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 Swim
Comments: you could just feel all the adrenaline (maybe it was just the pee) of all 2000+ of us in the water and all the friends and family around as we floated just before the canon went off, it was an incredible feeling. before i knew it, i heard that same sound as i had when watching kona on tv and we were off! i was fully expecting to get pounded at the start but it was suprisingly not too bad at all for the first length until we hit the turn and things got rough. with all those people making a 90 degree turn you are bound to get nailed and that i did. i took a lot of shots to the chest, one to the throat, and probly 9 or 10 to the head throughout the course of the swim and the majority of those were nearing and during the turns. ive got to say that the girls were definitely the vicious ones out there lol. the guys hit each other once and spread out but the girls just keep smacking you! after the first loop i looked at my watch and realized that it had stopped so i asked a girl next to me what our time was and she said 35 minutes...holy cow!!! i was having a great swim and that put me in an awesome mood for the 2nd loop and before i knew it i had rounded the last bouy and was hearing birkie in my head telling me to sight for the big silver building, thanks jim! came out of the water in 1:15 and change which was 5 minutes faster than my goal :)  Transition 1
Comments: i was absolutely elated to be out of the water and alive! i knew that the next 6 hours would be fun and then i just had to suffer for a few more to be an ironman! wetsuit strippers are awesome haha. hustled through transition and heard someone yell at me lara?? and went fast while still making sure that i had everything. on my way out my best friend/ coach decided to smack my butt and in the process ripped off my velcro'd on race number so i had to go back and get it out of his hand haha. i didnt care, i was having a blast, doing an ironman, and i survived the swim!!  Bike
Comments: it was a great feeling to be on my bike, my strength! i was ready to rock but about 1/4 mile in on the first bump my garmin snap on thinger on my stem decided to snap all the way in half which is what i was afraid of as i noticed to the day before when i was dropping off my bike. i told myself to chill, not a big deal, and put my garmin in my jersey back pocket but i was worried because now it was all rpe, no hr or pace to help me keep on track. right about this time that im mini freaking out i hit the no pass zone and pull up to the guy in front of me when i realize that i have seen the jersey he's wearing before. "birkie!?" "yeah who is it?" "its me, josh!!" of all the people in the race i somehow ended up right behind him and this really calmed my nerves. we exchanged words and good luck wishes and he said "race your race" which i thought of for the rest of the day and helped me alot. first loop was realitively uneventful besides the awesomeness of the hills lined like the TDF! took down a GU every 40 min and drank lots of gatorade and water while eating combo's when hungry. stopped at special needs to pick up more combos, a new gel flask, and then chugged a redbull and got back to rolling. on the second loop the wind really started to pick up and the whole way out to mt horeb was tough! stopped once and put my bike up against a telephone pole while i ran into a corn field and peed, it felt great to be off my bike for a minute :) coasted almost all of the downhills on the second loop because i knew that the run was gonna be tough and my legs were already somewhat tired. the hills werent nearly as bad as in training because of all the distractions on them which was great but by the time i got back to the terrace i was ready to be done biking! What would you do differently?: not break my garmin attatchamabobber little less effort first loop Transition 2
Comments: rode up the helix which was actually very quiet and somewhat peaceful, like the eye of a hurricane :) and rolled up to the dismount line where i slowly unbent myself from aero and extracted my body from my bike! jogged into the T2 area and there were travis and sandi!!! i had no idea they were gonna be there so i was really excited to see them. changed my socks and got my run junk together hit the bathroom, stretched for a little bit and then took off for a loooooooong run.  Run
Comments: ouch! no one every really explained to me how far 26.2 miles is :) thats a long frickin way to run! the first mile was probly the only one where i actually felt good and i actually had to slow myself way down because i looked at my gamin and saw lap pace in the 6's lol. i said i dont think so buddy, you are not fast and youve got a long way to go and backed way off. got to see all my friends and roommates from school for the first time and that made me very happy and kept me going for awhile. the first loop was alright, but i was already sick of running by mile 6 haha and then my brain kicked in calculating miles remaining times pace and figuring how much time i had left...not a good thing to do when you are coming up with minutes left in the mid one hundereds :) i ran between aid stations and was keeping a decent pace the first loop and did something like a 2:05 but i knew the 2nd one was going to be way more difficult. when i hit special needs i found the most awesome volunteer ever and im pissed i cant even remember her name or what she looked like. she got my bag, had everything out and i just sat on the ground because i couldnt bend over because my hamstrings were killing me. she took my shoes off, socks off, put my new ones on for me, and got my shoes back on all while i sat there and ate and drank...i owe her big time and at that point in the race i was SO thankful for the help and really appreciated her kindness! she even stretched me while i was laying down on the ground! the last 13.1 miles was a sufferfest but i met some cool people and had fun while i did lots of walking especially between miles 16-21. my hr and breathing were very much in control but my legs just said, no thanks, were done! i remembered i had some ibuprofin with me so i took 2 and then i figured out what i needed to do to break 12 and figured i had 53 minutes to run 5 miles so i started running again and said run to the next aid station! much to my suprise my legs decided to move again, it was such a great feeling :) i wish i had popped the painkillers sooner haha. i felt like i was flying even though most of the time i was probly not a ton under 9's. i just kept the feet turning and tried not to slow down at aid stations for more than a few seconds. saw michael boehmer who had been helping me thoughout the whole run and he gave me a few last words of encouragement and told me i was really gonna do it which meant a lot to me. the last 3 or 4 miles i went into my zone, turned my brain off and just ran! i dont remember stopping at any of the last aid stations, i think i just cruised right through them and all of a sudden i was running up state street with the capital in sight!!!! by that time the smile on my face slowly got bigger and bigger and as i turned the corner into the chute i was so excited that i was smiling from ear to ear! i immediately saw chris sticking way above the crowd and pointed to him and then saw my fam and friends and hi fived all of them. i listened very hard and heard mike reilly say, "josh cowdy, from howards grove wisconsin, you are an ironman"!!!!! it was awesome and felt so good to hear :) :) i couldnt believe that i had really done it and i even broke 12 hours by 6 minutes :) it was a really long day but i had a blast and i accomplished a goal that i had worked for a long time for, missed out on fun with my friends for, but was all worth it! ive got to say thanks to my family for all the support, all of my friends from school/home/bt, my fellow racers especially my costars ;), and all the volunteers!! you all made a very special day even more special and il never forget it! now off to rest and then start training for triple t and imwi 2009 :) What would you do differently?: have sufficient run training for a marathon...not a 15 mile long run hehe Post race
Warm down: i lost somewhere between 7-10lbs...yikes! and i even ate everything i saw on the run...probly should have taken the endurolytes on the bike and run... Event comments: IMWI is amazing and everyone should do an IM here :) Last updated: 2007-12-18 12:00 AM
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United States
Ironman North America
Overall Rank = 596/2201
Age Group = 18-24
Age Group Rank = 30/75
well this whole adventure started just about 2 years ago when i was sitting in one of my exercise science classes and we had a guest lecturer who was an endurance junkie (ultras, ironman, badwater ect.). the stories she told of ridiculous feats that she had accomplished blew me away and made me wonder if i could ever do something like that. i was bored with my life at this point in time because i went from being insanely busy and athletic in highschool to college where i played intramural soccer once a week for a couple months and that was about it. at the same time that dr smith came to talk to us i was reading lance armstrongs book its not about the bike, and he talked about triathlons and how he got started doing them and i somehow at that point decided that i was going to do a triathlon, and i wanted to do ironman! started working out in the gym at school and my first runs were like 2 miles and i felt like i was dying, i could swim to the end of the pool without stopping but that was about it, and the spin bike for 30 minutes was a good workout :) eventually i mentioned to travis at work one day that i was thinking about doing a triathlon and he hooked me up with bt and chris, who planted more seeds of insanity into my tiny brain. kept slowly working at it and eventually got a bike the week school let out for the summer and brought it home with me when chris convinced me that i should come ride with him as he trained for ironman (boy was that a mistake lol). he dragged my butt for about 60ish miles i think at some painfully slow pace but i didnt give up and he didnt leave me sitting on the side of the road which i appreciated greatly!! after that day it was all downhill haha. did my first tri at elkhart lake and struggled, puking about 5 times at the finish but i was HOOKED. i loved it and wanted to do it again. all summer long i built up my base and was able to finish a 1/2 IM at lake geneva the day before IMWI and then went there to volunteer and see all my BT friends compete. i was incredibly inspired by them and their work ethic and smiles and signed up the next day for IMWI 08 and then the hard work began! started saving my money and buying bike parts one by one and slowly built up my tri bike over the winter while running through sleet and snow, biking in the basement and with friends at the dtc, and swimming (every once in a while but not too much:)) the summer went flying by but was a blast going to kansas with craig and amy jo, highcliff, elkhart lake, and others. the only tough part was being hurt for about 7-8 weeks and so i only ran about once or twice a week but other than that i actually enjoyed most of my training. by the time we hit august i was starting to worry that my run was really gonna suck but i managed to build up to a 15 mile long run without hurting myself and i think i played my cards right by being safe instead of getting injured again. started my taper with 3 weeks to go and started grad school at the same time which threw me for a loop but it helped the days to go faster and all of a sudden it was the week of ironman! holy crap! i couldnt believe it was actually gonna happen until the morning of the race when dave and tammy and i walked into the water together!
after getting all of my final prep done on race morning i managed to find dave on top of the terrace and filmed a final short interview with rich and then we started our walk down the helix that i was praying i would be running back up an hour and a half later with my head still attached. i was a little dissapointed that we werent with tammy and i figured she was probly freaking out at the moment :) but somehow during the national anthem the lady in front of us turns around and guess who it is!? yep, tammy. so the 3 of us freaked out together and sucked in the crazy energy as we were slowly hearded towards the water. i couldnt see the water because of all the crowd until we actually went under the swim arch and then was blown away by the sight of 2000 people floating out there ready to swim to the same point that i wanted to get to! the water felt good and i was not really nervous, just really pumped. we managed to wait long enough to get in that we only treaded for about 4-5 minutes and then the canon went off and our adventure began :) :)