Site Title

It’s Monday evening. I’m at rest after a most incredible experience doing an Ironman 70.3 for the first time (but not the last)! I’ll try to write a little about my experience and some things I learned along the way.

 First off, training! I would be missing a crucial part of this experience if I didn’t say anything about the training. This month I have spent anywhere from 1 to 4 hours a day, 5 and sometimes 6 days a week training. This included swimming, biking, running, some weight training and physical labor during the day, building things for friends. Training is what gave my body the strength and endurance to be able to complete this race! Some nights I got home from work and went to the gym at 11:00pm until past midnight. Some nights I got home at 10:00 and went for a 2 hour bike ride or run. This is the unpopular work behind the scenes that nobody sees. These are the rides and runs that build endurance after a long day at work when your body is tired and all you want to do is go to bed like everyone else but you get back out there for a few extra hours. Some mornings I got up early to go swim an hour before work. A quote I saw at a gym once said, nobody cares, work harder! That’s what my life felt like during these trying early mornings and late nights. Was it worth it? 100%!! I’ll do it again!! 

 My second point is, GET A COACH or mentor! Someone who has done it before and knows the way to achieve what you’re trying to achieve! I highly doubt that I could have completed this race without my coaches! Last year I ran a half marathon in July somewhere in Pa. At that half marathon I got passed by someone in the last mile of the race. We spoke briefly as we ran together for a moment then she ran past me and finished a bit ahead of me. Afterwards we sat in the shade and waited to cheer for more runners as they crossed the finish line. As we sat near each other, we started talking about the race and other ambitions we had. I mentioned that I want to do an Ironman. She immediately encouraged me and said that she’s done several and actually coaches people to train for Ironman races. This is where my friendship with Vanessa Johnson started. How does God do that, bringing two people together who end up helping each other achieve wild goals in life? If I remember right, she wasn’t even registered for this race but one of her other clients had registered then injured himself so she took his spot. What?!? SO MANY perfect things and timings had to happen in order for the two of us to meet and start this journey the way it happened! Also, that was the last time I got passed in the last mile by a lady because I vowed to never let that happen again after that day. Just a guy thing, maybe a little bit of ego involved as well, haha! I’ve had others try but so far I’ve been able to outrun them for that last little section. 

 Vanessa has been my racing coach ever since and has been my greatest mentor, friend, coach, disciplinarian and encourager for every race since I hired her to coach me. She’s the one who makes my training plans each month based on where I am and what I want to achieve. She’s the one who believes in me when I don’t believe in myself and the one who talks me off the ledge when I get over confident and think I can do more than my body is ready for. When I did my first triathlon this spring, she instructed me how to approach it, how to fuel for each part and congratulated me the loudest when I finished. Last week when I was having doubts, she encouraged me to pray, leave it in God’s hands and trust that my training was enough to help me finish my race. A true coach at heart, she does this for every one of her clients. Personalized care and training that goes above and beyond, she delivers way more than she’s paid to do. 

 

 Next I need to mention my swim coaches! They have been absolutely fantastic! The whole team at Flyt Performance has been outstanding and helped make my day possible through swim coaching. Amy Javens, Stacy and Devin have all been so willing to help, advise, encourage and coach me through my swimming struggles. Amy always has a smile and an encouraging word for everyone. She always makes me feel like I matter, my goals matter and she pushes me to reach for more than I think I can do during our open water group swims which I appreciate so much because I often learn so much during these sessions! 

 Coach Stacy takes a genuine interest in the lives of his Monday night swim group. For this race, he advised me how to handle the swim portion then he texted me to encourage me throughout the weekend. It meant the world to me to have an experienced triathlete like him on my side, encouraging me and believing in me! He may never know how much his texts were appreciated. Afterwards he sent me congratulatory texts as well. World class! 

 Coach Devin! When I was having an issue with swimming, I reached out to Amy. She paired me with her daughter, Coach Devin who listened carefully to my concerns then watched me swim and began teaching me what the real problem was. My area of concern was actually a symptom of a different mistake I was making that I was totally unaware of and as soon as I corrected that mistake, my initial concern seemed to fix itself. She put me through drills until I was able to at least partially correct the issue. She then wrote 3 pages of notes about our session and emailed them to me to use for future reference and what drills to do to stay on track. Again, world class training. There were others who made a difference when I first began swimming at the Y in January. All together, I am filled with gratitude for all the advice, training, coaching and encouragement from all my coaches. 

 The day before race day! So much to do, so many new experiences, so much adrenaline and excitement! I drove the 2 hours to Sandusky, Ohio. I arrived in the forenoon, in time to sign in, pick up my race timer, wrist band, stickers for my bike, helmet and bags and my run bib. Once I had all the stuff I needed, I sat through the athlete briefing then went to get my bike ready. I attached all the proper stickers in their proper places and took it to the transition area, got all my gear in their proper bags and got it ready so I could simply grab them in the morning and place them with my bike. I then checked into my hotel about a half hr away and took a nap. Afterwards I decided to go for a walk to keep my nerves calm. This gave me time to talk to God about my race, ask for instructions and allow Him to keep my heart calm. His biggest instructions for the race were to command my mind to stay calm, do my breathing exercises to get as much oxygen in my bloodstream as I can before the swim, stay calm, don’t let excitement or adrenaline make me forget…STAY CALM! Yes, His main message was, stay calm! He also instructed me to start my swim slowly until my breathing was more steady then I could swim faster if I wanted to. It worked perfectly! 

 I went back to my room and went to bed around 8:00 – 8:30. I was able to sleep almost right away. 

 I set an alarm and woke up at 3:30 because I wanted to make sure I have time to read my Bible and spend some time praying and thanking God for His amazing love and grace. 

 I got to the race around 5:10 and bagan getting my bottles of hydration fluids ready, ate some Wheeties because that’s the breakfast of champions, right!? Once I had my bags by the bike I began making my way to the start line, got in line with the other slow swimmers, met some new friends that I chatted with for the next 45 minutes before it was my turn to jump into the water. 

 Apparently the water was a little rough in the beginning. I didn’t really notice but I also had an advantage because I swam in Lake Erie for several weeks prior to race day and a few times it was pretty rough when I swam so I was well prepared for the waves. I actually didn’t notice that it was rough until someone pointed it out later. My swim goal was first to finish before the one hour and ten minute cutoff time, second to complete it in an hour or less, ideally to finish in under 55 minutes. I nailed it! 54 minutes, 4 seconds! There are lots of faster swimmer, no doubt, but this was my fastest swim time ever so I was happy with it. 

 T1 went pretty smoothly. I took my wetsuit off as I ran to my bike, quickly dried my feet enough to slip on my socks and shoes, tried to dry my hair, grabbed my helmet, sweatband, sunglasses and bike and headed for the road. 

 The bike ride was great! I had to purposely slow myself down in order to not overextend myself on the bike. I felt very strong. My goal for the bike ride was between 16.5 to 17 mph. I finished at 17.67 mph. I paid for that later during my run. It’s interesting to me how that little bit too fast on the bike can make such a big difference for the run. For a normal half marathon race, I average around 9 minutes per mile. This one, after the faster than necessary bike ride, I averaged a 12:04 pace per mile. I believe if I had slowed myself down on the bike to around 16.5 mph, my run would have been much faster and it would have allowed me to finish at least 15 to 20 minutes faster overall. Lesson learned! Control yourself and STAY CALM!! 

 The run really sucked. Probably the hardest half marathon I’ve ever “run”. This was partly due to pushing too hard on the bike and partly due to a fueling and hydration issue. I’ll cover that later. 

 My legs were tired but I knew from experience that when running right after a long bike ride, you need to push through the heavy legs for a few minutes until the legs feel better. What I wasn’t expecting was the severe stomach cramps that made it feel almost impossible to run. During the swim, I felt a slight discomfort, cramping in my stomach. I didn’t pay too much attention to it. I prayed, commanded it to leave and kept going. It got a little worse on the bike but nothing intolerable until I started to run. The bouncing of my footsteps set my stomach off like a grenade. I tried to drink my hydration fluids and it only got worse. After a couple miles I grabbed some food from an aid station because the only actual food I had eaten was Wheeties for breakfast. That didn’t seem to help much so I grabbed an orange and some water at the next station. That seemed to help but I wasn’t ready to give up on my hydration fuel because until now I had stuck with my hydration plan pretty well and I wasn’t too tired yet. However, every time I drank my hydration fluids, my stomach cramped worse so I eventually dumped it out and started drinking water and eating fruits and pretzels from the aid stations. Soon afterwards my legs began cramping. I needed electrolytes! I decided to try the Mortal hydration electrolytes from the aid stations. It worked! Each time I drank some, I felt a slight cramp in my stomach but not like it was before and it helped my leg cramps. Now I had something to work with! I would alternate between water, pieces of oranges and Mortal hydration. This allowed me some relief from both stomach cramps and leg cramps. That’s how I finished the race! I walked, then ran, then walked the whole 13.1 mile run until the last 200 yards, then I ran down the red carpet and through the finished arch with my hands held high in honor of my King, Jesus!! If you’ve followed me for my races at all, you’ll notice that I almost always raise my hands in victory for every race as I cross the finish line. I do this intentionally. Hands raised creates a giant V for victory. My victory belongs to My Savior and King, Jesus Christ who gave His life to save mine! He is the reason I race. He is the reason I do hard things. His word, the Bible, talks about the reward of endurance. I was the joy (reward) that was set before Him, that’s why He endured the cross and took the penalty for my wrongdoing and mistakes. Make no mistake about it, every sin and wrongdoing deserves an equal punishment but God chose to send His Son Jesus to take the punishment for my sin so that I could go free and not have to pay the penalty for my own sin. He did it for me and He did it for you! All we need to do is accept the payment because we are not righteous or pure enough to acceptably pay for our own sin. It takes the blood of a sinless person to pay for our sin. He was the first and only human to ever live a sinless life, therefore He is the ONLY One whose blood is pure enough to pay for sins. That’s why He came, to offer a way for us to be cleansed so we can be in right standing with our Creator and true Father. We choose whether we accept the gift He freely offers to us or not. 

 This is why I race, to share the love and amazing news of His wonderful free gift with a world that only knows pain, suffering and trauma. Will you let Him love you completely today? Say yes to His offer of forgiveness and let Him cleanse you from every wrong you’ve ever done, every selfish motive you’ve ever had and every mistake that you’re ashamed of. He’ll take it all and give you peace, joy and a reason to live in return!!