Experience of a lifetime!
Well the reason I haven't posted has been due to the fact I've been at the beach the past 5 days post Ironman and haven't really rediscovered the computer...but I will post like Iron Benny did regarding his Ironman, in a 3-part series, beginning with the swim: here goes-
I had butterflies like I haven't had since my football days ended, actually maybe even more so since I didn't know what to expect. I'm not a great swimmer and 2 nights before the big race at the banquet they had video footage of the mass beach start and that is when I started feeling it...not necessarily nervous but very anxious to see what this is. What you see on video actually was very much like it was in the water; feeling like you're in a fight in a washing machine with about 100 piranhas. But is was actually SOOO fun. I found a nice spot about in the middle of the pack width wise and length wise. There were about 2,150 swimmers so the pre swim site of all the racers and fans was THRILLING! The best I can descibe the start was like an avalanche of bodies off the beach into a mad scramble for each own's cocoon. I didn't find mine until a brief period during the home stretch of the first loop. There was no way to get in any rhythym other to soak in the experience and enjoy it. If I was able to swim 50 yards without interuption, that was a good minute, other than that it was just finding a way to gain ground until a opening came. My best memory of the swim was on the out portion of the 2nd loop where I was sighting great but oithers around me weren't so much and as I was swimming a guy backstroking camne by me going sideways and rammed another guy going fairly straight and they crashed into another pile of whatever and I totally starting laughing while I was swimming which was when I swallowed a water bottles worth of Lake Coeur D'Alene. I was laughing at the site of the trian wreck and one guy screaming at the others to straighten out. Oh, you had to be in there! The fastest part was actually the homestretch of the 2nd loop where things has somewhat spread out and there was no incidence from the last bouey to the finish line. Oh ya, and I forgot to mention the out turn boeys, forget about it, just doggie paddle with the pack and enjoy the moment of rest 'cause you ain't going nowhere! Well I finished the swim in about 1:23 and got out smiling thinking, "oh, this is gonna be a piece of cake"! DAMN was I wrong, my smile lasted about the next half hour until about mile 10 on the bike, which was when hell entered my stomach. But more on that in "Experience of a lifetime" part 2. However, I'll leave with this tidbit and the biggest thing I learned from Ironman: No matter how hard you train and how much focus you put on getting things right and allowing for the best race possible, something completely out of your control and something so unexpected might happen you just got to deal with it. That's the Ironman aura I have just discovered...which I guess is what makes it a race of a lifetime. I told my brother after the race, this is something "everyone should experience and no one should experience, and I'm not sure yet how to advise you". He laughed, I think he went with the latter! Bike transition and ride to come..................! Major love sent out to Nytro and Iron Benny for their great friendship and support during a great day!
I had butterflies like I haven't had since my football days ended, actually maybe even more so since I didn't know what to expect. I'm not a great swimmer and 2 nights before the big race at the banquet they had video footage of the mass beach start and that is when I started feeling it...not necessarily nervous but very anxious to see what this is. What you see on video actually was very much like it was in the water; feeling like you're in a fight in a washing machine with about 100 piranhas. But is was actually SOOO fun. I found a nice spot about in the middle of the pack width wise and length wise. There were about 2,150 swimmers so the pre swim site of all the racers and fans was THRILLING! The best I can descibe the start was like an avalanche of bodies off the beach into a mad scramble for each own's cocoon. I didn't find mine until a brief period during the home stretch of the first loop. There was no way to get in any rhythym other to soak in the experience and enjoy it. If I was able to swim 50 yards without interuption, that was a good minute, other than that it was just finding a way to gain ground until a opening came. My best memory of the swim was on the out portion of the 2nd loop where I was sighting great but oithers around me weren't so much and as I was swimming a guy backstroking camne by me going sideways and rammed another guy going fairly straight and they crashed into another pile of whatever and I totally starting laughing while I was swimming which was when I swallowed a water bottles worth of Lake Coeur D'Alene. I was laughing at the site of the trian wreck and one guy screaming at the others to straighten out. Oh, you had to be in there! The fastest part was actually the homestretch of the 2nd loop where things has somewhat spread out and there was no incidence from the last bouey to the finish line. Oh ya, and I forgot to mention the out turn boeys, forget about it, just doggie paddle with the pack and enjoy the moment of rest 'cause you ain't going nowhere! Well I finished the swim in about 1:23 and got out smiling thinking, "oh, this is gonna be a piece of cake"! DAMN was I wrong, my smile lasted about the next half hour until about mile 10 on the bike, which was when hell entered my stomach. But more on that in "Experience of a lifetime" part 2. However, I'll leave with this tidbit and the biggest thing I learned from Ironman: No matter how hard you train and how much focus you put on getting things right and allowing for the best race possible, something completely out of your control and something so unexpected might happen you just got to deal with it. That's the Ironman aura I have just discovered...which I guess is what makes it a race of a lifetime. I told my brother after the race, this is something "everyone should experience and no one should experience, and I'm not sure yet how to advise you". He laughed, I think he went with the latter! Bike transition and ride to come..................! Major love sent out to Nytro and Iron Benny for their great friendship and support during a great day!
posted by BIGpurple at 3:07 PM
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