IM Arizona Race Report

Rod Haws 4/17/2008

Editors note: This was the first IM for the four TriRacers who raced. The temperature was 90 degrees with winds in the 20s gusting to 35ish. Because of the conditions this race had the third highest drop out race in IM history.

Nelson called me tonight and told me to write my race report while it was still fresh in my mind. I thought it would be more colorful after a bottle of 2000 Woodbridge Chardonnay. Your comments would be appreciated to let me know if my expectations are correct. I have nothing to hide behind my lycra tri clothing, so you know what I am telling you is the truth.

The taper is one of the most difficult parts of the training. I felt fat, Nelson felt aches and Jass felt like he needed to do more, and he did more than anybody. The mind messes with you like that. I felt eerily calm before the race. I didn't have to pee or poop. Like normal. Although when David and Shawn were around me in the water I did pee a couple of times. I thought my essence might surround them and bring us all a little closer. Or something like that. I felt better anyway. The water was cold, 68 or so, and there were a lot of people around us. My essence was around them too. It was great. I thought, here I am. There's nothing else I can do. We've trained and this is it. It was great because we signed up for this a year ago and this is finally happening. Joe Robinson "Ironman Joe" said to me," Don't have any regrets. If you want to do an ironman you can do it." Those words had a huge impact on me. Joe might not remember saying them. But I heard them loud and clear. The day started out great it was beautiful. I was ready to get this puppy started. Let me tell you, if your freaked out by 600 yards all laid out in front of you ,you should see 2.4 miles. My kids couldn't see the end of the swim until we took them to Target and they said hey there's a red buoy. It's a long ways.

We thought the swim started where we got in the water, wrong. The start line for the swim was farther away than a sprint distance swim. Nelson, Jass and I where at the front of the swim. Nelson belonged there, but Jass, and I were a little bit worried. Guess what, it didn't frikin matter. I got beat up. Jass, and Nelson got beat up and that's the way it is. One guy by us was saying he didn't want any trouble from anybody and said we should all play nice. He was probably the worst. Nelson and Jass are lover's, so they weren't used to all the combat in the beginning. As for me I'm a fighter. I was in my element.

I loved the calm feeling before the cannon went off, but when it did go off it got ugly. Nobody played nice. The woman were the meanest. The swim overall was relaxing and somewhat soothing except for the rub on my neck from the wetsuit. I got punched, kicked and slapped for one and a half hours, but we all agreed it was still the best leg of the day. They have these people called "peelers" to take your suit off which is great. They used to be called strippers, but you can see why they changed the name. To many bad jokes. Leaving the water I heard a faint beeping noise which was my heart rate monitor telling me I had exceeded my 150 limit I had told myself I wasn't going to go over. The bike was next. We had put everything in bags for each transition. Grabbed my bag, changed, and was on the road. The transition didn't have the same urgency for me as other triathlons. I knew I was going to be there for a while so I took my time, made sure I had all my stuff, took a breath and left. I didn't see David or Shawn but I figured they would catch up with me sometime in the run so I wasn't worried.

Within the first 200 yards I knew this was going to be a long day. The wind was howling and it was right in our face. Before the race we figured each half loop was like going to Cambridge. So I had an idea of distance and I didn't like it. Within the first 20 minutes there was a stretch where there was a crosswind, and I thought I saw something but didn't know what it was. As I got closer I could tell. You gotta be kidding me, a tumbleweed the size of my bike come rolling across the road. I thought that would be a good story but it missed me. The bike was a gradual incline with mild winds forecasted. That's what a girl said on the shuttle. The winds were at least 35 mph and it was hot. Laser hot. It was so hot that the precious drops of Rod juice my body produces to keep my core temperature down were evaporating before they had a chance to do their job. I later figured out to keep dumping one water bottle on myself to get some relief from Mr. Sun. We were out in the middle of nowhere. I was waiting for the Road runner and coyote to come flying by. I did see 3 coyote on the road later, and a jack rabbit. I had some time to sight see a little. The longest stretch was Bee line road and the wind was directly in face. I got passed a lot, but I listened to Tommy, Joe and knew I had to run my race. I abandoned my earlier strategy of starting fast, stay fast in the middle and finish fast.

Halfway out I heard someone yelling for me. Now we are in the desert. There's nothing around but cactus and sand. Ingrid was out there cheering. Ingrid, all three of us talked about how much it meant to have you there. It was at the hardest part of the bike and it helped tremendously to have you motivating us. Thank you. At the turn around I never been so happy in my life. Downhill with a tailwind. I don't need to say anymore. My HR monitor never stopped beeping the whole way up until that point. I was excited just to give my legs a break and get everything in check. I hit 31 on the way down, Nelson said he was at 34 mph. I didn't get below 21 mph till I got back to the 2 loop. Back in town everyone is yelling for you. I could here Jody and the kids. It was great. Then into the wind. I'm slower and it's hotter. Then I started passing some people. It didn't mean anything though. It's funny, for me it wasn't a race anymore at that point. It was about making it through the bike good enough to finish a marathon. Tommy said if I felt good off the bike I'd be good. After countless bottles of water and Gatorade I hit special needs. I was looking forward to this cause we all had PBJ's waiting for us. Still didn't see David, Shawn, or Rodger but I figured they'd catch me on the run so I wasn't worried. I pulled out that sandwich, now keep in mind the sun is like a laser, and it was nasty. It wasn't even like a sandwich. It was like a giant GU PBJ. It was so hot David said his was toasted. That's weird I didn't remember him toasting the bread. I forced what I could down. Gave my ass a little rest and started back into town.
 

The 3 loop was not fun. Joe said this would happen. The only word I could use has an F and a U but there's no N in it. Now it's really hot. The arch in my right foot is cramping and I can't get any relief even when I clip out. As a bonus I my thighs are starting to cramp when I push hard on an incline. I do get relief when I clip out and straighten them, so I told myself 37 miles and I'm done so ignore it. I never get cramps. Wind is still blowing and its hotter than the last lap. I was hurting and thought I might not get this done. I immediately erased it from my mind and remembered what I did to get there and kept going. Brad and I talked about that same feeling he had on the 50 miler. I knew the pain was temporary. My shoulders and neck were so sore I couldn't even hold my head up. I drank a ton. So I had to pee. At the turn around I clipped out and as I was straddling my bike I notice that I didn't have to pee anymore. That's because it was running down my leg. Back on the bike. By the time I got back into town I was spent. So much for Tommy's advice. I sat in that tent in front of this huge fan and realized why Ironman means so much. My heart rate was out of control. I was overheated, and now I had 26.2 to go.
 

When I started the run everybody was cheering. I saw Jody and she asked me what I was doing in the tent so long. I got a great picture that sums up my response. It was awesome. Then I got away from the crowd. Not a lot of chit chat among the athletes at this point. Reality had sunk in. It hurt to breathe. My back had tightened up so bad I couldn't run. I walk for a couple of miles and things started to loosen up. I knew all I had to do was keep my looking balls forward, and keep moving. I'll wrap up the run by saying this. Everything Joe, Tommy, Tara and anyone else who has done this say is true. I learned more about myself on the 26.2 miles than I ever had. I didn't run a lot of it. My legs were cramping and I had blisters for feet, but I never thought of stopping. Rodger was not a happy camper either but I know he'd say the same. People were passing out and puking. I all thought about was finishing. Your time or place doesn't matter. You get a lot of time to reflect on what you've done, and what your going to do. Anyone can do this if they want too. I am thankful for everyone who has helped me along to get to that day. The day was wonderful, but the journey there was better. My family had been very understanding, and I'll be a better dad and husband because of it. All the support from Tri Racers has been awesome. Joe has been a huge inspiration. Tommy, you were right hydration and heart rate, thanks for your help. Most of all I'd like to thank David and Shawn. David was my Sensei and Shawn was my Sherpa. Shawn pushed me and organized me. For those of you who don't Shawn and I. I'm Starsky to his Hutch, I'm Patrick to his Spongebob, I'm Butch Cassidy to his Sundance Kid. You get the point. Actually I give him someone to focus his ADD on. Otherwise he'd be out of control. David is a great motivator. He's not as loud as Shawn and I, but when he speaks you better listen. I can't wait till he tells us what we're doing next. I would have never done this without you two and your support. For that, I will be eternally grateful. Thanks again for everybody's support and help along the way, and if I can motivate any of you to do this distance it will make the blisters and pain worth it.

Rod
 

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