Will Jon Complete His First Ironman?

    

Jon's Road to Ironman France

In August 2013, Jon travelled to Louisville, KY to watch me compete in my second and final Ironman competition.  Training takes so much time, it is like having a second full time job.  During training I would see Jon in passing on the way to the pool or in the morning at breakfast.  We spent so much time apart that summer that I decided I would take a break from triathlons so that Jon and I could spend more time together.  It is important to have priorities in life.  Family is at the top of the list so it wasn't a hard decision for me.  

On that beautiful day in Kentucky, Jon spent it watching me and thousands of other athletes.  Louisville is known as having one of the best finishes in the sport. He saw professionals and first timers, old and young, of all shapes and sizes cross the finish line. This inspired him.  

He thought to himself, I can do this.  He let me have my celebration and then he said that he was going to do one!  It didn't register with me at first.  He had to repeat himself.  I don't know if I just thought, okay Jon, ya right.  Or if I just never thought those words would ever come out of his mouth.  This was coming from a guy that had never done any sort of race before.  Either way, I was blown away.  He knew how much it meant to me and he didn't want me to give it up, so he decided to join me.

This is Jon before he started his journey.  He was a big guy and had a long road ahead of him.  Jon comes from an athletic background.  He played all sorts of sports growing up including baseball, basketball and tennis.  He played collegiate baseball and since college his passion has been boxing.  But that means nothing when it comes to triathlon.  An ironman is an endurance sport, something foreign to Jon.  

For those of you that are not familiar with an Ironman, it consists of:

                    2.4 mile swim

                    112 mile bike

                    26.2 mile run

Usually people start out with a 5k race, maybe do a half marathon (13.1 mile run).  Then after a few years of pick up a sprint triathlon which takes a couple hours, at most, to complete.  Then there are Olympic distance triathlons that are a little bit longer.  Then half Ironman distance triathlons.  It's a progression.  It takes some athletes a good 10 years to build up to an Ironman distance.  

But not for Jon.  He decided he would start with the hardest.  To most, this seems foolish.  But not to Jon.  When he sets his mind to something, he will go to extremes to see it through.  

He started eating healthy and losing weight.  He bought a bike and some swim goggles and began his training.  I suggested getting a coach but he wanted nothing to do with that.  He could figure it out on his own.  And that's what he set out to do.  We had some great times together taking trips to beautiful places.

SWIM:

Let's talk about his swim.  He is a Florida boy who grew up in the water.  He is a certified scuba diver and has absolutely no problem going down 60+ feet in the ocean.  I thought, no problem.  Wrong. This would prove to be his weakness, something very common I the world of triathlon.  

Apparently he has never had any formal swim lessons in his life.  He could barley swim 25 yards when he started.  And let's just say it was less than perfect.  He would go to take a breath and would breathe in water.  His feet would sink to the bottom and he would be out of breath fast.  I have to say I was very concerned.  How was he going to learn to swim 2.4 miles in a few months?  He took a few swim lessons and started putting in a lot of time at the pool.

He decided to do an Olympic triathlon to get some race practice and time on the open water.  France is in the ocean so it's always good to simulate race conditions. He got his wetsuit on and we headed to the swim start for the 1.2 mile swim.  Most races have you swim with the current.  We noticed as we were walking to the start that the current was going the wrong direction and we would be swimming into it.  We decided it must be the wind playing tricks on us and there is no way they would make us do that.  Wrong.  As we jumped into the water it was clear it was into the current and it was going to be a hard swim.  Jon wasn't used to the crowds and the murky water and had a bit of trouble at the start.  He felt claustrophobic and panicked and lost control of his breathing.  Having to do the breast stroke so that he could breathe, he didn't make it very far.  He pulled himself together and was making progress but as time went on the current got stronger and the waves became huge.  Even as a strong swimmer, I thought these were horriable conditions.  Half the swimmers didn't finish the swim. This is not a great race to start in for your first.  After 1:45-2hours a guard came up to him and talked him into going into shore. He had only made it half way and with the current was standing still, or possibly moving backwards.  He threw in the towel.  Surprisingly it gave him confidence.  He now knew he could swim for 2 hours in horrible conditions.  The water in France would be a lot more clear and a lot more calm.  He also knew this is where his focus needed to be.

BIKE:

He never really spent much time on a bike but he picked it up quite quickly.  This is his strength.  He is a no fuss kind of guy.  Didn't need bike shorts and wanted nothing to do with a jersey.  His cotton clothes worked just fine for him.  

With two triathletes in the family, two bikes and lots of gear we needed a bigger vehicle.  So we bought a Jeep that could accommodate everything.

We really were enjoying this new life together!  We were healthy and happy!!!

The profile for Ironman France has many climbs.  Living in Florida we wouldn't get the much needed hill work, so we took a few trips north.

We head to the North Georgia mountains for hill work.  This is when Jon really started to excel on the bike.  

After changing out his cassette to one suitable to the mountains his climbing got faster.  His endurance is really improving.  And I have never seen anyone decend as fast as him.  Almost to the point where I am a bit worried that he is going too fast.  He was putting the work in and was seeing results.

RUN:

His run was decent.  He was used to running a couple miles a few times a week.  He is an extremely fast sprinter.  But a 26.2 mile run after all the swim and bike is something that's hard to even wrap your head around.  He had a lot of running to do in the months to come.

Overall his training was going good.  He had a few setbacks though:

-He battled a couple colds in the winter.  -He had numerous flat tires on his long rides cutting them short.  

-And his knees gave him a bit of pain off and on.  

Nothing major, nothing that would keep him from doing the race.

WEIGHT

Jon continued to eat healthy and the pounds contined to drop off.  

On January 1st, 2014 he weighed in at 238lbs.  Now, 2 weeks from the race, he is down to 185lbs.  He has lost over 50lbs in a few months time.  This alone is something to be very proud of!!!

TAPER

We are two weeks away from the race now.  His swim has improved so much.  His stroke looks great, you would never know he was a non-swimmer just a few months earlier.  I am a swim instructor and even I have never seen anyone learn how to swim so fast.  He is able to swim over 2 miles no problem in the pool.  His bike is awesome.  For the run, it just going to have to be mind over matter.

Finally, it's time to taper.  Work hard and recover hard!  We are dropping our bikes off at TriBike Transport today.  Next time we see them it will be in France!  We are starting to pack and will be on an airplane in a weeks time!

Jon is ready!  We are ready!  And couldn't be more excited!  

Will he finish his first Ironman!?  Time will tell!!!

I give the Shimano Ultegra Di2 Electronic Shifters two thumbs up!

I wasn't sure if upgrading to the Shimano Ultrega Di2 electronic shifters for my tri bike would be worth the money.  I have had them for a few months and have put many miles on them in various terrains.  With any new piece of equipment there is an adjustment period and it took a little getting used to at first.  I hear a lot of people say that they would never go back to manual shifters ever again, but you will definitely not hear me say that.  With that said, overall I am happy with the upgrade. 

 

On the positive side from a very non-technical point of view:

There are no cables which means there is no friction.  The shifting is consistent and thoughtless every time.  It is quiet and you won't find yourself making minute adjustments with the levers to find a percise cable tension.  

Additionally, I always found the conventional shifters hard to adjust and switch gears especially towards the end of a century ride when fatigued.  I would cross my arms across the bars (which is a definite no-no) just to get leverage to change gears.  This compromises bicycle control and safety, a factor that is eliminated with the Di2's.  The two button thumb shifting requires minimum movement or change of body position.  This is especially helpful for people with small hands and weak arms.  

On the negative side:

Of course one negative is the cost.  Once you can get past that there are a couple more things to consider.  I bought a bike with the shifters installed in the aero bars only.  This is great for Florida riding where it is flat and straight and you are in the aero position most often.  Although in the mountains where you are constantly up and down, it would be nice to have the shifters also in in the break bar.  Turns out you can buy this as an upgrade, something I will think about doing soon.  

Also something I had to get used to was having to click through each gear.  It only takes a couple extra seconds but it is definitely longer.  With the conventional shifters you can drop a few gears in one swoop.  

TIP: Just a note on these electronic shifters, they are battery operated.  The battery only needs to be charged a few times a season which is great.  But it's more important to handle these shifters with care during transport.  One trick is to open the battery lever and disengage the battery.   In other words, if the shifter buttons on the handle bars are bumped they will not be engaged possibly putting the gearing out of alignment. Also, don't find yourself across the world without your charger or without a universal plug adaptor.

Another thing about traveling, depending on where you go, you may or may not be able to find someone to work on the shifters.  I worry about this as I travel a lot for races as things always get bumped around in shipping.  Additionally finding a good mechanically locally to work on them has been a challange.  A couple of the gears need to be adjusted slightly at the moment and  I have gone to three different mechanics and have not been satisfied.  I even had one store tell me that they definitely can't work on it and that they should probably watch some youtube videos to try to learn and figure it out.  I live far from good mechanics so the commute to get the bike fixed is quite a hassle.  With the conventional shifters I could go right down the road.

Overall I am pleased with the upgrade.  They are consistent, comfortable and reliable!!!