Patriots Half - Michael's Story

I originally signed up for the Patriots Half Ironman in 2008 and traveled to Williamsburg, Virginia only to have the race cancelled due to a little storm called Hurricane Hanna. To avoid reimbursing our entry fees, Setup Events allowed us credit towards this year’s race. So, I enjoyed an abbreviated tri season with the Patriots Half as this year’s ultimate race. Our 6.5 hour drive on Thursday afternoon seemed pretty long, but we arrived in time for dinner and a good nights rest before a day of sightseeing in historic Jamestown and Williamsburg. I took every opportunity that I could to get off my feet, but there wasn’t an abundance of those. As we toured the docks of Jamestown, I noticed the dark brown white-capping river that I would be swimming in at 7:00 the next morning. What a fearsome sight it was. For weeks I had hoped that the water temperature would drop below 78 degrees so we could enjoy a wetsuit legal swim in that rough water. It did. The announced water temperature was 74 degrees.
The swim was an inverted U with a 0.6 mile leg down the river. My swim time and comments from other swimmers exiting the water led me to believe that the swim course was long (or at least the course that I swam). The first leg of the U went fine with three orange buoys on my left before the turn. I only remember seeing two buoys on the long leg of the swim. The last leg of the U had us heading right into the rising sun. I never saw another buoy even though I paused twice to search for one. So, I relied on the follow-the-leader method of course navigation. Evidently the last turn was rounded off pretty bad and we got caught in the current that pushed us down stream, which stretched the course out. Well, that’s my theory and I’m sticking to it. I enjoyed several cheers and high fives from Team Whetstone members spread out over the long dash from the river to transition. The bike course was relatively flat so I enjoyed my fastest bike ride ever over 50 miles. I was impressed by the consistency of my bike computer with the course measuring device. There was a painted mile marker on the road every 5 miles. I was consistently 1/100th over. At their 20 I had 20.2 and at 50 I had 50.5 miles. All of the turns were well marked and monitored so I became worried when I had reached 57 miles and had not seen the last two turns. I ended up with 58.3 miles on my computer.
This was my longest event with no clothing changes. I wore my new tri top and a pair of shorts with a heavy pad under my wet suit. The soaked pad proved to be a handicap and made my afternoon walking tour of Williamsburg quite uncomfortable. Not having to put a tight top on a wet body probably saved a minute in T1. I forgot how good of a job Body-Glide did protecting the back of my neck from the wetsuit in a long swim. Learning lessons again can be quite painful. Note to self: please don’t have to learn that one again. I have signed up for the Swim for Drew at Lake Murray this weekend and need some healing time. My bike computer displayed a 19.0 mph average when I hit the transition area again. I began the run with a kiss from my bride. That should fuel me for a while. I started the run feeling pretty good and vowed no miles over 9 minutes and no walk breaks without a cup, from the aid stations, in my hand. The run course was beautiful. They had to reroute it after a boat recently damaged a bridge on the Colonial Parkway. There were only two half mile segments on a road. The majority of the run was on a paved bike path and the balance was on a raised gravel path through a wetland forest. This kept us protected from the afternoon sun. We had several loop-backs and got to see each other a number of times. Out in the middle of the course there were a couple of girls standing on a bench at the edge of a corn field cheering us all on. I thanked them each time that I passed. My splits were close to what I had predicted and my leg pain was near the “I’m-gonna-walk” level. So, I knew that I was on the edge. If only I had known that a new PR was only a minute and half away. My final dash down towards the finish line was met by the gang lined up beside the road, with hands out, ready for one more high five. But, another runner happened to be there on the road’s edge blocking me from the kids. Jackie said he got high fives from them all and ran on by with a big smile on his face. I am grateful that another runner was able to benefit from the boost that comes from having such great support. At the finish I was greeted by the whole gang. Jackie, Kenny, Jessica, Christi, Joe, Chelsea, five of my grandchildren, Preston (Chelsea’s brother) and his wife Leslie were all there braving the hot sun wishing that I would hurry up. We missed having Tim, Mary Beth, Kevin, Jackson and Maizeigh along but our schedules won’t always allow us to be together. After a few waters, Gatorades, a plate of bar-b-que, a sprinkler shower followed by a changing of clothes in the Porta-John, I was ready to hit the sites of Williamsburg again. I’m grateful for the way this entire weekend turned out.
With the completion of what I consider a successful season, I’m now ready for the November 8th sign up day, Ironman Florida 2010!