Simply stated, I got to live another life dream yesterday on my Birthday and what a great day it was. The euphoria has died down and I'm starting to be able to control my emotions enough to sit down and focus on a race report. The e-mails and Facebook messages I have received in the past 24 hours have been overwhelming and so much appreciated. Now, let me try to do justice to what turned out to be one incredible day.
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| Side view of swim start |
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| Aerial view of swim start |
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| Exiting swim and taking off speed suit |
My birthday started on Saturday morning at 4:30 AM. We (the Wiens and the Leatherburys) woke up
and drove down to Kona for body marking and to make a final check on the
bikes. On our way in, we passed Karlyn
Pipes-Neilson, our swim coach on Wednesday who sprayed us down with Glide (a
lubricant to try to prevent chafing) and gave us final thoughts from Madame
Pele (the Hawaiian Goddess). She set the
tone for the day. At 6:45 AM, we jumped into Kona Bay and swam
out to the swim start. At 7:00 AM, the
cannon went off and 1,800 triathletes all started swimming to a sail boat
stationed 1.2 miles out in the bay. In
the words of my Nephew, David Salzman – “Game On!”
My swim went according to plan as Karlyn’s
tip on where to position myself was right on target. I found some breathing room after the first ½
mile and was able to relax into a consistent stroke for most of the race. My swim time of 1:14:44 was about a minute
faster than last year and 3 minutes faster than 2006 and put me in 10th
place for my age group.
Nannette relayed
this information to me as I entered the bike transition area.
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| Heading out to the Lava Fields |
The bike course is a 100 mile out and back to Hawi, the
northern most point on the island with a quick 12 mile loop in Kona before heading
out across the lava fields. The challenge on the bike course is heat and
wind. There are hills, but with the
strong winds, some of the down hills with a head wind feel like up hills and
some of the up hills with a tail wind actually feel like down hills. A head wind up a hill as in the seven mile
climb to Hawi is a real killer. The good
news is that the winds on Saturday were either in my face or at my back. There were very few side winds and my fear of
being blown off my bike was not that great. The challenge was that the head
winds were much stronger than last year. At mile 70, just after leaving Hawi, I
started to get some significant cramping in my legs. So, I kept pedaling painfully through it, I
took some salt tablets and drank Perform (Ironman’s version of Gatorade) more
aggressively and got the cramping quickly under control. My bike time was virtually the same as last
year and five minutes slower than 2006 – a day that had moderate winds. I averaged 18.5 miles per hour on the bike and
dropped down to 18th place.
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| Mike starting the run on Ali'i Drive |
Eighteenth place is not where I had planned to be, but I had
survived the swim and the bike and I was now on my home court, the run. Nannette was stationed at the first half mile
on the run to deliver a critical message about my current place in my age
group. Our son Andrew and Nephew David
were tracking me and told Nannette to deliver the following message - “You are in 18th place and are
only 18 minutes behind the guy in 5th.” Eighteen minutes – that is all I needed to
hear. I knew that my strength in this
sport is my ability to run, especially on a hot day. And for all the abuse I take in the number of
layers of mismatched clothes I wear on a hot day, this was going to be my day
of vindication. I knew that I typically
run 30 seconds to a minute per mile faster than the old men in my age group and felt confident I could close an 18 minute gap making a podium finish was very do able. It certainly helped build my confidence that
I passed 5 or 6 competitors in my age group in the first 5 miles of the run.
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| Approaching the finish line |
The rest of the run was focused on trying to control my body
temperature and keeping the pace. There
were aid stations positioned almost every mile in the Ironman World
Championship, staffed by the most enthusiastic and helpful people they can find
on the island. The volunteers are truly
wonderful and help to make this race so special. I ran through each aid station following the
same routine. First, I would grab a cup
of ice and pour it in my tri suit to act as a radiator for my body. Then I would grab a cup of water and pour it
over my head. Next I would drink a cup
of water, a cup of Perform and a cup of Coke, about 3 to 4 ounces in each cup. All these items were handed out by volunteers
in a 50 yard line so it was easy to do all this without breaking stride or
slowing my pace.
At mile 10, my support teams on the computers had me in 8th
place. Numbers are assigned by age so I
knew to look out for numbers 239 to 281 who were my competitors. I counted the number of my competitors I
passed and because there was a turn-around point at mile 5 and mile 18, I could
get a pretty good idea of who was still ahead of me. When I came across the finish line, I was not
sure if I had taken third or fourth, but I knew I had accomplished my goal, lived
the dream, and was going to the Podium. I
had run a 3:43:52 marathon (8:32 minute per mile pace) for a total time of
11:11:39
When you cross the finish line in an Ironman, Mike Reilly,
the voice of Ironman, announces your name and screams over the massive sound
system those four famous words, “You are an Ironman.” Then volunteers quickly surround you so you
don’t collapse in front of the thousands of cheering fans, present you with a
beautiful fresh flower lei, determine if you need to be sent to the medical
tent or direct you to the athletes area for pizza, soft drinks, a finishers
medal and a massage.. Nannette had been part of the team putting leis on
finishers for the past 2 ½ hours and when she heard Mike Reilly announce, “Here
comes Mike Wien” she quickly moved to
the front of the line to greet me and present the official lei. As my mentor Fox Ferrel loves to say, “It
just does not get any better than that.”
(Watch my finish online at the following link:
Go to 12:11:00 on the timer, which will correspond with 11:11:00 on the official finishers clock and start watching.)
About 15 minutes later, my son Jason in Boston and Cousin
Larry in Las Vegas both called with the official results – Second in the World
and First USA finisher.
Top Three Finisher in the Male 60 to 64 age group
Name Country Swim Bike Run Total
Time
1 Louis Ackerman Switzerland 1:26:18 5:24:28 4:04:27 11:03:41
2 Mike Wien USA 1:14:44 6:03:30 3:43:52 11:11:39
3 Juan Arraste Chile 1:22:48 5:47:51 3:54:15 11:13:52
2 Mike Wien USA 1:14:44 6:03:30 3:43:52 11:11:39
3 Juan Arraste Chile 1:22:48 5:47:51 3:54:15 11:13:52
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| Mike and Nannette at Finish |
It is hard to describe how I felt when we got the official
word. Elated, overwhelmed, exhausted,
delirious, ecstatic, euphoric, and exhilarated represent a good start. But as in 2006, when I took 5th in
the world, I did not feel the true emotional impact of what I had done until I
starting reading the hundreds of e-mails I had received from my incredible
family and friends who have been there for me as I trained for this event and
who were with me last night in spirit as I danced across the finish line with unbounded
exhilaration.
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| Mike, Bishop and Michael at "Morning Coffee" |
Bishop Leatherbury, a first timer for the
Ironman World Championship came here with one objective: to finish in 14 hours
or less. He accomplished his goal and
was rather precise with an official finishing time of 14:00:00. Check his finish out at the same site
above. Michael Berger also joined us
from Atlanta as a first timer and came in at 13:10:18. Five years ago, Fox Ferrel took me under his
wing and was in Kona to help me prepare for my first Ironman World
Championship. It was a real honor to follow Fox's example and be
with Bishop and Michael and share their exuberance.
The final chapter was the awards banquet held next to Kona
Bay on Sunday night for 5,000 people. As
we were finding our seats, I spotted Steve Smith a couple tables away. Steve was the 2010 top ranked triathlete in
my age group. Yesterday, he was second
out of the swim, and first off the bike, but had a difficult run. We met on the podium at the Ironman 70.3 in
Buffalo Springs in June (he was first and I was second), and we met again in
Las Vegas for the Ironman 70.3 World Championship in September (he was third
and I was fourth.) As we approached each
other, I stuck out my hand to shake his.
Steve looked at my hand and said, “You took second place in the World –
You don’t get a hand shake” and with a big smile, gave me a congratulatory bear
hug. To the people who wonder why I love
this sport, it is because it seems to attract class acts like Steve Smith.
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| 60-64 Age Group Award Winners - Mike 2nd from center |
The two highlights of the evening were seeing Mike Reilly,
the voice of Ironman be surprised by being inducted into the Ironman Hall of
Fame. While he has never run an Ironman,
he has spent the last 22 years helping thousands of men and women of all ages
celebrate accomplishing a significant life dream by announcing those four magic
words…You are an Ironman! In his
impromptu acceptance speech, Reilly talked about the two things that drive him in
life. First his family and second, the
passion he has for helping members of the Ironman family celebrate
accomplishing their dream.
The second highlight was standing on the podium with the top
5 men and the top 5 women 60 to 64 years of age in the world proudly holding
our Umekes – the wooden bowls given to each of the podium finisher. In Hawaiian culture, the Umeke is given as a
gift to designate honor, accomplishment, fulfillment or completion. Having a Umeke means you know what it means
to be filled, filled to the brim!
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| Nannette registering an athlete |
While I have elected not to try and mention all of my
support team in this blog, I want to give a special shout out to one very
special person in my life. As I have
spent the past week…and maybe the past 6 years preparing for this day, Nannette
has been my partner, from doing the multiple loads of laundry I can generate in
6 hours to keeping fresh bananas in the house.
She made me very proud this week by becoming an active part of the
Ironman World Championship Family.
Nannette spent Tuesday and Wednesday as a volunteer at athlete check-in. On Friday, she volunteered to help at the bike check-in. And on Saturday,
she was at the finish line putting leis on some very appreciative
finishers. And as many of you watched on
the internet feed, she “lei-ed” me as I came across the finish line. Please congratulation Nannette when you see
her on being a critical part of the Ironman World Championship team.
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| Official Team Picture |
Let me close this wonderful day with a couple of
observations or lessons learned. First,
being in Kona this week has reinforced my belief that people who have a very specific goal or objective, who are focused on living a definable dream, seem
to be on a more interesting and exciting journey than those who lack a specific
direction. Kona is filled with people
this week who have specific goals and who are “I can”, not “I can’t.”
Second, never underestimate the power of family and
friends. I have seen it all week in
the thousands of family members who are here to support their athlete and the over 5,000
volunteers who have flown in from all over the world to help complete strangers
live a life dream.
Third, by getting really good at doing something
extraordinary, I have been given the opportunity to mentor others and maybe
motivate some of those people to make changes to live a more fulfilling life. This is a responsibility that I continue to
honor and cherish.
In closing, a special thank you to all of those who have supported my efforts to help
people with disabilities. If you have
not had the opportunity to show your support, it is not too late. Please help me make my goal to help fund the
Spring Getting2Tri (G2T) training camp and change lives. G2T trains athletes with physical
disabilities and changes lives by inspiring participants to regain their
confidence. In turn, this confidence
develops hopes, dreams, new physical skills, camaraderie and a greater sense of
purpose. They help people with physical
disabilities find their Kona.
Donations are still being graciously accepted at this link:
Mahalo
Mike Wien
Second Place Ironman World Champion
Age Group 60-64
Kona, Hawaii 2011
