Augusta Ironman 70.3
Edited for format. Made it a little easier to read.
It's been awhile since I have have posted on the site, but I thought it a good time to come back and share. Here is a long winded race report/thoughts.
Being chased by a 330 lb fat man
Less than two years ago I weighed 330 lbs, and was in poor health I made a decision to get my life back. I had gastric bypass surgery. A number of people believe it’s the easy way out, but it certainly is not. The surgery gives you a second chance to get your life back, and I took it. I went from 330 lbs on December 21, 2010 to 166 lbs today October 1, 2012. The journey started and continues to this day. What people don’t see is the hours and hours of exercise that I have put in from December 21, 2010 through today. They don’t see me waking up at 4:00am in the morning to go for a 17 mile run. They don’t see me at 1:00pm in the afternoon on weekends going for a 60 mile bike ride in the middle of the Augusta heat. They don’t see me working all day, going for a 5 or 6 mile run, then going to the gym at 9:00pm to swim for an hour. They do however see the results, and obviously the results speak for themselves. I made a choice, and I would make it again ten times over to achieve what I have been given, another chance at life. The 330 lb fat man is still there, he haunts me almost daily. I swim, bike, and ride out of fear, out of desperation, and out of a spirit of unwillingness to allow him to ever catch me. He is me and I am him, but today he is my past. I am my present. I am strong, I am determined, I am BACK!!!
Race day September 30, 2012
Normally I start my race reports on the day of the race, but this report is special because it required a little something extra to complete. So, today’s race report will be starting August 11, 2012. The week before my first open water swim and second sprint triathlon. All week I had been thinking negative thoughts because I was afraid of drowning. Every chance I got, I spent time saying why I could not complete the swim, each day that went by leading up to the race, I told myself I could not swim the distance. Race day came on August 18, 2012, and I’m nervous. I drive an hour to the race site by myself. In the car, I am telling myself I am not capable of doing the swim. I stand around with some friends (Jillian, Bill, Paul, and Joel) talking negatively about my ability to do the swim. I enter the water as one of the last entrants and begin the swim and get about 50 meters into the swim, and my mind hits “THE WALL". I spend the next 3 minutes treading water trying to find a way through or past. At last I could not find one that my mind would allow me through, so I turned around, swam back to shore, picked up my bike and equipment, and left the race. I had “disqualified". Everyone who knows me knows that that did not sit well within me, I am not a quitter, my normal actions in my life are not those of a quitter, and I felt like I had betrayed my beliefs. I allowed my mind to dictate who I was and what would happen on that day. I shed a few tears coming to grips with what had just happened.
On the drive home and in the up coming days I took a long hard look at myself, and went back to my beliefs and looked for what went wrong. I found the answer. I had allowed fear to enter my thoughts, and not only enter them, but allowed them to grow and take over, something that I had never let happen in the past. Once I came to terms with what I had found, I then tried to determine why I allowed it to overcome me. The answer was “death", in the past nothing I had to deal with brought me to a position where death was a potential result, and I was not ready that week or on that day to face that fear, but I knew that my goals and my being would not allow me to maintain that position of fear, so I set out to make whatever changes I could to prepare me in order to break through that fear the next occasion it presented itself, and that time was coming closer with every passing day. See I had signed up for Augusta Ironman 70.3 to be held on September 30, 2012. Knowing what had happened in the past, I originally started putting together excuses for why I might not be ready. The consisted of: I am a new swimmer, I have never swum that distance, I have never swum in open water, I don’t have time to get ready for the swim. I was preparing mentally to allow myself to fail again or as my mind saw it more time to get prepared for another race by talking myself out of this race with excuses. However, I knew that’s what I was doing. So I put on the breaks.
First, thanks to a friend finding me the event, I signed up for an open water swim clinic. I struggled in the clinic, but one of the instructors saw what was happening, and forced me to do a swim out into the open water deeper and deeper, all the while swimming by my side to let me know I was safe. I then swam back to shallower water and he spent time with me teaching me how to tread water properly (something I had never learned as a child swimming). At the end of the day I came away encouraged by the results. Secondly, I purchased a kayak. I know it sounds like a strange investment for learning how to swim in the open water, but the first rule of open water swimming is swim with a buddy. Well, my buddy was my wife and son, and they used the kayak to follow me on a few open water swims. It allowed me to swim up and catch my breath by holding on for a couple of seconds and then to continue swimming. More importantly it allowed me to go out in the deeper water, and work on my fear of the deeper waters. As for the distance that was a little more challenging since I am a new swimmer, and I sink like a rock with my lower body. So I was set out to see if I could go the distance, and I put a pull buoy between my legs, and swam 4000 meters which is almost 2.7 miles. The distance told me that I had the strength to go the distance, I had the breath and endurance to go the distance, and finally it gave me confidence to know that I could do the distance. The swim on September 30, 2012 was going to be wetsuit legal, so I knew that the wetsuit would provide buoyancy, and that I would stay balanced in the water. Putting all the pieces together happened about seven days before the event. I felt ready to have another go. This time the week was different if no other place, but my mind. I had prepared, I had tackled the fear of the open water head on, and I had gone the distance. I talked positively about the entire race both internally and externally. I visualized the swim in my mind. I visualized coming out of the water and running toward transition to get on the bike. I listened to friends telling me that I had what it takes to complete the event.
So, Friday my wife, me, and my nephew leave for Augusta. I have absolutely no nervousness. I am focused, almost to the point of being obnoxious to my family. Answered question curtly and maintained quietness about me. I met up with a friend (Paul Corley) who was doing the race as well, and he and his family joined us for dinner at TGIF. Saturday morning came and I went to check-in. Checked-in and spent time in the expo. I purchased Augusta Ironman items knowing that I would be an Ironman 70.3 finisher in a little more than 24 hours from that point. The rest of the day we spent walking to the swim start and finish, I walked the transition area, and brought my bike in and setup my station. We went to dinner and then spent the rest of the evening trying to wind down so I could sleep. Sleep was not to come, not for fear this time, but for anxiousness and anticipation of the next day’s race.
Sunday morning I woke up at 4:00am ahead of my alarm, when I say woke up it’s a loose term because I didn't sleep much. At 4:45am Kris, Jace, and I headed to the transition area to finish setting up for my bike and run portions of the race. They left me there and headed up to swim start. I finished preparing my area, and caught a shuttle bus up to the start of the swim.
The swim portion was in the Savannah River and it was a downstream swim for 1.2 miles. I would be wave number 5 to get into the water 7:48am. The morning goes smooth, I am still not nervous, but anxious to get into the water, and finally get the monkey off my back that has been plaguing me for months. My wave is called, I jump in the water and we tread water for a couple of minutes waiting for the horn to sound announcing us to start. It was a rough start, my goal was to get into the middle of the river to catch the current which would aid me with the swim, but that was everyone else’s idea as well. Within in the first 100 meters I wa*****hed and kicked in the face and about the head no less than five times. Panic crept up inside of me telling me I might be done. However, this time that wasn't going to be the case. I was not letting fear control my success or failure. If I died that day it would not be for lack of trying. I waited for about 30 seconds, and let the faster people get ahead of me, but the middle of the river was still congested, so I picked an inside line closer to the shore, but to my chagrin it had less of a current. So be it, it was where I needed that day in order to get the job done. I swam at a slow even pace, and I turned over on my back and used a kayak or two to let me rest for a couple of seconds, and then moved on. I knew I was going to finish, and how long it took was not entering my mind. I was focused and determined to exit the water at the end of the swim finish. One hour and three minutes later I emerged out of the water. At this point while running back to have my wetsuit stripped off me by volunteers, and heading to my bike is when I shed my first tears. I had conquered my demon, my fear had been fought head on and I won. I knew my day was going to happen, I knew I was going to be an Ironman 70.3 finisher. However, I also knew I had work left to do, so I slipped into socks, shoes, and my helmet and glasses and moved toward the bike exit.
The bike. I knew I had lost time in the swim and if I wanted to get close to a respectable finish time I would have to kill it on the bike, one of my stronger disciplines. I leave transition and I start the bike section. I kept an even pace and my goal was to stay at about an 18 mile per hour pace for the entire duration. The bike was awesome, I felt fast, I felt confident, but in an effort to earn some time back from my abysmal swim, I pushed harder in some areas, then I should have reaching speeds of 28 mph in sections, and had many miles of 22+ mph. Over all I was at 18.9 mph as an average for the entire race. Like I mentioned it came at a price, I started tightening up in the back of my right knee, the tendon connecting my ham string to the back of my right knee became so tight that I could have shot an arrow with it. The tighter it got the more painful it became, instead of dropping the speed, I kept it going, attacking the hills both ascending and descending. I finished the bike in 3:03:00 minutes. Approximately what I thought I would be at when I started given that I had expended so much energy in the water, it was a strong effort, but could have been better.
I roll off the bike and into transition number two.
The run. I get off the bike and I immediately feel the damage that I had done, my right leg did not want to straighten without feeling sever pain. I tried to put on my running shoes standing up, but wasn't going to happen. I had to sit down and slip on my shoes. I wished I had put the aspirin in my bag like I had planned. I head out of transition using what I affectionately call a “hobbled old man approach". I come out of transition and start my journey to the end. As a few of my family members noticed on the run, my split times looked like I was struggling. I can tell you first hand that I was, not from an energy standpoint, not from a lack of training standpoint, but simply my knee was in pain. Tears would well up in my eyes, and I would push them back down, and continue on. Mile after mile I was working my way to the finish line. Augusta has a two loop run route in which you actually pass by the finish line at least four times prior to actually reaching it. The passing of the finish each time was bitter sweet. Knowing I would be there soon, but knowing that I still had miles to go. I use the Galloway method of running, in which I purposely build in a walk for a minute and run for five minutes. It has actually brought my normal run time down to between 9:20 and 9:40 per mile for this same distance of 13.1 miles. The method saved me. I broke down at mile 9, and had to walk approximately five minutes. I need the short recoveries in order to reset my mind for the next five minutes of pain, and knowing I would have a break for another minute. I made my last pass, and knew I had only about 1.5 miles to go. I decided I would finish as strong as I could despite the extreme pain. People on the streets were cheering for the runners, I entered the finish shoot. As I passed, people would put their hands out for me to give them a high five. I must have high fived 15-20 strangers there simply to support the warriors of the day. On my way through the shoot, and across the other side I saw Kris standing at the end waiting to see me finish. Jace my nephew was there smiling a big smile and cheering me on. I crossed the finish line, and I had no idea what my finish time was, but I had finished. I was an Ironman 70.3 finisher. I can now wear the title “I AM IRON" as a friend told me. I am part of a unique club.
The rest of the day was a blur. Every step I took caused excruciating pain, and today the day after the race the pain is no different. I struggle to straighten and bend my knee, but once in motion I can move without the pain.
I raced yesterday for myself, I raced yesterday to remove the demon of fear, and the monkey off my back, but I also raced yesterday for Team RWB (Red, White, and Blue). Team RWB is wants to transform the way America supports its wounded veterans when they return from active duty. The intention is to create a community of veterans, their families, and American citizens who can enjoy authentic social interaction and shared experiences through activities and events all across America. I kept telling myself, if these men and women are willing to put their lives in jeopardy daily to allow me the privilege to achieve my goals as an American citizen, I can support them by flying the colors and representing in my small way of giving back. My journey is not complete, but I have taken steps to make sure that the 330 lb fat man that stares at me in the mirror every morning never catches me again.
It's been awhile since I have have posted on the site, but I thought it a good time to come back and share. Here is a long winded race report/thoughts.
Being chased by a 330 lb fat man
Less than two years ago I weighed 330 lbs, and was in poor health I made a decision to get my life back. I had gastric bypass surgery. A number of people believe it’s the easy way out, but it certainly is not. The surgery gives you a second chance to get your life back, and I took it. I went from 330 lbs on December 21, 2010 to 166 lbs today October 1, 2012. The journey started and continues to this day. What people don’t see is the hours and hours of exercise that I have put in from December 21, 2010 through today. They don’t see me waking up at 4:00am in the morning to go for a 17 mile run. They don’t see me at 1:00pm in the afternoon on weekends going for a 60 mile bike ride in the middle of the Augusta heat. They don’t see me working all day, going for a 5 or 6 mile run, then going to the gym at 9:00pm to swim for an hour. They do however see the results, and obviously the results speak for themselves. I made a choice, and I would make it again ten times over to achieve what I have been given, another chance at life. The 330 lb fat man is still there, he haunts me almost daily. I swim, bike, and ride out of fear, out of desperation, and out of a spirit of unwillingness to allow him to ever catch me. He is me and I am him, but today he is my past. I am my present. I am strong, I am determined, I am BACK!!!
Race day September 30, 2012
Normally I start my race reports on the day of the race, but this report is special because it required a little something extra to complete. So, today’s race report will be starting August 11, 2012. The week before my first open water swim and second sprint triathlon. All week I had been thinking negative thoughts because I was afraid of drowning. Every chance I got, I spent time saying why I could not complete the swim, each day that went by leading up to the race, I told myself I could not swim the distance. Race day came on August 18, 2012, and I’m nervous. I drive an hour to the race site by myself. In the car, I am telling myself I am not capable of doing the swim. I stand around with some friends (Jillian, Bill, Paul, and Joel) talking negatively about my ability to do the swim. I enter the water as one of the last entrants and begin the swim and get about 50 meters into the swim, and my mind hits “THE WALL". I spend the next 3 minutes treading water trying to find a way through or past. At last I could not find one that my mind would allow me through, so I turned around, swam back to shore, picked up my bike and equipment, and left the race. I had “disqualified". Everyone who knows me knows that that did not sit well within me, I am not a quitter, my normal actions in my life are not those of a quitter, and I felt like I had betrayed my beliefs. I allowed my mind to dictate who I was and what would happen on that day. I shed a few tears coming to grips with what had just happened.
On the drive home and in the up coming days I took a long hard look at myself, and went back to my beliefs and looked for what went wrong. I found the answer. I had allowed fear to enter my thoughts, and not only enter them, but allowed them to grow and take over, something that I had never let happen in the past. Once I came to terms with what I had found, I then tried to determine why I allowed it to overcome me. The answer was “death", in the past nothing I had to deal with brought me to a position where death was a potential result, and I was not ready that week or on that day to face that fear, but I knew that my goals and my being would not allow me to maintain that position of fear, so I set out to make whatever changes I could to prepare me in order to break through that fear the next occasion it presented itself, and that time was coming closer with every passing day. See I had signed up for Augusta Ironman 70.3 to be held on September 30, 2012. Knowing what had happened in the past, I originally started putting together excuses for why I might not be ready. The consisted of: I am a new swimmer, I have never swum that distance, I have never swum in open water, I don’t have time to get ready for the swim. I was preparing mentally to allow myself to fail again or as my mind saw it more time to get prepared for another race by talking myself out of this race with excuses. However, I knew that’s what I was doing. So I put on the breaks.
First, thanks to a friend finding me the event, I signed up for an open water swim clinic. I struggled in the clinic, but one of the instructors saw what was happening, and forced me to do a swim out into the open water deeper and deeper, all the while swimming by my side to let me know I was safe. I then swam back to shallower water and he spent time with me teaching me how to tread water properly (something I had never learned as a child swimming). At the end of the day I came away encouraged by the results. Secondly, I purchased a kayak. I know it sounds like a strange investment for learning how to swim in the open water, but the first rule of open water swimming is swim with a buddy. Well, my buddy was my wife and son, and they used the kayak to follow me on a few open water swims. It allowed me to swim up and catch my breath by holding on for a couple of seconds and then to continue swimming. More importantly it allowed me to go out in the deeper water, and work on my fear of the deeper waters. As for the distance that was a little more challenging since I am a new swimmer, and I sink like a rock with my lower body. So I was set out to see if I could go the distance, and I put a pull buoy between my legs, and swam 4000 meters which is almost 2.7 miles. The distance told me that I had the strength to go the distance, I had the breath and endurance to go the distance, and finally it gave me confidence to know that I could do the distance. The swim on September 30, 2012 was going to be wetsuit legal, so I knew that the wetsuit would provide buoyancy, and that I would stay balanced in the water. Putting all the pieces together happened about seven days before the event. I felt ready to have another go. This time the week was different if no other place, but my mind. I had prepared, I had tackled the fear of the open water head on, and I had gone the distance. I talked positively about the entire race both internally and externally. I visualized the swim in my mind. I visualized coming out of the water and running toward transition to get on the bike. I listened to friends telling me that I had what it takes to complete the event.
So, Friday my wife, me, and my nephew leave for Augusta. I have absolutely no nervousness. I am focused, almost to the point of being obnoxious to my family. Answered question curtly and maintained quietness about me. I met up with a friend (Paul Corley) who was doing the race as well, and he and his family joined us for dinner at TGIF. Saturday morning came and I went to check-in. Checked-in and spent time in the expo. I purchased Augusta Ironman items knowing that I would be an Ironman 70.3 finisher in a little more than 24 hours from that point. The rest of the day we spent walking to the swim start and finish, I walked the transition area, and brought my bike in and setup my station. We went to dinner and then spent the rest of the evening trying to wind down so I could sleep. Sleep was not to come, not for fear this time, but for anxiousness and anticipation of the next day’s race.
Sunday morning I woke up at 4:00am ahead of my alarm, when I say woke up it’s a loose term because I didn't sleep much. At 4:45am Kris, Jace, and I headed to the transition area to finish setting up for my bike and run portions of the race. They left me there and headed up to swim start. I finished preparing my area, and caught a shuttle bus up to the start of the swim.
The swim portion was in the Savannah River and it was a downstream swim for 1.2 miles. I would be wave number 5 to get into the water 7:48am. The morning goes smooth, I am still not nervous, but anxious to get into the water, and finally get the monkey off my back that has been plaguing me for months. My wave is called, I jump in the water and we tread water for a couple of minutes waiting for the horn to sound announcing us to start. It was a rough start, my goal was to get into the middle of the river to catch the current which would aid me with the swim, but that was everyone else’s idea as well. Within in the first 100 meters I wa*****hed and kicked in the face and about the head no less than five times. Panic crept up inside of me telling me I might be done. However, this time that wasn't going to be the case. I was not letting fear control my success or failure. If I died that day it would not be for lack of trying. I waited for about 30 seconds, and let the faster people get ahead of me, but the middle of the river was still congested, so I picked an inside line closer to the shore, but to my chagrin it had less of a current. So be it, it was where I needed that day in order to get the job done. I swam at a slow even pace, and I turned over on my back and used a kayak or two to let me rest for a couple of seconds, and then moved on. I knew I was going to finish, and how long it took was not entering my mind. I was focused and determined to exit the water at the end of the swim finish. One hour and three minutes later I emerged out of the water. At this point while running back to have my wetsuit stripped off me by volunteers, and heading to my bike is when I shed my first tears. I had conquered my demon, my fear had been fought head on and I won. I knew my day was going to happen, I knew I was going to be an Ironman 70.3 finisher. However, I also knew I had work left to do, so I slipped into socks, shoes, and my helmet and glasses and moved toward the bike exit.
The bike. I knew I had lost time in the swim and if I wanted to get close to a respectable finish time I would have to kill it on the bike, one of my stronger disciplines. I leave transition and I start the bike section. I kept an even pace and my goal was to stay at about an 18 mile per hour pace for the entire duration. The bike was awesome, I felt fast, I felt confident, but in an effort to earn some time back from my abysmal swim, I pushed harder in some areas, then I should have reaching speeds of 28 mph in sections, and had many miles of 22+ mph. Over all I was at 18.9 mph as an average for the entire race. Like I mentioned it came at a price, I started tightening up in the back of my right knee, the tendon connecting my ham string to the back of my right knee became so tight that I could have shot an arrow with it. The tighter it got the more painful it became, instead of dropping the speed, I kept it going, attacking the hills both ascending and descending. I finished the bike in 3:03:00 minutes. Approximately what I thought I would be at when I started given that I had expended so much energy in the water, it was a strong effort, but could have been better.
I roll off the bike and into transition number two.
The run. I get off the bike and I immediately feel the damage that I had done, my right leg did not want to straighten without feeling sever pain. I tried to put on my running shoes standing up, but wasn't going to happen. I had to sit down and slip on my shoes. I wished I had put the aspirin in my bag like I had planned. I head out of transition using what I affectionately call a “hobbled old man approach". I come out of transition and start my journey to the end. As a few of my family members noticed on the run, my split times looked like I was struggling. I can tell you first hand that I was, not from an energy standpoint, not from a lack of training standpoint, but simply my knee was in pain. Tears would well up in my eyes, and I would push them back down, and continue on. Mile after mile I was working my way to the finish line. Augusta has a two loop run route in which you actually pass by the finish line at least four times prior to actually reaching it. The passing of the finish each time was bitter sweet. Knowing I would be there soon, but knowing that I still had miles to go. I use the Galloway method of running, in which I purposely build in a walk for a minute and run for five minutes. It has actually brought my normal run time down to between 9:20 and 9:40 per mile for this same distance of 13.1 miles. The method saved me. I broke down at mile 9, and had to walk approximately five minutes. I need the short recoveries in order to reset my mind for the next five minutes of pain, and knowing I would have a break for another minute. I made my last pass, and knew I had only about 1.5 miles to go. I decided I would finish as strong as I could despite the extreme pain. People on the streets were cheering for the runners, I entered the finish shoot. As I passed, people would put their hands out for me to give them a high five. I must have high fived 15-20 strangers there simply to support the warriors of the day. On my way through the shoot, and across the other side I saw Kris standing at the end waiting to see me finish. Jace my nephew was there smiling a big smile and cheering me on. I crossed the finish line, and I had no idea what my finish time was, but I had finished. I was an Ironman 70.3 finisher. I can now wear the title “I AM IRON" as a friend told me. I am part of a unique club.
The rest of the day was a blur. Every step I took caused excruciating pain, and today the day after the race the pain is no different. I struggle to straighten and bend my knee, but once in motion I can move without the pain.
I raced yesterday for myself, I raced yesterday to remove the demon of fear, and the monkey off my back, but I also raced yesterday for Team RWB (Red, White, and Blue). Team RWB is wants to transform the way America supports its wounded veterans when they return from active duty. The intention is to create a community of veterans, their families, and American citizens who can enjoy authentic social interaction and shared experiences through activities and events all across America. I kept telling myself, if these men and women are willing to put their lives in jeopardy daily to allow me the privilege to achieve my goals as an American citizen, I can support them by flying the colors and representing in my small way of giving back. My journey is not complete, but I have taken steps to make sure that the 330 lb fat man that stares at me in the mirror every morning never catches me again.
Jay
First 5K 5/21/2011 00:48:24
First 13 mile run 02:31:39 10/30/2011
5K Race PR 24:38 5/2013
First TRIATHLON 1:48:37 5/7/2012
Augusta Ironman 70.3 6:54:67
Half Marathon PR 1:55:39 6/8/2013 Bootlegger Half Marathon
This is a pretty amazing story - wow. I bookmarked this for future reference when I feel like giving up - Ill think back to this story. You definitely earned the ironman title - congrats!!
www.sexyskinnybitch.wordpress.com - my journey to sexy skinny bitch status
11/16/12 - Got my Body by Sauceda - arms, Bl/BA, LBL, thigh lift.
HW 420/ SW 335 /CW 200 
85 lbs lost pre-op / 135 post op
~~~~Alison~~~~~
Jay,
That is quite the journey you have faced!!
Congratulations on your accomplishment!
You have inspired me to take my running further!!!
I started with a 3k 2 weeks ago, my next race is Nov.3 for 5k....never expected I would want/dare to go further but damn! your story touched me!! So, thank you for that!
That is quite the journey you have faced!!
Congratulations on your accomplishment!
You have inspired me to take my running further!!!
I started with a 3k 2 weeks ago, my next race is Nov.3 for 5k....never expected I would want/dare to go further but damn! your story touched me!! So, thank you for that!
Tam 
Highest Weight: 365lbs Clinic Weight: 325lbs Clinic goal:190 lbs Current Weight: 176.4lbs My goal:165lbs
Surgery: Dr. Yelle Ottawa on March 23, 2012
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