The Big One

4:45 am
Was sleeping until someone called at midnight and woke me up and I couldn't fall asleep after that. It was the first time in weeks I was asleep before midnight.

I finished reading Allen's Total Triathlete. He talks about the '87 Ironman, a race he prepared very well for. The book is interesting because it is in black and white, and so what might be intimidating, almost seems quaint. Bike technology, and triathlon gear, has come a long way since the 80's. The bike helmets they are wearing look really dopey by today's standards.

It's interesting how Allen mentions his interactions with his competitors. His experiences, especially in the '87 Ironman, are repeated in a very candid way in his book. He calls Keith Anderson, a South African who rode in the front pack with Tinley, Pigg, Scott and Allen 'Mr Speedo' - because Anderson was only wearing a Speedo - no shirt, despite the fact that they would all be under the sun for at least 8 hours.
He talks about opening the paper the next morning (in hospital)and seeing Dave Scott making angry statements about being drafted by Allen on the swim. Allen says, "My God, here he wins the damn race, and he's whining because someone was on his feet during the swim!" It's emotional, especially just before and just after a race.

He was so wasted in the '87 Ironman that he gave up a 4:30 lead to Dave Scott, suffered internal bleeding, and ended up walking and running and last few miles, but still held on for 2nd. He spent the night in hospital.
I've also found myself in hospital, after my first Ironman - the one I didn't finish in Jeju, in 2003. I was told that I too had an infection (Allen had an infection in his stomach), mine was in my ear, and that I might lose the ability to hear in my ear!
Allen says he is not sure why his body fell apart, beyond the bleeding. He calls it 'an exercise induced body destruction of sorts'. It sounds vague, but I've been there too. It is what happens after you just drive your body way too hard. The breakdown is very subtle, and finally sudden and dramatic.


This year I had a few. I had one in the very first race (because I didn't eat enough before the race, and what I did eat, sushi, just didn't provide much energy at all), a partial one in the last race, and finally a big one which prevented the Ironman this year from even happening for me.
In Cheorwon this year I felt, at about 5km on the run, that I just couldn't get any more energy, that I had no energy and the sun was just sucking what I had out. I just felt completely overheated and dried out. Allen gave up a win. I was 2nd going into the run, with a Pro maybe 4-5 minutes ahead, and a 2 minute gap on a small pack behind me. I didn't just lose 1 place, I lost 20 places, and at least 20 minutes. I drank as much as I could, all the time, but because of the way I was exerting myself, and the heat of the day, my core body temperature just started overheating, and once that starts, it's over.

Allen talks about some of the rivalry that is always a part of the triathlon. I will post something soon to paint some kind of portrait of the rivalries that started up here. I think it'll make interesting reading.

'That which you want wants you. That which you fear, finds you' - Mike Rubano

'Maturity is continuing to try, even when we are failing' - David K. Reynolds