So my attempt at the 140.6 mile "Ironman" distance triathlon was a success on May 11th. I finished up the event in a time of 15 hours and 5 minutes. Not fast, but comfortably under the 17 hour cut off time the folks enforce over at the "real" Ironman events. This was completely a Do-It-Yourself affair. There were no screaming spectators, no fellow competitors, no aid stations, no bands playing, no free massages afterward, no finisher medals and no announcement that "Chris Weaver, you're an Ironman" at the end, but at the day's end I can say I did it. I finished what's called the hardest one-day endurance event in the world and it sure as Hell felt that way!
The swim was completed at the gym I workout at and I made sure to get an early start at 4am to avoid the pool being occupied (there's only 3 lanes). 4000m is pretty much equivalent to 2.4 miles, which ends up being 80 laps. The swim was really nice and I just kept a nice steady pace throughout the swim. I bought new goggles prior to the event so that made it all the more enjoyable. My old goggles were totally scratched up, all moldy (eeekkkk) and leaked about as badly as the C.S.S Hunley, so the new ones were really nice to have that morning. Mentally I broke the swim up into eight 10 lap sets and finished up in 1 hour and 28 minutes. The cut off time in the Ironman event is 2 hours and 20 minutes. I changed in the locker room, jumped in the car and headed over to the Carrier Park velodrome in Asheville, NC to complete the 112 mile bike segment. It was still dark out when I got started, so choosing to do the bike on the 1/3 mile closed oval was a pretty decent decision on my part I feel like from a safety standpoint. I also knew that carrying enough food and water on the bike would be difficult, being that there were no aid stations obviously and not many places to stop on the only other plausible "flat" course that I could map out in Asheville. My wife and daughter came out every couple of hours to switch out water and HEED bottles. In terms of nutrition (which is a big concern for this distance of an event) I took peanut butter and honey sandwiches to eat while on the bike. Every hour I ate half and I took a swig of my Power Gel/water mix every 15 minutes to try and get as close to 300 calories per hour on the bike. I also sipped my HEED mix and water throughout the bike and felt really well hydrated and adequately stocked up on calories throughout the day. Nutrition is seriously what makes-or-breaks an event this long. I allowed myself a bathroom break every hour while on the bike which took a little under 5 minutes to get off the track, to the bathroom and back on, but it sure was nice to be able to do that for myself :)
I was a smoker for close to 15 years (I've not smoked in 2 1/2 years at this point) and there are times that my lungs really have a tough time keeping up with the rest of my body. At about mile 80 on the bike, I really began to experience some difficulty breathing deeply, so I knew the 26 mile run following the bike was going to be a rough one. I eventually finished up the bike and I had mapped out a 1 mile segment of the paved trail at the same park I completed the bike segment at. I went out and back 13 times with a little extra 1/4 mile at the end to complete the 26.2 mile marathon. I drank close to a gallon of water during the run/walk and ate Oreo cookies, a bagel, and lots of pretzels to give my body the calories it needed to get through this thing. My wife was wonderful, bringing out food and a couple of Monster energy drinks that really helped me to push on! The rain held off all day until about 11 miles to go on the run, but by this point I welcomed the cool water falling from the sky! By the 20 mile mark, my lungs were shot and this translates into walking a mile, and shuffle running a mile to the end. I eventually hobbled back to the car, which was the starting point of the run and the official transition area for the day and I was greeted to some cheers from my wife and daughter who declared me an "Ironman." I wouldn't have wanted it any other way! So whether it's officially recognized or not, I am an Ironman, and I'm in the club y'all!!!! I did it my way, I won the mental vs. physical battle and can honestly say that yes, this is by fay the hardest single day test of endurance out there. I decided 5 months ago on a trip back from Pennsylvania that I was not going to let an absurd entry fee be a barrier to me achieving a goal that I made when I first started out doing triathlon several years ago. If you want something bad enough, sometimes you have to find (or better yet) create a way to achieve your goals. You can sit around making excuses or you can get up and get moving towards making it happen!
Stay Focused and Happy Training Y'all!!!!!!
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