Ironman Finishers

Karen said it all in her first statement! ! !    "It is what you make of it."   I just got back from a gym workout, when I pulled up in the driveway, and saw the Mdot sticker on the back of my car, it took me back to the finish line in Louisville.  I sat in my Suburban for a second, and actually said to myself. . . .  YOU are an Ironman! ! ! !

Yep, pretty corny, but that first experience was awesome.  I just hope my second IM in Canada this year is going to be as special.

As Karen said, its about the whole event, and IMLou was a GREAT day for me. . . .

The finish was awesome, but the journey to get to the start and finish of an IM was really the important part. The finish was just the icing on the cake...the celebration of what I had done. It was special that I finished to the song "Celebration".  I love how I faced the challenge and did something huge.

I love the lifestyle and how I accomplished something huge for me. The videos of me finishing remind me of that special day.  I find IM is a little like triathlon disney world...magical place I for one didn't want to leave and can't wait to go back to.

I love how it shows how I have absolutely changed my life from a mom of 5 who was overweight weighing more than 250 who didn't like exercise accomplished an Ironman. I see it more a celebration of my changed life.

The finish line, the day and the training were amazing but it did not change who I was.  So yes, I am an Ironman but so what?  I achieved something amazing but life changing - not for me. 

I mean, it is not the hardest thing in the world do to.  It is something ANYBODY with the right training, time and information can complete. 

Did I feel the hype was more than the race?  No, running down that finishing chute was one of my most amazing experiences, but I have had plenty of other amazing experiences. 

I did feel let down afterwards, but I don't think it had anything to do with the actual race.  You have a life filled with training and everything is geared towards that day and then it is over.  Of course you are going to feel a bit let down.   And if you are expecting it to change your life somehow then you are going to be dissapointed.

Am I going to do it all over again?  Absolutely - in 2 weeks time!!! (2 years after I completed my first one)

Prior to the race I was actually a bt worried the race might not live up to expectations. I had absolutely loved and lived for the training so I couldn't imagine how just one day was going to top months of loving that. Boy was I wrong!

Being out there and part of it for the whole day was such a buzz. Being my first IM I made sure I was there to enjoy it and lapped up the volunteer and supporter's attention all day long.

I was so happy with my experience, and focussed on finding my family, that everything else in the chute was a complete blur and I really have no memory of it. That's my only regret from the whole day, but everything else was so amazing that that's ok.

I'm a bummed out that I won't be doing another IM in the near future (the training time commitment is too big for me to take away from my family year after year), but I've got other challenges in the mean time and I know I'll be back to do it again within a few years.

Gerrard

For me, it didn't quite live up to the hype, but for different reasons.

My most emotional moment was actually about 1/2 mile from the finish line. I could hear the cheering and music. It had been a struggle the last 13 miles and I was hurting. Thats when I saw my kids. They had started walking back from the finish line to find Dad (I was about 20 minutes over due). They ran alongside me and wouldn't let me walk. That was my Ironman moment.

The actual finish line was uncomfortable and awkward for me and for that reason I am going back in 2010!

 That brought tears to my eyes... I'm such a sap. 

Read my FL race report to get a sense of what mine was about.  Really not anything remarkable at all.  Just more of a "Thank Gawd that's over" moment.  No emotions at all, just tired and wanted to get to a hot soak in the tub and bed.  It even shows in my finish line pic.

LP was a little better as it was a wet and soggy day, but I still beat my FL time and my family was there (even though they missed my finish by about 15 minutes).  So I had a fist pump and soome happier feelings.  But still pretty calm overall.  There is the fist pump and "holla" from that one.

The only time I've really been emotional in a race finish was when I won a 5k a few years ago.  I was yelling across the line with serious fist pumping then.

(IMFL-4.jpg)

(IMLP Finish.jpg)

My first was anti-climatic. I guess I was expecting to hear dramatic music out there on the Queen K while I ran in slow motion or something. Instead I ran in real time with no music or commentary, and all I heard was the squish of my shoes.

My 3rd Ironman (2nd finish) hit the mark with the all the sappy stuff.

Good subject.  I'm really big on managing expectations and I think IM expectations are often set way too high.  I think this is probably a big driver in the 'post IM depression too'.  I got two great thoughts before my first IM that I repeat here often that really helped me keep the IM in perspective:

1.  The races is only as big as you make it in your mind.

2.  It just a race.  It's not like you're storming the beach at Normandy.

I think people put WAY too much significance in the IM.  Yes it is a challange but it ranks way down my list of 'significant events/accomplishments' in my life. 

Just off the top o' my haid, let me think where IM finish ranks as far as significance:

1.  Finishing college

2.  Getting married

3.  Becoming a dad (twice)

4.  Getting commissioned as an office in the Army

5.  Building our house

6.  Working 22 years as an engineer

7.  Traveling all over the world

8.  SCUBA diving at some of the best dive sites in the world

9.  building numerous pieces of furniture from trees I fell on my land

10.  Finishing 5 marathons, several spint tris, a couple of OLY tris and 2 IM races

And really, finishing 5 marathon is more significant than finishing 2 IMs becuase it indicates longevity and a way of life not just a bucket list item.

~Mike

I agree with Mike.  IM is a great accomplishment, but crossing the IM finish line is way down the list of things I would say are significant in my life.

It was pretty much everything I expected.  I was happy at the finish and felt a sense of accomplishment for all the work I had put into it.  Not "life changing", but I hadn't expected it to be. 

I also felt REALLY tired once I stopped. 

Preach on brother!!

See, I started from below ground zero.  I had been told by more than one medical professional that I should just never run again for the rest of my life.  Then the day OF the IM I ended up with the $hits for 11 hours...and still finished.

Finishing my IM was all that I could ever have asked for and MORE.  Not even CLOSE to a letdown.  Far from it.  I guess it depends on why you were doing the race in the first place and what you had to over come to do it.  If an IM is something you can just up and decide to do one day for the heck of it, of COURSE it isn't going to mean anything to you.

this made me laugh.... it's how you expect the IM finish chute to be, but it's not.

It is better, IMO

I read a good blurb this morning by a guy that hucks himself off huge mountains on skis.  Basically, if you chase after something, expecting it to "make" you something else, you are going to be disappointed.  You have to enjoy the journey, otherwise the destination may be a little empty

ETA - My finish also had something to do with not being able to finish previously.  So it wasn't just about that one race.  It was overcoming some additional demons than that, for me

I wrote this at the end of my race report for my first Ironman.  I highlighted in bold the couple of sentences that hit closest to my thoughts on your question:

... When it’s over, it’s kind of an odd experience, really. I mean, I’ve been working for this moment for over a year. Somewhere in there I moved past that mental roadblock. You know the one. Maybe it was the first time you ever heard of the Ironman. For me it was probably 12 years ago, and I remember thinking, “What a cool ‘lifetime goal’ that would be!” But right behind that fleeting thought is that metal roadblock which makes you think, “But, I could never do that.”

Well, somewhere in the past year or two, I’ve managed to move past that obstacle and have believed I could do this thing. I just confirmed it on race day. Ironman IS a life altering experience, but the “life altering” part doesn’t happen when you cross the finish line. It happens that day you move past the barrier in your mind that says, “I can’t.”

So, here I am. Another Ironman. Another example that you CAN do whatever you set your mind to. You just have to find your way past that barrier. “You can!”"

I had to go back to what was written in my race report, which was written the day after the race. (April IMAZ 2008) 

The strange thing is, at the finish and now that it’s over, I wasn’t emotional. I was just relieved that it was over. I didn’t cry or anything, like I figured I would. It was just relief that it was done and over with. No, I wasn’t in line the next day for a slot for IMAZ 2009. This journey and this race were over. I had put so much on hold for what turned out to be a 2 year journey to IM that I just wanted balance back in my life. I didn’t want to worry about finishing this race. I didn’t want to worry about getting the flu and taking me out of a key race. Or a crash on a training ride that would take me out of this race.

After the race, others were more happy than I was. I think I suffered an emotional crash where I just went numb. For me, the IM race didn’t turn out to be the be-all-end-all of triathlon. I had had much more satisfying races. Trust me, it was satisfying to finish this race, but it was a different feeling. And I wasn’t expecting IM to be this earth-shattering event for me. More like, it “met expectations.” I knew it would be hard and I knew it would be tough. Probably because of last year. In the end, I learned more from the training than from the race itself. The race was just execution of the lessons that I learned in training. But I had had other races that had beat me down too, so I guess it was nothing new. I knew I would get beat down again and would have to fight my way through, and it was expected.

No, I will not be getting the M-dot tattoo. Yes, IM was hard and training was hard and the race itself was hard, but I just don’t feel like it was on the level to deserve a tattoo for me. I learned that just because a race was longer doesn’t make it more significant to me. I mean no disrespect to those that have M-dot tattoos and that cried at IM or felt it was the pinnacle of their triathlon career. That’s great. But for me it wasn’t. More like I met that goal and I’m ready to move on to higher goals. And those goals right now don’t include more IMs.

I learned that I can motivate myself and train hard when I need to. I learned that when things go bad in races, they go 10X worse in IM. Weather affects you 10X worse, nutrition and hydration affect you 10X worse, etc. I learned sometimes, when it gets bad, you have to ask for help.

I’m definitely not one of those that now that the first IM finish is over, will continue to do several IMs. Right now I want to get back to more fun races. The rest of my season is mostly Xterras, and I’m glad to get back to those races because they are challenging, but I have fun. I may do another IM in the future someday. I don’t know. I know to never say never, because when I started triathlon I never thought I could do an IM.

It’s not all doom and gloom (I hope my learning lessons from this race don’t sound that way). The best thing is, now that this race is over, I have some new goals, and some that are really high and way up there. Yeah, finish and IM and suddenly feel like you can rule the world. ;-) It feels like I punched through a barrier (coming back from a DNF) and now it’s time to try another level.

One thing is for certain. I learned way more coming back from a DNF than any other race or event. I feel like I’m stronger in so many ways coming back from that than if I had finished IMAZ 2007 in the first place. Kind of a strange journey, but it was worth it.