Well, I'm finished. In more ways than one. Actually, I was finished
about 1/2 way through the "run" today. I saw a guy lying at the side of
cactus alley, part way down from the high point about 2.5 miles into
the final leg of the Xterra. He was surrounded by race personnel,
looking dazed and confused. Clearly a case of pure and utter
exhaustion, either from overwork, or underhydration of both. I could
feel my own brain fuzzing in and out, and knew I could just as easily
be him if I kept pushing myself too hard at this point. My thighs were
starting to feel crushed, like they do when there is no more
contractility left in them and they're about to rip apart.
I tried to do the calculations during the race to see what a little
niche I found myself in - out of 2300 participants in the Ironman and
the Xterra, 50 were doing both - 2%. Ironman itself represented about
3% of all the participants in the qualifying races, who represent
probably 25% of all participants in triathlons, who represent some very
small % of the total population. The numbers grew so small as to be
meaningless, even the fact that I was the oldest man to complete both.
None of that uniqueness mattered to me as I was racing. The only thing
that DID matter was that I did it. Or them, a week apart.
In the end, they became one event. I feel, after the Xterra, totally,
completely drained, unable to even contemplate walking 400 yards down
to the beach for the last sunset. I guess I wanted to find out where my
limits are at the moment, and I was successful. No more. Also, quite
likely, never again. I may do another Ironman at Kona, I will almost
certainly do another Xterra here on Maui, but the two together? One
event has to be sacrificed for the sake of the other during training,
and the only logical choice is, train for the Ironman, and hope for the
best in the Xterra. The best? My swim was as slow as last year, my bike
was maybe five minutes slower, and my run was about 8 minutes slower
(despite running in the sand on Big Beach), overall 15 minutes slower.
And I felt much, MUCH worse at the end. The only thing that kept me
going at the end was the absurd notion that I could finish with a
combined time of 17 hours, which is the Ironman cut-off. Of course,
Eneko Llanos, who did both faster than any of us, completed them
combined faster than my Ironman time alone. I must remember he's half
my age, and trains full time for a living.
There's a lot I'd like to cover in a proper race report, and maybe I
will some day soon in an epilogue. But for now, I really, REALLY need
some serious recovery time. All things considered, I'd rather be skiing.