IM France - this is gonna be as long as my bike split

IM France is done but what a day, what week.

Started off on the Monday before - I took PTO the week before the race and the week after. Actually pre-race started on Saturday - Franny and Katie took me for my traditional pre-race pedicure in Los Gatos. This place was really nice and had a better color of purple for my toes. Still looking for the right green though.

Monday morning I packed the bike then I went to Sports Basement for last minute Gu's, new socks and arm coolers. But SB didn't have my size int he arm coolers so Rich's crew had them speed delivered from the Presidio store to Sunnyvale for delivery on Tuesday. We'll see if they make it or not before I have to leave for my flight. Monday was Katie's birthday so I met her and Franny for lunch. I didn't know I would be at a girl's lunch - there were 4 others there also. Really felt like a third wheel or more like an old geezer with a bunch of teenagers. But they made me feel welcomed. Franny and Katie had a surprise for me - my own send off packet. A bit of a spoof on the typical LLS send off packets. Really funny stuff in there.

After lunch I went to see "The Hangover". Had a good laugh then went home for dinner.

Since my flight on Tuesday wasn't until 5:00 pm I was able to pack that morning. SB called me a few minutes before we were to leave and told me the arm coolers were in. So off we went on our way to the airport.

I was bit worried about the weight of the bike box and being charged extra if I was over the limit. Bristish Airways didn't even weigh it. I was really early so I went into the BA lounge - all those air miles from business travel was paying off. I was waiting for Frank and Christy to show up then via texting discovered they were on a later flight. Now I understood my 5 hour layover in London. Oh well.

Flight was uneventful - watched Gran Torino and some TV shows then slept. Arrived in London and hit the free lounge again. Waited for Frank and Christy to show up since we were on the same flight to Nice.

Flight to Nice again uneventful. Steve was there to pick us up but no bike box for Frank and Christy. Which turned out to be a good thing since the van Steve had barely fit our stuff as it was. No way we could have out a double bike box in there. Their bikes showed up the next evening.

The apartment we found on VRBO turned out to be great. 2 separate bedrooms, 2 separate baths, a large main room, kitchen and a balcony that overlooked the Promenade de Anglais.

We were pretty worn out from traveling but couldn't sleep. Finally fell asleep but promptly woke up at 3 am. Did this for 3 straight nights. Found out that it happened to all of us.

Thursday we did a swim in the Med right across from our apt. Pretty cool. The beach is all rocks though - a real pain to walk on. After the swim we went for a bike ride to St. Laurent - about 10 miles RT. Best part was finding a seaside cafe and having Nutella crepes, Pretty good stuff. We also went down and registered. Got our packets, bought some souvenirs then went back and got off our feet.

Friday we rented scooters and rode the bike course. This helped us get a good feel for the climbs. Frank and Christy were riding double and soon were on empty. Steve rode their scooter the next 60 km on empty until we found a gas station.

Saturday was bike drop off day. My time slot for drop off was at 2 pm. So we went for another swim before getting T-bags ready. Previous IM's here had trouble with bike security and a few were stolen out of transition. This year they scanned our race bracelets, linked that to a security tag that we had to attach to the bike then took our picture with our bike. Guess they didn't want any repeats of the previous years.

The bike corral was a long, long stretch - about the length of 3 football fields. And of course we were at the wrong end of the entrance. Fortunately for me - my group was the first so there wasn't much of a line. Not the case for the rest of us who had to wait longer. Once thru security I found my bike row - no specific numbers for my rack spot but I soon saw that others had placed their bikes in numerical order and so I followed suit.

T1 and T2 bags were dropped off with volunteers who hung them onto the racks. The guy who took my bike bag wanted me to see where he put my bag - I just wanted to take his picture with my bag but he thought I was taking a picture of my bag location.

After dropping the bags we got body marked. That's right - body marked the day before the race and only on our left arm and left leg. Next we picked up our timing chips and verified them on the laptop. Of course I held up the line as I had to take a picture of my screen.

Found Tate, Christy and Frank and watched them go thru the same process. Tate was anxious but felt ready. We had dinner at a spot close to the expo - The Buffalo Grill. An "American" type place that served hamburgers. Not exactly In N' Out.

Back to the apartment, set out clothes for the morning, set the alarm and was in bed reading by 8:30. Fell asleep pretty quickly and the alarm went off just as fast. I thought I had just fallen asleep but felt refreshed. Until I looked at the phone and saw it was Ann calling. WTF? Calling at 9:30 on the night before the race? I told her I had just fallen asleep and then promptly hung up.

The alarm finally went off and I got up to make coffee. Morning coffee always has a way to help me achieve a "sense of clear" - if you know what I mean.

I could hear voices outside our balcony and looked out to see other racers getting dropped off. A few minutes later I heard louder voices and looked out again - people were just leaving the nightclub from the next block over! They were just ending their day as were preparing for our long day.

Had breakfast, gathered our bags and we headed off to transition. Except I forgot my wetsuit - thankfully I was just at the bottom of the stairs. We walked down pretty quietly gathering our thoughts, thinking about the season, our honorees and our team mates back home.

I put my water bottles on my bike but then didn't see where to drop off special needs. Walked to one end of the bike corral only to learn I had to walk clear to the other side to drop them. Only good thing was all the pros at this end were already out of transition so the port a potties were wide open. I heard one loud pop! Someone's tire had just exploded. The announcer called out "Racer #345 we have bad news"!

Finally got my wetsuit on and made my way to the swim start. And there were Frank and Christy! Frank and I slotted ourselves in the 1:14 group near the back. I found myself suddenly very thirsty and wishing I had a water bottle. I was tempted to grab one on the ground but thought better of it. But there was one guy standing near us with a water bottle. I asked him for a drink and was surprised when he offered it to me.

Soon the announcer was counting down from 10. Then the cannon boomed and off we went. Getting into the water was easier than I thought it would be. The shore sloped down quickly so it was easy to take a few steps then just lay out and start swimming. There was no bunching up like it can get at CDA. I found some open water pretty quickly and started focusing on long smooth strokes with high elbows on the catch. It seemed effortless - just like I wanted. Then BAM - I got kicked in the face - that brought me back to reality. It was really hard to sight with the slight swells and the buoys were not that big. Pretty soon I saw the first turn buoy. Made the turn and promptly got clocked on my right ear by someone. But I did notice there was a yellow lane line connecting the buoys. And since I only breath to my right - I could sight with each breath on the line. Sweet! But after the third buoy the lane line seemed to disappear.

Fortunately they had created a chute out of large yellow buoys that was easier to sight on. I was hoping to be about an hour for the first loop. When I got out I saw I was at 51 minutes! The second loop was a bit longer than I thought. My goal time for the swim was 1:15. When I got to the end of the second loop I couldn't get out of the water due the steepness of the drop off and the back wash from the small waves. I grabbed onto a volunteer and dragged him down into the water. Finally got out and saw I swam a 1:17 - damn fine swim for me.

Transition was a long walk up a ramp and into the changing tent after grabbing my T1 bag. They had only one tent with a small side for women (there were only 250 total women registered) that was divided by a small banner. I noticed the men's side was pretty packed but the women's side had one woman already changed into her bike gear, about 10 guys in various stages on changing and one completely naked guy. I walked thru the women's side, helped one lady with her bike jersey then proceeded to the end of the tent to change. No volunteers to help as at other IM races but no problem. Took my time changing, then grabbed my bike and walked the mile to the far end of the bike corral for the exit. Others were running but I thought what the heck - I'm walking. About a 13 minute T1.

Hopped on the bike amidst the crowd and started an easy cadence. The first 10 miles are all flat. I must have had 1,000 people pass me in this stretch. Around mile 8 Steve caught up to me. He didn't have a slot so he was riding the course on his own after he did his own IM swim. Riding with Steve was the best part of the day. We hung out together the entire ride and he took good care of me. Mile 10 brought the first climb - a short (500 meter) but very steep climb. My HR was sky high at the top and it took a good 5-7 minutes to get back down. The next 15 miles were a false flat with a nice downhill leading to THE CLIMB. The climb was a 13 mile grind. Another 1,000 people passed me on the climb.

Rule #1 of Ironman is "nothing new on race day". I tend to flaunt the rules though. On course nutrition was Infinite - liquid carbs with some protein. I had used some on one training ride and it didn't bother my stomach. So I decided on race day to go with my 2 bottles of Carbo Pro and then switch to the on course Infinite. Stupid. They didn't have any at the first water stop. The following stops had some but it seemed to be watered down. I didn't experience any stomach issues but my calorie intake was now way down. Then the muscle cramps arrived. My quads just above my knees tend to ache - not so much a cramp just a sensation of driving a big nail into each leg. From experience I knew this would mean a very difficult and painful run. Oh well.

On the way to the top the hammies would then seize - I tried to ride thru it and stretch when I could but eventually had to stop. The inside of my thighs (sartorius) would then cramp - I was a mess. And of course Morty was with me all day - I must have stopped 5-6 times to massage my foot to relieve the burning. But what the heck - I was riding a great course in France with Steve. We stopped for pictures on the climb so we could have the hilltop village of Gordon in the background. A British rider - Oliver_ stopped and took a pic for us. He said we had 8km of climb left then it was downhill from there. Saw him throughout the rest of the day.

Finally made the top water stop only to realize we had 5km more of climbing to do. This area had a real moonscape quality to it - barren and arid. We could see other riders way above us and tried not to think too much about the continuing climb. Made it to the top and there was special needs. I shared a PBJ sandwich and a candy bar with Steve. Shared the gummies with Oliver when he came by. Then we were off on the downhills.

There were a few more climbs but nothing like we just did. Still, due to my cramping I could barely make it up these little inclines. The downhills were long and not too technical - except for the section of hairpin turns. We went thru one village where the street was only about 8 feet wide. At the end of the street we stopped to take pics of us riding thru it. Steve went back first and rode down the narrow street while I took the pics. Then it was my turn. At the start there was group of locals partying and handing some type of liquor. I took a cup which set them off cheering and slapping me on the back. Rode down the street then handed the cup off to some other local who promptly thanked me.

We were hoping to see Frank and Christy on the out and back. That way we knew they could make the bike cut off. We did see them as they started the out portion. There was one more climb but nothing as bad as the 13 miler. But there weren't very many people out there at all. Most of the water stops were packing up. Thank fully it was mostly downhill. I still had to stop and check on Morty a few times. As we were heading down the last downhill a couple of people passed us. But I knew as soon as we hit the flats we would catch them. Sure enough, soon as the road straightened and flattened we went into aero and started picking up the speed. We averaged 20+ mph for the last 15 miles. Steve stopped at the apt. and I went on into transition.

Another long transition as I took my time. Had to massage Morty and even applied some Alcis on my foot. That relieved the pain for the first 2 loops. The pain I had in the quads on the bike was starting to get worse. My 4:1 run/walk was working but I was slowing down. Got to see Tate finally. He was having some stomach issues and walking quite a bit. I was hoping to catch up to him but he could walk faster than I could run. I saw Frank as he was coming in off the bike. Turns out he had a major flat and his tire was trashed. Someone on the course had an extra and he had to hammer the last 30 miles to make it on time. Christy was just ahead of him by about 20 minutes so she was already on the run. I got to see her as we passed each other on each loop. The run is 4 loops of 10.5k each. Not too bad but it did get a lttle boring. Tate's family was cheering for him from in front of our apartment. That was great to hear and see someone twice on each loop.

The sun was hot and there was no shade. I ran thru the showers a couple of times but then ,my feet got wet and so did my socks. I took off the arm coolers and gave them to Steve. I'm sure he was happy to carry my sweaty arm coolers back to the apt. The last loop was tough. my quads were hurting with each step. My run portion was really slowing down. At the last turn around I couldn't run anymore. So I walked the last 3 miles. Until I got close and the crowd picked me up. You really do find strength to run the last half mile of an Ironman. I entered the finisher chute and had it all to myself. I weaved from side to side slapping hands with a bunch of people I didn't know. I could hear shouts of "Allez Dan!" and then saw the finish. Ran up, put my arms in the air and was really glad to be done.

IM France doesn't have catchers. So I got my medal and wandered over to the finisher shirt pickup. I had requested a size L but then thought it might be too small. So I asked for an XL - the lady looked at me kinda strange and said no. I thought she was just denying my request to swap but turns out they don't even order XL. The Europeans are so lean and fit they just don't see the need to order any XL sizes.

I found Tate in the massage tent and we talked about the race for a bit. Then all of a sudden there was Christy. She was worried about making the final cut off but finished with about 15 minutes to spare. There were post race fireworks that went off for about 15 minutes but we couldn't see them from the massage area. And none of us wanted to stand up and go watch them. Got a quick massage then some food - the post race food was lousy - some cold quiche thing, cold chicken wings and chips. I wanted pizza.

No TriBike so we had to collect our bags and our bikes. We had to do the reverse security for the bikes - they scanned our race bracelet, then the security tag - that brought up the pic they took of us with our bike the day before. After scrutinizing us and the pic they snipped the tag off and we were free to go. Walked back to the apartment and took the small elevator up. I took the elevator up and down for the next two days.

As we walked back I saw a homeless guy asleep on a bench. He was in that same spot 16 hours earlier as we started the IM day.

We were all so glad to be done. A very good swim, a very long, long, long bike and a long walk/run.

But #7 is now completed. On to #8 - IM Canada.

Thanks for reading.