Louisville Race Report (2)

Triathlon Forum
1

“Goodbye my lover…goodbye my friend. You have been the one…you have been the one for me.”

Poet laureate(?) James Blunt once said that and I can only assume he was confronting the same emotions I was at mile 8 of the Ironman Louisville marathon when I realized that my Ironman career was over. Not with a bang, but with a whimper.

Background:
Many of you know my journey from 220 pound ex-swimmer to cancer patient to Greek adonis to Ironman age group winner. I fell in love with triathlon and its dominant mother figure, Ironman, when I first saw Tim DeBoom run down the Energy Lab in 2002. By 2004, I was an Ironman, by 2007 I was swimming with Tim in Kona and competing in Hawaii. This offseason, with my run as a major weakness I took the calculated risk (along with my coach) to increase my run training and turn myself into a runner. Coming off a season where I herniated a disc in my back, this was a shot I needed to take just so I could “know.” Now I know.

Swim:
The swim was effortless, with the goal being to find a pair of feet to latch on to and key off of them. 2 swimmers immediately took off past the turn around and then were undecided where the current was stronger-one swimmer went left and one swimmer went right. I chose the guy to the right because he had to stop and adjust his goggles, allowing me to latch back on. I was 3rd out in 55 minutes, I was in a great spot and happy to be out of the water.

Bike:
This is where my running injury really affects me. I have soft tissue damage in my piriformis, glute medius/minus and pulling in my hamstring due to dialing up my run training. So the goal was to be conservative and bike well below my capabilities and try to enjoy it because as many of you know, training through injury takes the joy out of a lot of what is required to compete and if I couldn’t find joy on race day then it would force me to acknowledge the writing on the wall. With an average power of 226 (well below my 260 at Kona 2 years ago) I still managed to have a decent bike split and was the lead amateur off the bike. Only, there was no joy. I was waiting to flare, racing not with the love associated with being alone and in the lead at a race with 3000 people, but with the fear associated with racing with an injury that you can only hope is not going to flare.

Run:
I got off the bike and immediately felt great! I thought “wow, you can do this” and I began to hope. Andy Dufresne said that “hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things” and I had hope that not only would my injury not flare, but I could finally take all of the run training and turn it into a good marathon. The first few miles flew by and I was through 10k in 43 minutes and realized that I could just jog it in and still do really well! That hope turned into a harsh reality, and by mile 7 I was running by swinging my leg around because the muscles wouldn’t fire. By mile 8 I was stopping to stretch. By mile 9 I was walking.

Ironman is a marriage, and the love was gone from my marriage. My mind has been trying to overcome what my body has been telling me for too long, and I just can’t do it anymore. I love Ironman, but Ironman doesn’t love me. I saw as she moved on to the athletes behind me who have much more ability than I do. Ability is a funny word as applied to Ironman-there are so many facets. You need the desire, you need the engine, and you need the chassis. 2 out of 3 is fine if you want to be average but as long as you’ve resigned yourself to that you can do Ironman for a long time. I can’t, so I’ve decided to give it up completely and focus on cycling and finally give my body a break.

“And I still hold your hand in mine, in mine when I’m asleep.”

Maybe I’ll be back, maybe I won’t be. I’ve come too far to have regrets and I’m looking forward to following the rest of you and rooting for you from the sidelines here on Slowtwitch. It’s been fun ;^)

2

Sorry to hear your struggles physically. We wish you the very best and hope you will be back.

3

Sorry about the tough day, sucks that you have such a fickle mistress.

I hope whatever you do in the future, you can do it with joy.

PS - will Paulo know where to find you?

4

damn. that was a deeply mature assessment mike.

so, time trial focus? general all-rounder? you have the power for hills but not necessarily the W/Kg, right? have you considered going shorter for tris instead of focusing on IM as the goal?

5

Rather than wait for this to fall off the front page then do the self-absorbed “bump” under the guise of answering questions, I’ll just do it right away ;^)

I don’t enjoy the shorter stuff quite as much but if I do come back it will be at the Olympic distance/70.3. But that is down the road. Walton actually figured I had a good Cat1 sprint before he spent the last 4 years turning me diesel so we’re going to see what I can do all-around. I figure I have about 10 pounds to lose from giving up swimming (finally) but I just want to enjoy the training/racing. Most importantly, I want to win.

6

Just for variety and fun, try mtn biking, then an Xterra.

7

Sorry to hear about your struggles.

Sounds like your perspective is in the right spot…hopefully you can stay active in triathlon at 70.3 and shorter with the hope of getting through the injuries and finding a solution to the soft tissue issues.

Don’t give up finding a solution…whether accupunture…massage…ART…beer miles…there may be a way to train at a high level and keep your body together. If you can find a good pilates instructor to help with core strength it may offset some of the running trauma.

Enjoy some good rest and be proud of your accomplishments.
Andrew

8

ditto - takes a mature person to come to the conclusion you did.

9

Thanks.

The SRM is at the shop getting switched to the road bike but as soon as I get it back I’ll download the file and send it to you. Good luck at Wisconsin.

10

“Better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all”
.

11

At the Brandywine Valley Duathlon this year, I remember biking along thinking I was doing good considering a sickness, and a CYCLING MONSTER from the deepest corners of my troubled subconcious roared by, making me feel simultaneously emasculated and a little turned on (hey! it was a pretty sight)…that was Eganski.

So I agree with the cycling focus, I’m sure you’ll do as amazingly in that pursuit as you did at IM in a short period of time.

12

You could have stopped and had a beer with us, drown the pain. We were at 3rd and Breckinridge, about a block before the 3 mile marker.

13

ditto - takes a mature person to come to the conclusion you did.

uh oh … i think you thought i was being sarcastic. i wasn’t being even remotely sarcastic. i meant what i said literally and with embarrassing sincerity. i know mike personally and have ridden with on several occasions. i was there cheering him on at IMLP too (not that he necessarily knew this :slight_smile:

14

Nope - i read no sarcasm in your post.

one of the biggest problems most people face is the ability to be truly honest with themselves and make the right choice despite the emotional toll of the choice - I can’t fathom being faced that choice (that eganski was).

I’m just struggling over the decision to do an Ironman next year or not (basically IM for short term satisfaction, non-IM focus on short course for long term IM improvement) - my mind can’t process the emotions invovled with the decision to take a short/long break from Triathlon.

15

A story well-told. Thanks for the write up. It’s the other side of the story–how do we gracefully recede from battles when they cease to be the battles we should be fighting.

Re: ending the relationship…

My first FB status update, two hours after I finished IMLoo:

JackM and the Ironman are considering a trial separation, citing irreconcilable differences, intolerable pain and heartbreak. They hope to remain friends and continue to regard each other with the utmost respect.

My text message to my closest friends used more colorful language to refer to this relationship that had just caused me so much suffering.

Of course, I’m lucky…I’m healthy and recovering comfortably. Plus, I’m registered for IMFL, so it’s not over yet.

16

In seeing your posts over time and noting your results in area events, you clearly have ability and motivation in this sport beyond what most here ever could imagine or attain. Its unfortunate that your injury has brought you to this point. I won’t be surprised to hear of your return to IM competition somewhere down the road, fwiw. Thanks for sharing your experiences.

17

I’ve retired from ironman 5 or 6 times (every time was at the finish line or day after a tough ironman) did my first in 1991 then 1995 I said never again(3 hawaiis all lottery) but went to canada in 1996 got the buz again.
So I bet you go back to it some point… I’ve done 28 now since 1991 you can always get remarried…ironman sort of becomes a co dependent of course haveing friends who are enablers
for this addiction doesn’t help… the solution iron-anon…

hang in there have some fun what ever you do…but I bet we will see you out there again at some point…

18

Mike, good luck with whatever you do.

19

good write-up Mike. I hope that like in every relationship the two of you can work things out. maybe give yourself some more days/ weeks to seal that break up.

I had a herniated disc 10 years ago, and with non invasive treatment got it under control. this to the point, that I’m pain free as long as I do exercise. 2 weeks off and all the stiffness returns.

I was always hoping to see you nail that next race, and although I very much respect your decision, I surely hope that’s not the end of it.

and btw, bike racing is fun, but you will miss a lot from triathlon.

let me know when you are in nyc, we should meet for a ride.

Stefan

20

I am feeling exactly like you. I have always loved Ironman, but after 10…it’s lost it’s luster and I feel for me I want to focus on 70.3’s, maybe I have a chance of actually doing well in that distance instead of being a “finisher” to being a “competitor”. Best of luck!