Sold Out! Can you believe it..........for the first time ever the Jay Benson sold out at 450 entrants! It was pretty easy to tell that was true if you looked in T1......there were bikes everywhere......laying on the ground when the racks were full.....racks set up outside of transition to accomodate extra riders.....it was madness.........but the good kind.
This was the Outlaws biggest showing of the year so far.
Race day dawned a bit chilly and damn windy. Gusts of 25 MPH littered the bike course and made for a challenging day for those (like me) looking to PR. The flat 3 mile run was easy.....you simply needed to seed yourself properly to avoid being closed in during the first 100 meters past the cheering throngs (not kidding..they were really there!). I picked a spot too far back and had to work my way up thru the men to some clear road. Once we made the first turn I picked up Muffin's draft and stayed with him as long as I could. Triathlon legend Barry Field came up on me at mile 1 and I was able to sight him for the balance of the run so I was fairly happy. Run time was 22 and change........right on target. The bike was interesting as we picked up a nice tailwind after the first turn and screamed down to the first out and back section. I passed Sinking Beauty after he dropped his chain at mile one and figured I'd lost him for good.....Miguelito hung on however....not letting me gap him by more than a half mile all the way home. After the first turn the wind vented a bit of fury and forced many into the small ring. Another tailwind and downhill aided section made us feel like Supermen until the 2nd turn. A huge sucker punch of combined gusty headwinds and hills made that 3 mile stretch of road seem like an eternity.............many lesser cyclists withered as I pushed the attack. I passed Muffin and took a left turn away from the headwind. Sitting up for a drink Muffin made his way back to me.....although I didn't know it was him and wasn't giving up the spot to some chump.....so he sat too long on my wheel and incurred the wrath of head referee Matt Perini....sorry Muff! I hopped off at T2 and jogged to the pool to finish my day. Muff and I wrestled for the first 50 meters before he dropped back to gain his composure...........he quickly glided by 50 meters later. Meanwhile Sinking Beauty came on me with 150 to go....with no better plan in sight I just grabbed his leg and tried to drag him down....he must have greased up pretty good because I couldn't hold him for long. He passed Muffin in the last 100 and Barry Field in the final 50 to score a 2nd in the 55-59's. Muff beat me to the tape but I believe by virtue of his penalty I nicked him. Bones had a great race coming out of retirement and Trech, Roger and John also scored age group medals. Guido and Paul looked sleek in their Outlaw kits (even with Guido's "good guy" white helmet) and we got some team photos after.
Great race with some interesting conditions.............I told Trech's Naomi that she looked like Buck Rogers in her shiny Orca race kit...........she told me I looked like Buck Naked in mine..............hmmm..........I'm taking that as a compliment....
See you next year! Wiz
Well here is my race report. I was a little slow compared to what I normally do, but I haven’t raced since the 4th of July last year. Oh well.
Today I did the Benbrook Sprint triathlon. Benbrook is a smallish country suburb just outside of Ft. Worth. The race is put on by Ironhead Race productions (the guy that would not give us our refunds last year for the half IM we all had to back out of). Bigtime race promoter he in Texas. He puts on around 20 or so different races a year.
This race was a 300yd seeded pool swim, 13.8 mile bike and 3.1 mile run. I still can’t figure out why it is a pool swim because the venue actually hasa beautiful lake to swim in also. Maybe next year.
I got to the race site around 6:15 just when they were closing off the parking area. It was pretty chilly (around 41 degrees). I set-up my transition area, changed and walked over to the pool. Damn it was cold. Found my seeding place. I was the 163rd starter out of 426 or so. The pool was very crowded because this race had a ton of first timers who did not seed themselves properly. No big deal though they were out there having fun so I didn’t care too much I thought, till I got kicked in the face by some idiot trying to pass everybody. Oh well. Got out of the water and froze to T1. Got on the bike and froze for around 7 miles or so before I finally felt my fingers.
The bike was along a very winding and many many up and down rollers (I thought Texas was flat). One section had a very steep 15% climb of about 100 yds or so. Nice thing was the road was completely closed to all traffic. About half the people walked it. I couldn’t figure that out either. Made the turn around and flew back. It was still cold but not quite as much.
T2 was a little slow because I was still cold. I got out on the run and everything came rushing back about how it feels to run off the bike. God that hurt. I had not done a brick since August. The run really warmed up. It was also not very flat. It wound around through a flood plain areas surrounding the lake. Up and down but on a nice closed off portion of road. The last mile of the run was generally uphill though not steep. By the time you reached the top though you knew it was tough.
Overall, there were 425 people signed up, 380 or so finished. I finished 107th and 21st in my age group. I guess my age group was pretty stcaked. That was my worst finish ever in a sprint race. Man that was disappointing.
One thing though, I got many, many compliments on the new race kit. A few people even asked how to join the club because they thought it was cool. Weird because it says New Mexio right on the front. Texans for you I guess. Generally though it was a very well run event and most everybody was very cool.
Hopefully I’ll have pictures soon.
Later No Show
I've never broken 50 minutes in a 10k before. Never. So at today's Run for the Zoo I set it as my only goal. Having been tortured on the Sunday morning run by Bones and Miguel for the past couple months I was feeling good about my chances............even after pulling Sleeping Beauty on the entire 50 miler on Saturday.
I seeded myself with Bones and Miguel at the start.........not wanting to pick my way thru lots of other runners. The 10K course was slightly changed from last year but similar in that it was flat and well marked. Mile 1 was fine at 7:30 but somewhat slower than I planned.....I'm not a strong finisher so I usually try to spend it early and hang on. Once near Tingley Beach I started to get distracted by the leaders coming back the other way.....suddenly a cone dividing the lanes jumped out and caught my right foot. I went flying Superman style thru the air (probably because I was running so fast) and landed on my hands and belly....sliding down the street on my race number. There was a series of OOOOHHs and AAAHHHHs from behind me as I jumped up and kept running without missing a beat. My LG race kit was a little worse for the wear but I figured I'd have to break it in sometime. By mile 5 I was barely hanging on to a 50 minute race....hitting the 5 mile mark in a few ticks over 40 minutes. I put my resolve in my jersey pocket and pushed to my puny anaerobic limit. Down the final stretch we came...I dared not look at my watch until I had the clock in sight. Within view of the finish line I glanced down....48:30...and I was fading....I pushed almost to the point of puking.....but grabbed a draft from a passerby and glided thru the tape in 49:50 (wire to wire) for my first ever "sub 50". The Outlaws had 5 desperados make the show with either Bones or Paul crossing first (waiting on results), Miguel 3rd, me 4th and John 5th.
I got lots of "Go Outlaws!" comments and ......."Stick with it Outlaws!" all the way around the course. Next time lets ALL wear our kits to pay homage to the new face of tri in the SW.
The New Mexico Outlaws...............
By the way...........I finished off the day by running the 5K with my 7 year old daughter then running the 6.5 miles home from the Biopark............in case you were wondering...............yes....that sucked!
Wiz
The course:
Swim: The swim was a one loop swim in Tempe Town lake which is really a very slow moving river. The lake was kind of muddy but otherwise I thought it was pretty clean. As far as lakes go I've swam in a lot worse and overall I thought the swim course was pretty good. The course is a deep water start that takes you under a couple of bridges which is kind of cool and for someone like me who can't see sh*t without my glasses the bridges gave me something very large to aim for. Most people can expect to take a little extra time for the swim because the return route of the loop is against the very slow moving current. My swim time was 1:19. This was the 7th Ironman for me and that time was slower than all but one of my previous Ironman races, however I thought I actually had a better swim than most of my previous races so I attribute that to swimming against a slow current.
Bike: The bike course was relatively flat, however it was pretty windy on race day with sustained winds of 20+ mph which was obviously very annoying. I did not like the bike course at all and if this race ever happens in Tempe again they really need to change it. It was three loops of about 35 miles each and one loop which was about 7 miles. Calling these loops is a bit misleading however because the course had so many tight turns, u-turns, and and short out and backs that it made it hard to get into a steady rythym. Understanding the course ahead of time by looking at the course map was an exercise in futility for me. I don't consider myself an idiot but I couldn't figure out the bike course ahead of time after having looked at the map for about an hour. Once out on the course however it became clearer, however it still led to confusion for many people. I read in the Phoenix paper this morning that two of the pro women had taken the wrong turn at the end of the bike course and initially skipped the last 7 mile loop. They apparently went out a mile on the run and then were told to go back to the transition area and get on their bikes and do the 7 mile loop. For a professional going for the $$ you can imagine what was going on in their heads the rest of the day. My bike leg was 6:29, which was a lot slower than my previous races, however that time included an 18 minute change for a flat tire. I have Zipp 404 wheels and changing flats on those is a major workout. While fixing my flat I realized there was one thing I forgot to bring with me. The Zipp 404's have the deep seat rims which require valve extenders. What I forgot was something long and skinny that can be put in the valve extender to fully deflate the tire so that the tire can actually be taken off the rim. After scrounging around on the side of the road for awhile I found a long skinny twig that did the trick. My flat happened about the 25 mile mark and the long delay really demoralized me. It probably took me about another 30 miles before I could get into the race again and it did cross my mind that maybe I should call it a day. I also apparently received a 4 minute penalty somewhere on the bike course but I have no idea where that came from.
Run: The run course was a 2 loop course around Tempe with lots of u-turns, and a mixture of pavement and dirt trails. I thought the run course was pretty good and spectator friendly so if you bring family and friends they'll have plenty of opportunities to see you. My run time was about 5:17 (I think) which was by far the worst run I've had for an Ironman. My run went pretty well up until about mile 3, but unfortunately there were still 23 miles to go. After about mile 7 I realized that this was not going to be my day and switched to different variations of walk/run the rest of the way. My final time was 13:20 which was almost an hour slower than any of my other races, however it still felt pretty good to have gone the distance.
Race Venue
My other IM races have been Canada (5x) and IM USA. As far as venues go both of those locations are hands down way above Tempe. I've always felt that IM races should be held in smaller towns like Penticton, Lake Placid, Coerr d'Alene, or Panama City. In Penticton the whole town as well as sourrounding towns come out to support the race and there is really just a different feeling to the race which makes it special. Everyone within a 100 miles knows about the race and what it takes. In Tempe I got the impression that most of the people didn't even know a race was going on or what an Ironman was. A lot of people did come out on race day however and provided good support so I don't want to sound too negative. I'm sure some of this has to do with this being a first time race and I'm sure if it's held again at the same place it will get better each time. Another negative about the race location was a lack of hotels close to the race site. I ended up staying about 5-10 miles away. At Penticton and Lake Placid the hotels were almost all within walking distance so it was nice to not have to worry about parking and to be able to walk back and forth between the race site and your hotel.
Race Time of year
This is probably a personal preference and dependent on where you live, however living in Albuquerque I had a hard time getting in enough training for an April 9 IM. I also think one of my pitfalls was a lack of racing leading up to IM AZ. My last race before IM was the Polar Bear triathlon which was about 4 months ago. When I've done IM Canada I've led up to that with several months of smaller races. I think the speed work from all those smaller races really helped me particularly in the run. If I do IM AZ again (wherever it might be held) I'll make sure I get in several races leading up to that point even if they are run only. The lack of racing and not enough training leading up to IM AZ made yesterday the hardest day of my life. There are not too many muscles in my body that are not sore today. Tomorrow sounds like a good hot tub day for me.
Paul
Don’t expect anything new here. I mean………thousands of other Ironmen and women have come before me. Many have written about their experience……….and these words will echo many of theirs.
So if I have nothing new to offer, you might ask………why bother writing at all?
Good question….
I write because I want to capture the real memory and emotion of the day before time softens the edges………I write because a year from now the race will no longer be real…….it will only be fanciful collection of experiences, anecdotes and laughs that no longer represent what really took place.
And I write because I can.
So what of the 2004 Ironman Florida?
Well……….let me say this………
It’s just a triathlon. I had that revelation about 80 miles into the bike when Apollo Creed stared me down at a water stop chanting “I want you!! I want the Stallion!” from the middle of the road. Prior to seeing the champ I saw the sights that I’d seen during the 50+ triathlons I’ve done over the past 5 seasons…..peoples houses and driveways…..dead animals in the road ……..trees, rocks, birds…..nothing new here. There were hundreds of people that couldn’t give a damn that 2200 of us were looking to become what has become the new definition of endurance……..an Ironman.
I don’t say it was just a race to disrespect the many that have come before or the many to follow……or myself for that matter.
I say it because since signing up for the event I’d built it up in my mind to be so much more than a triathlon. It was my Super Bowl, my Indy 500, it was my Inaguration speech and so much more. I’d made this event so big, so important, that in retrospect it could never have lived up to my self generated hype.
It was only a triathlon……
We had a crew at the race. Although some of the group failed to register on time, others had life get in the way of making the show, and others simply didn’t want to do it……we had a group……….an Ironfamily in Panama City Beach.
Debi Wess……….the Iron Maiden. I dubbed Debi that at the start of our long training days in September. I knew then that Debi would finish………even if I couldn’t. She has the kind of resolve that you can see …………and it makes you know that she will succeed….no matter the odds.
Ricky V………..deployed to Wisconsin from Albuquerque in January of 04 as a member of the Army Reserves……….we’d kept in touch via email and Rick had kept his training promise of being ready. Shortly after signing up for the event and before deployment, Ricky and I used to meet for 5:30 AM runs in the dead of Albuquerque’s winter…..I’ve never had so much fun…….until I got my wisdom teeth pulled this summer.
Rick’s buddies Mike L and Cisco A………..two guys I’d never met before……….both racing for different reasons…..and we all immediately became part of the Ironfamily.
And our Ironmate……Amy…..Rick’s wife. Amy became the mom of the whole group for the week………keeping us motivated……..taking pictures…….keeping everyone in line. She spent the longest day of anyone on race day………up first……..last to bed…….what a Godsend.
So our troop was ready for action but Mother Nature had other ideas………..a stubborn cold front refused to blow thru in the days preceding the race………..causing the normally calm Gulf of Mexico to churn like washwater with 8 foot swells. On Thursday before the race we decided to brave it and dove into the chop. Calling what we did swimming would give swimming a bad name………..we merely survived……….more than can be said for a Swedish triathlete who drowned in the surf the previous Monday while training on a “no swim” day.
Ricky and I made it past the breakers into the 8 foot seas………we couldn’t even see the buildings that line the beach at the bottom of each swell. Turning back we made it to shore……..then went out and did it again.
For the first time in a long time…….I was nervous about doing a race.
Debi and I made signs for each other at the Janus booth………to encourage us when no one else might. After making one for the Maiden I grabbed another sheet of poster board and made one for myself…….I named it “Daddy’s Team” and had the names of my children on it Mia, Samuel and Anthony. Anthony has been gone from us for over 8 years now…..time does go on……and next to his name I inscribed my motto for the race…”Run for the Son”…..I wanted all the kids to know what a small amount of talent and a large amount of stubbornness could achieve.
By Friday I’d almost talked myself into an early DNF even as the seas calmed. Race day was predicted to be perfect but my mind wandered all over the place……..alternating with me sitting dejectedly on the beach……..or laying face down in the foamy froth.
By Saturday morning Mama had given us a supreme gift…….what may have been the greatest day of weather ever to grace a major multisport event. The Gulf was bathtub flat……..nary a sign of a wave in sight.
Cisco and I went up the beach to the back of the pack while Fatboy Slim thumped on the loudspeakers……..Cisco immediately started to get pumped up……we gave each other one of those one arm “guy hugs” and he proclaimed himself ready…….and moved toward the water.
There is a strange feeling you get when standing in the midst of thousands of other athletes but being totally alone and exposed. No one gets you to the finish line but yourself. No one steps you into the water but yourself. No one commits you to the pain but yourself. So by yourself……..you march into the sea……
As we got the countdown I did something unplanned. If you remember the movie The Ten Commandments, Moses was ordered by God to bow before him……..that no man was worthy to look upon him. I decided in my own way to humble myself before God and 2200 other triathletes……….
I waded into the water and stopped.
I waited until everyone had begun to swim………………seeding myself dead last (and I have the pictures to prove it) in the hope that if I somehow wound up dead last later in the day…….this experience would give me the will to continue on.
I didn’t stay last for long……….but I was still nervous……….then I hit 750 meters and my day was over.
Over.
Not over in the sense that I couldn’t go on………….but over in the sense that I knew……..I knew without question that I was going to finish the race………after all………it was simply another triathlon.
There are highlights and lowlights of every race……..you all know that. One of my highlights was going into the changing tent after the swim and finding out the common curtain between the men’s and women’s areas was pretty much see thru. Even in the toughest of times…….our genetic programming breaks thru.
An early lowlight was being passed by 200 people early in the bike………….a constant train of men and women……..young and old…….big, fat asses that should never have passed me………but they put the screws to MG early in the day. I had a plan though. Ride the first 30 miles easy………easier than any training ride……..then turn it on.
It worked……….slowly at first………but I began passing people……first in dribs and drabs…..then much faster. By mile 50 I stopped to pick up my special needs bag, downed a Sobe Adrenaline, and hit the only tailwind we had all day……….and put the hammer down. Onward we all cruised as the 5 mile markers ticked by. I’d not seen the Maiden since being on the beach before the start…………there were only two reasons why………she got pummeled in the swim and was well behind……..or she had a great day in the water and was looking to deliver a knockout blow on the bike.
On the only out and back section on the bike I saw her ………..about 2 miles ahead by my reckoning. It was good to see a familiar face as we exchanged greetings……and I looked forward to catching her to see how her day was going. By mile 80 I still hadn’t caught up so after being admonished by Mr. Creed, I decided that another “liquid tailwind” via the Sobe Corporation was in order……….I stopped, popped, and downed the go-go juice for a final push to Ms. Wess.
I did catch her at about mile 90……….rode up alongside and we talked for a few minutes………we were both in good spirits……….we had had a good enough bike to guarantee a legal finish even if we had to crawl over broken glass for 26.2 miles on tail end. I bid her farewell knowing she’d catch me on the run and made my way back to T2.
A quick change of clothes (if you can call 10 minutes quick) and I entered the final leg of my journey. Lap 1 (of two 13.1 mile laps) was as I expected………I ran between the aid stations……..walked as I downed what I could get down….and waited for the worst. By mile 12 I knew I wasn’t going to run the whole way. My stomach……….famous not only for its girth but also for its ability to shut down at precisely the wrong time, started to revolt. Liquid sloshed around in it like the Gulf of a few days before. As I entered the halfway point and picked up my special needs bag I made a fateful decision……it looked like a 13 mile walk was in my immediate future……so I ditched my watch. I didn’t want to see the numbers anymore………trying to calculate how long it might take to get home.
I walked off on the final lap……….stopping to hi five the Maiden’s support crew of husband and daughter a mile away and formulated a plan.
See…….the race is long……and what happens now might not be the same thing that happens later. So I convinced myself that less liquid and more salt might open up the floodgates and let me start drinking again. So I walked……..and at every station I drank increasingly large amounts of chicken broth……and I walked…..
I met Beth from Long Island……with an accent as thick as the pizza we’d eat after the race………and after mile 4 on lap 2………the Maiden came jogging up behind. She fell in formation as we trudged thru the nite……I let her in on my plan…..one more station….one more cup of soup…..then I’d try to run……now I had a plan and an ally.
After mile 5 we began to run…….I was amazed that I could do it………Debi and I ran thru the pines and thru the nite…….quickly catching up to Ricky V……..now walking himself on tired and sore legs….we talked for a minute………and then ran again….
It was cold……….cold enough to see your breath…….but I was feeling good and talking to Debi for a couple of minutes before I realized she wasn’t listening……..in fact……she wasn’t there. As we approached the turnaround I urged her to come on……..I’d wait……no she said…….go on……I’ll see you at the finish.
And into the nite I ran…..all alone.
You know how sometimes you get just what you need at just the time you need it? Such was my final run thru “sign alley” where the good folks at Janus had placed all the signs we’d made………..hundreds of them………almost indistinguishable from each other….the first time thru I tried in vain to find “Daddy’s Team”……….and figured I would never see it again. As I ran thru the alley again…………for some reason…..my eyes were drawn left in a split second……..and there it was. One more step and I’d never have seen it…….I’d even given up on looking for it………amazing things happen in the Ironman nite. I walked over and kissed each of the kids names…..I felt the familiar sting in my eyes when I got to Anthony’s name……..nope…….nope not this time I said…..I said a quick prayer, wiped my eyes and got back to the running……..I’m quite sure that’s the way the little guy would have wanted it.
I hooked up with MB from southern NJ a few miles later…..a mother of 3 in her first IM. We cruised on, matching each others pace…..sometimes talking…….sometimes lost in our own thoughts……..ticking off the miles to the chute. I found out during this time that MB was something of an IM celebrity as her husband had surprised her by placing hundreds of “Go MB Go” signs all over the bike and run course………all with various pictures of her and her family…………
In the final mile we prettied ourselves up (she more than me) by ditching our glow sticks, adjusting jerseys and me fixing my hair. Still we ran toward the light….making one final stop for a gulp of Coke to fuel the finish.
The final turn of the run puts you on Thomas Drive…….and although you’re a quarter mile away from the line………..it feels like you’re there……..
The people are out……cheering, drinking, screaming……
This is your time………
As we made that turn I saw a man hobbling his way to the finish…….on one foot so crippled it might as well have been broken…..clutching one of the signs that lined the farthest sections of the run course. He moved left…..another runner moved right…….and MB and I went right up the middle.
I later realized that man was Mike L………Rick’s buddy. Mike had recently lost his wife to breast cancer…only 30 days before…yet he decided to go ahead with the race…and carried the sign he’d found out on the course that Supermom Amy had made for him……..with his wife’s picture on it. He carried that sign for 5 miles……bearing the unfathomable burden of his loss……..and drawing on the strength of his love for her. That nite he became an Ironman…….with a lot of help and loads of love from on high.
MB and I moved in for the final meters……
I told her…….”You’ve earned it……..go on ahead and make yourself an Ironman!”
I hung back a few paces as she entered the chute…….and then lost track of reality.
I don’t remember the last 50 yards………and as I write this I’ve no idea what I did at the finish line……only that when I got thru……..a man stared directly into my eyes and asked if I was ok?
Yes….I told him……..I’m doing great…….
And so it came to pass…….in the fortieth year and 11th month of this old man’s life……..he became an Ironman.
In the end I guess the race wasn’t so much about me finishing. Yes it was great to become an official Ironman………..but the satisfaction wasn’t truly about me.
Soon the Maiden and Ricky V came across the line……then Cisco finished out our group………it was much bigger than me going the 141 miles.
The race is just a race……….a long one…….but just a race……
But the Ironman experience…..the Ironman “branding” is something different…….it’s a family…….it’s a 13 mile long chain thru the nite of human suffering, of heartache and loss, of divine intervention and inspiration.
It’s the collective will of thousands of people who won’t be denied the chance to label themselves Ironman……even as they refuse to be labeled anything else in their lives.
Its blood, sweat, tears, puke, piss, coke, gu, and every other bodily fluid and secretion mixing their way along the road in an attempt to cobble together a meal that fuels the body and spares the soul.
It’s the memory of those who we loved and lost……….the hope for those that have yet to come down this path……..and the unwritten rule that you don’t shortchange your new Ironman family……..you go the distance…..you follow the rules…..you don’t cut corners….you suffer….you overcome…..you triumph….YOU WIN!!
In the end the Ironman experience was not what I expected………its just another triathlon……..it just swimming, biking and running……..nothing more…..it takes longer….but it differs little from your local races.
But in the end the accomplishment is bigger than the sum of the parts……it makes you someone you weren’t before……and gives you the capital to invest in the next best version of yourself……and lets you know that the human spirit is self directed….its at your command……….and on this one day……this one messy, hurtful, disgusting…perfect day……you are who you were born to be.
You Are An Ironman……………………