2016 Ironman Wisconsin Race Report

For those of you who don’t read this all the way through I wanted to get this part right for sure.  I’d like to thank those that came out to support me on race day:  Jeff Scully was there from start to finish helping Jess navigate the entire course and get the entire group in places to see me.  In addition he has let me borrow his bike for the past three years.  I tried to sell it for $5 to the bike catcher after I came back to the Monona Terrace but she wouldn’t take it.  It will officially be returned to its rightful owner.  Thank you to my parents Tom and Nora, for watching our two boys Sunday morning/afternoon while I competed.  Afterward they came out to the run portion and raced around downtown Madison to see me several times on the course.  I know that much racing around the run course was challenging for them physically and they’re probably as sore as I am today.  A shout out to Melanie Gray for also being there from start to finish and helping everyone get around the race course and keeping me focused on the run.  Having been there herself it was a great help to see the empathy in her eyes on the run course telling me to ‘pick a spot and run to it’.  Big thank you to Leslie, Denise, and Doug Householder for making it out to ‘their spot’ on the run course and cheer me along with a home-made sign.  I had one of my few lighter moments on the run when I was yelling to them “I’m f-ing retiring after this!”  Thanks to Sara Draeger and Wayne Hunt for coming back from a vacation up North to watch the boys allowing my parents to come down and see the run portion.  I know they both wanted to be there themselves to cheer me on, and I felt their support as much as anyone who was at the race in person.  Sam and Natalie Jonas made it and cheered me on during the run and I appreciated the lighter moments with them as Sam was yelling ‘feel the Bern’ or was it feel the burn?  They hung around to the finish to make sure I was OK after the race.  Jerry Draeger and MJ were out on the course several times on race day cheering me on at the swim, bike and run.  Best of all after the race they went to the Monona Terrace and collected my bike and transition bags so I didn’t need to worry about them.  My cousins VJ Scully, Lynne Murry, and Leanne Scully for making the trip over from Milwaukee to cheer me on during the bike and run.  It was great to see them several times throughout the day and celebrate with them afterward.  A big shout out to Sarah Nechvatal who made an appearance during the bike through Verona and then, after what I understand was a rowdy weekend, dragged herself down to the finish line to capture a great video of me coming across the line.  I also saw Missy Thousand (I think on the bike in Verona) but certainly on the run down on the lake path, which is a very dark and lonely place, shouting encouragement to me to get across the line.  Last but not least my beautiful wife Jess, who gave birth just two months ago and supported my goal for the past 12 months.  I know she has been incredibly frustrated with me over that time for countless number of reasons (related to training) but she kept it inside and kept me focused on my task.  She carried the weight of two parents over the past couple of months and prior to that managed Camdyn on her own during several long training days and events.  On race day she was a beacon of positivity and calmness and looked into my eyes each time I saw her and passed to me her determination and grit to get to the finish line.  Thank you to all those above and thank you to the many others that cheered from afar and offered kind words on encouragement and congratulations.  There is only one person who crosses the finish line but there are a team of people that carry them to it!

Race day itself was an adventure like no other this time around.  On the way down to the swim portion I felt sick and lethargic and actually said to Jess while I was putting on my wetsuit ‘why the hell am I doing this?’  I’ll say this much, she was not the person to utter that sentence in front of as the fire that I could see behind her eyes was like no other, even though her face and words told me ‘you got this’!  She and the boys have sacrificed so much to get me to that point that there was no way she was letting me pack it in right at that moment.  I took her words of encouragement and headed into Lake Monona.  I again started farthest out from shore up closer to the front of the pack to try and get a better swim time and get me on my way to a sub 13 hour finishing goal.  Gun goes off and it was much of the same as before, lots of grabbing, pulling, and bumping but I enjoyed the physical contact and aggressiveness.  It seemed to be a bit more physical than before and maybe it was because the ‘secret’ of swimming inside the buoy line was no longer a secret.  Finished the 2.4 mile swim in 1:21:40, almost 4 minutes slower than 2014.  Not off to a good start in my mind.

The transition to the bike was quick and I was off onto the course.  I heard my support group yell for me as I left the helix of the Monona Terrace, but was immediately down on myself as I was behind my goal time already and had 6 hours plus all by myself on the bike.  I got through most of the first loop and was coming up the last large hill before Verona to where my support team was setup to cheer.  As I came upon them I saw Jess and my parents had brought both my boys Camdyn and Dawson to cheer for me.  I squeezed Camdyn’s arm as I rode by and tears came streaming down my face as I rode into Verona.  I still had this negative and crappy attitude to contend with but thought about how difficult it would be to face my kids if I quit.  I heard the voices all day telling me; “you’ve already done this, why go through the pain again?”, “you’re already off your time so there’s no point”, “there goes another over-weight or older person by you on the bike, give it up”…it’s comical now after the fact how loud the voices were telling me to just stop.  As I started my second bike loop I kept reminding myself there’s your ‘could’ pace and there’s your ‘should’ pace, meaning I know I could ride harder but I won’t have anything left for the run so slow down.  Too late!  I looked down and saw that the first loop average was 17 mph, I was shooting for 16-16.5 mph to have something left for the run.  So on the second loop I tried to reign it in a bit but the voices were back telling me “you’ve already burned your matches, you won’t be able to run”.  The wind picked up on the second loop which made it much more difficult and by the end my feet and back were killing me so I figured my day was pretty much shot.  I made my way back to Madison telling myself there’s no way I’m running any of the 26.2 miles so just walk it as quickly as possible so I can go home.  Finished the 112 mile bike in 6:40:45 going 16.77 mph, which was 12 minutes faster than my goal so I made up some overall time.

After the next transition to my running gear I came out to start the race and checked that I needed a 10 minute 40 second per mile pace marathon to come in under my 13 hour goal time.  I immediately saw Jess as I came up to the capital and told her with tears in my eyes that my legs are toast and “I can’t do this”.  Again, she peered into me exuding energy and light, encouraging me to keep moving forward.  I just kept thinking about the whole 26.2 miles in front of me, which if any of you have run a distance race before is pretty much the worst thing you can do, you just need to focus on the next 1 mile, or 100 yards, or ten feet.

As you can tell from this race report, I had some pretty loud negative voices in my head.  Jess asked me after the fact, why I thought that was and the only thing I can come up with is that the last two months of my training after Dawson was born, were totally different from my first 10 or so months and that change threw me off my game.  I found that after Dawson was born, I made adjustments to my training to get it done whenever the time allowed so there were several sessions when I was up riding my bike on the trainer at 2am because I was up with Dawson for the midnight feeding.  By no means is this an indictment of Dawson, I love my chunker, I think my training just took a shift down in priority and it felt more like taking my medicine after he was born.  So that shift lead me to believe I wasn’t getting in the right amount of work in order to accomplish my goal time so I felt like I was unprepared at the beginning of the race.  My attitude sucked all day, I think I spent too much time comparing this race to how I felt two years ago the first time I competed.  There’s nothing like the first time you run a race and it just can’t be replicated so I needed to focus on why I was doing the race this time around and that was for redemption.  I wanted to prove to myself that I was better than this race and that it wouldn’t put me in the hospital again.

So after I first saw Jess at the start of the run, I said to myself “just run a mile and see how it feels”, then another and another and I told myself I’d walk at 6 miles after I got to State St.  I saw my support group a few times and like I mentioned before, Melanie Gray yelled at me to just pick a spot and run to it.  So I kept going until the turn around to head back to the Capital, once there my quads still weren’t hurting so I kept pushing to the half way point.  For those unfamiliar, the half way point is back up where the run starts and you come around the corner to a sign that says ‘Finishers’ with and arrow to the right, where you can literally see the finish line 100 yards away, and it also says ‘2^nd Loop’ with and arrow to the left…this is a demoralizing sign to have to face on your first loop.  I made the turn with a stutter-step and let out a loud scream to get my head right.  During my training runs, there was a halfway point on my route where I envisioned the course halfway point, each time in training I’d make this stutter-step turn with a little hop and a shout to push forward.  I told myself that every step now is one closer to home and if I can somehow turn my attitude around and prove to the voices in my head that my personality is stronger than them, it would be an epic finish.  So I started grinding on the second loop and saw my support team several times, most memorably on the long and steep Observatory hill.  I saw Jess right away and she ran by my side telling me ‘you are the storm’ and to ‘finish this’, which is exactly what I needed.  At the bottom of the hill were my parents who I could see were just as tired as I, yet they were beaming with pride and yelling encouragement.  I looped around to the lake side bike path and the support group was there again screaming at me like it was the first start of the race, the energy was overwhelming.  There was some serious ‘darkness’ ahead of me at mile 23 running the slight uphill on the quiet, lonely University Dr, but once I made it to Camp Randall I knew I was home.  I never looked at my overall pace during the run because I was going pretty much as fast as I could muster and I figured if I missed my goal then it wasn’t meant to be as I had nothing left to give.  My GPS watch battery started to fail just before the stadium so I shut it down and just looked at the time of day and saw it was only 7:30pm meaning I had 30 minutes to make it two miles to make my goal…I’m going to beat this race!

I won’t do it justice trying to explain the feeling of running up to the Capital towards the finish of an Ironman race.  All the hours, conversations, sweat, blood, commitment, motivation, pride, anger, and pain flashed through my mind as I came to the final turn to once again face the Finishers/2^nd Loop sign, this time going to the right.  I let out a prideful scream a few times coming down the finishers shoot; I had done it, I had defeated all the negativity in my head, the voices telling me to quit.  I had gotten my redemption on the most physical and mental challenge I’ve ever encountered.   I ran the 26.2 miles in 4:25:33 at a 10:08/mile pace which was 9 minutes faster than my goal.  Overall I finished the day at 12:43:10, coming in 17 minutes faster than my goal and 54 minutes faster than my first Ironman.

 

I made it to the food tent and was joined again by Melanie who stayed with me and walked me around to make sure I didn’t run into the same medical issues I encountered in 2014.  After the first Ironman, the issues snuck up on me as I felt fine after finishing so I was scared it could happen again.  I finally felt good enough to exit the finish line area and celebrate with my support group.  I walked in circles around the group as I was so jacked up on caffeine and sugar from all the race course nutrition.  It was so much nicer this time to see some of my friends finish and be able to celebrate with the group.  In the days since I’ve been asked if I would ever do it again and even though I’m in retirement I know I won’t be signing up for a full ironman again anytime soon.  I have said to Jess that if she or one of the boys (I’d be 54 when Camdyn’s eligible) wanted to sign up I would do the race with them side by side.  As I said earlier, there’s nothing like completing a race for your first time, the next best thing is to have a front row seat for someone else’s first time.  I can honestly say that given my crappy attitude, I would not have finished this year’s race without the support of all my family and friends; somehow ‘thank you’ just doesn’t do it justice.

Weeks 25 through 28 of Ironman Training - Expect the unexpected

Only two more weeks after this week!  The taper has begun; this is basically taking your foot off the gas and starting to wind down the volume of each workout so your body is fresh for race day.  It is more than welcome at this point after nine long months of training!!  Having completed one Ironman before it's fun to watch all the first-timers panic now at the end of training (I was doing the same myself).  On Facebook they are all questioning if they've done enough to prepare, asking if their race plan is sound, worrying about the water temperature and whether or not the race will allow wet-suits (easier to swim 2.4 miles in a wet-suit due to the buoyancy).  I'm at ease with all of this as I know, much like a final exam in college, cramming will do you no good.

What the past 8 weeks has really driven home in my mind, and it will be applicable on race day, is to expect the unexpected.  Now my new son Dawson was unexpected, but the amount of time he sleeps each night is a variable that is not consistent.  For the most part (Jess has been taking some of these late night feedings when I have long workouts) I've been handling the middle of the night feedings.  These feedings occur anywhere from midnight to 2 AM and afterward I've just been starting my workouts for the day.  So the unexpected part is potentially only getting 5 or 6 hours of sleep before mustering the energy to plow through a 2 hour plus workout.  It's something that is just out of my control and I have to adjust the best I can and get the most out of the workout.  This will be the same on race day, sh*t will happen and I'll need to adjust and keep grinding.  Dawson has not only given me motivation for the big day, but he's also prepared me for what's is likely to come...so thank you for only sleeping a few hours each night?

In retrospect I'm not sure I would've signed up for Ironman had I known it would all be this difficult with two kids on the ground (first time around Jess was pregnant with our first).  Then again, Jess has done a ton of the heavy lifting to allow me to compete in this race again and for that I am ever thankful.  If anything, I'm using this race to show Camdyn and Dawson that they can accomplish anything they choose, regardless of the obstacles, should they set their mind to it.

Remember, the race is on 9/11 this year in Madison.  I can't say it enough how amazing and helpful it is to all the participants to have the spectators cheering them on throughout the race.  If you can make all of, or part of the day please do so, you will not regret it!

Weeks 12 through 24 of Ironman Training - Thank you!

Just by looking at the title of this blog entry, it's glaringly obvious that I haven't kept up with posts...if you've been thirsting for updates, I apologize; if you could careless, then I'm right on schedule!  This time around has been a grind to say the least.  I feel like I've done a better job training with regards to being smarter and spending time focusing on what's going to get me the most bang for my buck.  For example, I'm typically only swimming one a week because that's only 10% or my race day, I'd rather focus my efforts on getting stronger on the bike.  I feel like I've been working hard but I can't tell if I'm truly working hard or if it's just harder this time around...we'll find out come September, 11th!

I would be remiss if I didn't express my gratitude to the woman in my life who's been pushing and encouraging me along the way.  Jess, as you know just gave birth to our second boy at the beginning of July; it's worth noting that the first time I did Ironman she was pregnant and delivered a couple of weeks after the race.  Point being, we didn't have any kids on the ground the first time around and now we've got two.  She has been absolutely amazing through this training and continues to be in order to get me across that line.  From day one, she convinced me to sign up again for the race after we agreed upon how we would handle schedules, she's prepared meals, pushed me out of bed, flexed her schedule around my training, left me encouraging notes, and is already planning how to be there for me on race day...all the while balancing two kids!  None of this is possible without her and I love her dearly for helping me run this race.  She has already earned one IM medal in 2014 and is well on her way to earning the second (although something tells me she'd rather have a shopping spree or a beach vacation)!

Point is, these events/goals are rarely individually achieved.  You better have one hell of a team supporting you along the way, I know I do!

Race is on September, 11th this year which will be peculiar given the tragic history of this date.  If you're looking to lighten the mood a bit or be inspired please come to Madison to cheer on all the athletes.  Truly and amazing bunch of people of which come in all different shapes and sizes.  I tell people that if you are able to see the finish line between 8-midnight you will see some amazing accomplishments and the rawest of human emotions...I dare them to walk away uninspired!

Weeks 5 through 11 of Ironman Training - This is difficult

Well if my training was going anything like my blog entries I'd be in trouble come race day on September 11th.  It goes without saying that I've been a bit of a slacker when it comes to blogging this time around.  Fortunately the training has progressed, I'm over a 1/3rd of the way through my training program.  More of the same, swim, bike, run, lift...repeat.  I signed up for a 1/2 Ironman race that's new to Madison this year fittingly called 'The Milkman' on June 19th.  It doesn't quite fit into my training plan but considering all the chaos headed my way later this summer it's best to get it in now.

Training thus far has been difficult to put it simply.  I'm not sure if it's more difficult this time around because there's less fan fare around the goal or because I'm working harder to accomplish my elevated goals.  I'd like to say the latter, but I don't want it to be lip service.  I'm further ahead with my biking which is where I'll make up the most time but the running has been a challenge.  I don't skip workouts and when I'm doing them I keep telling myself to work hard and not just go through the motions as I need to get better.  I guess the theme in this blog is that everyone struggles to workout and get better...if they say they don't then I'm pretty sure they are lying.  Find comfort in the fact that if you're doing it right, you're hurting/uncomfortable and those around you are as well.  It doesn't make it any easier, but achieving goals never is, so keep at it...keep getting better!

Weeks 1, 2, 3 & 4 of Ironman Training - Momentum

The blog entries will be less often this year as I'd like to keep them somewhat meaningful and helpful to my few loyal subscribers and not just fill the page.  I started my training back in January and here we are mid way through March already, so technically I'm through more than 4 weeks, it's actually closer to 10 weeks down.  "What the hell do I care?" you may be asking yourself...my point is coming.  This training time is filled with base training, and what that means is that I'm just logging the time/miles at this point with no set goal or workouts that push me into higher heart rate zones.  The idea is to set a foundation on which to build over the next several months.

My point is that I've been doing this for 10 weeks and I'm still struggling to find the momentum in my training.  By momentum I'm talking about that feeling that you get when you actually finish a workout that once was difficult and has now become easy because you're making progress in your health/endurance (building momentum).  This isn't a blog about lacking motivation or a feel-sorry-for-me attitude it's a 'misery enjoys company' type of blog.  If you're out there struggling to feel like your workouts are making a difference in your health, endurance, appearance, etc; I'm here to tell you that 1) you're not alone and 2) it's coming, just keep working.

Momentum is very difficult to build when it comes to getting into shape, whether you're starting from the couch or a shorter hiatus.  It's right around the corner and once you feel it happening it is what will become addicting about being healthy.  You appreciate how difficult it is to get this momentum and you will not want to sacrifice all the work that went into finding it.  So whether you've found it or you're still digging for it, don't quit!

Why the hell…again?

Here we go again; today marks the start of training for Ironman 2016.  You (as well as most in my circle) might be asking yourself, “why the hell would someone put themselves through this again?”.  Perfectly fair question, but before I get to that I have to mention a few things for those new to this blog.  The full distance triathlon consists of a 2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile bike, and a 26.2 mile run, all to be completed within 17 hours to be considered an official finisher.  I penned this blog in 2014 during my first to 1) stay sane – it was a means of therapy for the mental battle that is training, 2) as to recall my journey when looking back, and 3) so users can choose to follow my progress vs having to unfriend me on Facebook because of all the Ironman updates.

Now to the why; my number one reason is because I feel like I need my revenge.  My first time out in 2014 I didn’t set any goals other than to finish in good health and I accomplished half of that.  Granted the finishing was most important but in the end I spend the night deliriously in the medical tent, my shower at home puking and the next day in the ER due to overhydrating on water (I didn’t even think that was possible).  So I feel in a small way that the race still got the better of me and I need to prove to myself that I am capable of a better performance.  I heard from someone after the race that there’s an interesting dilemma many participants encounter, if they race poorly they feel like they can do better and if they race well they feel like they can do better.

I think much of my motivation in 2014 was derived from the fear of the unknown and whether or not I could push myself to the finish line.  I’m nervous that the fear has now subsided and it will have an unintentional impact to my training effort, so I must generate a new fear.  That fear, I hope, will be generated from the embarrassment of not accomplishing my goal that I’m setting this year and that is to finish under 13 hours (2014 was 13 hrs 37 mins) and be well enough to drink a Miller Lite after the race. 

I hope to share some useful information and encouragement with you all over the next 7 months that you will be able to apply to your own personal struggles and goals. 

WI Ironman 2014 Race Report

I wrote this race report before the birth of my son this past week.  At the time this race was the most important thing and was the peak of my life experiences.  In the past week this race and everything else in my life was put into perspective.  I experienced the lowest point in my life when my son and wife were suffering medically and then the new peak when everyone came home safe.  Through this experience it was reaffirmed that Jess, my family and friends are the most important things in my life.  It matters what we accomplish in life but it matters more who we impact and love.

This is a long report and in case you don’t get a chance to read all of it I wanted to call out some individuals that honestly made this race so very memorable and tolerable because they cheered me on out there.  My parents Tom and Nora, my brother Jeff, my sister Megan, PC, Brett Kudick, Melanie Gray, Jerry and MJ, Sam and Natalie, Sara and Wayne, Molly, Mya, Maddy, Carter, VJ Scully, Kate Goodall, Sarah and Ryan Nechvatal, Mike, Laura and Mallory Taake, Kathleen and  Kevin Marien, Leslie, Doug, and Denise Householder.  Thank you all for coming out to cheer and helping me through the race. Without the positive energy I received from seeing each of you, I would not have been able to power through the day.  Some of you were out there just as long as me (4am to after midnight) and in my opinion are just as deserving of a medal.  Speaking of medals, mine goes to my wife Jess who at 8.5 months pregnant spent the entire day on her feet helping lead the charge for my fans and she was there with me till the very end which was well into the next day.  She helped me through all the training and cheered me along every step of the way through this journey and in the end was the motivation to get me to the finish line.  I also want to thank anyone that was watching from afar, or encouraging me during training, or maybe even out on race day but I didn’t see you…thank you all for the tremendous support!

Race day started out at 3:20am with breakfast and coffee and some nervous conversation with my parents and Jess.  We left our house at 4:15am to get down to the race start.  We dropped off my special needs bags (contain supplies that can be used at the half way point of the bike and run) and met up with Julie Lonergan by the capitol for some more nervous conversation.  We made our way to the Terrace to load up the bike with nutrition and get my race numbers marked.  I didn’t let any air out of my tires the day before because it was so cool and let my imagination run all night long thinking for sure I would have two flat tires when I arrived, the bike was fine.  From this point on it was standing around waiting to head towards the water for the cannon at 7am.

My Mom and Dad went to the helix early to grab the best location overseeing the water entry/exit and high enough to see over the trees and view the swimmers.    Jess and I headed down the helix to the point where only athletes could proceed.  This was one of the many times throughout the day when I was overcome with emotions as I had to say good-bye and thank-you to Jess with tears in my eyes.  On a side note there were so many emotional moments throughout the day that this race is truly the greatest roller-coaster ride I have ever been on and struggle to put it into words for those who are unfamiliar with Ironman.   With Jess and fans in my rear-view mirror I stood in line to get in the water at 6:30am and swam out near the first buoy (farthest from shore).

I went back and forth in my mind on the start strategy and thanks to my friend Melanie; I was convinced to start just behind the fastest swimmers on the course closest to the buoys.  The thinking by most is that this area would be crowded with fast swimmers that would aggressively swim over the top of anyone in their way.  That couldn’t be further from the truth as I found this area very much void of swimmers and by hanging just behind the fastest swimmers was able to swim in open water.  While waiting for the race to begin, I treaded water for quite some time while holding onto a kayak and making small talk with some other athletes.  There was another emotional moment when I took a minute during the singing of the nation anthem to look back at the spectators gathered on shore.  It was then that I realized how blessed and lucky I was to get to this point and take in a view of 10,000 + spectators from a perspective that only 2,826 people had earned.  Cannon goes off and my game face goes on.

I darted for the inside of the buoys (most of the other swimmers were outside the buoys) and swam in open water the entire time…except for the turns.  The swim course is basically in the shape of a rectangle, so long as you go around the corners you are swimming the same distance as everyone else.  The turns were a little more challenging as traffic backed up and I was closed in on by the rest of the athletes.  I never panicked and just started getting physical to swim out of the congestion and back to open water on the inside track.  I highly recommend this strategy for anyone considering a mass start open water swim race.  I never pushed hard and came out of the water refreshed in 1:17, which is faster than I expected but my longest swim was only 2 miles so it was difficult to truly estimate my projected time.

Wetsuit strippers struggled to get my suit off over my size 15 feet (may help explain the fast swim time), but before I knew it I was running up the helix; a quick shout to my fan base and another emotional moment that I had to keep in check as to not exert too much energy and fuel so early in the day.  I ran into the Terrace and into T1 (transition 1) to change into my bike gear, pretty uneventful and I was out the door to the bike.  I was told to keep my shoes off as to not risk slipping in my bike cleats before getting out of the Terrace with my bike; this was sound advice because there is a long distance to cover between T1 and your bike.

Two miles into the bike course and I saw someone who had crashed and was out of the race already.  I could not imagine what this person was feeling but it was a cold reminder to me that danger lies all over the place today and I need to keep my head in the game at all times and stay aware.  The first 3 hours of the bike was me getting passed by damn near everyone on the course!  My strategy for the entire race was to consider what mile 18 of the run would feel like if I spent too much energy early on.  The thinking is that mile 18 of the run is going to suck no matter what and you need to be prepared to handle that suck with some mental tricks to get you through the final 8.2 miles.  If you spend more energy on the swim or the bike then instead of the “suck” starting at mile 18 it’s going to start at mile 15, or 10, or 4, etc.  The sooner is starts, the more time you have to spend in it and the less likely you are to perform well on the final discipline.  So I just let people keep passing me and kept repeating to myself ‘mile 18 of the run…mile 18 of the run.’ 

My nutrition and my pace were my top priorities on the bike.  I ate something every 30 minutes, rotating between gu and bonk breakers (energy bars), and a salt tablet every hour.  I drank at least 32 oz of water every hour and reloaded with water at every aid station.   I also had another bottle on my bike filled with the sport drink that I thought I was taking enough of but in the end wasn’t (more on that later).  The bike was going to plan and my legs felt great the entire ride.  I made it to the 3^rd bitch (there are 3 large hills on this bike course each labeled a ‘bitch’ because of their difficulty – especially after getting up each twice because of the two loop format), to where my family and friends were stationed.  It was great seeing them and felt strong coming through to the end of the first lap but that was expected, it was the second lap where my legs have felt tired in training rides. 

The spectators on the bike course are amazing between the costumes/signs that make you laugh and the loud cheering that help you push through the pain.  Many of the fans are stacked up at the hills and crowd the road so you pedal up this gauntlet of screams and cheers…truly makes the hills very easy to maneuver.  I experienced so many emotional moments on the bike between the fan base and seeing my wife, family and friends out there that I couldn’t possibly recall each.  The problem now that I didn’t realize at the time is that I kept repeating to myself to stop the emotion as I would need it on mile 18 of the run and I didn’t want to use it up here when I didn’t truly need it.  So several times throughout the day I would stop myself from getting emotional because I didn’t want to use up that currency.  If I had to do it all over again I would not have fought anything out there and just let it be. 

After seeing my family again at the 3^rd bitch for the 2^nd time I was back on the ‘stick’ portion of the course to head home to Madison and T2.  While on the stick back to Madison I saw Katie and Kevin Marien which was a great surprise and helped power me through the last little bit.  I recall being surprised at how good my legs felt while biking back to the Terrace and was hopeful I could say the same after the upcoming 26.2 mile run.  The bike took me a total of 7:07 to finish, which averages just under 16 miles/hour which is exactly where I wanted to come in.  I made several bathroom stops along the course, as well as a stop at special needs, and stopped at every aid station to make sure I had enough water and nutrition supplies.  Having the fortune of living on this bike course and riding it well over 30 times during training I knew what it could do to your legs if I pushed too hard, and I knew that I was capable of ridding that course in a total of 6 hours or better but I made myself take it slow to ensure a good run.

I was in and out of T2 to begin the run and again nothing out of the ordinary.  At the start of the run I saw my high school football coach Mike Taake as well as his wife and daughter Laura and Mallory.  What a tremendous source of motivation for me to see this family so many years after my football career still cheering me on.  Coach jogged along side of me for a bit and asked me how I was feeling, I told him ‘I’m finishing this F-----g thing’ and he said ‘I have no doubt you will’…another emotional moment for me.  I saw that my first mile of the run was a 9:30/mile pace, a bit too fast for me to maintain and I was warned that this would be the case.  In fact I was told that everyone will be running too fast in the first 6 miles and that you have to control this if you want to have a good performance on the marathon.  So I hit the brakes and started cranking out 10 – 10:30/miles.  Anytime I would push a little harder or try to extend my stride I could feel my hamstring want to tighten like a cramp was coming so I’d back it down.  I quickly figured this marathon was just going to be about running the entire time rather than walking and that whatever pace resulted would be a victory. 

Around mile 2 I saw Sara and Wayne cheering on State Street and taking pictures.  They have been tremendous fans and supportive of both Jess and I throughout this journey and I truly appreciate them both.  Shortly after that while exiting campus I see Leslie, Denise and Doug Householder cheering me coming their way.  They are all dear friends of mine from high school days and wonderful people for coming out to cheer for me on race day.  Seeing Doug in his wheel chair with a huge smile on his face was plenty motivation for me to keep on my pace and finish the day.   These three stayed out there in the sun for well over 3 hours to see me run by 4 times (run course is a two loop track as well), I can’t thank them enough for their support. 

At each aid station I drank at least two cups of water and then would take a cup of ice with me as I left to make sure I kept hydrated.  I recall drinking a mouthful of sports drink at most aid stations and would also consume at least a bit of banana and couple of pretzels and oranges.  Later in the evening I had a couple of mouthfuls of the chicken broth and flat cola and of course more water.  I carried gu with me on the run and I think I consumed 3 or 4 of them out of the 6 that I had with me.  I know I got to a point in the run where I was sick of everything at the aid stations and just said screw it, I’m close enough to the finish that I’m just putting my head down and get there.

Still on the first lap and making my way to State St where a rowdy bunch of (mostly drunk) spectators reside, it’s an awesome spectacle to experience.  Just before State St. is a monster hill on Observatory Drive, I challenged myself to run the entire course and that included this hill (twice)…slow and steady powered by the thought of kissing my wife at the finish line I ran up the hill.  Just over the top I saw my cheering section again of Jess, Jeff, Mom, Dad, PC, Brett, Sam, Natalie, Jerry, and MJ, after a round of high fives and smiles I was still chugging along.  Quite frankly I felt great this entire time, I was consuming nutrition, going to the bathroom and running strong so I figured mile 18 might not be so bad.

I made turn on State St. and then headed back through campus and along the lake front to another turn around before heading back to the capitol.  This stretch along the lake is where the unsure runners go to die, this place gets quiet, dark, and cold later at night and is the place that runners need to mentally prepare for on race day.  On the second loop it would equate to around 21 miles of the 26.2 and I’m sure it’s where ‘the suck’ really over powers many runners.  I cruised past this spot on the first loop back towards the capitol where I spotted my cousin VJ Scully and his son Jaden who made the trip over from Milwaukee to cheer me on.  This was a total surprise to me and sparked yet another emotional moment that helped power me through the halfway point turn around which happens to be right next to the finish line.  Being this close to the finish line and not getting to cross it but instead turn around for another 13.1 miles is a substantial mental challenge to overcome. 

On this second loop of the run I was powered by the same group of fans that had been cheering for me all day and with each encounter I was no less over taken with emotion than the previous encounters.  Again I swallowed the emotion to hopefully retrieve it at mile 18 of the run, which just happens to be at the top of the largest hill on Observatory Drive.  The second time around I was coming through a water station just at the bottom of the start to this hill and was walking to finish up my nutrition and contemplated walking up this hill to save energy for the final 8 miles when I saw Sam and Natalie Jonas standing on the hill.  Immediately I engaged the running motion and was quickly joined by those two, running alongside me up the hill.  Once at the top they handed me off to the next group of fans to carry me with cheers, that group handed me off to another group, and another, and another.  Jess had told my fan base about mile 18 of the run and with the help of Brett Kudick, who himself is a 2X Ironman finisher; they strategically spread-out along the course to help carry me through mile 18 of the run!  Emotional moment number 100 of the day!  I quickly realized that mile 18 still hadn’t brought me to ‘the suck’, so I adjusted it to mile 19, 20, 21, 22…I told myself that mile 24 was right outside of Camp Randal football stadium and if I could get to there I was home free.  Next thing I knew I was running past the front gates of the stadium and overcome with emotion…I was home free.

I came to the last water station by the Capitol and started dumping all the nutrition out of my pockets and preparing to run down the finisher’s shoot.   I remember thinking that this was the moment I was waiting for, this was the goal of all the training…to come down to the finish line, kiss and thank Jess and hear the announcer call out ‘Kevin Scully you are an Ironman’!  That is exactly what happened and it was fantastic.  Jess and I had planned where she would be waiting for me and my eyes immediately saw most everyone from my cheering section there except for Jess.  I high fived and hugged those that were there and they directed my across the other side of the finisher shoot where Jess was standing.  I ran over to her, with tears running down my face, thanked her for this and gave her a kiss.  I proceeded to the finish line and conceded to the course…I was done.

Now all along I was feeling great, just a steady stream of emotion and effort all day long to power me through to the finish.  I never pushed hard on any given part of the course, I never worked so hard at any particular point where I need to pull back and rest to regain composure.  All that being said I figured I did everything just right for my first attempt at an Ironman.  I finished the run in 4:52 around an 11:00/mile which included walking a few steps through the aid station at each mile and then running the rest of the course.  My total time for the day was 13:37:03; this would be considered a respectable time for a first attempt at a full triathlon (ironman) distance.  I’m sure I can go faster but I did not know what to expect and instead decided to play it safe and keep it slow and steady for the first time out. 

I stood around a bit chatting with my fan base and then went into the food tent to try to find something I wanted to eat.  I tried to eat the salty potato chips and even some pizza but quickly started to realize I was in trouble.  I tried to get the attention of the food service people but couldn’t muster the energy.  Finally I think someone from my cheering section got a volunteer to check on me and they didn’t hesitate to drag me into the medical tent.  From then on it was a sharp downward spiral of puking and IVs to try and get me back on my feet.  I spent around 3 hours in the tent to the point where they were starting to shut down for the night (race finishes at midnight).  They were asking ME if I wanted to go home or go to the hospital, when I didn’t have a clue which way was up.  I do recall thinking; I’m not taking a $2500 ambulance ride because I’m dehydrated.  It was eventually decided that I could go home, where I spent several hours in the shower and eventually helped into bed where I spent the evening repeatedly getting sick.  Jess took me into the ER the next day for more IVs and more blood work and they confirmed what I was told in the medical tent in that I drank too much water throughout the day resulting in hyponatremia.  In the medical tent I remember them propping me up on a scale and telling me that I gained 8 pounds throughout the day (they weigh you at race registration for just this purpose) and that was a big red flag for hyponatremia.  This is where you basically drown out the necessary levels of sodium in your body and disrupt the proper balance of electrolytes.  This can lead to water intoxication, an illness whose symptoms include headache, fatigue, nausea, vomiting, frequent urination and mental disorientation…check, check, check, check, check, check to all the symptoms. 

If I had to do it all over again, I would’ve alternated between water and the sports drink on the course throughout the bike.  I think this would’ve made me feel better throughout the run and allowed for me to have more of an appetite for some of the other offerings at the run aid stations.  I’m a big guy and I sweat a ton so I thought just keep drinking and peeing and you’ll be fine, after all this is what I’ve done in all my marathon races.  If there is a next time, I need to calculate how much I should drink throughout an effort like this and to do so would require me weighing myself before and after a strenuous workout, then do the math to determine how much liquid weight needs to be replaced through liquid intake.  I think now that I’ve experienced the hell of hyponatremia, I will know to force myself to consume more during the run no matter how I feel at the time.  I feel that if I had eaten a few more offerings I think it would’ve been enough to counteract the amount of water I consumed.  I should have been less concerned with how I would feel at the finish line and instead focus on how I would feel well after the finish line.

 I thought the finishers shoot was going to be the best part of the day but I was wrong, the best part was seeing all my fans that are so important in my life!  I was disappointed I didn’t get to celebrate and thank each person that came down to the race.  In the end I feel that even though I felt good throughout the day and across the finish line, the race still got the better of me and ultimately final word.  I don’t feel like a failure by any means, I completed the distance when 496 people signed up and didn’t even start and 156 started but didn’t get to the finish line.  I didn’t know what to expect out of this race and I didn’t have a good feeling for what it would take to finish strong, but I learned all of that throughout this experience.  I’m excited to begin the next chapter in my life as a father and want to redirect the focus and attention to where it should be and that is on my family.  I’ll be back some day to take on this challenge again and in the mean time I hope I’ve inspired some to do something out of their comfort zone or get out and exercise, if I have I would love to hear about it.