Thanks!
First off, I want to thank my support crew. Without the help of Tracy, Becky, Melissa and Bob there is no way I would have finished in such good spirits nor would I have had the same race experience. These four individuals made it possible for me to achieve my goal of completeing the 2009 Virginia Double Iron. I owe them more then I could ever repay and forever will be in their debt. Secondly, I need to thank my coach, Peter Kotland. There were many times during the past few months that I questioned why he had me doing such long workouts. I said many times over the past few months that he was crazy and trying to kill me. I now see why he had me doing what I did. He told me the race would seem easier than the training was- he was right. The race was certainly not easy but it was so much easier than the past few months of training. Thanks to him for preparing me the way he did. A big thanks also goes to the race director, the volunteers and all the other athletes. It was an honor to share the field of battle with such a talented group of people.
As a result of Peter's training, on my first attempt at the 281.2 mile distance, I placed 7th overall. My official finishing time was 29 hours and 30 minutes. I didn't know this until it was to late but I was 27 minutes from finishing in 5th place. My goal was to finish between 32 and 33 hours and secretly I was hoping to do it in 30 hours. I finished 30 minutes faster then I even dreamed possible. Wow...I am still in shock and disbelief. Maybe I am cut out for this longer stuff. Enough rambling- lets get to the race.
Race Morning
As you would expect I didn't sleep well on Friday night. There were so many thoughts going through my head. The race is so long and there was so much to think about. I got up a few times to pee throughout the night and had a hard time falling back asleep each time. The alarm finally went off at 4:45am and immediately the coffee pot started to brew. I laid in bed for a few minutes taking some deep breaths to try and calm myself. The cabin was silent, the entire state park was silent, and I was two short hours away from the longest day of my life. I had a cup of coffee but breakfast wasn't going so well. Looking at my bagel made me sick. As did the smell of the peanut butter and the smell of the banana. I was however able to eat part of it, then a banana and then a yogurt. Nowhere near enough food but at least it was something. I've raced enough to know what the pre-race jitters are like and this was jitters hoped up on speed.
We packed up the car, met Melissa and Bob and made our way down to the race site. As we drove through the campground and turned onto the main road through the park (aka the bike course) I was able to get my first glimpse of the triple iron athletes who had already been racing for 23 hours. They were already on their first night of no sleep and had many miles left on the bike. My stomach turned even more. I found a place to set my bike and transition bag and then sat down. My stomach was shot already. I peed every few minutes from nerves and used the bathroom several times more. I just wanted the gun to go off so the nerves would go away. The sky was dark, the other athletes sat in silence, we were all in the same boat. Coming face to face with the unknown was truly intimidating.
Wetsuit, body glide, an e-gel then headed towards the water.
The Swim
I wish I could say, "Then the gun went off" but realistically the race director said, "Um, ok go". Not everybody was in the water ready to go but we all heard him say it. It was a mass start of 18 people. So much more enjoyable then an ironman start. The swim was 12 laps of a 644 meter out and back. The first three laps went by pretty quick. I focused on staying relaxed and taking nice long strokes, trying to cover as much distance as I could with each one. So far the swim felt effortless. At the end of lap four Melissa waded out to me to bring me some water and my nutrition. She said to me, "I almost missed you. You are swimming so fast. I'm impressed". Those words coming from her changed my swim. For those of you who don't know Melissa, she is a swimmer and a pretty impressive swimmer at that. For her to say that to me lit a fire in me and brought my confidence to a whole new level. I still have eight more laps to go in the water so I tried to remain relaxed and keep my strokes long. When I got to lap number nine I saw Matej, who later crossed the finish line first, swim past me like I was motionless. I was pretty happy that it took a full eight laps for someone to pass me. Then something else happened- I swam by someone like they were motionless. I was shocked. I am not a strong swimmer and I passed someone. I started to swim faster. On lap 10 I swam passed a group of five people and looked back at the turn around and only one person was behind me. He was drafting off me and held on. By the start of the 11th lap I had dropped him too. On the 12th lap I decided to pick up my pace even more since I was feeling so good. I got to the end of the lap and looked up at the volunteer who was timing me and asked him what my time was. My goal was 3 hours but I was secretly hoping for 2:45. He said, "Good job Kevin- 2 hours 35 minutes". I about fell over. I turned to my crew and they all yelled that I was 5th out of the water. Holy crap- are you kidding me. I was 5th out of the water? I not only shocked myself but I don't think my support crew expected that either. I walked out of the water and up to the locker room to change. There was no rushing to get on the bike so I dried off completely and changed into my cycling clothes. One sport down and two to go.
The Bike
Being the bike leg of the race is 224 miles this was by far the longest part of the race. The bike course is a series of 45 2.44 mile out and backs with an orange cone at each end that you need to navigate around. The first 30 miles I went to hard. I was on such a high from my swim that I let it get the best of me. At least I was cognizant of what I was doing so I slowed down my pace considerably. From mile 30 to mile 80 it was pretty much uneventful. Just back and forth, back and forth. I remember starting to get tired around mile 90 and had a Pay Day candy bar. Suddenly I was on top of the world and sped through a few more laps before I realized the rush was gone. I sat down for five minutes to relax at mile 110. I had almost completed half of the bike course. So far I was on track with my nutrition plan and was feeling pretty good considering that I had already been racing for almost 10 hours. At mile 130 my stomach started to shut down. This was expected but it usually doesn't happen on my rides until mile 140-150. This was a race though and a whole other game. I took some Pepto from my crew and continued on. At about 6pm it started getting dark so I pulled back in for a few minutes to get the lights put on my bike. There are no lights in the state park so from about 7:00pm until the end of the bike 6.5 hours later the only thing I could see was two small white dots about 10 feet in front of the bike. As it got darker it got colder and then it got lonelier. Most of the triple iron athletes were off the bike at this point so you now had to contend with the darkness and people running toward and away from you sharing the same road.
I'll spare some of the details in an effort to keep this race report moving along but let me just tell you that from about 9:00pm until I finished the bike leg at 1:30am things went from bad to worse. I was beyond cold, falling back further each lap on my nutrition plan and I experienced some GI issues unlike those I have ever had before. Each lap got slower and I felt worse with each one. Between 11:30pm and 1:30am I visited the bathroom 4 or 5 times and it was not pretty. Ugh...I shutter to think about those times. Melissa made me drink some broth sometime in the night and that made a marked improvement but only for so long. The last 50 miles on the bike honestly were just torture. If it wasn't for my crew I would not have finished the bike. They were motivating and encouraging and would not let me stop. Finally at 1:00am I crossed the timing mat for the last bike loop. My spirits lifted as I pedaled the last 4.88 miles.
I had never been so glad to be off the bike. Even now as I look at it sitting in the living room I cringe. I knew it was going to be tough but it certainly was tougher then I imagined. I didn't expect the cold nor did I expect the darkness to make me feel so lonely and vulnerable. My goal was to get off the bike in 15 hours but I was secretly hoping for 14 hours. The bike leg took me 15.5 hours. Despite feeling so bad I still finished the bike close to my goal time. I changed clothes from cycling to running, ate some food and headed out for the run. The time was 1:37am and the temp had dropped into the 40's. Two sports down and one to go.
The Run
It's amazing how you can go from bad to good in a matter of moments. The bike was the hardest thing I had ever done in my life and just a few shorts minutes after getting off the bike I felt renewed. The run was 52.4 miles and on this course is a series of 26 1.01mile out and backs. There was only two back to back marathons standing between me and the finish line. The run was the most amazing part of the race. It was this way for one reason- my support crew. Of the 52.4 miles I had to run I only ran 2 miles by myself. My crew ran with me all night and into the day. Not only did they run with me but they carried my Nathan fuel belt and all of my nutrition. My job was pretty simple. I just had to run until I saw an orange cone, turn around and repeat. Melissa ran the first 14 miles with me non-stop. I can't tell you what it felt like to have her by my side. She covered the first 7 laps with me and did so from 1:30am until 4:00am before she went to the cabin to get a few hours of sleep. I felt pretty good for these first few miles except my stomach was still having some serious issues. I finally took a 1/2 of an Imodium and within a lap my stomach felt much better. Tracy, my sister, who had never ran more than 5 miles in her life logged 18 of the next 38 miles with me. She ran with me for a few laps, then Becky ran a few with me and then Melissa and Bob came back from resting and ran some more with me. As the dawn approached I went from feeling pretty good, considering, to complete crap. Here was another low. Miles 18-28 were tough. I was getting tired and just wanted to stop. If it wasn't for Tracy and Becky I might not have continued, but again, they were by my side for every step and that kept me going. Everyone tells you that once the sun comes up you feel re-energized. I didn't want to believe that though. In my head when the sun came up that was going to set in for me the reality that I had been racing for over 24 hours. Fortunately I was wrong and when the sky lightened and the sun came up I started to feel dramatically better. Breakfast was being served for the crews so Becky asked if I wanted a cold pancake. I thought I'd give it a try and to my surprise it was pretty easy to get down, so I had another one. Over the next few miles I ate a pancake, at this point they were about frozen, every time I ran passed my crew. It's amazing what food will do for you. I would never had thought a frozen pancake would make me feel so good and be so filling. Miles 30-40 were good and I was running almost the same pace as I was when I had started 6 hours prior. As the sun kept getting higher in the sky so did my spirits. Each lap I made by the timing mat I made a joke, I was my normal sarcastic self. I had such a good time. Before the race I asked my crew to remind me that I was having fun and now that I had been racing for over 27 hours I was pleased to still be having fun. Miles 40-52.4 just hurt. There was no way around that. No nutrition was going to make me feel good at this point. It was fatigue that was setting in. It was at this time when I felt the most tested. It would have been easy to stop and walk the rest of the race. I was in good shape and could have walked the last 12 miles and still finished in under the cut-off time. The problem with that though...you don't train to walk. Regardless of my finishing time I didn't want to walk the end of the race. The goal was to finish but it is still a race, a race against yourself. My crew alternated laps with me for the last four laps and the last lap I ran with my sister. This was her 16th-18th mile on the day. More than triple the length of her longest run ever. She was by my side step by step. I can't tell you how much that meant to me. Never once did she, or anyone in my crew, complain about anything throughout the day and a half. The last few hundred meters felt so good. I was only moments away from sitting down. I wanted to stop moving forward so badly. I rounded the last corner, grabbed the American flag, crossed the timing mat one last time and made a dash for the finisher's banner. A few quick photos with the race director and my crew, a congrats to my friend Adam for finishing second in the triple iron race, and then I sat down. Oh dear god did it feel good to sit down.
I wanted to finish the run in 12 hours but was hoping it would be closer to 10-11 hours. I crossed the timing map for the last time close to 12:45pm on Sunday afternoon. My run time was 11 hours and 10 minutes. I started my journey 29 and a half hours prior to that moment. I did it. It took everything I had and the amazing support for my crew but I did it. I was a double iron distance finisher. I was to tired to be emotional and enjoy my accomplishment at this point though.
Monday Morning
I slept pretty well on Sunday night and as soon as my eyes opened on Monday morning I started crying. I pretty much cried on and off all day on Monday. I can't put into words how it feels to have accomplished this goal and to have done it with my sister, cousin and two of my best friends by my side. If you could have seen the looks on the faces of the triple iron athletes as they were walking in the dark after being awake for over 40 hours you would better understand why it means so much. When I was at the most vulnerable point in my life, broken both physically and mentally, I had the love and support of these four people. I still tear up thinking about it. A few years ago Tracy and I weren't that close. When we were in college we might have spoken once every few months but over the past few years we've grown closer. The older I get the more I understand and value the importance of family- to have her running miles 50-52 with me on Sunday afternoon meant more to me then my actual accomplishment. It was a testament for the love of family and friends.
Its been a few days now and my body is starting to come back around. I'd worked so hard all year and made many sacrifices along the way. I am excited to start the next chapter in my life. What will 2010 and beyond bring me? What crazy challenge will I set out to conquer next? Only time will tell.
Thank you Tracy, Becky, Melissa and Bob for helping to get me through the longest day of my life. You helped me achieve a goal that I set for myself that I had questioned and doubted many times over the past few months. I am so fortunate to have such good people in my life. My life truly does get better every day.
For those of you who are interested here is a link to the pictures that my sister took: Photos
