I have had a couple of days to reflect on my Ironman journey and completion, and I am going to put some final thoughts together so I can turn my thoughts and energy towards the upcoming Marine Corps Marathon this weekend. I will be pushing Jessica Ensing with Ann Ingersoll Morin, a friend of mine from my high school days at Plymouth Area High School back in the 80's.First of all, I want to thank my wife Emily and my sons Brock and Brody for unwavering love, support and encouragement. It has become clearer and clearer to me that this journey impacts every member of the household...everybody sacrifices something and for my wife and sons they sacrificed access to my best as a father and husband...and it wasn't their choice.
This journey has been incredible, but at times I knew I was being selfish in some of my time requests. You don't just go on a 5-hour bike ride on a Saturday, you get up an hour early, prepare your food, prep and load your bike, travel, stretch and then ride 5 hours. When you come home you are exhausted and it's now 2 p.m. on a beautiful afternoon and you are too tired to mow the lawn.
The next morning, Sunday, you have a 2-hour run and you are still reeling from the ride the day before...chores go undone...games and track meets are missed.
Then you go back to work Monday...tired, mentally and physically. Nobody is getting your best effort except the mistress known as Ironman.
It's all you talk about every where you go...food, works outs, heart rates, power meters, gu, watts, thresholds, cadence, Garmin, Strava, recovery, stride, swolf, foot strike...it's a foreign vocabulary to most people...it's all consuming, but my family has tolerated what has come to be known affectionately as "The Year of Rob!" By the way, "The Year of Rob!" ends when I cross the finish line at Marine Corps Marathon on Sunday.
Other than my family, there are literally hundreds of people who represent a line in the fingerprint of my Ironman journey. If you are reading this, you are one of those people. I have tried to let each of you know in my own way, that I appreciate what you mean to me and that you have helped achieve my goal in some way. I am notorious for forgetting a critical name, so I am not going to name them all, just know that I have enjoyed meeting you all. I have laughed at you, with you, at myself. I have wept often. I have hurt my body trying to keep up with you in workouts. I have picked your brains and offered my insight and encouragement as the only currency I have to offer.
I have found new tribes...the Triathlon, Pathetics, Lake James Tri Club, Beach Vortex, Yorktown Tri Club and many more tribes...I have found open water swim groups, cycling groups, running groups and you all are, collectively, really good souls...twisted...but good souls.
This journey has helped me to define fitness as a gift that can be shared. I now, humbly share my gift of fitness through Ainsley's Angels and promoting inclusion at every opportunity. It gives my fitness a deeper purpose and has had a profoundly positive impact on my life and mindset. The people that I meet though Ainsley's Angels are of the highest quality people out there...selfless, humble, focused and driven...insanely positive.
PRE-IRONMAN – PACKET PICK UP
Arriving in Louisville, I felt like a rock star...I was in my typical Ainsley's Angels t-shirt and pink visor with a ton of wristbands to give away...which I did, in record time. I also brandished a #P on my calf so others could find me...I was blown away by the complete strangers who came up to me and introduced themselves to me and told me their story. It was an incredible experience from the start.The expo was great...the opening ceremony was great, the swim practice was great...but people made it amazing...the people I was with, the new people I met, the volunteers, the city of Louisville...world-class!
RACE DAY
Sunday morning I was ready. I had some early issues in the first few minutes with my goggles, but I got them and found my groove. Swimming is my newest sport. I have not yet been swimming for 3 years. January will be my 3 year anniversary to swimming, but I absolutely LOVE open water swimming! For me, the swim was a 1-hour and 17-minute zen moment. I came out with a lower heart rate than I went in with...it was blissful, relaxing, smooth and effortless.
I saw friends in Transition-1 and hugged them (Ann and Erika)!
Then I set out on the bike course and immediately got passed by....Ann and Erika...true story...anyway, my plan was to keep my heart rate at 130 so I would have some energy for the run. I live in Virginia Beach and we don't have a lot of hills to train on, soooooo, my heart rate would go up to 150 and occasionally 160 to get over some of the hills. It didn't occur to me to change my gearing to a granny gear so I could get over the hills with a little less effort...lesson learned. I saw friends on the course as I rode and made some more friends with a bottle of bourbon on the first loop.
The second loop is when the temperature dropped, the wind kicked up and the rain started. Luckily it only rained for a few minutes, by the wind was demoralizing. So I started singing to keep my spirits up..."got a girl from the Southside...got braids in her hair...first time I seen her walk by, 'bout fell up out my chair...body like a back road, Driving with my eyes closed, I know every curve like the back of my hand...got hips like honey...." you get the point...I sang for a solid 45 minutes.
I was pleased, not thrilled, about my bike time 7:00 hours...onto the run. I was cold now...my arms were chafing, but I felt pretty good otherwise.
I set out on the run and saw some familiar faces. I gave some hugs and high fives along the way. I am always disappointed in myself when I don't see Emily in the crowd. I know she is there, but sometimes I am so caught up in the moment that I don't see her. I was on a mission to find her in the crowd. I saw her and got to give her a kiss as I passed...I'm a lucky guy.
My plan was simple...maintain an 11-Minute pace and walk the water stops. I did relatively ok for 2/3rds of the race, but I started losing energy and had overhydrated, so now I had to use the porta potty at every aid station.
I tried to keep my emotions in check, but on two occasions I completely broke down and wept with every ounce of my soul. The first time was when Shawn Burke played Amazing Grace on his bagpipes on an impromptu request from me. And the second time was when Peter Reid rode behind me and played the Ironman song...Hall of Fame...both times were something that I will never forget.
The second half of my run was a dark lonely run. I don't yet have the vocabulary to describe my mental state and the state of my soul. It was vastly lonely on a scale I didn't know existed. The road seemed to go on forever, my legs barely moved. I imagined I was going backwards...it was a living nightmare. When I saw friends, all I could say was that I was in rough shape. I saw my shadow as I passed under the street lights and it was slumped over, beaten down, exhausted. I hated to see my shadow like that and could only imagine what I actually looked like. But I didn't give a shit, I only knew that I had to keep moving.
My friend Ann Ingersoll caught up to me and we walked for 100 yards together. When she took off to run, I could not keep up, so I encouraged her to go on. A few minutes later, Dave Goldstein from Ainsley's Angels, caught up with me and stuck by my side till the finish. He ran and I couldn't keep up so he finished a few seconds ahead of me.
Running down the red carpet, I crossed/blessed myself...then I held my forearms up...the ink had worn off, but there was a message to each of my son's to let them know I was thinking about them. The message was gone, but the gesture was not.
I intentionally put my head down to display my Ainsley's Angels visor. Inclusion is much bigger than me, so I made it a point to keep my face out of the photo and let the world know about Ainsley's Angels.
Emily caught me at the finish line. She was in tears and told me how proud of me she was. I don't remember anything else...it was all a blur....and I was an Ironman.
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