IRONMAN IS BETTER THE 2ND TIME AROUND
Ross Hauser, M.D.

I have told my Ironman training buddies that to do the Ironman you have to have done an Ironman. All four of my training buddies are 3:20 or under marathon runners, but I had the lowest marathon time during the Ironman. The lowest Ironman marathon time of my buddies was 5:24 and that was from my training partner Tim who vomited 15 times during the race. Yes, the Ironman will humble anyone! Think about it Tim ran a 3:10 Boston Marathon not having tapered and was not rested. In the Ironman he was rested and tapered but the course, weather and of course, just the Ironman itself can humble any athlete.

So what about me? On August 28th, 2005 I lined up with 2200 other athletes to begin my journey in what they call the Ironman. My journey though had really started two days before when I received final word from Canadian Customs that were not going to release my bike. Yes my bike named ‘Wild Fire’ was detained in customs and unless I could find another bike, shoes and helmet to use I was not going to be able to do the Ironman. Did I get worried, upset, start yelling? Of course not. I had been really working on the mental side of the race and the first thing you learn is to control the stuff you have control over and let the other stuff go. Good principle for life, huh? My coach Pete Alfino at www.milehighmultisport.com/ had been really helping me with the mental side of training, so thanks, Pete, it really paid off!

Speaking of Pete, can you believe it he came to Penticton, Canada from Denver Colorado to see his athletes do the race? He is unbelieveable. If you want to get a coach to help you with your athletic endeavors, I wholeheartedly recommend Pete. He got me and Marion into great shape!

So yes, back to the bike. We went to the local bike shop and through the grace of God, in the madhouse of people swarmed at the bike shop to get their bikes repaired for Ironman, who do I walk up to? The first person I talked to at the bike shop turned out to be the owner of the shop! Why would that matter? Chris was amazingly compassionate and willing to help me. I think I even saw a tear in his eye as I tell him my sad story.

I told him that I needed a 54 cm frame and I wear size 10 shoes. He assures me I’ll have a bike for the Ironman – “no problem, don’t worry!” So guess what? He gets a call like 15 minutes after I leave from a local triathlete named Lance! Lance’s girlfriend overheard the sad story of the guy from Chicago whose bike was stuck in customs. Since Lance wasn’t going to do Ironman this year, he wanted his bike to do it. So yes, I had a bike! But this was no ordinary bike mind you, it was a Canondale Ironman triathlete bike. It was a more expensive bike than mine. Yes, it was 54 cm frame and Lance wore a size 10 shoe, perfect!

On race morning I felt good. I had a good night sleep. I ate well. I positioned myself in the middle of the pack during the swim. Despite getting hammered by other athletes for the first mile I exited the water with enthusiasm. I felt me and Ironman (that is what I called the bike because it had done the Ironman Canada course the year before) had a bond. We would help each other. We “talked” often during the race. I had no computer on the bike so I just went by feel. At no time during the swim, after the swim, or during the bike did I know how I was doing. I went totally by feel. My best races have been when I had no idea of the speed or time.

Unfortunately for the athletes doing Ironman Canada this year, the wind was up and the wind and blowing the opposite of the way it normally blew. So the course was hard. Despite all that I followed my nutritional plan to a tee. When I left the bike transition onto the run it was the first time I saw my time and I was 27 minutes ahead of last year and felt a 1000 times better. I needed a 3:56 marathon to break 12 hours for the Ironman. The course would not allow it this day and I was a fool for trying.

Instead of doing the whole race smooth and easy (I had done 2/3 of the course that way) I went out on the run fast and furious to do my 3:56 marathon, which I was able to do pace-wise until mile 10, when I had to walk because of cramps. These cramps kept up until mile 24 at which time I was able to run the rest of the way in to a 5:12 marathon.

I broke my PR by 53 minutes finishing in 13:15. Overall, I was very happy considering I didn’t have my bike and the temperatures were in the high 80’s and winds about 15 miles per hour against you on the bike and run (yes against, when the wind was with us there were hills blocking it so there was almost no benefit) I felt I had a great race. Like always I learned a myriad of lessons. Here they are:

Control what you can control and let the other stuff go. I did that and that was my biggest accomplishment.

Be careful what to pray for because it might come true. For the 3 weeks up to Ironman I had been praying, “God take me out of my comfort zone” and that weekend without my bike sure put me there!

Ironman is great. I want to do two next year.

Listen to your coach. The athletes who listened to Pete and did everything he said had the best races. Tim and I did half of it and we both had suboptimal runs.

Go smooth and easy the whole race. I didn’t do this on the run, this probably cost me 45 minutes and it won’t happen in the next race.

Getting your blood pH the right level helped immensely. Before the race I worked to get my blood pH on the acidic side because the heat alkalinizes it. I believe this is why my stomach was fine during Ironman.

My wife is great. She is a great mate, training partner and supporter.

I overcame my panic attacks. I believe to get over fear you have to face it. At last year’s Ironman Coeur D’Alene race I had a panic attack. This year I did more open water swims than ever. Other swimmers were all over me the first mile at this year’s race and I was a little panicky, but felt solid. (By the way, I swam my first 5K, yes 3.1 mile race only two weekends after Ironman and had a great swim!)

I can do this. I believe I can be very good at Ironman. I have the right body build. I have at my disposal as many vitamins/nutrients as needed and I have the time. I have the training partners and the desire. I would like to continue to improve.

I have great training partners. John, Allan, Kristen, Tim, and Marion you guys/gals are the greatest!

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