The last twelve months of our lives have laid testament to the sacrifices Tina and the boys have made for me while I prepared for the greatest physical and mental challenge of my life. I was about to face that challenge in about 72 hours in Arizona. She told me how much of a good man I was as she hugged me tight. I then bid farewell to Aidan and Flynn with tears in my eyes and asked them to be good this weekend. They asked "Are you going to be an Ironman Dad?" I sure hope so guys, I sure hope so. One last group hug and they were off to school to start their day.
I doubled checked one last time to make sure I had the gear I needed to take on the plane with me. Everything was there as I checked it in triplicate about four times. I got in the car and drove to the airport. The plane was late by an hour on departure but before I knew it, I was in beautiful and sunny Phoenix, Arizona. The weather was incredible and I quickly changed into shorts and a tee shirt once I arrived at the hotel. Now I see why the snowbirds flock to Arizona in the winter. The weather there in November was much better than the winter rains in Oregon. This was going to be a great weekend to tackle the Ironman.
The fist order of business after checking into the hotel and changing my clothes was to make my way over to the venue and the athletes village to pick up my race packet. The hotel was only a couple of miles from Tempe Town lake so the trip there only took about 10 minutes.
Once I parked the car and made my way a few short blocks over to the entrance, my nerves really started to go haywire. Everything I had worked so hard for over the last 12 months was about to be put to the test. This was it! I was here and about to walk through the Ironman archway into the athletes village. What an incredible shock to the system. But oh what a feeling. Stepping into that village suddenly brought a sense of calm to me as I knew I was ready for what was about to occurr. I quickly took inventory of the layout so I knew where everything was. The vendor booths were enticing and informative and the amount of energy in the area probably emitted a glow that could be seen from the furthest corners of Arizona!
It was late in the day as I toured the athletes village and would have to come back tomorrow for packet pickup and to get my bike from Tri-Bike Transport. No big deal, I was here to tackle the Ironman triathlon and didn't plan on leaving until I gave it my best shot. I returned to the hotel and went to the local Safeway to stock up on food for the next several days. Late afternoon quickly turned to night and I hit the bed trying to get as much rest as possible. Friday was soon upon me as I woke up to see the alarm clock read 6:45am. In 48 hours I would be in the water waiting for the cannon to sound to start the Ironman. Yaaaaa maaaan!
I grabbed a quick coffee from Starbucks and headed over to the venue for packet pick up and to meet my buddy Tevor Yates for a practice ride out on the course. I got to the village early and again made my way around taking everything in, this time including the athletes practicing for the swim in Tempe Town lake. The comments about how cold the water was were abundant. The facial experssions of many athletes seemed to confirm that sentiment as they were flushed red from the cold. Most swimmers only spent a few minutes in the 63 degree water on their "warm ups".
I head over to the packet pick up line at 9:45 to be greeted by a decent size line of folks anxious to get their race numbers and all their goodies. No worries as I am still towards the front of the line. Trevor shows up shortly thereafter and we just look at each other with these huge smiles in realization that we are finally here and the day is nearly upon us. We make our way through the process and get to the end of the line where they verify the electronic chip we will be wearing to track our times accurately reflects the athlete wearing it. It does and we are good to go. One last check to make sure I have my 5 special needs bags and we're off to get our bikes and ride the course.
We have a good ride just to make sure our bikes are functioning correctly and we don't have any last minute adjustments to make. We don't and we are good to go. I spend the rest of the day just chilling out, trying to reserve as much energy as possible for Sunday. I know my other friends and family members will be arriving soon and I am looking forward to seeing them and enjoying their company for the short time I will see them. I head back to the hotel to meet up with Tony, my friend from Portland. It's good to see him here to support me and we have a bite of lunch together. After lunch I start getting my special needs bags lined up. I load the special needs bike bag with Fig Newtons and various other forms of nutrition - too much nutrition. In the end, I will only eat the Fig Newtons. Again the late afternoon suddenly transforms into night and I am ready for bed.
Saturday is a busy day at the race site. All the bikes and special needs bags have to be dropped off in the transition areas and it's the last chance to make any necessary adjustments and get one last warm up swim in. I opt to test out the waters after dropping off my bike and special needs bags. I don the wetsuit and swimcap and make my way over to the water. Standing at the top of the stairs leading down into the water, I get excited. I take a few steps and leap out into the murky fluid. Suddenly my body is shocked by the temperature. I try to adjust by remaining calm and swimming out towards the bridge. Once I am in the water for a few minutes, I settle in. The temperature is no different than the water we swim in up in Oregon so I am fine. Water is murky and the sun creates havoc by casting shadows. No sweat - a quick couple hundred meters and I am out.
I head back to the hotel in preparation for meeting up with my brother from Dallas and high school buddies from Albuquerque. We all get together around six that evening for some dinner at a gourmet pizza place. It's good to see all these people here to support me. A glance at my watch during dinner tells me I have a mere 12 hours to go until race day! Holy crap I am thinking, this is it! We finish our pizza's and salads and head back to the hotel. I finalize plans with my brother to meet me in the lobby of the hotel at 5am. I take 2 sleeping assist pills, confirm the wake up call for 4:30am and crash.
After a somewhat restful night, I hear the phone ringing. It's race day! Get your ass out of bed Quigley - time to roll!! I get up and drink two Ensures right off the bat, followed by a bananna and bagel. I drink water and take 3 electrolyte tablets to retain and replace some of the salt I am about to lose. I feel calm. I gather the remaining gear together and head down to the lobby to meet my brother. The elevator doors open and the lobby is filled with athletes making their way over to the race. My brother Don is there and we head out to the car for the short drive over to the site. We get there to join the rest of the athletes and prepare for long day ahead. I quickly check on my bike, inflating the tires to correct pressure and loading the fluids and nutrition. I get my body marked with my race number and now I am ready to roll. I meet back up with Don and give him my gear bag. He asked me again if I am ready for this. You bet your ass I am! I tell him.
I pull my wetsuit on and tell him I will see him along the way and at the end of the race. It's really great to have him here with me even if I failed to metioned it to him. I know the next time I see him, my cousin Mary Louise will be with him cheering me on. I smile at the thought of everyone here to support the athletes. I head over to the swim start in the dusk and start to get a little teary eyed. This is really it now Quigs! The moment you have been waiting for is now! The race director starts directing people to the water. The pro's enter first as they have a 10 minute start before the age groupers. Next thing I know I am standing on the edge of the lake with permission to enter the water. One last check to make sure my googles are under my swim cap and I jump into the cold murky water. My heart is racing as I swim up to the start line only to be forced to tread water for the next 20 minutes to the sound of AC/DC's For Those About to Rock! Hell ya! For those about to rock! That's me! Next thing I know the National Anthem is being sung and the sun is rising in the East - the exact direction we are headed. I am pumped when the race director ask " Who's ready to be an Ironman?" The participants and crowd goes wild! Next thing you know the cannon sounds. My 13 hour day is beginning.
I am quickly stripped of my wetsuit and headed off to the bike transition and changing tent. After a 7:05 transition I am at the bike mount line and on my way for a three loop course totalling 112 miles on my bike. I am feeling really good now and having a great day. As I head out of town I get emotional again realizing that I am living the dream right at this very moment in time. I clear the tears from my eyes and think about my family. The support they have provided to me is the motivation that is driving me now. I recall the advice from friends Scott and Kelly to ride my own race and ignore those passing me. "Harness Quigs, harness" is what Scott tells me all the time when we ride together and I smile as other pass me by. "See you later guys, it's going to be a long day still"!
On the first loop out, the amount of drafting taking place was pathetic. I had several pacelines whiz past me comprised of at least 20 riders at a time. Go ahead you bastards, I thought. Your bike splits aren't genuine if you have to cheat the wind by riding together. I pull up several times to avoid the appearance that I was participating in this illegal formation. The headwind was definitely there though. All I could do on the ride out was put my head down and grind it out. I choose to focus on the scenery instead of the wind which seemed to work as I reached the turn arounds fairly quickly when I did that. I only stopped 3 times on the bike, which in retrospect helped me to refresh myself and have a good overall ride at 6:00. The bike portion of the event was fantastic for me and I really enjoyed myself although I did start to get tired on the second loop. No worries again as I was living my dream and the second portion was just about completed. Once I crested the top of the turn around for the third and final loop the wind changed direction. I was now headed into the wind again for the last 19 miles of the ride. I knew it was about over so I just smiled and motored on to transition two.
After 7:19 in transition 2, I was off on the run. I knew this was going to be the greatest physical test of the race for me. I am not naturally gifted runner but I work very hard at it. My feet were in some pain already as I used the wrong bike shoes on the bike and that resulted in a severe hot spot on my right foot. Now I had to run 26.2 miles predominantly on concrete. Oh hell! Before the race, I took a permanent marker and wrote "Tina, Aidan and Flynn", "Engage the Suck" and "Smile!" on the inside brim of my hat. I would use that as motivation when the run really kicked the crap out of me as I knew it would. I headed off towards the first aid station at just over 1 mile. My legs felt like lead filled balloons. I kept telling them to move but the resistance beat out the directive. I just knew I had to keep going. The run course was three loops around the lake and all I can say is thank god for the volunteers at those aid stations! I consumed everything they had to offer and more. Water, gatorade, pretzels, oranges, cookies, chicken broth, ice and enthusiasm! I couldn't have completed this journey without those folks!
The first loop was difficult and the pain in my feet was incredible. It felt as if someone had held a hot cattle prod to the bottom of them for 5+ hours! I knew I had 2 more loops to go. The heat was causing me some discomfort as well but I knew the sun would soon be setting and would give me some relief. As the sun set I found myself at mile 17 and knew I was into single digits now to finish the race. That's a trick I learned from Trevor. "Get the marathon down to single digits Quigs and then really push and focus". I managed to smile again knowing I had nine miles to go and looking at the brim of my hat. But the pain was almost unbearable. At one point in the darkness as I shuffled along the lake, I recalled Tina being in labor with our son Aidan for 19 hours. That really put things in perspective for me and I started running again. I used a lot of mind tricks to get myself through this race. Mile 23 found me walking again and getting a false sense of the finish as you can see it from the hill top yet you still have to make a semi-circle to the east for another 3 miles to the finish line. It was at this point that my good friend Greg Kantola caught up to me. Greg's determination and drive is just what I needed. We walked for a bit and talked about life. It was great having him there with me, sharing my suffering. He looked at me and asked if I had any run left in me? I told him I did but not yet and to go on. I watched Greg fade away. It was just boost I needed.
At this point I was less than 3 miles away from the finish. I told myself to send the pain below and started to reflect on visualizing running through the finishing chute. I got to mile 24 and ran along the grass to try to relieve the pain in my feet. It helped a little but it also made me think about laying down for a quick nap. Hell no! If you do that you'll never finish. Get your ass moving to that line buddy! Next thing I know I am running again and I see Rudy Garcia -Tolson, a double amputee, running his first leg. I nearly cried again seeing him out there. I yelled out to him in support, pulled the brim of my hat down and mustered the fortitude to try and catch up to Greg. I crossed the bridge and made it to mile 25. I had 1.2 miles to go! I told myself this was it and picked up the pace as much as I possible could. As I got closer to the finish line, the crowd was going wild. I drew on their energy. I hit mile 26 and knew it was only .2 miles to the finish. The crowd was going nuts! I pushed every last ounce of energy I had into my legs and rounded the corner. The lights were glaring and I heard Mike Reily announce, "Brian Quigley, from Stayton, Oregon you are an Ironman!" My fists were pumping and any fatigue I had quickly vanished as I had just finished the IRONMAN!! I was estatic and exhausted. I ran a 5:50:27 marathon but could care less at that point.
After 13:13:34 out on the course, I was an Ironman.
