15 Ironmans
Leadville 100 run
Leadville 100 bike
Anyone curious which one I think is the hardest?
I feel very good today outside of some lingering dehydration and sore triceps and palms. Very little fatigue.
I turn 40 next week and am going to run 40 miles on my birthday. I'll describe each mile of the run with something that happened in the corresponding year of my life.
Next up? No idea. I have some fishing to do and some home work but I am (surprisingly) anxious to get back to exercising. I really thought I would be left (mentally) spent after Leadville... but I have my jogging sneakers laid out for tomorrow. I learned a ton about myself yesterday, far more than I did at the run last year and I'm feeling far more satisfied after the bike than I did the run... and I'm NEVER satisfied! I'm still pondering the day and might do a race report. I will say that the bike was 10 times more exciting, interesting, fun and at times dangerous than the run and I like that.
One thing is for sure and that's that the bike is here to stay. Whatever path I choose to pursue athletically cycling will always be a big part of that. I love it! And running of course leaves my soul complete and balanced.
And to everyone who left a comment yesterday and follows my blog. I really did think about you guys during the bike. I kept thinking about what I would blog after the race and I didn't want to disappoint. I'm not held accountable to anyone really... but knowing that people are out there supporting me and wanting me to succeed (or even fail... I love disappointing the haters) kept me motivated and I pushed on hoping to succeed. Thank you.
24 comments:
hey tim we are 40 within a few weeks of each other. wish i could join you for a 40 mile run for 40 years. anyway glad you had a great day out there. talk to you soon.
eric
Ya, that would be awesome! Maybe when we're 50?
As someone who has never met you in person, I can say I appreciate your blog and training knowledge. You also made an impact on my two girls at Silver Rush, even though it wasn't exactly as you had planned. Its the adventure of the next experience that I look forward to these day and I get the same sense from you. Keep it up!!
Congratulations from Spain Tim!
I´m another crazy sport man and I really like your blog
Oh my gosh, that start video blew my mind. It's like a horror movie when that pack appears in the distance. So freaking proud of you Tim! Your journey has been so inspirational to me, and something I think about when the going gets tough.
That planned post sounds amazing! As your aspiring publicist, I've always thought you should write a book... :) Hope Jo's tri was awesome!
In terms of most difficult, I bet you've never had to slowly walk the last four mikes of any race like the we did the 100.
I've done 12 hour mtn bike races and put them at about the level of a 50k run race.
Ironman. I have no idea. The swim alone makes me queasy.
'hardest'? Could depend on what your definition of that was. Physically the hardest - Leadville 100 Run? Hardest to not be frustrated and stay patient for hours - Leadville 100 Bike?
Ain't life great? The world is your oyster.
Can't wait to read about each year of your life, it's a great idea, and though I already had my birthday this year, something you might inspire me to do. I've been getting contemplstitve lately anyway!
Many of us do live a little vicariously through you, so a race report is always appreciated:), but never required.
I find your day 1 and 2 post race reactions fascinating, especially with everything that led up to and occured on race day. Ironically, it is sounding like the mental aspect of this race is winning out over the physical, and that's cool.
Something tells me that we're going to find out yet again that it's about the journey!
Sorry. Writing from my phone, so sound like a three year old in my comments.
Thanks James. I wish I remembered seeing you guys.
Thank you El Soplao!
Thanks Dave. Jo's race was awesome and a total blast.
In terms of just finishing of course the run is the hardest because of the sheer volume. But to go truly fast... I would put Ironman as the hardest and then the bike and the run last.
Mike- Absolutely the mental aspect of the race trumped the physical. I basically just cruised (frustrated) nice and relaxed (frustrated) for 60 miles and then raced for 40. Very little physical fatigue. I did many workouts that were more difficult. Before the race I knew that my mental state was going to play a large role in my doing well. I knew I needed to stay positive but that didn't happen. I failed to reach that goal and my mental state suffered a complete melt down and at mile 60 I was defeated and WELL behind schedule. But I brought it back and made a complete recovery both in my mental and physical (the clock)states. This race is one of my most satisfying ever because I did something that I didn't think would be possible. I also started the race with a gigantic demon gorilla on my back. After crashing at Silver Rush (my first MT bike race) and then toeing the line in a crushing mass of humanity traveling at 30mph I had anxiety that left me nauseated for days before. Saturday's race had very little to do with biking 100 miles.
Tim- I have a 2 and 4 year old so I didn't notice :)
Looking forward to your 40 year retrospect. I'm familiar with roughly 19-23, but it's those late 20's-early 30's that I'm curious about. Congrats on your success at Leadville on Saturday.
The hardest?!?! You left out marathon. i think a stand alone road marathon can hurt WAY more than ironman.
or maybe i need to push harder in ironman.
either way- damn, you've done (and suceeded at!) a lot of crazy endurance shit!
Thanks Brian!
Beth- The stand alone marathon doesn't sting until mile ~10 or so. The year I placed 13th at Kona I think I went through 13.1 miles in about 1:19 and suffered from step 1. I made it in to the top 10 just outside the Energy Lab and was completely spent with 5 miles to go.
In 2001 I bonked HUGE at Hawi and came off the bike seeing double and dead. I still managed a 3:02 marathon bonking the entire run. I suffered for 26 miles.
But there are definitely different kinds of hard. The last mile of a hard 5k can be intense but the last mile of a 100 can be excruciating in it's own right. It's of course apples to oranges and each one is very difficult... but for different reasons. With out doubt the training to go fast at Ironman is 10 times harder than the training for a 100 run. But the race itself? The 100 run is pretty damn brutal simply because of the fact that it's 19 hours VS. just 9 hours.
One thing is for damn sure, It's pretty freakin' amazing that after twice getting yourself mangled (made for good blog reading) :-) both in May and July you got yourself together by August and just CRUSHED it this weekend. I think the crappy starting position perhaps forced you to hold back and not burn all your matches so you could mow down that massive crowd in front of you as the race transpired.
Lucho - totally impressed by your ride Saturday! So many cool memories that struck up for me from last year too. That was such a fun race! I can totally relate to that feeling of the last 40 miles, it was so nice to be finally out of the crowds and able to ride hard and feel good. I passed probably 100 people who were walking up powerline alone as I rode it. Were you able to ride all of powerline on the way back in?
I made it to a couple hundred feet from the top and then had to put a foot down. But it was really satisfying blasting by the hordes up that hill.
Congrats on overcoming the demons of that fall. That is a huge factor on the bike.
As I said before though, I still bet you have a sub 8 hour in you on that course. Seriously, take out the mental funk of the start and start you closer to the front near the pros without all the masses to weave through, and I would put a lot of money on you nailing that first half 30-40 minutes faster. It sucks so much energy and time out having to stop behind people up ALL the climbs and some of the descents that first 50 miles.
Last year I made the HUGE mistake of pulling over to put my jacket on in the first mile. at least 1000 people passed me in that minute and I'm certain that lost me tons of time waiting behind people after that.
And I don't say that about the sub 8 to take anything away from your accomplishment this year...8:37 is freakin' awesome and you beat my time by over an hour twenty minutes from last year.
TGP and Aaron- Both your comments tie together sort of. TGP I did save a lot of energy but I also could have ridden much faster with out much more energy expenditure had I started near the front. A more even effort over the 100 would have been much better as I feel I had WAY too much left at the end and had very little fatigue afterward. For a first time though I'll take that over feeling crushed as I now have more confidence. Aaron I agree. Sub 8 isn't out of the question at all. Hell, I can look back and count up 37:00 of pure wasted time!
the motivation goes both ways lucho, i hope you don't stop blogging anytime soon
Congratulations from Germany! Anke Lucho-Fan :-)
Remember Tim, always use a pencil when writing "on paper", have a couple extra sheets and a wastebasket nearby! Words of wisdom from your wife and sister. :)
Congrats! Another incredible result. It's been fun following your journey.
Exactly. Odd this year how much faster it was, do you know what was up with that? Your time last year would have been 79th overall. It looks like close to 1300 people finished this year where only about 1000 did last year. It really must have been a zoo out there at the beginning.
Tim great job. I is great to see you succeed in a race setting and I hope that this trend continues for you.
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