blog is moving :)
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much love,
d
http://davidandnik.blogspot.com/
Sunday, April 27, 2008
http://davidandnik.blogspot.com/
this concludes "road to ironman arizona 2008"
blog is moving :)
change your links
much love,
d
http://davidandnik.blogspot.com/
blog is moving :)
change your links
much love,
d
http://davidandnik.blogspot.com/
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Ironman
I did it. The Ironman, that is. I swam 2.4 miles. I cycled 112 miles. And then I ran a marathon, 26.2 miles. I finished in 12 hours, 48 minutes and 57 seconds.
What an experience. I have learned so much through this experience. The thought of trying to put it all in to words has deterred me from starting this post, but I'll do my best to give you my take on everything.
Cliff Notes version:
1) I trained a long time for the Ironman.
2) I sacrificed A LOT in training for the Ironman.
3) I completed the Ironman.
4) I was completely humbled by the Ironman.
5) I am grateful for the experience of Ironman.
Now for the dedicated readers...here is a play-by-play:
Nikki and I showed up to transition to drop my bike off the day before the race. Here we stopped to take a pic at the entrance to Ironman village
Here's a pic of me obsessing over how I want to rack my bike
more obsessing...
It was so great when Nikki finally arrived in Tempe. Sometimes I wonder how I got as far as I did in life without her... She is an angel. My own little angel.
Here are some pics in transition about 45 minutes before the swim start on race day
Soon after this picture, we said our goodbyes and Nikki went up to the bridge to watch the swim start with Andrew and my mom
It didn't hit me that I was doing an Ironman until I was standing on the dock about to jump in to the water. Now this is weird...Nikki took a picture of a group of people having no idea if I was in it or not. I don't know how she knows this but if you look at the purple circle, apparently that's me with the sun shining in my face. I was about to jump in to the lake and swim to the start line...
the swim start
yes, the swim start was this crazy...
THE SWIM
When I first started triathlon, the discipline I was the worst at was swimming. So it just blows my mind that I had such a great swim...1 hour, 5 minutes and 16 seconds. Good enough for 352 overall (out of ~2100 people). But there's more to it than that...
My goal was to get the good water and sprint for a bit at the beginning and then merge in with a pack and draft the entire way. Well...I think I got a little too excited when the cannon when off. I sprinted out and started to back off, but there were some folks behind me that weren't done sprinting just yet! Goggle kicked into my eyeball and then other goggle leaking....can't stop to fix it to risk being drowned by several hundred animals wanting to climb over me and get on down the road. Result? I think I had me-self a little panic attack. Mind you, this has NEVER happened to me in a race before. Never. I've been kicked and scraped and swam over many times, but never like this. I literally couldn't breathe. I would come up for a breath and it felt like I couldn't inhale. It was strange and frightening. I tried to settle down but it was hard. I estimate that with the panic attack my heart rate was near the 190s, and I have no idea how long it stayed there... Translation = not good.
In my mind, I had screwed up the swim royally. The rest of the way I felt like I was just trying to salvage my mistakes from the very beginning. Looking back I think I was just caught up in all the Ironman hype. It was too big of a deal in my head to just relax. I guess that's just part of being a first-timer, I don't know.
I drafted most of the way and was happy to get out of the water...not too bad. The first time I knew that I'd had a great swim was after I crossed the finish line.
T1
I ran to get my T1 bag and headed for the tent. What the hell?!! Not what I had expected. This tent was MADNESS. People everywhere, chaotic. I had envisioned much less people and more space to move around. Oh well, put the bike stuff on and get the heck outta there. Hopped on my bike and off I went.
running out of T1
here i am getting on my bike after the mount line (back left, blue shirt)
THE BIKE
As soon as I got clipped in, I looked down at my heart rate = 170. too high. I had been sitting down in transition for 5 minutes and it was 170. That spoke to how rattled I got in the swim. I knew I needed to relax and my goal was to get my heart rate down to 130 before I began to go after it on the bike.
While I was waiting for my HR to come down, 500 people must have passed me. It was hard to be patient and I tried to listen to Ahmed's words stuck in my head saying "Stick to the plan!" So I let them all pass while my HR came down slowly but it never settled until 45minutes in.
On the bike I was met with a stiff headwind a few miles outside the transition and it lasted about 1hr and 20minutes until I got to the turn-around. Then I came back in 40minutes. Repeat 2 times. The winds started to wear me down a little bit on the 2nd loop but on the 3rd loop I felt really good and was hopeful to continue feeling good.
At some point during the 3rd bike loop the temperature started to creep in to the 90s. Hot. I was drinking over 50oz of water an hour and felt pretty good about my nutrition. However there just came a point later on to where I just physically couldn't take in as much water as I was losing. I passed 100-200 people on the last loop and while it wasn't 500 people I passed, I still felt good that I was finished stronger than anyone around me...
Eric and Lauren got engaged the previous day!!!!
Post-Ironman Thoughts
I think it was good for me to be humbled. I definitely have a greater respect for that distance now. I am looking forward to doing some shorter distance stuff for now and taking a mental and physical break from everything!
I am glad the Ironman didn't live up to my expectations. It reminded me of how I have put others things up on a pedastool in the past, only to be let down over and over again. Maybe one day I'll learn. Until then, I still love triathlon...it is a great way to stay healthy and it's fun. And slowly I am realizing that the more seriousness I bring to triathlon, the less fun I have. But I am still competitive by nature and probably always will be...I'll keep searching for that balance :)
Thanks for keeping track of the journey. I'll never forget it.
As for now, I can walk away from Ironman and be proud of what I accomplished. I learned a lot on april 13th, not so much about triathlon, but about life and myself.
What an experience. I have learned so much through this experience. The thought of trying to put it all in to words has deterred me from starting this post, but I'll do my best to give you my take on everything.
Cliff Notes version:
1) I trained a long time for the Ironman.
2) I sacrificed A LOT in training for the Ironman.
3) I completed the Ironman.
4) I was completely humbled by the Ironman.
5) I am grateful for the experience of Ironman.
Now for the dedicated readers...here is a play-by-play:
Nikki and I showed up to transition to drop my bike off the day before the race. Here we stopped to take a pic at the entrance to Ironman village
Here's a pic of me obsessing over how I want to rack my bike
more obsessing...
It was so great when Nikki finally arrived in Tempe. Sometimes I wonder how I got as far as I did in life without her... She is an angel. My own little angel.
Here are some pics in transition about 45 minutes before the swim start on race day
Soon after this picture, we said our goodbyes and Nikki went up to the bridge to watch the swim start with Andrew and my mom
It didn't hit me that I was doing an Ironman until I was standing on the dock about to jump in to the water. Now this is weird...Nikki took a picture of a group of people having no idea if I was in it or not. I don't know how she knows this but if you look at the purple circle, apparently that's me with the sun shining in my face. I was about to jump in to the lake and swim to the start line...
the swim start
yes, the swim start was this crazy...
THE SWIM
When I first started triathlon, the discipline I was the worst at was swimming. So it just blows my mind that I had such a great swim...1 hour, 5 minutes and 16 seconds. Good enough for 352 overall (out of ~2100 people). But there's more to it than that...
My goal was to get the good water and sprint for a bit at the beginning and then merge in with a pack and draft the entire way. Well...I think I got a little too excited when the cannon when off. I sprinted out and started to back off, but there were some folks behind me that weren't done sprinting just yet! Goggle kicked into my eyeball and then other goggle leaking....can't stop to fix it to risk being drowned by several hundred animals wanting to climb over me and get on down the road. Result? I think I had me-self a little panic attack. Mind you, this has NEVER happened to me in a race before. Never. I've been kicked and scraped and swam over many times, but never like this. I literally couldn't breathe. I would come up for a breath and it felt like I couldn't inhale. It was strange and frightening. I tried to settle down but it was hard. I estimate that with the panic attack my heart rate was near the 190s, and I have no idea how long it stayed there... Translation = not good.
In my mind, I had screwed up the swim royally. The rest of the way I felt like I was just trying to salvage my mistakes from the very beginning. Looking back I think I was just caught up in all the Ironman hype. It was too big of a deal in my head to just relax. I guess that's just part of being a first-timer, I don't know.
I drafted most of the way and was happy to get out of the water...not too bad. The first time I knew that I'd had a great swim was after I crossed the finish line.
T1
I ran to get my T1 bag and headed for the tent. What the hell?!! Not what I had expected. This tent was MADNESS. People everywhere, chaotic. I had envisioned much less people and more space to move around. Oh well, put the bike stuff on and get the heck outta there. Hopped on my bike and off I went.
running out of T1
here i am getting on my bike after the mount line (back left, blue shirt)
THE BIKE
As soon as I got clipped in, I looked down at my heart rate = 170. too high. I had been sitting down in transition for 5 minutes and it was 170. That spoke to how rattled I got in the swim. I knew I needed to relax and my goal was to get my heart rate down to 130 before I began to go after it on the bike.
While I was waiting for my HR to come down, 500 people must have passed me. It was hard to be patient and I tried to listen to Ahmed's words stuck in my head saying "Stick to the plan!" So I let them all pass while my HR came down slowly but it never settled until 45minutes in.
On the bike I was met with a stiff headwind a few miles outside the transition and it lasted about 1hr and 20minutes until I got to the turn-around. Then I came back in 40minutes. Repeat 2 times. The winds started to wear me down a little bit on the 2nd loop but on the 3rd loop I felt really good and was hopeful to continue feeling good.
At some point during the 3rd bike loop the temperature started to creep in to the 90s. Hot. I was drinking over 50oz of water an hour and felt pretty good about my nutrition. However there just came a point later on to where I just physically couldn't take in as much water as I was losing. I passed 100-200 people on the last loop and while it wasn't 500 people I passed, I still felt good that I was finished stronger than anyone around me...
The winds were tough and I was definitely ready to get off the bike, my time = 6:10:46. With the 30mph gusts and temperatures in the 90s, I later heard that to break 6 hours was a big deal that day. I was close...
T2
As soon as I dismounted my bike, I tried to run to get my T2 bag. Let me just tell you, I felt like the most un-coordinated person in the world trying to run after 6 hrs on the bike. My body just didn't want to, but I did anyways.
I could really feel the heat now, I knew it would be a tough run. I ran out of T2 after a long transition (even though I went as fast as I could) and had high hopes for a good run. I mean, I had hit my nutrition perfect on the bike, so why wouldn't I?
THE RUN
Mother Nature laughs!
I ran 10miles before I was forced to walk. And when I started to walk, it was really hard to get running again. I set little goals for myself, jog 5minutes, walk 5minutes, stuff like that. The heat was brutal. It really was. It got to the point that I was making mile goals for myself. Then at the next mile marker, I would set a goal for the next mile. That was the longest 16 miles of my life. I felt pretty bad until the sun went down and as soon as my body cooled off I could function better but the damage was done.
a picture speaks 1000 words...
Many times during the run I would glance down at my arm and be reminded that I wasn't alone. I got this decal from the IronPrayer service the night before where I was encouraged by other believers, including Heather Gollnick...I highly recommend this service to anyone doing Ironman
It also didn't hurt to know that this lovely young lady was waiting for me at the finish line. That kept me putting one foot in front of the other...
After walking so much I promised myself I would run the last two miles, no matter how much it hurt. I don't know how fast those last two miles were, but I didn't feel them I can tell you that. It was almost easy to suffer knowing that it would soon be over. I could hear the crowds now. Running faster. I can see the finish line. And honestly I couldn't tell you much past that. Before I knew it I was hugging Nikki and just so glad to be done. run 5:22:27
Anti-climatic finish. Please read Kathi Werden's blog, she explains it much better than me!
In Kathi's words:
"Well, not to spoil things for you… but… My Ironman FINISH LINE really… not that AMAZING… not that AWESOME… nothing LIFE CHANGING… however IT WAS.... painful, it was dusty, it was sweaty, it was very quick and it was half blurry (one of my contacts had to come out)….and IT WAS loud, crazy, even energetic..borderline chaotic… but not so much AMAZING."
I think the start line feeling was amazing. Finishing my first sprint distance triathlon was amazing too. But finishing the Ironman...
I do remember not being able to stand up straight. Or maybe I didn't want to stand up straight. I was just straight up tired.
Eric and Lauren got engaged the previous day!!!!
Post-Ironman Thoughts
I think it was good for me to be humbled. I definitely have a greater respect for that distance now. I am looking forward to doing some shorter distance stuff for now and taking a mental and physical break from everything!
I am glad the Ironman didn't live up to my expectations. It reminded me of how I have put others things up on a pedastool in the past, only to be let down over and over again. Maybe one day I'll learn. Until then, I still love triathlon...it is a great way to stay healthy and it's fun. And slowly I am realizing that the more seriousness I bring to triathlon, the less fun I have. But I am still competitive by nature and probably always will be...I'll keep searching for that balance :)
Thanks for keeping track of the journey. I'll never forget it.
As for now, I can walk away from Ironman and be proud of what I accomplished. I learned a lot on april 13th, not so much about triathlon, but about life and myself.
Friday, April 11, 2008
The Storm before The Calm
Today is calm, finally. I have been able to relax and exhale from all of the stress from the past two days. I've had some time to rest my mind, and I slept like a rock like night so my body feels great as well. As the race gets closer and closer I must steal Nikki's words to describe how I feel:
"I'm psyched outta my mind for Sunday!!!"
The forecast shows for a hot day...it will get up to 96 degrees while I am running the marathon. Ouch! But I welcome the challenge, I wouldn't want a cake walk to the finish line.
Okay, now to tell you about the last couple of days...NIGHTMARE.
Wednesday
And like I said, today has been so peaceful. I was listening to "New Day" by Robbie Seay and I truly felt it and was grateful for new beginnings and the fact that we can put yesterday behind us.
And then I listened to "Fix You" by Coldplay and closed my eyes to try and feel what it'll be like to cross that finish line on Sunday with Nikki and mom and dad there... More emotions surfaced as I began to feel connected to the big picture and realize that all this has nothing to do with me racing but everything to do with life's experiences
Heavy on my mind lately are the souls in my life that are either on their way out or just arriving:
Mandy and B, both in their last days...
Strohm and Campbell, newborn babies
More to come later. Nikki arrives this evening and I can't wait to see her. Next time I blog will be after April 13th.
I'm sure there will be a lot to tell...
The forecast shows for a hot day...it will get up to 96 degrees while I am running the marathon. Ouch! But I welcome the challenge, I wouldn't want a cake walk to the finish line.
Okay, now to tell you about the last couple of days...NIGHTMARE.
Wednesday
- Found out at 11am that my 4:20pm flight was canceled but couldn't do anything about it because I had class until 1pm
- Spent a total of 3hours on the phone with the airlines, car rental, etc. trying to clean up the mess
- Got confirmation for a flight later that evening connecting through Vegas, would put me in Phoenix by 1am
- Nikki took me to the airport and I noticed a direct flight leaving for Phoenix in 30 minutes, so we sprinted across 2 terminals
- The guy at the counter told me the standby list was 15 people deep and that I didn't stand a chance
- I hung around anyways and sure enough, only 4 of the 15 people were there, so I got on the flight!
- Problem: Luggage was checked in at AA and headed to Vegas... I was on a US Airways flight to Phoenix
- Realization: This is not good!
- Got to Phoenix and no luggage of course, filled out a lost luggage file and left to go get rental car
- Showed up to Brad and Lorie's house about 10pm with only my carry-on
- Hopeful for my luggage to show up in the AM so that I could do some light workouts on Thursday
- Tried to sleep but plagued by the possibility that my luggage is in outer space
- Woke up and called baggage people first thing, no luck
- Went to pick up packet at race site and stood in lines for about an hour
- Called baggage people again and they could not locate my bag
- Noon: I think I lost it! Seriously started freaking out
- I began to make a list (THANK YOU Kathi Werden, you salvaged some of my sanity) of everything I would need to get to replace almost ALL of my gear
- My sister Sarah called me and let me know that her flight was canceled as well and they couldn't put her or my mom on a flight to PHX until Monday, so she canceled the trip
- Overwhelmed
- Headache, a big one. Feeling sorry for myself? a little bit!
- The whole time I am talking to Nikki and she is feeling all of this stress with me - thank you baby, you saved me from a mental breakdown!
- Sam Whiting then called and offered to fedex me his wetsuit (we wear the same desoto 2 piece size 5) and all of his race gear including bike necessities - thank you Sam
- Gail Leveque already had an email in to local bike shops and personnel to help as much as possible
- I was gonna get this done, how could I not with all of these amazing people helping me?
- And then in that moment I realized what AMAZING PEOPLE I have met in triathlon and how in that moment so many people came together and were willing to help me
- Wow
- I then decided to go to the airport just because I have learned that there is only so much you can do over the phone...it ALWAYS helps to be there in person to work through things
- So I showed up and they gave me hope that for some reason they did not want to share with me over the phone: "Sir, your bag 'should' be on the next flight from Vegas which arrives in 30 minutes."
- Hallelujah! But I tried not to get my hopes up because...well, I don't know why. I just found it hard to trust the whole process anymore
- So I went to the bagel and coffee shop, ate, surfed the web, and prayed
- I wanted my bag to show up soooo badly, I didn't want to have to go through all this other mess...
- I went back downstairs to baggage claim after some coffee and saw the big blue duffel with the nike swoosh on the side and I am not kidding you I got emotional about it.
- Relief. Relief like you have no idea relief.
- Breath
- And off to pick up my bike from tribiketransport.com
- Stood in line for another hour - it was in the sun too and I remember thinking after 45min "this is hot" -- later on the way home I found out it was 78 degrees. god help me when I'm running and it's 96! anyways...
- So I finally get somebody to escort me to my bike and neither of us could find it for a bit. Par for the course, I thought. It was the last bike on the end, hiding a bit.
- Ah, I get the first sense that it's all going to come together.
- I take my stuff back to Brad & Lorie's and then get back in the car to meet Aaron Patel up at 87th and McDowell.
- I never found him, and I swear I was at that intersection. Now I'm wondering if it was 82nd... I drove back home in rush hour and looked at the clock and realized I'd been driving for 2 hours with no bike ride.
- What a day
- I rode around the neighborhood for a bit and then headed in
- Lorie cooked an amazing dinner and told Ironman stories. Brad told stories about his working life. It was a fabulous end to a hell of a day.
And like I said, today has been so peaceful. I was listening to "New Day" by Robbie Seay and I truly felt it and was grateful for new beginnings and the fact that we can put yesterday behind us.
And then I listened to "Fix You" by Coldplay and closed my eyes to try and feel what it'll be like to cross that finish line on Sunday with Nikki and mom and dad there... More emotions surfaced as I began to feel connected to the big picture and realize that all this has nothing to do with me racing but everything to do with life's experiences
Heavy on my mind lately are the souls in my life that are either on their way out or just arriving:
Mandy and B, both in their last days...
Strohm and Campbell, newborn babies
More to come later. Nikki arrives this evening and I can't wait to see her. Next time I blog will be after April 13th.
I'm sure there will be a lot to tell...
Friday, April 4, 2008
9 days away...
Since 2003, I have run 3,930 miles.
And since 2005, I have cycled 12,270 miles and have swum nearly 602,000 meters.
I started running 5 years ago.
I clearly remember being in grad school and setting the goal of running 5 miles without stopping. I wrote it down and everything. This was huge for me at the the time.
One night later that semester I was feeling motivated and went up to the Student Life Center at Baylor with my new shoes from Luke's and attempted the 5 mile run on a treadmill. I was stepping in to the unknown!
It was such a satisfying feeling to finish that run. I remember how invigorated I felt. A few months later I attempted the 8 mile Turkey Trot and then a few months after that a half marathon and on and on and on it went...
In 9 days I will attempt a full distance triathlon in Tempe, Arizona. 2.4 mile swim. 112 miles on the bike. A 26.2 marathon run. Five years ago if you would have told me I'd be doing an Ironman, I would have told you that you are crazy!
So much has gone in to preparing for this race on April 13th...
I can't wait to do this! The journey has been amazing. And the training has been a lot of fun.
You can track me on race day at: www.ironman.com
I'll be wearing bib number 318.
Thanks for all your support along the way!
David
P.S. I can't even begin to describe to you how much food I have eaten over the past few months to keep up with this training...it's ridiculous!
And since 2005, I have cycled 12,270 miles and have swum nearly 602,000 meters.
I started running 5 years ago.
I clearly remember being in grad school and setting the goal of running 5 miles without stopping. I wrote it down and everything. This was huge for me at the the time.
One night later that semester I was feeling motivated and went up to the Student Life Center at Baylor with my new shoes from Luke's and attempted the 5 mile run on a treadmill. I was stepping in to the unknown!
It was such a satisfying feeling to finish that run. I remember how invigorated I felt. A few months later I attempted the 8 mile Turkey Trot and then a few months after that a half marathon and on and on and on it went...
In 9 days I will attempt a full distance triathlon in Tempe, Arizona. 2.4 mile swim. 112 miles on the bike. A 26.2 marathon run. Five years ago if you would have told me I'd be doing an Ironman, I would have told you that you are crazy!
So much has gone in to preparing for this race on April 13th...
I can't wait to do this! The journey has been amazing. And the training has been a lot of fun.
You can track me on race day at: www.ironman.com
I'll be wearing bib number 318.
Thanks for all your support along the way!
David
P.S. I can't even begin to describe to you how much food I have eaten over the past few months to keep up with this training...it's ridiculous!
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Nikki gets clip-in shoes :)
Nikki is taking up cycling with me and I couldn't be happier about it! I see it as something we can enjoy together for a long time to come. So she got clip-in shoes and she was really excited about it to say the least!
She's a natural of course, like in everything she tries....including swimming
She looked so beautiful in her new dress that I had to get a pic of her!
She's a natural of course, like in everything she tries....including swimming
She looked so beautiful in her new dress that I had to get a pic of her!
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Mandy is dying
Sorry for being so blunt. Mandy has lymphosarcoma and it is uncertain how much longer she will be with us.
I took her in for her yearly visit and mentioned to the vet that her lymph nodes had been a little bit swollen. I also said that one day she had been breathing funny and had been randomly vomiting. I thought it was just a virus or something. I was wrong.
Cancer.
Wow, this is pretty hard. The day I found out I was pretty emotional about it. Mandy has been by my side for 8 years now. She has been such an awesome dog.
But I am choosing to focus on the fact that she is still alive and everyday she wakes up with me is a good day, regardless of how hard it is to see the cancer slowly take over.
More to follow soon...
Since we found out, Mandy has had many visitors come over.... apparently she is very loved!
Monday, February 4, 2008
Kona Hawaii Camp
Well, a blog posting has been long overdue. I need to update you on how training has been going...
I just spent a week on the big island of Hawai'i training in the little village town of Kona. It was an amazing experience. I learned an endless amount of information about triathlon. And of course, I got in some killer training as well. I can definitely say that I will have a better season because of it. No question about that.
My first challenge upon arriving in Kona was to put my bike together
It took me 1hour and 20minutes, but I did it. A big "THANK YOU" goes out to Adrian at Bicycles Plus for teaching me EVERYTHING about how to build up my bike. Cheers bro.
Here is the view from my condo
We swam at the pier every morning...right on the corner where Palani turns into Alii Drive. It is the same spot where the Ironman World Championship swim start and run finish are located.
The swims were so beautiful. The water was perfectly clear and I could see the bottom of the ocean the entire swim. Most days consisted of a 1.2mile swim followed by 1hour of open water swim start simulations.
The open water swim simulations were not beautiful! They were more violent, but really good practice for racing.
Most of the rides we did were along the west coast of the big island on a road called the "Queen K." I would ride for 100 miles and never clip out, all while looking at the ocean while I was riding. Not kidding. Unreal, eh? Well, there could be some pretty unreal winds as well! Which was really nice when it was a tailwind, but the headwinds...oh my. On Thursday we cycled to Hawi and back, which the same route they ride on the Ironman Championship course. It was an experience because we got into some pretty chilly, wet weather in Hawi and we weren't sure how long we were going to have to deal with the nasty weather. It ended up fine and we rode a tailwind for a good portion of the way home. With inclement weather and all, I did the Ironman course in under 5:30 and that was in my training pace. Those of you who know my cycling ability just thought, "Damn that must have been a HELLUVA tailwind!" haha, it was though - i looked down at one point and we were holding 37mph for quite a while. When we stopped for a break once, Ahmed said, "This is what we do in heaven." Well, I think heaven will be a little better than that, but it was still sweet. What a great finish to the week that ride was...
Here's a pic of a small group of us at the halfway point in Hawi (from L to R: Chris Moody - my roommate for the week, Aaron Patel, me & Wayne Reid)
I just spent a week on the big island of Hawai'i training in the little village town of Kona. It was an amazing experience. I learned an endless amount of information about triathlon. And of course, I got in some killer training as well. I can definitely say that I will have a better season because of it. No question about that.
My first challenge upon arriving in Kona was to put my bike together
It took me 1hour and 20minutes, but I did it. A big "THANK YOU" goes out to Adrian at Bicycles Plus for teaching me EVERYTHING about how to build up my bike. Cheers bro.
Here is the view from my condo
We swam at the pier every morning...right on the corner where Palani turns into Alii Drive. It is the same spot where the Ironman World Championship swim start and run finish are located.
The swims were so beautiful. The water was perfectly clear and I could see the bottom of the ocean the entire swim. Most days consisted of a 1.2mile swim followed by 1hour of open water swim start simulations.
The open water swim simulations were not beautiful! They were more violent, but really good practice for racing.
Most of the rides we did were along the west coast of the big island on a road called the "Queen K." I would ride for 100 miles and never clip out, all while looking at the ocean while I was riding. Not kidding. Unreal, eh? Well, there could be some pretty unreal winds as well! Which was really nice when it was a tailwind, but the headwinds...oh my. On Thursday we cycled to Hawi and back, which the same route they ride on the Ironman Championship course. It was an experience because we got into some pretty chilly, wet weather in Hawi and we weren't sure how long we were going to have to deal with the nasty weather. It ended up fine and we rode a tailwind for a good portion of the way home. With inclement weather and all, I did the Ironman course in under 5:30 and that was in my training pace. Those of you who know my cycling ability just thought, "Damn that must have been a HELLUVA tailwind!" haha, it was though - i looked down at one point and we were holding 37mph for quite a while. When we stopped for a break once, Ahmed said, "This is what we do in heaven." Well, I think heaven will be a little better than that, but it was still sweet. What a great finish to the week that ride was...
Here's a pic of a small group of us at the halfway point in Hawi (from L to R: Chris Moody - my roommate for the week, Aaron Patel, me & Wayne Reid)
The runs were on Alii Drive. I ran alongside the ocean...it was sometimes hard for me to focus on training because the scenery was so breathtaking to me. It's been a long time since I have experienced God's beauty like that. I found myself staring into the ocean a lot and watching sunsets, marveling at God's creation. I mean, come on, it's not like you see those kinds of things in Dallas, Texas ever!
Chillin' after a tough tempo run
Me taking in some Accelerade at one of the SAG stops on the run
Just enjoying a run...
When I wasn't training, I was sleeping. When I wasn't sleeping, I was eating!
When I wasn't eating, I was in a lecture
So by the end of the camp I got around ~30hours of training in. That consisted of 7-8hours of swimming, 16-17hours of cycling and 5hours of running. I ate A LOT!! And as hard as the camp was, my body responded well and I feel great. I am more confident about my abilities and am more excited as Ironman day approaches.
I will return here one day :)
The best part of the camp was the people I was able to train with. The people involved with Playtri are such amazing people and I consider it a honor and a pleasure to get to know all of them.
Last day in Kona
Cookout
Here is a picture of everybody after the Kaloko climb (the HARDEST climb I've EVER done)
Until next time, hang loose!!
-d
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