Post Ironman Depression Syndrome (PIDS)

Those of us who have prepared and prepared for a long time for a big goal know how incredible it feels to finally achieve it.  Especially if said goal did not come easy.  If it took long hours and sacrifices of time and energy the satisfaction is intensified.  However, we all know what comes next.  The blues.  The "now what" feeling.  The "Holy crap I have a lot of time on my hands! Awesome!" followed by "Holy crap.  I have a lot of time on my hands...".  Other than the "blues" or "post-race depression" I had never heard this phenomenon called anything else.  While listening to the Endurance Hour podcast (endurancehour.com) the hosts named it something that made me laugh out loud.  They called it "Post Ironman Depression Syndrome (PIDS)". 


This term is ridiculous and appropriate all at once.  Ridiculous because it is a play on real disorders such as "Post Traumatic Stress Disorder" (PTSD) which is a true trial in the lives of many people who have gone through harrowing experiences in their lives.  By comparison the blues we feel after reaching a big goal can be classified as "first-world problems".  These post-race blues are problems we are fortunate to experience. 


The term PIDS was so appropriate to me because this whole month I have been dealing with sad feelings as I mourn the fact that my Ironman experience for this year is over.  After Ironman Vineman I went through feelings of euphoria that are some of the reasons I love endurance sports.  But a few days after  the race I started having the following symptoms:


Hold on to anything you can find to make the high last -


1. Obsessively look at results, yours and others (including random strangers). 
2. Look up race analysis to decide "Am I happy with my result?  Did I really suck that bad?  I did better than most of the field?  Hey, at least I finished!"  (Check out coachcox.co.uk for an example of what I'm talking about.)
3. Obsessively browse Faceboook and Instagram for race reports and images from the race.  Spend disgusting amounts of time participating in threads about the most trivial things about the race.  For example, I spent waaayyy to much time on the thread about whether a particular hill on the course had too much camber, whaaat? Jeez...  The worst is when you get into fights on Slowtwitch about your race.  Can you say time suck?
4. You wear the medal...to work.  I have never done this but I know people that do.  My ritual is that the first day I am back to work after a race I hang my medal on the side of the monitor so I can bask in its glory for one day.  I then take it home and that's that.
5.  You keep the race wristband on for way too long.  At some races, definitely at Ironman and IM 70.3 races they give you a wristband at registration that brands you as a participant of the race.  Some people keep these wristbands on for weeks and months after the race.  Never mind that they look like hospital wristbands, they are pretty uncomfortable.  I must admit I kept mine for about two days after the race but then it started driving me crazy.  I may have shed a tear when I cut the band off.


Spend Money!!! -


Need I say more.  The lines at an Ironman Expo are ridiculous!  People, the stuff is at least 20% cheaper literally days after the event but even then holy crap the stuff is expensive.  Jacket - $119 online (gulp!), Ironman Finish Line Trophy - $169 (I kid you not), M-dot Tatoo (who knows how much it costs, it can't be cheap and really?  I don't think so).  The only way I'm buying race stuff is if it's still around when it goes on sale.  The Finisher's Medal is all I really care about.


Sign up for another race! -


You know who you are.  Those of us who say "well I have all this fitness I might as well put it to good use!"  Or "I bet I can get those 10 minutes back that will put me under 13 hours." Or just simply, "I gotta do that again!!!"  "Sure, what's another $3K-$5K in registration and travel expenses?"  "Can you imagine if I did two Ironmans in one year?!!!"  It's been almost a month since I did IMVM and I can truly say I am not fully recovered.  I have decided I am on the "One IM every two years" plan.  There is a wide world of endurance sports and I plan to enjoy as much variety as I can muster.  100-mile run here I come!!!


Screw this I'm done... -


And possibly the worst reaction anyone could have, "I quit".  I bought my tri bike from a guy who was so distraught from being pulled off the course at Ironman Lake Tahoe that he decided to completely quit the sport.  He sold me his Cervelo for a fraction of the value and threw in the bike shoes and hydration system just because he just didn't even want to look at the stuff.  I felt really bad for this dude because I don't think he was really looking at the reality of his day at Lake Tahoe.  That was a horrendously hard race in very tough conditions.  Many people DNF'ed that day.  I actually love the attitude of some of the DNF's at Ironman Vineman.  I am part of the Ironman Vineman Facebook group and have been inspired by some of the reports of athletes that got DNF's.  They will be back and I fully believe they will finish.  We all have failures but quitting is not the answer.  I flunked the CPA exam 5 times before I passed it.  But guess what, I'm a CPA.  My buddy failed 2 times at the Bear 100 mile race before finishing it on his third try (I was his pacer all three times). That finish was sweet and awesome.  Don't quit!  Also, enjoy short course, 70.3's, running, biking, hiking.  IM is just one thing.  That's all it is.


My Advice -


I have none.  Lest you think me a hypocrite I am a PIDS victim like the rest of you brothers and sisters in the Fraternity of Pain.  The way I cope is by writing ridiculously long race reports and blog posts.  So, while I have given my opinion I know I am as sick and twisted about this stuff like the rest of you.  I like the approach of Coach Brett from Zen and The Art of Triathlon (zentriathlon.com) "Simplicity leads to happiness.".  Thanks Coach Brett.  At it's core it's awesome and a blessing that I can even cover the distance.  Everything else is just icing on the cake.


P.S. But no, you people who get  M-dot tattoos are freaks.  Just saying...  :-)

Ironman Vineman 2016

The Vacation

Holy crap that was hard.  Yeah, I know, I say that about most races but, holy crap that was hard.  This race was the capstone of one of the best vacations I have ever had.  The past four months I have been experiencing some of the most brutal and stressful times in my career since I was a lowly analyst with Andersen Consulting back in the 90's.  In addition I have been commuting one hour each way to work every day which has been hard on the training because I have been having to wake up between 4:15 and 4:30 am every day to put in the required training.  Needless to say I was not very confident that I would be ready for race day.

By the time vacation time came around I was as excited for vacation as I was for Ironman.  We started the vacation by going up to Coeur D'Alene, Idaho for a reception for my daughter Nikki and her husband Kevin at my Nikki's in-law's.  The in-law's live in Post Falls right outside of Coeur D'Alene and we were absolutely blown away by the beauty of the whole area.  Lake Coeur D'Alene is absolutely stunning.  I just couldn't stop grinning at our good fortune to have extended family in this beautiful part of the world.  The mountains frame the lake like something out of a movie.  The amenities for tourists at the lake and all around CDA and Post Falls are many.  I even had the chance of swimming and playing with my family for most of the day in the lake.  I swam in my wetsuit in very rough water in the morning which calmed down by the afternoon.  The rough swim was still great and a good confidence builder for Ironman.  Needless to say it absolutely kills me that this race is on Sunday.  For religious reasons I will never race on a Sunday.  If this race was on any other day of the week I would be the first to sign up.  It's no wonder it has lasted this long in the Ironman circuit.

We then made our way down the coast stopping at incredible places like Crater Lake National Park.  We even camped in a Native American tipi.  I definitely got my fix of Outside this trip.  Right before we made our way to Windsor we stayed a couple of nights in Crescent City, California.  This is where things got a bit crazy.

I started feeling a saddle sore that I thought was gone starting to make a comeback and to make matters worse I started feeling like a cold was coming on.  I started praying that all of this was taper madness and prayed for health.  That night my daughter Sofia woke in the middle of the night yelling "No, no!" as she ran to the bathroom.  She didn't make it to the toilet and she puked all over the bathroom and all over herself.  Mind you this is Wednesday night and the race is on Saturday.  I obviously felt bad for Sofia but all I could think off is "We are all going to get sick!  I have to clean up all this puke and I am going to get sick and DNF or worse DNS!"  Jolynne and I spent the next hour cleaning up the mess and my psyche was dying with every passing minute.

The next morning as we drove to Windsor we figured that it very well could have been food poisoning because of the sudden way in which Sofia got sick.  Once again I prayed for mercy and health.  Interestingly enough my saddle sore did not come back and my cold symptoms went away.  The worry of the stomach flu was still there though.

Pre-race Activities
By the time we got to Windsor and went through registration at the High School Sofia was feeling much, much better and Jolynne and I still felt great.  Registration was crazy.  Having done Vineman in 2014 I was expecting it to be a lot bigger but the reality was MUCH bigger.  We had about 450 people competing in the Full in 2014.  This year they had 2,225 registered.  They held several rounds of athlete briefings and mine, which I did that afternoon, filled an entire High School gym.  It was definitely a change for the better.

That evening we decided that we would go to the Ironman Banquet.  We decided that if we are going to get sick there is nothing we can do about it now.  The banquet was so much better than expected.  I thought they would have crappy pasta and a cheesy presentation of some sort but this was totally awesome.  The dinner was set outside in perfect weather.  The Vineman green and purple colors were spread throughout.  They served potato salad, grape salad (of course), quinoa salad, and 2 breasts of BBQ chicken.  They also had iced tea, water, and Ice Cream.  The food really was top notch.  We got there early so we were at the front of the line and got good seats close to the stage.  They had a girl singing live and she was very good.  We had great dinner conversation with fellow athletes from Sacramento while we waited for the program to start.  The program was led by Dave Ragsdale and Dave LaTourette, the race-day announcers.  They did a great job of recognizing participants and paying honor to the great history of this race.  Then they played a set of inspirational videos that were incredible.  My daughter was totally inspired and she even said she wanted to do an Ironman some day.  Mission accomplished.

We then went to the B&B at Guerneville where we were staying.  We stayed at Pocket Creek Farm about two miles from the race start.  This is a working organic farm that doubles as a B&B.  Pam and Steve are the hosts and we highly recommend you stay there.  Pam and Steve are awesome, the food was great and the accommodations are top notch.

That evening I took a closer look at my SWAG.  We got a very big and nice duffle-bag with the Ironman Vineman logo, a race poster, a race program, IMVM luggage tags, Red Bull bottles, and a whole bunch of nutritional samples.  The shirts were only handed out at the finish so no shirt at registration.  All in all pretty good SWAG.  The Ironman Store had very nice IMVM gear for sale.  The color and design schemes for IMVM were very nice and we picked up a couple of things.  We didn't touch any of the Finisher gear though (bad karma).

The next morning I organized all my transition bags, packed them in my OGIO bag and I rode the bike to the start.  I checked in my bike and my bike bag and checked out T1.  I liked the setup of T1 with the exception of the change tents which had an uncovered dirt floor.  I could tell that would turn into a mud pit by the time I got out of the water.

We then went to T2 at Windsor High School to check in the run gear and to browse the expo.  The expo was good and we picked up a few freebies.  We then went to lunch at KC's American Kitchen (like last time) and then we made our way back to the farm.

That night we had a light meal of grilled chicken and veggies (all fresh) and I finished getting my stuff ready and then went to bed.  I was having a very restful sleep when about 2am Jolynne stared screaming at the top of her lungs like someone was trying to kill her.  I looked around to see what was happening but noticed that she was screaming in her sleep.  I shook her for a while trying to get her to wake up and after a few seconds she finally woke up.  Sofia was in our room in seconds totally freaked out.  Jolynne said she just had a bad dream.  A bad dream?! In 23 years of marriage she has never screamed in the middle of the night and this, of all nights, is when this happened!  I asked her, what the heck were you dreaming about? She said "you don't want to know".  Needless to say that was the end of my sleep that night.  Uggghhh.

Race Morning
After the Poltergeist experience I decided to get up and start my nutrition.  I drank a bottle of High Protein Ensure and then laid in bed for about an hour.  I then got up and changed into race clothes and morning clothes and then had another bottle of Ensure and a peanut butter sandwich.  I also started sipping on a Gatorade.  I then got Jolynne and Sofia up and they drove me to the start.  4:50 am.
 

We got to the start and we were praying that our secret parking spot right next to the start would still be available.  I'm not giving any details because it's a SECRET parking spot.  Miraculously enough the spot was open and we had front row parking.  I got out and handed in my Special Needs bags and then made my way down to T1.  It was dark and about 52 degrees.  I was s cold and I immediately had to pee.  I dropped my pump and morning race bag at my bike rack and stood in line for the porta potties.  Ten minutes later I was good to go.  I ate a Glukos bar, finished my Gatorade, and loaded the rest of my nutrition on the bike (mostly Infinit drink).  I use a between-the-arms bottle (BTA) bottle and two behind-the-saddle (BTS) bottles.  All with Infinit.  The bento box had a Glukos bar, some gels and salt caps.  I changed into my wetsuit, took a couple of pictures of the transition and phoned Jolynne.  She and Sofia met me right outside transition and I gave them the pump and the morning clothes bag.  I was then ready for showtime.

The Swim
The corrals for self seeding were ridiculously full.  We were packed in like sardines.  I lined up in the 1:30-1:45 pace group since my last swim there had been 1:32.  It felt like the whole world believed they were going to swim 1:30.  To make matters worse the corrals were right on the beach which is pure gravel.  I made the stupid decision to give the sandals to Jolynne and she took off further down the beach with them.  My feet did not appreciate the rocks.  Next time I will bring throw away flip flops.  The horn went off at 6:25.  I didn't make it to the water until 7:10!  It was crazy how long it took to get everybody in the water.

As expected the water was very cloudy from everybody being in that shallow river.  I thought my allergies would start acting up like crazy but they didn't.  I felt perfectly fine and the 72 degree water felt awesome.  I got into a good rhythm and then the contact started.  I started running into slower people and people kept running into me.  It was pretty high contact but only violent a couple of times.  One time I got whacked in the face by an arm and it stung pretty good.  However all this contact was to be expected and really wasn't a big deal.  The part I hated was the fact that there were tons of people walking in the shallow parts.  This made an obstacle course because the walkers were going much slower than what I could swim.  That really annoyed me and I ran into a few walkers .  Regardless I felt like I was doing good time and like the draft was pretty good.  I hit 43 minutes at the turnaround, which was good because the second half is always faster in that river.  The swim on the way back was the same story.  My strategy for the shallow parts was to adjust my stroke so that it came close and under my body rather than straight down.  This kept me moving and making good progress.  The finish came a lot faster than expected and I rocketed up the chute.  I checked my time and it was 1:23, a PR of 9 minutes!  I was super stoked about this and then I saw Jolynne and Sofia right in the chute cheering me on.  That felt great and I made my way to the strippers, got my wetsuit off, then to the bag area where I yelled my number, the volunteers gave me my bag and I made my way to the change tent.

T1
The change tent was a muddy mess and I was sooo glad I brought a towel.  I struggled to find a place to sit so I decided to go the spots closest to the exit which had seats available.  I changed my entire kit, put my helmet on, wiped down my feet, and put socks and bike shoes on.  I stuffed the swim gear in the bag and gave it to a volunteer.  I then ran out of the tent, got some sunscreen on my ears and neck, picked up my bike and ate another Glukos bar.  On the way out I saw Jolynne and Sofia one more time.  I walked the bike up the hill and very carefully mounted the bike.  The whole transition took way too long, 9 minutes.  I need to practice Ironman transitions.

The Bike
Riding on River Road was a bit sketchy.  Tons of people and cars going in both directions.  The cars were not going very fast but still it as crowded.  I decided to take it easy and make sure I got my hydration going.  There were so many people that getting down in the aerobars was useless so I stayed up on the basebars and jockeyed for position in order to keep a good speed.  As we got close to the hairpin turn at Sunset I slowed way down and made sure the person in front of me had ample room I also yelled back to the dude right behind me to slow down so he wouldn't run into me.  This gave me plenty of room to maneuver the curve and I had no problems at all.
 

Then I made it to Westside and the fun began.  I immediately noticed the nice repaving that they did on Westside.  It was buttery smooth.  I also noticed my stomach was not very happy with me.  It didn't hurt but it was uncomfortable.  This worried me to no end because I didn't know if I had made a nutrition mistake or if I was coming down with a virus from Sofia.  I decided to make absolutely sure that I stayed within a Heart Rate box of 135 to 145.  This is a sweet spot where I should be able to function aerobically for a long time without having to deny the proper function of the heart and the rest of the organs.

I kept a good pace but never really felt comfortable.  I definitely felt a lack of energy that I had the last time I did this race.  This could have been because I pushed it so hard in the craziness of the swim.  Whatever it was I decided to be cautious and to make sure to stay properly hydrated.  The first half of the bike was fairly uneventful and I managed to stay at my minimum desired pace.  I got to special needs and a cold bottle of Ensure waited for me as well as a super concentrated cold bottle of Infinit.  I spent too long at Special Needs and lost a couple of minutes that I should have saved.  It also didn't help that I saw the leader of the race go by as he was finishing the bike leg of his race.  Uggghhh, that made me feel slow.

I got back on the saddle and settled in for the second half. The temperature was starting to get hot and I decided to start getting water at the aid stations and dumping it on my neck in order to keep the temperature down.  My stomach issues were now gone but the fatigue was settling in.  I was doing great in the flats but the rollers were killing me.  It really wasn't too difficult to stay in aero but I was just feeling muscle fatigue.  My quads were not happy with me.  Once again I went back to making sure that I was keeping hydrated, on top of my nutrition and within my heart rate box.  As I approached Chalk Hill for the second time I started experiencing cardiac drift and I made sure to hold back in order to not burn my run matches.

Then at mile 95 catastrophe struck (maybe).  My right quad started cramping and seizing.  The pain was pretty intense but what worried me the most is that I could hardly bend my leg.  I slowed down and did all I could do to not have to stop.  The pain eased up for about a mile and then right as I was approaching Chalk Hill both of my legs seized.  Holy crap, that hurt like a mother.  I just slowed down and started taking salt caps and drinking Infinit.  I massaged my quads and tried to keep on moving.  I have never suffered cramps on the bike so I wasn't sure what the heck was going on.  All I knew was that I better get mobility in my legs before the upcoming Chalk Hill.

My thoughts started going to the run.  Could I even run if I was in so much pain right now?  I then decided to put that out of my mind and handle the problem at hand.  I massaged a ton and started stretching on the bike.  Before I knew it Chalk Hill was right in front of me.  A guy that had been cheering us on the first time greeted us poor souls with a grin and a slow clap and he said "Welcome back riders!  A bit harder this time, huh?  He, he, he!"  I almost flip him off. 

I got on the lowest gear and just put my head down and hammered as carefully as I could.  The pain was pretty bad but the fatigue was worse.  I just looked at the road right in front of me and kept going.  The cheers from the spectators became a blur and I just kept going.  Then suddenly I felt the effort getting easier and just like that I had made it to the top.  Things then got sketchy since there is a severe downhill and I was dizzy and not totally in control.  I did my best to keep the downhill under control and once I got to the flat I focused on getting nutrition in me.  I had a mostly full bottle of Gatorade in my bottle cages and I really struggled to get it into my BTA bottle so that I could focus on pedaling and drinking at the same time.  I got the job done but I had a few scary moments because the road was very rough at this part of the course.

The job now was to recover over the last 12 miles so that I could be ready to run.  I decided to focus on fast cadence and controlled heart rate.  The strategy worked and started to feel progressively better.  I finally got back into the neighborhood of the High School and finally took the last turn to ride to T2.  I was so happy but I was also totally scared of how I would feel once I got off the bike.  I got to the dismount line, dismounted and then ran the bike to a volunteer who took my bike.  I was surprised that I actually felt pretty good.  As I made my way to the run gear bags I saw Jolynne and Sofia right there cheering me on.  Sofia said "What took you so long?"  I thought "Seriously child?!"  My total time was 6:30.  Five minutes worse than 2014 but not as bad as it could have been.

T2
A volunteer gave me my bag and I jogged over to the change tent.  I found the first open seat and took it.  Immediately my quads started cramping again but not as bad as before.  I spent a couple of minutes massaging the legs and the cramps subsided.  Once I felt better I changed my jersey for a Tri-top, put on a visor, donned my Hoka shoes and put on my race belt.  I also had concentrated cold Infinit and some salt caps.  I needed to pee really bad which was a good sign of hydration and I went outside to the porta potties and then spent more time than necessary trying to figure out how to get out to the run course.  The whole thing took me 10 minutes.  Uggghhhh....

The Run

The run takes you through a couple of large sponsor arches (one of them being Hoka who is sponsoring the IM run courses in the US this year) and takes you out to Keiser Park.  Then it puts you on the trail system for the park which leads you to the turnaround point for each of the three loops.  This turn around section is fan-central for the course and the center of the park.  There were tons of people here enjoying the shade of the trees and cheering on the runners.  Many high-fives were given in this section.  The trail meanders through the park and eventually drops you out to Windsor River Road.  Here you face a slight uphill followed by a healthy downhill and a healthy uphill.  Then you have a significant 6% or so downhill for a quarter of a mile.  The run course is completely different to the course I ran in 2014.  After the hill on Windsor River Road you take a right on Eastside Road and then a left on Old Redwood Road until you get to the turnaround at mile 4.7.  After the first leg the next 4 legs become 4.2 miles long and the last one is 4.7 to the Finish Line in the middle of Windsor High School.  So, the distance of the lengths when you are “looping” (4.2 miles) is pretty manageable. 

I actually felt great as I started the run.  I was so happy to be off that freaking bike.  One thing I noticed was how much stronger I felt at this point of the race than what I did back in 2014.  Back in 2014 I physically could not run for the first 10 minutes.  I was pretty wrecked and the entire run was a bit touch and go.  This year I felt like I could run at a pretty good pace.  However, I remembered the many “4-keys” talks that I listened to from Endurance Nation in preparation for the race.  EN makes it clear that you don’t earn the right to race until you reach mile 18 in a condition that allows you to race your peers.  I could feel that I would need to slow it way down if I was going to have any chance of making it to mile 18 in any sort of shape to compete. 

I slowed the pace way down from 8:45 to 10:00.  On the downhills I allowed the pace to creep up a bit but never faster than 9:30.  As I was making my way down the hill to Eastside Road I saw a lady that was moving at a pretty good clip.  I asked her if this was her second loop.  She said that it was and I asked how it was to go up this hill.  In her words: “It’s a bitch, but you just put your head down and look at the road in front of you.  Before you know it you’re at the top.”  I thanked her for her advice and she went on her way.  I had lots of people passing me but I told myself that I would stick to the plan and kept the pace around 10:00.  I also made the decision that I would walk the aid stations.  I came up on the first aid station and it was stocked with the usual fare.  I took a big sip of the concentrated Infinit and then took some water, then some Coke and then threw some water on my neck and head.  This was essentially my nutrition routine for all the aid stations in the run course and it worked out pretty well.

Eastside Road is beautifully paved and rolling.  I swear there were very few flat sections in the course.  Most of the time you were either going up or down.  The heat was bad but better than 2014 where I had to have ice all over me right from the beginning.  There was also a nice tailwind on the way out to the turnaround point.  I was concerned about the way back because I think the net grade was uphill for most of the course going back and because that nice tailwind would now be a headwind.  However, the wind was refreshing once I turned around and the hills were not too bad to deal with at all.  Then came the hill back to the finish.

I followed the advice I received and put my head down and just pushed up the hill.  It was haard but surprisingly not as hard as I thought it would be.  I made it back to Keiser park, used the bathroom real quick and then made it back onto the course for Loop 2.  I decided not to look at my total time just so that I focused on the moment.  I stopped at special needs and got a fresh bottle of cold concentrated Infinit.

The second loop was a lot harder, especially on the quads, my quads were screaming.  However, I was able to keep my target pace.  I saw Tom Hutches on the course and he looked like he was doing awesome.  I also saw the Blonde Runner, a coach from Utah, and she looked like she was hurting.  It was neat to start recognizing people out on the course and getting an idea of where I was position-wise.

By the time I made it back to Keiser Park for the second time I was very tired but I felt like I could keep running.  Jolynne and Sofia met me here and gave me a cheer.  I gave Sofia my bottle holder and decided to live off the course for the last loop.  The downhill down to Eastside was horrible, my quads were screaming.  I tried to put it out of my mind by talking to other athletes but it was difficult.  I then got very angry.  They ran out of Coke on the course!  Are you kidding me?!  I started panicking a little bit but I just told myself that I had followed my nutrition plan well and that I could make it.  They were really pushing the Red Bull but I decided to rely on Gatorade, Water, and my Salt Caps.
 

It was awesome to make it to the last turnaround, thank the volunteers and tell them "Thanks, I'm outta here!"  The road back to the finish was super hard but somehow I was able to mostly keep pace.  There were a couple of hills that I had to walk but for the most part the only time I walked was at the aid stations.  The hill the third time was horrendous and I decided to attack it by walking 35 seconds and running 60.  With that strategy I was able to make it up the hill without too much trouble.  At that point with about 1 mile to go I decided to not stop and run it all the way to the finish.  One spectator wearing an Ironman Finisher's shirt from another race told me "Good job Jose but please smile, don't screw up the finish line picture."  I thought, "I must look like crap but I'm glad he gave me a heads ups.  I zipped up my top and decided to relax and run it in smooth.  I started getting excited as I approached the park and I could hear the finish line announcer.  Then I got to the turnaround and felt so  great to be able to continue to the finishing stretch rather than to another loop.  That felt incredibly satisfying.  I then made it out of the park and onto the High School grounds.

The Finish

Once on the High School grounds they had a finishing corridor that went right along one side of the high school and was slightly downhill.  By now I knew I was sub 5 hours for the run and I knew I had a PR.  I started getting excited for the finish and I could feel the excitement from the crowd.  I then took a right and went right onto the finishing chute.  It played out just like in all the Ironman videos I have seen before and there it was, the Finish Line.  I pumped my fists and gave a ton of high fives as I made my way down the chute.  Then I heard Dave Ragsdale say "Welcome in Jose Jimenez, 44 year old from Riverton Utah" and then Dave LaTourette said "You are an Ironman!" then I crossed the finish line.  Finally!!!  Official time 13:05:13.

The Aftermath

After you cross the finish line a volunteer called a "catcher" comes and makes sure to get  hold of you in order to make sure you don't pass out.  They also give you a water bottle and a heat blanket.  When they are sure you can walk they send you further down the chute where you get your medal and then your Finisher's Shirt.  We did not get any hats at the race because the supplier sent them to the wrong place.  Ironman said they would be sending the hats to us in the mail as soon as possible.

I then saw Sofia who was capturing everything on video. I was so glad to see her.  She said she saw me come through and I was glad because I didn't see her and Jolynne in the finishing chute.  There was an area with an Ironman backdrop to take your finisher pictures and I posed for the pictures.  Then I saw Jolynne on the other side of the barrier taking the opportunity to take her own pictures.  I then went over to them and started debriefing the whole race experience.
After the whole post race food thing (pizza, sandwiches, Grandma's Cookies, Beachbody Recovery drink, etc.) we went to the car so that I could warm up a bit.  Sofia made fun of me because I was shivering uncontrollably.  On the way to the car I saw Russ Pugh, the founder of Vineman and I told him thanks for an awesome event.  After warming up in the car I bundled up with a sleeping bag and we made it back to the finish line to cheer on the finishers.  It was pretty awesome.  They had a huge jumbotron where you could see the person coming into the chute and it made the whole atmosphere feel bigger-than-life.  We stayed there for about 30 minutes and then made our way back to Guerneville. 

As I write this it has been one week since the race and recovery is coming along slow.  I think the cramping on the bike and the effort I had to put from that point on really did a number on me.  I ended up getting a bad sinus cold a few days after the race and I am getting over that now.  I have never been more beat up after a race.  I was able to put together a much more complete race than in 2014 but I really was not in optimal shape to do so.  My work schedule had been crazy, my strength training had been non-existent and a few of the nights leading up to the race were crazy.  Somehow though I knew what I needed to do to execute and I pushed the body to do it although it cost me big time in recovery.  It kills me I didn't break 13 hours but at least that's the carrot that will keep me coming back.  I will be back in 2018, at Vineman or elsewhere.  No back-to-back Ironman years for me.
As always my selfish  hobby is sponsored and made possible by my awesome wife and children.  For this particular race Jolynne and Sofia were the perfect support crew and I love them both very much.

Next A-race on the schedule...the 2017 Boston Marathon! My 2nd Boston.  Here we go again...