McMotte: September 2008

We are in Arizona - woohoo! We came out here because we had a reception Thursday night, where we invited all the UGA alums and friends in the greater Phoenix area to come and hear Presdent Adams say a few words about UGA. But we have stayed for the game - Go Dawgs!

Yesterday we explored Tempe and Scottsdale, suburbs of Phoenix. Tempe is where we will be today for the football game. Scottsdale is a higher-end area with lots of shopping. We only did a little shopping and bought a Christmas present (get excited, Michael!)

But while we were in North Scottsdale, we drove up to Taliesin West, the winter home of Frank Lloyd Wright. I've recently become interested in wright after reading Loving Frank by Nancy Horan. (GREAT book!)

However, we did not tour the house, and I am a sad that we didn't. But it was $32 per person, and after spending $1417 last week to get my Escape repaired (there was a run-in with construction trash - a story for another day) I have little free money. But I walked around and took some pictures and feel a little closer to good ole' Frank.

So I've had a lot questions and requests to tell about my Ironman experience. Sorry it has taken so long, work has been a little more hectic than usual.
I went up to Louisville a couple of days before the race. This was a good and bad decision. It was great to get away from everything that didn't have to do with my race but it was also bad in the sense that all I could do was wait and think about the race.
The Friday before the race, the race officials had a portion of the swim course open, so I went down and swam a mile to get a realistic idea of what to expect with the current of the Ohio River.(really didn't think it was that bad….the water stunk a little…that's about it though)
Later that afternoon, I went to the athlete briefing meeting. I think this might have been the only moment during the whole weekend where I was a little nervous. There were easily over a 1000 triathletes in the room and I just happened to sit right in the middle of a group who all had already completed at least one Ironman. I did however feel a little more at ease with myself after speaking with one person who had never even done a triathlon before and was planning to wear cut off sweatpants for the whole race. Another triathlete leaned over to me and said "there are always a few who have to learn the hard way"!

Race MorningThe morning of the race went pretty smoothly. I woke up at 3:30am and started to prep for my day. I was at the race site by 5 and checked my bike one last time and then headed towards the water start. Louisville's start is different from every other Ironman. Because the start area is so narrow, it is not a mass start. Instead we all lined up basically single file and waited to jump in. Once you're in, you go! So you don't get to experience the hysteria of a mass start, which really was perfectly fine with me. I have done many mass starts, some have gone really well and others, it looks like you got in a fight. While standing in line, I talked with the triathletes around me. This helped with any anxious feelings I might have had. I was just ready to go! I had spent a solid ten months (really more) training for this one day. Enough talk, enough waiting, LET'S GO!

The SwimI hit the water about 45 minutes after the race officially started. It went extremely well. The first third was up stream and I really felt like that was my warm-up. It was strange to start a triathlon so spread out and I moved past a good number of swimmers early on. At the turn around is where I caught some turbulence. It was congested for about a quarter of a mile and I took a kick to the side of the head and another to my "manhood" (if you know what I mean) but other than that I was able to maneuver pretty easily through the next two thirds of the swim. I have said from day one, that I just wanted to finish the race within 17 hours. So I set my pace/goals at a slower time than I normally would for a shorter race; I just wanted to finish. So I had expected or planned for my swim to be around 1 hour and 30 minutes and if I could get it around 1 hour, 20 minutes, even better. I came out of the water at 1 hour and 13 minutes.

The BikeI had gone into the race expecting the bike course to suck. Anytime you hear the cute little term "rolling hills" in reference to the bike course…..It's going to suck! The first 10 miles were dead flat and then the course got challenging. Basically, we went out for 25 miles and then had this 2 loop ride that was 30 miles each and then back in to finish at 112 miles. I knew it was going to be hot and humid, so I had done some research and decided to wear a long sleeve heat gear shirt (with a tri jersey on top). Many ask "why would I do this"? a.) it helped keep the sun off of me, b.) It wicked sweat off of me, and c.) At every aid station, I would pour cold water on me, keeping the shirt wet and me cooler.
Early into the bike portion, maybe at mile 15, there was a REALLY BAD wreck. This is exactly how I saw it. I was flying down hill when I was directed to slow down. I then see a cycle shoe in the road, then about 10 feet away…part of a cycling jersey, another 10 feet away….the rider in the ditch (being attended too), another 20 feet away from…..the rider's bike! I estimated at the speed I was going before I was told to slow down, they were probably going between 35-40 mph when they wrecked. It was by far the worst carnage I have seen on a bike in my years of riding. After seeing that, all I could think about was how horrible that must be, to spend a year training for this one day and you are done literally 2 hours into it. I'm not sure how I would have handled it.
40 miles into the race, I became aware that I was not going to have a very fast bike time. It seemed that I needed to prepare myself to be done in 7 hours, 30 minutes or even in 8 hours. While that really didn't make me feel all that great, I just kept with my plan. Drink when I need to drink, eat when I need to eat, endurolytes when I need endurolytes and just keep pedaling! I only had one bad experience on the bike. While going uphill around mile 70, I switched my bottom and top gears too quickly at the same time and my chain popped off. OOOOOOOOOOOOOOH SSSSHHHHH********$*$*$*$@*TTTTTTTT, I thought….actually I said it too! I had to get off my bike, fix the chain and then because I was going uphill, I had to basically push myself uphill like I was on a skateboard before I could get my shoes clipped back into my bike. I lost a solid 5 to 10 minutes because of that stupid hill!
The last 30 miles, I was starting to see the toll the race was taking on people. I saw a handful of people sitting on the side of the road, trying to get some shade as they worked out the cramps in their legs. I was just glad I hadn't got to that point. I had a little cramping in my thighs but nothing that was serious enough to make me stop. I was very excited when I got to mile 102 because the last 10 miles coming were the same flat 10 miles I started out on. I also knew that I was going to make it to the run. It's funny; I have never IN MY LIFE been so excited to run 26.2 miles as that afternoon when I finished the bike portion of the race! OOOH, and to my surprise, I ended up coming in at 6 hours and 55 minutes.

The Run
I took my time in the transition area from the bike to the run. I knew I was ahead of my pace and had more than enough time to finish within 17 hours. When I headed out, I had a solid 8 hours, 30 minutes to finish the marathon. So I decided that as long as I kept a 15 minute mile pace, I would be fine.
At mile 3, I finally got my legs back from the wobbly state they were in and decided that at every mile marker I would walk for 3 minutes (and chew on ice), then I would have to finish the mile within the next 12 minutes so I could keep a 15 minute mile pace. This became some kind of game for me and it really helped the miles move along and I actually ended up averaging 12 minute miles for the whole marathon.
Because of the heat and the challenging bike course, I expected the marathon to be rough. While it wasn't the most pleasant experience of my life, it really wasn't all that bad. My calves cramped up a bit a certain points of the race but I stayed with my nutrition plan and that seemed to be a major factor in my success. I had also planned to take off my heat gear shirt after the bike portion of the race but it worked so well that I decided to keep it on for the run. So at every mile, I poured ice water on myself and I also wore a glove on my left hand, which I put ice in to help keep my body cool. I'm positive it looked weird but it worked.
Just like the bike, I saw people on the run who were having a rough time with the heat. Part of the run course was an out and back, so while I was at mile 13, the guy across the street from me was at mile 20. Unfortunately, this poor guy was done! He was sprawled out on the side of the road with EMT's frantically working on him, trying to get fluids into him. I became extremely cautious at this point. I mean, that guy was 6 miles away from finishing. SIX MILES!!! And he was not only done but was on his way to the hospital. I did not want that to happen to me. I would rub my face to make sure I was sweating after every mile from that point on. I kept pushing forward and before I knew it, I was at mile 25. At this point, I knew I was going to finish. I don't really remember everything I thought about during that last mile. I do remember thinking about my Nanny and how proud she would have been of me and how I wish I could have told her about it. (I also had Nanny's name on the back of my hand the whole weekend I was in Louisville and it finally came off around mile 100 of the bike) I thought about seeing Mary for the first time and calling my parents to let my dad know that I finished. After that I really don't remember too much else. I think I just wanted to soak it all in. I came in and really didn't know what to do, so at the finish line I did the strong man pose. I mean, I did just do an Ironman. Mary said that when I came in, the announcer said "And here comes Marc LaMotte from Athens, Georgia. Home of the Bulldogs. Go Dawgs! Marc, YOU ARE NOW AN IRONMAN"! I didn't hear it, I didn't have too. I knew what I had just accomplished.
I saw Mary almost immediately as I finished. She ran up to me with tears in her eyes. I asked why she was crying and she responded by saying how proud she was of me. I supposedly then responded with "well good, cause I'm not ever getting a PhD"! NOW, she says I said it. I have no recollection of it but maybe I was a little delirious, so maybe I did. Either way, it's kind of funny!

Thoughts on being an Ironman
"I feel like the Ironman race was a very unique and humbling experience"!

You know, I really thought I would cross the line of the Ironman and just be cocky about it. "YEAH, I'm a Mo' Fo'ing IRONMAN"! It hasn't happened that way. If anything, I have had the opposite reaction. With the realization of how far I really went on that day… the year of training, the actual distance of the race, the heat, the challenges and the issues I saw that others had. I am just very grateful that I was able to finish. Now, it has been somewhat amusing to see my wife brag about me but then again, I guess someone needs to do it!hehe Ironman has been a very unique and humbling experience. I'm very proud of what I've accomplished but I don't think you will see me trying to brag about it anytime soon.

In my last post, I stated that I read that less than 1% percent of the world's population will ever complete an Ironman. That averages out to something like less than one person in every 2 million people. That statistic is so ridiculous, who can really wrap their mind around it.

So here is what I think it comes down too….and this may be the one time you will hear(or read) me say it.

My name is Marc LaMotte and I am an Ironman!