Half Ironman Race

[Axl4Prez2004]

Hello board.  In June, 2007 I'll be swim/bike/running my first Half Ironman race.  It starts with a 1.2 mile swim in a choppy river...followed by a 56 mile bicycle ride...finishing off with a 13.1 mile half-marathon run.  I was hoping to get some encouragement from you all to get me to the finish line under all the cut-off times.   

Another question I had about this is in regards to sportswear.  Is anyone here familiar with the dry-release, tight-fitting athletic shirts?  Is there any chance I might be able to get one with a GNR design???  Thanks for your help and support.   

[BlowUpYourVideo]

HALF Ironman? Wow, good luck with this.?

[Axl4Prez2004]

Thanks.  The plan right now is half-ironman '07, ironman '08, and running a regular marathon with D in '09!

Hopefully, my family will be there at the end with a boombox blasting Chinese Democracy!
 

[D]

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is gonna be the test of all tests but U will finish and u will finish great.

U will have Chinese Democracy to motivate and inspire u.

If u can just get the next 6 months or so of good hard training and remain injury free, I have no doubt that u will be able to do extremely well in this.



I wear the dry release gear all the time.

Id spend the extra cash and by the "Under Armor" Stuff though.

I use the cheap Starter and Athletic works brands but Doing a major race Id spring for the authentic Under Armor brand.

U can get a GNR logo Im sure, but Im sure u would have to do one of those illegal boot jobs.

Go to a high tech graphic design place, Have them pull a GNR logo off a picture and then graph it onto your shirt.

Full Marathon in 09!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! U do this Ironman and the marathon wont be a challenge for u. I may have to wear rollerblades and have u pull me!

[Axl4Prez2004]

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is gonna be the test of all tests but U will finish and u will finish great.

U will have Chinese Democracy to motivate and inspire u.

If u can just get the next 6 months or so of good hard training and remain injury free, I have no doubt that u will be able to do extremely well in this.



I wear the dry release gear all the time.

Id spend the extra cash and by the "Under Armor" Stuff though.

I use the cheap Starter and Athletic works brands but Doing a major race Id spring for the authentic Under Armor brand.

U can get a GNR logo Im sure, but Im sure u would have to do one of those illegal boot jobs.

Go to a high tech graphic design place, Have them pull a GNR logo off a picture and then graph it onto your shirt.

Full Marathon in 09!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! U do this Ironman and the marathon wont be a challenge for u. I may have to wear rollerblades and have u pull me!

After that last line D, I started to hear music in my head, no not Chinese Democracy...the theme from Three's Company.  I think one of the chicks was pulling Jack on skates and he ends up falling down during the opening song.     I had way too much tv as a kid.   

On the clothing front, I've got some good Reebok racing shirts and Zoot racing/swimming shorts.  They are quick-drying and come with a pad in the crotch so hopefully after 56 miles of biking for the Half, and 112 miles for the Full Ironman, I won't be impotent for life!   

You're probably right about having to do the illegal boot job, but I would gladly spend the money for authentic GNR merch.  It's just that there is nothing like that available!  This past year in 2006, if I had a 5k run, or a sprint biathlon or duathlon, the only GNR I had on race mornings was blasting Better, IRS, and WTTJ in my car b4 the races.  2007 is going to be insane with new GNR tearing it up!!!!   

 

[D]

U could buy a GNR tank top and wear it over top of the Quick Dri stuff..................


56 miles on a bike, I hope u got some butt pads............. Riding a bike can be a real pain in the Ass

[Axl4Prez2004]

Unfortunately, the tank top would create too much wind resistance.  Over a 3 hour bike ride and 56 miles, resistance becomes a huge factor.  Somehow there's got to be a way to get the GNR logo, new logo of course, onto the tight spandexy athletic shirts.

[D]

Go to a screen Tshirt maker

Take the design and I am positive they can do it.

Not sure its illegal since u arent selling them.


Find out though by 2009 cause for our marathon we gotta both sport em!

[Layne Staley's Sunglasses]

I can't believe I'm saying this....

But Jack fell off the bike after he saw a girl with a tremendous ass. 

Little known fact...it was actually Chrissy wearing a wig! 

(I watched wayyy too much TV too!)

On topic...just think of Rocky.  That always pushes me to the next level.  Keep us posted Axl4Prez!

[Axl4Prez2004]

On topic...just think of Rocky.? That always pushes me to the next level.? Keep us posted Axl4Prez!

Will do!  I guess I do have some Rocky-like habits.  Take for instance Rocky's punching the hanging meat carcasses.  I've been pounding my meat since I was 12 years old!  I've got alot of experience under my belt.   

Seriously, they can print onto the stretchy shirts??? 

[Layne Staley's Sunglasses]

These days, they can do ANYTHING.

[Axl4Prez2004]

Well, my 20-week training plan starts tomorrow.  Snow is on the ground and I've got 40 minutes of running with snow on the ground on tap for the morning before work along with 40 minutes of swimming after work.  It only gets more intense after tomorrow!   

My hope is to be listening to Chinese Democracy about halfway through the 20 week program.   

[Axl4Prez2004]

Just thought I'd give an update on progress towards my goal.  Unfortunately Chinese Democracy won't be waiting for me at the end of the race in 10 days.   

Well, I'm in the 19th week of the 20 week training plan and I'm tired as hell!
So far in 2007 I've run over 314 miles, biked over 943 miles, and swam over 44 miles.

Why?  I'd have to say it sends a huge message to my kids.  Anything is possible if you put your mind to it........okay, except for the release of Chinese Democracy.  No matter how hard I wish for the damn thing, it eludes me!   

P.S.  I had a bike ride with a small group and I got to talking with this dude:
http://www.ironman.com/events/ironman/coeurdalene/roy-s.-perdue-recounts-andy-statons-constant-commitment-to-conquer-obesity
very inspiring.

I hope everybody here can get the chance to reach for some crazy seemingly-impossible goal.  Anything is possible.      

[Drew]

This is great Axl4Prez2004! I wish you the best of luck and hope you have a great time in the race!

Your hard work will pay off and your story is very inspiring!

[D]

I am so proud of u man.


I cant wait for u to kick its ass so I can hear it all about it.

U have been a huge inspiration and a great influence in my running and training.

I know u will do great!!!!

[Axl4Prez2004]

Thanks guys...support of any kind really helps.  Just finishing is obviously the main goal, but a piece of me wants to finish in less than 6 1/2 hours. 

As always, my pre-race ritual will be WTTJ and Better...damn I'm getting excited already and it's still 8 days away!

D, I'm glad I could be of some help.  Your running has been amazing.  This Delawarean couldn't be more proud! 

Now let's sit back and enjoy reports out of Mexico this week.     Also, wouldn't an American tour sound pretty damn good?  With a release date for the album???  Yes, yes it would.   

Since I'm tech. challenged, I'll need some help posting a pic from the race. 

Again, thanks for the positive thoughts.

          

[SLCPUNK]

Good job buddy, and good luck. Post pics!

We had a long time family friend who was one of the oldest ever to complete the Iron Man. I think he was in his late 70's or early 80's when he did it.

[Axl4Prez2004]

Thanks SLC and co.  This year's Hawaiian IronMan race featured the successful completion of the race within the allotted time...by a 76 year old nun!  Anything is possible if we put our minds to it.  If that doesn't prove it, I don't know what does.  btw, SLC, take advantage of those great genes. 

At this point injury and/or flat tires are the 2nd and 3rd biggest enemies...1st and foremost on the list of nemeses are the negative thoughts that start within me, myself, and I. 

I can't wait to let you guys know how it all goes.  There will be 2000 racers and I'm sure many more supporters, so it'll be an electric atmosphere.   

 

[SLCPUNK]

I remember in the mid 80's somebody threw a bunch of tacks out on the road during the Ironman. Lots of flat tires, some by leading contenders. 

Anything is possible if we put our minds to it.  If that doesn't prove it, I don't know what does.  btw, SLC, take advantage of those great genes. 

I was a huge runner for years. I won some (smaller) road races outright in my teens, set a record for the mile in jr high, and competed nearly every weekend in some sort of 5-10k until about the age of 18.

I have returned to my old roots many times, but always ending up coming down with a horrible flu after a month or so of running. For a while, I assumed I must be out of my mind, or just a fluke. But each time I pushed myself a bit, I'd get really sick. Eventually I reduced my cardio down to a couple times a week and focused more on weight training.

However about a month ago Mrs. Punk found an article that described my condition to a T, and it turns out I was not crazy. I can't remember the details, but it requires somebody like myself to consume more carbs after cardio to avoid getting the flu. I'll have to give it a go. I'd love nothing more than to train for a couple of years and re-emerge to compete in the masters age division-whipping ass of course. 

[Axl4Prez2004]

Mr. Punk, save the ass-whippings for your Mrs. Punk (if she likes that sort of thing of course    ).
Compete against yourself.  The real competition is between you and the voices in your head telling you to stop.
Were you paying close attention to nutrition/hydration?  A lot of people don't pay close enough attention to these factors. 

Was it a flu-like illness or the flu?  The last time I had the flu was New Year's Eve/New Year's 2000.  I felt like I was going to die.  Ever since, I've had my annual flu shot...I enjoy being flu-free.   

[Axl4Prez2004]

A little after 1:00pm on Sunday, I completed my first triathlon...a half-ironman 70.3 mile long distance race! 1.2 miles of swimming + transition 1 + biking 56 miles + transition 2 + running 13.1 miles...all done in 5 hours 33 minutes and 35 seconds!  I far-surpassed my goals of 6 1/2 hours overall and less than 2 hours for the run. 

Thank for your words of encouragement.  On a GNR note, I had more subdued pre-race pump-up songs since my 17 month old girl was sleeping in her car seat.  Better, WTTJ, and ISE were all played at a volume lower than those songs have probably ever been played! 
I couldn't get GNR's recent cover of Sailing out of my head during the swim.  Runnin' on Empty was being played on the loudspeaker as I set out on my bike portion and that was tough to shake.  In between mouthfuls of what I call "regurg." of Gatorade Endurance formula and periodically blowing that off to the side from about mile 10 of the bike to mile 35, I felt pretty good.  On the way back, the last half of the bike ride was into the wind, and that was tough.
Not being hydrated enough reminded me of a GNR concert...but GNR doesn't play for 5 1/2 hours so things got a little uglier.  I tried getting enough water in on the run, but I could only get so much in...for some strange reason I had a bunch of flat Pepsi at the aid stations as I ran by.  Why I chose that over water at times I don't know.  When I was at the half-way mark of the run, I was able to figure out that if I only ran the last 6.55 miles as fast as I did the 1st 6.55, I'd be right at 5:30.  I felt like I had a chance but as I got to the last 4 or 5 miles of the race I tried looking for that extra gear...it wasn't there!  I wanted to ask Sebastian Bach to close this thing out like he did with the end of Nightrain and PC over in Europe, but he wasn't there.  I'd have to finish this thing.  Once I had 2.1 miles left and needed to do it in 15 minutes to hit 5 1/2 hours, I knew it was not possible......and I had to piss!  So, with no trees on the side of the road available, on mile 68+ out of 70.3 miles, I started walking...and pissing my tri-shorts!  I must have been crazy because I was laughing to myself watching a police s.u.v. slowly roll down the street my way.  He probably didn't care because people barf on the streets all the time with these races...or he probably just didn't want my piss-smelling ass in his backseat!  Ha!  Okay, so now with a squishy right sneaker I set out to finish this damn thing!  20 weeks of training and the end was in sight!  You have no idea unless you've done this how long those last few miles feel like!  What an amazing feeling of accomplishment.

Don't worry, immediately after the race, I got to hose down everything so things didn't get too rank. 

Once pics are available I'll ask D for some tech. help to get it or them up here for you HTGTHers to see.

Once again, thanks for your support.   

[GeorgeSteele]

Congratulations, brother, that is tremendous!  And, don't worry, peein' your pants is the COOLEST!!

[Axl4Prez2004]

Ha!  Even back in my wildest college days, getting plastered to the point I didn't remember parts of the evening, I never, never, never pissed my pants!  This was just a matter of survival and breaking that 2 hour mark on the half-marathon finishing leg of the race.  Great stuff.   

[Layne Staley's Sunglasses]

So it's been over a week, are there any lingering effects from the race?

Incredible story, you had me on the edge of my seat. 

[Axl4Prez2004]

Thanks guys.     No, no lingering effects.  The training program I was on really had me prepared for the adventure.  The next big challenge will be the ironman distance race.  140.6 miles in all:  2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, 26.2 mile run.  I just have to figure out when and where I'll take that one on.   

 

[Drew]

Great story! Congratulations on your accomplishment! 

[Axl4Prez2004]

Thanks man.   

I guess Axl's waiting for me to finish the full 140.6 mile Ironman before he releases Chinese Democracy.   

Hopefully I can get a pic or 2 up this week.  (cue Homer Simpson, "Oh look Marge, I see they've got the internet on computers now.")