I am an Ironman!

I am wheeled into the medical tent with a space blanket around me.  It takes two or three to lift me out of the chair and into the bed.  My quads are of no help because engaging them to help stand is like stabbing knives into them.  A doctor looks me over and orders a blood pressure check.  I close my eyes to rest and the doctor tells me to keep my eyes open.  An aid takes my blood pressure and announces the results.  It is fine.  I have four, now five young female aids encircling me, looking down at me, but the doctor is not present.  “Keep your eyes open,” someone repeats.  Ugh, I really want to close them but too many are watching to get away with it.

I feel rough but this seems like a lot of attention.  I lean up and look around.  Just as I suspected–it appears that most of the other 20-something beds are vacant.  Now I understand that they have no one else to attend to.

About 10 minutes go by and I am starting to get some relief from the distress, dizziness and the huge desire to close my eyes.  The doctor visits again and says my color is a lot better.  I am concerned that my family is looking for me, so I want to make some progress.  I express an interest in sitting up and three young ladies help me up and into a chair.  One sits next to me and talks with me for two or three minutes.  She asks if I have family here.  “Yes, and they are probably looking all over for me.”  She offers her phone and dials the number for me.

Renee answers and says that she pretty much assumed that I was in the medical tent because she couldn’t find me anywhere else.  I ask her to come get me.  Once again I need help standing because the quads still have that stabbing pain when I engage them.  They assist me in walking to the back of the tent where Renee and Bryson have arrived.

Renee and Bryson are all smiles once they figure out that I am okay.  I give them both big hugs and put my arm around Renee’s shoulder to keep steady as we walk out.  We talk about the race as we walk to the transition area to hunt for my clothes, the ones that I put in the Dry Clothes bag prior to the race start.  I switch off to Bryson’s shoulder because I have worn Renee out.  We are walking along and my legs suddenly give out.  My quads stab with pain as they engage to gain control and Bryson’s support keeps me up.  I have no idea why that happened.

Only I am allowed in the transition area to get my stuff, so I take my chance on walking alone to retrieve the run bag, the bike bag and the bike.  At the exit my bracelet number is checked against my bike and bag numbers and I am cleared.  Bryson and Renee take some of this off my hands and we make our way to the Dry Clothes bag area.  We have to wait for a volunteer to get it.  Renee keeps helping by trying to get someone’s attention.  She finally succeeds.  She helps me put on the long pants and fleece hooded jacket.

We have to walk a mile back to the motel.  My legs give out about two more times but Bryson keeps me up.  We see hundreds of people running and walking.  Some are just about to finish.  Some still have a second 13-mile lap to go.  I am so glad that I am done.

We arrive at the room and I lie on the bed semi-propped.  Tommy Nettleton calls to congratulate me.  He is very enthusiastic about my performance; he had been tracking me.  He says I sound like I am drunk and doesn’t talk long.  Others in the room agree that I sort of talk drunk like.  I definitely am still needing recovery.

I was expecting to have to gather up some strength to go back out to the nearby Mellow Mushroom for pizza, but Renee decides that it would be better if we brought the pizza to the room.  I conclude that I don’t have to do anything and fall asleep.  It seems like only a minute later and the pizza arrives.  The nap is very helpful and I don’t sound drunk anymore.

I am only able to eat two pieces of pizza.  I decide to take an ice bath.  Renee starts the cold water and dumps in some ice.  It is hard to get in but I hope it is worth it.  I put a towel around my upper body because I am shivering.  I give the bath 10 minutes.  It does help the pain of the quads as I switch to a standing shower.

 

The Run

I jog into the transition building with my bag and a volunteer shows me to a chair, dumps the contents of my bag out, and lines it up for me so I can just slip my shoes, hat and belt on and go.  He puts my bike helmet and shoes in the bag and I am out of there in a flash.  I make my way to a porta potty stop which is on the pathway toward the exit, and then I am running.  Even with the potty stop the transition is 4:44 and I had budgeted 8 minutes.  My transition budgets were based on the average of other 12 hour racers in prior years and I have now 7 1/2 minutes over the two.

I pull out my chart from my race belt and compute that I am 39 minutes ahead of the 12 hour goal and 24 minutes ahead of the 11:30 goal.  I begin running and everything feels okay.  My quads are not acting up.  My family has the same chart of goal times and I am so far ahead that I imagine arriving at the motel and them not even sitting out.  I continue imagining myself banging on the door to tell them where I am.  The motel, a small mom and pop place, is just short of a mile into the run course.  I see them and they are sitting out.  They have spotted me from a long distance and Renee is snapping pictures as I run toward her.

I pull over and grab some pills out of the box that I prepared because I am worried about the quads acting up.  We are all elated that I am so far ahead.  I tell them I am doing great and feeling great and then take off.  I reach the first rest stop and I walk through it and take sodium, naproxen, magnesium and Sport Legs.  It takes quite a bit of time to get everything open and into my mouth.  When I reach the first mile it is 9:26.  This is a good time considering I stopped twice and my budgeted speed is 10:30 per mile.

Since I walked before the mile mark the second mile is without any walking and I arrive in a surprising 8:18.  I am running way too fast and should probably ease up.  I recall that my coach’s advice is to run at a pace that feels like I could run this pace all day long.  I settle into a pace that seems to match that advice.  When I reach the aid station I begin a 60 second walk.  This is the strategy recommended by one of the top marathoning gurus, Jeff Galloway.  I intend to walk 60 seconds each mile with the hope that I will be stronger in the latter part and enjoy the race more.

I come to Mile 3 and the split is 9:04.  Hmm.  Still pretty fast.  But this feels like I could run this pace all day long.  At Mile 4 the split is 9:00 and this is with the 60 second walk.  Hmm.  Well.  Just keep running this pace.  If I slow down later, so be it.  It is a little embarrassing to be walking this early in the marathon.  A runner passing says, “Come on, keep it up.”  I say, “These are planned walks–Galloway!”  But I don’t think he hears me.  Mile 5 is 9:06, then 9:11, then 9:18, 9:36, 9:12, 9:13.  I am completely surprised at this pace but now I am starting to fade a little as I am approaching the motel again.  Yes, Mile 11 is 9:36 and 12 is 9:41. 

I reach the motel and decide to run into the room for a potty break and talk to the family as I am arriving.  I ask Renee to look up Mike Waugh’s Ironman time on the Internet.  He has the fastest Ironman time from my home town.  I know it is 11 hours and change but I do not remember.  I tell her I will be back in about two miles and she can tell me.

I continue the run back to the starting point and make the turn around to begin the second lap.  I arrive back at the motel and only Dot, my mother-in-law, is out and she is just picking up the last chair.  I don’t understand why they packed up so early.  I holler at Dot to get her attention.  I suspect that they are scurrying to be sure to catch me at the finish, so I try to explain to Dot that it will be another hour and a half at least before I arrive at the finish.  So much for finding out Mike Waugh’s time.

I missed the Mile 13 sign and so I arrive at Mile 14 and the split is 22:31.  Ugh, that was a lot of time spent on those two miles with the potty stop.  At Mile 15 the time is 9:52 and I am not surprised that I am finally fading a bit.  Now I am wishing for the mile markers so that I can take a 60 second walk.  I am too weary to wait for the rest stops that may come later; I begin walking right at the sign.

At Mile 16 I cross the 10 minute mark with a 10:16.   I am walking and doing the math in my head–10 miles to go at 10 minutes per mile is 100 minutes.  That’s 1 hour and 40 minutes.  My watch says 9:18:36.  Don’t forget the last two minutes for the 2/10′s mile at the end.  GOOD NIGHT!  I AM EXACTLY ON PACE FOR 11 HOURS!  All you have to do is run 10 minute miles the rest of the way.  This seems like to a lot to ask because I am getting weary.  I am starting to beg for the mile markers so that I can walk.

I decide to pick up the pace and see how it goes.  I get about 7 minutes into the 17th mile and I badly want to slow up.  I say to myself, ‘Don’t slow up!  You get to walk when you reach the mile marker, so keep it up until then.’  Finally Mile 17 comes.  I hit the lap time on my watch and it is 9:41.  You did it!  The walk is helpful.  You can do this!  Keep this up until Mile 23 and let your fortitude and adrenaline carry you through the final 3.2 miles.  Mile 18 is 9:19.  Excellent!

The pattern continues:  I start wanting to slow down real badly in the middle of the mile and I push myself to keep up the pace until the mile marker.  Mile 19, 20 and 21 are all 10:10′s.  A little slow but now I am six miles out.  I should be able to switch to 30 second walks.  This is also the time when the coach said to speed up.  Mile 22 is 9:07; Mile 23 is 9:05.  Excellent!  You have just gained a two-minute cushion, so let’s return to those 60 second walks.  I really need them.

Okay it is time for the adrenaline and fortitude to get me through the next three miles because I am certainly very weary now.  I have been passing runners by the hundreds in the last several miles, but occasionally one sores by me.  Mile 24 clocks in at 9:51.  Only 2.2-miles.  The crowd is getting thicker and they are cheering me on, calling me by my name because my name is on my bib.  It really helps to keep my head up and sustain the pace.  Mile 25 is 10:10.  No surprise that it is a little slow.  I am really struggling.  I try to pick up the pace for the final mile but I am not really succeeding; I am just holding the pace.  There are others that are flying by me.  Hey!  What are you sprinting for?  We got this 11 hours beat!

I press on, looking for the finish.  It isn’t coming quick enough.  Ahh, there is it.  No, that is an advertisement arch!  Okay there it really is!  I am here!  I have made it!  Does that clock say 11:02 something?  About 10 strides to the finish line I hear, “Duane Leach, you are an Ironman!”  I cross the finish line.  I stop my watch and a big guy greets me.  He is my finish line volunteer and I put my hands around his neck and say, “Don’t let go!”

“Are you dizzy?”

“Yes and my quads are giving out.”

“Do you want a wheel chair?”

“Yes, that would be great!”

Two people ease me backward into the wheelchair and it is a big relief.  I struggle to hold my head up while we gather my finisher’s shirt and hat.  I grasp them and hold them like a football against me while I am wheeled into the medical tent.

The Bike

Finding my transition to bike bag was easy and now I am jogging to the transition building.  I was expecting it to be overflowing but there are plenty of available chairs.  I dump out the bag, towel off my feet, put on my socks, a long sleeve shirt, stuff gloves and glasses in my shirt pockets, put on my helmet and shoes, hand my bag to a volunteer and I am jogging out.  A volunteer takes the bike off the rack for me and I am jogging to the exit.  There are about two dozen people trying to mount up so I continue to jog until there is plenty of room.  I try a running mount but that fails, so I stop to mount and I am on my way–smiling big because this transition was four minutes faster than I budgeted.

The bike starts with the wind at my back and my speed goes up over 20 mph immediately.  The wind is forecast for 10-15mph from the northeast.  After a few miles west on the coast we will turn north and then the first half of the bike portion will be north and then east.  I settle into a speed that hovers around 20 mph even though it is against the wind.  By my estimation this speed is not making me work too hard.

I have learned that keying off of other people is an important strategy, so when someone comes easing by me I pick up the pace and follow at the legal distance.  Still feeling good, I take the next person who eases by me and then pass the person I was following.  I am impressed that everyone  is trying to stay at the legal distance and are not drafting.

I have been drinking plenty so when the first aid station came I was ready for a fill-up.  About a dozen volunteers are standing at the edge of the road.  They are spaced about 5 yards apart holding out their right hands with drinks and food.  The first few are offering a bottle of Perform.  I slow down a bit and try to grab the first one and miss and so I try for the third one and success.  I squeeze and squeeze the contents into my aero bottle.  I empty the contents and toss the empty bottle into the area close to the trash can.  I go back to speed again and there is a lot of passing and catching immediately following due to the varying speeds at the aid station.  I am finding some of the same people who I have been keying off of. 

Two of the people I am following are a male and female from Brazil who are wearing the country’s green and yellow colors.  I would pass them  and several minutes later they would pass me back.  This is all good because we are pushing each other and keeping the pace up.  My average speed on my speedometer has climbed to 19.6 mph.  I am smiling because I am .4 over my budgeted speed even though I have a headwind.

We reach the first down and back section.  It is about mile 45, and I see Craig Evans on the other side of the road.  Soon after is an aid station on the left side of the road and I make a quick decision to stop and use those porta-potties because they are open.  I had to pee badly and it takes a long time– two minutes–to empty my bladder.  I remove my long sleeve shirt and gloves and leave them on the ground mount up again.

This portion of the road is rough with bumpy cracks all over and it is discouraging my speed.  I figure out that riding on, and next to, the white line is smoother, but no one else is catching onto this.  It is risky because if I waver while riding the edge it could send me off of the road and into the grass, but I determine that I would not necessarily fall and that I just need to concentrate to be safe.

I reach the turn around and go over a timing mat after the turn.  This mat communicates to the Racer Tracker and now my family and friends who are tracking me on the Internet know that I have reached mile 55 at an average speed of 19.5 mph (inclusive of the porta potty stop).

Now the wind is at my back and I am going much faster–22.5mph.  I am encountering hills.  Hills?  I thought this course was flat except for the causeway overpass!  I arrive at the special needs area but I just get over to the left and bypass it.  My right quad begins to cramp.  I experiment with standing up on the pedals and it makes it tighten up more.  I take some more pills even though it is a little early for it.  It isn’t going into a full cramp so I am actually still cycling 22.5 mph.  After about 20 minutes the cramp subsides.  So I begin to take chase again and push harder on the pedals.  Ouch, big mistake, the cramp comes back from doing this.  I analyse that I need to quit chasing and just keep a steady pace.  This 22.5 mph is pretty fast anyway.

We reach the turn for the second out and back portion which is a short jaunt.  At the U-turn is another timing mat and this 40-mile section clocked in at 22.01 mph average.  The headwind going east is tough until we get back to the main highway and head south again.  I am starting to feel some weariness from the lengthy ride and wishing for the end to come soon.  My quads have acted up about three times and gone away after 10-15 minutes.  I finally reach the coast and take a left into a very strong headwind.  I am on the same section as we started but it seems I have forgotten how long this section is because I keep expecting to see the finish soon and it isn’t coming.  The strong headwind is slowing me to 18.5 mph and I am aggravated to see my average speed slipping away.  I try to push hard to keep the average up.  Although I am tempted to ease off, I decide that I will get plenty of rest during my transition, so I try to keep the bike split time respectable. 

Finally it arrives and the last 17 miles checks in at 20.18 mph.  Fortunately my quads are not currently acting up because a dismount would almost certainly cause a full-on cramp.  A volunteer takes my bike, I grab my run bag and jog to the changing building.

The Swim

The canon goes off and 2700 of us wade into the nearly waveless water.  We start to swim and then stand back up to walk through some shallow water.  Then we immerse again.  There is plenty of room to for a bit, but then people merge in and it gets crowded, real crowded.  We bump into each other and struggle to find spaces.  There is no way to speed up due to the wall of people in front of me, so I just plug along doing lots of cutting right and left to find open spaces.  A clearing happens but then a merge crunches again.  The next clearing lasts longer but another merge occurs.  This happens about two more times but it is getting better and now everyone around me is swimming the pace that I want, so it is okay.  My strategy is to draft behind people but it is impossible to stay with one person due to the occasional merging into me and forcing me over.

Wading into the second lap

I reach the second turn buoy which is a turn back to shore and take a peak at my watch.  It says 12 minutes and change.  This is awfully fast for about 1100 meters.  Maybe I read it wrong.  I have not been swimming that hard.  I drop the subject and continue on.  When I arrive at shore I actually forget to look at my watch because I am looking for my family.  No luck finding them; there are so many spectators.  I am feeling good as I cross the timing mat, jog the shore and then wade into the water for another lap.

There are dozens around me going my pace so I have plenty to draft behind.  I get behind one person and his kick is such that I am touching his feet way too much.  So I go find another person.  Hey this person only has one leg!  I find another who is kicking their feet like a motor boat and all I see are bubbles.  Try another.  Ahh, here is a good one.  No don’t stop so much to sight the buoys!

They warned us about jellyfish, and I see them below me in the deep water.  They are a bright white in the midst of the dark water and they have beautiful designs from above.  They are not at the surface so they are not a problem whatsoever.  I remember that Bob encouraged me to try to view the sights along the way.  I was not expecting to be sight-seeing in the water.

Normally the swim drags on and on in triathlons when I sight buoys and it seems to take forever to reach them.  Today the swim is passing quickly from concentrating on feet and jellyfish sightseeing.  Suddenly I feel a little push from a slight wave.  Could it be?  I look up and I am almost to shore!  Wow this has been easy!  My watch says 1:04.  That is incredibly fast; 11 minutes faster than my goal pace.  I am grinning from ear to ear as I unzip the wetsuit and pull it down to my legs.  I reach the wetsuit strippers and sit.  A pair of females takes my suit at each leg and start pulling.  They have trouble getting it over my feet so I encourage them to pull with all their might.  Instead they start trying to manipulate it over the chip timing device and the heel.  Ugh, I got a pair of weaklings.  They get it finally and I am on my way.  I stop for about 10 seconds under the shower and then proceed to the front of the building to get my bike bag.

Race morning

I awake only 30 minutes before my 3:45a.m. alarm, and I consider this a successful night’s sleep.  After showering and shaving I go to the kitchen and put the sweet potato in the microwave and the pre-made whole wheat pancakes prepared by my son in the toaster.  I pull together everything I need in piles around me and then sit to eat.  My stomach doesn’t necessarily feel like eating but I eat the potato, about 4 pancakes and half of a peanut butter sandwich anyway.

I step out of the hotel room at the designated 5:15 and Bob emerges from his room on time as well.  We walk close to a mile to arrive at the check-in.  Bob drops off his Special Needs bags but I have declined to use these.  We make our way to the bikes to do the last preparations to it.  It is dark and I have a headlight on as do many others.  I put the bento box on and use duct tape to affix sodium capsules and Sport Leg capsules.  Our bikes are near each other but Bob and I get separated by porta-potty visits and we do not find each other again among the sea of people.

I find a spot to put the wetsuit on and get a little help with the zipper from someone next to me.  I put my clothes in the Dry Clothes Bag and give it to a volunteer.  It is 50 degrees and cold–even in a wetsuit.  I follow the flow around the resort to the beach but it is 6:15 and still dark.  The sand is colder than the sidewalk so I return to a gazebo, sit on the concrete with others and determine to relax until 6:30.  My mind is racing with thoughts but I am relatively successful at being calm and talking to God.

Renee and Bryson awaiting start

At 6:30 the sun is rising now and I make my way to the ocean.  The water is flat as predicted.  I wade in and begin swimming toward the first buoy.  The arms normally take a long time to quit aching but I am not having any of this trouble.  I swim around for 10-15 minutes and then come to shore. I am feeling pretty good about the arm thing.  I look around for my family and Bob but the task of finding them among the thousands of people seems daunting.  So I quickly give up on that idea.

The pro’s start at 6:50 and we watch them take off.  The announcer points out how the drift is steering them to the left of the buoys.  This caused most of us to move about 20 feet to the right.  The wetsuit bodies stretch more than 150 yards down the beach–way too far to even consider swimming on the outskirts.  I position myself about the equivalent of three people deep in the midst of the crowd and wait calmly.

Day Before

The check-in and banquet was yesterday.  I received five bags for handling race essentials on race day, two bib numbers and a timing chip.  The banquet was pleasant.  I conversed with a Canadian couple behind me in line and they invited me to eat next to them.  The banquet showed some videos and they gave recognition to people such as ones who had done this race the most.  There were 1000 of us who stood to denote that this is our first Ironman.  After the banquet they went over the instructions.  It was here that the person in charge of the swim portion of the race said that the forecast was such that he expected the ocean to be flat like glass.  This was definitely a welcome announcement.

Friday morning, Bob Boehm agreed to get up early and go with me to the ocean at 7:00 a.m.   This would keep our bodies on schedule with the race and give us the afternoon to relax.  The ocean had bigger waves than what was expected for race morning.  We swam out a few hundred yards and returned.  My arms ached the whole way and never loosened up.

Bob continued with me to follow the plan to bike 30 minutes with four times 60 second sprints.  And again Bob joined me for a 15-minute run with four pick-ups.   

Christian Cahill, Bob Boehm & Duane Leach

Later in the morning we took our bikes to check them into transition.  But first we met up with Christian Cahill, also from our town, to have a picture taken for the local paper.  My wife, Renee, came with us to take the picture and we took it in front of an Ironman tent. 

For lunch I ate sweet potatoes and whole wheat pancakes in accordance to the coach’s recommendation.  My family went to find a restaurant to eat and do other shopping.  I proceded to the beach to relax in the sun for two or three hours.

For supper my family and I went to a mom and pop restaurant and I ate pan fried grouper with blackeyed peas.  My father-in-law was sick with stomach troubles, so they stayed in the room.

My stuff was thoroughly organized, so I was able to go to bed about 8:00p.m. in the bedroom portion of the suite.  Renee came to my bedside to say goodnight and I asked her to say a prayer for me.  This may be the first time I have requested this from her in my life.  She graciously agreed and it was a very nice prayer that included specific requests for overcoming fears and having a strong mind and body.  It was dark in the room so she couldn’t see that I had a tear running down each side of my face.

Planning out the race

To make it easier in my head, I have laid out my things in piles.  This is probably going to lower the stress of me trying to organize in my head and save on the stress at packing time.  If I keep it together this should allow me more freedom to socialize upon arrival at the hotel.

The race strategy for eating and hydration is an important part of Ironman, or so I am told.  If one does not drink enough and consume 300 calories per hour, then finishing may be a problem.  I have put it on paper and am packing it accordingly.  I will work on memorizing the paper.  Here is some of what it is involved:

• At start of bike, take 3 Aleve (to minimize foot pains) , 1 Succeed Cap (sodium), start 20-minute continuous timer on watch to remind me to eat/drink.
• Throughout the bike, drink the two bottles on the bike, take two bottles of  Powerbar Perform and two bottles of water along the course.  Eat the food that is in the Bento box attached to the bike throughout (every 20 minutes).  Take 1 Succeed Cap per hour.
• At Mile 30 & 90 take 3 Sport Leg capsules (to prevent cramps)
• Start of run, take 3 Aleve (because 6 hrs have passed since last time)
• On run, drink Perform from cups on all even-numbered miles; take Gu (carbo gels) and water on miles 1, 7, 13, and 20.
• At Mile 13 take 3 Sport Legs
• At Mile 20 pick up the pace and pass people like they are standing still!

Lots of preparations

There are a lot of preparations needed to be sure that the Ironman will go smoothly and there are some backup things to prepare.  I am determined to do this right the first time and make it my only Ironman.

For instance, I intend to practice changing a tubular tire this evening.  I have never done this before and I also need to see how the valve extension works in the Zipp wheel.  I have purchased a lightweight Tufo racing tire to put on; the older one will be taped under my seat for backup.

I swam in a wetsuit yesterday and was thrilled that my swim pace with the suit is 15% faster and fast enough for the pace I need.  The duct tape that I put on the back of my neck will not work to save my skin from a rubbing burn because it came off in the water.  I’ll go with Vasoline. 

I have prepared a chart to carry that will give me some guidance to hitting my goal times.  It will tell me how fast my run pace needs to be if I am ahead or behind when I start the run and when I am at 13 miles.  My family will also be able to know when to expect me as well.

Jeff Yeager loaned me both of his Rudy Project aero helmets for me to choose.  My wife says I look like Speed Racer in it but I tell her that it will be cool at the Ironman.  Jeff says it will save 10 minutes.

Two weeks out

The quad strain is better–almost completely cleared.  Hallelujah!

I listened to Ben Greenfield’s CDs on Top 10 Ironman Mistakes and a CD about the last week and race day.  That night I had trouble sleeping for thinking about everything.  He included nutritional advice and supplements that I should take in the last two weeks, including sleep aids.  I was fortunate to find the entire list of supplements in one bottle on a discount shelf at GNC.  And next to it was the sleep aid!

I am following the taper plan to the T.  My legs hurt on the bike and my arms hurt while swimming.  The workouts are not long enough for the pain to go away.  The CD says this is okay and to not waiver from the taper (a Top 10 Mistake).

I weighed myself on both scales at the YMCA and they were in agreement that I am right on my target racing weight of 146 pounds.  I was 156 pounds in the spring and I intentionally worked my way down to this.

Pulled a quad, oh-no!

Following the Greenfield plan, I get on the treadmill to do a 10-minute warm-up followed by 6 x 30 second sprints.  On the fourth sprint my quad gets a shooting pain and I jump off of the conveyor belt.  Oh no;  I have just pulled a muscle.  It hurts to raise my leg.  I can’t believe I just did this 2 1/2 weeks from the event.  I am hoping and praying that the injury is minor.