November 25, 2019, at the age of 46, is the first Ironman-brand distance full-triathlon I raced in. I've done another full "ironman" distance triathlon when I did The Goliath. But, then I was signed up for the Goliath in 2018 but I had my knee injury and was unable to do that a second time, and The Goliath 2019 race was cancelled. So, this would be only my 2nd Ironman full-distance 140.3 race. I was really excited to do this race with my brother, Don. Don also brought a friend from NV whose name was Whitney Thatcher. They were training buddies. I had high hopes of doing well, but my worst fear was realized. I got super sick the previous two weeks before the race. I typically never get sick, but I was so sick I could not even get out of bed. I thought I was actually going to have to pull out of the race just due to the inability to drive. I literally was drained of any energy that my body was capable of producing. I had high hopes beforehand of coming in and doing around an 11 hr to 11:30 hr pace. But, by the time I got to the starting line I realized that those hopes were unrealistic and that I'd be ecstatic just to finish. Flu and strep throat were the culprits. I never get sick like that. I was soooo sad!!😞 But, I paid $1000 for this race and there was no way I was going to be deprived of doing this. I was just going to have to get through the pain and body aches. This would be a tough battle!!
I got out of the water after 1 hr 20 minutes which is what I expected with the way I was feeling. A few good throw-up sessions after getting on land and then I was good to go for the bike. It seems I throw up a lot after open water swims. I even took the motion sickness meds, but the combination of flu-like symptoms and open water swimming put me over the edge. The bike was respectable for me. 112 miles at 6:22. Not bad, but I did not have the power to go faster with the lack of energy. The marathon was the biggest disappointment. I really thought I'd be around a 3:30-3:45ish marathon, but no way. Not even close. 4 hr 27 minutes. This whole race I was so disappointed from being sick. The flu had literally drained any energy from me and the life out of me. I had paid $1000 for the entry fee to participate only to be sicker than I'd ever had been in my whole life. But, I was proud of my effort for the way I was feeling. This was one of those races I just had to gut it out and not care about the end result. I had to do the race for the love and respect of the sport, and to do it with my "little bro". I had to do it. I wanted to finish that finish line and hear those words, "Dennis, You are an Ironman!" I have done so many races over these past 10 years. I had only been dreaming of hearing those words come out of Mike Reilly's mouth, the voice of Ironman. I had so much joy inside when crossing that line. I indeed became a true Ironman that day even though the time would not reflect it. Finish time...12 hours 32 minutes 44 seconds. A respectable time. I am super proud of Donald. He finished with a time of 10 hours 38 minutes 26 seconds. Almost a full 2 hours ahead of me. Way to go, bro! That is such an amazing time. He was in great shape for this one. He was so happy with his results. My only wish is that I could have been there by his side. Lesson from this race...Life is challenging and hard at times. We have the capacity to overcome and become more than we can be on our own. The dream of becoming an "Ironman" got me through this one. We can all do hard things and we can do more than we think we can. So much of effort is mental. Future Ironmans will be there, and the results will be better. But, through this gut-wrenching effort, I KNOW I can do it!!
No comments:
Post a Comment