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October 12th, 2019: Kona Hawaii

There are moments that mark your life. Moments when you realize that nothing will ever be the same again. Time gets divided into two parts. Before this day and After this day. To recognize such a moment shortly after it has passed is a gift. However to know beforehand that a moment like this is about to happen is an incredible blessing. October 12th 2019 was one of these moments!

A Journey that started in the snow in Iowa, March of 2013 ended up with a run down Ali‘i Drive in Kona Hawaii in October of 2019. This is where the finish line is for the Ironman World Championship. I completed the Ironman World Championships in Kona Hawaii. My finishing time was 12:53:57.

Revised

I have been busy Chasing this dream the past 6 years. The journey started as a choice I made back on May 22nd of 2013 to Attempt a single Ironman has now turned into over 6 years of hanging out with some of the most amazing people. I have decided to get back to documenting this journey on my blog and today I am here to say Hello Again. The past 6 years have been filled with many challenges and many setbacks and yet here I am less than 90 days from jumping in the ocean in Kona Hawaii to start what will be my 14th Ironman 140.6 race at the Ironman World Championships!

Over the next few Months I will update what is happening with my current training and I will also post stories about Special events that I have done in the past 6 years to get to this race.

I have tried countless times to sit down and write a race report in the 2 weeks following my Ironman race. So instead of a normal race report I want to tell you about a journey.  This is a journey that started 17 months ago and continues to this day.  I have found that crossing that finish line in Madison Wisconsin was not the end of the journey but rather just another of the many highlights that I have had the opportunity to enjoy along the way. The best part about this journey is how many wonderful people I have met as I traveled the path that led me to that finish line. I have formed friendships that will last far beyond triathlons and races. When I started this journey I was focused on getting to that finish line to be done and be able to say that I did something amazing. Funny thing is that the highlights of my day were not until after I crossed that finish line. This is just a small part of the journey and a story about only two of the hundreds of friends I made along the way.

Long before this day as I was on one of the many training rides I rode with Julie I made her a promise. I said if I can still move once I finish this race I will come back out and find you and give you a big hug on the run course.   The night before the race as I was talking with Katie she nervously asked me to wait for her at the finish line. I agreed and told her I would. There were many more stories like these of friends I would talk to and encourage during the race however these two ladies had become like sisters to me over the course of the summer. We officially met at the MT Horeb Kwik Trip on the very first loop of my first trip to Verona for a training ride on the Ironman bike course back in May.  I finished that loop riding with them and we talked and laughed about anything and everything you could imagine. We rode another loop that day along with another friend Dell. From that day on we kept in contact almost daily for most of the summer. We would bounce ideas off each other and use each other for motivation to get out there and do the workouts even when we did not feel like it. We met in Wisconsin many more times during the year to train together and laugh and share cheese curds and a cold beer or two.

Julie on left Katie In middle and Me on right

Our first swim in Lake Monona Julie on left Katie In middle and Me on right

Cheese Curds and Beer at Greys Tied House

When you prepare for a race like an Ironman they tell you that you will have dark moments during the day and during those dark moments you need to have that “One Thing” you can focus on to get you to push through those moments. So as I get ready on race morning I was thinking a lot about the promises I had made to these two ladies. I was determined to keep these promises at all cost. So my “One Thing” was really “Two Things”. Finish the race with enough energy to still be able to walk and to keep my promises to Julie and Katie.

Julie Katie and Me on Saturday before the race in Monona Terrace

I had a race plan and I was going to execute it. I wanted to swim the 2.4 miles in 1 hour and 20 minutes. I wanted to bike the 112 miles in 5 hours and 45 minutes and I was going to do the math when I ran out of transition to pace my run to finish my race in 11 hours 45 minutes. The overall goal was to not be in the medical tent or carried away from the finish line. I knew if I made these time cutoffs that I would have time to get back to my room and shower and change clothes and come back to the finish line and start tracking both Julie and Katie along with looking for the countless other friends I had still out on the course.

Race Day:

The Swim:

As I sat in the water waiting for the cannon to blast to start the swim portion of the race I was totally at ease. No stress at all. It felt like I had been there before and I was ready to take on this long training day. My mind was totally calm and I even found myself getting bored during the swim portion of the race. Sure I was getting hit and kicked by others swimming around me after all there were 2826 other swimmers trying to swim 2.4 miles as fast as they could too. The swim portion was awesome and I had tears in my eyes as I walked up the boat ramp through the swim finish arch in 1 hour and 20 minutes and 8 seconds. Part one of my plan was complete! Mission accomplished! I walked up the helix which is a four story parking ramp spiral where we had to run through a crowd of family and friends cheering us as we got ready to change clothes into our bike gear. As I got almost to the top I spotted my Son David and Friend Ann yelling at me. I pointed at them and continued on to the top where to my surprise I found Katie. She had finished the swim in about the exact same time as me and we shared a hug  as we ran into the changing rooms.

T1:

I spent 13 minutes and 20 seconds in the changing area and running out to get my bike. They call this T1 or Transition 1.  It was hard to get my clothes on over my wet body. I wanted to make sure I took my time and get everything I would need for the 112 miles on the bike.

The Bike:

I started down the Helix and out onto the course. There were bikes everywhere and we were on a narrow bike trail so I just sat up and pedaled with the pace of everyone. This was a no pass area as it was far too dangerous and you were not going to win the race in this part but you could certainly end your day with a crash here. Once we got onto open roads I got into Aero and started pedaling. I had a max pace of 20mph that I was aiming for on this the first part of the course. I wanted to do the first four hours at this pace. The goal was to slow slightly on the 5^th hour to allow the legs time to recover and then push the last hour as I headed back into Madison and the end of the bike portion of the race. I would ride hard until I came to a big hill then I would sit up and shift to my easiest gear instantly and pedal at a high cadence up the hill. I got passed by many people as they pushed hard to get up the hills and then I would pass them and leave them behind as I was still pedaling on the crest and downhill portion after the hills and they were coasting as their legs were fried from the hill climb. I saw a few friends on the hills and Tiffany a friend from Iowa and someone I had logged countless hours training with was on the last big hill of the loops. She ran alongside me as I climbed and encouraged me and told me I was killing it. It was great to see her on the first loop as that gave me something to look forward to on the second loop. On the second Loop as I climbed that same hill I saw another friend John who grabbed my arm and gave me a nice shove on the rear as I passed him on that same hill. I remember thinking where were you on the other hills I could have used the shove there too after I pedaled away.  I rode back up the helix at the end of the 112 miles on the bike and was pleased to see that I had done my goal time on the bike. I finished the bike portion in 5 hours and 42 minutes46 seconds. I handed my bike off to a volunteer who was there to rack our bikes for us and heading into the changing area of T2.

T2:

I changed out of my bike bibs and jersey and changed into my running shorts and shirt. I grabbed my race belt and some gels for the run and headed out of T2 in 5 minutes and 23 seconds.

The Run:

I started the Marathon 26.2 mile run and headed up towards the capital. I looked at my watch and quickly did the math to figure out what I had to do to reach my goal to finish in 11 hours and 45 minutes. I calculated that I needed to average 10 minutes and 2 seconds per mile pace to finish in that time. I quickly decided to hold back a little on the first half of the run to save my legs and try to finish strong and still running. My goal was to get to the half way turn around and then to recalculate my time I had left to reach my goal. I finished the first 13.1 miles in 2 hours 12 minutes and 5 seconds at an average pace of 10:05 min/mile. I knew I had to speed up for the second half but did not want to push myself so hard that I crashed and had to walk. So I stayed at a steady pace and tried to gain time were I could without getting into that grey area. As I rounded the Capital for the final time and entered the finishing chute I started to sprint to get past a group of runners so that I could have this moment all to myself. As I crossed the finish line I looked up at the clock to see those magical numbers 11:44:09. My official chip time was 11 hours 44 minutes and 11 seconds. I hit every goal I had on the day to this point.

Ironman Wisconsin 2014 Finish Line 11:44:11

Finishers Medal

Dave and Ann were waiting for me at the finish line in the VIP area and we talked for a while as I ate pizza and chips in the finishers tent. I talked with a few other friends about the race too. David and Ann went to get my bike and gear and we met back at the apartment so that I could change and shower. They left to drive home as they both had to work the next day and I showered and headed back to the finish line.

I now started tracking Julie and Katie and heading backwards on the run course. Once I got to State street I waited there as I was finding many friends pass me and I would cheer for each of them as they ran by. I was the most anxious as I waited there looking for Julie to run out of the darkness on that street. When I saw Julie I yelled at her and she ran up and we had the biggest hug ever. I told her she was doing awesome and to keep going. I said I would see her at the finish line in a mile. I cut across the blocks to get to the finish line ahead of her and as she ran down the finishing chute she found me and ran over and gave me a high five.  She had a smile on from ear to ear. It was so surreal to fulfil that promise I made months before to find her on the run after I finished. I met Julie and her Husband Pat and two daughters and other family and friends at the finisher’s tent and I got another hug and you could just see the pride and sense of accomplishment as she smiled and talked to everyone.

Julie and I after the Finish line!

Julie giving me a High Five as she runs down the finishing chute. I am wearing the white finishers hat on the right.

Julie headed back to her room and I started tracking Katie again to see where she was on the course. I had a friend Kerri who was volunteering on the run course so I went out and found her so we could hang out and wait for others to finish. We were there watching for Katie when out of the darkness she ran around the capital and headed down the finishing chute. She was high fiving everyone and then stopped short of the finish to greet her parents for a moment. Then she turned and ran through the finish line.  I saw her parents waiting by the side so I stayed back for a few minutes to allow them to have their time to talk. I went over and we talked about the day and how awesome it was to share this journey. We shared a hug or two and I stayed and I talked with Katie and her parents for a while and then they went back to her hotel to get cleaned up.

Katie and I at the Finish Line!

Both Julie and Katie had exceeded their expectations for the race and they both had awesome and well executed races. It was such a privilege to be a small part of their journeys to that finish line. Who would have known back in May that on this day I would feel more pride and sense of accomplishment watching these two ladies cross that line than I did when I crossed it myself.  What started out as a journey to find out how far I could push myself turned into so much more as I found myself more concerned with getting others to that finish line? Who would have known when I started training that I would share such an emotional journey with so many people I never even knew before I started.

Thank you all for sharing your journey with me! I look forward to where life will lead us in the future and feel confident that our paths will cross again many times!

Until then,

I will See You at the Finish Line!

Dave

I have been trying to find new ways to help out with the efforts of Above + Beyond Cancer. This is something that is important to me and I would love some new ideas on how to raise money for their mission. I am finding that I am not very good about asking people to give money but I need to work on this.

https://www.crowdrise.com/IronmanWisconsin/fundraiser/davidrodda

Please click the link above to find out more about them.

See You at the Finish Line!

Dave

Thought I would update you on what’s happening this summer in my Ironman 2014 Challenge.

It’s been 4 months now since I started this journey. Training has kept me busy as I get ready for a really busy push in the schedule. The next few weeks are going to be crazy.

I am doing the “Swim the Bridge” at Saylorville this Sunday July 28th. I figured I needed the open water swimming experience before the next triathlon. This master’s swim event will be a good way to get some more open water time with other swimmers.

Then I am running the Lifeserve Run for Blood 5k in Des Moines the following Saturday August 3^rd with my two sons again. They want a rematch and they think they can beat me now. I ran a practice 5k tonight in the middle of doing a ladder workout on the track and did it in 21:25 so that was 1:38 faster than my PR in 5k so I think I might surprise them again. I am really trying to get into the sub 20 minute bracket on the 5k by next spring as I think this would really help my tri times.

The following weekend I am doing the Bluff Creek Triathlon in Ogden Iowa on August 11th.

Then I have three weeks till the Hy-vee Triathlon on Sept 1st.  

The following week September 8^th I travel to Wisconsin for the 2013 Ironman. I am a volunteer during this year’s race as a bike mechanic during the early morning and then I am a bike catcher at noon till 5pm. This will allow me to see how everything works during an actual Ironman and it also gives me head of line to sign up for the following years race which sells out in less than one day.  

Then I come home and have 6 weeks to train for the Des Moines Marathon on October 20^th.

After that I think I will take a day or two off and get some rest. Then it is back at it trying to get ready for the spring races next year.

See You at the Finish Line!

Dave

I thought I would give a quick update on the swim training for the Triathlon this weekend. I have been in the pool for 1 hour every day since I signed up for the Copper Creek Triathlon three weeks ago. I have found it difficult if not impossible to swim more than 100 meters at a time. Most days I spend my time swimming one 25 meter length of the pool and stopping to catch my breath before going another 25 meter length. If I really push myself I can do one lap (50 meters) but I am totally out of breath and gasping as I touch the wall. I was talking to my mother yesterday and she was thinking it would be a good idea if I did not go this weekend and waited for the next race so I could get more time in the water. I explained that the only way for me to learn how to do this is to jump in over my head and see what happens. It’s the way I learned almost everything in my life.

Last night I was getting pretty psyched out about the swim so I started reading posts on a message board about beginner triathletes. I found a link to an article that changed my swimming in less than 15 minutes and I was not even in the water.  The article is on the web and it shows you how to swim 1650 yards in 6 weeks of training. The swimming 1650 yards is 1500 meters in distance which is a  swimming mile. There was one small sentence at the very end of the article that hit home and stuck in my mind all night.

“I recommend that you not tie yourself up in knots and get discouraged by technical concerns in the beginning. You’re here to enjoy some exercise, not go to the Olympics.”

Full article can be found here: http://ruthkazez.com/ZeroTo1mile.html

So today was planned to be a rest day with no exercise at all. However my mind had other plans. I woke up at 5am sharp and could not get back to sleep. I laid there thinking about the sentence above. So I got out of bed and packed my bag and headed for the YMCA for a morning swim. When I got there I jumped in and did a few laps while stopping at each end to chat with the people I swim with every morning. After my warm-up I read over the article as I had printed it out and taken it with me to the pool.  It talks about just keeping going no matter what type of swim you have to do as long as you keep moving. So I started doing laps. I did the freestyle for the first 25 meters and then rolled to my back and did the back stroke for the next 25 meters. 1 lap down and I was feeling good. So I made my turn at the wall and did the freestyle again to the other end. I continued to do every other length freestyle with a length of Back stroke in between. Finally after what seemed like a very short time my curiosity got the best of me so I stopped to look at my lap counter to see how far I had gone. I was not breathing hard. I was very relaxed and could have kept going at that pace. When I looked at the lap counter it read 20. This meant I had just done enough laps to equal 1000 meters and I did it in less than 24 minutes. This is by far no fast pace however it was a major breakthrough for me as I just swam for 24 minutes straight without stopping and I went 1000 meters.

What I learned from this experience was that I was so busy thinking about all the technical things with a perfect freestyle swim that my mind was racing and almost giving me a panic attack with every lap. I was breathing too much and causing me to hyperventilate in the water because that was what I thought I was supposed to do. Once I relaxed and just started enjoying my swim and letting my mind go and not worry about how great my stroke was I started swimming. The funny thing that the lifeguard told me was that my stroke was improving the more laps I did and the farther I went. She said that my stroke looked more relaxed.

I’m not sure that this will work for everyone but it sure changed my attitude about this weekend’s triathlon. Like most endurance sports the mental part is probably more important than the physical training. The Ah Ha Monent finally arrived and it could not have been better timing.

See You at the Finish Line,

Dave

Today I spent the morning at Zoom Performance doing a bike Analysis and Fitness test. My bike was hooked to a computer and I was wired up and asked to pedal the bike till I could not pedal any longer. The computer raised the resistance and watts output every 30 seconds and record your heart rate, watts output, and Vo2 Max. I was amazed at how quick you can go from feeling pretty good to just dead on the bike. Having the mask over your face was hard to get used to and restricted your ability to breathe a bit. That’s my Zoom Performance coach Nick Mongar pictured.

So after swimming for an hour in the pool I suddenly realized that the 2.4 mile swim of an Ironman is a lot of swimming. When you look at it as 2.4 it seems like a small number but this is equivalent to 3862.43 meters or swimming about 155 lengths of the pool at the YMCA. And you have to do this in less than 2 hours and 20 minutes. Then if you’re lucky enough to survive the cutoff time they will let you bike 112 miles and run a 26.2 mile marathon to cool down. You gotta love the challenge of it all though!

See You at the Finish Line!

Well it’s official; I am a runner now that I have my first running injury. About a week before the Dam to Dam I developed Iliotibial band syndrome. It’s very common among runners and I did not know what it was at the time.  I did not want to tell my coach as I did not want to miss the Dam to Dam. Once I got it the pain just kept getting worse with every run. I finally had to stop running as the pain was unbearable. So the week of Dam to Dam I rested on running except for an Intervals workout on Wednesday night. With this injury you feel like someone is sticking an ice pick into the outside of your knee every time you take a step with that leg. I had hoped to rest it and run the Dam to Dam recovered. No such luck. The morning of Dam to Dam I felt the injury pop up after the first half mile. Then it proceeded to get worse the farther I ran. By mile ten my leg was on fire and now instead of an ice pick it felt like a hot iron was being forced into the side of my knee. As I crossed the finish line I could barely walk. I was helped over to the side by a worker. Later that day I could not walk at all from the pain of the other leg that tried to compensate for my bad knee. I finally consulted my coach and he confirmed what was wrong and now we are working on a plan to correct the problem. Luckily it does not affect swimming and biking so we will be working on those sports until the IT Band gets fixed and my knee is back to normal. My coach explained it was probably from overtraining and not stretching properly before and after each run. I guess I should have hired my coach sooner to avoid these things.

See you at the Finish Line!

Dave

I finally acquired my new girlfriend that is going to train with me for the next year and a half as I get ready for the Ironman Challenge. She is slender and sleek and should really push me when the rides get long. I am sure she will be a pain in my rear at times and stay with me through the ups and downs of the miles to come.  I am going to name her Stella!