“From Brooklyn, NY. John Markiewicz YOU ARE AN IRONMAN”
Please bear with me as I try to put this experience into words. Words can’t explain this 5-month journey, which culminated into a 13 hour and 40 minute long day. I have been looking forward to these last 2 weeks for over 5 months. The IRONMAN and than capping the journey off with a celebration of Love in Key West for my dear friend Barry and his new wife Bethany. But now my life, which has been turned upside down over the last 12 months, has to start. And no better way to start it than experiencing the last 2 weeks.
Big John, Betty, and I arrived in Houston Thursday morning May 17th. Our first stop was the IRONMAN (IM) expo. Once at the expo I completed my registration, got a 30-minute stretch and picked up my bike. And the issues started from these. Before getting the bike into the rental Explorer I noticed right away that my computer was not working. I have been having issues with it all winter long. The point of the computer is to tell me my cadence, distance, and mph, but most importantly my cadence. When you cycle you are to maintain 80-90 RPMs for optimal performance. After a half hour of tinkering with the damn computer I got it to work.Once at the hotel the preparation started. I was given 5 different “gear bags” each with different purposes. Morning clothing, bike stop, run stop, bike transition and run transition. The bags were to carry clothing and much needed nutrition throughout the day and be picked up at different points.Thursday night there was an athlete dinner, sort of a kick off briefing and than the rules of the race. The three of us were seated at a table with a young guy named Dante, originally from Brazil and now from Atlanta and his wife. And another young guy named Ben from London who was there with his father. Ben turns out to a familiar race that supported me throughout the weekend. Once the dinner was over we spent time with Ben and his father.After the dinner I ran into a training partner of mine from Greenwich, Jon, who I was hoping to get some last minute tips from.Back at the hotel I started to prepare my 5 bags. Chopping up power bars, dividing my salt pills, distributing my Gu packets and getting the right clothing into each bag.
Friday morning there was an optional open water swim. This was the only time we were able to enter the water prior to the IM, where they had a 1000-meter course set up for us to take advantage of. Before entering the water I ran into Ben from the night before who was just getting out of the water. I was swimming great and there were plenty of bodies in the water to simulate some sort of race conditions. This was my first time swimming in open water with no wetsuit and I did not even notice the difference. With about 200 meters to go my right shoulder started to go numb. This was new. I was concerned. After exiting the water we dropped off my bike to transition and my bike and run support bags.
We than returned to the Athletes village. At the expo Chrissie Wellington, the defending women’s champion was there doing a book signing. I had the pleasure of meeting her and having her sign my race program.
Then we were off to the Houston Astros/ Texas Rangers game at Minute Maid Park. A beautiful ballpark I must say. But the whole time I was concerned about my shoulder. The numbing-ness was not going away. And there was only so much Advil I could pop.Once back at the hotel I had a phone call with my running coach Barbra. We both had some rough goals for me and unfortunately we were both ways off. She predicted sub 12 hours and I was shooting for the better half of 12 ½.
Saturday morning.I got to transition around 5am. Made sure all my bags were safe, got my tires pumped on the bike and prepared for the swim. But of course after a 2nd check my bike computer was once again not working. I spent over 30 minutes trying to fix it and had to leave transition without it working. I knew the bike was going to be blind now.I ran into my parents in the parking lot of the swim and had one last goodbye before entering the water. I wasn’t nervous, I was excited. I was about to start this journey!The start of the swim was unreal. 6:50 the pros went off, 7:00 am the field went off, and than at 7:10 if you chose to wear a wet suit, they followed. I entered the water around 6:48am and had to treed water for the better part of 12 minutes; not fun.The cannon went off!
Close to 2600 swimmers all at once started the 2.4-mile swim on an “L” shaped course. Swim out, turn around, come back and than make a right turn down a thin channel, which was used for shuttle boats.My swim was going great! My breathing was a bit off but I was comfortable. I wasn’t panicking, which was a first. The out and back was not a problem. Once I entered the canal there was a bottleneck of swimmers. It was hard to get a rhythm down. I was counting strokes in my head but as soon as I got into a pattern I would get grabbed or I would grab someone else’s leg. Once you grab a leg you know there are kicking feet right behind it. So my stroke went into more of a defense from getting kicked in the face. That last strip down the cannel took some time. My sighting was off so I kept veering right and coming close to the all-numerous times. And being close to the wall the water was shallow so my hands were constantly hitting the ground. After an hour and 49 minutes I was out of the water. I was hoping to be out in 1:30 but I was so excited. I just swam 2.4 miles and I enjoyed it! So now I need to make up about 30 minutes to stay on track for my goal.Out of the water, speed suit off, grabbed my bag which wasn’t hard to find, one of the last ones left and off to a changing tent where I put my helmet and bike shoes on and started to eat a peanut butter and banana sandwich. Once exiting the tent I was slopped down with sun blocked. Seriously slopped down. We were all white lotion people. But they did miss a spot, right where my swim bottom and top meet, I have a sweet sun burn strip right there now.Onto the bike with no computer. Within the first 5 miles I got a friggen-drafting penalty for not passing some one quick enough, what crap. Oh well. At mile 33 I stopped for the 4-minute penalty. By mile 50 I was flying, I was averaging over 20 mph and I was on pace to be off the bike in under 6 hours, my goal was around 6:30. But than it all changed. Headwinds and cross wings. My left foot was in so much pain and my left knee was hurting as well. The last 60 miles were long. I try to calculate my speed off my watch and the mile markers were not coming as fast as they should have been. I think I finished around an average of 17 mph. My main concern was nutrition on the bike and I did a good job planning that out. I was taking in salt pills, a Hammer Strength drink every hour, Gu packets and when needed I gladly grabbed food and drink from the numerous support areas on the course. After 7 hours and 3 minutes and 112 miles, I was off my bike. My time wasn’t looking good. At this point I needed to run close to a 3-hour marathon to get into that 12-hour range. I knew all goals were out the window.I was morally defeated. The bike drained my head. My parents were waiting on the side of transition when I came in and I had nothing positive to say to them. I was on my feet and this is where I was supposed to shine.The 26.2 mile run was a 3-loop course and it was tough. I just couldn’t keep running. The heat was close to 90 and the watch just kept ticking. I wasn’t tired, my nutrients were fine, my energy was there when I needed it the engine just didn’t have a driver behind it. At a few points in the run course I was talking to other athletes, and I am not sure if it is because of my build or when I was running I was running strong but they were all surprised that I was only on my first lap. That defeated me even more. The marathon turned into a run walk situation. I was watching my watch and was probably doing a 10-minute mile. Not happy about this. Even more morally defeating. I did see my parents on the first loop around mile 7. I was done and they knew it. On the second loop I was hoping to see my dad again. I wanted to cry. I wanted to stop. I was defeated. I couldn’t believe that 5-month of training and everything I put into this race was not working out. But they were gone. Turns out my dad had no clue what loop I was on and like many others thought I was on my second loop at that point. I made a point to try to run as much of the third loop as I could. It was getting dark out now. There were glow sticks in the trees to light the way. The 12-hour mark was long gone and so was the 13-hour mark.Approaching the last quarter mile a huge gust of wind over took me. I knew this was a sign. A sign that I have been looking forward to for the last 12 months. I kept looking up to God carrying every emotion I could. This was going to be finally done. I can finally start to get my life back on track after the most trying 12 months of my life. I wanted to be blown away, I wanted to be washed and cleansed of the 12-month struggle. And to me this gust of wind made 90 degrees feel like 60 degrees. I had my arms open, I wanted to ridded of the last 12 months.For so long I longed to hear those words “John Markiewicz, you are an IRONMAN”. That’s all I wanted. Around 13 hours and 40 minutes after covering 140.6 miles I finally did hear those words. I was an IRONMAN.At the finish I had I volunteer grab me and walk me through the finish area. And out of know where came Chrissie Wellington, she placed my medal on my neck and said, “Great Job John, YOU did it”. No clue how she remembered my name. She couldn’t of read it off my bib because it was dark and my name was in black letters on a grey background. But the women’s World Champion remembered my name from the day before.After getting my medal, Ben and his dad were waiting at the finish line for me as well. Ben finished about an hour before me. I was so thankful for his support. I just wanted my parents. I wanted to cry. I did cry.I was an IRONMAN. And I had fun doing it. And it was over.
My training was not what I was hoping for but dealing with so many demons in my head I made the best of it. They say “2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride, and a 26.2 mile run and bragging rights for the rest of your life.” Well they are right and on top of that, I am a Boston Marathon Qualifier as well. I would love to see the stats on those two accomplishments. Personally I only know of one other person who can brag like that and that is my coach Barbra.
Still to today, over a week later I am trying to take this all in. I will do another IRONMAN again, but no time soon. I have no plans. The Chicago Marathon, which I was planning to start training for in July, will not happen this year. I need to find enjoying in the sports that I once loved and that at one point, not long ago, I wasn’t just good, I was really good at. In order to do that I need to work on other areas of my life. And in order to that, my running and tri career is on hold until further notice.Thank you all for being along for this journey. I will be writing a Dana Farber 2012 sum up email shortly. But for now…
“From Brooklyn, NY. John Markiewicz YOU ARE AN IRONMAN”
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