Boo!

OK, wow, I thought I'd wait until I was fully recovered from my Ironman Coeur D'Alene bike disaster to recap the rest of the race and it is now August 5th and I am fully healed.....just kidding, it was shear blogger laziness why I have not posted. Not that anyone cares but my personal blog diary needs to know...OK, let's go back to that scary place in Idaho...



OK, so the swim was fun, I was jacked and on pace to my goal...however it was only 8:30 in the morning and little did I know what I was in for. I didn't know because what happened had never happened to me in my life. So off I went at a good pace, not to rookie fast and excited but solid, maybe 20 mph average over the first hour. The first bike portion had a minor hill or two within the first 16 miles and went 8 miles out along the Lake and returned back through town before going out into the boonies. BEAUTIFUL! The first hour went well however at about this point, right about where the first substantial climb was, I started to get some stomach pains, not from hunger or gas or anything, just pain but of course it would go away, right? So I kept battling and I crushed the first climb and the second as well, which was shorter but steeper. No biggy except my stomach was getting worse. I switched from my gatorade mix to water and eliminated gels and tried some real food like half a banana and some raisins I brought. Maybe it was to much sugar....nope! Needless to say around the 35 mile mark I was becoming worried, by mile 40 my pace slowed DRASTICALLY and I was having trouble breathing correctly and there was no comfortable position, aero or upright I could find. I was now getting pased left and right and was in dire straits. I knew at mile 50 there was an aid station and I suffered horribly the next 10 miles trying to make it there. I was so pissed because I had trained so long and hard to feel good and I actually had great legs going but low and behold, stomach issues. So at mile 50 I dumped my bike in the weeds and self gagged myself to get myself to throw up, and I succeeded but it took about 20 straight minutes of throwing up to feel better. But, rookie mistake #2, I jumped back on my bike dehydrated and sped off not even thinking of getting a few water or gatorade bottles to get me through to the next aid station 17 miles away. And all I had left was 1/2 a warm gatorade bottle. Doy!!! The next 17 miles sealed my fate for the rest of the race. Stick a fork in me, I was done. But I looked on the bright side and determined it would only be another 8 or 9 or 10 more hours of suffering. And I told myself the next time a woman tells me I'll never know pain like a woman does giving birth, I'll say BULL!*@$, I gave birth right then and there in the weeds in boonieland Idaho. So there were positives here...Anyway, it started to get REAL hot, 100 degrees out on the flats in Washington State and I started cramping badly. But really, as much pain as I was in and as worried as I was of the upcoming run, this is what I wanted and this was the challenge I need. I am a huge fan of self torture and this was the ultimate. I wish I could explain why I had such a HUGE stomach pain but I can't so what I'm saying, if anyone is ever going to try this for the first time, is to expect the unexpected and don't get mad. Crazy stuff happens no matter how much you try to train or prepare for it. OK, ya, my T2 time was 33 minutes...I enjoyed a cold beer, some ball park franks, and tossed a frisbee around.....OK, really, I spent about 10 minutes with ice rags on my quads and calves, about 10 minutes changing, about 10 minutes with the medic stretching me out and 3 minutes wondering how in the hell I'm gonna run a marathon. Hahahaha. I was on my way to the finish line and my great bud Iron Benny was there to tell me, "hey, you still got 8 and a half hours until midnight." I figured that would probably be enough time to finish 26 so off I went.



I'll talk about the run next blog, but just so everyone knows who thinks this is only pain and misery, it isn't. It's physically exhausting but one of the most rewarding and greatest learning experience of my life. To push yourself beyond your supposed limit and learn that your body can do so much more than your mind will let on is a great feeling of accomplishment. And I learned so much about my body I never knew. Also, 3 days after the race I signed up for it again because, well, this is the part that always gets me.....I can beat my time. I don't only want to beat it, I want to crush it. So I'll see everyone in Coeur D'Alene in '07 racing with my bud Iron Benny! Run to come!!!