Total Time: 10:30:05, 149th OA, 32nd AG (M30-34)
The night before the race I got into bed about 9:30 p.m. I didn't expect that I would be able to sleep and I definitely couldn't. As usual I was amped/terrified and way overhydrated. I just laid in bed staring at the ceiling and counting down the minutes until it was go time. I had to pee 3 times before I fell asleep. The last time I remember looking at the clock it was about 11:30 p.m. The alarm was set for 4 a.m.
When the alarm went off I hopped out of bed quickly. I definitely slept lightly the night before the race. I quickly ran to the bathroomto try and do some business and then made my way into the kitchen area and started eating my breakfast. My goal was to be done with breakfast by 4:15-4:20 so I could be fully digested with optimal glycogen levels by swim start (7:15-7:20). Breakfast consisted of one package of pop-tarts (400 cals), three packages of cinnamon raisin oatmeal (450 cals), banana (75 cals), and a bottle of gatorade (110 cals). At about 4:45 we started walking from the Galt House to the transition area. The atmosphere was awesome and I felt a combination of nervous excitement and anxiety. The transition area opened at 4:45 a.m. and we weren't in any particular hurry to get down there. Because of the time trial format and our abilities as strong swimmers we figured we would head down to transition at a fairly leisurely pace and end up somewhere in the middle of the line. We arrived at transition at about 5:00 a.m. We did a final check of our bikes, checked our run and bike transition bags and dropped off our special needs bags. We handed the bike pump over to my dad and then started to make our way to the swim start. As you can see, I think me and the boys might have been a wee bit nervous....we all have serious deer in the headlight ghost faces. Dad popped this picture right before we walked over to swim start.
After leaving transition there was an 0.8 mile walk to the swim start. The swim start area was pretty crowded and hectic. There were lines everywhere for body marking and to get into the bathrooms. We got body marked, hit the bathrooms, and then headed to the back of the swim line. By the time we arrived, the swim line was loooonnng. I would say that we were probably 75% of the way toward the end of the line. The volunteers did an awesome job of keeping the line organized and making sure it consisted of athletes only. Somehow they managed to create a snaking line through a park area without any dviders or caution tape, it was quite impressive. After the line formed, we waited for the race to start and for the pros to go off. We sat in the grass and didn't say much to each other. I think we sat and waited for about 30 minutes before the line started moving. The three of us basically just sat there contemplating what was about to take place. There wasn't much conversation between us. I know I was super nervous and I imagine the boys felt the same way. One of the minor disappointments of the day was that we were not able to see the pro start from our position in the line. At the Augusta 70.3, this was one of my favorite parts and got me super amped before the race. After what seemed like an eternity, we finally heard the pros go off. Ten minutes later we heard the cannon start and the age-groupers started entering the water. The line began moving and started picking up steam. We dropped off our morning clothes bags as we wound our way towards the water. When we got to the final walkway down to the docks, the line suddenly stopped for several minutes. We couldn't see what happened but we assumed that someone had some trouble in the water. I later found out that someone passed away during the swim. My thoughts go out to this participant and his family. The stop gave my dad a chance to pop some pictures of us right before the start. You can see by the looks on our faces that we were ready to do this thing already.
Before I knew it, the line was moving again and suddenly I was running down the pier with my goggles on. Oh sh*t this is really happening!!!
Swim- 51:57, 4th AG/20th OA
My plan on the swim was to stay closest to the shore to the turn around and then swing wide on the way back in. The time trial start was great. I never felt crowded and didn't really have to run over anyone. The time trial start gave the three of us the opportunity to swim together. John, Travis and I stayed together out to the turn around. I distinctly remember thinking how cool it was that I was swimming side by side with my two best friends at an Ironman. It just felt right to be hammering through the crowd of swimmers side by side. We did 6 months worth of training together and now we were picking through the crowd as a team. I couldn't help but smile underwater as we swam out to the turn around. Although the swimmers were fairly spaced out, we did have to do a fair bit of weaving. As a result, I lost contact with Travis somewhere near the turn around. Fortunately, John and I maintained contact and were able to swim the entire swim right next to each other. I led John out to the turn around and then he swung past me. I swooped into his draft and we started picking our way through the crowd. Sighting was easy and the buoys were huge. It was a piece of cake keeping our lines and getting into a good rhythm. I felt awesome in the swim. Totally relaxed and smooth. I never felt like I put excessive effort on it. I definitely could have been faster but did not want to be overzealous in the early goings. The water was warm but not uncomfortable. After swimming in the 90 degree James River all summer, the Ohio felt crisp. Although I have heard horror stories about how dirty the Ohio is, I didn't feel particularly grossed out by it. The water is murky but so is the James. It didn't feel especially gross, and it wasn't particularly smelly. I did not mind the river at all and would have no qualms about doing this swim again. Travis hit the swim finish somewhere out in front of us and John hit the finish right before me. We ran up the steps right near each other and started the run to transition. I glanced down at my watch and saw that I was under my well 55 minute goal. This gave me a shot of energy and I couldn't help but smile. The swim went by fast and I was stoked to get on the bike. As I ran toward transition, my wife Brittany was standing right on the rail cheering. The was the first of several highlights of the day. She was wearing bright pink and easy to spot. It was awesome having her right there when I got out of the water. She was the greatest cheerleader all day long. I heard someone else from our cheering squad call out my name to the right. I gave my best smile and a fist pump as I headed toward transition. Trav's sister popped this picture as I ran up the ramp toward transition. (many of these awesome pictures were taken by Kristan throughout the day. Thanks Kris!!!!)
Transition 1- 6:45
Since it was my first Ironman, I think I probably took more time than I should have in the first transition. I wanted to make sure that I was perfectly situated before I hit the bike course. As I ran toward the transition area, I started calling out my number to the volunteers. I had put neon green tape around my bag to help the spot it out of the crowd. A volunteer handed me my T1 bag in stride and I ran into the changing tent. The tent is pretty crazy, it is hot and sweaty with people in all stages of getting dressed and undressed. It is definitely organized chaos. Once in the tent, the volunteers were amazing. They wanted to help you in any way that they could. I put on my heart rate monitor, tri top, helmet and glasses. I drank half a bottle of propel and ate half a power bar. I applied chamois cream and then wiped my hands off on a hand towel had put in my bag. I grabbed my back up gel flask and zip lock bag of honey stinger waffles and put them in my back jersey pockets. I grabbed my shoes and ran barefoot to my bike. Once I hit my bike rack, I put on my shoes on un-racked my bike and headed out on the course. John, Travis and I hit the the bike course at about the same time although I didn't really realize it at the time. Things were so hectic I didn't even notice we were right near each other until we were out on the bikes. It was awesome to still be together as a group as we hit the second phase of the race.
Bike- 5:29:24, 29th AG/125th OA, Avg Speed 20.4 MPH,Avg Power- 200, Norm Power- 226, Avg Cadence- 86
My plan on the bike was to take it realllllly easy in the early stages. I had a goal to ride between 210 and 225 watts for the whole course. I planned to start a bit south of those numbers and build my effort. My goal was to start with power numbers in the 190's and steadily build throughout the race. When I hit the bike course it was hard to hold back. I felt good and I really wanted to ride hard. I ignored my urge to let it rip and kept my focus on my power numbers. About 15 minutes into the ride, I noticed that Trav and House were right up the road ahead of me. This gave me another jolt of energy knowing that we could ride in close proximity to each other. At the 15 minute marker I started the nutrition plan that I had outlined in my previous blog post. The first 10 miles of the ride were flat as a pancake and fast. It was hard to keep my effort down. I took the opportunity to let my heart rate stabilize and hydrate. I felt like I was passing alot of people, but I tried to stay within myself. The first ten miles clicked off fast and then we hit the first climb of the day. This is where I really had to exercise caution in keeping my power numbers in check. It is really easy to let your power numbers spike when riding up hill. I shifted to my easiest gears and just spun up the hill. I had lots of opportunities to spin easy up hills on this course as the middle 90 miles of the course are non-stop rollers. I had a plan to keep my power below 243 on long steady climbs and below 257 on the steeper stuff. I definitely let lots of people pass me on the uphills. My mantra was that I would see them in the late stages of the marathon when they were hurting from charging the hills.
Fortunately, the worst part of the bike course comes fairly early on. There is an out and back section somewhere around mile 20 which had the steepest climbs and the sketchiest descents. This part of the course was pretty crowded and descending was a bit sketchy at times. There were definitely folks that did not look comfortable descending at extremely high speeds. I played it safe on the steep descents to avoid any kind of accidents. On the steep climbs, I shifted to my small ring and just spun at a high cadence. I definitely could have been faster through this part of the course but I stuck to my power plan and made sure I was taking it easy every time we were going up hill.
After the out and back section, there is a huge chunk of the course consisting of rolling hills. This includes two loops through the town of LaGrange. Keeping power constant on rollers is tough. The constant fluctuation in terrain makes it difficult to stay locked on your power goals. My whole focus on the rollers was keeping my power in the appropriate range and staying dialed in to my nutrition plan. Passing through LaGrange was awesome. There are tons of people lining the streets and they are all going nuts cheering. It was also cool that you could fly through the town at high speeds. It was like a small scale Tour de France with spectators going nuts on all sides. My parents snapped this picture of me as I rolled through LaGrange. I'm not sure if they took the picture on lap 1 or 2 but it came out pretty well.
After LaGrange there is a pretty short section on a narrow country road. I think it is called Ballard School Road, but I can't remember exactly. This road was the second worst part of the course. Very narrow and winding with steep rollers and probably the worst pavement of the ride. Fortunately it is a pretty short section, and nothing I couldn't power through. As we finished up the first loop and headed back toward LaGrange I looked back over my shoulder. Travis was a few bike lengths back but I didn't see John. I yelled back to Travis about John and he yelled that he didn't know what happened. Up to this point, we had been riding close by each other. I later found out that John had backed off somewhere before special needs because he got spooked at the packs of riders when a draft marshall came by. As we entered LaGrange the second time, it was time for the special needs bag. This transaction was shockingly fast and seamless. I yelled my number to a volunteer who radioed it to the special needs station. As I pulled up it was waiting for me. An awesome volunteer held the bag open for me, I grabbed my second bottle of carbopro and took off. The whole stop probably took less than 30 seconds. Kudos to the volunteers for running such a tight ship. T-Deck and I pulled out of special needs at about the same time and headed out to finish the last 40 miles of the ride.
After special needs, I decided that I was going to try and negative split the bike. I was feeling really good and had stayed to my plan perfectly. I knew that I had juice in my legs, and I planned to put a greater effort forth from mile 80 to the bike finish. At the end of lap 1, I realized that the way back to town would be fast. It was definitely slightly downhill and I felt a slight tail wind. I knew that once we got past the lap 2 turn off it would be smooth sailing all the way back in. At mile 80 I started increasing my speed steadily and I was flying. The best part was that I was able to keep my wattage down and keep it under control. I haven't averaged it out, but I think I held 22+ mph on the last 30 miles. You can see from the data below that the last laps were pretty quick. At this point the crowds had really thinned out. The last 30 miles were smooth and fast. I started to back pedal every so often to start loosening my legs. The data for my ride is below. I took data points in 5 mile increments. Sorry for the deluge of data, but I have become a bit of a numbers nerd.....
Lap 1- 14:55.01, 20.1 mph, Avg power-191, Cadence- 77 rpm, Avg HR- 137
Lap 2- 14:01.43, 21.4 mph, Avg power-182, Cadence- 80 rpm, Avg HR- 133
Lap 3- 16:34.95, 18.1 mph, Avg power- 215, Cadence- 84 rpm, Avg HR- 137
Lap 4- 14:35.17, 20.6 mph, Avg power- 199, Cadence- 82 rpm, Avg HR- 133
Lap 5- 16:51.25, 17.8 mph, Avg power- 242, Cadence- 87 rpm, Avg HR- 137
Lap 6- 14:52.31, 20.2 mph, Avg power- 209, Cadence- 88 rpm, Avg HR- 136
Lap 7- 15:04.66, 19.9 mph, Avg power- 230, Cadence- 90 rpm, Avg HR- 138
Lap 8- 14:41.39, 20.4 mph, Avg power- 220, Cadence - 88 rpm, Avg HR- 141
Lap 9- 15:04.18, 19.9 mph, Avg power- 212, Cadence- 88 rpm, Avg HR - 134
Lap 10- 16:27.99, 18.2 mph, Avg power-231, Cadence- 88 rpm, Avg HR- 138
Lap 11- 14:38.00, 20.5 mph, Avg power-207, Cadence- 87 rpm, Avg HR- 136
Lap 12- 13:33.32, 22.1 mph, Avg power- 202, Cadence- 87 rpm, Avg HR- 135
Lap 13- 14:29.41, 20.7 mph, Avg power- 223, Cadence- 88 rpm, Avg HR- 137
Lap 14- 15:39.95, 19.1 mph, Avg power- 213, Cadence- 87 rpm, Avg HR- 138
Lap 15- 15:24.55, 19.5 mph, Avg power- 232, Cadence- 85 rpm, Avg HR- 137
Lap 16- 15:33.43, 19.3 mph, Avg power- 232, Cadence- 86 rpm, Avg HR- 140
Lap 17- 14:39.03, 20.5 mph, Avg power- 227, Cadence- 88 rpm, Avg HR- 141
Lap 18- 13:21.23, 22.5 mph, Avg power- 215, Cadence- 86 rpm, Avg HR- 135
Lap 19- 13:30.06, 22.2 mph, Avg power- 210, Cadence- 89 rpm, Avg HR- 135
Lap 20- 12:30.74, 24.0 mph, Avg power- 217, Cadence- 88 rpm, Avg HR- 137
Lap 21- 12:30.14, 24.0 mph, Avg power- 204, Cadence- 87 rpm, Avg HR- 134
Lap 22- 13:27.91, 22.3 mph, Avg power- 199, Cadence- 84 rpm, Avg HR- 136
Lap 23- _Lost data on time and avg speed_, Avg power- 197, Cadence 80 rpm, Avg HR- 134
The only hiccups on the bike ride were that I had to pee way too frequently and I had a bit of a sour stomach on the back side of the ride. I probably ended up peeing about 6 times on the bike. The first time was probably within the first twenty miles. Honestly this should have been a sign that I was ingesting too much fluid, but I was paranoid that I would dehydrate and kept drinking water when I should have backed off. The sour stomach hit me somewhere in the 50-60 mile range. I don't know what caused it, but I suspect it was a bottle of Ironman Perform I took at one of the aid stations. I had trained with Perform and Carbopro mixed but the stuff they serve on course is way stronger (and I like strong sports drink). I think this is what made me queasy and it caused me to bail on my nutrition plan for about an hour of the bike. I stopped ingesting solid calories for about 60 minutes to give my stomach a chance to settle. I held off on the stinger waffles and gel but kept drinking my carbopro. I ditched the bottle of perform at the first opportunity. I ended up finishing my stinger waffles on schedule and ate a few extra a bit later in the ride.
I felt awesome as I approached the city and could see the tall buildings out in front of me. It was a pretty cool visual. My legs felt strong and fast. I was having an awesome time and an awesome ride. I had read prior to the race that your Ironman bike leg should be your easiest century all season. I can definitely say that mine was. I was never in distress, and the time ticked off quicker than I could imagined. The day was flying by. I just couldn't believe it was time for a marathon. The last mile of the bike I started back pedaling more and more. I was sitting up and starting to stretch my back and neck and started preparing for the marathon. I felt some cramps coming on in my quads and hamstrings so I popped a few extra salt pills and hoped they would subside. I ended up taking 7 salt pills on the bike. As I approached the transition chute I took my feet out of my bike shoes and started scanning the crowd for my family. The crowd was going nuts!!!! Unfortunately, I couldn't see my people and just focused on getting off the bike cleanly and getting into transition. Fortunately Kristan was able to snap a picture of me getting off the bike.
T2- 4:18
My second transition was much faster. I ran toward the transition bags and yelled out my number. The volunteers again hit me in stride with my T2 bag. I ran into the change tent and started to get ready. There was an awesome volunteer who was super helpful. I sat down in the chair and he literally helped me every way possible. As I was putting on my shoes he was pulling everything out of my bag for me. I put my shoes on and took a bite of cliff bar (which he had opened for me). I had a couple swigs of propel and stood up. As I stood up, the volunteer helped peel off my bike top. He literally put on my run top for me....freaking crazy. I turned my race number belt to the front and then the volunteer put my fuel belt on me. As I was changing I looked to my right and Travis was there changing a few chairs down. I yelled "nice ride bro", put on my visor and ran out of the tent. As I left the tent, the sun screen volunteers were right there. They hit my arms, neck and ears. I peed in the nearest bathroom and then ran out on the run course. At this point I had my second highlight of the day. As I ran out of transition, Britt was right there cheering like crazy. She was so excited and so cute. It freaking made my day. I couldn't miss the opportunity to steal a quick kiss. I ran to the divider stole a kiss from the wifey and then headed out. I grabbed a few cups of water dumped them on my head and then hit the course. Here is a shot of me post kiss and mid water stop...
Run- 3:57:41, 32nd AG, 149 OA
As I hit the run course I felt amazing for about a half mile. I was feeling the electricity from the crowd and the great vibes from Britt. The beginning of the run course is a short out and back over one of the bridges that leads to Indiana. As I ran across the bridge I started cramping pretty badly in my hamstrings. I had a brief moment of panic thinking it was going to be a long walking marathon but I took a deep breath and tried to relax. I popped a salt pill and kept soldiering on. Fortunately the cramps subsided within about a mile. This was a huge relief and I tried to settle into a good pace. As I came off the bridge at mile 1.5 my dad was right there. It was so awesome....he yelled some words of encouragement and we got a quick fist bump in. The positive vibes were overwhelming. I turned the corner and started the run course in earnest. For the first few miles I was running with a dude from Canada. We shared our stories and collective suffering. It was a nice mental break and helped the first few miles click off quick. My legs felt strong in the early stages. Eventually I outpaced my buddy from Canada and was alone with my thoughts. I kept looking down at my garmin and was seeing strong splits. I had to hold back and make sure that I was running within myself so that I wouldn't blow up late in the game. I was consciously holding back in the early part of the run. Despite my best efforts, my first few miles were probably a bit too fast and probably hurt me at the end of the run.
The aid stations were well stocked and came one mile apart. I made a deal with myself not start drinking Coke too early in the game. It was going to be my mental treat at the mile 10 aid station. My hope going into the race was that the first 10 miles would click off pretty quickly so that I could focus on a 16 mile run instead of a 26 mile run. The first 10 miles clicked off smooth and went by quick. I was actually shocked how good I was feeling. I felt strong and relaxed. Every aid station I was taking two ice sponges for my shoulders drinking two cups of water, and dumping a cup of ice down my shorts. I never felt like I was getting hot. Although it was in the 80's my body temperature was under control. Here are the first ten splits of the marathon....again apologies for being a data nerd.....
Mile 1- 7:59.08, HR- 155 BPM
Mile 2- 8:05.99, HR- 145 BPM
Mile 3- 8:23.04, HR- 146 BPM
Mile 4- 8:34.95, HR- 141 BPM
Mile 5- 8:40.00, HR- 144 BPM
Mile 6- 8:34.99, HR- 146 BPM
Mile 7- 9:12.00, HR- 146 BPM (Bathroom Stop)
Mile 8- 8:33.99, HR- 145 BPM
Mile 9- 8:29.00, HR- 142 BPM
Mile 10- 8:36.99, HR 141 BPM
The run consisted of a two loop course. It was basically an out and back that you had to do twice. I think the turn around at the far end of the course was somewhere around mile 10 and mile 20. As I made the turn I passed Travis heading towards the turn around. We shouted words of encouragement and exchanged a fist bump. I was happy to see that he was running strong. A few miles further up the road I passed John. It was nice to see friendly faces out on the long straight section of the run course. These guys are like my brothers and somehow the collective suffering makes it easier to deal with your own mental struggles. I continued to run strong through the half marathon. When I looked down at my garmin I went through the half marathon in about 1:51.....Wait...1:51, that is 3:42 pace....I was blowing my goal out of the water. Frankly, I got really excited when I saw this split. I started thinking thoughts of grandeur which would soon be snuffed out by some dark mental thoughts, cramps, and a bad stomach ache.
Mile 11- 8:59.00, HR 141 BPM (Bathroom Stop)
Mile 12-8:20.99, HR 145 BPM
Mile 13- 8:32.04, HR 144 BPM
The special needs station was just beyond the halfway point of the marathon. I was hoping that I could skip it but I made a tactical error that required me to stop. I decided to run the marathon without socks. This has not been a problem in training and I practice running sockless in my Newtons all the time. Unfortunately, I didn't account for all the water drenching my shoes and me feet were sliding around quite a bit. As a result, I started getting some blisters on my feet. Fortunately, I had packed a pair of socks in my special needs bag and I knew I had to stop and put them on. When I got to special needs they ripped open my bag for and got me a chair. I sat down and took off my shoes and put on my socks. I had also packed a reese's bar and a can of starbucks espresso shot. The reese's bar had turned into a melted mess and I tried to eat as much as I could. It tasted good but ended up being more of a hassle. I crushed the can of espresso shot which went down smooth. In hindsight I probably should not have drank this as I hadn't practiced with it. I think it ultimately upset my stomach a few miles later. Oh well, live and learn.....
Mile 14- 9:33.96, HR 141 BPM (Special Needs Stop)
After special needs you run back toward the finish line before turning around and heading for the second loop of the run course. This section is a bit of a mental challenge. You literally come within 100 yards of the finish line and then have to turn for another half marathon. Definitely a challenge to be sure. At the beginning of the second loop was the highlight of my whole day (and something I will remember for my whole life). As I rounded the corner, I saw my wife standing in the middle of the road in her bright pink shirt. She was jumping up and down and cheering like a mad woman. My parents were there and so were John and Travis' families. Such an awesome cheering section!!!!! As I approached Britt, she ran out into the road and started pacing me. She reached out and grabbed my arm, gave me a kiss, and we shared a pretty awesome moment. She was so excited and I could feel her energy. She was so energetic and I could feel how proud and excited she was for me. She will never know how happy she made me and how much energy she gave me during a really mentally challenging portion of the course. I was truly happy to see her out there and you can see the happiness on my face as she ran with me. I am so fortunate that this moment got captured in a picture. I will never forget the moment my wife paced me at mile 14 of the marathon of my first ironman and gave me all the strength in the world to finish that day. I love you Britt!!!!
After heading out to the second loop of the run course I was still feeling pretty good and feeling the good vibes from Britt and my family. I distinctly remember passing the 16 mile marker and thinking, "damn I feel pretty good, only ten miles to go, I have run ten miles a million times." Unfortunately this good feeling would be quite short lived.....
Mile 15- 8:56.99, HR 145 BPM (Bathroom Stop)
Mile 16- 8:47.00, HR 143 BPM
Somewhere around mile 17, I started to feel bad and my mental state changed dramatically. Suddenly my stomach hurt bad and I knew I would have to get to a bathroom soon. Suddenly my focus changed from "only ten miles to go" to "holy crap just get to the 20 mile mark and you will be fine." During this period my pace began to drop off but I was able to keep it somewhat respectable. At mile 20 I had to run into the bathroom. At this point I had been drinking coke at every aid station and drinking 150 calories of carbo pro every hour. When I hit the mile 20bathroom I thought I was going to "sit down" in there but every time I hit the bathroom I would pee and it would temporarily relieve the "pressure" in my stomach.
Mile 17- 9:20.99, HR 141 BPM
Mile 18- 9:00.00, HR 142 BPM
Mile 19- 9:15.00, HR 141 BPM
Mile 20- 9:51.99, HR 138 BPM (Bathroom Stop)
Once I hit the 20 mile marker I was a bit dismayed that it did not help my mental state. Mentally I was struggling and just kept telling myself to keep putting one foot in front of the other. At Mile 21 I was passing through the aid station when a huge cramp struck in my left hamstring. I'm not really sure what happened. I remember reaching for a cup of water and then pow....left leg locked. I had to stop in my tracks and stretch. I remember bending over and just trying to touch my toes. After a minute my leg released enough where I could start walking. At this point I knew I needed more salt. I was out of salt pills and in dire straights. In hindsight I was totally overhydrated. I think I was constantly peeing out all my electrolytes which is ultimately what made me go downhill at the end of the run. I peed somewhere in the neighborhood of 12 times during the whole race. That is way too much. I should have backed off on the fluids during the run but again I was paranoid about hydration.....again live and learn. I was pretty mad when I had to stop I had a mental goal to not walk a step of the run and I made it all the way to mile 21 when I had to stop. Next time I will run the whole of the marathon.
Mile 21- 10:23.00, HR 136 BPM (Hamstring cramps, stopped and stretched)
At this point my nutrition strategy went out the window and I went into survival mode. It was time to do whatever I could to prevent further cramping. I made the executive decision to walk the remaining aid stations and take in as much fluids and calories. I was eating and drinking everything that wasn't tied down. I was drinking coke and chicken broth and eating pretzels at all the stops. I think the chicken broth was my savior and helped stave off the cramps for the remainder of the run. I was able to get back to a semi-decent pace but it was certainly not what I was capable of.
Mile 22- 9:38.00, HR 135 BPM (Walked transition)
Mile 23- 9:45.00, HR 134 BPM (Walked transition)
At mile 24 my stomach really started hurting again and I decided that I was definitely going to stop and use the bathroom. When I got to the aid station there was a line for the bathroom....sh*t. I waited for what seemed like an eternity before I got in. Once I got into the bathroom I decided I was only going to pee. Only two miles to go and I wasn't going to let this race come off the rails completely.
Mile 24- 10:42.00, HR 133 BPM (Bathroom Stop with line)
After getting out of the bathroom I got up to speed and the splits came down. I was pretty uncomfortable at this time and definitely wanted the race to be over. I was particularly disappointed that I had to walk the mile 25 aid station. With only 1 mile to go I was furious at myself for having to walk, but I knew that if I didn't I risked another cramp. I was not going to be walking across the finish line. At this point I was starting to get closer and closer to the city and the crowds were building. I was feeling my energy surge with every step toward the finish line. Before I knew it the finish line was in sight and I picked up my speed. I was looking for my wife but couldn't see her. I raised my arms and came across the finish line. The clock read 11:05 and I knew that I had cracked 11 hours based on my start time. When I crossed I wasn't sure how far under 11 hours I was. I thought I was maybe in the neighborhood of 11:45. I think that I had legs for a 3:45 marathon. I think it was ultimately my overhydration and electrolyte imbalance that caused me issues on the back half of the run.
Mile 25- 9:19.00, HR 136 BPM
Mile 26- 9:08.00, HR 138 BPM
Finish- 8:37 pace, HR 147 BPM
I was so looking forward to hearing "Danny Royce from Richmond Virginia you are an IRONMAN!!!" but honestly I couldn't hear it. The crowd was deafening and I wastoo busy looking for my family and trying to soak in every one of those last few steps. When I hit the line the volunteers were awesome. They rush over to you and cater to your every need. They wouldn't even let me bend over and take my timing chip off. All I really wanted to do was sit down. My legs were soooooo tired. As I was sitting down I saw Britt and my parents come over to the fence. All I wanted to do was give Britt a hug. They were all so happy and so proud. It was a really special moment for me. Britt also told me I went 10:30....holy crap!!!!! I nailed my best case scenario goal. What a day, what a feeling!!!!!
After hugs and kisses I needed to sit down more. I went back and sat in the finishing chute to wait for my boys. Travis came in right behind me and it was awesome seeing him cross the line with a smile on his face. It was so cool that that Travis and I started this journey together 4 years ago and we finished our first ironman less than 5 minutes apart. John came through the line shortly thereafter and looked great coming in. I can't speak for everyone but I think the boys were pretty happy with their results.
As for me, I couldn't be happier with how the race turned out. This was truly one of the best days of my life and one that I will always remember. This is in large part to my beautiful wife. All of the highlights of my day were the moments when she lifted me up. Thank you Brittany for being my best friend and biggest supporter. I executed my race and nutrition plans perfectly, and the race unfolded just as I practiced it in my mind. All of the training, stress, and worry paid off. I would say that my race was 95% perfect. Those last few miles of the run were pretty rough. As I mentioned before, I think I had a 3:45 marathon in my legs. If I had nailed my hydration I think I would have been able to hold the back half of that marathon together. I am happy that the race went so well and happy that there are also a few obvious areas of improvement (after all there is no such thing as a totally perfect race). I am really excited about this race and excited to sign up for the next one (sorry Britt..love ya). This race gave me the confidence to believe I may be able to break 10 hours and possibly qualify for Kona one day. I think a Hawaiian vacation may make all this training a bit more palatable for Britt (and frankly she deserves it for putting up with all of this :). I also want to thank my mom and dad for being the best parents on earth. Anyone who knows Dan and Stella Royce knows what I am talking about. They have made me the person I am, and I am fortunate to have them in my life. My dad beating cancer was one of my biggest sources of inspiration in doing this. Love you ma and pa.
I am still flying high a week after the race. This was a great experience made all the more memorable by finishing with my two best friends and having the support of my wife, parents, mother-in law and extended family (Kristan, Avery, Meredith, Mr. and Mrs. Hauserman, and Stacie). I love you Britt, and I could not have done this without all of your support. Thank you also to all my friends who sent me texts, emails and facebook messages with words of encouragement. This is truly not a journey taken alone. I also have to thank anyone who made it to the bottom of this blog post (since its a freaking novel). I plan to write a few more posts about my post race thoughts and feelings. Stay tuned and thanks for reading!!!!!
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