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| 2012 Featured Athlete Colin Martin |
“Your body will argue that there is no justifiable reason to continue. Your only recourse is to call on your spirit, which fortunately functions independently of logic”. – Tim Noakes
RUN = Temp at start – 75* , Temp at finish – 60* _
I’m out of T2 onto the run; the event that can make or break you day. As I exited the transition the street was lined with people cheering. I was very surprised that my legs were moving as fast as they were. Before I knew it I looked down and at mile 1 my watch said 7:10. I knew I need to slow my role or that blow up would be shortly approaching. The streets started to calm and the first aid station was arriving shortly -- packed with Gatorade, cola, water, ice, gel packs, cold sponges, and fresh fruit. My race belt had 4 accel gels attached and I was still semi full on the last power bar. As I went through the aid station I grabbed water and 2 cold sponges. I put them both in my shirt (not squeezed and still full of water) as they would be needed shortly to cool me off on mile 2.
Miles 2,3,4,5 and I am approaching the 10k mark. I used one of my accel gels at the mile 5 aid station. At this point I was still averaging 7:30’s. There was no pain in my legs yet so I hoped this pace would continue to at least the 13.1 mark. This would give me a huge cushion to break the 4 hour marathon. My first run split at 5.75 mi was 42.57 = 7:28 pace.
At 6 I noticed that my legs started to slow down. I still felt good but my legs were losing the pop and there was nothing I could do about it. The pace started to slow and my positive mood started to dwindle as I knew there was over 3 hours of running ahead of me. 6.5 was the turnaround point on the 2 loop run. By the time I got to mile 9, I noticed more and more people going in the opposite direction. The pack was just a few miles behind and my body was really starting to disagree with me.
My pace from mile 6.5 to the beginning of the second loop slowed by a few minutes per mile. As I reached mile 12 the streets were packed with spectators again. I knew I would need this positive atmosphere at the end of my second loop when the race was all mental and zero physical. I had one accel gel left as I crossed the 13.1 mark. I knew I should have packed more on my race belt. A big mistake. Now it was time for loop 2. Loop one was completed in 1:46 = 8:05 pace.
The next half marathon of the race was the hardest 13.1 miles of running I have ever endured, and the absolute hardest thing I have ever put my body through. This is the part of the race where your mind literally starts to tear itself into 2 people, almost like you have an angel and a devil on your shoulder. The devil is your body and the angel is the real you – the guy who signed up for the race and told himself that he wants to be an Ironman and will finish this race no matter what happens to his body.
At mile 14, after I went through the aid station and only drank water, the devil got the best of me. If you have ever run a marathon and have felt what it likes to hit the wall, this was twice as bad. Not only did my body completely cramp up, but my mind broke and went completely to the physical side (the devil) and I actually felt the urge to cry. I stopped, bent over, put my hands on my head and contemplated sitting on the sidewalk and crying. I literally felt like I could not move forward and my body needed a time out. I stood there for about 5 seconds and felt a quick tap on my back. A voice of another athlete said “not yet buddy, keep pushing”. At that point I snapped back to reality, smiled, and said to myself, “you got this”. One step after another, my legs started moving again…
I made it about 100 yards and my body (the devil) started to chime in again. I thought that was it but apparently not. Thank god I was arriving at the next aid station. At this point I grabbed every water I could get my hands on, 2 gels, and 3 sponges. I doused myself with one of the freezing sponges coming out of the aid station that completely shocked my body. This put my mind back in it.
Mile 18 came and my pace had dropped into the mid 9’s. At this point I clicked the mode button on my watch and realized that if I kept up about a 9 minute pace all the way in I would break to 10 hour mark. I didn’t try to figure out my total running time because I had reset my watch at the beginning of every event. Miles 18-20 I stepped it up and cut about 30-40 seconds off my mile time but then I started feeling an even more severe pain setting in deep in my quads just above my knees. When I hit mile 20 it was 4:01 pm, which meant I had 59 minutes to break the 10 hour mark. That became my next goal. I was not sure what would happen to my body physically within the next 6.2 miles but i knew that I was managing the pain pretty well for the last 7 miles so hopefully I had 59 more minutes in me.
Mile 20-23 were 9:30 pace and I was cutting it extremely close. At 23 I got passed by 4 other athletes running together. I knew they were fighting to break 10. I tried to hold their pace for about 10 yards but my legs couldn’t carry me any faster. I slowed back to the 9:30 mile that I was running and fought to make every step count. Only a 5k left………….
24 was a 10 minute mile. I had nothing left. The pain went away and my mind took over to keep my body moving. I stopped looking at my watch and put my head down a little bit to keep the momentum moving forward. As I approached the last aid station I grabbed one Gatorade and 1 cold sponge. The final station, the final sponge, the final sip of electrolytes and I was home free. The streets were crowded again with spectators and athletes who were still finishing up their first lap. I could hear the announcer in the distance calling the finishers names and the music blaring. I doused myself with the cold water and gave it my last ditch effort…
The last 0.5 of a mile broke from the normal course and was a direct line towards the finish line. Now the race course was packed with people and there became 2 lanes ahead – one for “1st lap” and one for “finish line”. As I stayed to the right I realized there was no one in sight ahead of me and all the athletes were staying to the left. I was on my own and could see the finish line. I looked at my watch and was very close to 10 hours. I was already giving it everything I had and the 10 hour goal started to fade and the words “ Colin Martin, you are an Ironman” became more attractive. As I got closer to the finish I started high-fiving the fans, their energy became mine. My body suddenly got a burst of energy and the pain went away for the last 100 yards. My body became invigorated with the energy of the moment. Finally, I was there. The words I had been waiting to hear since my New Year’s resolution was set two years ago,
“ Colin Martin, you are an Ironman!”
| RUN SPLIT 1: 5.75 mi | 5.75 mi (42:57) | 7:28/mi |
| RUN SPLIT 2: 13.1 mi | 7.35 mi (1:03:01) | 8:34/mi |
| RUN SPLIT 3: 18.4 mi | 5.3 mi (50:35) | 9:32/mi |
| RUN SPLIT 4: 26.2 mi | 7.8 mi (1:12:05) | 9:14/mi |
| TOTAL RUN | 26.2 mi (3:48:38) | 8:43/mi |
I won’t elaborate on how my body felt after the race. For those of you who read this and have done an Ironman or plan on doing an Ironman have had or will get to experience this feeling. All I can say is that it was one of the most unbelievable feelings I have ever felt in my life and has caused me to sign up for 2 more Ironman’s in 2012 (Tremblant and Arizona).
For those of you at Bikeway that plan on doing an Ironman or long distance endurance race and would like to chat or bounce ideas off each other, I am always available and welcome the conversation ( training, nutrition, race day execution, etc) . In addition, I am always looking for someone to train with so if you ever have a long swim / bike / or run on the schedule, please feel free to give me a shout. I can be reached at 845 742 7781.
NOTE: Colin ended up finishing 69th overall amateur out of 1800+ athletes and 7th in his age group out of 131 athletes in a time of 10 hours 00 min and 38 seconds!
NOTE: Colin ended up finishing 69th overall amateur out of 1800+ athletes and 7th in his age group out of 131 athletes in a time of 10 hours 00 min and 38 seconds!
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