Scott Hill - IMCDA

[benbiggles]

What I learned at IM CDA … A Race Report

18 months ago, I had a romantic idea that “I would do an Ironman for my 40th birthday”. Romantic … how naïve I was to think you simply “did the Ironman”! Fast forward and I have logged nearly 900 combined hours of swimming, riding and running while training, welcomed another son into this world, and I have lost 57 pounds and changed my life forever. What I discovered as my journey unfolded, is that there are no short cuts in life; the IM race is won long before the cannon sounds; the discipline, dedication and perseverance necessary to succeed at 140.6 miles will spill over into every aspect of your life; and most importantly, my wife was is the real Ironman as she managed our family and made countless sacrifices (we have three active boys under the age of 5) while allowing me the time necessary time to train.

I arrived in CDA Wednesday evening with my family so that we could relax and soak in everything “Ironman”. My nutrition and hydration during the week were solid – and my taper seemed to leave me feeling a bit more energized as the week progressed. I even managed to sleep well Thursday and Friday night with the assistance of Ambiene. Thursday evening, the second family staying with us (the Bosches) arrived and Leah and I hosted a VO2 BBQ for the athletes who were already in CDA. It was a great evening and I really enjoyed relaxing with Ben, Cindy, Gerry, Joe Silvernale, Don Malone and the others who helped me ease my nerves. Steve Q. and Max – I read your reply emails on relaxing daily and appreciated your thoughts – thank you! And Crystal – you are awesome for making the trek out to the house from Spokane. My weight held steady all week long at 184 pounds – let’s go race….

Sunday morning I awoke at 4:15 after approximately 5 to 6 hours of sleep. I started my day sitting and looking out at the lake trying to relax while drinking a 1000 calorie Sustained Energy smoothie. After, I ate peanut butter toast and drank a large water bottle of Nuun while I watched the winds blow down the lake towards the swim beach. Jerry Bosch and I were in the car at 5:00 heading to the race. Surprisingly, my nerves seemed to be in check yet I could feel them creeping fast into the picture as we drew near the race venue. As we walked to transition, I could hardly talk as a pleasant young lady marked my body as I rehearsed my race plan over and over again in my head. Arriving in transition I was damn near crying as all of the emotions were starting to get to me. After a quick check of my bike I was off to drop my special needs bags and I then got into my wetsuit and walked slowly down to the beach. I as stood there watching the pros navigate the course – I literally began to shake – and fortunately found Gerry M. and Kevin S. for some relaxing words of encouragement. Kevin told me “if your not nervous and anxious something is wrong with you” and I knew he was right … I then saw Crystal, Joe and Bruce Campbell and I finally began to calm down. The last words of my morning were with Ben and Cindy. Ben placed me on the beach and then said “Big man you are ready – go have fun” … He is right … The National Anthem … My goggles fill with tears and need to be emptied. BOOM … My day has started.

The swim was more aggressive than I expected yet I really felt strong the entire way and never let up as I swam through the scrum (I started just off center right 4 or 5 people deep). I held my position the best that I could while trying to find clear water. I was amazed at how infrequently I needed to sight while entrenched in the masses. The first lap remained quite congested until nearly a quarter of the way back on the return. As I approached the beach I really felt good and I got out strong and ran over the map … wow the cheering was loud and I thought I heard 38 something. I was now really feeling pumped and excited to swim the second loop in open water – faster – coming home within my goal swim time of 1:15. Back in the water and swimming hard, I felt like I was around the diagonal pretty fast and then wow, is it getting rougher? Within 5 minutes, I felt like I was swimming in a completely different lake. It was rough for a first timer! Out of the water, 1:21:35 and within my expected pre race range.

T1 seemed to take forever – in fact the transition area now seemed huge. Wetsuit strippers had me clean quickly, and with my transition bag in hand I put on my bike shoes, helmet and sunglasses. HR monitor and watch last … Grabbed my bike and ran to the mounting area where I saw Steve Q. who was shouting my name and encouragement – I’m off riding in 5:15.

The bike started very easy as per Ben’s prescription. I looked down at my Garmin and it was “locating satellites” … for perhaps the first 10 – 15 minutes. Humm, this is a problem. “Are you in doors” – I guess so as I need a HR. No watch with GPS but at least the HR is now engaged and I switched the bike computer to MPH and realized that I will need to rely on the RR workouts. During the first part of the ride, I had a hard time getting my HR below 140 and I had SO MANY bikes flying by me as if I was standing still. I kept telling myself to hold steady and have faith that they will come back later. The first 35 miles seem to blow by and I felt great executing my nutrition and hydration race plan. At about mile 35, the plastic straw flew off my aero drink bottle and I laughed as I thought about Ben’s comment that “during the day something will go wrong and you need to focus and roll with it”. If that is all that happens “I am going to be fine”. Lesson #1: be careful about your premonitions…. At the mile 50 aide station I am really beginning to feel great and I am cruising – executing perfectly when I take a water bottle at the beginning of the station. I put it in my cage and go back to arrow, moving to the left slightly to avoid the slower bikes in front of me. Like a blur, a bike passing me and moves to the right into the aide station and clips my front wheel while I am going 15 – 20 MPH and I am suddenly on the ground in a split second. The first thing I notice is that it is eerily silent and I hear my bike flying across the pavement as I bounce off my hip and elbow, land on my shoulder blade and play sand paper with the road. When I come to a complete stop, I sit up and there are three volunteers asking if I am OK. I flex my arm – it works; look at my hip through a good size hole in my kit shorts and see a 2 ½ inches round strawberry; and my shoulder blade feels like it is cooking in a frying pan. I yelled a few obscenities quite loud, then asked the women to get me a bottle of water and she pours it all over the road rash. Meanwhile, some man is helping with my bike and puts my chain on, straightens my rear wheel and tells me my bike looks OK. I finally stand up and get back on to a roar like I have never heard before – I am crying and I start to peddle – mashing hard, and really flying down the hill back towards town. When I finally settle down, wonderful gal pulls up next to me and asks if I’m OK and looks me over telling me “it’s bad but not horrible” to which I immediately think she is talking about my other passion – the financial markets. I laugh a little and press on with my HR mysteriously falling down below 130 and my focus more intent than ever. Thank God I have Aleve and a second flask of Hammer Raspberry in my special needs. By the way, a broken flask of gel in your tri shorts IS a reason to shave your legs! I now know – I am going to be an Ironman today. The second loop felt conservative as I was a bit sensitive to my surroundings – 6:07:59 with ave HR 133 and MPH 18.3. I am again off my goal time but within my target range.

T2 felt fast considering I changed my shorts (Ben, our light blue kit and relieving yourself on the bike do not mesh well), put on socks and felt a little frazzled. Thank you Jeff P. for your help! 4:21 and I am running …

[MikePritch]

awesome Scott. just reading this gets me fired up. good thing i've got one coming up.

way to hang tough for those final three miles.

[Marne Sall]

Scott...I have chills and tears reading your report. What a journey and you did it! I remember our CT chats and how disciplined you were leading up to IMCDA, following the plan, and packing your little lunch bag of snacks. Congratulations on the many milestones and lessons learned...you're right, you've only just begun. Keep up the great work man, proud of you! You truly are an Ironman!

[eriks]

Scott...great job. I truly admire your mental toughness!!!! Way to see it through to the end. I have only done one half with no desire to do a full... but your report is inspirational, and now it is at least a thought!!

[Deb Rubens]

Awesome. Thank goodness no one was in the office yet today, I was tearing up. Awesome!

[andrew]

well done Scott, great mental toughness on those last 3 miles. mile marker 25 was missing wasnt it - boy did that feel bad

[benbiggles]

The run started exactly as planned, walking through the transition and drinking a full cup of water and Gatorade as Ben directed. Still, I had no pace indication as I never linked with satellites. HR 141 – I am within my zone and amazingly feel pretty good considering the point in the day and the fact that I crashed – did I mention I am playing the crowd the whole way soliciting cheers? This is awesome! I crank out about 15 or 16 miles at a very consistent pace of what I think is about 9:15 – my goal. Further, the highest HR readings I have seen were 148 and I seemed to be in control … “Wow, I might be at the fast end of my race goal today is now going through my head”. I see Charles, Joe, Gerry, and others ahead of me and I have passed many people while running the entire way with Jerry Bosch! They are coming back, and most importantly, I see my family and the V02 folks many times and I kiss my wife and the boys the first time through and “tell her how much I love her and our boys – I’m going to be an Ironman soon”. Ben is coaching – “relax, stay focused, you look strong” … and then the weather begins to change and get colder. It is now cold, really windy and raining, and my left hamstring begins to cramp. I shorten my stride and slow my pace, it gets worse; I stretch, it hurts worse; I eat salt pills, bananas, broth, Gatorade and no reprieve. I don’t know my time for mile 22 but it can’t be faster that 15 – 16 minutes and the past 6 miles have been difficult but plodding still running. As I hobble along I realize that it hurts worse to stop and I continue to tell myself “I am not walking this marathon”. At mile 23 I see the clock; 11:28:46 (I think) and I tell myself that a sub 12 is still possible, but you have to dig deep down in your heart and soul to pull this out and I try to pick up the pace. I prayed at this point and really tried to relax and sure enough I began to slowly feel better. By mile 25 I am running and crying – VO2 folks have packed it in and I am going to see my family and team at the finish. By Main Street, I am damn near sprinting and I feel like I have never run faster. I am waving my arms, soliciting cheers and playing the crowd feeding off their energy while crying and pumping my fists and arms. Wow was it loud bringing it home! As I approached about 1 ½ blocks away I could see the 11 something – run harder! And with a block to go, I couldn’t tell if it was 11:57 or 9 … Run Scott Run I kept saying to myself. “Scott Hill from Seattle, Washington, you are an Ironman!” 11:58:06 with a 4:18:58 marathon at a pace of 9:54 and ave HR 141.

What did I learn at IM CDA? You can accomplish anything in this world. Nothing is impossible if you have the right frame of mind, love and support from your family, the best coaching available and wonderful people to train, laugh, and cry and compete with. A very special thank you goes out to my wife Leah, my best friend, staunchest supporter and fan. Thank you Ben and Cindy – Ben you are worth twice your fee and you delivered this race to me with a smile on my face – you guys are awesome. Paul Hert and Robert Heintz – thanks for believing in me and inspiring me with you encouragement and advice. Jeff Roe, I thank you for getting off the couch and knocking out Canada – the heat is on! And finally, Jerry Bosch, you were simply amazing out there and a great training partner – Don was with you on this Father’s Day and will be with you for every one still too come. What did I learn at IM CDA … the journey has only begun!

[Cindybigglestone]

Thanks a lot Scott, you've made us all cry