2007 Ironman World Championships
From a Lottery Winners Perspective

Overall
This race contains the best of the best at Ironman distance triathlon. I had to keep reminding myself that throughout the day when I’d get passed. Most of my nagging injuries proved to not be an issue on race day. I was still “expelling” a bit of my cold on race day with some coughing. But I felt A LOT better than I had in the previous few days.

The weather forecast was mid 80’s, windy, and humid. Unfortunately, the cloud cover wasn’t supposed to hit until the very late afternoon. Not good news for the bike ride.

The Swim
As many of you know, the swim is a water start. I swam out about 50 meters into the water…about 25 meters from the start line. I normally seed myself to be in the front half to third of a swim start. Here, I was behind the halfway point knowing that these swimmers were much faster than most I’ve competed against. In fact, that’s pretty much the mindset for the entire day!

The swim was fine and pretty uneventful. No nearly as much contact and traffic as IM Canada. I hit the turn around at 32 mins and felt pretty good. I did notice that my neck was starting to burn from my speed suit. I lubed up my neck pretty good but I think there is seam or something that started rubbing my neck raw. The salt water allowed me to feel just how deep the raw spot was getting. Ouch!
Out of the water - Time: 1hr 12mins

Swim-to-Bike
With the swim behind me, I’m up the stairs and I hit the fresh water “shower” area. Rinsed off, drank a bit and I’m off to get my bag. Roll into the tent and I’m doing a full clothing change here. I decided not to ride and run in salt water soaked suit I used on the swim. So off with the speed suit and Speedo, on with my tri shorts and top. Got some sunscreen and I’m off to the bike. Out of the 50 bikes on the rack, mine was one of 5 left. Not used to that at all! Haha…yep, there are some fast people here today.

The Bike
Settling into a pace for the longest part of the day. There are some out and back sections in the beginning of the race that take you through town. I just tried to take it easy and let the heart rate settle down a bit before I got into my aero position and got comfortable. Finally made it out on the Queen K Highway…where I’d spend most of the ride time. The wind wasn’t too bad. The aid stations on the bike here are awesome. They seem like they are a mile long. Water, then Gatorade, then fruit, power gel, power bars, fruit, Gatorade, and then water again. Gave you plenty of time to get all you needed. I pretty much grabbed one bottle of water to drink and used one to pour on my head, chest, and back to stay cool. It was getting hot in a hurry. The first 30 miles seemed to click off pretty quickly. I made the left turn heading towards the turn around at Hawi. This is where the wind and heat really started to pickup. The winds here blow from 5-35mph and temps can get above 100 F due to the reflective heat of the lava fields. At about mile 50 I started to see the pro men heading back. I was on a climb at the time, so they were heading downhill in a hurry. So I really only got to see the bikes. Seeing the Trek in first place, I guessed it was Lieto. The rest of the group was about 2-3 mins back…maybe not even that far. That was exhilarating. Seeing all of those guys flying by…I put a little kick in my bike and I cranked up the hill. The halfway turn around was around mile 65…which seemed to be getting farther away with each crank. The wind was really strong (blowing from every direction at times) and there is a very long, steady climb to the turn around. Finally made it, grabbed my special needs bag, hopped off the bike to pee quickly and got back on. After eating pretty much everything in my bag, I felt like a million bucks. I said out loud to myself “damn, if I feel this good the whole way back I could win this thing!” But, one thing you learn is that there are times when you feel great. It won’t last. There are times when you feel like total crap. Hopefully, those won’t last either. So after a few miles, the heat and wind took back that good feeling and I was grinding my way back to town again. The last 30-40 miles took forever. I knew my speed was down, but I knew that if I fought the wind, I would pay for it on the run.

In the last 8 miles of the bike I’m starting to see the pro men and women running back to town. That was quite humbling knowing that they are finishing the race and I still have a marathon to run! Yikes!!
Off the bike – Time: 6hrs 49mins

Bike to Run
I hopped off the bike and started the long run around the transition area. Ouch! My right ankle hurt really bad and forced me to walk. I’ll be honest, at that moment I had concerns of even being able to walk the marathon. It hurt really bad. I grabbed my bag and got into the tent to suit up for the run. There’s just one problem, the medical tape I brought to wrap up my ankle was soaking wet due to my fuel belt bottles popping open from the sun and leaking Gatorade into my bag. So that tape was useless. I propped my foot up and asked a volunteer if they had any tape. He ran off to the med tent and luckily returned with a roll. I took my time taping it up nice and tight since this would likely be the only way I could do the run. I stood up, it felt alright…so off I go. My T2 was much longer than I’d hoped for. But taping the ankle was crucial.

The Run
As I head out on Ali’I Drive, my main concern was to take it easy for the first few miles and pray that my IT band or ankle would not be an issue on this run. I got to the first turn around at 5 miles and I’m running about 9:30 miles. Not bad! And I felt pretty good too. Thankfully this out and back is right along the water so the breeze was good and the temps were lower.

I got out on the Queen K again heading north at about mile 12. The Natural Energy Lab starts at about mile 16…and it took FOREVER to get there. I was slowing down for sure….but man, that was the longest 4 miles I’ve ever run. Just before I made the turn into the Lab, I was handed the dreaded glow-stick necklace. Something that I knew I’d be given, but it’s just that confirmation of “yeah buddy, you’re going to be finishing this race in the dark.” It was about 5:45pm now…and the Energy Lab did not look inviting. Well, I’ll say this…the first part did…cause it’s downhill. But it would be 2 miles down, and then 2 miles back up. Ugh…here we go. I ran the entire way down to the turn around, grabbed my bag and walked for a bit. A really bad headache set in and I tried to cure it by eating and drinking everything possible. Walked for about 5 mins…no change. Well, it’s gonna hurt if I walk or run…so let’s run! Pushed up the last mile to the Queen K. Still have a headache. I took off my visor to rub my temples and TADAAA! Headache was gone. Either my head was expanding or my visor was shrinking. Let’s just say both. So I tossed the visor to the side of the road and I was off again. It’s pretty crazy to be running in pitch black nothing-ness. Living in LA you can’t get away from the lights. Here, all I could see where the stars, the moon, and the bouncing green glow of my fellow athletes as they trotted north or south on the Queen K. I hit mile 24 and started the steady climb up to town and to the street light marking Palani. I was on the left shoulder and needed to cross the street to make the right down Palani and into the final mile of the run…the promise land!!! I cut across the road and moved over to the lane to take the right on Palani. I was running next to a guy and then WHAM! We both got hit from behind by a car. I never heard it coming or saw any headlights. I hit the front left corner of the car and was spun around to the left catching my left hip on the hood. I fell to the ground and quickly looked up at the driver who was stunned and mumbled something. He gassed it and took off down Palani. So, no cars are allowed to be on the course at this area. Not sure where he came from. I stood up and all that really hurt at that time was a good scrape on the palm of my left hand. People began running up and asked us if were we OK. The other guy was hit more directly and I think went up on the hood of the car. He stood up too and started walking. He had people with him now and I felt good enough to go on. I was 1 mile from the finish…this wasn’t going to stop me.

I headed down hill and I can hear the announcer now. I wound around through the streets and made the final right hand turn on to Ali’I Drive. People were everywhere and I got my 3,426th wind of the day and picked up the pace to finish. It was a time in slow motion. The sounds, lights and just the realization that I just did THE Ironman was starting to hit me. Up and over the finish line.
Race Finish – Time: 13hrs 25mins

That was a full day for sure. One that I’ll remember forever. Just let me get to the med tent now because the adrenaline is going to wear off and who knows what’s going to be hurting from the car incident! Big thanks to Mom, Jessica, Deann and Allie…a/k/a

BROUGHER’S BABES for all of the help and support out there! Couldn’t have done it without you all! Love you!