Ironman Race Report

First and foremost there are many thanks in order. Thank you thank you thank you to my wife who sacrificied the most and being patient with me during the hours and hours of training and early weekend nights. And thank you to my parents for coming to Idaho to cheer me on and the endless support from brother Mike and all my friends.

Most of all, I would like to thank Ed Zerkle, Coach of Team Z who guided me to fulfil this dream. Team Z is an incredible Team and I would not have been able to do it without them. Thank you to all the Z'ers and families who organized everything - I am forever greatful!

Okay - here is my race report. I wrote this sitting in Seattle airport on the way back from CDA. Is it very long. I tried to cut it down but realized that I couldn't, as these were my thoughts that day during the race. All I can say is that if you ever have an inclination to do an Ironman, join Team Z, sign up and DO IT! The unimaginable will come true. I hope you enjoy.


My final times for IM:
Swim – 1:16:34
T1 – 10:35
Bike: 7:45:02 (Averaged 14.5 mph)
T2 – 5:33
Run – 5:24:16 (Average 12:20/mile)
Total: 14:41:58 (140.6 miles)
Overall Place 1628/2200

Pre – Race

My day began at 4:00am which wasn’t so bad because my body felt as if it were 7am, still on Eastern Time. I started hydrating around 4:45 or so and found Mark lying on his duffel bag outside my room waiting for a ride. Carol took Mark and I to the start and dropped us off around 5am.

I dropped off my special needs bags, pumped up my tires, put my fluids on the bike and walked around shooting some videos. There were so many athletes it was very impressive. When I was in line for the bathroom there was a man and woman. The woman said this was her 8th IM and the guy said it was his 9th, both were using this as a “training” IM for another later in the year. I turned around and said “you guys are killing me” and smiled. They could tell this was my first IM and congratulated me because they knew I soon would be an IM as well.

I found Carol and we went back to the Team Z tent set up on the hill overlooking the swim start. The wind was blowing strong and the water was very choppy. I wrapped myself in a blanket to keep warm and laid down on the ground next to my teammates, closed my eyes and listened to a little OAR to take me a way for a minute or two.

At 6:30am we took the group picture, got on the wetsuit and headed over to the start. The wind was blowing pretty strong and there were 2’ waves. The air was pretty cold, say around 50 degrees and I found out later the water temperature was 63 degrees.


10 minutes before the start, the MC announces that athletes have a choice to opt out of the swim because of the rough conditions and do a duo. Or, if swimmers make the first lap and want to get out, they can still do the duo. All I thought was NO WAY!!! I’ve come this far and I’m going to do it. The MC finished up his announcement saying that we are all in this together. I found out from Mark later on that they almost cancelled the swim. It was a nice announcement to freak out Carol and the family but they knew I was not going to turn around and skip the swim. I have come too far.

Swim
Dave, Jen and I lined up right on the buoys for the mass swim start. As the National Anthem was playing, I looked around and was amazed at the number of swimmers there were about to go into the water, the majority of which were to the right of me.


The announcer began to announce the start and his microphone went dead, and then I heard the GUN! And then he announced the start. WOW – you talk about an adrenaline rush!!! I was so PUMPED up!

I wore a sleeveless wetsuit with just the swim cap and as soon as I entered the water, I put my head under and came up and did the breath stroke a few times just to catch my breath from the cold. I had to switch to freestyle because the waves were so high I kept taking in water each time I went for air.

There were people everywhere! The first leg out to the buoy was the hardest swim of my life. Between the 2’ waves, the cold water and the swimmers converging on me – it was pretty overwhelming. It took everything I had to remain calm and try to keep somewhat of a swim stroke as people hit me from behind, me hitting people in front of me. I was trying so hard to get a clear spot but could not move. There were hundreds of swimmers around me and they were all converging on the turnaround buoy.

I passed one guy who was panicking in the water and next thing I saw was him grabbing for something – I’m glad it wasn’t me, then I saw him lunge for a buoy and just hold onto it gasping for air. That almost put me into panic mode and I thought if it made sense for me to get to the side and take a break. I looked around and there was no way I could get to the outside as there were way too many people – so I pressed forward.

At the first turn, you could have stood up on someone’s head and just walked straight across the water with no problems as there were so many people just treading water trying to get around that turn. Hundreds and hundreds of people. One guy started panicking and saying we turned too soon.” Come on buddy!! Start swimming as there were hundreds of people coming up on us on the rear!”

Once we made the turn, the waves were coming in on the right side of me and the sun was glaring directly in front of me. The only good part was this was the shortest leg. We rounded the next buoy and headed back to shore. Ahhhhhhhhh, swimming with the current. The packed spread out and I finally got into a groove. My breathing was good and I wasn’t out of breath. Next thing I knew it I was at the shore and as my fingers glazed the sand I stood up, had the biggest smile on my face and ran over the mat, under the canopy, heard my name called several times by Team Z’ers , saw my time for the 1st leg at 37 minutes, (37 minutes – NO WAY, I thought, under those conditions, I thought I would have been around 40+ or so), anyway, a little excited, I took my time going back in for the 2nd lap. I looked around and tried to soak it in.

The 2nd leg had its own set of challenges as the field was pretty spread out and I didn’t have to worry about hitting anyone, however, the waves appeared much bigger. The only way I knew there was a wave is when I would look ahead of me and I would see two swimmers above me, like dark shadows underwater as I was in the trough of the wave. So, I just kept thinking “cut through the wave, stroke by stroke”. Going back out it did seem to take longer.

When we turned left for the short leg, the kayakers were yelling to go right as the current was blowing people downwind of the next turn. So, I cut across several swimmers to get up wind and then drifted into the turn which seemed to work pretty well. As we rounded the last buoy to head to shore, I just rode the waves and started singing to myself “everybody’s gone surfin, surfin USA” from the Beach Boys. The waves were definitely bigger.

As I approached the shore I started to kick my legs because they felt a little cramped but never locked up. Once my hand touched the bottom I jumped up and started to run for the canopy as someone plowed into me from behind and pushed me to the ground. GREAT! It took a lot of energy to get up the first time now I had to do it again, and I did with a HUGE smile on my face! The swim leg was done. The intensity of the crowds cheering and hearing my name from Z’ers was simply amazing.

Transition 1

I ran into the stripping area towards two women that asked if I needed to get stripped. I dropped to my back lifted my legs way up and said “take if off baby”, they both laughed pushed my legs down and yanked my wetsuit off!

I grabbed my transition bag and ran into the changing tent. WOW, hundreds of people in there and it was hard to find a seat. I sat down, got situated and as I was putting on my gear I started talking to a guy next to me who got pulled out of the swim. I felt so bad for him. He was not feeling too well as I tried to encourage him. He actually helped me pack my swim stuff in my bag and I shook his hand wishing him a good ride. Running out of the tent I went right for the bathroom, took a quick wiz and then as I was going to my bike, my number ripped off one corner from the race belt. MAN that always happens. So as I was fumbling with that, I ran past my bike aisle as Carol and my mom were yelling my name. I got a little confused with all the excitement going on. Once I regained my composure, I got my bike situated, waved goodbye and off I went to the bike course.

Bike
112 miles to go……..the bike leg has begun. In the beginning we rode up Lakeside and I knew the Team Z tent would be on my right in about a ½ mile. As I approached the tent I could hear the roar as I pumped my fist in the ear. It was awesome and electrifying!

Overall the bike course was beautiful as we rode the first part along Coeur d’Alene Lake as an out and back. There were two climbs but nothing too bad. My heart rate was hovering in Zone 3 and I knew I had to get it down. In fact, I fought my heart rate the entire ride in which I would be in Zone 2 and then it would creep up into 3 and then 4 on the hills. I tried to slow down thinking of the misery in Lake Anna, but I felt comfortable.
There was a water/Gatorade supplies every 10 miles, along with porta johns and at the 10, 20, 30 miles marks I was off my bike going to the bathroom. Fortunately, I was well hydrated.

There was a nice stretch of flats as we left CDA and headed toward Hayden Lake. I was cruising, but still trying to keep my heart rate in check. I can’t remember how fast I was going but during the flats it had to be 16+, and even still, hundreds of bikers were passing me. No worries I kept thinking, I could not get caught up in their traffic. I had to do my own race.

Hayden Lake is where the hills really began and I think it was between miles 25-50 and 81-106, on the second loop. The hills were short and steep and there were quite a few of them. And then when I got through those hills, they became very long rollers. So I plugged along. Probably the hardest part during the hills was that I knew I had to do it again on the second loop. That was tough!

As I was biking, I remember some Z’ers passing me including, Kerri, Brian and then Casey came zooming by. I also remember when I started the ride Justin came flying by as well – he was having an awesome ride!
As I got through the hills, the first time, I headed back to CDA on the flats, but going INTO the wind so I couldn’t take advantage of the wind. It felt so nice to get through that first loop, but sucked knowing I had to do it again.

During the 2nd loop, I never felt exhausted but was getting a little tired. Some memorable moments include my right nut stinging around mile 80 as I had to stop, get off the bike and readjust. I have never had that happened before! I talked to Mark after the race and he said he had the same thing happen to him. It was weird. On some of the very steep climbs my heart rate shot up to Zone 5 so I jumped off my bike and walked up the hill. It was a good plan because my heart rate dropped down and I actually got up the hill quicker.
Around mile 80, Roy finally caught up to me and we traded places for awhile along with Suzanne as well. In fact Suzanne passed me and later on I zoomed past her around mile 95 because I was getting excited the bike was almost over. I also remember trading places with Kim and Dave. I write this now not because I was competing with team mates, but to remember how nice it was to have familiar faces around as we went
through this grueling event together. It really helped a lot.

I saw Mark when I was around mile 100 and him at 80. He complained to me that he was worried he wasn’t going to make the cutoff. I yelled at him and told him he will make it and to keep pedaling. Then a little later I saw Linda, woooooo, that was another story. I knew she was going to be close. Even Roy was worried as well.
There was no doubt I was going to make the cut off as I rode into town, that last 2 miles did seem endless and the mere thought of going to run 26.2 miles was very overwhelming, even at that point.

Transition 2

As I made it into T2, I believe the time was 4:30pm, 9.5 hours into the race! I averaged about 14.5 on the bike which was pretty impressive for me, but I was really worried that biking out of zone was going to hurt me on the run. However, I knew I had 7.5 hours to complete the marathon. That was doable.
When I got off the bike, it FELT SO DAMN GOOD! All I could do was be thankful that leg was over. A volunteer took my bike and I went right for the bathroom, again. Man, I sure did pee a lot today!
I grabbed my transition bag and into the tent I went. I sat next to Dave as we got ready for the run. This time the tent was pretty empty as I figured it would because the entire field was ahead of me from the bike. It was nice because I actually had a volunteer help me out.

Out of the tent, two women lubed me up with sunscreen and as I ran onto the course I heard my Carol say, “oh good honey, you have your sunscreen on”. Now, here it is 4:30 in the afternoon, I have been going for 9.5 hours and she is still worried about my sunscreen. How can I not love her, she is so cute!

Run

26.2 miles………No doubt, I was tired. I started to run and knew that I would only be able to go so far before I had to walk. I think I ran for about 4 miles and then started to walk/run.

As the run began I realized that I forgot to take off my bike shorts and my hutchie was feeling pretty cramped! So I stripped it off my bike shorts and handed it to a volunteer who put it in my special needs bag. Ahhhhhh, much better. (I had my team z tri shorts underneath).

I remember going up the hill toward the Team Z tent and the roar of the crowd. It was awesome as I swirled my hat in the air above my head, seeing all the people cheering I was all smiles. I saw my parents cheering and it was very exhilarating and uplifting.

I think I made it to about mile 7 where the walking really started to occur. Between miles 8 and 14 I was walking a lot. Around mile 9 I passed the Team Z tent again and Carol interviewed me with the camcorder. I was tired. However, my legs were not sore, they were not locking up. I could not put my finger on it, but realized I still had 17+ miles to go! During Carol’s interview, I told her, “This was it and remind me never to sign up for another IM again”. I was tired, but not in pain! I continued on. I was looking for Ed but couldn’t find him.

As I walked down Lakeside toward the start and back on the path Dave caught up to me. Dave was kind enough to walk with me a little and then he took off. The lowest of the lows was beginning.

Then, each aid station I remembered what Brian said about chicken broth, so I decided what the hell, I had to try something. I had to get some strength back and I couldn’t handle the GU because I was sick of it and pretzels were so dry. So, I think at mile 13 I had some broth and it tasted SO GOOD. It was warm and felt just right. When I hit my special needs bag at mile 14 or so, I stripped off my water bottle belt and grabbed my long sleeve shirt. I knew I was going to need it as I would be running in the dark.

I saw Dave at special needs and walked by him saying hello and he smiled as he was putting on a fresh pair of socks.

It was now time to do the 2nd loop. I felt like my energy was slowly coming back. After special needs I tried to run a little and saw Kathryn, Ilene (Dave’s girlfriend) and then who I thought was Carol. I was confused; I thought Carol was up the hill by the Team Z tent. Oh well, I got so excited that I went to go for a kiss and realized at the very last second it was Kitty! OOPS!!! We all started to laugh. It was pretty funny.

As I continued my walk up the hill I saw Carol again and she walked with me. I told her I felt my strength was getting back and hoped to be running. Then I saw my mom and them Carol left me and did the hand off to my Dad. I had such great support from my family and friends. I needed it at that moment. As I rounded the corner, there was Coach Ed, right there smack in the middle of the street waiting for me. I told him I was tired and he looked me in the eye, grabbed me and said, “Jerry, it’s an Ironman, it’s suppose to hurt, now get to it, get to it!” I got choked up a little bit and that was all I needed it because then my walk became a slow trot and I could hear Ed and my Dad yelling. It was time.

That was around mile 15 and I knew I had 11 to go. My walking now became more running than walking, a
little at a time. At the rest stops I sucked down chicken broth and water and I was able to get a GU down also. As I made it out of town and along the lake I picked landmarks to run to and then walk some. Then I realized that there were some Z’ers ahead of me and I used them as landmarks to run to.

I keep saying this as I was not competing but having people you know that I could run to was what I had to do
to keep going. First there was Suzanne, who I saw several times on the bike and who passed me on the run early on. I said hello as she told me I finally caught her and I told her she would catch me soon, she then told me what I did not believe at that time was that I was on a roll. I then saw Henry with that cool hat and then Justin as the sun began going down. Next thing I knew I passed mile 20 and was walking up the last steep hill. When I got to the turnaround, I ran down the hill knowing that Mile 21 was at that bottom.

I started to tell myself over and over again that “I want to be an Ironman, I want to be an Ironman” as I have done during so many training rides and then it happened, that moment, somewhere around mile 22 I started to say, “I am going to be an Ironman, I am going to be an Ironman”. I was getting pumped up after some 14 hours into the race – it was unreal! It was that moment, that change in thinking. I saw Dave shortly thereafter and I mumbled to him, “It’s gut check time Dave”. He told me the next day that I looked mad, like I was on a mission.

Soon thereafter, I saw Roy, Kim and Mark, going in the opposite direction, and Mark said “look at him, he is still running”. I was running, not very fast but I was running. I was not going to leave any effort behind. I was putting it all right there. My walk breaks were shorter and shorter. As I passed mile 23 I saw my name on the board come up and my message to myself said “Keep Movin Jerry Curl”. I also saw the clock say 14:09. Then, my mind woke up, if I did 14 minutes miles, I could break 15 hours. Now all of a sudden I started thinking about my time. What was happening??

During the water stop at mile 24 I grabbed some water and poured it on my head to straighten out the hair - I wanted to look good for the final picture crossing the finish line! ; ). As I started running again I looked ahead for my next landmark to start walking and then asked myself, why I want to walk, just keep running, there is no reason to walk. So, I ran.

At mile 25 I could not believe that I had 1.2 miles to go to become an Ironman. 1.2 miles to go. All the training, all the sacrifices, all those moments came rushing to me. It was going to happen.
I then made the last turn and a volunteer told me, you’ve got 6 blocks to go. As I ran down the hill I began to cry as I whispered to myself that I was going to be an ironman, I was doing it. It was like tunnel vision watching the finish, I ripped off my long sleeve shirt, fixed my number, played around with my hair. All I could see was that finish line, the lights, the camera flashes, the roar of the crowd and sound of the MC. I was only 4 blocks away and I saw a Team Z cheering crowd, threw them my long sleeve and just kept going. I made sure no one was around me as I approached the chute. I saw Carol in the street jumping up and down waving her hands yelling my name and heard my parents as well. I was so happy!!!!. The crowds were unreal, I lifted my hands up in the air they roared louder, the flashes were coming from everywhere and then I heard it, what I have been looking forward to hearing for 2 years when I began this quest, what I have dreamt about during hours and hours and miles and miles of training, what I have seen in the Ironman videos, that electrifying announcement, “FROM WASHINGTON DC, JERRY RICCIARDI, YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!!!!”

There was ED, right there and I gave him a big ass hug. He was so choked up as well as I and he looked at me and said I did it. It was GREAT! He put a medal around my neck and gave me another huge hug. God I hope I remember this moment forever. Please don’t ever take that moment away from me.

After Ed, a volunteer grabbed me and handed me my finishers hat and t-shirt and also some water. He asked me if I needed to go to the medical tent and I told him no way, I was good. I then said to him with a smile – “I am an Ironman” and he replied, “Yes you are!” I waited in line for the picture and then I saw Carol and gave her a huge hug and then my parents. My turn was up for my picture and I adjusted myself with the biggest smile and got my picture. I just can’t get over it, still as I type this now and I’m sure as I read this years from now. How can I top this moment?

Carol had the camcorder going and she asked me if I had any last things to say, so I told her, “Yes, I’m ready to sign up for another”