On Saturday morning there was an open practice swim in the Ohio River. You could enter the water where the swim exit was for the race, work your way upstream, and then back down the river to the exit. I thought this would be a good thing to do since it would acclimate me to the river as well as getting used to the wetsuit again. I was planning on doing some open swims during my training where I would use the wetsuit in the lake for practice, but on top of all the other hours of training I just never got around to doing it. I was also training for a warm water swim in Chattanooga where I wasn't even going to need to use the wetsuit. So when the plans changed, I realized I was going to need to swim in the wetsuit and did almost no training in it. So we went to the practice swim and I geared up and jumped in the water. I start working my way upstream and get about 100 yards in and start to get a panic attack. This had never happened to me ever so at first I figured it would pass quickly, but as I tried to regain my composure it just kept getting worse. I was having a hard timee breathing. It felt like the wetsuit was compressing my chest. I was looking around at the kayakers in the water that were there to assist people and make sure no one drowns, and wondering if I needed to make my way over to them for help. My pride prevented me from doing that, but I did turn around and thought heading back downstream would help. It did a little, but I was glad to get out of the water, which I had only been in for 5-10 minutes. I went off to the side to regroup. I was thinking how in the world was I going to swim for 90 minutes the next day when I couldn't even get into a decent stroke that morning. I knew mentally I could not leave without getting back in that water and proving that I could make that swim. So after I composed myself, I walked back down that ramp and into the water and tried it again. This time I was able to relax and get a comfortable swim in. I didn't make it far upstream, but it was far enough to have the confidence that I could do it. And that I could get that anomoly of a panic attack out of my head. Not sure what that was all about, but I'm glad it was only a one-time thing.
The rest of the day was just staying off my feet, watching some college football, and packing up my gear bags. They give you 5 bags to pack for race day. A run bag for all your run gear, a bike bag for all your bike gear, a morning clothes bag for you to pack up your clothes that you wear to the start line, and 2 special needs bags. These bags are for half way through the bike and run that you can pack extra nutrition, clean socks/clothes, etc that you think you might need during the race. I packed those with some extra advil, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, a fudge round and flat coke. These were some things I had read that were good nutrition that will keep you going, as well as the fudge round for something that you can look forward to. When you are burning upwards of 8000 calories during the day you don't really need to worry about overeating, just in making sure what you do eat agrees with your stomach.
The night before I went to bed plenty early, but due to nerves/anxiety/excitement/bathroom trips due to good hydration, etc, I could not sleep. I kid you not, I do not believe I got one minute of sleep. I know there are nights you feel like you never slept but really you probably dozed off for an hour or so and didn't realize it. But I seriously do not believe I had a minute of sleep. I was lying there doing the best I could to get comfortable and rest. Even though it was not in the form of sleeping, I was hoping that would give me the rest I needed.
Sunday morning. The alarm goes off at 4:30 am. I guess the best part of not sleeping was that when 4:30 came it felt like it was the middle of the day so I didn't have that morning grogginess. We got down to the transition and got body marked, then made the mile or so walk to the swim start. They line you up in groups based on expected time of finish. We had about an hour and a half wait there in the light rain before I'd start moving to the water. During the wait, they made an announcement that due to strong currents, the first part of the swim upstream was getting cancelled. So when we jumped off the pier we'd just go straight downstream instead of the short upstream swim around this island before we went down the river. This shortened the swim down to about 1 mile, but was a huge relief after trying to swim upstream during that practice swim. As we were walking down to the river we heard the cannon go off for the pros. All the sudden that made it real, and you knew it was on.
SWIM
About 9:00 I finally jumped in the water. We were going in about 1-2 at a time off the pier. You were supposed to make your way out towards the middle of the river by the buoys, but it was a little difficult due to the currents. I was getting out there pretty good, but as I looked over to my left most people were not making their way off the shoreline too far. The kayakers were constantly telling people to move out into the river further, but either people couldn't, or just didn't want to realizing this would just be harder and be a longer route. Then as we got closer to the exit, now they were telling you to push over to the shore so you wouldn't get carried downstream and miss the exit. It felt like I was swimming straight to the shore so that with the current it would take me at a 45 degree angle to the exit. Once I got to the swim exit at Joe's Crab Shack I got out of the water and headed up where the volunteers were to help you get out of your wetsuit. There were 2 volunteers that each grabbed a sleeve and yanked my arms out. Then they told me to sit down and each grabbed the wetsuit and yanked it off my legs. Took about 300 seconds to get that thing off. It was great. During registration they give you a bracelet to wear and give to a volunteer that really helps you out during the race as a thanks. I had 2 since I brought the Chattanooga one as well. So I gave both of those volunteers a bracelet since I told them I can't imagine anyone helping me out as much as they did getting me out of that wetsuit quickly. Swim felt great. Partly because it was shortened, but even so I felt really good and there was no effects of the panic attack from the day before. Just a nice swim in the Ohio River.
SWIM DETAILS | Division Rank: 223
| Split Name | Distance | Split Time | Race Time | Pace | Division Rank | Gender Rank | Overall Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 2.4 mi | 00:17:51 | 00:17:51 | 00:27/100m | 223 | 1227 | 1703 |
You run over and grab your bike bag and head into the changing tent. It's a huge tent lined with chairs to strip off your swim stuff and put on your bike gear. After I found a chair, put my gear on as quickly as I could. This included the wool socks, rain jacket, and gloves I had just bought since it was in the low 50s with steady light rain. I hit the porta potty, grabbed my bike and off I went.
TRANSITION 2
Transition Details
| T1: Swim-to-bike | 00:14:41 |
BIKE
Heading out for a 112 mike bike the best thing I've found you can do is to just settle in and relax realizing you have a long ride ahead of you. The first 20 miles were relatively flat heading out of town. I started my nutrition plan of taking Base Salt every 5 miles, and a Clif Gel every 30 minutes. This along with having a water bottle to rinse down the Gel and a Gatorade bottle to rinse down the salt. Having to wear gloves made taking the salt a little more challenging since you lick the salt off your thumb. But in a way it helps give you a task that takes some time and gives you something to take your mind off riding. Once you get to about mile 20 we started 2 - 35 mile loops. This is where the rolling hills started. Nothing too big though, very manageable. We were riding through Kentucky horse country. There were a lot of really nice horse farms and most of the ranches and houses out in this area were very nice. There weren't a ton of spectators out there along the course. There were pockets here and there, but mostly it was riders and the road. As the day goes on, you tend to find yourself riding around the same people for stretches at a time. You'd pass them, then they'd pass you back. And since there is nothing else to do, you seem to get to know the riding traits of a lot of the people around you. There were 2 little towns that we rode through on the loops. In one of the towns they actually bused spectators from the starting line out to this town for viewing of the bike. Mandy took that bus so was in this town for my 2 loops through. The first time through I didn't see her. But on the second ride through as I was heading through town with my head on a swivel looking for her I heard someone yell "Freddy". I looked over and saw her that time. That was a fun little pick me up knowing that I had at least 1 person out there cheering specifically for me. Thankfully her yelling at me didn't cause me to crash. She said that happened to some people that when they were looking around for their family they caused some crashes. At about mile 62 was where the bike special needs bag was. They were laid out by race number in a parking lot right off the road. I pulled in and grabbed my back. I took my advil, ate my PB&J sandwich and fudge round, and hit the porta again. The blogs were right, the sandwich tasted great since I was getting pretty hungry by this point in spite of my every 30 min gels. And the fudge round hit the spot as a nice little treat. I put the Coke in my water bottle holder as I headed back out, but never drank it. I hadn't trained with Coke, and I was feeling really good with the water and Gatorade I was taking in, so figured I'd pass on experimenting with it. In all it was probably a 10 minute pit stop. During the bike there were times of light rain, but mostly it held off. Almost worse than the rain was that the road was pretty wet, so whenever you'd be behind someone there was a little stream of water coming off their back tire in a fountain that would be coming right at you if you got in that drafting position. Which drafting is illegal and they could penalize you for it, but you did find yourself in that position from time to time based on the amount of people out there. After the 2 loops, you had that 20 miles stretch back into town. For about the last 30-35 miles I got behind a bigger guy about my size that was going at a decent clip, and about the same cadence as me up and down the hills, etc. Without drafting, I kept right behind him the entire time. I doubt he knew I was tailing him for that long, but he was doing a great job of being my pacer. I was going to try and see if I could get his bib number to see how he finished, but could never get to where I could see it. As we were nearing transition I was taking inventory of how my body was feeling heading into the run. I like to think I did a good job of compartmentalizing the race. Only concentrating on the segment I was doing and not looking ahead. Even on the bike, in taking it a few miles at a time and not doing math on how many miles I had yet to ride. I tried that at about mile 7, and then realizing I still had 105 to go I figured I should hold off on any more calculations for at least a few hours. Anyway, with a few miles to go it felt like my legs were in great shape. I was thinking that it had to be deceiving me and that when I get off the bike they will turn to jelly, but over those last few bike miles I was really hoping that they were going to feel as strong as I thought they were.
BIKE DETAILS | Division Rank: 195
| Split Name | Distance | Split Time | Race Time | Pace | Division Rank | Gender Rank | Overall Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 112 mi | 07:04:42 | 07:37:14 | 15.82 mph | 195 | 1008 | 1272 |
I dismounted the bike, handed it off to a volunteer, and headed to my run back and into the changing tent. Same deal here, found a chair and got all the bike gear off and run gear on. Legs were a little tired but didn't feel like jelly so that was a good sign. Hit the porta again and as I'm heading out the chute to the run I stopped and talked to Mandy. Told her I was feeling great and looking forward to getting the run started. Knowing you have another 5-6 hours ahead of you is a little daunting, but there was so much action going on you didn't really think of it. So after a couple minute chat, it was off on the run.
Transition Details
| T2: Bike-to-run | 00:13:28 |
RUN
Off on the run through downtown Louisville. As the day has gone on the temp has gradually increased so it is maybe upper 50s by this time. Still overcast and a light mist if anything. It was almost perfect running conditions. I had thrown on my Garmin watch. I had never trained with it because I didn't think it worked. But it charged to 100% and turned on when I tested it out so I thought I might as well wear it for the race to give me an idea on my time if I was up against any cutoffs, etc. About a quarter mile in I checked it and it said I was at 8 min/mile pace. I thought this couldn't be right since I don't normally run that fast if I just start out fresh on a 5 mile run, much less after a 7 hour bike warm-up. But assuming it is correct, I figure I better slow it down some and get in a more realistic pace. At about a half mile I check again and it still says 8:20 mile pace so I think it can't be right. It didn't feel like I was running that pace either. Before I got to the first mile the thing shut off and didn't work the rest of the time. So I had no idea my time or pace the rest of the run. i was just running off of feel. My strategy on the run was to run the entire thing, but allow myself to walk through all the aid stations which were about every mile. This gave me short, attainable goals of running a mile and getting to the next aid station, and then walking through it and getting any nutrition if I needed it. The first 7-8 miles felt like they went by pretty quick. It was an out and back course that you had to do twice, so as you are running down the left hand side of a 4 lane road there were people running back at you on the other side of the road. So there was a lot going on around you which really helped pass the miles. It wasn't all that exciting of a course, but you did get to go past U. of Louisvilles campus and football stadium and Churchill Downs. So that was pretty neat. After your first out and back you get to the turn for lap 2. You're at about mile 13, so half way home. But the evil course designers set it up so that you are literally a half block from the grand finish line when you have to turn the corner and go back out. Go straight and you are 100 yards from the finish and all the pageantry that is set up (and you can see it right in front of you), or turn right and go back out. That was tough, but you also get a taste of the finish which motivates you for the 2nd lap. Just after that turn is the run special needs. I had the same things in this one. I was debating the sandwich since I wasn't really feeling it, but I knew I could use the calories. So I choked down about 3/4ths of it and about half the fudge round, and a few sips of the Coke. It was probably a bad decision because for the next 4-5 miles my stomach was fairly upset, somewhere between just being full and wanting to throw up. Really the only thing I was looking forward to in the bag was the Advil, but in trying to be quick I totally forgot about it til about a half mile down the road and there is obviously no going back to get it. That probably would have helped over that last couple hours. The last 5 miles or so were the toughest, as to be expected. They were the toughest part of the 2 marathons I have run, and didn't think this would be any different. I was really anticipating one of the biggest mental challenges to be running most of the marathon in the dark, since I didn't start til about 5pm and with it being overcast all day it got dark pretty fast. However with all the street lights and activity going on it really wasn't that big a deal. It was definitely harder doing the few training runs I did in the dark. Looking back that makes sense, since it was just me and the moon and a vacant country road in Holland vs. thousands of people in vibrant downtown Louisville. I guess it is always good to train in more adverse conditions than the event so that when you get to the race everything seems easier. My pace faded down the stretch as my legs were getting sore and the hammys were getting tight. As I rolled to the finish, the one thing I kept reading was that to make sure when you get to the chute that you are alone. You don't want someone sprinting up behind you to steal or share your thunder coming through the line. So as I was getting very close I kept looking behind me to make sure there were no heroes running up on me. I even heard someone yell at me that I was almost there and to quit looking behind me and enjoy the finish. At that point I knew I was alone and cruised down the finish chute. I was trying to take it all in, but also the red carpet they laid down was had some wrinkles in it and was also not flat as it was covering up something. It was already hard to get the feet too high off the ground, so I had to keep my eyes down to make sure that I didn't trip. After all that training and time thinking about what it was going to be like running through that finish, tripping was not going to be in the plans.
RUN DETAILS | Division Rank: 192
| Split Name | Distance | Split Time | Race Time | Pace | Division Rank | Gender Rank | Overall Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 26.2 mi | 05:25:36 | 13:16:18 | 12:25/mi | 192 | 968 | 1257 |
After finishing, a volunteer takes you to get you your medal, get you something to drink if you want, and they take your finisher pic. I really had always wanted to stay and watch people finish, but after being wet for 13 hours I really just wanted to get dry and warm. So we made the half mile walk back to the truck and headed back to the hotel. As soon as we got to the hotel, I took a warm shower, threw on some warm clothes and went right to bed. I would guess I was showered and in bed asleep within an hour after finishing. But after a full day of working out and running on zero sleep, it was time to hit the rack.
It was a great experience and better than I even imagined. Not to sound arrogant, but in a strange way it was easier than I expected. Based on what I went through in the Pigman Ironman 70.3, I fully expected this would push my body to the max where it would just break down and I'd have to deal with a lot of pain to finish. That was not the case at all. Due to the amount of training I did, along with the much improved nutrition plan I had (which means I actually had one this time), my body felt way better than it did on the half Ironman. It was a classic case of train smarter not harder. Ok I trained harder too, but definitely smarter was the key to success.
After that Pigman I told Mandy I had retired, and if I ever mentioned wanting to do something like that again to never let me sign up. Well I'm glad she didn't listen to me and let me sign up for this. It was probably the crowning achievement of my athletic life. I have had some people ask if I'm looking at what's next, or if that is a bucket list deal and now that it is checked off I'm done with this sort of thing. Honest answer is I don't know. I'm about 50/50 right now. I really loved working towards a goal, being in shape, and achieving something that not many people do. On the other hand, it was a large time and financial commitment, and my hip has taken a lot of wear and tear and not sure how much it can do. So I guess you'll have to stay tuned to find out.
SCOTT YODER, YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!
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