 1995 and I still miss her and think of her often.
So come race day I’m ready for the voices no matter which place they come from. Positive and negative. I’m doing this race for me and for an example to my kids. Maybe, just maybe once I cross the finish line, some of the voices from the past will be silenced for good.
With Ironman Texas getting so close, I’ve been watching a lot of Ironman videos on youtube. This is an all time great. Make sure you watch until the end.
I decided not to take the hilly challenge route for the second day of the MS150. I wasn’t sure how my knee was going to hold up and I didn’t want to get in the middle of the route and risk it. So after spending way too much time getting ready, I got in line to start the second day. If you don’t get started super early on the second day you end up waiting in line. Oh well, at least it wasn’t raining.
The rest of the ride went as I thought. My knee hurt but it wasn’t so bad I couldn’t ride. As long as I didn’t go too fast or push too big of a gear, I could manage. In addition to going easy on my riding pace, I also utilized every medic station on the route after the first stop. Biofreeze and Advil helped get me through the day. I ended up going a lot slower than I had wanted but finishing without riding in a SAG wagon was something to be proud of. You can view the ride data here: http://www.trainingpeaks.com/sw/ZPGBV25A5UKMPLWLRNKDOBMXIE
The best part of the day was the finish. My friend Kevin was giving me a ride back from Austin to Houston, as well as snapping pictures of me finishing. They turned out a lot better than the ones taken by the Brightroom professionals. We got out of Austin fairly quickly and had a nice ride home. Topped it off with some icecream from DairyQueen.
Below are some pictures. Special thanks to Kevin for snapping them with his fancy camera. The first one is my all-time favorite.
I participated in the Lake Woodlands long swim today. The water was 76 degrees which is cooler than it has been prior to a cool front that ran through the area. The course was two loops, 1.2 miles each. This wasn’t the “real” Ironman Texas swim course but a decent portion of it.
The water was as to be expected in the murky factor. Lucky for me I prefer drinking my murky water when it is chilled. The lake is fairly narrow which wasn’t a big deal today but it is going to be an issue during the Ironman race. I can’t imagine 2400 people jammed into this lake. Lucky for me I’ll be in the back of the pack since I’m a slow swimmer. Those that are faster are going to be working through a traffic jam.
My swim was slow and smooth and except for having trouble moving in a straight line, I did as well as I expected.
For those racing IMTX this is what you need to know:
The entrace is easy to get in, and the ground smooth and solid (not mud that you will sink in).
The water is dark and murky.
The non canal parts of the lake are plenty deep.
The water gets a bit choppy if the wind is blowing.
Dark goggles shouldn’t be needed.
This was the most fun I’ve had riding the MS150 tour from Houston to Austin. Oddly enough it was the only time I had an injury. My family took me to the starting line which is the furthest of the three starting points. Everybody was in great spirits for having to wake up at 5:15am. It was nice seeing everybody in the early morning. Usually I sneak out into the morning dark while everybody is asleep.
We arrived on time and I started getting all my gear ready. I ride with team Sun and Ski and they do a great job taking care of the riders on the team. This starts with taking my overnight gear and having it ready in the team tent when I arrive.
The weather was great, the route was a little crowded but everything moved along at a decent clip. With the great weather came more people than usual on the route cheering us on. Speaking of which, no matter how many times I see it, when someone is on the route with a sign that says “I have MS, thank you for riding for me” I can’t help but get choked up.
I left lunch at 10:30am which is earlier than I’ve ever finish the half way mark by a long shot. I felt great and was riding strong. That all faded around 11:30am when my knee started hurting me. I had suspected that my seat height had dropped in the past couple of weeks but chose to ignore it. I thought that since it wasn’t hurting me that it wasn’t that big of a deal. Well that was true up to mile 75 when my left knee started having sharp pain in it when I pushed down on the pedal. The more I pushed the more it hurt. This was during the hilly part of the ride so it was a double wammy.
I pushed through and was able to make it to the next rest stop. I had my seat raised, took some advil and applied some biofreeze. I only had about 11 miles left so I laid down to let the meds kick in. I gather myself and headed out and my knee still hurt but it wasn’t as bad. I took it very easy and while I didn’t finish in the time I wanted, it was earlier than I’ve ever finished by around three hours.
I setup my enormous air mattress, left for the showers and felt like a new man. A 20 minute massage, followed by dinner and I was a happy camper. Resting my body and knee while listening to my ipod was a great way to end the day. Seeing people rollilng into the finish after I had been in camp for several hours reminded me that even with a bum knee I had a great day.
Because those affected by Multiple Sclerosis don’t get enough attention. There are a lot of great causes that people champion and this is mine. This year the impact of MS hit even closer to home when a friend of ours was diagnosed. It was another reminder that the health you enjoy today, may not be around tomorrow.
I ride for those with MS.
I ride for those that can’t.
I ride as a way of being thankful for my health.
I ride for the reminder that the suffering that comes with riding 180 miles is nothing compared to what some go through every day.
