Memorial Hermann Ironman Texas 2012 : Official Thread (Page 45)

Wow! It's getting more and more real!! Hope you feel better soon Patrick! Taper sucks! Too much time to think. I'm getting more excited and less nervous though! Hope everyone is doing well. 12 days to go!!

I saw some Ironman banners out along Woodlands Parkway!

I have been battling the same exact thing and am finally coming out of it. I just keep telling myself I'm lucky it didn't hit race week.

I have been battling the same exact thing and am finally coming out of it. I just keep telling myself I'm lucky it didn't hit race week.

I borrowed and modified this from IMAZ thread from freeswimmingfish.
Right now you've all entered the taper. Perhaps you've been at this a few months,
perhaps you've been at this a few years. For some of you this is your first IM,
for others, a long-overdue welcome back to a race that few can match.

You've been following your schedule to the letter. You've been piling on the
mileage, piling up the laundry, and getting a set of tan lines that will take
until next year to erase. Long rides were followed by long runs, which both
were preceded by long swims, all of which were followed by recovery naps that
were longer than you slept for any given night during college.

You ran in the dark.

You rode in the rain.

You ran in the heat.

You ran in the cold.

You went out when others stayed home.

You rode the trainer when others pulled the covers over their heads.

You have survived the Darwinian progression that is an Ironman summer, and now
the hardest days are behind you. Like a climber in the Tour de France coming
over the summit of the penultimate climb on an alpine stage, you've already
covered so much ground...there's just one more climb to go. You shift up, you
take a drink, you zip up the jersey; the descent lies before you...and it will
be a fast one.

Time that used to be filled with never-ending work will now be filling with
silent muscles, taking their final, well-earned rest. While this taper is
something your body desperately needs, your mind cast off to the background for
so very long, will start to speak to you.

It won't be pretty.

It will bring up thoughts of doubt, pain, hunger, thirst, failure, and loss. It
will give you reasons why you aren't ready. It will try and make one last stand
to stop you, because your brain doesn't know what the body already does. Your
body knows the truth:

You are ready.

Your brain won't believe it. It will use the taper to convince you that this is
foolish - that there is too much that can go wrong.

You are ready.

Finishing an Ironman is never an accident. It's the result of dedication,
focus, hard work, and belief that all the long runs in March, long rides in
April, and long swims every damn weekend will be worth it. It comes from
getting on the bike, day in, day out. It comes from long, solo runs. From that
first long run where you wondered, "How will I ever be ready?" to the
last long run where you smiled to yourself with one mile to go...knowing that
you'd found the answer.

It is worth it. Now that you're at the taper, you know it will be worth it. The
workload becomes less. The body winds up and prepares, and you just need to
quiet your worried mind. Not easy, but you can do it.

You are ready.

You will walk into the water with 2500 other wide-open sets of eyes. You will look
upon the sea of humanity, knowing that you belong. You'll smile because the day
you have waited for so VERY long is finally here.

You will tear up in your goggles. Everyone does.

The helicopters will roar overhead.

The splashing will surround you.

You'll stop thinking about Ironman, because you're now racing one.

The swim will be long - it's long for everyone, but you'll make it. You'll swim
into the canal and soon you'll hear the crowd at the end. You'll come up the
stairs, head for T1, change clothes and then head for the bike.

The voices, the cowbells, and the curb-to-curb chalk giving you a hero's
sendoff can't wipe the smile off your face.

You'll settle down to your race. The crowds will spread out on the road. You'll
soon be on your bike, eating your food on your schedule, controlling your
Ironman.

You'll start to feel that morning sun turn to afternoon sun. It's warm now.
Maybe it's hot. Maybe you're not feeling so good now. You'll keep riding.
You'll keep drinking. You'll keep moving. After all, this is just a long
training day with valet parking and catering, right?

You'll put on your game face, fighting the urge to feel down as you ride for
what seems like hours. You reach special needs, fuel up, and head out.

By now it'll be hot. You'll be tired. The wind will be in your face and doubts
will fight for your focus. Everyone struggles here. You've been on that bike
for a few hours, and stopping would be nice, but you won't - not here. Not
today.

You'll grind the false flats to the climb. You'll know you're almost there.
You'll fight for every inch of road. The crowd will come back to you here. Let
their energy push you. Let them see your eyes. Smile when they cheer for you - your
body will get just that little bit lighter.

Grind.

Fight.

Suffer.

Persevere.

You'll plunge down the road, swooping from corner to corner, chaining together
the turns, tucking on the straights, letting your legs recover for the run to
come - soon! You'll roll back - you'll see people running out. You'll think to
yourself, "Wasn't I just here?" The noise will grow. The chalk dust will hang in the air - you're back, with only 26.2 miles to go. You'll relax a little bit, knowing that even if you get a flat
tire or something breaks here, you can run the damn bike into T2.

You'll roll into transition. 100 volunteers will fight for your bike. You'll
give it up and not look back. You'll have your bag handed to you, and into the
tent you'll go. You'll change. You'll load up your pockets, and open the door
to the last long run of your Ironman spring - the one that counts.

You'll take that first step of a thousand...and you'll smile. You'll know that
the bike won't let you down now - the race is down to your own two feet. The
same crowd that cheered for you in the shadows of the morning will cheer for
you in the brilliant sunshine of a spring Saturday. High-five people on the way
out. Smile. Enjoy it. This is what you've worked for all year long.
That first mile will feel great. So will the second. By mile 3, you probably won't
feel so good.

That's okay. You knew it couldn't all be that easy. You'll settle down just
like you did on the bike, and get down to your pace. You'll see the leaders along
the way.  Some will look great - some won't. You might feel great, you might not. No matter how you feel, don't panic - this is the part of the day where whatever you're feeling, you can be sure it
won't last.

You'll keep moving. You'll keep drinking. You'll keep eating. Maybe you'll be
right on plan - maybe you won't. If you're ahead of schedule, don't worry -
believe. If you're behind, don't panic - roll with it. Everyone comes up with a
brilliant race plan for Ironman, and then everyone has to deal with the reality
that planning for something like Ironman is like trying to land a man on the
moon. By remote control. Blindfolded.

How you react to the changes in your plan will dictate your day. Don't waste
energy worrying about things - just do what you have to when you have to, and
keep moving. Keep eating. Keep drinking. Just don't sit down - don't EVER sit
down.

You'll make it to the halfway point. You'll load up on special needs. Some of
what you packed will look good, some won't. Eat what looks good, toss the rest.
Keep moving. Start looking for people you know. Cheer for people you don't.   You're about to start your final lap - they're not. They want to be where you are, just like you wanted to be when you saw all those fast people on their final lap. Share some energy - you'll get it right back.

Run if you can.

Walk if you have to.

Just keep moving.

The miles will drag on. The brilliant sunshine will yawn. You'll be coming up
to those aid stations fully alive with people, music, and chicken soup. TAKE
THE SOUP. Keep moving.

You'll soon only have a few miles to go. You'll start to believe that you're
going to make it. You'll start to imagine how good it's going to feel when you
get there. Let those feelings drive you on. When your legs just don't want to
move anymore, think about what it's going to be like when someone catches
you…and puts a medal over your head... all you have to do is get there.

You'll start to hear the people in town. People you can't see in the twilight
will cheer for you. They'll call out your name. Smile and thank them. They were
there when you left on the bike, and when you came back, and when you left on
the run, and now when you've come back.

You'll enter the final run around the Canal. You'll start to realize that the
day is almost over. You'll be exhausted, wiped out, barely able to run a
10-minute mile (if you're lucky), but you'll ask yourself, "Where did the
whole day go?" You'll be standing on the edge of two feelings - the desire
to finally stop, and the desire to take these last moments and make them last
as long as possible.

You'll hit mile 25. Your Ironman will have 1.2 miles - just 2KM left in it.

You'll run. You'll find your legs. You'll fly. You won't know how, but you will
run. The lights will grow brighter, brighter, and brighter. Soon you'll be able
to hear the music again. This time, it'll be for keeps.

Soon they'll see you. Soon, everyone will see you. You'll run towards the
lights, between the fences, and into the night sun made just for you.

They'll say your name.

You'll keep running.

Nothing will hurt.
The moment will be yours - for one moment, the entire world will be looking at you
and only you.

You'll break the tape at the finish line, 140.6 miles after starting your
journey. The flash will go off.

You'll stop. You'll finally stop. Your legs will wobble their last, and
suddenly...be capable of nothing more.

Someone will catch you.

You'll lean into them.

It will suddenly hit you.
YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!

You are ready.

No one panic as I do live 360 miles south of the race site but its hot as hades down here.........111 today.  I may melt before race day.  A high of 78 sounds downright cold.  I might need a jacket!  I changed my reservation today to arrive tuesday instead of weds YAY.  For IMFL I am always constrained by multiple confounding factors and I am always jealous of the people who aare able to get there earlier rather than later.  YAY ME

New forecast in on Accuweather: 89 and mostly sunny on race day

for the case, that somebody elso has the same issue: i found on mapmywalk.com the run & bike course if IM Texas 2011. Its possible to download the files as gpx for Garmin.

Still about the bike course - can anybody recommend a spot in the north of the bike course, where you can park the car and also make a short run afterwards - is it (from traffic pov) safe to run on beside the highways.

Taper on !

Erwin, PM sent. Also note that the run course is slightly different from 2011 but you will get the essence of it if you run last year's course.

Many of us drive to Woodforest Golf Course right on Sendera Ranch/Fish Creek before you turn on 2854. It is a public golf course so you can park there without any problem. You can do an out and back from there. You'd be running along a busy road but it has a nice shoulder.

Don't know what Houston is getting but San Antonio is getting nailed with a "cold" front. Cool, windy, and lots of rain. All very welcome weather...Loving it but no outside workouts.

Edited by alove 2012-05-08 9:47 AM

Kelly, Patrick,

thanks a lot - great tips !!

Dewey,

sorry, didnt see the pm.

Did i mention - i hate taper - i wanna RACE

Does anyone else have Ironman brain?  Seriously I am sick of work and want to get going.  No one at work gets it.  At all.  in general I don't talk about my tri stuff because its eaiser than having to explain everything.   I do love taper tho.........nice to not be tired and hungry all the time!!!

Dropped the bike off for 2 new tires, new chain and total tune-up today. This will give me time for 2 rides on it before the race. I am so ready to be at the start. Have to admit I'm nervous as all get out - this is my first Ironman, but I know that the nerves will disappear as soon as that cannon thunders. My taper is still bigger than some others, I guess - 15 mile run and two bike rides over 2.5 hours this week, but these keep me from thinking even more than I probably need to at this point. I am planning to swim quite a bit in the next week, but will begin resting down on everything else by Friday. I don't own a wetsuit so that question is an easy answer for me...

Other than that: I AM EXCITED!!!

I am not racing this year...so Good Luck to all!!!  Some of yall this will be your second IMTX, number XX IM, but a lot this may be your first.  I thought those that have raced last year could list out some pointers---besides the obvious (trust your training, nutrition, control your pace etc....) that could be helpful to the first timers.

The biggest thing I would change from what I did last year is..

Dont rush to get into the water when they tell the AG to get in. As common practice they try to get all the AG's in before the pros. I was so jacked up on adrenaline that I was towards the front of the pack ready to get rolling. However I probably ended up treading water for ~20 minutes before the gun went off. Granted a lot of people were still on shore trying to get in when the gun went off. In retrospect and next year..I will try to wait a little longer before getting in the water.

Also, a lot of racers were hanging on to kayaks, the piers, anything they could prior to the start. So if you are in the water early and dont want to waste energy treading find a kayak and hold on. It was crazy how many racers were hanging onto the kayaks and piers.

Also with the run special needs bag. Being a looped course you only have access to your bag once. A lot may or may not already know this..I did not know this last year. I thought we may be able to access it each loop. They informed us at the athlete meeting that was not the case. Last year the run special needs bag was probably a quarter mile from the finish line\start of next loop. Not sure with the run course change if it will be similar. So make sure you plan your stop, if you need it to the first or second loop.

Thats all I have outside the usual tips. I hope some of this may help a few to plan your day!

Cheers

81 in the lake today? Nice. Just a note, if the cool weather sticks around it is very possible the wind won't be out of the Southeast on raceday. With cold fronts the wind generally comes from the N-NW/NE. Not a big deal but something to think about if you are thinking bike strategy.

Everyone I work with thinks I am crazy. In fact I have a group of 20 something year olds that think it would be cool to be as in shape as this 40 year old. But they think I am crazy too.

I am so ready to do this race. (i am 98% percent excited an 2% scared or maybe its 98% scared or 2% excited...)

I'm not racing, but I drove by the lake this morning - IM trucks are arriving (probably a dozen parked there so far) and signs are going up around town. It's coming quickly! Good luck to everyone racing