Reflections from my raceday: IMKY

I went into this race feeling fit and healthy. I felt my bike was running smoothly. I was confident in my race plan. I don't feel that the race course was a difficult one. My nutrition was solid. If things went smoothly, I don't think a 13hr race was out of the question.

The reality of ironman is that none of that matters. Ironman doesn't care.

The anticipation of swimming into a current without a wet suit in 84 degree water is worse then the reality. It is a slower swim, but no more difficult if you train for a swim of this distance.

The bike course is really ideally suited for my training enviroment. the first and last 12 miles are flat and very easy to spin through. I was never challenged during the bike. My problems came from a preventable equipment issue. I am solely responsible to have my bike ready to race. I considered swapping out the chain. I decided not to. I gambled and lost.
The heat was ending a lot of races during the bike. I saw many camped beneath the trees.

The run course was mostly flat. There was decent shade through most of the run. This could be a fast course, but Sunday was the hottest day I have seen this summer. It was destroying people. Ambulances and med crews were busy.

The heat was the element of IMKY '08 that made this race so difficult. My race plan was skewed by my failure to replace worn equipment.

Ultimately I am very satisfied with my Ironman experiance. I feel my year prepared me well for the obsticals I faced. My spirit was shaken and tested. I overcame everything and pushed myself as hard as my body would allow.

During Ironman we face some dark moments. You not only feel weak and vulnerable, you are weak and vulnerable. Ironman will deal its hand, and you will play it. The strongest fail. This is not an easy race. Ironman is where we face our demons. No matter how close you may be to the finish, it is never guanteed. But once you step over that finishline, nothing else matters. You did it.
For me, I had to pay a cost for my finish. I was done with ironman, but ironman wasn't done with me. I dared to defy all that ironman had dealt me. This was a race I should not have finished, but I would not stand down. I crossed that finish line despite all the struggles I had this year. But it came at such a cost physically, mentally, spiritually and emotionally that when I finished I was absolutely spent and had to literally be revived by the help of others.

As I regained consciousnes and was able think more clearly, I found my self to be very happy. I had an awareness that I had lacked recently. I was not happy because I had crossed a finish line. I was happy because I was alive. I had come through some very dark struggles, and I was still alive.
I came to this race not to see how far or fast I could go. I came to this race to see how deep I could dig. I dug as deep as I could. For me, Ironman is a spiritual journey. I got what I came for.

It was a great race.