Posts Tagged fitness
Are You Pushing Yourself Hard Enough?
Posted by Matt Hoover in General on February 16th, 2010
This morning I had the chance to workout with some MMA guys at my gym. For those of you who don’t have a clue what MMA is, it’s mixed martial arts or most commonly known as ultimate fighters. These guys are tough and their workouts are even tougher. After my workout I realized how easy it is to fool ourselves into thinking we are working harder than we are.
I have been training seven days a week for nearly three weeks now. I am feeling good and am glad that I still feel pretty good after I get done with a workout. I have been chalking it up to the fact that I am getting into pretty good shape. Today I realized that the reason I have been feeling so good after my workouts is because I have been holding back.
I think a lot of people feel like they are working hard when they workout by themselves, some do but a lot of them aren’t going as hard as they think they are. I for one know I work harder when I work out with a group. First, it’s a pride thing. I don’t want to look like a sissy. Second, we tend to feed off the atmosphere we are in. If we are in a group that is working hard we tend to work harder.
It’s easy to slip into a comfortable place when we are doing workouts. Most of us do the same thing every time we step in the gym. I, for one, see other people doing stuff sometimes and wonder if I could do what they are doing. I’ll admit it, sometimes I will even go and try it after the person has left.
There comes a certain boost to an ego when you try something new and succeed. Unfortunately, the opposite is also true. We can get ourselves all kinds of messed up in the head when we try something and fail. Here is what I think. Try it anyway. Try a new class, try doing a group workout, try doing a workout that you think is impossible. Give it an honest try. If it is hard, do the best you can. If the class is an hour long and you don’t think you can make it, just keep moving the entire time and try to go a little longer each time.
I think you will amaze yourself if you will just give yourself the opportunity. Next time you go to workout ask yourself, “Am I really pushing myself?” I hope you can answer yes!
See you tomorrow!
Are You a Do-er or a Gonna Do-er?
Posted by Matt Hoover in General on February 5th, 2010
Yesterday I talked a little about how we can’t change others, only ourselves. I want to talk about how our actions speak louder than words. By changing ourselves we can encourage those around us to make changes without saying a word. I am going to share how I use to be a “gonna do” person instead of a “do” person.
For a lot of years when I was struggling I would tell people about what I was going to do. I was going to lose weight, I was going to quit drinking so much, I was going to go back to school. Let’s just say I was going to do a lot of things.
Nearly every week I was gonna start a diet. I was a lot like people you have seen or maybe even yourself. On Monday I would show up to work with my water and a salad for lunch. On Tuesday I would show up with a salad, a sandwich, and a water. On Wednesday I would have a sandwich and a pop. On Thursday a sandwich, a pop, and a bag of chips. On Friday I was like “Forget it, let’s just go out for lunch. I did pretty good this week.” This pattern would repeat itself pretty regularly.
The other thing I was always gonna do was cut back on the drinking. On Saturdays when I was good and drunk I would tell my friends that “After tonight, I’m done.” They would laugh a little and then say “OK Hoover, whatever you say.” I use to get upset and think to myself “Why don’t they beleive me? They should be encouraging me!” Again, I said this on a regular basis but never got around to actually doing it.
It never dawned on me that the reason people didn’t get excited for me is because they were constantly hearing me say things and never doing anyting. It wasn’t that they didn’t want to see me do things they just knew from my past that I probably wasn’t going to follow through. It wasn’t meaness, it was past experiences.
I don’t think I am much different from a lot of people in wanting praise for the things I want to do and not wanting constructive criticism for the things I say I am going to do and then don’t. We all want to look good in others eyes and not look like a failure. Unfortunately, when we don’t follow through we start to talk about what we are going to do next as though to somehow make up for what we didn’t do.
It’s a vicious cycle and it leads nowhere. We need to start small with the changes and then check them off as we go. More importantly, we need to follow through. It’s easy to set big goals and talk about all of the great things we want to do. It can be difficult to actually do them.
I rarely tell people all of the things I am going to do now. I just do them and let people see the results. One reason is that a lot of the things that I tend to do seem downright insane to others. For example, competing in the Ford Ironman World Championships having never done more than a sprint triathlon before. The other reason is that I have learned that my actions speak louder than my words.
In the words of the great Nike slogan, Just Do It! That being said, when we begin to take action more than likely those around us will too. If you want to encourage someone close to you to lose weight, lose weight yourself first. If you want to get a better job, start looking and preparing yourself. We can’t just sit around and wait for things to happen for us. We have to be do-ers instead of gonna do-ers! Have an awesome weekend and go do something!
See you Monday!
Life After The Biggest Loser…. Part 3
Posted by Matt Hoover in General on January 26th, 2010
I knew I had changed a lot when I was on the ranch. It was easy to see the physical changes. What I didn’t see is how much I had changed internally. I arrived home to the fanfare of a small town 4th of July. Many of my friends and family were there as well as my favorite local band The Cedar Island Band. It was an exciting time. Most people hadn’t seen me thin in years and some had never even know me as a thin person.
I was a pretty good mess in the head when I got home. I was happy to see everyone but I was also scared. Not scared of them, but scared of how they would react to the new me. Almost everyone was really great. Those who weren’t, I let go of. Probably the toughest thing to readjust to was going out in public again.
Keep in mind, this was right after I had come home from the ranch so people didn’t know who I was yet. The show hadn’t aired yet so people didn’t know that I was “that guy from that show”. My problem was just being able to interact with others. I hadn’t had a chance to talk to anyone but the other contestants on the ranch and it kind of turned me into an introvert.
It was easy on the ranch because that is just what I did. I worked out. When I got home I was still competing and the only thing I had on my brain was winning. Even though nobody knew who I was I felt like people were always looking at me and talking about me. It kind of drove me nuts. Looking back I’m sure they weren’t. To everybody else I looked like a normal guy out and about.
I had a few freak outs. I knew that everything I did had potential repercussions on my outcome on the show. I was crazy about how food was prepared and how much of it there was. If vegetables looked to have any type of oil I would send them back. If I ordered a burger and it came out with fries or a bun I would send it back. Needless to say, I didn’t go out very much.
My routine was exactly that, a routine. I did the same thing every day. I got up in the morning and had a bowl of Kashi GoLean with yogurt instead of milk. I rode my bicycle to work 17 miles each way. At lunch I ate a bag of lettuce shreds with deli meat cut up into it and a couple tbs of Galileaos dressing. After work I went to wrestling practice. For supper I had 8 oz of some lean meat and then before bed I did an hour of cardio.
On Sundays I went to Dairy Queen and had a Banana Cream Pie Blizzard with Reeces Peanut Butter Cups in it. I think my Blizzard was the thing that kept me sane. It gave me something to look forward to. I think I was able to keep this routine because I was still playing the game and had a chance to win the money.
I had blinders on the entire time I was at home. I didn’t do well with any deviation from my routine. I am glad that I was able to do that but it has also been one of my biggest struggles since. I am an all or nothing person. I am 100 % on track or I’m all the way off. $250,000 is a pretty good incentive to stay on track. It can also get just about anybody to do just about anything for a period of time.
The hardest part for me after the finale was finding that balance and finding a way to be motivated by something besides the game of The Biggest Loser. I will get more into this on another day.
To put it plainly, my life during The Biggest Loser was pretty boring. My life after was anything but boring!
See you tomorrow.
Life After The Biggest Loser…. Part 2
Posted by Matt Hoover in General on January 22nd, 2010
Yesterday I talked about what it is like having people know you and how contestants are real people and how we should all be nice to one another and give hugs. Well, that is kind of what I talked about. Today I am going to talk about how The Biggest Loser changed me personally.
Before I went on the show I was angry. As most people know, I was a college wrestler at The University of Iowa. I pretty much blew it there. It wasn’t a talent issue, it was a commitment issue. I was more committed to partying and telling people I was a wrestler than I was to training and actually being a wrestler.
Long story short, I quit the team and left school only a few credits short of a degree. I had never quit anything in my life up until that point and once I learned how easy it was to quit, it got easier and easier for me to do so. I went from being a 177 pound athlete to over 350 pounds in a very short time. The bigger I got, the less I cared.
I drank a lot and ate a lot. Prior to going on the show it was not uncommon for me to put down two bottles of rum in one night. I don’t know what happened after they were gone. I just know that I would wake up and they were gone. Food was something that I used to medicate when I couldn’t drink.
I would go through the McDonald’s drive through and order two value meals. Even though I knew I was going to eat both of them, I thought maybe the person handing me the food would think I was getting them for two people. The other thing that I use to do was eat them really fast. Like somehow if I ate really fast the calories wouldn’t count! I will talk more about this at length on another day and how those habits still affect me today.
My friends knew me as a Chris Farley type (I did have a spot on impression) who was the happy, fat, drunk guy. I had lots of friends that were girls but none that were really interested in being my girlfriend. I became resigned to the fact that this was how my life was going to be. After all, I deserved it for blowing it at Iowa. Let me summarize my life in just a couple words. I was a miserable mess.
Fast forward. I show up on the ranch weighing 339 pounds. You may not believe it but I actually lost weight before taping began because while we were sequestered before the show I couldn’t drink. I also didn’t want to look like a pig so I didn’t eat very much. Kind of ironic isn’t it? I weighed over 300 pounds but didn’t want people to know I ate bad!
Even though I was obese I thought I could still do things like I did when I was a college wrestler. I couldn’t. It was a deflating moment. I finally realized how bad things had gotten for me. The infamous clip of Jillian and I talking or should I say her talking and me bawling my eyes out has recieved several thousand hits on Youtube. As rough as it was, that breakdown was the beginning of my transformation on the inside.
I was still angry, still walking around with a chip on my shoulder and still fat, but I was beginning to change whether I knew it or not. Like I have said before, when I was on the ranch we didn’t have TV, internet, magazines, or much else besides gym equipment to keep us occupied. What I did have was myself.
Sometimes being alone with yourself is very frightening. Especially if you have no idea who you are or that the person you thought you were really isn’t you at all. When I was finally forced to be alone and deal with my issues I went through the same range of emotions that people go through when they experience a loss or a death of someone close to them.
Along with losing weight I was losing years of baggage and in essence, my old self. It wasn’t until I arrived home after being on the ranch for all those months by myself that I realized just how much I had changed.
See you tomorrow!
My Life After The Biggest Loser Part 1
Posted by Matt Hoover in General on January 21st, 2010
This is a serious question I want you to think about. What do you suppose would happen to you if you walked up to someone at the grocery store, looked in their cart, and then picked something up and asked them if they should be eating whatever it was that you picked up?
They may look at you like you were crazy or they may spray you with a can of pepper spray. This very incident has happened to my wife and I on several occasions. When you go on television you open yourself up to receive unsolicited opinions both bad and good.
Here’s the weird part, we don’t mind when this happens to us. It is our life. Suzy and I have opened our lives up to the world. People know a lot about us, they know about our children, they know about our marraige, we have made that available to them.
The thing is that the people they “know”, they really don’t know at all. Most of what they know is based on CHARACTERS from television. I changed a lot during my time on BL. There are actually very few people who really know me.
When I first signed up to go on the show I was very naive. Seriously, I thought that when you go on a reality show you just have a camera following you around while you do whatever it is you do. I didn’t know about filming days or interviews or doing press. I was like the country bumpkin going to the big city.
I’m not going to lie, when I arrived at the BL ranch I was there to workout, lose weight, and win some money. That was it. I didn’t care about getting famous or being on tv. Needless to say, I was a tough person to work with. I didn’t realize until later in the process that I was a character in a story.
What people see each week is a two hour story based on hundreds of hours of footage. What the viewer gets to see, and the opinions that they form by watching, is based only on what the story line is for that week. You will never really get to know the people on the show unless you meet them personally.
“Matt, quit complaining. You won a bunch of money and this what you get.” You are right and I am not complaining, in fact, I enjoy it. My career as a speaker depends upon people wanting to see me and hear about my life. What I am saying is that I had no idea how much life would change as a result of being on BL.
Yes, it is tough when you read some of the harsh words that people say from time to time and yes I do see it. I would bet that most people who have been on the show see what is being written about them. What I am saying today is this. I wish that people would think about what they are saying about another person when they say what they say. I wish they would give the contestants the courtesy to be human, to make mistakes and even have struggles.
I love this country and the rights that we have. I believe in free and uncensored speech and opinions. All I ask is that before saying what a horrible person someone is or calling them names is that we think about a couple of things. First, you may not really know that person or what they are going through. Second, that person probably has family and friends who do know them and words from a stranger can hurt.
For me, words from strangers can sting but often they motivate me. You wouldn’t believe the things that people said about me when it was announced that I was doing the Kona Ironman. At first it was a little rough but then I used it to motivate me.
Lesson for today: The people who go on BL are real people. They have feelings. They have struggles and successes. They have jobs, families, and friends. They have opened up their lives in order to inspire, motivate, and yes, even entertain perfect strangers. Keep that in mind next time you may feel like tearing them down.
As for me, let it rip! I love the good and the bad of being a “celebrity”. It allows for me to have a great life, spend time with my family and love my career. I appreciate and value the opinions that I get from everybody because at the end of the day I know who I am. My family, friends, and my God know who I am and that is all I need to know.
See you tomorrow!
PS. For those who were wondering if I ever tried to reach out and talk to Jillian, the answer is yes. I wouldn’t have talked about it if I hadn’t taken action on my end.
In Defense of Erik Chopin…..Season 3 Biggest Loser
Posted by Matt Hoover in General on January 19th, 2010
I don’t want to count calories! I don’t like to count calories! I have to count calories! It has finally sunken in that I am not blessed with a body that allows me to work out and then eat anything I want. It is no secret that I have struggled with my weight since winning The Biggest Loser. I want to talk about it today.
With all the controversy as of late about The Biggest Loser I have decided to give my two cents. Many people who follow the Biggest Loser also tuned in to see the Discovery channel special on Erik Chopin, the winner of season 3, who has put back on a good chunk of his weight that he lost on the show. After reading some of the comments that people were writing about his episode I felt it necessary to talk about a few things.
One of the things that I saw over and over was a pretty nasty comment about how he wasted his opportunity and it was especially disgraceful since he won money. First, he didn’t waste his opportunity. He won the show! I want people to understand that being on The Biggest Loser and losing weight in that environment is completely different than doing it in the real world.
People, including myself, get the results they do because the only thing they have to do is work on losing weight. They don’t have to go to work, or take care of their kids, they only have one thing to do and that is lose weight. When I was on the ranch there was no television, no internet, no magazines, no phone calls, in essence no distractions. ANY person in that environment can lose that kind of weight.
Here is the thing about being on the show. I have never been to prison, but I imagine that coming home from BL is a little like being released from prison. Although one may go through a serious transformation and may see the error of their ways, the minute they leave that structured and regimented environment, they are faced with many of the same temptations they faced before they went in. Even though the individual may have undergone a significant transformation both physically and mentally while away, they are returning home to people who may not have done any changing.
The thing about being on the show is that after you come home you are still working toward the goal of winning the cash prize at the finale. To use the prison analogy, you are on probation upon release. But what happens when you get off probation, in effect step on the scale for the last time? Many criminals tend to go back to their old ways. On The Biggest Loser, many begin to think that their struggle with weight is over, that they are rehabilitated. I did!
There is certain euphoria that comes with winning a reality show and all of the sudden becoming a “celebrity”. For a while that euphoria seems to be enough to help you want to stay on track, you are eager to show people how great you are doing since being on the show. After a while the cameras fade and real life sets in. It is at that time that a few past winners began to lose focus.
For me, the thinking was like this. “At least I’ve kept off 120 pounds… at least I’ve kept off 110… at least I’ve kept off…” It is a vicious pattern because after losing so much weight I kind of felt like I deserved to gain a little weight. That right there was a problem in my thinking. I was setting myself up to gain weight again and I did.
I am going to spend the rest of this week sharing my thoughts on this and what life is like for a “weight loss celebrity”
See you tomorrow!
Wake Up!
Posted by Matt Hoover in General on December 17th, 2009
The alarm clock buzzed at 5:30 this morning. It was still dark and I could just feel that it was going to be freezing cold outside. To stop the ringing of the alarm I didn’t just push snooze, I turned it off fully expecting to stay under the warm covers.
I lay there thinking about all the reasons to stay in bed: I am sore and need to recover. I have a little cough, maybe I am getting sick. I’ve worked hard this week, I deserve a day off. No one will notice if I am there or not. I’m not hurting anyone by not going. It’s still dark out!
As you can see, there was no lack of excuses to stay in bed. Then it hit me. In the same amount of time it took for me to think up all of those excuses I could have stood up and got moving. Rather than getting up right then, I started thinking of rebutals to all the excuses I had just made for myself.
I am sore…. So what, if I don’t work through this I will continue to be sore everytime I do these workouts and the fact is that I am going to continue to be sore for a while since I am pushing myself again in wrestling.
I have a cough, maybe I am getting sick…. Maybe I just have a cough. If I get up I will know whether or not I am sick or not. If I don’t get up I will lay here and convince myself that I am sick and waste a whole day.
I deserve a day to rest…… I will get a day to rest on Sunday. I deserve to get up and push myself to improve a little more today!
No one will notice if I there or not….. Actually, my team mates will notice, they will be there putting the work in to become champions and it isn’t fair to them that I “need” a little more sleep. If I am not there the guy I would have worked out with won’t have a partner. Someone WILL notice!
I’m not hurting anyone by not going…. I am hurting someone, myself. I am also hurting my family who allowed me to come here to chase my dream. I am cheating them and myself by not doing what I came here to do!
Next time you are laying in bed making up reasons not to or don’t feel like going to work out, ask yourself if those reasons are really that good or if you should call them what they are. Bad EXCUSES!
Running With Rex
Posted by Matt Hoover in General on December 16th, 2009
This past Sunday our family ran in the Seattle Jingle Bell Run to benefit arthritis. We have done this race for four years now and each year we decorate the stroller to look like Santa’s sleigh and all dress up. Suzy and I go as Mr. and Mrs. Claus and the boys dress as reindeer.
This year Rex decided he was old enough to run himself and didn’t need the stroller. The race is a 5k and Rex is only 2 yrs old but we let him have at it. This was actually his second 5k this year. Last night I was talking to a good friend of mine about the experience.
Rex is an active boy and he loves to run so it was no suprise to us that he wanted to do this on his own. It is so fun to watch him because he has so much fun. He had on a snowsuit and then his costume on top of it so he looked liked that kid on A Christmas Story, if you remember that Christmas classic movie. Rex looked like a little ball going down the road.
He would walk, run, wave at the spectators and other races but he was really having fun. As we hit the 2 mile mark we realized there weren’t very many people around us. In fact, we noticed a police car with flashing lights right behind us. Of the thousands of people, we were pretty much dead last.
As we rounded the last turn we saw the finish line in front of us. Little Rex or “Kid Rex” as he likes to be called since he has informed me he is not a baby anymore, saw the finish and ran the last two blocks as fast as he could. He zigged and zagged all over the road and made sure that he took time to wave at people cheering for him. As I followed behind him pushing our “sled” with his brother, I cheered for him like he did for me numerous times this summer at triathlons.
It was so fun to yell “Go Rex Go!” and see him respond with such joy. When we crossed the line we gave him a high five and told him good job. He was so proud and loves the feeling of running across the finish line. At the age of two Rex is already learning that it is fun to finish what you start.
The race took us almost 2 hours with all of the pit stops and waiting for Rex to explore his surroundings, but we finished. Once again I am reminded that it isn’t always about finishing the fastest, but finishing. The cool thing is that Rex is learning to enjoy exercising and he is learning the importance of finishing the race set before us.
As a very competitve person I am learning from Rex too. I am learning that it is alright to enjoy the journey and take in your surroundings. I am learning that being active as a family and enjoying these moments is more precious than getting to the finish as fast as possible.
This weekend, it really hit home that regardless of your age, it is important to get to that finish line no matter how long it takes or how many pitstops you need to take. I also learned that my son is wise beyond his two years! (A little fatherly bragging)
Kona Ironman 2009 part V
Posted by Matt Hoover in General on October 21st, 2009
When I could finally see the lights of the Energy Lab I began to get excited. I knew that the turn around was near. My excitement faded quickly when I realized that you didn’t just get to the corner and turn around. I had to run down into the area about a mile before the actual turn around. When I hit the turn around Joe and his friend Collin did some quick math. I needed to do under 14 minute miles the rest of the way in to finish. There could be no walking.
I jogged through another ice bath and caught up to another athlete. At the same time I saw him there was a flashing sign that said “Raise the Bar Matt!” I am a member of an awesome tri team in Seattle called Raise the Bar and my local coach Patty Swedeberg must have put that up there for me to see. I was literally getting words of encouragement in the most unlikely places.
After the sign I looked over and noticed that the man next to me wasn’t your typical athlete. He only had one leg and one arm. I realized that I didn’t have much to complain about at that moment. We stayed together for a while before he began to fall back. I found out later that his back began to seize up and he didn’t get to finish.
If it was possible for it to get and darker it sure seemed like it did as I got back on the Queen K to head back to town. At this point I began to pray for strength and an improved attitude. Thoughts began to enter my mind that were not helping my cause. Thoughts like “Hey you tried”, “Maybe that guy was right, you could lose some weight”, “Try again later”, and many others were flowing freely. It’s funny because right as I was starting to let some of those thoughts take hold, Joe said “It’s gonna hurt just as bad if you run or walk and you still have to get back to the finish somehow!” He was right. Even if I gave up right then I would still have to get back to town on my own two feet. I picked up again.
When I was about 3.5 miles out a crowd of people came running out and surrounding me. I couldn’t see who they were, but it turned out to be some of my friends and family. They had come out to encourage me at 11:30 at night in the middle of nowhere. They shouted positive words and stayed right with me. I didn’t show it, but I really appreciated what they did.
As I popped a hill I could see the lights of the finish and the announcer calling out finishers. Joe, who was in front of me yelling and thoroughly pissing me off now was screaming the time I needed to make and I thought to myself “Leave it all out here or you are going to regret this moment the rest of your life!” I took off. I ran as fast as I could, I don’t know where it came from but I know God was moving me forward. I didn’t hurt, my feet didn’t bother me I wasn’t breathing hard, I was just running. I was running to become an Ironman!
As I made the turn onto the famous Alii Drive, there were people lining both sides of the street going crazy. Two little boys ran beside me for a minute screaming that I could do it. I don’t remember much beside thinking “Keep running and don’t thow up right now! Keep running!” I saw the finish shoot and kept going towards it. There are to arches as you come through the chute. I stopped at the first one thinking that was the end. It wasn’t and I took off for the next one, the real finish. I raised my arms as I crossed the line and thanked God for the life I have and all he has done for me.
I looked up at the clock and saw a 16 with some numbers behind it as I fell into my wife’s arms and then sat down. I sat for a moment and then felt amazing. I had just become an Ironman, or so I thought. I got up and walked to the med tent to get some IV fluids. Several of my friends were there telling me what a great job I had done. I still thought I had made the cut-off when I asked where I should pick up my medal. That is when some one said “I don’t think you get a medal Matt, you have to finish under the 17 hrs. You were 17:03.” I was sad for a minute, I thought I had made it and was now an Ironman. I hadn’t.
3 minutes doesn’t sound like a lot. It’s not a lot, but it kept me from being able to call myself an Ironman. Although it kept me from being able to call myself an Ironman, it did not keep me from crossing the finish line like everyone else who did become Ironmen and women. I did the distance!
Over the next couple days I am going to share my thoughts on coming so close, what I really learned, and what’s next. I hope you will come back for what I consider the best part….
Kona Ironman 2009 part IV
Posted by Matt Hoover in General on October 20th, 2009
I’m not going to lie. I was hurting on the run before I even got out of the chute. In the tri’s I did this summer my feet hurt for a little bit and the pain went away. This was way different. I jogged out the chute and once again the crowd cheering made the steps manageable. As I made my way up the hill I saw Suzy and Rex. I stopped to give them a kiss, had a quick cry and headed out for what was about to be the longest night of my life.
After the first mile my coach came riding up on his bike and told me I was doing great. All I had to do was 15 minute miles and I would become an Ironman with plenty of time. I thought no problem, I had never been even close to that in my training runs. I was in or so I thought. I also had never had to run a marathon after riding 112 miles in any of my training runs either.
At the first aid station I grabbed some sponges and soaked my head and neck with cold water. I grabbed some Gatorade and water and chugged them down. About 20 steps out of transition I vomitted. I continue to vomit for several minutes. When I reached the next aid station I did the same thing. Again, several steps out of transisiton I began to vomit. This routine would continue for the next 20 miles. I know I threw up at least 80 times throughout the night. I was not able to keep anything down. We tried pretzels, powerbars, oranges, nothing would stay down. In attempt to stay hydrated and keep going I simply repeated the process the whole time. Aid station, drink, eat, vomit. Unfortunately vomitting was the least of my problems.
I reached the 5 mile turn around as the sun was going down. A guy came up to me and handed me a glow in the dark band that I had to wear so cars would see me. This was the when it really sank in just how much further I had to go. Jim had said that I only needed to do 15 minute miles to finish. It took me 1:45 to get to the 5 mile check point. You don’t have to be a math major to figure out that I was falling behind.
I was at around mile 6 when this guy came up behind me on a moped. He informed me that he was the sweep and that it was his job to pull people off the course who weren’t on pace to finish. If I stayed ahead of him I would be fine. If I didn’t, I was done.
It was about that point that I was going past a little beach area with a sea wall. I seriously considered jumping off the wall right then. I remember thinking “Maybe I’ll jump that wall, hopefully I will just break an ankle and this will be over.” It didn’t take much to talk myself out of jumping that wall, but at that moment it did seem like a viable option.
I kept going and got back into town. As I was passing a restraunt I heard some guy yell “Maybe you should try losing another couple hundred pounds fat ass!” I don’t know why it happened, but at that moment I became severly self-concious and started breathing hard, like I did when I weighed over 350 pounds. All of those old insecurities came roaring back into my mind. Here I was doing an Ironman and all I could think about was how out of shape I use to be and it was affecting me in this moment.
I gathered myself and realize that the guy was an idiot sitting in a bar drinking and I was out doing an Ironman. I had to get over it and I did. I came up on one of the last hills out of town and saw my wife walking along the side of the road crying. She knew I wasn’t doing good she asked me if I wanted to walk with me. I told her no even though I did, I was starting to get a little crazy in the head about this time. At the same time I saw her, a van with flashing lights came pulling up beside me and a couple gals got out to ask me some questions. You know you are going slow when you are the guy racing and the medics are walking beside you asking questions and not even getting out of breath. They let me continue.
Once I got to the top of the hill it was a left out to the energy lab turn around. I was still vomiting, but at least now it was dark enough that no one would see me. My coach Jim and good friend, Joe Lotus, magically appeared again and told me it was time to pick it up. Not only did they let me know, but the sweep scooter came up and let me know exactly how fast I needed to do my next mile in order to stay in the race and not get pulled. This act would continue for the next 9 miles. I was always just fast enough from aid station to aid station to not get pulled.
The darkness on the Queen K is like nothing I have ever expereinced. There are very few lights and you can’t really gauge where you are on the course. That may have been the hardest part for me. Not having a way to visually gauge where you are going can be frustrating and emotionally draining but so can throwing up over and over.
At about mile 20 my coach raced ahead to an aid station to tell them to dump a garbage can of ice cold water over me. I’m talking a huge can that most people use to put a week’s worth of trash in. As I came into the aid station two big huge Hawaiian guys picked up that big plastic garbage can full of Arctic Ocean temperature water and dumped it on my head.
It took my breath away and my entire body felt like it was convulsing, but it felt great and it seemed like my body woke up. I posted one of my fastest miles of the night after that and even better, I stopped vomitting! From there on out I got an ice bath at every aid station the rest of the night. I was the last guy on the course so it wasn’t like anyone else was going to be needing it.
Come back tomorrow as I take you with me the rest of the way!
