I Survived!!! I am an Ironman!!!
I survived!!!
My transformation is now complete - Couch Potato status no more, now I can say "I am an Ironman!"
Sunday was race day in Coeur d'Alene Idaho. I arrived in town on Wednesday & was able to spend some time with my Aunt & Uncle, & my 2 cousin's & their families. The town is a pretty sweet place.
Got up at 3:30 AM on race day and my cousin (who was also doing the race) & I headed down to check in at 5AM. Temps were in the low 60's with the water temps around 62 degrees F. It was pretty windy, around 10 mph with gusts up to 30 mph.
The Pro's kicked off the race at 6AM, followed by the women pro's at 6:05. Then we waited till our start time at 6:40 AM.
I did better than I expected in the swim portion (2.4 miles).
Water actually felt pretty good, but with the wind it was pretty choppy. Only had 1 incident, someone elbowed me right in the face around mile 2.
Then it was onto the bike (112 miles)
On the bike I felt pretty solid, holding a steady pace until we got to the portion of the course on the Highway. It included 2 solid climbs of around 600 to 700 ft over a 20 mile span, riding straight into the wind.
1st loop wasn't terrible, but when we went back for the 2nd loop around the course, I was starting to wear down, and my thighs were starting to cramp up on me a bit. The winds seemed to be blowing a lot harder on the 2nd lap as well. Just pushed through & enjoyed the tailwind back into town.
Then it was onto the run (26.2 miles)
My longest run before had only been 16.5 miles, so this was going to be my 1st marathon. My legs were just beat at this point. I started off pretty decent for the 1st 2 or 3 miles, running at around an 8:30 per mile pace. Then I my lack of nutrition planning started to take its toll on me. My legs were starting to cramp & I needed some salt in take (as I had lost a lot of sweat at this point). My plan had been to run 5 miles & walk the 6th mile, and then continue that approach. Had to throw that out the window as my legs & feet just could not handle the pain. So I just made sure to just keep moving, and then try and run every once in a while. I think I ended up probably walking more than half of the 26.2 miles.
My goal had been to cross the finish line in under 14 hours. I missed it by 23 minutes & change. But I still crossed the finish line, and heard the voice of Ironman, Mike Reilley, call out my name telling me "Todd Semm, you are an Ironman!!"
Here is a breakdown of my race stats.
What an amazing experience it was, and am so glad that I decided to take on this challenge. I have been sore as all get up the past few days, but the pain is totally worth it. Someday I will give another Ironman race a shot, hopefully much more prepared, now that I have an idea of what to really expect.
Follow up to a previous thread
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Originally Posted by Cuztard
