IM Wisconsin

I have been on the road for the last 2+ weeks and just arrived home. I just had the pleasure of going through a real rewarding experience that is worth writing down. I was at Ironman Wisconsin yesterday doing some work with Rev3. I only knew three people racing, Gus, Lida, and Maura. I was following all of their progress. Gus' day ended first after being sick as soon as he started the run. Then came Lida and Maura. I found Lida about a mile from the first lap turnaround and ran/walked with her until the turnaround. I saw Maura about 30min. or so later. They were both on pace to finish in 16+ hours. I was getting a little worried. I decided I would run/walk the last 7 miles with Lida. I went with her for a mile or so and she asked if I could go find Maura and make sure she made it under the cutoff. Lida assured me she was fine and would be in well under the cutoff but Maura was well behind the pace. I ran the course backwards in the pitch black dark until I found her walking and looking labored. She had about 10 miles to go. I asked her how she was feeling and she said she was cramping and felt she couldn't go any faster because she would go into spasm. I asked her if she had any salt during the run. She hadn't but had a baggie full of salt tablets so I got her nutrition plan in order, salt tabs ingested, and chicken broth to sip. After 15 minutes her cramping went away and off we started running. 3 minutes on, 1 minute walk. We did fartleks.......run to a sign, then walk to the next pole, etc. We were averaging 15:30/min miles and had to keep this pace to make it under the cutoff of 17 hours. I factored in a fudge factor of 5 minutes in case she had to use the bathroom or something. There were about a dozen people on those lonely paths and at one point as I was walking next to Maura a race official came riding up and threatened to disqualify her for outside assistance. I didn't argue and moved over to the sidewalk until she left but come on.....you have got to be kidding me. Its not like she's going for a kona slot or something. One girl had an entourage of 10 people pacing her. Some people just don't get it......they feel some need to use this power they have for one day at 11pm on Ironman night. Maura was in lots of pain but I kept telling her that all this effort wasn't worth it if she couldn't make it to the finish line under the cutoff......thankfully she agreed so my persuasion worked. She made it to the capital square and the crowd was going crazy. She had a few minutes to spare so I told her to make sure she embraced the experience and celebrated this amazing accomplishment. She finished with 6 minutes to spare.

This was an easy decision to do this. It was an incredibly rewarding experience especially since she most likely wouldn't have finished given her pace and cramping situation when I found her. It was a fun experience and to see so many people out there close to midnight cheering her on and others to finish was very nice to witness. Congrats Maura....YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!!!!

IM Canada Recap

I just wanted to thank you all for your support. It means a lot that I knew I had friends out there watching my progress (even though the IM tracking stinks). A lot of people have been emailing me and asking me if I was okay so I just wanted to send out a brief explanation of my day.

I thought my preparation for the race went well. I was injury free all year and had some good race results going in and some solid training efforts. My only concern going in was that some of my key longer training days didn't go as planned and my body hadn't responded great. My shorter training and race efforts went great. I thought I had a great nutrition plan for the day.

The swim felt okay. I actually felt a bit faster than the clock but I wasn't overly concerned about it. My goal was to not fumble around in transition like my last IM and get out on the bike. I accomplished this. I had a solid power plan on the bike so I stuck to my wattage and felt confident with the numbers. The first hour flew by in no time and I was feeling great and optimistic. The first 40 miles are flat and I had averaged 22- for this portion of the race. At this point you make a turn and start climbing Richter Pass which is one of two longer sustained climbs. I immediately felt the temperature go up 10 degrees and my breathing became labored. I stuck to my power plan but at this point, I got passed by a lot of people. I was drinking non-stop, taking in my calories as planned, peeing, and taking water bottles at each aid station. 50 miles into the bike, I was already struggling….my back was super tight…..my neck was super tight, and I was getting zapped of all my energy. I had a good descent down Richter Pass and was hoping the recovery would do me good. The next 30 miles or so are rolling so they require a bit of work. My second wind just wasn't coming and I was struggling to maintain my power. I was in a world of hurt, low energy, etc. My body just wasn't processing my calories. My chest hurt and had trouble breathing. At this point in the race, I knew my time goals wouldn't be met and my new goal was to figure out how to get to the finish line. This became a huge challenge and the theme for the rest of the day. I stopped 3 or 4 times on the bike. I finally strolled into T2 and took my time before going out on the run. I already knew I wasn't going to have the run I was hoping for so I just went out there and took what the rest of the day gave me. My stomach was really upset and immediately had trouble taking in calories. I continued to have trouble breathing. I was happy to be running though and clicked off 8:30/min miles for the first 6 miles which was my goal pace for the entire marathon. I knew it wouldn't last because I was just so nauseous and couldn't breathe well. This is where the walking began. Again, it became a game of survival for me so I walked when I needed to walk and ran when I felt like I could. There were times when I would start running 10 steps and had to stop for fear of throwing up and not making it to the finish line. The sight of ambulances up and down the run course and vans full of people scared me from not making it to the finish so I was careful not to blow up. I ran the last 2-3 miles into the finish line as fast as I started the marathon.

Although I didn't come close to hitting any of my time goals, I met my goal of finishing and in a way it was my most rewarding race I've ever done. I was extremely proud of my fight and determination to not give up when I felt horrible. For anyone looking interested in this race, it is absolutely a beautiful part of the world. It is a great course….challenging, and the crowd support is fabulous. As it turned out, the temperature reached well into the 90's and there was a lot of smoke in the air from wildfires (which explains the difficulty I was having breathing). No ironman for me next year.

See you soon!

Eric