I have had a lot of people ask me about my final update so I am sorry for the delay. Here is my final entry in my blog to summarize my race in the Ford Ironman World Championship.
I initially wrote a very detailed overview of the race, which has ballooned to 25+ pages already (and counting), and I am just starting to wrap it up. I felt that was way too long for anyone to read in a blog. So, I am going to try to condense it quite a bit and add pictures (see flickr photos to the right) on this web site that you can view from the race.
The details on the longer version capture every thought, challenge, feeling, technical aspect of the course, and obstacle that I incurred in the race. I am planning to publish a book on it within 3 months, from what I understand from the people who are going to publish this for me. You will be able to find it at online bookstores such as Amazon.com and I will post this on my blog when it will be available. A large portion of the proceeds will go to my charity Special Operations Warrior Foundation (SOWF) to support wounded soldiers. This is the same charity that I was racing for in the Ironman Championships. There are so many details that I want to share which really enriches the whole story, and some are pretty unbelievable. I encourage all of you to grab this when it comes out and support the SOWF and to get a real feel for what it was like for an ordinary triathlete, me, to race in the World Championships.
The race itself was an event beyond my wildest expectations and it can only be told in a much longer version of this blog. It created memories that I will have forever and will always rank right up there as one of the biggest accomplishments in my life. So I will break this down into segments, as condensed as possible, to better explain what happened in each facet of the race.
Pre Race:
I was out of bed at 4am on race morning and I had only gotten 4 hours of sleep. There was no way to sleep when you have been working towards a goal for 6 months (in reality for 25 years) and then it was beginning to come true. Jill and the kids were all still on East Coast time (6 hours behind East Coast time) since they arrived in Kona late in the week so they were already up as well and I grabbed some oatmeal and peanut butter and we all were off to the transition area so I could setup the remaining gear I had such as my water bottle and nutrition.
Transition was heavily secured but with my wrist strap, I was able to break through the mob of people and get in easily. There were TV cameras all over the place from NBC along with the commentators interviewing people; it was a very busy pace for so early in the morning.
I breezed right through quickly had everything set up so all I had to do was wait for another hour. Have I mentioned before that I hate waiting. So there I sat with Jill and the boys just taking it all in.
By 6:30 things were starting to get even more lively. As it became light outside the helicopters that were to cover the race for the live feed and for NBC all started buzzing overhead filming everything that was going on. There was also a Hawaiian band playing various Hawaiian music to help entertain everyone prior to the race.
So the race announcer called or the professionals to get in the water, and for the rest of us to get in the staging area and get ready to enter the water. The pros all swam out to the starting line, which was in about 20 feet of water and 150 feet from shore, and soon the cannon fired and the race for the professionals was on.
The Swim
We all follow right after them to the starting line. I hung back because I knew these were the fastest triathlon swimmers in the world and it’s not fun getting run over in the water. Five minutes to go and the Hawaiian band suddenly started beating an ominous drum beat and helicopters were flying and people were screaming from the shore. It was crazy!!! Then it really got crazy as the cannon went off!
The start line turned into a washing machine as everyone was trying to swim and find water with no swimmers. Eventually everyone eventually found their own space to swim in and for the next 2.4 miles it was elbowing, kicking, punching and swimming over one another. Just another day racing a triathlon.
The swim went very well although it was very slow just because there was always several people in front of me that continued to slow me down, to the point where I had to stop lift my head up and try to find clear water to swim in several times. So my time was 1 hour 30 minutes, where it should have been 1 hour 10-15 minutes easily. No big deal though, the cut off time was 2 hours and 20 minutes.
The 1st transition (T1)
The first transition was quick. Run through the shower station to rinse off the salt water, grab my transition bag with my cycling clothes in it, then hit the changing tent. I went through the transition in about 7 minutes altogether, and then I was on my bike.
The Bike
I initially wrote a very detailed overview of the race, which has ballooned to 25+ pages already (and counting), and I am just starting to wrap it up. I felt that was way too long for anyone to read in a blog. So, I am going to try to condense it quite a bit and add pictures (see flickr photos to the right) on this web site that you can view from the race.
The details on the longer version capture every thought, challenge, feeling, technical aspect of the course, and obstacle that I incurred in the race. I am planning to publish a book on it within 3 months, from what I understand from the people who are going to publish this for me. You will be able to find it at online bookstores such as Amazon.com and I will post this on my blog when it will be available. A large portion of the proceeds will go to my charity Special Operations Warrior Foundation (SOWF) to support wounded soldiers. This is the same charity that I was racing for in the Ironman Championships. There are so many details that I want to share which really enriches the whole story, and some are pretty unbelievable. I encourage all of you to grab this when it comes out and support the SOWF and to get a real feel for what it was like for an ordinary triathlete, me, to race in the World Championships.
The race itself was an event beyond my wildest expectations and it can only be told in a much longer version of this blog. It created memories that I will have forever and will always rank right up there as one of the biggest accomplishments in my life. So I will break this down into segments, as condensed as possible, to better explain what happened in each facet of the race.
Pre Race:
I was out of bed at 4am on race morning and I had only gotten 4 hours of sleep. There was no way to sleep when you have been working towards a goal for 6 months (in reality for 25 years) and then it was beginning to come true. Jill and the kids were all still on East Coast time (6 hours behind East Coast time) since they arrived in Kona late in the week so they were already up as well and I grabbed some oatmeal and peanut butter and we all were off to the transition area so I could setup the remaining gear I had such as my water bottle and nutrition.
Transition was heavily secured but with my wrist strap, I was able to break through the mob of people and get in easily. There were TV cameras all over the place from NBC along with the commentators interviewing people; it was a very busy pace for so early in the morning.
I breezed right through quickly had everything set up so all I had to do was wait for another hour. Have I mentioned before that I hate waiting. So there I sat with Jill and the boys just taking it all in.
By 6:30 things were starting to get even more lively. As it became light outside the helicopters that were to cover the race for the live feed and for NBC all started buzzing overhead filming everything that was going on. There was also a Hawaiian band playing various Hawaiian music to help entertain everyone prior to the race.
So the race announcer called or the professionals to get in the water, and for the rest of us to get in the staging area and get ready to enter the water. The pros all swam out to the starting line, which was in about 20 feet of water and 150 feet from shore, and soon the cannon fired and the race for the professionals was on.
The Swim
We all follow right after them to the starting line. I hung back because I knew these were the fastest triathlon swimmers in the world and it’s not fun getting run over in the water. Five minutes to go and the Hawaiian band suddenly started beating an ominous drum beat and helicopters were flying and people were screaming from the shore. It was crazy!!! Then it really got crazy as the cannon went off!
The start line turned into a washing machine as everyone was trying to swim and find water with no swimmers. Eventually everyone eventually found their own space to swim in and for the next 2.4 miles it was elbowing, kicking, punching and swimming over one another. Just another day racing a triathlon.
The swim went very well although it was very slow just because there was always several people in front of me that continued to slow me down, to the point where I had to stop lift my head up and try to find clear water to swim in several times. So my time was 1 hour 30 minutes, where it should have been 1 hour 10-15 minutes easily. No big deal though, the cut off time was 2 hours and 20 minutes.
The 1st transition (T1)
The first transition was quick. Run through the shower station to rinse off the salt water, grab my transition bag with my cycling clothes in it, then hit the changing tent. I went through the transition in about 7 minutes altogether, and then I was on my bike.
The Bike
The bike to me was going to be the easy part since I had concentrated more on the bike than on the other aspects of the race. The first 9 miles was through town before heading out to the Lava fields. While in town I was so excited I was averaging 23 miles an hour and passing a lot of people and my heart rate reflected it. It was well over where I should have been so once outside of Kona I slowed down and got my heart rate back in check and settled in for a long ride.
The bike went well for the first 50 miles. Yes, the day was starting to heat up but it wasn’t bad so far and the wind at mile 30 started kicking up to about 15 miles and hour, still no big deal. At this point it looked like it was going to be an easier ride than I had anticipated. Then I got to the 15 mile climb to Hawi where the turn around was.
The climb was not that steep, probably 6% but it was very long. I am talking about miles long (5 miles at a clip) and on top of that the famous winds of Hawi had kicked up and they were blowing directly in my face at 30 miles and hour with gust of at least 45 mph according to the newspaper the next day.
This was a very, very long ride with both the climb and the winds hammering me. It was really taking a toll on my legs by the time I got to the top at Hawi and made the turn. So now I thought it was time to take advantage of the winds and nail the downhill and make up time. So I got rolling and tucked into an aero position and the next thing I knew I was going 45 mph screaming down the mountain. This was all working out just fine until I was hit with a huge cross wind which blew me across the road to the other side and almost off into the shoulder which was made of nothing more than sharp volcanic rock. I regained control and this happened repeatedly several times until I reached the bottom. Whew, I was glad that was over.
But now it was time to deal with the lava fields. If you recall on the way through the lava fields earlier in the day the heat wasn’t that bad, however, 4 hours later this place was cooking. Entering the lava fields felt like opening an oven door. The heat was stifling and I couldn’t wait to hit the next aid station where I would grab two bottles of water and drink one and pour the other one over my head.
The ride back to the transition area was a battle of dealing with the heat and dealing with the rolling terrain with legs that were working on reduced power. Soon I could see Kona and it was time to start thinking about my next transition.
Transition to Run (T2)
As I came to the dismount line I handed off the bike to one of the bike handlers, and at this point I had enough of the bike ride. I told the lady she could keep the bike because I didn’t want to see it anytime soon after that ride. We both laughed about this but I was partially serious.
At this point it was all about reenergizing my legs before the run so I walked the transition area which is the first time I have ever done this. I thought that in the overall scheme of things, walking for a couple of minutes was nothing, but looking back on this it probably helped me out quite a bit as I got into the run.
I grabbed my transition bag and went into the transition tent and an assistant met me at the entrance and guided me to a chair next to the fan. This was great! He also gave me Gatorade and water and handed me cold wet towel to cool me down. This place was an oasis and I never wanted to leave, but I needed to get on with the run. You could tell I was enjoying this a bit too much because my transition time was 13 minutes.
Hat on, sunglasses on, drop the towel, drop the water, here I go off and running on the course.
The Run
The run actually started out fine. My strategy was to run 10 minutes and run 1 minute. This was to reset my heart rate every 10 minutes and start over again every 10 minutes. This worked out very well for about 8 miles and then my legs were getting tired on a couple of the hills so I changed my strategy to walking every 10 minutes and then walking the aid stations.
This seemed like a running strategy that I could live with for quite a while. About this time I was heading out of Kona and towards the Energy Lab where the heat was rumored to be off the charts. I think no matter which year you race here the heat will always be a factor but it seemed exceptionally hot this year from what heard many people say. Luckily, by the time I would get there it would be dark, so it should be nice and cool, right?
As I headed out of town and it just became a game of keeping my stride going. It wasn’t much of a stride but at least my legs were moving and I was making progress. There was an uphill run for 4 miles heading out of town. Gradual, but very long. After a while on this very long hill, I decided it was time to change up my running strategy once again. This hill was killing me.
So I thought about this for a while and I looked at power poles on the side of the road. They were huge concrete power poles spaced about twice as far as normal power poles. I decided I would run the length between three power poles and then walk one. Then I would be running 75% of the time and walking 25% of the time. After 12 hours of racing it really came down to mind games and things to keep my mind distracted so I would think about the next 14 miles I had to run.
In short this worked and carried me to the Energy Lab where the temperature read 87 degrees on a thermometer at the entrance as I entered and this was in total darkness at this point. The energy lab at night was like running in space. There was no light what so ever. I finally made it to the turn around point where I grabbed my special needs bags and looked in it. Socks, band aids, Fritos. I didn’t need the socks so I stuffed them in the pocket in my tri jersey, I didn’t need the band aids so I tossed them and Fritos. I couldn’t really stomach any food right then but I managed to get a few down and started running once again.
As I exited the Energy Lab, I hit another aid station and grabbed some water to wash down a few more Fritos. I just couldn’t stomach the Fritos any longer and I tossed them on the side of the Highway. At this point after 12 ½ hours, I just couldn’t get any more nutrition down with 8 miles to go. I was so tired of gels,
Gatorade, anything with taste and even water. I ran a couple miles and the at the next aid station I grabbed some Chicken broth in a cup and two saltine crackers. I was willing to try anything at this point. This gave me a huge boost and I grabbed some at the next station.
From this point I was just slowly making my way to Kona. There was a guy who had been running past me and then I would run past him and we played this cat and mouse game for 2 miles and then we both saw Kona in the distance and decide that we would both start running. He was ahead of me at this point as we headed into Kona and started to hear the roar of the crowd 2 miles away.
This is where he picked up the pace and I did as well. I thought, how silly this is we have been racing for 14 hours and now it comes down to having to race someone hard just to say you beat the other guy. No matter what kind of race it is, I always seem to end up in this situation. So game on.
As we headed onto a street that paralleled Alii Drive where the finish line was I picked up the pace quite a bit and I passed this guy. I could hear his footsteps and he was staying with me so I just held the pace because I really couldn’t go any faster. I soon heard his foot steps fall away and I was by myself as I headed down to Alii Drive.
The crowds were tremendous and I was the only one on Alii Drive at this point and every one was cheering me on. The crowds were so huge that they filled the streets and only opened up as I came through. It reminded me of the tour de France as the bikers climb the mountains and the crowds are in the way. I went through this for about ¼ mile with everyone patting me on the back and “giving high fives” and then there were barricades and I finally had space.
This space was lit up with very intense lights for the TV cameras and the adrenaline pumping kept me going at a pretty good pace. And then the finish line. I couldn’t believe I was finally here. 14 hours and 15 minutes and 140.6 miles from when I had started. I had made it and I had actually completed the Ford Ironman World Championship!
The catchers grabbed me (catchers are guys who grab the arms of the athletes and hold you up and walk you to the area to get fluids and foods) Although I didn’t really need it, the last two mile had taken a lot out of me, so I didn’t complain much.
The bike went well for the first 50 miles. Yes, the day was starting to heat up but it wasn’t bad so far and the wind at mile 30 started kicking up to about 15 miles and hour, still no big deal. At this point it looked like it was going to be an easier ride than I had anticipated. Then I got to the 15 mile climb to Hawi where the turn around was.
The climb was not that steep, probably 6% but it was very long. I am talking about miles long (5 miles at a clip) and on top of that the famous winds of Hawi had kicked up and they were blowing directly in my face at 30 miles and hour with gust of at least 45 mph according to the newspaper the next day.
This was a very, very long ride with both the climb and the winds hammering me. It was really taking a toll on my legs by the time I got to the top at Hawi and made the turn. So now I thought it was time to take advantage of the winds and nail the downhill and make up time. So I got rolling and tucked into an aero position and the next thing I knew I was going 45 mph screaming down the mountain. This was all working out just fine until I was hit with a huge cross wind which blew me across the road to the other side and almost off into the shoulder which was made of nothing more than sharp volcanic rock. I regained control and this happened repeatedly several times until I reached the bottom. Whew, I was glad that was over.
But now it was time to deal with the lava fields. If you recall on the way through the lava fields earlier in the day the heat wasn’t that bad, however, 4 hours later this place was cooking. Entering the lava fields felt like opening an oven door. The heat was stifling and I couldn’t wait to hit the next aid station where I would grab two bottles of water and drink one and pour the other one over my head.
The ride back to the transition area was a battle of dealing with the heat and dealing with the rolling terrain with legs that were working on reduced power. Soon I could see Kona and it was time to start thinking about my next transition.
Transition to Run (T2)
As I came to the dismount line I handed off the bike to one of the bike handlers, and at this point I had enough of the bike ride. I told the lady she could keep the bike because I didn’t want to see it anytime soon after that ride. We both laughed about this but I was partially serious.
At this point it was all about reenergizing my legs before the run so I walked the transition area which is the first time I have ever done this. I thought that in the overall scheme of things, walking for a couple of minutes was nothing, but looking back on this it probably helped me out quite a bit as I got into the run.
I grabbed my transition bag and went into the transition tent and an assistant met me at the entrance and guided me to a chair next to the fan. This was great! He also gave me Gatorade and water and handed me cold wet towel to cool me down. This place was an oasis and I never wanted to leave, but I needed to get on with the run. You could tell I was enjoying this a bit too much because my transition time was 13 minutes.
Hat on, sunglasses on, drop the towel, drop the water, here I go off and running on the course.
The Run
The run actually started out fine. My strategy was to run 10 minutes and run 1 minute. This was to reset my heart rate every 10 minutes and start over again every 10 minutes. This worked out very well for about 8 miles and then my legs were getting tired on a couple of the hills so I changed my strategy to walking every 10 minutes and then walking the aid stations.
This seemed like a running strategy that I could live with for quite a while. About this time I was heading out of Kona and towards the Energy Lab where the heat was rumored to be off the charts. I think no matter which year you race here the heat will always be a factor but it seemed exceptionally hot this year from what heard many people say. Luckily, by the time I would get there it would be dark, so it should be nice and cool, right?
As I headed out of town and it just became a game of keeping my stride going. It wasn’t much of a stride but at least my legs were moving and I was making progress. There was an uphill run for 4 miles heading out of town. Gradual, but very long. After a while on this very long hill, I decided it was time to change up my running strategy once again. This hill was killing me.
So I thought about this for a while and I looked at power poles on the side of the road. They were huge concrete power poles spaced about twice as far as normal power poles. I decided I would run the length between three power poles and then walk one. Then I would be running 75% of the time and walking 25% of the time. After 12 hours of racing it really came down to mind games and things to keep my mind distracted so I would think about the next 14 miles I had to run.
In short this worked and carried me to the Energy Lab where the temperature read 87 degrees on a thermometer at the entrance as I entered and this was in total darkness at this point. The energy lab at night was like running in space. There was no light what so ever. I finally made it to the turn around point where I grabbed my special needs bags and looked in it. Socks, band aids, Fritos. I didn’t need the socks so I stuffed them in the pocket in my tri jersey, I didn’t need the band aids so I tossed them and Fritos. I couldn’t really stomach any food right then but I managed to get a few down and started running once again.
As I exited the Energy Lab, I hit another aid station and grabbed some water to wash down a few more Fritos. I just couldn’t stomach the Fritos any longer and I tossed them on the side of the Highway. At this point after 12 ½ hours, I just couldn’t get any more nutrition down with 8 miles to go. I was so tired of gels,
Gatorade, anything with taste and even water. I ran a couple miles and the at the next aid station I grabbed some Chicken broth in a cup and two saltine crackers. I was willing to try anything at this point. This gave me a huge boost and I grabbed some at the next station.
From this point I was just slowly making my way to Kona. There was a guy who had been running past me and then I would run past him and we played this cat and mouse game for 2 miles and then we both saw Kona in the distance and decide that we would both start running. He was ahead of me at this point as we headed into Kona and started to hear the roar of the crowd 2 miles away.
This is where he picked up the pace and I did as well. I thought, how silly this is we have been racing for 14 hours and now it comes down to having to race someone hard just to say you beat the other guy. No matter what kind of race it is, I always seem to end up in this situation. So game on.
As we headed onto a street that paralleled Alii Drive where the finish line was I picked up the pace quite a bit and I passed this guy. I could hear his footsteps and he was staying with me so I just held the pace because I really couldn’t go any faster. I soon heard his foot steps fall away and I was by myself as I headed down to Alii Drive.
The crowds were tremendous and I was the only one on Alii Drive at this point and every one was cheering me on. The crowds were so huge that they filled the streets and only opened up as I came through. It reminded me of the tour de France as the bikers climb the mountains and the crowds are in the way. I went through this for about ¼ mile with everyone patting me on the back and “giving high fives” and then there were barricades and I finally had space.
This space was lit up with very intense lights for the TV cameras and the adrenaline pumping kept me going at a pretty good pace. And then the finish line. I couldn’t believe I was finally here. 14 hours and 15 minutes and 140.6 miles from when I had started. I had made it and I had actually completed the Ford Ironman World Championship!
The catchers grabbed me (catchers are guys who grab the arms of the athletes and hold you up and walk you to the area to get fluids and foods) Although I didn’t really need it, the last two mile had taken a lot out of me, so I didn’t complain much.
To watch a video feed of me finishifnteh race please click on the link below:
http://ironman.com/events/ironman/worldchampionship/?show=tracker&rid=172&year=2008
So the next five weeks is mandatory recovery time for me according to Coach Sonni. Time to sleep in, eat a lot, actually watch a little TV, and just take it easy, and then plan on goals for next year.
There are so many parts and details of the race that I didn’t include in this blog and I promise to have information posited within 3 months of where you will be able to get this book that I will have finished by them. I will guarantee you that the book version covers the race in much, much more detail and will be quite entertaining on top of that. If you’re a triathlete you will love it, if you know nothing about triathlon you will love it, if you want to know a lot of detail about the course and how the whole process at the Ironman World Championships works you will be fully informed. I will be very excited to share thsi book with everyone.
So the next five weeks is mandatory recovery time for me according to Coach Sonni. Time to sleep in, eat a lot, actually watch a little TV, and just take it easy, and then plan on goals for next year.
There are so many parts and details of the race that I didn’t include in this blog and I promise to have information posited within 3 months of where you will be able to get this book that I will have finished by them. I will guarantee you that the book version covers the race in much, much more detail and will be quite entertaining on top of that. If you’re a triathlete you will love it, if you know nothing about triathlon you will love it, if you want to know a lot of detail about the course and how the whole process at the Ironman World Championships works you will be fully informed. I will be very excited to share thsi book with everyone.
Finally, thank you all for taking the time to read my blog through this journey and I would like to generally thank everyone out there who helped me out through this process such as my family, Coach Sonni, Coach Lance, and friends in general. If anyone needs to contact me for any reason please feel free to e-mail me at Tweedy1@alltel.net
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