The Finish Line
I completed my goal and finished the Ironman World Championships in a time of 11 hours 29 minutes! Wow, I always believed I could do it but to reach the finish line it was a very special feeling. Through the next few paragraphs I am going to walk you through some of the highlights of my race and a look forward.
The Swim
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To start the day and anticipating the 2.4 mile swim I felt confident that I could finish but a bit nervous being the swim has always been my weakest event. As I lined up in the water I felt ready and true to form as the gun went off and it was mayhem as 1500 other triathletes maneuvered for position. The first few minutes I did everything I could to just get into a rhythm as I got kicked and grabbed other athletes. After a few minutes my abdomen, which I don’t have any control over, began to cramp which made it almost impossible to breathe. To say the least I was a bit frustrated but I knew I needed to stay calm and just get through the swim. As the swim progressed I just kept focused on staying mentally strong and knew I was going to have to have a good day on the bike if I was going to give myself a chance to win.
I exited the swim in 1 hour 34 minutes and was charged up to give it everything I had in the bike, which is the longest segment of the race and the most grueling. My handlers did a great job and I completed the transition from the swim to the bike in a quick 4 minutes. As I exited and began the bike I stayed focused and eased into the first fifteen miles which is mostly uphill. Then at mile sixteen as the course flattened out I pushed my bike as hard I could for the next forty miles, which was brutally painful. During this period the wind was blowing a headwind which made it even tougher. The good news or so I thought was that if we had a head wind on the way out we should have a tailwind on the way back. Unfortunately, the tail wind never materialized and the wind turned and we ended up having a head/cross wind on the way back, it was brutal!
The Bike
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I knew it was going to be a tough 112 mile bike ride, but at mile 85 the distance hit me like a brick wall. The fact that I hadn’t really paced myself the first 55 miles was beginning to take its toll on my energy levels. After a few miles of keeping a pretty easy pace I dug deeper and ratched up my pace again. During the last twenty five miles was an emotional roller coaster, one minute I was feeling good, the next minute I was feeling horrible. I think I went through every emotion over and over, I cried, I laughed, I felt happy and through it all I managed to keep a decent strong steady pace. From my race preparation I knew that through the ups and downs the most important thing was to stay focused and never give in to any one emotion.
The Final Stretch
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Then onto the race chair which in the past was my fastest event. I started the chair just as I did the bike, with a strong, steady pace which I knew would set me up for a quick overall time. Then at mile 10 got a split time and evidently the racer behind me was gaining ground. From that moment on I unleashed and gave it everything I had for the remainder of the race. I paced myself so that I was doing everything I could and if I went faster I would blow up. It turned out to be a good move as I gained twenty minutes on first place and I gapped the competitors behind me. With one mile to go I realized I was going to do it and I began to smile. It was all coming to me that all my hard work was going to pay off. It felt really good. The crowds were screaming and yelling and as I entered the finish line chute the energy from the crowds made the hair on the back of my neck stand up! As I crossed the finish line I stopped for a short moment and soaked up the experience. I will never forget that moment.
I will never forget the process of Ironman! It has reassured me that hard work pays off and that by never quitting you gain unbelievable mental strength. Throughout this whole process of failing to qualify so many times before and finally succeeding this year, I now feel like I need to hold myself to a higher standard in everything I do. I feel like anything less than 110% effort will not be good enough. At the same time I feel like anything I set my mind to is possible, and nothing is impossible. Six years ago when I set the goal of finishing Ironman, I knew it was possible but I never knew it was going to be so hard. Now that I have succeeded in completing an Ironman I feel like nothing can stand in my way if I am 100% committed.
Looking Ahead
Looking forward I feel like I still have unfinished business with regards to Ironman. Although my next goal is to enjoy life a bit and begin to repair my body that I have neglected over five years on intense Ironman training. I also need to focus on my relationships with friends and family that I have neglected due to the all consuming nature of Ironman training and gain a better balance in my life. After the dust settles I am planning on doing Ironman once again and my goal will be to win!
Thank you for following my journey.
-Jason
