I'm a new man. I LOVE running. If you knew me in my previous life of Ironman training, you'd know that I simply endured running back then. What has turned me around? I got fed up with inconsistent results, injuries, and I received a lot of encouragement from my friends. Those guys never give up on me!
The Build Up to Swampers (April 27)
About five weeks out from Swampers 5k I asked my friend, Chris Borden (http://twobordens.blogspot.com/) to write a training plan for me. I decided that my A-races for 2013 would be The Stump Jump 50k trail run and the Pensacola Marathon, so he started me on a base build as follows:
4 weeks to Swampers (this date was April 1)
4 runs this week.
2x30' aerobic
1x45' aerobic
1x60' aerobic
5 runs next week
2x30' aero
2x45' aero
1x60' aero
6 runs week 3
2x30'
4x50'
Race week:
Monday
30' EZ-aerobic
Tuesday
20' aerobic
Then 4x (2' 1 mile race pace, 2'ez) 10' EZ-aero
Wed-off*email me here for race strategy
Thursday - 30' aero with 3-4x20-30" strides. Stop when you feel good.
Friday-off
Saturday-
WU ~ 10-20' EZ building to aero with 3-4x20-30"strides, stop when you feel good
Swampers
CD-10' EZ
I followed this plan religiously.
About a week before the race I realized I would have a real, honest to goodness race strategy. Up until then I didn't think I would have enough running under my belt to even worry about it. I just figured I would run it as best I could then use that time to establish beginner training paces. The interesting thing about my training leading up to Swampers was that I wasn't given hard and fast paces I had to hold for prescribed durations, rather I was given only two paces, Easy and Aerobic. These were described as EASY feeling really easy and AEROBIC still being able talk. On Wednesday before the race, as noted above, I received my race strategy and nervously read it. I printed it out and carried it with me in my lunch cooler. I'd pull it out whenever I had an extra moment to look at it and make sure what I was rolling through my head was correct.
Race Day
Race day rolled around and I followed my strategy from warm-up to race as closely as I could. Chris had told me my legs would feel out of sorts, but don't let it faze me, it was normal. Sissy and Emma were running the race too so I was pretty excited about that as well. At the starting line I gave them high-fives and we threw up our Marshes. When the gun sounded people in thongs ran past me. Haha...just kidding! I watched throngs of people run past me. As they did, I wondered which ones I'd catch and which ones I wouldn't. It wasn't long before some of the more overzealous began falling behind me. A few minutes into the race I saw Sissy running too hard trying to keep up with her friend. I told her to chill out on the front end and finish strong then I ran on. The rest of the run went as planned. I followed my paces and ran the race lines not the curbs. It was nice running a smart race and not blowing myself up by outrunning my fitness. I was, however, incredibly surprised at how fast my friend Jimmy had gotten. It took me until about mile 2.9-3.0 to run him down and pass him. Holy frijoles that dude has improved...hats off to you, my friend! I made my pass on him right toward the end and hung on to make it stick. I finished at 22:40...that's a PR for me on a sponsored run!!!
Emma and Sissy PRed their runs too. Sissy won her age group (female 9-10) with a 27:05 and Emma at 30:06. Great job girls! You're doing the Marsh name proud!
Week of April 29
My training for this week looks like 3x50', 2x30' and 1x90' runs all at aerobic pace. I still haven't done any speed work other than some striders in the days leading up to Swampers and according to the plan for the next four weeks, I won't have any til the week of May 20. Thus far in the week, I've done two 50' runs. My average pace has been 9:05 and 9:07 both days.
The next 5k on my radar is the Loretto 5k in Loretto, TN on July 4. I hear the course is flat, fast and conducive to PRs!! I can't wait...see ya there!
I was a traditional stick and ball athlete growing up. I played all three major sports at one point or another in my life. I had an older cousin who went on to play professional baseball that I idolized. Therefore, baseball was always my favorite sport. Honestly though, I never really loved the game. I loved playing the game, but I never really got the mental side of it. I think I just liked it because it required a mix of skill and athleticism. Not really understanding the subtle nuances of the game left me discouraged and never completely hooked by it. Ultimately, I really just wanted to be the next great Marsh in the family. I worshipped my cousin and I wanted the notoriety of being really good at something too.
My cousin Tommy with our little girls (Emma and
Maddie) at the family reunion in Townsend, TN 2002
Fast forward to when I'm grown. It's the spring of 2006, I'm 33, I've taken a job as a math teacher at Florence High School, I'm no longer coaching and have been going to the gym to work out. I absolutely hate lifting weights and running on a treadmill, but this is what I think being fit is all about. I keep thinking to myself, "If I don't find something that's fun where fitness is a by-product of the "play", I'll never stick with this." So, I'm in a spin class one Thursday afternoon and I overhear the instructor (someone who turned out to be a good friend and very instrumental in my development as a triathlete) and another guy (someone else who became a tri-friend) discussing an upcoming triathlon. I thought to myself, "I'm gonna start doing triathlons." I had no idea then what an Ironman was and didn't even own a bike. My plan was to use an old steel 10-speed my father had bought at a yard sale as my bike.
Before I tell about my 2012 experience at Ironman Florida (IMFL), I want to say if the me from 2006 could sit at a table with the 2x Ironman finisher me, I would be so intimidated by myself and feel completely insecure being around myself, much the same way the 2x IM finisher me feels around better triathletes. One thing I've learned from all this, is that my self-perception hasn't really changed. I still feel like a sad sack of a guy struggling for acceptance and validation...crazy, huh?
HiWAAY Sprint 2006. Just realized I wore my bib on the swim :-/
2012 Ironman Florida (15:56:11)
I completed 2011 IMFL (12:56) as a promise to myself and as a memorial to my father who was supposed to be there to watch me (he died Valentine's Day 2010). I had several friends who were down there either racing or volunteering. I had trained with some of those friends for '11 IMFL and together with some new faces we would train together throughout the year for IMFL '12. The next morning after '11 IMFL, in a state of euphoria, I re-upped for 2012. My friends who'd volunteered: Glen, Chris, and Emily signed up as well.
For this year's race, I'll just say I decided to incorporate a lot of bad decisions into my preparation and race.
This is what it feels like to try to explain an Ironman
to a non-triathlete
Early Season Training
I spent the early part of 2012 working on my run. It's always been my achilles heel. If triathlons had just been swim, bike, smoke BBQ, I'd be the man. They're not <insert sad face>.
(ASIDE: Don't get me wrong, I love to run/race. I just never liked running for a long time. My idea of running was smoking you in a sprint and then climbing a tree 3 minutes later. I never imagined running for minutes on end, let alone hours. The whole distance thing has been hard to wrap my mind around.)
Overall, my training in 2012 was better than 2011 until the last two months prior to IMFL. I can't quite put my finger on why, but the wheels came off for me mentally. I was no longer able to marshal my strength to train. It's embarrassing, discouraging, and frustrating all at the same time. I'm an emotional person, so I gotta think the reason lies somewhere therein. The rest of my training was pretty laid back...I had some good bikes and a few relaxing open water swims.
Thursday/Friday Pre-race
Thursday: Lisa (my current wife) and I drove down Thursday and got there about 3:30 p.m. Glen was going to stay with us, so Lisa texted the room number at Shores of Panama and the code to get in the door. She gave him a room number that didn't have a keypad on the door. Needless to say, he couldn't get in, so he napped at another friend's condo.
It was getting mid afternoon by the time we rolled into town, so the chick and I headed over to my favorite seafood restaurant in PCB, J. Michael's. I had seafood gumbo and a dozen raw oysters. We left there and went to the Boardwalk to athlete check in. After check in I scoped all the tri pron at the expo, took note of all the bodies that looked superior to mine and wondered which Kenny would show up race day. As the afternoon slowly passed, the bright sunshine gave way to a beautiful sunset and we started making plans for the night.
That evening we met up at Pineapples Willy's with Shawn and his family. We talked a little about the race and some of the other races we've done; what strategy we should employ, predicting Chris' time and ours, and just trying to stay loose. After some fireworks I scored some leftover nachos and a Coke. We left Pineapple Willy's and headed up to our condo to turn in for the night.
Glen and me at Pineapple Willy's
Friday: I got up to drink my coffee on the balcony. Lisa was still asleep and as I waited on Chris and Emily to finish their bike so we could all hit the water for a swim, I was texting with Emma. I told her how nervous I was and wished she and Sissy were with me because their presence calms and focuses me. She responded with the words I've told her hundreds of times before her swims. That I couldn't be tough if I wasn't tough between my ears.
Sweet text from baby girl!
By the time we met up for the swim Front Beach Rd was getting packed. I was texting with Chris asking where he and Emily were and he said they were parked in the place they'd parked every time they came to an event in PCB. I saw them and pulled in beside them. Immediately a lady comes out of a house from across the street in a night gown and slippers to tell us we couldn't park there because she had workers coming later in the day to do some work, otherwise it would've been fine. It would turn out later that Glen would be able to park there no problem due to this lady's strong affinity for his masculinity and pity for his mortality.
Glen's favorite parking lady
Once we got parked we made our way to the beach for the swim. It was uneventful other than the initial shock of how salty the ocean tastes to me every time I swim for the first time each trip. I love swims though. They're peaceful and it's one of the few places I'm forced to be quiet and just think as opposed to what I normally do, speak then think. We did a 20-min swim and kept up with each other the rest of the day through our super awesome group text.
Glen hung with Lisa and me the rest of the day. We ate brunch at Andy's Flour Power Cafe and Bakery and then I took Lisa and Glen on a tour of the run course, so they could pop up at various points of the run to cheer for us. Once we made our way around the run course, we headed to Wal-Mart. I wanted to rent some movies and chill the rest of the day and Glen wanted to pick up some supplies. As he and I were walking in, he asked me if it was ok to have an open beer in Wal-Mart. Not being exactly sure, I reasoned since PCB was always wild in my memory and he was over 21 it must be okay, so I told him, "I suppose so. You're over 21 and it's about like a 10-year old having a Coke." I only found out later there was an open container law there (something I'm not terribly familiar with anyway). Glen was trying to check himself out in the self-checkout line and must not have been having much success. I really couldn't tell because as I went to my own self-checkout two triathletes (they stand out like flashing beacons when they show up in towns en masse for a race) acted indignant that I got to it first. I really wasn't trying to race them and only saw them, peripherally, as I walked up to it. I didn't care though, they'd probably beat my time, so I was taking a victory where I could. By the way, they had bottles of Perrier and long sleeve turtle neck running shirts on...it was 80 that day. As I turned my attention back to Glen, luckily, a benevolent cashier rescued him from the self-checkout line and hurried us out the door before a manager noticed Glen. I don't remember her name, but we both really liked her.
I rented four movies, A Thousand Words, High School, The Avengers, and Act of Valor. Although three movies played, we only managed to watch two of them: The Avengers and Act of Valor. Act of Valor was a shock to my psyche...I questioned the purpose of something as recreational as Ironman when men were giving all they had to create a society where I can play triathlete. It was hard to take The Avengers seriuosly as a movie after that. I took an ambien and went to bed.
IMFL Race Morning
I woke around 4 a.m. and not long after that Glen banged on the door for us not to worry about waking him up, that he was already awake. It startled me on one hand and made me laugh on the other.
I drank my coffee and an Ensure Plus, then had some more coffee. I meant to eat a PB/nutella flapover also, but I got nervous and fritted away my time. So, I headed to body marking about 5:50 a.m. As Lisa and I walked down Front Beach Rd, I commented on how my legs felt tired already.
Lisa carried my Run Special Needs bag to Alvin's Island and I made my way to the beach. She was a real savior for me throughout the trip. When I forgot my OJ, she went to the store and got me more. When I needed anything, she was there. High fives for her!
I made it to the beach and found Chris, Emily and Shawn. The crowd seemed a lot larger than last year and we couldn't find family/friends, so I volunteered to sweep the beach quickly and bring them back...easier said than done. I lost everyone and only after a few minutes did I find Shawn again. A few minutes later we found Lisa. She snapped this pic right before we entered the starting chute.
Shawn and me pre swim
The Swim (1:16:54)
There isn't much to say about the swim except that I got the motivation to do the blog during the swim. As my face was in the water and I was forced to think instead of speak, I imagined what I might talk about. Luckily, I have Chris' blog to draw on for ideas.
Ironman swim starts are brutal. Nothing quite captures its brutality as well as this old Clif Bar commercial.
One of my favorite YouTube videos
During the swim, I worked on what I called a blocking stroke. After getting severely pummeled last year (the YouTube video doesn't lie), I was determined to protect my face and all my pink parts. I managed to do this pretty well, was only a few minutes slower than last year and came out of the water determined to cut my T1 time down. I was feeling confident.
T1 (8:28)
The Bike
I had ridden the silver bike throughout 2012 training and the year before for IMFL '11. Then I decided it would be a good decision to ride the bike in the second pic...Glen's bike.
My body was used to over 2,300 miles on my bike. To complicate the whole muscle memory thing, I didn't ride Glen's bike AT ALL until the picture on the right was taken. I reasoned Glen and I were the same size and he'd been professionally fitted to his bike, so it would fit me, right? This conclusion went against all I knew and had even said in the months leading up to race day. Within 200 meters I recognized this bike didn't feel right. By 500 meters, I felt discomfort. As one mile clicked over on my Garmin it said 3:26, I knew I'd made a huge mistake using a different bike.
The things about Glen's bike that didn't fit me were: 1. the nose of the saddle was pointed up more than I was used to, 2. the saddle was too low, and 3. the top tube felt too short to me. About 15 miles into the ride, Shawn pedaled up to me and we talked for a couple of minutes and he went on. Right before he pedaled away, I said if he stopped anywhere, I needed his multitool to adjust my saddle. He told me to ask someone stopped on the side of the road, so I began looking for someone who was stopped and working on their bike. I saw a couple of people in the ensuing minutes, but decided against stopping to use theirs for one reason or another. I finally decided I'd ask the next person I saw. Guess who it was? You betcha! Shawn! He was on the side of the road with a flat. It was only his second flat ever (his first was on Redman IM length tri a few years earlier) and he was struggling getting his tube changed. After using his tool to adjust my saddle and helping him change his tube, about 20 minutes had passed. I still wasn't worried though as I was ahead of my pace from last year.
Somewhere around mile 40 I peed and immediately got a bad headache. I can't explain the correlation, I can only say it happened. By the time I hit the turn around spur my head was pounding. The expansion joint like cracks in the asphalt only intensified my misery. I was really beginning to doubt my ability and desire to continue, much less finish, the race. Still, I kept pedaling.
Five minutes before the Special Needs turn around, I took my last sip of my first nutrition bottle (a concoction of maltodextrin, Optimum Gold Vanilla Whey protein, salt and OJ). I slowed down in the Special Needs area and quickly exchanged my bottles (less than 30") and was again pedaling at 13 mph on the medieval road surface. It was as fast as I could tolerate. At the end of the rough pavement I rode through an aid station, by this time I'd gotten good at grabbing water, dumping it in the aero bottle and discarding the bottle in under 20 seconds. Ten minutes beyond the aid station and my alarm on my Garmin sounded that it was time to take a sip from my new nutrition bottle. Immediately my mouth was telling me something wasn't right. Somehow my nutrition had soured. I'd been using this for months and had never had this happen. I took a few more tastes to make sure my tongue wasn't deceiving me and finally decided I couldn't drink it and poured the rest of it out. The sips I'd taken were now making me dry heave, and if I couldn't drink it, I sure wasn't going to carry useless weight. For the next 45 minutes I had no nutrition and fought abdominal distress/cramps. When I finally made it into the next aid station I was hurting badly. I grabbed whatever nutrition I could without dropping too many calories at once on my stomach and continued. The rest of the ride was a blur of misery and a strong desire to quit. Still, I kept pedaling.
As the ride was ending, and I turned onto Thomas Drive, a guy that looked to be 50 pulled up beside me and started talking. At first I just listened, but he kept talking, so I gave one-word replies. He was getting on my nerves though. Every female that he saw he made comments on how big their "titties" were, where the local strip joints were, how we'd been whipped by a lot of females, how women didn't beat men 50 years ago, or some other amoeba-esque topic. When I looked at him, I noticed how bad his teeth looked and I thought less of him. As he kept talking he told me how he'd wrecked his bike 6 weeks earlier and had knocked out his teeth. I didn't like him any better for it. He was the kind of guy I normally want to pedal off and leave, but I was hurting, so when he pedaled away from me, I didn't do anything except pedal slower. With mercy his presence and the bike portion ended.
7:01:52 bike time
T2 (4:35)
The Run
I hit the run with restrained optimism. I had 4:30 to do this run and finish as fast as I had the year before.I knew this run course better than I know the local 5k courses in my area. As I came out of T2, I saw Lisa standing with Emily (I wondered how far she'd made it into the race and was glad I never actually stopped to wait on her on the bike) and Chris' parents. This is the best pic Lisa got of me as I started the run.
Looking stronger than I was
The first mile or so I remembered Glen saying he wouldn't even worry about running a 10' pace. I was content to employ this strategy. By mile 2, I was already feeling the need to walk some. My day was suddenly looking worse. As the course made its way through the neighborhoods and to St. Andrews State Park, I was increasingly struggling. Mile 3, mile 4, mile 5, etc. all passed by so slowly. I watched my pace go from 9-9:30 to 20+. By the run turn around I was looking for race officials to call uncle. I seriously wanted to end my day. From the turn around I made it back to the aid station that was right before it. On first trip through I'd been asked if I was okay and I replied, "Yes." This time, as I stood there, I was thinking how odd that I could feel so much worse in less than a half of a mile. This time a lady asked me if I was okay and I said, "No." She directed me to sit down and started giving me chicken broth and cookies. She kept commenting on about how I wasn't sweating. I thought, "Duh, it's becuase I'm moving so slowly, I can't sweat." I didn't say that though, I just said thank you for her help and sat there. The next time she asked me how I was I said, "I don't think I'm going to finish" she went from motherly to stern and told me, "Yes, you are! You have til midnight. Just walk and you'll make it!" So, I kept moving.
On the way back in, I think I hurt worse than I ever have, save when I was running with a ruptured disc. I met a guy named Eric who is coached by E3 Trivolution in Huntsville/Birmingham. As we walked, I saw Shawn going out on the last 1/3 of the run. He was walking too and it appeared his foot was hurting him again. We exchanged encouragements and kept walking in our own direction. I was really enjoying talking to Eric and asking him about E3, but it was time for him to run and I was alone again. The rest of the way back in to the run midpoint people kept telling me, "You're almost there, just keep moving." I didn't tell them it was my first lap, I just said thank you and kept moving. At one point random spectator guy offered me salt tablets. I didn't even question if I needed them, I just took all five of them.
As I neared the end of the first 13.1, I'd made up my mind I was done. Mile 11 and 12 were spent thinking about how I could go to Five Guys and get a bacon cheeseburger and french fries. Yep, I'd finally made peace with my decision. I was done. Something began to change my mind though. As I was somewhere around mile 12.5, I could see finishers walking away with their shirts and medals. Then it hit me: I wouldn't be a finisher if I didn't FINISH. Still, I was hurting and ok with pulling the plug on my day. I could see Alvin's Island where we turn around to go back out for our second lap. At the same time I saw Lisa cheering for me I realized if I stopped, I'd have to tell the girls I'd quit. I've preached NEVER QUIT to them from the time they were old enough to toddle race. I just couldn't quit. No matter how ugly my day had been, I just COULDN'T QUIT! I began begging ibuprofen/acetaminophen from anyone that would give it to me. I didn't know if I'd make it in before time was up, but I told Lisa I'd be swept from the course before I'd quit. I'd made up my mind to finish so, I kept moving.
Feeling rough at the turn around
Not long after I started back out on my second loop, I was making myself run in spite of how I felt. Before I made mile 14, I was running past two ladies discussing how they could continue walking at this pace and make the finish before midnight. Yes, that's how slow my run was. I stopped and asked them if they were sure their numbers were right and when they enthusiastically replied yes, I told them I was going to finish with them. Never one to meet a stranger, I quickly made new friends Stacy and Ashley.
Over the course of the remainder of the race we mixed in some jogging and walking and a ton of talking. When we made it back to the run turn around I gave the lady that'd been giving me chicken broth and cookies a hug and told her thank you for encouraging me to continue and that yes, I was going to FINISH.
Stacy and Ashley turned out to be such a huge boost for my morale. There's not much to say about how bad I felt the rest of the race because the conversation and company was a welcome distraction. Their spirit was infectious and lifted me out of misery. We talked about just about everything, but mainly food. Five Guys, french fries, beer and pork skins. I told them about how my girls were great competitors and how sweet they were, how good Lisa had been to help me out with every thing I'd forgotten, the awesome kids I teach at school and what a great feeling it was to know I was going to finish and be a 2x Ironman finisher! This was their first Ironman and I was equally happy to see them persevere and finish theirs as well. As we made it to the FINISHERS chute we all lined up for our finish. I wend through and then a couple of seconds later, they went through together. My day was finally done, I hadn't given in to quitting and after all my moving, I could finally STOP!!!
Yay! I made it!
My biggest fan!
7:24:22 run time
Final Thoughts
IMFL '12 was so much harder than IMFL '11. There are a lot of reasons, almost all the result of bad/poorly thought out decisions and bad execution. Still, I consider it to be a truer example of what Ironman embodies, and that is the will to compete, never quit, and give what you've got to achieve a goal. I'm proud of each finish for different reasons: 2011 because it was my first and I was carrying my family name forth, 2012 because I had to dig deeper than I imagined I could just to finish the race. Although I was as miserable as I could've been at times during the race, there is a certain addiction that occurs from experiencing catharsis and I can't wait to do another Ironman!
The race isn't always as glorious, but the finish feels
just as good!!!
When I lose my desire to keep moving, I'll know my spirit is waning.
Last morning on the balcony before we left for home
