Part I, Part II, Part III, and Part IV.
Into the run changing area I went and once again the volunteers were awesome! I was lucky to be helped by a fellow Landshark, Carlos. Before I could blink, I had Perform, Coke and water next to me. A fellow athlete also shared a gel with me (another great tri dude) so I immediately felt ready to go.
I changed into running gear from head to toe, including dry socks. This was a huge deal to me: comfort! I also had a hand held Nathan water bottle that I could fill up with ice water during the marathon. My plan was to run to the base of the 2nd St. bridge, walk up to the top and then get on a regular run/walk plan. I saw a couple friends as I started the run portion and got to see Jessica and Sarah twice at the bridge.
Even though I had my run/walk plan in mind, I ended up pairing up with a guy on the bridge who was keeping a similar pace and we went with a slightly different plan. We agreed to get to an aid station, run from it for a while, maybe 1/3 to 1/2 mile, walk to an aid station, repeat.
At the first 5-6 aid stations, I took water, Perform and whatever looked good that I could stomach at the moment: pretzels, cookies, fruit, gel, etc. I also began using cold sponges on my shoulders and neck to stay cool. This was amazingly helpful! At the first turnaround, they began offering warm chicken broth, which was the best thing I've ever tasted! It provided calories, sodium and felt good in the stomach at the same time.
I repeated this walk/run/nutrition pattern until I got to run special needs at about mile 13. In my bag, I had a Honey Stinger waffle and a Red Bull. I had a volunteer fill my water bottle with ice and enjoyed a nice cold drink! We approached the end of the first loop and it turns out you get within about 200 meters of the finish line. Seeing that, hearing people being crowned Ironmen and drinking that Red Bull had me absolutely flying high!
About this time, I found that my running partner was having trouble keeping up with me so I went ahead without him. I luckily ran into another iamtri member, Beth, and we ran for a couple miles. She began to suffer a bit so we decided to part ways and I moved ahead. I paired up with one other person for another 3-4 miles, then she moved on at about mile 23 and I was on my own but feeling great!
At mile 24 or so, I came upon the LAHPA aid station and one of my hockey pals hugged me and told me how proud he was. Since he's a little older than me, it was like having a parent there. I was stoked for the finish. The last friendly face I saw before the finish was Andy Murphy, President of the LBC. He was on his bike and next to me for a couple minutes and took a nice picture.
I ran the last 1-1.5 miles and quickly became a basket case as I neared the finish chute. Running down it was the most exciting thing I've ever done. Except for getting married and the birth of Sarah, it was also the most emotional thing I've ever experienced. As I got closer, I looked for Jessica and Sarah but it was so loud! So loud that I didn't even hear my name being called. Little did I know that the ladies were just beyond the finish line, screaming.
As I crossed the line, I saw my 2 running partners, Ken and John. John put the medal around my neck and both led me through the finish line process including a picture with my medal, a hat and a t-shirt.
The final totals:
Swim 1:40:49
T-1 15:01
Bike 7:32:24
T-2 15:41
Run 6:12:03
TOTAL 15:55:58
On the way through I also got to see Jessica and Sarah who were right at the line, for a couple kisses and hugs. We met up at the end of the finish area and we walked to Sully's where several of the Landsharks were hanging out. I got a beer but I really had no interest in it so drank only about half. Since Sarah had to be up early for school, we said our goodbyes and I headed back to the hotel.
Once in the room, I was shocked that I was freezing but also feeling great. I think I could have gone another 10 miles, which tells me next time (yeah I want to do another) that I can push harder on the bike and run. I took a nice long hot shower but was still freezing and still not hungry. Kevin arrived shortly after and at about 3 am, we were still wired but now starving so we ended up at White Castle, stuffing our faces!
Tried to sleep but Kevin was snoring like a chainsaw :) I slept off and on but finally gave in about 6:30 and heading for the expo to check out the finisher gear. The line was 100/200 deep at 6:40! I ended up with 2 t-shirts, some stickers, a track jacket, a heavier jacket, a key chain and a water bottle. Not cheap but well worth it.
Later that morning, we headed to the awards brunch, where we heard from the pros and got to see the race and volunteer videos. I made the race video on the bike ride. In the evening, I joined Ken at the volunteer banquet and he gave me a personalized Louisville Slugger bat. What a great guy!
The last piece of the puzzle was yesterday, the IMKY tat on my right calf. Yeah, trite, but I had to do it!
Last part coming tomorrow: photos, videos, thank and some general thoughts about the experience.
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