Dedication
I dedicated this race to Collette's Dad, Tom who is recovering from back surgery.  And to Kaschmir, a long time companion who left us recently. She is missed.

Results:
13:18:09
Just another tough day.

Pre-Race
Not to make excuses, but I have been nursing back problems on the bike all winter. I recently switched bike frames which fixed all the back problems, but I did miss a lot of bike mileage.

Spent the week leading up to the race trying to relax and mentally prepare. Short workouts on each day just to try and keep the blood flowing.  Drove to Oceanside on Wednesday to register and pick up my race bags.  Drove down again on Friday to drop off my bike and attend a mandatory meeting. Up at 3am Saturday morning and on the road by 4:30.  Took a while to park and we walked a ways to get to the race site as the line for the busses was way too long.  Did my last minute preparations, got my wetsuit on and headed towards the water at 6:45.  Didn't get to the water until 7:55 as there was a long line on the boat ramp.  Warmed up a little and waited for the start. Kaboom with the artillery cannon. The worlds largest starting gun.

Swim 1:03:39
The water was much warmer this year than last. I still wore a new wetsuit hat to keep me warmer. The mass start was total chaos. It took until 1.5 miles before I felt like I wasn't fighting for position and being pounded from both sides.  The two turn around buoys were crazy. Like swimming with piranha. I did swallow about five gulps of sea water on the swim.  Not the best way to start out a long day.  I took it easy most of the swim and just tried to maintain a decent pace. I've really cut back on my swimming this season.  My time is about 8 minutes slower than I can do if I swim a lot, but 8 minutes can be made up easily on the bike and run.  I consider it a good trade of as swimming was cutting into my run training.  A 1:03 is a great time considering how little I swam this year.

Bike 6:16:07
The first half of the bike was 2:56, the second was 3:19.  A 2:56 for the first lap was awesome considering I was just hoping to finish in around 6 hours.

I headed out on the bike course and felt great for the first 30 miles. Not pushing too hard, trying to maintain a good pace.  I took my computer off my bike and left my watch at home. Watches and computers just seem to add too much anxiety. I liked not having a clock on me. It made the day more enjoyable. No more clocks on long races.

Mile 30 was the first test. The biggest hill on the course.  Just about 50 feet up the hill I knew it was going to be a long day.  No legs. No problem I tell myself, I can do this. Even though deep down inside, I knew it was going to be a long day. I made it up the hill, but it was way too much work and there were a lot more hills to come, then I get to do the bike course a second time.  The bike course is a double loop.

The marine aid stations on the back side of the course are awesome. The quality of the volunteers and the aid stations are better than anywhere else I have ever raced. Nothing has been close to the quality of the race organization. If you ever do an official Ironman race, you are in good hands.

My stomach was starting to get upset by mile 40. It continued to plague me the entire race. Acid stomach.  I took some medicine a few weeks before the race for the back pain and it really messed up my stomach. I thought it had cleared up last week, but this was the same thing I had been dealing with the last few weeks.

At mile 45 we start heading back towards the beach.  A stiff wind in our face.  I'm used to the head winds as my local ride to the beach always has a head wind.  I like that a lot better than the hills.

I made it back to the beach, saw Collette and the family. Gave her a smile and a thumbs up. I picked up a sandwich (PB&J) out of my special needs bag and headed out for the second loop. I was thinking maybe the sandwich will help calm my stomach.  It didn't.

One thing is going really well!  No back pain! Not a touch.  I changed bike frames about two months ago and am now riding a Softride. I love it, you barely feel the road.

The only thing significant that happened on the second loop was not something I want to see again. Coming up to a giant downhill decent, there was a military police car at the top and he says there is a "really bad accident" at the bottom of the hill and tells me to take it slow.  He tells the person behind me too.  I ride my brakes all the way down.  This is a very steep hill. You could easily make it to 50mph. Coming towards the bottom, there is another MP putting out flares and trying to figure out how to divert the bike traffic.  I see someone down on the ground with a blanket over them.  When I get closer, I get a sinking feeling and see that the blanket is all the way over them.  They also put a blanket over the bike. That gave me something to think about for the rest of the day. Puts life and racing in a whole new perspective.

Last year, Coke really helped fix my stomach when I felt sick on the run.  I picked up some Coke in the last few aid stations and tried them.  It didn't help.

As I came in off the bike, a volunteer came running up to take my bike. The only thing was, I like to lean my bike over to get my leg over the bar to get off.  When I try to push, the volunteer pushed back. It was a bit of a comedy. I finally push really hard and quickly flip my leg over the bike. Wasn't expecting to have to work to get off of my bike.  As she is pushing back on the bike I kind of spin around to keep my balance.  When I'm done doing a twirl, I look up and there is a camera in my face. "Any comments on the bike course?"  "Windy and hilly".  I head into the transition are to change.

Run
I ran fine for the first two miles and finally my stomach wants to explode. I'm reduced to walking. I try a little coke at one of the transition area.  It doesn't help.  At the next aid station, I ask for some coke that isn't flat. The other coke I got had been sitting on the table for a while.  They pour me a cup directly from the bottle.  It doesn't help either.  At mile 6, I chew on some ice chips.  I'm able to burp (sorry to be gross, I don't know how else to phrase it?) and start running again.  I ran most of the way back to the 13 mile turn around.  A fine torture device the 13 mile turn around is.  You can see the finish line just 100 yards away and have to turn around and head back out for another 13 miles. I see the clock. 10:08 as I turn around.  Calculations in my head.  I can do a 2 hour 13 mile run with no problem.  If I can do that, it would be a 12:08, a PR.  My best is 12:30 at vineman in 1999.  I tell myself I'm going to run the last 13 miles.  I made it 2 miles and my stomach is going crazy again.  I run walk most of the way to the final turn at mile 18. I was able to run most of the way back to the finish.  It was a beautiful sunset from the Oceanside boardwalk.

Lately I've been running better than ever.  My run has never been stronger. I'm in the best run shape I have ever been in.  It makes the results all the harder to understand.

Finish
Even after all the difficulty and disappointment I was feeling on the run, there is nothing like finishing an Ironman.  It cannot be described.  You'll just have to see for yourself.  Worth every second of the long day and the countless hours training.

Post Race
At least I beat last years time.  There is some improvement.

A hot shower!  Larry tells me the beach showers have hot water. I head out to find my dry gear bag and head for the shower. Sure enough, hot water. Not quite as satisfying as the finish line, but a close second for the entire day!

Pizza.  I was craving pizza on the run.  We went to Spanky's Pizza in down town Oceanside.  The home of the 28" pizza.  It was huge!  A great place to eat if you visit Oceanside.

Summary

01:03:39 - Swim	A good swim
00:04:34 - T1	Fast!
06:16:07 - Bike	Acceptable
00:03:19 - T2	Acceptable
05:50:32 - Run	Disappointing

Lessons Learned
It's been 24 hours since the race ended and I'm still a little confused.  Shouldn't this stuff get easier? If it were easy everyone would do it...right? Could I have dug any deeper? What's the deal with my wimpy stomach? I've been doing a lot of soul searching to try and figure out what went wrong or just to accept that this race distance is just a really long way and just finishing is a success.  I'm leaning towards the later and not accepting that anything specific went wrong.

In the back of my head is the thought that a 3 mile run I did on Tuesday was too hard. No more hard (race pace) runs the week before the race.

Larry asked me shortly after the race if I was going to sign up for next year.  I responded that I wasn't sure.  After more thought, I decided I am going to sign up again. I'm also going to weight train this year to help prevent injury and back problems that have plagued me.

It's a long race, finishing is reward enough.

Thanks and such
To Janet:  In my race gear I received a coupon for a free 1/2 gallon of ice cream at Ralphs. You in for next year?

To the fan club and crew:  Thanks everyone for coming out for the day and cheering me on all day. In no particular order:  Be, Bud, Collette, Dad, Elle, George, Helen, Hunter, Jane, Larry, Mom, Newton.

To Collette:  You're the best.  Thanks for being there all day. You inspire me.

© 2001 W. Wood Harter - All Rights Reserved