Hi all,
Most of you know that on 25 Aug 2013, my hubby completed his first Ironman! I am so proud of him!! Here is his race report!
Ironman Louisville by Don Gaines
“You can do it…I will be there 100% of the
way!” I can still remember the day. I was sitting at work and I was talking to my
lovely wife (aka Speedy Turtle) and we were discussing the upcoming year’s schedule. The conversation had somehow turned to doing
a full IRONMAN. I had said something to
the effect of how I would like to do one some day and my lovely wife asked why
I wasn’t going to do one next year.
Well…full time job, full time dad and working on my Master’s sort of
took up my time. Then she told me the
magic line; that she would be there 100% of the way. I sat there on the phone for a few seconds
and then clarified what she meant by that.
That with work, studies and training that time together was going to be
very limited. Without a second’s delay,
she said that she understood but that this was something that she knew I wanted
to do and was willing to support me any way she could. As I continued to waffle on the idea, she
finally told me to sign up and quit being a wimp. She practically dared me to sign up. As much as I love her, there are times she
can goad me into things I normally wouldn't do.
As soon as our conversation ended, I got online and looked at what was
available. Well, there was Coeur
D’Alene, Louisville, Whistler, and Wisconsin.
CDA was just too soon for my taste and WAY too hilly. Out.
Whistler…even Hillier…Out. Wisconsin…while
the bike looked like a good challenge the last part of the run was
uphill…out. So that left two
options. Louisville or volunteer this
year to do it next year. Well,
volunteering was out. Wife just DARED me
to sign up and calling her back to say I needed to volunteer this year was like
saying I am afraid but might find some courage at a later date. So…that left Louisville. Reading the write up is like reading a
traveler’s brochure. Beautiful scenery,
rolling hills and a flat run at the end. Oh...and it could be a warm race. So there I was forking over a WHOLE lot of
money to sign up. Once I got the E-mail
saying I was signed up, I sent it to the Speedy turtle as a way of saying “Dare
me will ya!?!” I got a call back from
her congratulating me on signing up.
Wait...what did I just do?
In
November, I with my new coach, Lesley, decided that I would start up in
May, which would get me about a 20 week plan.
So I guess I COULD have signed up for CDA. I remember Lesley looking at me and asking
why I chose Louisville. When I explained
my reasons I asked her why she was wondering.
“Because it is in Kentucky in the middle of Summer! If you can do this race you can do any of
them! It’s a hard Ironman!” Oh…yea…I
didn’t even think about that. Just how
hot could it get? A quick look on Google gave me the answer. Average temp in Louisville at the end of
August is between 86 to 95 with humidity in the mid 60%. Yea…hot.
¼ of the people who signed up for Louisville the year before didn’t
finish the race. Yea…hard. What did I
get myself into on this “dare”? Here is
my coach who did IM Texas and did it so well that she qualified for Kona and
she is telling that I signed up for a “hard” IM?!?” You ever get that pit in your stomach that
tells you that you may have made a mistake?
Flash
forward to the end of May and the start of training. Up to then, the training was nothing really
long. A couple of hours on the bike, an
hour run here and there and some swims.
As soon as Memphis In May Triathlon was done, I remember looking at my
wife and saying, “here we go.” I got a
smile and a hug and her famous smile.
Without a word, she gave me her approval and understanding. For the next 20 weeks, it was like a
whirlwind. Between work, school and my
training I really don’t remember much of this last summer. I know that EVERY weekend was spent on my
bike or on the road. After work was a
run or Computraining at Biomeckanics with Billy. In the morning was swimming. All my runs were in the afternoon. I figured that I would run at the time I
would expect to be on the run during the race.
It didn’t matter how hot it was, the run was in the afternoon. I kept the motto, train like you fight, fight
like you train. Through it all was my
wife. I always got a kiss as I went out
the door to workout. On my 20 mile run,
she was my SAG, refilling my bottle and giving me something to snack on every 5
miles. If I was late on my ride, I would
get a phone call asking where I was. She
even came out looking for me once when I
didn’t respond to her call. Of course I
teased her for looking for me like that but I was happy that she was
concerned. When our son needed to go out
of town for a swim meet, she took him so that I could stay home to train. She did it all and never got upset. She even
got my areo helmet painted as a present for my race. For the last 20 weeks, she kept her
word. She supported me 100%. Like I said earlier, the whole summer was a
blur of work, school and working out.
Before I knew it, it was the middle of August.
Believe
it or not, I actually got some sleep the night before a race. Probably first
time ever. I was fully expecting to do
nothing but toss and turn and I actually got a pretty good night’s sleep.
Up at 3:45am and got a PB&J sandwich, a
banana and a protein drink. At 4:30,
Speedy turtle and I headed out to get to the transition area. My mom, aunt and the boy were going to sleep
in a little longer and be there in time to see me get out of the water. The walk from the hotel to the transition area
was a good way to wake up and relax a little.
Got to the transition area and took one more look at the bike and headed
to the swim.
After a mile walk to the swim start (no
kidding…a mile walk) I sat there with the speedy turtle until about a half hour
before the start. I then headed over to
wait in line for the swim start. After
yet another mile of walking before I found the end of the line. Before I knew it, I heard the cannon goes
off. Game time. Nothing will quiet a
group of people more than knowing that it is now time to put up or shut
up. The walk back to the start line took
over a half hour but it seemed like a pretty quick 30 minutes and I was in the
water.
Unlike
most IRONMAN events, the Louisville swim starts is a time trial instead of a mass
start. There is a really good reason for
it. The start of the swim is in a narrow
protected channel. That channel is a
couple hundred feet wide and about ¾ of a mile long and then slowly opens up to
the mile turn marker. That ¾ mile swim
was pretty much a combat swim. At least this
is what I envisioned from discussion from all my SEAL friends. I had people all around me and trying to even
get a little swimming room was difficult.
About the ¾ through the channel I finally got tired of the same guy
climbing on top of me. First time, I
gave a gentle push. Second time…a more
forceful push. Third time…a shove and
when he popped up to look I gave him a punch in the nose. Not a tap…not hand in the face…A PUNCH IN THE
NOSE! To my defense, I will say that I
was tired and tired of getting clobbered in the water but not one of my better
moments. The mile swim had me at 38
minutes. Not bad having to fight my way
through most of it. Once we made the turn
we were fully into the Ohio River and everyone opened up into their own swim
lane. The next 1.4 miles was the same
time as my first mile. So a 1:16 for the swim.
 |
| Right after the Swim! |
Not too bad and I was feeling good.
Saw Mom and my Aunt and gave them a hug and kiss and headed into the
transition area.
I would love to say
that I was in and out in a matter of a few minutes but not so much. I swear there was some space time continuum
where I thought I was in the tent for a few minutes and found out that I was in
there for 15 minutes. I swear that I
didn’t make any calls or take a nap or anything but the clock had me at 15
minutes. Oh well. T2 will be faster.
Off on the ride and I was
feeling good and for the first 5 miles or so, I was doing great. Then my right arm started to shift downward
and I needed to stop to see what was going on.
After a little quick maintenance I discovered that the screw that held
my arm rest to my areo bars was missing.
Not sure how it happened but it did.
I started thinking about what Lesley said, “no matter how well you
prepare SOMETHING is going to happen and you are going to have to deal with it.” Some quick thinking and I took one of the
screws from my arm rest and used it to try and hold my arm rest to the
bar. The good thing…the screw I used
appeared to be the same size. The down
side….it was long enough to hold the arm rest but short enough that it was
going to work its way out eventually. ‘Eventually’
turned out to be about every 20 miles or so.
Yes, it was frustrating to have to stop every hour but it was also a
blessing in disguise. Having to
physically stop and fix my bike also gave me a chance to get a drink and also
keep my heartrate down. What could have
been something that caused me to become frustrated and angry turned out to help
keep my body in check. There was a scare
on the ride. About mile 40 I was heading
into town and saw a cop yelling to go left.
I thought he was trying to tell the driver in the car that he was next
to go left but I guess that call was for me.
As I went right, the driver suddenly turned hard right and I was laying
hard on my brakes to try and stop.
Luckily I was able to stop in time and avoid becoming road rash. Bless
the spectators! I got praise for my
quick actions and the cop and driver got chastised for being on the road in the
first place. No kidding, they were more
upset about the cop’s action than I was!
I was just glad that I didn’t become a hood ornament. At mile 70 (which was almost the same spot as
the near miss) I got to see my family cheering me on! A great morale booster even though I only saw
them for a few seconds. Besides that,
the ride was pretty nice but good Lord was it hilly! DO NOT BELIEVE THE BROCHURE!! Picturesque
rolling hills means steep climbs with breakneck descents around open
fields. Going up at 9 miles an hour and
down at 40 turned into the norm for the race.
The only flat part of the bike was the first and last 12 miles. On top of the “gentle rolling terrain” was
the constant climb of the temperature.
The bike ride started in the low 70’s and was in the mid 90’s when I got
off. Yea…good times there. On the way in I saw a number of people
sitting on the side of the road trying to get the energy to ride back in. It was obvious that they pushed too hard and
their day was done. Did I say how my
mechanical issue was a blessing? It really was!
Transition 2. Once again I entered into the space time
continuum tent and changed out of my bike clothes and into my running gear.
Honestly, had I known I was in the space time continuum, I would have looked
for Dr. Who and gotten an autograph. I
have a lot of friends that are big fans and they would have thought the world
of me for getting that for them. One
thing to note. As I changed out, the
guy next to me was there before me and would be there after I left. The whole time he didn’t move or look up or
anything. All he did was sweat. A lot. This wasn’t some misty “hey I just ran
5 minutes and now I’m sweaty” sweat. It
was like pouring out of him. It was like
waterfall sweat. That kind of sweat you
see in those commercials for some super-duper strength arm deodorant where they
are playing some vague sport and sweat dripping off their nose. The whole time the volunteers in there were
trying to get him to drink something…ANYTHING!
Nope. All he wanted to do was
sweat. A lot. I changed and left the man
to continue to water the grass underneath him.
Out of the tent and a quick stretch and off on the run. I even got a chance to give my sweetheart a
quick kiss, a high five to the boy and a quick hug to my mom. Surely I wasn’t in there for more than 5-10
minutes. Surely faster than my T1
time. Close. 21 minutes.
Damn space time continuum.
2.4 mile swim. Check. 112 mile bike ride. Check. All that’s left is this pesky little
run. OK... a marathon. Do you know the history of the marathon? The
legend states that Pheidippides was sent from the battlefield of Marathon to
Athens to announce that the Persians had been defeated in August or September,
490 BC. It is said that he ran the
entire distance without stopping and burst into the assembly, exclaiming
"We wοn!" before collapsing and dying. I can relate. It’s August and I have been
doing battle all day with the heat and the hills. The
start of the run was in the mid 90’s but I was feeling good. I mean really GOOD. I was smiling and thought, “Hey, I just might
do this!” I was that way until about
mile 7 or so. Before I knew it, my
stomach felt like it got flipped upside down.
Running simply made my stomach worse and by mile 10 I was thinking that
everything I took in today was going to find its way to the outside if I didn’t
slow down. Now, “slow down” is a
relative term. I was running a 11-12ish mile pace or what many know as the
Triathlon shuffle. My shuffle was now
restricted to a walk. About 5 minutes or
so my stomach would settle down and off I would go again. 5 minutes later…stomach ache and back to a
walk. And this was how I completed my
first marathon; a slow shuffle to a walk back to a slow shuffle. Yes…I had not done a marathon up to this
point. My thought was that if I did a
marathon before an Ironman I would know how hard that is and I would not do an
Ironman for a number of years. This way,
I would know how hard an Ironman is and just think that the marathon was hard
because of the swim and bike. Yea…crazy
logic but it worked! Mile 12 was turning into a dark place.
I wasn’t feeling well and I could hear the
crowd but knew I still had another 14 miles to go. Just when I thought I was going to just
really hit rock bottom, lo and behold a familiar face.
THE BOY!!
And he was wearing shorts, my team “Droopy” shirt, sandals and Mickey
Mouse hands! For the next mile, we ran
together and I watched him high five people with those silly hands. Nothing made my spirits rise more than to
spend that mile with my son and watch him enjoy the moment with the crowds
asking for high fives from him. As we
turned for lap two, there was the speedy turtle waiting for me at the special
needs tent. There I changed into a new
pair of shoes, socks and a new shirt. As
I did that, my lovely bride gave my bag to my son and asked him to take it to
my mom. She then took the hand-off from
my son and off we went to start the next 13 miles. About a mile into it, I was starting to feel
great and told my wife that I was ready to take off alone again. After a quick kiss and hug I was off
again.
I got up with a few people here
and there and ran with them but after about 2 more miles, the stomach started
up again and I was back to the shuffle/walk routine. I took my routine as still progress
forward. I looked at the watch a number
of times and kept moving forward. There
were a number of people out there to keep my spirits up. The priest that rang the church bells and quoted
scripture on strength and courage. The
guy playing 70’s metal music. The young
girl holding a sign that said “Run like you F’ing stole it!” Little things kept me moving. At mile 20 a whole new issue came up. Suddenly my feet felt like I was moving
inside my skin. Great…blisters. By mile 22 my feet were starting to become
painful and swollen. By mile 23, my left
foot felt like I was wearing a shoe two sizes too small and getting worse. I really wasn’t sure if I could make the last
3 miles. I stopped and stomped my foot
on the ground as hard as I could. I
quickly felt the warm rush of fluid on the bottom of my foot and the pressure
went away. The new issue was that if I
ran, my feet actually felt good but my stomach got upset. If I walked my stomach was good but the feet
hurt. My solution was to run for as long
as my stomach would let me and them walk until I couldn’t stand it on my
feet. This went on for a mile or so and
then I needed to find something to focus on.
Okay…my disclaimer. I was REAL
tired and I REALLY needed to find something to focus on and…well…I’m a
guy. My focus was the very attractive
lady who ran by me. As she took off, I
followed behind her and, let’s just say, I found my focus. We made the left hand turn and the I could
hear the crowd getting louder and louder.
As we made the right hand turn about 200-300 yards later, I could see ‘4th
St. Live’ and see the crowd. Every ache,
Every blister, my stomach, EVERYTHING suddenly felt fantastic! My pace started up and I was ecstatic! I
started to high five people. I’m not
talking one or two people. I mean
everyone who had their hand out I was greeting it. I was on top of the world and I couldn’t
believe it. As I ran across the finish
line and my hands were above my head, I realized I did it. I was an Ironman!! Through my wife’s dare, I completed one of
the most grueling and most labor intensive events one could dream up. 15 hours, 6 minutes and 44 seconds to have
bragging rights forever.
As soon
as I crossed the finish line I was caught by a guy named James. Great guy.
He kept telling me to keep moving but I had to sit down. I needed to sit down and told him that if I
didn’t sit down in the next 5 seconds I was going to pass out. He took me to the first chair he found and I
sat down, put my head between my legs and everything that was inside my stomach
was now outside. I sat there for a few
minutes and felt hands on my back. As I
looked up, I saw my wife, Mom, Aunt and Son all looking at me. I sat there for a few more minutes and
started to feel better. I then got the
medal, the hat and shirt and met my family at the end of the chute. The two block walk back to the room was
somewhat daunting but it felt so good to be with everyone. Once in the room, I took the shoes off and
laid on the floor trying to recover a little.
As my wife sat there, she smiled and said that she was proud of me. All the aches and pain are always worth a
little support from my family. Believe
it or not, I talked to my coach about a ½ hour after getting to the room and
she asked how I was. Even though my
stomach was torn up and I had huge blisters all over my feet I told her to add
me to the list for Chattanooga for next year!
That run through the chute is unlike anything and I can’t wait to do it
again.
Lessons
learned – Remember that no matter how well you plan, SOMETHING will
happen. Deal with it. Take
all challenges as opportunities. No bitching…the run hurts…guess what…it hurts
everyone and complaining about it will get you nowhere. Remember
that it is a race but it is an endurance race.
Going all out on the swim and bike will make for an early day. Thank
those around you. Fight
like you train and train like you fight.
The #1
thing I learned. You may race alone but
you need a team to succeed. Lesley was
awesome and got me physically ready to get through the race. She also helped me find the mental strength
to get through it. It was family that
was amazing. My mom and Aunt were
fantastic and seeing them time and again was awesome. My son was great to help me get through that
half way point and seeing him through the race was great. He was always yelling and cheering me
on. My wife was the bomb. She was Sherpa extraordinaire! Start to finish she was there. During the race she was REALLY
EVERYWHERE! It was great to see her and
have my morale boosted. She took care of
me after the race and I will always be grateful. To those of you thinking of embarking on this
adventure, I say “Do it!” It’s not
easy. It’s not for the weak and it will
tax you like nothing else. But is
anything worth trying supposed to be easy?
So here is a Big Thank you to Melissa for the Challenge and I am ready to take it!!
Friday my mom and Aunt came in to be part of my
cheering crowd and did a group ride for the first 12 miles of the bike. I also checked in for the race this day. I am sure anyone who has done any triathlon
will agree it isn’t real until they put your race bracelet on. I will say that it got REAL at this point. Saturday turned into a busy day. First thing was a swim in the river. Actually the water was great. Not too hot and not too cold and I felt
really good in the water.
Up at 3:45am and got a PB&J sandwich, a
banana and a protein drink. At 4:30,
Speedy turtle and I headed out to get to the transition area. My mom, aunt and the boy were going to sleep
in a little longer and be there in time to see me get out of the water. The walk from the hotel to the transition area
was a good way to wake up and relax a little.
Got to the transition area and took one more look at the bike and headed
to the swim. 
As soon
as I crossed the finish line I was caught by a guy named James. Great guy.
He kept telling me to keep moving but I had to sit down. I needed to sit down and told him that if I
didn’t sit down in the next 5 seconds I was going to pass out. He took me to the first chair he found and I
sat down, put my head between my legs and everything that was inside my stomach
was now outside. I sat there for a few
minutes and felt hands on my back. As I
looked up, I saw my wife, Mom, Aunt and Son all looking at me. I sat there for a few more minutes and
started to feel better. I then got the
medal, the hat and shirt and met my family at the end of the chute. The two block walk back to the room was
somewhat daunting but it felt so good to be with everyone. Once in the room, I took the shoes off and
laid on the floor trying to recover a little.
As my wife sat there, she smiled and said that she was proud of me. All the aches and pain are always worth a
little support from my family. Believe
it or not, I talked to my coach about a ½ hour after getting to the room and
she asked how I was. Even though my
stomach was torn up and I had huge blisters all over my feet I told her to add
me to the list for Chattanooga for next year!
That run through the chute is unlike anything and I can’t wait to do it
again.
