This. Is. Ironman.

You start the day thinking it is your race. Your race, and yours alone.
Because this is Ironman.

You train alone, you race alone. There's really no team, largely no crew, often no partners, frequently no cheering section, definitely no groupies. There's just you a bicycle and running shoes facing the prospect of miles and miles and miles and miles and miles and miles, in all conditions and in all weather. Just you...all alone.

Because this is Ironman.

It is with this in the mind that you tell yourself that you must turn yourself within. To marshal your strength for the challenge you are about to face. To concentrate on your own energies. To focus.

So you exclude everyone and everything. In the morning, in the darkness, in the cold, you arise alone, you eat alone, you warmup alone. At the race start, in transition, you talk to no one, look at no one, pass by no one. It's not worth the effort, or the time, you tell yourself, not worth the expenditure of self to reach out to the others around you. Too many people, too many cultures, too many creeds, too many languages, too many competitors. It's not worth it. Not right here, not right now. It's your race, and yours alone.

Because this is Ironman.

But then the gun goes off, and the race begins, and then, with all the force and all the power and all the overwhelming of the senses that comes with the reality of the distance, the truth reveals itself, and makes itself known to you. As stark and simple and strong as is anything of significance.

Because this is Ironman.

The truth reveals itself, in the beginning, when the day is most uncertain, in the teeming mass of bodies in the water, collectively thrashing their way over and around and under and through each other in packs and lines and streams of motion weaving their way to the light of morning. There are no words spoken, nothing given, save for the sharing of this time.

The truth reveals itself, in the midst, when the day is at its thickest, as riders murmur greetings of communion, exchanging recognition of the long course that is their common road. It extends further, so far as athletes stopping to attend to fallen competitors, and providing the aid of sustenance or the act of treatment or the assistance of a spare tube or the accompaniment of nothing more than a few sympathetic words of encouragement to continue on. And even as words may be lost in language, there is still the understanding of meaning, the knowledge of intent, and the persistent sharing of this moment.

The truth reveals itself, at the end, when day is reaching its conclusion, with people stumbling, shuffling, limping in the last stretch to the finish. It arises, and is realized, in the reassuring pat on the back, a comforting grasp on the shoulder, and goes so far as to staying with someone as they struggle to walk or guiding them as they start to wander. And although words may fail, they are still raised by voices, across the divide of tongues, so as to become supreme songs of meaning, sung by all the souls sharing this experience.

Because this is Ironman.

And at the finish you finally see.

There are people everywhere. Everyone. Everything. All together. Talking, looking, and passing by and shaking hands and grasping arms and hugging close in laughter and in tears and in triumph and in joy, even though they've never seen or spoken or known each other before today, or can even understand a single word that that any one of them is uttering to one another.For them, it's worth the effort, the time, the expenditure, to reach out beyond themselves to others around them. To other people, other cultures, other creeds, other languages, other competitors. It's worth it.

Especially here, especially now.

In the way that only something earned with all the force and all the power and all the overwhelming of the senses that comes with the reality of the distance ever can be.In the way that only a truth as stark and as simple and as strong as is anything of supreme significance ever can be.

And you end the day knowing that it is not your race...certainly not yours alone. It never was.
It is everyone's race, and everyone's together. Because.

Because this is Ironman.

It’s all over…but the crying!!

Everything has been checked and double checked. The bike and transitions bags are checked into the transition area and will be well guarded over tonight. The last carbo meal has been eaten and our Gatorade levels have been checked and topped off. Now it’s off to bed, hopefully to get some sleep and not spend the night nervously tossing and turning!

We stopped by the finish line to have a look where we will be running down 4th Street Live. It is a really exciting finish line, thousand of people, the lights, the music and the final reward…to hear Mike Reilly say Chris MacMillan…you’re an Ironman! Pic’s are from the bike check in and finish line.

Friday!!!

We went for a practice swim this morning and I was pleasantly surprised. The water temperature is noticeable lower than last year. The water was 84 degrees last year and felt like a bathtub and at that temperature you risk over hearing before your day has even begun. Today they announced that it was 83 degrees, but it felt cooler to me. Also there was almost no current! Again, last year the current was so strong they had to change the swim configuration. All in all, it was a great swim, about 30 minutes and about 1 mile. They were lots of people there and Gatorade was giving away product and bottles, while they watched your gear. The weather is very warm and it is looking like race day will be sunny and 90!

This afternoon Tim and I went for a short 30 minute run and I took the bike in to a local shop for a quick rear derailleur adjustment. On this bike course the gear changes will number in the thousands and this is not the place to have anything but a perfectly functioning drive train. The local shop was great, did it while I watched and asked for only $5 for their time. I gave them a nice tip. I took the bike out for a half hour ride just to make sure everything was perfect, it was!

Tonite we attended the athlete’s briefing where the race director goes over the race course and rules in detail and answers all questions. It’s held in one of the Galt Hotel ball rooms and was one of four meeting held over Friday / Saturday. The Welcome Dinner was tonight and we had a great time. They introduced the oldest and youngest competitors (18 and 65) and asked for people that lost weight while training the Ironman to stand up. The MC went through them all until the last guy standing was a fellow that lost 160lbs. Amazing. They showed the Ford Ironman videos and got everyone pumped up.

Tomorrow is bike check in day and time to get serious about getting everything organized for Sunday morning. We are making sure to stay well hydrated and putting extra salt on anything we eat.

In Louisville

We arrived safe and sound on Wednesday afternoon, we made the trip in 12 hours and had no problems with floods, detours or traffic this year! We got settled in at the Hyatt and took a walk on 4th street to get a bit to eat. It’s still pretty quiet and you can tell that Ironman hasn’t hit town yet!

On Thursday morning there were athletes and bikes everywhere. We registered on Thursday morning and did a short ride on the out and back section of the bike course. The weather is hot and sunny, but not nearly as humid as it was last year.
Part of the registration process was a body analysis. My weight is 147lbs, body fat 5%, I am 61.2% water and I have 133 pounds of muscle. My visceral fat rating is 4, my bone mass is 7 and my metabolic age if 12. It will be interesting to compare these to next years stats.

Sue and Ted arrived on Thursday afternoon and we met them at a buffet restaurant in Indiana called the Golden Corral. Friday morning is the first practice swim, so we’ll be out in the river for the first swim we’ve had in a few days. Today is the day to get everything organized for the race, the transition bags, race gear, clothing etc etc etc!!! Tonight is the welcome dinner and tomorrow the bike check in. It’s getting closer!!

Race Numbers Are Up!!

My race number for Ironman Kentucky is 2053

Real time athlete tracking can be found at:
http://ironman.com/events/ironman/louisville/?show=tracker&rid=164&year=2008

Live video of the race can also be viewed at
http://ironman.com/coverage/?race=louisville&year=2008

If you have trouble with either link, just go to the Ironman Louisville home page and you will find links to both areas.

Thank You All...

I am absolutely overwhelmed by the generosity of the people that are supporting me in my MS fundraising. To all of you that have made a donation, on behalf of everyone affected by MS, I truly thank you for contributing to such a worthy cause.

We leave for Louisville tomorrow morning and we are aiming to get on the road by 5:30am. This should put us in Louisville sometime around 6pm. We’ll get checked in and settled in at the Hyatt and I’m sure we’ll be checking out the pool and fitness facilities in short order!

Wednesday Sue & Ted arrive and we’ll all get our bearings go for a drive around the bike course. Registration opens on Thursday and we’ll go to the practice swim. Time will go very quickly and before we know it, it will be Sunday morning and we’ll be off. The weather forecast for this week is mid 80’s and 90 and partly cloudy for race day. Perfect!

Formulating a Race Day Strategy

It's now only eleven days out from Ironman Louisville. At this time next week we will have arrived in Louisville and will be preparing for the race on the 31st. I not nervous, having completed it last year and I feel confident and excited. And after 46 weeks of continuous training, I feel ready. There's a certainty that comes with good training, and that is that race day surprises will be minimized! Training is a process by which as many questions as possible are answered before the race and as few as possible during the race.

Many say that successful Ironman competition is based not only on fitness, but almost as importantly on race day execution. The fittest and strongest athlete in the field can be reduced to rubble if they don’t execute a strategic and well planned race. Race expectations and an individual’s potential can only be realized by implementing a smart race strategy.

One of the greatest attributes of any successful Ironman athlete is patience. Whether you plan on finishing before sunset or not until midnight, it’s a long day. And it’s a heck of a lot longer if you don’t pace yourself properly. Patience and pacing are key to a successful race strategy.

It’s often said that the real Ironman doesn’t begin until the last 30 miles of the bike. Given that up until that point, even the top pros have already been racing for nearly 4 hours, that’s a long time to hold yourself back. Yet that is exactly what’s required to race as well as you are capable of. Often, this means that you’ll have to let people pass you during the first half of the bike, even though you know you’re just as good — if not better — of a cyclist. For the whole first loop, you should feel like you’re going too easy. You’re not really going easy, of course, but rather just staying well within your aerobic zone (a pace at which it should be easy for you to maintain a casual conversation).

Going slower than you think you’re capable of can be frustrating, especially since after our taper, you’ll have fresh, rested legs on race day. But by taking it easy during the first 80 miles of the bike, you’ll not only have saved your legs for the hills on the second loop, but you’ll be able to run a much faster marathon than if you had pushed too hard early on in the bike. Just as important, you’ll get a huge psychological boost from the fact that you’ll be passing a huge amount of people during the last 2 hours of the bike who went out much too hard and are paying the price just when you’re starting to feel your strongest.

How to Pronounce it!!

OK for everyone that's coming along here's some tips on the correct way to pronounce Louisville!

“Lou-IS-ville“: You are NOT from around here, nor have you ever visited. In fact, you probably don’t know anyone that has ever visited. Technically still correct, but it ain’t going to earn you extra helpings. . .(not that you’ll need them in these parts.

“Loo-ey-ville”: Nice try. Definitely better than the previous one, but you’re still not from around here. Could be from Canada, or something.

“Luh-a-vull”: Almost.

“Luh-vull”: Good chance you were born within 100 miles of here. Absolutely no more than 1 degree of separation between you and someone who drives a big truck with mud flaps and a gun rack.

See y’all in Kentucky!

MS Bike Tour to pass through Milton This Weekend

Cyclists of all ages and abilities will pedal for a cure in the RONA MS Bike Tour this weekend. They're set to pass through Milton Saturday on their way from the Brampton Fairgrounds to the University of Waterloo for an overnight stay.

Then it's back to Brampton the next day, for a total 190-km roundtrip. The MS Society anticipates that about 550 cyclists will take part, raising more than $45,000for multiple sclerosis. And, there's still time to register for the event. The idea is to raise pledges for the ride -- with cyclists eligible for a variety of prizes based on amount raised.

The proceeds will fund research into the cause and cure of multiple sclerosis, as well as provide services to people with MS, and their families. "People take part in the RONA MS Bike Tours for a variety of reasons," said Yves Savoie, president and chief executive of the MS Society of Canada, and president of the MS Society's Ontario division, in a press release. "It's a great way to get outside on your bike and take in some beautiful scenery while raising funds for a very important cause." For more information or to sign up, call 1-800-268-7582 or visit www.mssociety.ca.

I Know What Holmes Would Say....

He'd say something like this, "Jake don't you think you better get your sh#t together, your race thing's coming up, and how much did you pay for that bike again?"

It's true, life goes on. As hard as it may seem at times, it really does. And I know that the last thing Holmes would want is for any of us to be too sad for too long.

So time to soldier on and get my sh#t together for Louisville. It's what Holmes would have wanted.

Trying to Train...

I managed a short run yesterday of 4.5 miles, but my legs still feel tired from the weekend and I got back to the pool for a swim last night. Tim had done his final long ride of 180k earlier in the day so he wasn't coming to the pool and I was on my own. Swam 2500m and called it a day. As I look out my office window, it raining again, no surprise there. I'll try to get a treadmill run in today as I'll be busy over the next couple of days and have fallen off the schedule over the last 10 days. Hopefully the weather will improve and I can get out on the bike for some good miles on Fri/Sat/Sun.

Thinking of Holmes

I struggled through my last long ride on Saturday with thoughts and memories of Holmes constantly in my mind. It still seems unreal and I sometimes break out in tears just thinking about him. It is the first loss of this kind that we have suffered as a family and I’m sure it’s going to be a long time before we all get back to feeling normal again.

I needed to do a 180k ride, but with a lack of motivation combined with cool weather and having to ride in the rain for 2 hours did me in. I packed it in and headed for home after 140k. I didn’t do a brick run afterwards. Just wanted to lie on the couch and watch the Olympics with K&E. Last week I put on a new set of tires for the IM, Michelin Pro Race3’s, on Saturday I had 2 flats. I rode over 3000km’s this year on Verderstein tires and never had a flat. I may out them back on for the race. Not sure about those Michelins.

Sunday was the last day to run long…so I did a 16 miler. Again the weather was cool and rainy and I got wet again. I had planned to do a 4000m swim earlier on Sunday morning, but ended up doing only 1500m. The pool was crowded and I wasn’t swimming very well so instead struggling through it, I threw in the towel.

Well the good news is that the hard training is over and the taper starts today. Basically we have 2 more weeks here before we head off to Louisville for the week before the race.

Holmes MacMillan 1963 - 2008

We have all been shocked and saddened this week by passing of our much loved Holmes as a result of a recent brain injury. No words can describe the feeling of loss we are experiencing and are doing our best to remember all of Tim's wonderful traits and to be thankful for the time we spent together.