Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Ironman Arizona

Ironman Arizona was a brutal defeat for many athletes... including Brian. It was the first Ironman he had to drop out of (at mile 18 of the run with 8 miles to go!) and I feel so bad for him. It's hard to watch someone you care so much about in such a weak condition.

On Saturday we went to the Y and watched a 5K there. I've been feeling pretty sick again this week, so I opted out of the race this time. Patrick ended up winning, which wasn't a surprise at all. He won $100 and he said he was going to use the money to make signs for Ironman. I'm not sure if he actually did. Anyway, it was a windy day. I biked there and pretty much gave up on going fast, I just wanted to get there to watch the 5K. We prayed that it woudn't be windy Sunday for Ironman again, becasue last year was so bad, and the weather report predicted 6 mph winds for Sunday. We had our fingers crossed.

Sunday we got up at 4 a.m., ate breakfast and headed down to the race. When Brian headed into transition I walked up to the Mill Ave. bridge to watch the start of the swim. Jorge and Ted were up there and we watched the pros take off and then 15 minutes later the age-groupers went. Brian came out of the water at in 1:08, which was his same time as last year. I watched him run through transition and head out on the bike. He was doing great, but the wind had picked up and we knew it was going to get hot. The first (of three) lap on the bike Brian had caught up to his brother, Adam, who had a faster swim by a couple minutes. He looked strong, so I stayed confident. On the second loop he was still ahead of Adam, but I could tell he was slowing down. Turns out he said his legs were done by mile 60 because he wasn't taking salt tablets. After he passed the second time I headed down to run aid station #2 where I had signed up to hand out water to the runners. The aid station was at mile 1.5, so I expected Brian to pass by shortly after Keith Rusin, a friend of his who was about 10 minutes ahead of him on the bike. But after Keith ran by I didn't see Brian for quite some time. I started getting worried, but after a while he came walking by. He was dead. His face was white with salt, his eyes were red and he looked dilerious. I was worried, but he said, "It's goinig to be a long day babe," and I figured he would just walk the marathon and finish anyway. After he passed the second time (after 3 or more hours, each lap was 8 miles) he looked worse. I was done with my volunteer shift so I headed back to the lake to watch the run with the Gage Total Training tri group. Brian kept getting slower and when I saw him around mile 18 he said he was done. I walked with him to a grassy area where he layed down while I went to hand in his chip at the finish line.

There were just over 2000 participants, and only 1690 crossed the finish line. The average finish time was pushed back one hour and more people finished in the 16-17 hour range than any other Ironman. I know as many people that finished as those that did not. All in all, it was a rough day and I am proud of everyone that attempted this race. There's always November, and hey, I'll be out there too. I'm just praying for better weather!

No comments: