I really intended to do a better job of keeping up with this blog this year, but I guess when you have 2 children 2 or under, a new job of sorts in that I'm our schools athletic director now, coaching 2 varsity sports, and trying to be a good husband it doesn't leave a whole lot of time when the free time I do have is mostly spent training. I don't mean to use any of those things as excuses for anything because those are all things I have chosen in my life and am very blessed to love what I do and to have an awesome family to share it with. I wouldn't have it any other way.
There is no sense in retracing the season before Lake Placid really. I did a few other events with highlights being a new PR for the half marathon distance going 1:17 and a very good showing at the Mark Mellon Triathlon coming 2nd to training partner/friend Ben McMurray from Petoskey (1st in our age group and 14th overall at Placid) who is arguably the best triathlete in the state and recording my highest power output for the 40k distance in a tri and also my fastest 10k off the bike (on a legit course as I've run faster on short courses).
Everything leading up to Lake Placid couldn't have gone much better. The unknown of course was the distance and having no experience being out there pushing the limit for 10 hours. It's impossible to do anything near the distance of an Ironman in training so you're trying to prepare yourself by doing some long sessions and then supporting them with lots of other work...mostly faster. I suppose if you had 20+ hours to train for most of the year like some you could get away with not doing as much intensity, but for me that's not possible. I knew I could come very close to 10 hours and the perfect day goal was 9:45. Almost every year the race has been held if you went 10 hours or very close to it you earned a slot for Ironman Hawaii. It just happened to be that this year my age group crushed it and 10:06 only got me 5th place in the age group (top 3 earned Kona slots). Last year 10:15 went to Kona.
Considering this was my first Ironman I can't be anything but happy. I will try another one at some point and now that I have some experience I know I can improve. I think I'd change just a few small pieces of my training, but really it boils down to confidence/mental strength on the run. I am sure I could have run quicker and this is obvious by how I ran the last 6 miles...my fastest 6 of the day and a lot of that was on the toughest part of the course. I admit I was scared of blowing up and having to walk...a reason I also held back on the bike quite a bit. I know the last thing I wanted to do was go too hard too soon and end up walking and going 10:30+. Once you start walking, which is an urge quite frequently in an Ironman run, the time just piles on. You're not speed walking...it's more like a 20 min. per mile type walk and it can end up being a very long day.
One thing I will say is that if you want to know how deep you can dig and how much guts you have...do an Ironman and you'll find out very quickly. So many doubts creep in all day long and you just have to keep answering the call to keep on rolling and not stop. You have to do the training, but assuming that you did...on race day it is much more of mental task than physical. I have played almost every sport imagineable and there is no possible single day event that is harder than Ironman.
I can't thank my family, friends, and sponsors enough for all of their support. It would be impossible to compete at any sort of high level without so much help from all kinds of people. Rachel deserves the most credit as she has to deal with our crazy lifestyle every day, but she just smiles and makes the best of it all. I don't know where I'd be without her.
We had a lot of fun on our trip and most of that can be seen through some pictures on facebook if you're interested.
Not sure what's next in store for me. I will likely do one more training cycle to prep for the Boyne City Tri on Labor Day weekend and then it will be deciding which route to go from there. I will definitely do another Ironman at some point. If Wisconsin registration makes it online I may go for it. If that doesn't pan out I will likely focus on getting faster for the sprint and olympic distances with maybe throwing a half ironman in there at some point each year. The frustarting thing about Ironman is the races sell out so quickly and most of them you have to go to the site in order to ensure yourself an entry. Some make it online the next day, but it's rare. I just can't justify traveling so far just to sign up...craziness!
All I know is I'm as motivated as ever to keep pushing the envelope with this sport and kicking butt. I have lots more to achieve before I move on to something else.
Thanks for reading.
