The last 10 months lead to another Ironman.

It's hard to believe that it has been over a year since I completed Ironman Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. Much has happened since that time and I will start off my next set of updates leading to Ironman St. George, Utah (yes, I signed up for another one) with only touching on a few key things that happened over this time period. The last part of this post will be forward looking (goals and hopes).

First:
The first major thing that has happened and is happening is I have been developing a social network for runners which we hope to launch in the next few months. It is incredible how much time I have put into this site and how much more we have to go. Our goal is to get it up and bugs worked out before September. The site has been a labor of love. We will certainly announce when it is live here and on Twitter, Facebook and by other means.

Second:
The second key thing was my attempt at qualifying for the Boston Marathon at the Air Force Marathon. I came up short but learned much about myself and my training. You can read the race recap in the previous post.

Third:
The third event was a trip to the Emergency Room when I got hit by a truck on a Friday afternoon bike ride. It was a beautiful day in October and I thought why not cut out of work a bit early and head out on a ride along the Ohio River. I drove to Woodland Mound Park and parked my car at the back entrance around 4:00 pm. My plan was to get about 20 miles in so I could get back home for dinner around 5:30. Well, that plan changed as I headed up 10 Mile Road and passed through an intersection. I saw a truck with a lawn trailer sitting to turn my direction and it waited until I passed as there was another car coming the other direction so it had to clear before they turned left into my lane. Knowing the truck was coming I hugged the white line as I always do. It pulled up along side me (as passing) and was only about a few inches from my shoulder as the truck passed. I of course had a few choice words (including jerk) as the truck cleared me. In that split second I got this feeling like they were trying to force me off the road. What I didn't know was that their trailer was wider then the truck. Next thing I knew my left heal/leg yanked hard along with my bike to the right. I then went flying over the handlebars toward a gravel/grass embankment. My bike flipped a few time and ended up in the street. I was able to get my hands out in front when I hit the ground hard. My hands collapsed hard on my right side with my shoulder taking the brunt of the force. After impact I rolled about 3-4 times coming to a stop at the top of the embankment. I remember just laying there saying (in my head) this really hurts and trying to figuring out what I was going to do. [The picture below is of my left ankle as well as some other parts of my body a couple days after the accident.]

The truck did stop and the two guys came down to see if I was okay. The one guy just kept saying "Are you okay? Are you okay?" I just laid there for a while not saying a word. Another lady came out of a house near by and asked if she needed to call an ambulance. Then another driver behind me (I was facing the woods) slowed down to ask the same question. It was about this time that my toughness took over and I started thinking I didn't want my wife to worry and needed to get home if possible. It hurt but I sat up and remember being hot. I then tried to stand up and only got about half way up before getting dizzy and sitting back down. It was about this time that the ambulance arrived and were asking me questions and I heard the police asking the driver questions as well. It was funny as I was wearing my Ironman CDA bike jersey and they wanted to cut it off me - to which I said "No way!" I gritted my teeth while they carefully pulled it off over my head. It was a symbol of all that I had accomplished the previous year and there was no way they were cutting it. Next was the Paramedic asking if I wanted to go to the hospital. I really didn't as I wanted to get home and not give my wife something to worry about. Well, he then told me about possible neck injuries and internal injuries which I quickly agreed that it would be good after all. They then transferred me to a backboard with neck brace on and I was off to the hospital.

The paramedic in the ambulance dialed my wife and we tried to reach her to tell her what had happened but we couldn't get through. Finally at the hospital I was able to get through and leave a message. She called me back to say that she was checking out at the grocery store and had to go home to drop off groceries and then her and Braden (our 5yr-old son) would be there. They arrived and I then had all my x-rays, tests and treatments to clean up the cuts and stuff. I would end up leaving around 8:30 pm that night after the doctor said I had no broken bones, which was the good news. I am not one to use drugs of any kind so I told him I didn't want any pain killers or similar.  It hurt to walk and to get home. The next day I was shot - I could not lay on my left side and all of my inside hurt. It was an absolute pain to go to the bathroom so it was limited. It took about 20 days before I could actually lay on my left side at all, but not for a long time. 

Fourth:
The fourth key (and most important) event was the birth of my daughter Brianne Elizabeth on November 1, 2008. My wife went all natural and had a home birth. It went very well and that was her Ironman for the year. She had our first child all natural as well but in the hospital. She said that this one hurt more and she could understand why women get epidurals but she is pretty tough and worked through the temporary pain. Picture is Brianne around 7 months old.

Fifth:
The last one was pacing a friend to a Personal Record in the Flying Pig Half Marathon in May of this year. It was much slower than I normally run but a good time and very rewarding. I will post that race recap in the next day or so.

Looking forward:
Why do another Ironman? After doing Ironman CDA I totally get why people get hooked. If you do the training then you are in awesome shape for most of a year. The race itself is very hard but there is a sense of everyone pushing themselves to see what they can achieve. After I finished I felt great - much better then after a marathon if you can believe it. The training also forces you to really focus on what is important and filter out all the non-important stuff like TV and casual conversations.

When I saw St. George pop up and it was a lake swim I jumped on it. Not really knowing what the course was going to be like. Now I know it will be one of the harder ones in North America, if not the hardest. I say the harder the better so bring it on.

In preparation for this Ironman I will be doing the Chicago Marathon in October 2009 to really focus on my running with the goal of qualifying for Boston (3:20). It will be challenging and hard especially since I am writing this having missed a key long run already due to a sore left achilles. It is getting better so I am optimistic.

Well, that's my story. I now need to put the focused training in to reach my goals and will be providing a few updates each week as this next Ironman odyssey starts. I better get some sleep and hit the roads tomorrow. Had a great late 10 mile run tonight in 1:21:22.