I've been training for this one day for 13 months! Andrea and I arrived in Phoenix on Thursday afternoon, we went to Ironman Village to check-in and made sure my bike arrived safely with TriBike Transport. I received my bag, number, chip, and all kinds of other great things. We walked around the transition area and looked at the big lake that I would be swimming in on Sunday morning. I continued to watch what I ate and drank plenty of water these last few days before the race.
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| (Saturday - Gear Bags/Bike Check-in) |
On Friday I took my bike out for a quick 12 mile ride and then ran 2 miles. The rest of the day I tried to stay off my feet, Andrea and I went to go see a movie and went to bed early. On Saturday morning I got up and did a practice swim. (IMAZ opened up the lake for 2 hours) I definitely took advantage of this time getting my wetsuit on and seeing how cold the water was... The temperature of the water was right at 64 degrees and with my wetsuit on the water really didn't feel that cold. After my swim I checked in my gear bags and moved my bike into transition.
I slept good on Saturday night, woke up at 3:30am on Sunday and ate a small breakfast, my normal - Kashi Shredded Wheat and a Odwalla Berry drink. I arrived at the park at 5am when transition opened. I took my Hammer Nutrition Amino Acids and Race Day Boost around 5:45am. I filled my bottles of Sustained Energy, HEED, and Fizz with water and placed them back on my bike. I then went to the Athlete dressing tent to put my wetsuit on and get mentally focused. Scott (my coach) and I said a quick prayer together before heading out to the start at 6:45am. Here goes nothing...
The pro men started at 6:45 and the pro ladies started at 6:50. Then everyone else got in the water for the 7am start. Scott and I started off in the back of the pack and the canon went off right at 7am. There wasn't much swimming for the first 1/4 of a mile, it was more like survival swimming...everyone was on top of each other and there really wasn't room to stretch out and swim. It was stop and start and just letting people get out of the way.
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| (The insane swim start) |
I tried swimming in and out of the pack and trying to make a clear path but really didn't have much luck. I swam as well as I could despite the craziness. I finally made it to the turn-around, looked at my watch and saw 37 minutes. My goal for the swim was 1 hour, 20 minutes...I knew I just needed to stay calm and finish well. After being punched in the face, legs and ankles grabbed numerous times, people swimming on top of my back, getting kicked and more, I was ready for this leg to be finished. I made it out of the water in 1 hour and 25 minutes.
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| (After the swim heading to transition) |
I went straight to the "strippers" who strip the wetsuit right off of you, grabbed my bike special needs bag and headed to the changing tent. I put my bike shoes and helmet on and got on my bike to start the next 112 miles.
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| (Bike Transition...eating some calories) |
The bike course was great! I really pushed it the whole time without getting too tired. It was a 3 loop course, going out was up hill, coming back was down. I sipped on my pre-made bottles every 15 minutes. Then every hour I took in a little gel (out of the flask) and took one perpetuem tablet. At about 2.5 hours I would eat a bonk breaker bar (peanut butter chocolate of course), they are good and it's a little over 200 calories in just 1 square bar. I had practiced this nutrition and this is what worked for me. At about mile 94-95 my bike started feeling weird and I noticed my back tire was going flat. I pulled over to the side and started changing my flat. Almost instantly a volunteer ran across the road with a bike pump and changed the tire for me. I had about 4-5 thorns sticking in my tire, we cleared those out, changed the tube and off I went to finish the bike leg. Then about 8 miles later my back tire went flat AGAIN! I wasn't sure what I would do because I didn't have another spare bike tube. I tried to ride on the front of my bike to see if I could ride a little longer on my flat knowing I only had about 7-8 miles left. I had already planned to walk my bike in the last 7 miles if I had too...I was going to be an Ironman and this wasn't going to stop me (maybe only slow me down). Finally a bike sag vehicle stopped and helped me once again. They changed my tube and sent me on my way again. This time, the air held and I made it back to transition. I was mad because I would have had a 6:30 time (without the flats). I was still pleased with my 6:50 time on the bike...but it was time to move on and finish with the big marathon.
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| (This was mile 4...I was still feeling good) |
My goal for the marathon was to run (jog) the entire marathon. I felt pretty good at this point, my nutrition was right on and I was ready for the marathon. Around mile 13-14 I was tired of drinking the same nutrition drink and eating gels. At this point I listened to my body and sipped water when needed and drank warm chicken broth at each station, it sounds nasty, but it was so good (maybe I was just really hungry). The chicken broth really seemed to give me the boost I needed. I ran until I reached mile 21-22 and walked for about 1 mile. I kept watching my overall time and knew I could probably end up with a sub 14 hour time (my goal was 14-15 hours) but I needed to start running again. When I reached the 23 mile marker sign I knew I only had a 5k left. I decided to fight through the pain and start running.
I can't describe the feeling I had when crossing the finish line. I knew how much effort I had put in the last 13 months (6 days a week) and I was finally crossing the finish line. It was a great moment to know and to hear, "Jason Millsaps, you are an IRONMAN". I was now a part of an elite group of people (1/10 of 1 percent of the world who have completed an Ironman).
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| (Post race...I was a little out of it) |
After the race I ate pizza and french fries (I hadn't had french fries in a year...they were so good). Now I'm back home and feeling great! I was a little sore and stiff on Monday but now I'm feeling a lot better. I worked out this morning and rode the bike for a few minutes. I'm doing a little post race taper and then getting back to the training as I get ready for my next race.
I'll never forget jumping in the pool for the first time swimming 1 lap and thinking, wow...this is going to be hard. But I would have never known I could do it if I never jumped into the pool, never got on a bike, never ran that first mile. It was that one decision, the one decision to do this big race that changed everything for me. Mark Batterson said this in one of his books,
"A 1 percent change, given enough time, can make a 99 percent difference in your life. But you cannot leave change to chance. You've got to go for it. Cut up your credit card, register for the marathon, apply for the graduate program, take the mission trip, set up the counseling appointment."
Sometimes that first step is always the hardest. A little over a year ago I wanted to get healthy and I set a goal (a high goal) of finishing a full ironman. I took that first step and I'm so glad I did. A verse that I say often and I quoted often during the race is Philippians 4:13,
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."
I'm already planning which Ironman races to do in the near future. My next race will be the REV3 Knoxville Half Ironman in May.
My official Arizona Ironman Times:
2.4 Mile Swim -- 1:25:03 (2:12/100m)
Transition 1 -- 10:10
112 Mile Bike -- 6:52:29 (16.29 mph average)
Transition 2 -- 4:42
26.2 Mile Run -- 5:21:51 (12:17/mile)
Race Time: 13:54:15
