I was already doing triathalons and Becca had already done a marathon and was trying to get me to do a marathon. I told her I would only do a marathon if I did an Ironman. After Susan did her Ironman last year and my training partners all signing up, I felt a bit left out. I wanted to join the torture as well.
I spent roughly 7 months preparing for the race, but really started doing long trainings the last 2 1/2-3 months. These trainings consumed 5-8 hours each day on the weekends. For the most part, it was life as normal. I didn't really change any major eating habits, but I did stop consuming alcohol about 3 months out.
Race week started with a mandatory athlete registration on Thursday. Met up with some of my training partners to sign and also picked up my rented race wheels. Later that evening, I attended the open ceremonies and dinner banquet with my many of my training partners. The whole ceremony seemed to be very heavy on the "everyone" has a story and raising money for foundations. Which is true, we all have our own stories, but enough is enough. I was ready to get down to business and hear about the race. Race director finally came on and told us about a few changes to the course. Nothing major and actually a benefit to all the athletes. Then it was to the hotel. Got to the hotel to check in and what do you know, they didn't have any rooms available and they had overbooked my reservation. They were kind enough to transfer me to a sister property that was 10 minutes away from the house. So I politely told them to go screw themselves and cancelled my whole reservation. I was not paying to stay down the street from my house. So I drove home and called Patrick to help me find a hotel while I was driving home. Once I got home, I finally found a hotel in Conroe about 8-10 miles away from the course and booked it.
So Friday morning, I get up and have a good breakfast and then headed up to The Woodlands to turn in my bike and hang out at the expo. I parked and then got in line to turn my bike and transition bags. There was a line of about 125-150 athletes already in line but the line was moving fast. Once you get up to the entrance, the volunteers take photos of your bike for security purposes and then escort you to the rack where your bike will be stationed. It was very helpful. Once my bike was racked, I then went over to find the areas to drop off both my T1 and T2 transition bags. After those were dropped off, I ran into a couple of my teammates in line dropping off their equipment. Hung out with them and showed them where everything was and where to go. We walked through the entry and exits to get a better understanding of how race day would go. Starting to get a little anxious at this point. After hanging around transition for a while, we then went over to the expo. After checking out all the vendors and salesmen, I was finally convinced that I needed a pair of Rudy Project sunglasses. They are the Ferraris of sunglasses. Then it was time to get off of our feet and start resting our legs for the big race. We stopped at a restaurant around the corner to have an appetizer and some ice water. After hanging out and swapping stories, I needed to go check in to my hotel before it got too late since I was meeting my wonderful wife and her Nall for dinner. So got to the hotel in Conroe and like they always say, you get what you pay for. My $50 room was close and cold and a place to lay my head for the night. Got all my gear laid out in preparation for my morning. Once that was done, I started heading into town to meet Becca and her sister for dinner. We had a wonderful dinner. AFter dinner, I headed back to the hotel to get a good night's sleep. Watched some TV and was out by 9:00.
Got a good night's sleep and woke up before my alarm went off at 4:45. Grabbed all my gear to head down to transition and the start of the big day. Found a parking spot close to transition and made my way over. The wife and Nall were getting there about the same time. Got set up and checked around for any of my teammates. Saw Chris Vasquez and helped him get set up because he had trouble with his computer. Then walked through transition a few times pacing out and counting my bike rack for coming in after the swim. Then met up with the wife and the Nall and made our way to the swim start. Once at the start, dropped off my transition bags and ran into the rest of my teammates. Did our final prep and photos before it was time to get in the water. Made my way down to the swim start and got into the water. Instead of treading water for 5 minutes until the start, I made my way to the water's edge until the cannon went off. My plan was to start off at the far right side where I was sitting so it worked out great. Once the cannon went off, all hell broke loose. 2500 of my closest friends were all fighting for the same piece of real estate. I waited out and treaded lightly for the pack to thin out. I knew if I stayed to the right, I would be the safest from getting kicked from other competitors. This held true. The main issue I ran into on the swim was the sun. I was wearing clear goggles so as I breathed to the left, I couldn't see where I was at because of the sun. I had to judge everything from the right side. Once I made it to the turnaround, I looked at my watch and saw it was 30 minutes into the race and knew I had a great pace. I tried to keep that pace on the way back and hugged the shoreline to stay away from the other competitors. Just before we made the final turn into the canal, some of the wetsuit competitors were catching up and bumping into us. Once into the canal, I looked at my watch and saw I was an hour in and 2/3 of the way so I know I was holding my pace well. Felt really strong and only had a few 100 meters to go. Also in the canal, you could start hearing the crowd cheering you on which was really great to hear. Once out of the water, I saw the time was an hour and a half. I knew I had a great swim and felt confident I could finish the race as long as there weren't any medical issues. Made my way to transition, grabbed my gear, threw it on and was out on the bike course rather quickly. Once on the bike course, I picked up speed quickly. I had to continue to tell myself to conserve energy for the ride back as that would be a lot tougher. As the miles went by, the weather was great and the ride was smooth. Had the wind at my back, shade, and felt rather flat. As I was riding, I had to maintain my planned nutrition and hydration of taking in Clif bars and Gu every 30 minutes. Once to the halfway point, it was starting to heat up. The sun was getting overhead and you could definetely feel it. At that point, the aid stations that were set at about 10-12 miles apart seemed very long in between. Once I reached an aid station, the first thing I would do is take a water bottle and drench myself to cool off. The volunteers were absolutely amazing. Some aid stations even had themes like the one that stated there half naked cheerleaders ahead. I didn't know whether to speed up or turn around. Made it to the aid station and they turned out to be old women wearing the big t-shirts with the printed bikinis. When I got back into the Woodlands, it seemed like the neighborhoods would never end. I just wanted to get off that bike. Finally making it into transition and dropping my bike off with one of the volunteers, I saw my family waiting for me and cheering for me. This was great. I jogged over to grab my transition and made my way to transition. I took my time to visit with the family and pose for some pictures as I changed into my running gear, but I wasn't paying close attention to how I was getting ready as I proceed to put Ben-Gay in area that I shouldn't have. It started to burn immediately so I made my way into the Port-o-can to clean up the mess I had made. After that, gave the wife a kiss, and made my way out on the run. Immediately out on the run was a first aid station. I grabbed a cup of ice water and down the shirt it went. I figured one way to numb the burning balls was a cup of ice water. I started out pretty strong on the run, definetely too fast and once I made it to the 5K mark, I realized I needed to slow down. My goal was to maintain a heart rate of 120 and 160 and walking the aid stations. The key thing was to do what I could, take in the scenery, and really enjoy my surroundings. The first 6 miles of the 8 mile loop were scattered with spectators and volunteers with an aid station every mile. The volunteers really helped you out and cheered you on. The last 2 miles of the loop were through the canals where the majority of the spectators and finish line were so that really pumped you up. After my first loop coming in to that area, I saw the family sitting up on the hill cheering me on and pushed me to keep going. It really didn't seem like I had ran 8 miles. Lap 2 I definetely slowed it down and started seeing my teammates out on the course. Cheering me on as I cheered them on. Cheering on the other competitors as they helped me when I needed it. Once I made it back into the canals for the 2nd time, the family was gone but I ran a friend that said the wife's hunger overtook the spectatorship of cheering me on. I was pretty hungry too. I knew I only had 8 more miles to go. The last lap I knew I just needed to stay consistent and maintain what I had been doing because I was ahead of schedule by a good 30 minutes or more. I started hearing some of the stories of folks having issues and started helping them push through them. Once I made it to the final 2 miles, I knew was home free and just had to push it right through. As I started running through the canals, everybody started cheering and calling my name. Becca jumped out in front of me to get some photos and is hollering something but I couldn't make it out. I know the finish line is just around the corner. I get in a big pack and slow down so I can try to finish by myself. There it is. I can see the finish line. The crowd is screaming and everyone is giving me high fives. Then I hear those famous words. "Neal Ferguson, You are an Ironman!" Once I crossed the finish line, a volunteer called a catcher caught me, escorted me over for a finish line photo. He gave me my finisher's hat and shirt, made sure there weren't any medical issues and let me go on my way. Becca and family were there at the finish line to greet me. I got big hugs and kisses from them all but the next thing I needed was a recovery drink. A chocolate milk. I knew I needed to eat so I scarfed down a Freebird's. I checked the official times and realized I beat my goal time of 14 hours by 40 minutes, finishing in 13:20.
No comments:
Post a Comment