New Orleans 70.3

This past weekend I was able to compete in and complete the IRONMAN New Orleans 70.3. I had mentioned back in January that I was training for this event and faithfully executed the training plan. Sondra was kind. gracious and patient with me (as is her normal routine) and allowed me to take some extra time to train. I cannot say enough good about Sondra and how supportive she is of me in the pursuit of these kind of goals I set for myself.

I had World Changers business in New Orleans Thursday and Friday, so I climbed in the car Weds. afternoon and started driving that way with all my gear. The meetings I had on Thursday and Friday went really well. I am blessed to be a part of World Changers and P2 Missions and provide opportunities for the Gospel to be shared through the lives of students.

Friday night, Sondra, Shelbi and Morgan arrived in New Orleans (Mark had a work retreat and was unable to come this time) and we headed to dinner.

Saturday was filled with the girls running 9 miles (they are training for the Country Music Marathon half), me turning my bike in for the race on Sunday, lunch with Dave and Kimberly, and dinner with Chrissy and Steven Sanders. They are a wonderful couple that we are blessed and honored to know. They are expecting their first in May so it was very cool to see them and spend time with them. Saturday evening was concluded with some berries and coffee with Allen and Judi Jackson. We have been friends for 25 years and they are both professors at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Allen has been such an incredible friend over those years and has taught me much about students and ministry.

Sunday I was up early for a hard boiled egg and bacon breakfast along with a Clif Bar and banana. Dave and Kimberly MacNeill had come to New Orleans to celebrate their 18th wedding anniversary and support me in the race. Actually, Dave is the one who got me into this triathlon stuff in the first place. He is 7 time IRONMAN 140.6 finisher and you might remember me supporting him in November in Florida. You can read that account here. Dave picked me up about 530a and we made our way to the race. Sondra, Kimberly and the girls slept in a little and then we all met up with Meagan Medley who is a long time IRONMAN New Orleans supporter and new friend of ours about 645a. The race got started a little late and it was a swim wave start so I had about an hour after the first ones got into the water before I jumped in and began swimming.

Swim = 1.2 miles Basically, we walked out on a platform, jumped into the harbor of Lake Pontchartrain and swam a modified M shape. It was a little hard to sight the buoys but I managed. The wave start meant fewer people in the water at one time so that made it much easier to swim. I had hoped to swim somewhere between 45-48 minutes. It was my least confident part of the race. Coming out of the water, you transition back to the bike area and make a stop along the way for someone to help you get your wet suit off. That is a huge help! All of my support team was there in the transition cheering me on. They were awesome.

Bike = 56 miles
I jumped on my bike, looked down at my watch and realized I had not hit it before the swim so it showed all zeros. Bummer! I had no idea how I did in the water. I thought I swam ok, but had no clue. Was I in there for 50 min - 1 hour. Who knew! I hit my watch to start the bike portion and started pedaling. I ate a banana and a Clif bar and took in some fluid and pedaled some more. The first 7 miles were flat and wind free and I averaged about 22mph. Then, it was turn into a head wind for the next 5 miles and it was rough. Averaged about 16 mph. Hit a long stretch of cross wind for the next 17-18 miles and then turned again for about 4 miles with the wind at my back! It was awesome! 24 mph and I was feeling pretty good and then . . . u-turn back into the strong head wind for about 7 miles of just grinding. Averaged about 14 mph or so and just decided to enjoy the grind. Turned with the wind to my back and hit 23-24 mph average and had a couple of hills in it that I loved. The majority of the ride was very flat (it's New Orleans remember) and very sunny! No shade on the ride. I turned back into a crosswind for the last 7 miles or so and knew that the ride was coming to an end. I came down towards transition and my wonderful support team was running up and cheering me on. (I found out later that they had gone to eat breakfast and made it back just in time for my transition.) I was off the bike in 3:13 which is about where I had hoped to be, just a little quicker than I thought I would do. I went into transition, changed my shirt, shoes, sunglasses and put on my race belt. (I had trouble with that silly race belt and laughed at myself.) Grabbed some water, a banana and Clif bar and started running out of transition.

A couple of times on the ride I had some pretty cool worship experiences. I found myself thanking God for the ability to be out and physically able to participate. I love Him and His creation and enjoy being out so for an introvert it was heaven on earth. May seem weird but some of my best times of worship are outside enjoying Him.

Run = 13.1 miles
I saw all my support team (they were so great) and asked Dave how I did in the water (since I had been stressing over that for about 3 hours or more) and he hollered out :43. Almost a minute and a half faster than my early goal time. I gave out a WooHoo! and was pretty pumped. My legs felt good and I felt good. I started running, ate a banana and soon realized that the vast majority of the people were walking. I was shocked. I finally hit the part of the race that I had some real confidence in and felt good. About a mile into the run, God provided cloud cover. It was wonderful especially with the wind that had been blowing all day. I hit all the water stops (every mile of the run) and grabbed two cups of ice cold water. One I sipped from and the other I dumped on my head. It felt so good. About mile 5 I started feeling a little nauseated and backed off of the fluids and started munching a Clif bar for the next mile. Slowly my stomach settled and my pace started picking up. We ran along Lakeshore Drive forever and then turned down into City Park where there was great shade. I decided about mile 7 that I would start encouraging others and have used this strategy in many road races. I do it for two reasons: 1. We all need encouragement. 2. It takes the focus off of how I may be feeling and puts the focus on others.

I saw Sondra, Shelbi and Morgan about mile 11 and they were hollering like crazy. It was awesome. They
asked how I was feeling and I said, "I ain't gonna lie. I'm a little tired. But I am feeling okay and will see you at the finish line in about 2 miles." The next mile seemed like 10 in my mind but my time was still good  and in fact I had picked it up a little bit. At mile 12, I decided I had some left in the tank and picked it up some more. I turned the corner to come down the finish stretch and congratulated finishers who were making their way back to their cars. They seemed a little stunned that I would congratulate them but remember . . . we all need encouragement. I saw the clock as I neared the finish line and realized that I had exceeded what I had hoped to do in this race. I finished in 5:58:41 and had hoped to come in 6:15-6:30. I have a tendency to get a little teary after these kind of events and this one was no different. Just the feeling of accomplishment and the gratitude to Christ for allowing me to glorify Him through exercise is overwhelming to me.

It was a great day and a wonderful weekend with family and friends. Thanks for enduring the detail, for putting up with tweets and posts, and for the many kind remarks you have sent my way. I am grateful.