Road to IRONMAN: Becoming Young Again
Mike Drak, Author and Senior Contributor for Booming Encore, has publicly shared his goal to complete the IRONMAN race in Cozumel in November, 2022. He is currently undergoing an aggressive training schedule and shares updates with us on his progress.
The Ironman race is quickly approaching.
I noticed it for the first time last Saturday morning getting ready for masters swim class. The goose bumps along with the increased energy level and feelings of excitement and fear.
I haven’t felt that way for a long time. It reminded me of how I felt back in high school the week before the big game. It’s nice to feel like that again.
Grizzly Adams
On Sunday I went for my last ride outside. I’ve been lucky with the weather it has remained warm for the most part allowing me to avoid those long mind numbing rides inside on the trainer.
The plan was to do four thirty five minute intervals at race pace with ten minutes of recovery in between.
While riding recovery, two young riders a man and a women passed me followed not far behind by this dude that reminded me of Grizzly Adams. He was around my age and had long stringy hair hanging down from under his helmet. He was fully dressed for the elements and was even wearing booties even though it was pretty warm outside. Seeing those booties reminded me that I had forgotten to put my leg warmers on but I didn’t really need them.
He motioned for me to join him which I did and we talked for a few minutes.
I could see that he was a strong rider and asked him why he wasn’t passing the other riders in front but he smiled with a twinkle in his eye and said he wanted to be polite. That made me smile because here was a guy more than twice their age and he could drop them like a rock any time he wanted and he knew it.
He mentioned that the wind was playing havoc and he was almost blown over a few times by the strong cross winds south of us where there is a lack of tree cover. What he said caught my attention because being this close to Ironman there was no way I was going to chance another bike crash.
After riding about forty kilometers I turned around and headed home.
There is a big fast decent near my home and as I approached it I remembered the warning Grizzly had given me about the strong cross winds. Normally I go down this hill on my aero bars in my biggest gear hitting about 60km/hr but this time I decided to ride in the drops and take it easy and boy am I glad I did.
When I was descending a cross wind hit me and almost blew me off the bike. Thanks to Grizzly I was prepared and got through it ok but it reminded me of all the stories I’ve read about people getting into accidents just before Ironman and not being able to start the race.
On the plus side the incident was a good reminder of what I will be facing in Cozumel. People who have done the race say the cross winds are really bad there.
Resiliency
Provided you have done the required training racing Ironman is largely mental. It’s important to have a good game plan and it’s also important to understand what’s in your control and what’s not.
Things I can’t control;
The weather, the heat, the rain.
Jelly fish stings.
A flat on the bike along with other mechanical problems
But what I can control is my attitude and approach.
Below is my race plan for Cozumel and how I think it will go. I also included some of the mantras I will be using throughout the day to help get me through the rough patches.
The Swim
Projected time 1 hour and thirty minutes plus five minutes for transition.
Mantra - “Slow is smooth – smooth is fast”
My plan is to grab onto a pair of legs and let them do all the work with respect to sighting and making sure we stay on course. Hopefully I pick a pair that swims in a straight line.
The Bike
Projected time 8 hours plus five minutes for transition
Mantra – “Rule number one stay Aero – Rule number two don’t forget rule number one.”
I need to stay as aerodynamic as much as possible especially going into the wind. I also need to ensure I take in nutrition each hour as planned and just keep on pedaling.
Run
Swim 1:30
T1 :05
Bike 8:00
T2 :05
Run ? (Only the man upstairs knows)
Goal < 17 hours
Mantra - “one foot in front of the other"
If the swim and bike go according to plan I’m going to have to complete the run under seven hours and twenty minutes to beat the seventeen hour cut off and get my finishers medal.
It’s not going to be easy but I take solace in knowing that my family will be there at the finish line waiting for me. That should be motivation enough for me to get this done.
Reality is that I have nothing to lose as I’ve already accomplished what I set out to do and that was get my health back. This Ironman race is just icing on the cake and I haven’t had cake for in a long time!
P.S. If you want to track me on race day the link is below
https://www.ironman.com/app-tracking-information
Wish me luck!
Interested in reading more about Mike's journey to Ironman? Check out these articles:
