Hi Friends and Family,
Well, I finally made it back to Phoenix. It was quite an adventure to say the least. Thanks so much to everyone for their texts, emails and calls before and after the race. They really mean so much to me. The Race was July 20th but already seems like a year ago. I really haven’t thought much about the race since crossing the finish line because I was too busy having fun with Zach and my Cousin Heidi in Salzburg, Innsbruck and the beer gardens of Munich! Of course, a 14 hour plane ride (along with several hours in taxis, trains and sitting in airports) gives one ample time for reflection.
Pre-Race Week:
I arrived in Germany on July 15th and met my Tri-Travel “Team” for the week leading up to the Race. Our base of operations was the picturesque town of Guzenhausen. There were about 80 athletes with the team. Most of these guys and gals were from Australia but there were also athletes from the UK, Hong Kong, Singapore, Abu Dhabi, and a few of us Yanks thrown in for good measure. Not surprisingly, the triathletes from other parts of the world are just as obsessive about triathlons as we are in Phoenix! Most of the team had done multiple Ironman races all over the world. Challenge Roth was a bucket list race for all of them! I will give props to the Australian athletes because those guys institute beer drinking as an integral part of their training and pre-race preparations. I made some great new friends and look forward to seeing them down the road.
Interestingly, we had an Australian celebrity couple as part of our group. I did not realize we had anyone famous in the group, but learned that we had the host of the Australian Dancing with the Stars, Daniel MacPherson, and his girlfriend actress Zoe Ventura. Daniel is a top age group triathlete and Zoe, well, she is just smoking hot!
Daniel MacPherson-- http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0534205/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm
Zoe Ventura---http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2191570/
Our base was about 45 minutes from Roth, Germany, the site of the triathlon. We had to check in for the race and attend the Welcome Dinner. Of course, the only drink at the Welcome Dinner was bier (that is German for beer mates!)
The pre-race generally went smoothly, except for one minor little detail…..my bike, the Red Dragon, was MIA. Finally, the Red Dragon stormed into town on Friday and I finally found her!
Zach and Heidi arrived into town the day before the race! As my personal savior Larry the Cable Guy says: We were ready “to get er’ done!”
Race Day:
I remember something I said to friends and family back in April 2008 before my first Ironman---“Today, will be the toughest day and the best day of my life.” What was true then, was doubly true at Challenge Roth. I started the race, with a finishing time goal of sometime between 12 and 13 hours. It became apparent relatively quickly that I was not going to reach that goal and the new goal was to simply finish before the 15 hour cut-off time. (In an Ironman Race, you have 17 hours to finish the race, however, in Challenge you only have 15 hours to be an official finisher).
I felt very calm before the race started. I really thought I would have a good race even though the weather called for unseasonably hot and humid conditions. I was in the last swim wave with the rest of the slow, old guys. I had a very comfortable 2.4 mile swim. My swim time was around 1 hour 21 minutes which was a little slow for me but acceptable.
Unfortunately, the Red Dragon must have had jet lag or something because I could not get her to go very fast! Despite my slow time, the bike course was awesome. Basically, you biked from one little picturesque German town to another. There were 3 major hills on the two loop course, but the crowds on the hills allowed you to fly up the hills as they chanted “HOP, HOP, HOP….(which apparently means Go, Go , Go…or maybe they thought I was a freaking bunny) and “SUPER, SUPER!” That part was actually really fun and I had big smiles going up the hills! My bike was over an hour longer than it should have been. Not sure if it was the heat or the humidity or what but I felt terrible the last 30 miles on the bike and started to doubt whether I could or even wanted to go on. I finally got off the bike and really thought about ending the day then….did I really want to do a marathon?
Thankfully, I heard Zach and Heidi cheering for me as I got off my bike!! That gave me the boost and strength to put my ASICs on and just keep going. Every time I had a doubt, I would think of all the hard workouts over the last year and all the sacrifices made. I knew this was going to be my last FULL Iron Distance Race. I did not want to let down my sherpas who had come so far to support me at the race. I didn’t want my last race to be a DNF. I thought about my triathlon hero Macca’s words of wisdom “Embrace the Suck” and mostly I thought about the words of my daughter……”keep smiling Dad, even when it hurts….and never, ever give up.” Somehow, some way, just keep moving forward. (Good life lessons)
The run was a combination of walking and running for me. The markers in Germany were in kilometers instead of miles so it was constant math to try to figure out what I needed to do to finish in 15 hours. At this point, just finishing the race would be the victory. . . forget about time goal, forget about running a good marathon . . .just survive! There were at least a dozen times when I thought I would not make it. I made it to the final 10k and thought there was no way I could make it unless I picked up the pace . The mind is a powerful tool….I had also done a number of long runs where the last 2-3 miles Coach Nick would have me pick up the pace to mimic finishing strong. (While I think he had in mind finishing strong-- as in meeting your goal time-- I knew I had to finish strong, just to finish).
It was rainy and dark that last hour of the race. The rain actually cooled things down and allowed me to pick-up the pace as it was my fastest 10k of the marathon. I was 4k from the finish and still not sure whether I would make it in time. A race official on a bike rode next to me and told me that I had 4k to go and to pick it up! I knew “It was going to be close!” I was totally focused at this point in putting everything I had into trying to finish this race and leave every bit of guts, love, pain, toughness into beating the clock.
About 3k from the finish line, a long haired, bearded figure started running next to me….I had no idea at the time but it was my former boss (Scott Schuff, picture attached) who ran with me for about 100 meters shouting words of encouragement! I just thought it was some good Samaritan who was trying to help me finish the race!
I saw the 40k marker….2 k (1.2 miles to go)…..still wasn’t sure what the time was because it was very dark. I could hear the finish line ahead….it sounded like a rock concert! About 200 meters before the stadium, like a Phoenix rising from the ashes, the red carpet to the finish line appeared……Zach and Heidi were waiting for me! They were literally like Angels at the Pearly Gates! One really cool thing about the Challenge Races, is they let you run down the finish chute with family members. Ironman used to allow this (and Zach and Sammie crossed the finish line with me in 2008), but stopped it in 2009 due to “safety concerns.” At this point, Zach told me that I was going to finish and I tried to take a breath and take it all in as we ran together into the stadium!!!!
Running into the stadium was like nothing I had ever experienced in my life. Because I finished later, the stadium was packed because they have a huge fireworks show! We entered to lights, music, and 5000 screaming fans. I was getting and giving high fives down the remaining 200 meters of the finishing chute….Over the loudspeakers they were welcoming me to the finish!!!!! I did it! I made it! I could not believe it but I was proud that I stared down my deepest demons and finished the race in 14 hours and 50 minutes.
Victory has a lot of meanings. Although my time was A LOT slower than I wanted, in a lot of ways it was the most satisfying and coolest finish of a race I ever had. Just finishing and overcoming adversity on that day was a sweet victory for me! To finish in that atmosphere made it all worthwhile, and to have my son cross the line with me is something I will remember until the day I die. I was able to finish what I started. Not a bad way to go for your last Iron Distance race! I am at peace with it!
Epilogue:
Post- race, I did make a trip to the medical tent and got an IV. I wasn’t able to get any food down after the race but more than made it up for it over the next week with a steady diet of beers, big soft pretzels and brats!!!! Salzburg, Innsbruck and Munich were awesome days of climbing the alps, listening to music, touring museums, castles and drinking and sampling local cuisine! I did not do any running post- race but we did a ton of walking. On our last day in Munich, we did a bicycle and beer tour. I volunteered to be at the end of the line to make sure everyone got from point to point. For my reward, I got the official “Assman” Frisbee for bringing up the rear! I will display it proudly next to my finisher medal and beer glass!
I have attached a few pictures and have a lot more to show (along with some more interesting stories about the trip….which I will tell you about when I see you ). Looking forward to another few weeks of recovery and catching up with friends and family!
All my best!
Scott
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