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Swim 2.4 miles - 1:12 Bike 112 miles - 5:35 Run 26.2 miles - 4:05 Transitions @ 12 minutes Total race time = 11:05:57
The race was a surreal experience - 2100 athletes lined up at the water's edge on Saturday morning at 7am. When the horn went off, we ALL ran into the water to start the swim. The first half-mile was just bodies climbing over one another in a sea of arms, legs and elbows. I started near the back to avoid the mayhem, but there was just no avoiding it. Things began to thin out a bit after the first mile and I was able to finish strong, beating my goal time by about 8 minutes.
After stripping the wetsuit, putting on helmet, shoes and getting my bike, it was on to a long bike ride. The course was pretty flat, but very windy which made things quite dangerous during the first part of the ride while the road was congested with riders. I saw an awful crash right in front of me where a lady went down on the pavement going 20+ miles per hour. I felt good on the bike most of the day and was able to beat my goal time by 25 minutes.
Then it was on to the last and most difficult part of the day - the marathon. For the first 15 miles, I felt great - the adrenaline from the crowd, having family to cheer me on. At mile 15, I felt like I was hit by a truck - muscles became very sore and by mile 20, I couldn't really feel anything. I managed to run the entire distance, only stopping to walk through the aid stations as I inhaled fruit and gulped gatorade to stay fueled.
I cannot even describe what the final mile was like - the crowd lined the entire road, music was playing and you could begin to hear the announcer and see the finishing chute in the distance. I started to run faster and faster and when I ran into the chute and saw my family, I about lost it. It was so emotional to have them share this experience and I was especially happy that Teresa (sonny's wife) was there. Sonny was there as well - I felt his presence many times and asked him to carry me through those last 5 miles when I wanted to stop and walk.
As I ran to the finish and broke the finishing tape, the announcer said "Rob Taylor, you ARE an Ironman!".... Indeed I am....
While the actual race day went picture perfect, it wasn't without some issues leading up to the event. As you know, I had to disassemble, pack, ship, then reassemble my bike. Well, as I was putting it together, a $10 part broke. So I thought no problem, it's only a $10 part, right? Wrong! I spent 2 hours at the bike shop in Atlanta - no replacement parts so we called 5 other shops with the same response - "It's an odd size". What? How can this be happening? Worse yet, they attempted to fix the old part by "rigging" (their word, not mine) a solution.
So, we head off from Alanta on our 6 hour drive to Panama City Beach - 30 miles in to the trip, our rental car breaks down on the Interstate. Huh? Are you kidding me? We finally make it back to the rental counter - now 4 hours behind schedule - and get a new vehicle. Debbie was proud that my head had not yet exploded, so we get back on the highway. Another 60 miles and I ask her - "Where do we turn off?" I hear shuffling papers, more shuffling, then she climbs in the back of the truck, more shuffling. This is not good - we left our directions in the OLD vehicle. AAAARRRRGGGHHHH! Luckily, we left an extra copy with our friends in Atlanta who were driving down the next day. We were able to call them to find our way.
Finally, we make it to FL so I decided the next morning (now 2 days before race day) to go for a test ride on my "rigged" bike. Felt good, strong until my $10 rigged bike part snapped. At this point, I'm beginning to think that maybe doing an Ironman is not such a good idea - is Someone above trying to tell me something?
Luckily they had an entire bike maintenance area set up at the race, so I took my bike there and they were like - "No problem, this is a common part" - THEY FIXED MY BIKE IN LESS THAN 5 MINUTES!! All that anxiety and time....
I want to thank all of you again who have been so supportive, through your well wished, prayers, contributions - our entire family has been touched by the response to Sonny's passing and resulting support for this process.
So what's next? Well Ironman Arizona in April 2006 of course.... stay tuned for more details!
10/29/05 - I feel like a caged animal! This thing called "taper" is supposed to be a time to rejoice, relax and enjoy the last few weeks till race day. Well, when you are used to pounding out 15-20 hours a week and scale back to 9, there's a lot of extra energy that wants to go somewhere! Combine that with the stress of the actual race, now only 7 days away, and you've got a time bomb! I had a 3 hour swim, bike run workout today and felt like I hadn't done anything - very sick and dimented I know...
Just got my bike back from the shop - my last tune up and they also replaced the chain and rear cogs (cassette). Rides like a dream! Now if it only rides so well after I take it apart, send it 2000 miles by way of baggage handlers, then put it back together with my neophyte bike maintenance skills - then I'll know victory is near.
Debbie and I are headed to Atlanta on Tuesday where we will meet up with our close friends for the evening. Then we'll drive to Panama City and the site of Ironman Florida on Wednesday morning. My whole family and several friends will be there to cheer me on and pay tribute to Sonny. Janus, who sponsors the fund-raising, has also asked me to represent them at the press conference on Thursday, so that should be a hoot!
I'll send a few more updates from Florida... stay tuned.
10/24/05 - OK, maybe ONE more long workout, I just can't help myself! I had a good 5000 meter swim earlier in the week and felt really strong. The rest of the week was pretty ho-hum and I wrapped it up Sunday with a 75-mile bike and short 3-mile run for a total of 12 hours for the week. It's hard to believe only 14 days left till all the pain and suffering results in even MORE pain and suffering. Am I insane?... Don't answer that...
The only scare for the week was that I broke my rear rim when I hit a not-so-big pothole. It makes you realize that something so simple, if it happens on race day, can knock you out of the race in a second. All that training, POOF! My bike shop gave me a "loaner" and sent my rim back to Trek. Not ideal racing on a loaner, but at least its the same rim they removed from my bike. I'm bringing my bike in this week for one last tune up and to replace the chain and cassette (rear cogs).
So, at this point, what is it that keeps me up at night? Oddly enough, it's not how my body will be twitching in pain during the marathon or what to do if my googles get kicked off my face during the swim. No, the two things that keep me up at night are 1) that I have to take apart and reassemble my bike for travel and 2) that I'll have an mechanical problem on the bike that takes me out of the race. These are things I don't control, which drives an athlete crazy, because discipline and "control" is what got me this far!
This week is really scaled back with a few high intensity workouts throughout the week
10/16/05 - Yippee!! All of the hard training is over! Only 3 weeks to go till race day so the remainder of my training is tapering and maintenance. I wrapped up my last long weekend with a 93-mile ride and short run on Saturday and a 20-mile run Sunday. I felt really strong during both, so my confidence is riding high right now. Bring it on!
The Hawaii Ironman World Championship was Saturday - a friend of mine from the gym finished in 12 hours 49 minutes - not too shabby at all - congratulations John Dierken! I followed him live through the day at www.ironmanlive.com. You will also be able to track me during the Ironman at the same website on November 5.
I am going to do one more fundraising push this week, so please pass on the website to any friends or family - most importantly, thanks to you who have already contributed.
10/11/05 - Lots of running this past week - about 42 miles total. May not sound like a lot for a whole week, but I also pounded out 150 cycling miles and 4 swimming miles. Overall, it was a reduced week at about 14 hours but I wanted to focus on running some extra miles to get my legs ready for the shock of running a marathon on tired legs. If you recall, I mentioned some leg/hip pain a month or so back - well, I've been trying to block it out, doing lots of stretching and massage, but it continues to be pretty painful. I'm hoping now that my training volume is going to be reduced significantly over the next 4 weeks that it will heal.
I'm also beginning to dream about sleeping in! Now that the mornings are much cooler, I wake up when its still dark and the thought of shivering on my bike on the one hand or cozying up in the down comforter on the other hand... what would you do? Well, all of your donations and the thoughts of Sonny keep me motivated and excited about getting to race day.
For those of you following the training plan, NOTICE the reduction in hours and weekend volume this week.
Like me, there are a lot of athletes raising money for their own charities. Check out TIM HUTCHINSON, who created his own site to raise money for a children's charity. He has some pretty interesting training stories!
10/3/05 - Great big week behind me and I feel pretty good, except for a sore caboose from my second 100-mile bike ride. Actually, its all downhill from here although I still have a few long weekends left. Staying healthy as we enter flu season is probably the biggest challenge left before the race. I'll be mixing up the schedule a bit this week due to some travel commitments and I'm due for a lighter recovery week anyway after the mammoth weekend I just had (120 miles biking, 23 miles running, 1 mile swimming). It definitely feels good to know that my hardest and longest workouts have been conquered and that, theoretically, I am race-ready. And, I'm still enjoying it! HERE is a link to the upcoming week - notice the shorter weekend workouts.
On a side note, I was invited to the Prostate Cancer Foundation Scientific Conference where the leading researchers for the disease are brought together to report on progress. Lot's of great work being done. I actually had the opportunity to meet Sonny's oncologist from Johns Hopkins, shake his hand and thank him for helping to keep Sonny with us for all those years. Definitely the highlight of the conference.
9/25/05 - So far, so good. No major injuries to report, just some chronic lower back, gluteus and foot pain from all the pounding. I've been doing some Yoga stretching poses which are helping tremendously to stretch some muscles while relaxing others. I had a total of 18 hours of training this past week, with a particularly heavy running week at nearly 50 miles. That, combined with 165 miles biking and 8000 meters of swimming means I'm tired (and hungry)! It's becoming a bit comedic when I go into restaurants and get comments like, "You mean you want the WHOLE pizza" or "that's a LOT of food, you probably should only get one entree if you order 2 appetizers". Of course, my wife is now eating her meals at record pace, she knows if I finish before her then I'm moving in on her plate!
This next week will be the longest week of training during the entire program at 19 hours. I'm looking forward to getting through next weekend, which will be over 10 hours of training. For those of you following, HERE is a link to the 'monster week' of training ahead of me.
Only 6 weeks to go before race day!
9/19/05 - Good week of training this past week - I logged 10 hours over the past two days alone. It was also a big cycling milestone having completed my first 100-mile ride yesterday - that's about 5.5 hours in the saddle! I followed it up today with a 17 mile run. I'm right where I should be at this point, with only 7 weeks until race day. With all the tolls this training takes on your mind and body, there is one side benefit - I eat like a horse! I mean lots and lots of food and very frequently. On my long workout days, I'm burning roughly 6000 calories plus the cumulative effect of all the weekly training. There's a running bet at work that I'm going to balloon up to 300 pounds after this race!
This coming week looks alot like last week, a little less volume at 17 hours but still with long weekend sessions. For those of you following, here's a link to this week's training sessions - Week of Sept 19
9/11/05 - Nice to have a recovery week, only 10 hours this past week - although I still focused on getting some distance in over the weekend. I was riding an 80-miler on Saturday when I was passed (and I HATE to get passed) by a former professional Ironman competitor. As if I wasn't depressed enough by how quickly he came up on me, he proceeded to tell me that this was his "first time out" in a while for an "easy 85 miles". He didn't even have a water bottle on his bike. At least he was nice about it, although he probably got the message that I was not in the mood once I started choking on my powerbar and began frantically reaching for one of the FOUR bottles on my bike (I'm now barely moving on my bike, just trying to stay upright). He was actually a nice guy and rode with me for a few miles before he couldn't take it anymore and disappeared faster than he came. Oh well, something to aspire to!!
Now that I have about 6000 miles on my bike, I had it overhauled this week - it rides sooooo smooth now. Good thing, because I have nearly 200 miles to ride this week alone! In fact, the next 3 weeks will be the heaviest yet at 18.5, 17 and 19 total hours each. They call this the "Monster Month" which is the most volumous 3-4 weeks of training in consecutive weeks that I will do prior to the race. Once I fight through it, my fitness should improve substantially over the coming weeks. Want a sample? Click HERE to view this week's training.
The other good news - the weather is finally breaking here in Phoenix, so its nice and cool early in the mornings. With some luck, I won't have to do any more 3:30am bike rides!
9/4/05 - Wow! BIG week behind me. 17.5 hours total this week with 9 hours over Saturday & Sunday. On Saturday, I awoke at 3:30am and was on my bike by 4:00am. I rode for 2 hours before the sun even came up and finished the bike session after 4.5 hours and covering 85 miles. I immediately completed a 6 mile run and 1500 meter swim for a 6-hour day. It was already 100 degrees when I finished at 10am! This morning (Sunday) I completed a 13 mile run and 20 mile bike and could barely feel my legs!! Needless to say, I'm tired, have been eating like a horse and am looking forward to tomorrow for a day off. The upcoming week is a recovery week, so I'll be scaling back to about 12 hours for the week. It's good timing since this week Debbie and I will be celebrating our 9th anniversary and are going to Las Vegas for a few days. For those of you following the detailed training, HERE is the upcoming week.
8/28/05 - I'm writing from Lake Minnetonka just outside of Minneapolis, MN - just a beautiful place this time of year. Most importantly, I felt like Superman this weekend running in the cool weather!! We were visiting family this weekend, so I managed to get my long, 5-hour workout in on Friday before we left by getting up at 4am for a 70 mile bike, 5.5 mile run and 1500m swim. I totalled out the week at 13 hours, missing a few non-crucial workouts due to travel. The upcoming week should be a breakthrough - both in total hours at 17 and for the longest single workout thus far at 6 hours on Saturday. The race is getting awfully close and its still a bit hard to imagine the challenge that lies ahead. I think the thing that scares me the most is the running portion. I know I can complete the swim and bike - but a marathon after the previous two events still sounds a bit daunting. This next month separates the "men from the boys" in my training, so we'll see how I feel by October 1. I think about Sonny often and its hard to believe he won't be there during holidays and family gatherings, but not as much as I think about Teresa and Lucia and the void that has been left in their lives. I wish I could spend more time with them in WV, but my prayers are always with them in absence of my physical presence. For those of you that are following the specific workouts of my training, click HERE to access the upcoming week - notice the total hours for Saturday/Sunday!!
8/23/05 - Another good week of training with the first "triple" workout on Saturday - 70 mile bike, 5 mile run and 1500 meter swim. This was about a 5 hour continuous workout and I finished TIRED! Makes a 12-hour race all the more intimidating, although my fitness is definitely improving and I'm right on track for where I should be right now. I'm nursing a strained Illiotibial Band, which is a ligament that runs from the outside knee around the outside of the hip. Common among runners and bikers, most feel friction pain in their knee although all of my pain is around my right hip and glute. Although painful, its not preventing me from getting in the mileage - lots of Advil certainly helps! If you have not seen the donation page recently, we have almost $9500 paid and/or committed for the Prostate Cancer Foundation. Very exciting stuff that keeps me going through the long workouts. This week is a very similar week to last - about 15 hours total with a long triple workout on Saturday. Because I'm travelling this weekend, I'll switch things up a bit and get the long one in on Friday morning (starting about 4am!). Click HERE for details on training for this week.
8/14/05 - Well, this was obviously a tough week in many respects. Sonny passed on Tuesday and while we all miss him terribly, our family gathered for the week to celebrate the wonderful memories that Sonny was central to inspiring in all of us. My commitment to race day has only strengthened and thus I managed to get in the entire week of planned training, utilizing the YMCA spin cycles to complete the bike portions - special thanks to Cindy Boggs for getting me access to the Y facilities. I completed 9200 meters of swimming, 130 miles of biking (indoor spin cycle) and 35 miles of running for a total of 15 hours of training. This was the longest week to date for both swimming and running. Additionally, I had the longest single training day so far yesterday at 5 hours while training in all 3 disciplines. I capped off the week this morning with a 16 mile run. Because I am in West Virginia, I had an interesting week running up and down mountains - I need a massage!! Next week looks very similar to this week, with a bit of a longer Saturday session - click HERE to see the training for the upcoming week. Lastly, because Sonny was such a well known West Virginian, the WV Gazette interviewed me about the Ironman effort and fund raising. Click below for several great articles that appeared about Sonny as well:
Personal perspective on Sonny - Charleston Gazette Article on Sonny in Charleston Daily Mail Article on Sonny in Charleston Gazette Article on Rob in Charleston Gazette
8/7/05 - Ahhhh.... it was nice to have a light week of training this week after 4 long weeks. It's good to do a recovery week about every 4 weeks or so. What I like to do during recovery weeks is crank UP the distance in one discipline, but significantly reduce the hours during the week in the other two. So, this past week, I worked on swimming which is my weakest event. I swam 9000 meters last week, with one session at 4000 meters - the exact distance that I will swim in the race! I backed off the biking significantly and got in one long run of 13 miles - for a total of 8 hours for the week. Next week is another barn burner with 15.5 hours of training. Additionally, I am entering the high intensity phase of training. Up to this point, I have been training almost exclusively at an aerobic heart rate (<150 beats/minute) to build base endurance. From here on out, there is a lot of high intensity training (155-175 bpm) to test my "anaerobic threshold" and get my body ready for the high demands of race day. So not only do the hours of training increase, but the intensity of each workout becomes much more challenging. Click HERE for the link to the training for this week, broken into excruciating detail!
7/25/05 - Continuing to chug along, knocking out the miles to get me ready for November. 14 hours total last week, just continuing to build base miles for some tough weeks ahead. The last 3 weeks cumulatively have been the most training hours in successive weeks that I have completed thus far. One more heavy week this week and then a very light week of recovery before increasing yet again.
7/18/05 - Whew, glad to have THAT week behind me - 16 hours total comprised of 7400 meters of swimming, 165 miles of cycling and 30 miles of running. Saturday and Sunday were heavy days and now that its 117 degrees in Phoenix, I was up at 4:30am both days to get in my workouts. The next 3 weeks are scaled back just a bit before moving up the hours. This is the way your endurance improves without risking injury of overtraining - 2 steps forward, 1 step back to recover. There's a short triathlon race this upcoming weekend in Flagstaff that I might do as another training workout. Check it out at www.mountainmanevents.com - its called the Mountain Man Triathlon on July 24.
7/13/05 - Tough week is going well although challenging to juggle work, family and training. As an example, yesterday began at 5am with a 1-hour run, 12-hour workday, then finishing with a 1-hour and 45-minute cycle from 8-10pm. At least I was able to cycle indoors on my trainer while watching the Tour de France - I felt like I was riding up the Alps with Lance!
7/5/05 - Great vacation, back to the grind! Had a good rest week with a lot of stationary bike time last week, for a total of 8.5 hours for the week, all running & biking. Will try to get in some quality swimming this week as the total workout hours this week will be roughly 12. Rode 30 miles this morning and swam 2300 meters this evening - now 10pm, 7 hours till the next workout so gotta catch some z's! Good to be home.
6/28/05 - After a rest and travel day on Saturday en route to vacation in Mexico, we arrived at our hotel to find an awesome workout facility, complete with spin bikes that I can configure to the exact geometry of my tri bike! Yesterday I got in an easy 45 minute bike followed by a 45 minute run. Even got in a bit of lifting. Today I stepped it up a bit with a high intensity 1 hour 25 minute bike followed immediately by a 40 minute run. These back-to-back workouts are called "brick" workouts and are very beneficial to teach the muscles to adapt quickly between disciplines - particularly important transitioning from bike to run. Got to find a way to get some swimming in this week, but the ocean is a bit rough so will have to play it by ear.
6/24/05 - Whew, a tough few days behind me in preparation for an upcoming light week. Over the past two days, I cycled 55 miles and ran about 18 - a total of about 6 hours. That makes 15 hours for the past 7 days - the highest training week so far. I'm getting sore thinking about it! Off to Mexico tomorrow with my wife for our first get-away in two years. I'll enjoy a light week of running/swimming to recover and then be ready to hit it hard again the following week.
6/22/05 - I've been training in earnest for about 6 weeks and am currently training 10-14 hours each week - 6-7000 meters of swimming, 100 miles or so of biking and 25 miles of running. I'll be ramping up in August and September to 15-20 hours per week. Training is quite scientific, I know specifically what I need to do each day between now and race day to be ready! I've got a couple of tough days ahead - trying to get in lots of hours before I leave for vacation - and leave my bike behind for a whole week. Yikes, won't know what to do with myself! |
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