The Road to the Ironman – Jim Ristow you are an Ironman – Run

2.4 mile swim check

112 mile bike check

26.2 mile run…

Well to call it a run would be an understatement, it was more like a walk. Nope it was a walk.

Massage done and I finished a record breaking T2 time with a 20 minute break (What you mean people are faster? Huh… Really?) it was off to the marathon! As I exited T2 the first thing you see is a hill! I mean seriously, really? Needless to say I walked up it and as soon as I turned a corner off with blazing speed. It was amazing how fast I was I mean I felt the wind in my hair and heard the cheer of the crowd… Who I am kidding… I was a mess, but one foot in front of the other was the best I could hope for.

From the beginning when I ran I felt the urge to pee, when I stopped at a porta potty nothing. Mile 2 same thing, Mile 3, mile 4 and so on until mile 15. The 26.2 miles is broken up into 2 laps of 13.1. The first lap was kind of frustrating because I knew there were people on their second lap. I stayed quite, but I really wanted to ask everyone I saw, so it was back to my “staying in the moment” practice. With some help I have been practicing the art of staying in the moment. I have to say this was the biggest lesson learned during this whole Ironman experience, more on that lesson learned on my final recap.

The first few miles stay pretty close to the capitol and that means tons of people all cheer us on, it made it a bit easier as I shuffled on. The urged to pee continued but it was very important to keep on drinking and eat as much as possible. After the capitol area the route takes you out to the Kohl Center (were the Badgers play basketball) and out on what use to be a railroad track now a running path. After the Kohl Center the next highlight is Camp Randall Stadium (where the Badgers play football.) What is cool we actually take a lap around the field. I really liked this because of two reasons, one I ran the entire 100 yards plus the astro turf was nice, similar to running on sponges. As I exited the stadium the 16 mile sign caught my eye, only 10 to go (if I was on lap 2). The route goes through the campus of UW and on a running trail. The running trail was nice because in most years we would be running up the “biggest” hill instead but there was road construction (ahh to bad). The other benefit was we ran next to a lake so it gave me something to look at. The route exited the running trail and plopped us out on State St. A street closed to traffic and has tons of restaurants, shops and clubs. There were a ton of people and they cheer us on while they ate their dinners. This is the turn around point of the loop so it was back to the capitol. The remaining part of the 1st loop was my lowest point. Why?

1. My peeing issue was not going away!

2. While I was lap one there were people on #2 and they were finishing!

3. As I got closer to the 13 mile turn around point the crowd assumes you are finishing!

The 13 mile turn around point is about 100 yards away from the finish, while most ran straight to the finish line, there were a few of us that had to make the turn. After the turn there is a quick right and special needs bags are right there. I grabbed mine and looked inside for something that would cheer me up, I looked up Kim, my brother-in-law and mother-in-law were right there. That is what I needed, their encouraging words were great! I pulled some Vaseline did some maintenance in some vital areas and I was off. On the first lap I was having a tough time figuring out the time versus miles. I knew I had 8 hours when I started the marathon, but even in good times math isn’t my best subject. As I started the second lap I had 4 hours, which is plenty of time to walk a half marathon, which is good because that is what I was doing. Around mile 15 another porta potty  stop and SUCCESS! As I exited the porta potty I still was not in the mood to run, just keep the speed walking pace seemed fine to me. Looking back I actually was walking faster at that point than I could run anyway, so save the legs. The sun was going down at this point and what I remember it was a nice sunset. My thought was I have been doing this Ironman thing since sunrise and now it is sunset, what long day. I waddled through Camp Randall once again, walked through the running path and through State St. once more. Coming back through the running path my attitude took a turn for the better.

It was clear if I kept this pace I would finish the Ironman with plenty of time to spare and I was out there with people like me. People that struggled, people that are not the pro athletes or even top age groupers, but probably the people with the most determination out of the entire Ironman racers. I mean anyone who does an athletic event for 15+ hours has to be determined. The crowds at this point thinned out, but the volunteers were still cheering us on. I’d come up to a group of people and we would talk for awhile and either they would move ahead or fall behind, so there plenty of alone moments. More on those moments in my final recap.

I came up to the 23 mile mark and thought, MAN I AM GOING TO BE AN IRONMAN! Three miles left! They I saw something that put everything in its place. There were people still running early on the second loop. Doing the math they had very little chance of finishing under the 17 hours and I saw the official that was in charge to take these people off the course. I wondered how I would deal with that news. Not only being well into the 15th hour of the race would make this almost impossible to accept, but the months of training and all the family and friends waiting for you would be to much to bear. I am glad I was able to keep my speed walking pace throughout the marathon. If I had tried to run I am not sure I would be walking as fast.

As I got closer people were cheering me on and wanted me to run, but I knew I had only one run left in me.  Two blocks before the finish line I looked in front of me and there was no one, I looked behind me and there were a couple of people coming up on me. I said no way, this is my moment so they final “run” was kicked in. For a year I dreamed about having the finishing shoot all to myself, selfish but this was my moment.

As I approached the final block you turn left the brightest lights hit you and the crowd volume turns up. I heard Mike Reilly say “dude we see you, it is all yours” and he was right. I ran down the finishing shoot and stopped about 100 feet short (remember I planned this). I slowly turned my head to the right and the crowd went nuts, I turned my head slow to the left and they were louder. I lifted my arms straight out from my sides and the crowd got even louder. I spun around and the louder they got! Then I heard it “JIM RISTOW YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!” After my hamming it up I ran through the finish line and Kim and Dan were right there to catch me.

15:35ish was my final time or around 10:35 pm.

The first words out of Kim’s mouth was something like my husband is an IRONMAN!

I walked through the finishing area, getting my finishing medal, finisher’s hat and shirt and pictures taken.

As I walked into the family area the rest of my family was there and so were the Tri-girls (more about them in my final recap). As we walked to get my transition bags it was starting to sink in, I am an Ironman!

By the time I recouped there was still about an hour and I wanted to watch the final fellow Ironman come through. I have said this before, there is NOTHING like the late night finish of an Ironman!

I will send out my final recap tomorrow.

FINAL TOTALS:

Running Miles: 826.2

Number of Hours: 130:25

New shoes: 265.00 miles (for my record keeping)

Newest New shoes: 49.7 miles

Biking Miles: 1,955.00

Number of Hours: 116:05

Swimming Miles: 81.95 miles or 144,232 yards

Number of Hours: 36:00

Swimming laps (25 yard pool): 5,579 lengths or 2,790 laps

Weightlifting hours: 26:00

Stairs in Cancun: 1:05

1 pathetic game of volleyball: 1 hour

TOTAL HOURS – 321 hours and 50 minutes