So fresh off my 7th place finish a week ago at a local sprint, my taper week started for the Rev3 half iron race on 9/11/11.. I really had not given much of a thought to the actuall significance of that date until just a few days befor the race. What a truely emotional day for multiple reasons.
I really did not have much in the way of expectations after my last, somewhat sad long distance race. So far 1 IronMan (barely finished) and 1 Half Iron (not much better). So as I looked back at the past four weeks of training, I wasn't really sure that this race would be much different.
Four weeks prior to the race, I had a good training week. But then we took a vacation to Alaska where I took a total of 8 days in a row with the only exercise being me catching a lot of salmon, and large trout with my fly rod. I gained a total of 4.5 lbs that week due to a really vacation oriented diet, and an absolute abscense any kind of physical exercise. Talk about feeling like a dough boy, wow.
Once you are two weeks out from your big race, it is kinda hard to try to loose that extra weight. Workouts went from 8 days off, right into a taper. I told everyone I felt good, but I was lying to them as well as myself. It is by far the most unprepared I have felt for any race so far to date. So with very little workouts in the past 3 weeks we headed over to Sandusky on Saturday morning. Ready or not, race day was only a day away.
After athlete check in, we got the bikes all put together. I took Misery (yes, that is my bike's name) out for about a 7 mile ride up the road and back (had not even touched her since the race the prior week, again making me realize how completely unprepaired I felt). At around mile 4, Joe asked me if I wanted to open her up a little... So we aired it out for a 1/2 mile or so, at about 26 mph. That kind of settled the butterflies a little. Once we rolled back into the parking lot, we started making our prep to set the bikes up in the transition.
As we were standing around the the truck, Chris McDonald (Pro winner of IMKY two week earlier) came walking by. As he started giving Joe's Trek a close once over it got pretty interesting. Joe made it a point to tell "Big Sexy" (ya that really is his nickname on the pro circuit) "Hey, remember tomorrow when you see me... NO Drafting!" He kind of laughed a little, and Joe said "I mean it, Bro. You gotta stay back off me when we are racing" so of course he walked back over to talk to us, and take some photos. Pretty nice guy (and freakin fast with a winning time at IMKY of 8:27:36)
After that we racked the bikes and headed out to dinner with some friends from the Sandusky area. With a total of 13 of us at dinner (6 athletes plus families) it was one of the coolest parts of the entire weekend. A must at future events. Joe took a minute to encourage everyone by reading a small outtake from Macca's book encouraging us to "Embrace the Suck" the next day during the race.
On Saturday night before the race, Maria and I, along with our friends and teammates, Troy, John, Joe, and Rick stayed at Breakers Hotel (inside Cedar Point Amusement Park, and right on the beach next to the swim start) Just as the sun was going down, we walked out to the swim start on the beach where Rev3 had placed 2977 American flags in the sand.... What a class act that organization turned out to be. And what an emotional sunset as the four us reflected on the significants of the date, and what it meant to each of us. There are not very many events in a person's life where you will forever remember "The Exact Moment" you heard..
Although I did not personally know anyone who lost their life at the World Trade Center, I do have a number of loved ones who serve this country every day. I decided to dedicate my race the next day on 9/11 to my only brother, Navy Chief Jeremiah J. Kugler. I publically posted it on FaceBook and secretly hoped that I would not embarass myself the next morning. He is one of the guys who never wants to be recognized, but quietly does his job out of his patriotic love for the greatest nation in the world, The United States of America. I an unmeasurable love and respect for him, and I hope he knows it.
Sunday morning 5:30 am - the alarm goes off. I am in my pre-race zone. As I ate my cottage cheese, ham and cheese roll ups, and crushed pineapples, no longer was I thinking about the date, I was only focused on my race plan, and how I was going to execute it. Once I got everything set up in the transition area, I headed back down to the room, and got changed into my suit, and headed for the swim start.
We all found each other pretty quickly and did a little warm up swim. Maria snapped a couple of photos to commemorate the moment, we had a team prayer (which is now an every race tradition) I am not the kind of guy who needs a lot of encouragement or pep talk, I just need to focus, so I did.
Once they gave us the 2 minute warning, I kissed my wife and headed to the water. The calm before the storm...
My plan was to swim at about 1:40 / 100 yd pace. I must have been pretty close to right on, because I came out of the water with in 35:30. I know I can swim much faster (have done the same swim in practice in 32:30 only a week earlier, but I had a plan and that was it.
I spent a little more time in transition than I really wanted to, but those dumb arm sleves don't like to go over wet hands very easily. T1 took me 5:04 which really was not all that bad considering the sleeves and the 300 yd beach run up to the corral.
Once at the mounting line with Misery (yes that is my bike's name) I got going pretty quickly. Within a hundred yards or so I was up to speed, running it just a little over 20mph. My race plan was to drink when ever I could remember, eat 4 Eduralites every 20 miles and suck down a Cliff Shot (stoked up with a double shot of caffeine) every 45-60 minutes on the bike. I wanted to keep an average of 19.2 mph in order to hit my goal of a sub 6 hour race.
Well the stars must have all been aligned, because I caught fire on the bike just up the road, and was able to push my average speed up to 20.16 for the next 56 miles.
Once I hit the transition again it all went pretty quick. I spent a total of 2:14 in T2 and that included racking Misery, changing shoes, grabbing my fuel belt, ditching my helmet and glasses, grabbing a honey wafer, and taking the fastest pee break in the history of time as I passed the row of outhouses on my out.
The run: Felt good right away. I never got that "I just rode 56 miles" feeling that I often have at the beginning of my run during a race. I just felt fine right from the start. My plan was to walk through every water station just long enough to feel good and hydrate. I took two Enduralites every hour, two Advil at mile 7, and a Cliff Shot every 4 miles or so. They start getting pretty hard for me to choke down by about half way through the run. The consitancy gets me right in the gag reflex every time... lol. Almost yakked up a couple of them on that run.
I though I would need to do 11:00 mile pace to be under 6 hours, but once I saw that I was running out of the transition right at 3:30:00 I knew my computer like brain with not even have to work to do the calculation on pace for the entire run. So as the miles clicked by and I was hitting on all 8 cyclinders, I started to realize that with appx a 10:00 minute pace, if was able to keep it up, I may just make it in under 5:45
As I rounded the corner and headed towards the cause way into the park, I did a couple of quick calculations so I would know how hard I was going to have to go to make my new goal. With an average pace of 10:13 per mile it was not my fastest run ever, but I was happy that it was a very even pace for the entire 13.1 miles, and I never had to walk (except when drinking for 20 feet at the water stations)
As I came into the finishing shoots (and they are very long - adding to the excitement) my wife was waiting to hand me a T-shirt that I threw on over my tri suit. The shirt was all black with big white letters on it that said "9/11/01 Never Forgotten!" and was able to grab a big American flag to carry accross the finish line. Wow, was that a great feeling!
So my total time was 5:43:31 chopping a staggering 40 minutes off my 1/2 Iron time only two months earlier, and making my originally stated January 2011 goal of a sub 5:45 1/2 Ironman.
What a day, what a race, what a feeling to reach goals that not long ago seemed completely impossible. How does it feel to achieve the impossible? Pretty good :) Next stop IMKY 2012 (who knows maybe it will be sub 12 hours)
Monday, September 12, 2011
Racine IronMan 70.3
I should take a moment to give a quick race report from the IronMan Racine 70.3
The highlight of my day was being in the shoots, just past the finishing line getting ready to take a photo as my wonderfully supportive wife, Maria, completed the entire 70.3 mile journey when a volunteer asked if I would like to give her the finishing metal. I was crying before she ever got there (of course I blame it on the sweat in my eyes, it was hot that day).
I don't remember her total time, and I don't really think any of us even care. A finish was a win for her at that race, and I could not be more proud of her hard work and determination to never give up. She did it, and no one can ever take it away from her.
I would rather live a day as a lion, than a lifetime as a lamb... and apparently so would she.
As for my race that day....
An average swim, followed by a fairly ok bike, with a really pathetic run taking up the rear, truley resulted in nothing much more than a simple finish for me. With the mercury blowing right past 100 degrees before I ever crossed the finish line, it was by far the hottest race in my, so far, short career.
I have to say I really was happy to be done with that. I don't do well in the heat, and my finish time of 6:23:06 was good evidence to support that.
My splits looked a little like this:
Swim - 00:36:57
Bike - 03:04:47
Run - 2:31:53
A long ways from my orignally stated goal in January of doing a 5:45 or less.... In lue of that pathetic race I dedided to pass on the Benton Harbor Steelhead 70.3 that was only 4 weeks away. I got hit with a slap of reality right square between the eyes that day. Is there any scenario where I can even break 6 hours? I decided not to spend another $250 to find out the answer this year would likely be no.
Fastforward 5 weeks to the Niles, MI Triathlon.
I had been training much harder, with more intervalls, and just overall faster, harder workouts. Just to see what could happen, at the very last minute I decided to enter this local super sprint wth Maria, and one of my close training buddies, Joe Hysong.
The long and the short of it looked like this:
swim pace was 1:30 / 100yds
bike pace was 20.7 mph
run pace was 7:20 per mile
Those speeds were good enough to give me a blue ribbon in my age group, but more more important to me personally, was the 7th place overall out of 188 entries. This was a big boost to my confidence, and was the seal on the decision to race the 1/2 Iron at Rev3 Cedar Point on 9/11... see my next post for that race report.
The highlight of my day was being in the shoots, just past the finishing line getting ready to take a photo as my wonderfully supportive wife, Maria, completed the entire 70.3 mile journey when a volunteer asked if I would like to give her the finishing metal. I was crying before she ever got there (of course I blame it on the sweat in my eyes, it was hot that day).
I don't remember her total time, and I don't really think any of us even care. A finish was a win for her at that race, and I could not be more proud of her hard work and determination to never give up. She did it, and no one can ever take it away from her.
I would rather live a day as a lion, than a lifetime as a lamb... and apparently so would she.
As for my race that day....
An average swim, followed by a fairly ok bike, with a really pathetic run taking up the rear, truley resulted in nothing much more than a simple finish for me. With the mercury blowing right past 100 degrees before I ever crossed the finish line, it was by far the hottest race in my, so far, short career.
I have to say I really was happy to be done with that. I don't do well in the heat, and my finish time of 6:23:06 was good evidence to support that.
My splits looked a little like this:
Swim - 00:36:57
Bike - 03:04:47
Run - 2:31:53
A long ways from my orignally stated goal in January of doing a 5:45 or less.... In lue of that pathetic race I dedided to pass on the Benton Harbor Steelhead 70.3 that was only 4 weeks away. I got hit with a slap of reality right square between the eyes that day. Is there any scenario where I can even break 6 hours? I decided not to spend another $250 to find out the answer this year would likely be no.
Fastforward 5 weeks to the Niles, MI Triathlon.
I had been training much harder, with more intervalls, and just overall faster, harder workouts. Just to see what could happen, at the very last minute I decided to enter this local super sprint wth Maria, and one of my close training buddies, Joe Hysong.
The long and the short of it looked like this:
swim pace was 1:30 / 100yds
bike pace was 20.7 mph
run pace was 7:20 per mile
Those speeds were good enough to give me a blue ribbon in my age group, but more more important to me personally, was the 7th place overall out of 188 entries. This was a big boost to my confidence, and was the seal on the decision to race the 1/2 Iron at Rev3 Cedar Point on 9/11... see my next post for that race report.
| 00:36:57 | 03:04:47 | 02:31:53 | 06:23:06 |
Monday, September 5, 2011
IMKY 2010
So I just thought I would take a little space to tell about my IronMan (IM) journey.
Why would I want to do an IM?
Two years ago I was sitting on couch with my wife watching one of our favorite TV shows, Biggest Loser. It was a special edition called "Where are They Now?" In 2005 Matt Hoover won the show, then gained a bunch of weight back and then decided to an Ironman as part of the journey to loose all the weight for a second time. As I was watching, I said to myself, If that guy could do an IM, I could do it.
So as I was stuffing my fat face at christmas dinner I announced to my wife that I was going to do an IM in the comming year (2010). Of course I was overweight and out of shape so she just told me "sure thing dear, go for it (lol)" but once I made a commitment to myself and actually purchased a gym membership, I was 10 toes in.
I did not know where to even start, so I started to search online. Not so sure how it could help me, I started searching for online coaching, and that is when I found the mentoring program. I asked Mike McDaniel to join the group so that I could not just back out. With no-one to be accountable to but myself, I know I would have just quit within a couple of months.
With Mike as my mentor, I started training. I listened to the advice of Mike who has done it himself, and I trusted him. "I am not a coach" He told me more than once, but if I just stuck to the plan that I would make it. Of course in the beginning I showered him with dumb questions, and he graciously and patiently answered ever single question. Some questions he answered with questions of his own, but of course part of the journey to such a monumental task as IM is answering the question in your own mind, "Why do I want to do this".
I sort of figured out that it was a combination of things in my life. I was 37 years old 6' tall and tipped the scales at 200 lbs. I was fat, lazy and out of shape. I never knew what a beer gut I had until recently I saw some photos of myself last summer (wow! I was turning into my dad). I knew I wanted to get into better physical condition, and I also wanted to add something big and unique to my bucket list. I figured this one time event would fit the bill.... little did I know how this journey would change the landscape of my life.
Funny thing about the human body, it craves what you give it. Give it ice cream it just wants more ice cream. Give it vegetables and excercise, befor long, twinkys make you sick, and you can't wait to get back on your bicycle after work. This journey has change me not only physically, but mentally as well.
After 8 months of hard (and I do mean hard) traing ( as much as 24 hour per week) my beginning race weight was 180. May seem a little large for a triathlete, but I am 6' tall and have pretty wide shoulders. I have dropped 3 inches off my waist, and gained two inches around my arms. My best friend just told me that the biggest change he can see is in my shoulders. I have ripped muscles I did not know my body had. I knew professional swimmers looked like this, but did not think it was possible for me to look like a real athlete. I am no body builder, but let's just say that some guy in a bar might think twice about picking a fight with me now.
Contrary to my original plans, this journey did not end with IMKY at the end of August 2010. Quite the opposite... it was just the beginning for me. I have found a life long passion, and this year my wife had joined me. So I just thought I would take a minute to publicly thank my family, my friends, and most of all Mike McDaniell for all the time he has spent mentoring me as a beginning triathlete. I could not have done it without you Mike, you have helped to change my life, and for that I remain eternally greatful.
Now on to Race Day 2010 !!!!!!!
The Swim (2.4 miles in the Ohio River)
I entered the 84 degree water at around 7:25 am in the time trial style start. Swim upstream for 1200 yards then took a short break to clear my goggles. Felt good, so I made the turn, took a look down river to the bridge about a mile ahead. I put my head in the water and started pulling and did not stop until I hit the bridge. At the bridge I took a second to look at my watch and saw I had been swimming fairly strong (at about 70%) for 55 minutes. I knew I was not going to be able to post any really impressive times all day, so I wanted to make a show of my swimming strength. With a little more than 1/2 mile left to swim, I decided to pour the coals to it. Crancked those guns up to about 90% for the rest of the swim and was very happy with my 1:15 finish time.
The Bike (112 mile double loop from Louisville to Lagrange, KY)
The first 10 miles or so is very flat, so without really trying I easily made an average of close to 20mph to the first real set of hills. After making my way through about 40 miles it was getting pretty hot, but I felt good, and was drinking and eating pretty well. Saw my family in Lagrange on the first pass through town, and kept on cranking. On my second loop through Lagrange, I saw my dad and gave him the gun show (Muscle flex) as I road by him and growled like I was tough.
Little did I know, that was the last time all day I was gonna feel tough. At about mile 68 in the hills of Kentucky the 97 degree heat started to catch up with me, and I quickly found myself in real trouble. With tingling hands and feet, I started to get a little dizzy. That is when I decided that any notions of making good time was out the window, and I would be lucky to finish the race. I pulled over and sat down in the grass for about 10 minutes. That helped until the next hill when I almost passed out half way up. The aid station was out of water, just befor that, so on this hill, I just quit. Pulled over and sat for almost 15 minutes. Finally the tingles started to go away, and I knew I needed to get to the next aid station for water. When I got there, I spend another 25 minutes on the ground trying get healthy. Drank some aminos, electrolytes and ate some food.
Finally felt good, and started making way back to transition to start running a marathon. I made great time for the last 10 miles as it was very flat. (Still I did not realize what kind of trouble I was really in) Finished the bike split in about 8 hours and 20 minutes.
The Marathon Run (26.2 mile in downtown Louisville, KY)
I took plenty of time to change socks and shoes befor drinking some coke, gator aid, and ate some pretzles and cookies. Thinking I felt good, I took off running. Befor long I found myself with out energy to run, so I would run 1 mile then walk a hundred yards, and so on for a couple hours. At about mile 6 reality hit me that I had something really wrong with me. I could not urinate, and I started having sever muscle craps (the kind that make you fall flat on your back and cry like a 2 year old).
Once I spoke with another athlete, I realized that I was completely flushed. Out of salt, and electrolytes I had no solutions. I was in full on survival mode. Not knowing if it was even possible to finish the race, I bummbed a couple of salt tablets from another athlete. After about 4 miles I started to feel a little better, but there was very little left in my tank, and half a marathon left to run. At mile 13 I had already spent 3 1/2 hours on the race course.
Unwilling to concede defete, I pushed on cramps and all. I knew I was going to have to pick up the pace to make it by midnight (the cut off time). at mile 20 I knew I had 1 hour 15 minutes to make the remaining 6.2 miles (doesn't sound too hard, but my legs did not want to cooperate). Have you ever seen cramps that make your legs look deformed? I have. With 3.2 miles left to go, I knew I had 38 minutes (12 minutes per mile to make the cut off time).
At mile number 25 I just made the timing mat befor they shut it down, the guy told me I only had 9 minutes to make the finish line (1.2 miles in 9 minutes is like a 7 minute mile). At this point, I really did not think I was gonna make it, then these three guys came up and started yelling at me to pick up the pace... " you can do it!" they screamed. I was like, the cramps are killing me, the guys tells me "it's only pain, nothing is broken... DONT YOU STOP!!!" so I am on a dead sprint for like 1/ 2 mile coming up to the finish like and I am thinking, I cannot keep this up for another 1/2 mile.
This is my Rocky Balboa moment, the guys is sreaming in my face while we are running and he say to me "This is the moment you will look back on for the rest of your life, and you are gonna always remember that THIS is when you decided that YOU - ARE - AN - IRONMAN!!!!!!" Still gives me goosebumps to remember that little pep talk.
2 blocks to go, the leg cramped so bad I fell down, as those guys went on without me, this lady on the side of the road helped me stretch out my calf so I could start walking again. In a quiet voice she says to me, "are you o-k? Good... start running... you can make it". I round the corner 2 blocks from the finish and a guys is cheering me on tells me the are all waiting on me, and holding the finish line open for me.
As I make the corner heading into the shoots, no exageration, I am the only athlete left, the very last guy to cross the finish line and there are at leaste 1,000 people screaming and banging on the shoots, ringing cowbells (all just for me - the last place guy), and the announcer says on the loud speaker, "Joshua Kugler from Pleasant Lake, Indiana... YOU - ARE - AN - IRONMAN!!!" I truely believe the most it was the most emotional, and exhillarating moment of my entire life. That feeling is not able to be described in words.
After 1,990 miles and 8 months of training, the road to Iroman came down to that last 1.2 miles. It is 20% physical and 80% mental. Only a winner can dig down deep enough to pull one out like that. I have learned a lot about myself on this journey. Most of all I know that I am no quitter. Finshed the entire 140.6 mile race in a little over 16 1/2 hours. To date, the proudest moment of my life.
You know the difference between Chuck Norris and Josh Kugler? Chuck Norris never did an Ironman... Josh did :/
Why would I want to do an IM?
Two years ago I was sitting on couch with my wife watching one of our favorite TV shows, Biggest Loser. It was a special edition called "Where are They Now?" In 2005 Matt Hoover won the show, then gained a bunch of weight back and then decided to an Ironman as part of the journey to loose all the weight for a second time. As I was watching, I said to myself, If that guy could do an IM, I could do it.
So as I was stuffing my fat face at christmas dinner I announced to my wife that I was going to do an IM in the comming year (2010). Of course I was overweight and out of shape so she just told me "sure thing dear, go for it (lol)" but once I made a commitment to myself and actually purchased a gym membership, I was 10 toes in.
I did not know where to even start, so I started to search online. Not so sure how it could help me, I started searching for online coaching, and that is when I found the mentoring program. I asked Mike McDaniel to join the group so that I could not just back out. With no-one to be accountable to but myself, I know I would have just quit within a couple of months.
With Mike as my mentor, I started training. I listened to the advice of Mike who has done it himself, and I trusted him. "I am not a coach" He told me more than once, but if I just stuck to the plan that I would make it. Of course in the beginning I showered him with dumb questions, and he graciously and patiently answered ever single question. Some questions he answered with questions of his own, but of course part of the journey to such a monumental task as IM is answering the question in your own mind, "Why do I want to do this".
I sort of figured out that it was a combination of things in my life. I was 37 years old 6' tall and tipped the scales at 200 lbs. I was fat, lazy and out of shape. I never knew what a beer gut I had until recently I saw some photos of myself last summer (wow! I was turning into my dad). I knew I wanted to get into better physical condition, and I also wanted to add something big and unique to my bucket list. I figured this one time event would fit the bill.... little did I know how this journey would change the landscape of my life.
Funny thing about the human body, it craves what you give it. Give it ice cream it just wants more ice cream. Give it vegetables and excercise, befor long, twinkys make you sick, and you can't wait to get back on your bicycle after work. This journey has change me not only physically, but mentally as well.
After 8 months of hard (and I do mean hard) traing ( as much as 24 hour per week) my beginning race weight was 180. May seem a little large for a triathlete, but I am 6' tall and have pretty wide shoulders. I have dropped 3 inches off my waist, and gained two inches around my arms. My best friend just told me that the biggest change he can see is in my shoulders. I have ripped muscles I did not know my body had. I knew professional swimmers looked like this, but did not think it was possible for me to look like a real athlete. I am no body builder, but let's just say that some guy in a bar might think twice about picking a fight with me now.
Contrary to my original plans, this journey did not end with IMKY at the end of August 2010. Quite the opposite... it was just the beginning for me. I have found a life long passion, and this year my wife had joined me. So I just thought I would take a minute to publicly thank my family, my friends, and most of all Mike McDaniell for all the time he has spent mentoring me as a beginning triathlete. I could not have done it without you Mike, you have helped to change my life, and for that I remain eternally greatful.
Now on to Race Day 2010 !!!!!!!
The Swim (2.4 miles in the Ohio River)
I entered the 84 degree water at around 7:25 am in the time trial style start. Swim upstream for 1200 yards then took a short break to clear my goggles. Felt good, so I made the turn, took a look down river to the bridge about a mile ahead. I put my head in the water and started pulling and did not stop until I hit the bridge. At the bridge I took a second to look at my watch and saw I had been swimming fairly strong (at about 70%) for 55 minutes. I knew I was not going to be able to post any really impressive times all day, so I wanted to make a show of my swimming strength. With a little more than 1/2 mile left to swim, I decided to pour the coals to it. Crancked those guns up to about 90% for the rest of the swim and was very happy with my 1:15 finish time.
The Bike (112 mile double loop from Louisville to Lagrange, KY)
The first 10 miles or so is very flat, so without really trying I easily made an average of close to 20mph to the first real set of hills. After making my way through about 40 miles it was getting pretty hot, but I felt good, and was drinking and eating pretty well. Saw my family in Lagrange on the first pass through town, and kept on cranking. On my second loop through Lagrange, I saw my dad and gave him the gun show (Muscle flex) as I road by him and growled like I was tough.
Little did I know, that was the last time all day I was gonna feel tough. At about mile 68 in the hills of Kentucky the 97 degree heat started to catch up with me, and I quickly found myself in real trouble. With tingling hands and feet, I started to get a little dizzy. That is when I decided that any notions of making good time was out the window, and I would be lucky to finish the race. I pulled over and sat down in the grass for about 10 minutes. That helped until the next hill when I almost passed out half way up. The aid station was out of water, just befor that, so on this hill, I just quit. Pulled over and sat for almost 15 minutes. Finally the tingles started to go away, and I knew I needed to get to the next aid station for water. When I got there, I spend another 25 minutes on the ground trying get healthy. Drank some aminos, electrolytes and ate some food.
Finally felt good, and started making way back to transition to start running a marathon. I made great time for the last 10 miles as it was very flat. (Still I did not realize what kind of trouble I was really in) Finished the bike split in about 8 hours and 20 minutes.
The Marathon Run (26.2 mile in downtown Louisville, KY)
I took plenty of time to change socks and shoes befor drinking some coke, gator aid, and ate some pretzles and cookies. Thinking I felt good, I took off running. Befor long I found myself with out energy to run, so I would run 1 mile then walk a hundred yards, and so on for a couple hours. At about mile 6 reality hit me that I had something really wrong with me. I could not urinate, and I started having sever muscle craps (the kind that make you fall flat on your back and cry like a 2 year old).
Once I spoke with another athlete, I realized that I was completely flushed. Out of salt, and electrolytes I had no solutions. I was in full on survival mode. Not knowing if it was even possible to finish the race, I bummbed a couple of salt tablets from another athlete. After about 4 miles I started to feel a little better, but there was very little left in my tank, and half a marathon left to run. At mile 13 I had already spent 3 1/2 hours on the race course.
Unwilling to concede defete, I pushed on cramps and all. I knew I was going to have to pick up the pace to make it by midnight (the cut off time). at mile 20 I knew I had 1 hour 15 minutes to make the remaining 6.2 miles (doesn't sound too hard, but my legs did not want to cooperate). Have you ever seen cramps that make your legs look deformed? I have. With 3.2 miles left to go, I knew I had 38 minutes (12 minutes per mile to make the cut off time).
At mile number 25 I just made the timing mat befor they shut it down, the guy told me I only had 9 minutes to make the finish line (1.2 miles in 9 minutes is like a 7 minute mile). At this point, I really did not think I was gonna make it, then these three guys came up and started yelling at me to pick up the pace... " you can do it!" they screamed. I was like, the cramps are killing me, the guys tells me "it's only pain, nothing is broken... DONT YOU STOP!!!" so I am on a dead sprint for like 1/ 2 mile coming up to the finish like and I am thinking, I cannot keep this up for another 1/2 mile.
This is my Rocky Balboa moment, the guys is sreaming in my face while we are running and he say to me "This is the moment you will look back on for the rest of your life, and you are gonna always remember that THIS is when you decided that YOU - ARE - AN - IRONMAN!!!!!!" Still gives me goosebumps to remember that little pep talk.
2 blocks to go, the leg cramped so bad I fell down, as those guys went on without me, this lady on the side of the road helped me stretch out my calf so I could start walking again. In a quiet voice she says to me, "are you o-k? Good... start running... you can make it". I round the corner 2 blocks from the finish and a guys is cheering me on tells me the are all waiting on me, and holding the finish line open for me.
As I make the corner heading into the shoots, no exageration, I am the only athlete left, the very last guy to cross the finish line and there are at leaste 1,000 people screaming and banging on the shoots, ringing cowbells (all just for me - the last place guy), and the announcer says on the loud speaker, "Joshua Kugler from Pleasant Lake, Indiana... YOU - ARE - AN - IRONMAN!!!" I truely believe the most it was the most emotional, and exhillarating moment of my entire life. That feeling is not able to be described in words.
After 1,990 miles and 8 months of training, the road to Iroman came down to that last 1.2 miles. It is 20% physical and 80% mental. Only a winner can dig down deep enough to pull one out like that. I have learned a lot about myself on this journey. Most of all I know that I am no quitter. Finshed the entire 140.6 mile race in a little over 16 1/2 hours. To date, the proudest moment of my life.
You know the difference between Chuck Norris and Josh Kugler? Chuck Norris never did an Ironman... Josh did :/
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