If I could wear a suit every day, I probably would. Yeah, I’m sure it would be a huge pain to iron the shirts and get everything laundered. But, if I could afford enough awesome suits to wear every day, I’m sure I’d be able to pay for the upkeep.
Just saw a tweet that referenced this Mad Men + Helvetica combo. Can the folks creating Mad Men get any cooler?
Netflix has Helvetica streaming so I’ll put it on in the background from time to time. I just got done watching the first half and realized (perhaps more than I have before) how much I enjoy it. I guess I love the fact that there are people so nerdy and passionate about typefaces. It’s cool, too, because they show a few people who trash Helvetica (the typeface) and completely hate it. Call me a hipster or copy-cat or whatever, but it’s my favorite typeface, by far.
After years of putting up with VMware Server’s bullshit I finally made the transition to VirtualBox. I just created a WS2K8 R2 test domain at home using VirtualBox and it’s a breath of fresh air when compared to VMware Server. (At least when you’re trying to use VMware Server on Linux — especially Ubuntu.) Generally speaking, I’m not a huge fan of Oracle/SUN, but I have to say, VirtualBox’s simplicity is spot-on for quick and easy test environments.
At the risk of boring everyone to tears I thought it would be cool to write up a little report about the race. Heidi and I both took a couple weeks off work in order to travel to Coeur d’Alene and make a vacation out of the whole thing. We spent our first night out in Salt Lake City and then went onto Boise and stayed a night with my parents. We loaded up their RV and then all made our way to CDA. We took the scenic route, which was a little slow in the big rig, but well worth it.
Scenic route through Idaho
We got settled in at the campground and got a surprise visit by my sister, her husband, and their two kids, who were on a roadtrip from Alaska. It was so great to see them and have them and my parents there to experience the race with us.
For two days prior to the race we got to pretend to be pro athletes. Everything we did and thought was related to the race. Whenever we’d go into a grocery store or gas station, people would see our race bracelets and wish us luck or say something nice. Plus, just seeing all of the athletes walking around downtown was pretty cool. It seemed like the entire community was buzzing with everything Ironman. It really made us feel part of the event and connected with the other athletes.
All of our registration and race preparation went well. The only snag I had was a broken shifter cable, which happened 2 minutes into my “final check” ride. I was able to get it fixed at the Ironman bike tech tent, though, so it wasn’t too stressful. I’d never broken a cable before, so I wasn’t sure if this was a bad omen or what. Better to happen before the race, though, right?
Swim (2.4 miles; 1:21:40)
In the three previous triathlons I’ve done I’ve always been super-nervous right before the swim. It’s usually caused by a combination of overall race nerves and the fact I’m not the strongest swimmer. This race was no different. Heidi and I were standing together on the beach with the 2000+ other racers. She was all smiles (of course) and I was shitting bricks. I knew it was going to be mayhem since it was a mass start, but didn’t realize it was going to be as crazy as it was. It felt like I was crawling over people (and getting crawled over) the entire first lap. I’m glad I’m really comfortable in the water because there were times when things felt a bit out of control and I was getting kicked a lot and pushed under water.
Swim start
It got better on the second lap, however. I was happy with my swim and felt strong until the last 300m or so when my calves started cramping and my stroke got a bit sloppy. But, I made it out of the water without any major issues was looking forward to getting on the bike.
Bike (112 miles; 6:02:20)
I got a good perspective of how slow I am in the water the first few miles on the bike. Where did all of these people come from? The first half of the bike loop is pretty flat and it was really congested. My bike mantra was “Take it easy. Take it easy. Take it easy…” so I didn’t feel like I was going crazy, but it still seemed like I was passing a ton of people. Yet around every corner there were more and more bikes. I had lost track of Heidi during the swim (not hard to do when there are thousands of people flailing around in the water) so I didn’t know if she was ahead of me or behind me. I caught her about 24 miles into the first loop and was able to say hi to her, which was great.
Climbing on second half of the bike loop
The second half of the bike loop has some super-great views, along with a bunch of twists and turns and, of course, climbs. I wanted to make sure I didn’t blow my legs up so I resisted the temptation to kill it on the hills and just went slow on all of them. All in all the first loop was uneventful and pretty enjoyable. I hit a rough patch during the second loop (around 60 miles), but worked through it. It was getting hotter and windier so the hilly section was tough. I was sticking to my nutrition plan and was feeling like I was getting enough fuel. I tried to take on some extra calories on the bike so I would be ready for the run. As I mentioned, it was getting hot and I was feeling really thirsty so I started drinking some water in addition to my sports drink. All-in-all I was pretty happy with the how the bike leg went. I was fueled, happy with my time, and in good spirits when I dumped my bike at transition 2 and got ready for the run.
Run (26.2 miles; 5:21:32)
Oh, the run. My arch enemy of triathlons past. I left the changing tent thinking this was the race where I was going to slay the dragon and have a solid run. I felt pretty good the first couple of miles and was starting to get into a rhythm. But then the water baby in my stomach started kicking and made things less than comfortable. I remember seeing the 4 mile mark and thinking, “Oh shit. This is going to be a long 22 miles.” I made a deal with myself that since there were aid stations every mile I would run between them and allow myself to walk the length of the aid station and “rest up”. Aside from the cramps in my stomach, the biggest issue I was having was I wasn’t taking on any calories. The thought of eating something made my stomach turn so I just kept going. This worked until mile 11 or 12 when I finally had to stop running. A few seconds later I was slumped over in the middle of the road puking. This happened another 3-4 more times until I hit empty. Having not eaten anything I was so dizzy and light-headed that I couldn’t muster the energy to run. I felt like I was getting “crazy eyes” like in Fantastic Mr Fox.
Crazy eyes on the run
I had to walk and allow myself some time to recover. I think I did this until about mile 20 when I finally started feeling good enough to get some cola in my system. Not the best nutrition, but enough sugar, caffeine, and calories to get me going. But, I had been speed-walking for over an hour so my calves were cramping like crazy. (This is an Ironman, right?) I started doing some calculations and thought if I got my act together I might be able to get in under 13 hours. So I started running again and was able to keep that up (slowly) for the last 6 or so miles.
On the run
The final 1/4 mile on the run is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. Even though I had been racing pretty hard for about 13 hours I didn’t want it to end. I mean, I was completely tapped out and was grateful to finally see the finish line, but really didn’t want the experience to end. There are so many fans and so much positive energy in the finish chute that you feel like you’re gonna burst when you try to take it all in.
Finish
What a great experience. And, it was all the more special being able to do it with Heidi and to have my family there. Now that it’s over — “it” being the race as well as the hours and hours of training — I feel a bit empty. I’m sure we’ll find a new challenge to pursue — hopefully that will include another Ironman. Perhaps Wisconsin 2012? We’ll see….
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