#but im happy with a multitude of careers which is why im studying other things. so its okay

[muirneach]

mom told me just now that i should maybe pursue art 😑 girl dont remind me that its secretly my dream to live that hashtag aesthetic artist who sells prints and can live off that full time and own a house like…. sigh idk i dont want to be defeatist like ill never know unless i try and i do plan on trying and maintaining a small art career. hashtag side hustle small business. but like unless i somehow get a gazillion sales we have to be realistic and understand its not that feasible. doesnt mean i dont want it tho….

[toukenramblings]

University AU: Izuminokami Kanesada, Mutsunokami Yoshiyuki, Juzurmaru Tsunetsugu

Anon asked: do you have any high school (or uni, if you don't like the high school au) hcs fof izuminokami, mutsunokami, and juzumaru? thank you!!

Uni au it shall be~!

Warnings: Broke college kids. Short n sweeet.

Izuminokami Kanesada

The one fucker that turns in his work late and sleeps in class. Horikawa has to make sure this dumbass doesn’t end himself from eating too much cup ramen and cook for him. Izumin is a bit of a slacker with his work and stays up late playing games or just doing...whatever the hell he’s up to. Is he a player? Maybe? Why do you wanna know? There’s no doubt that he is a gorgeous man so he’ll have multitudes of admirers.

It’s not that Izuminokami isn’t smart or anything, he’s just pretty lazy. Sure he relies quite a bit on Horikawa already but in college Horikawa is more or less his tutor/mom all rolled into one.

Izuminokami cannot deny that he is a party animal. Most likely a frat boy. A respectful frat boy, hell no he’s not getting the more dumb shenanigans his frat bros are into. He resPECTS women and the queer community damn it. Can and will get into fist fights to protect them.

Yes he will walk someone home if they don’t feel safe.

Found sleeping on benches and in the library. 

Is that one moron who doesn’t hurt because he forgot like my bro and i and Hori-mama has to remind him to PLEASE EAT FOOD I S2G.

Is a night owl, always out at clubs and shit. Yes he knows that he has to do schoolwork but like...pARTY. He still can’t drink to save his life though, ends up passed out pretty quickly if you don’t keep an eye on him. But his morals won’t go away, hell. Can and will still fight bastards while drunk off of his ass.

I think Izuminokami would be a literature major or a history major. He may not look like it, but he adores going on rants about the subjects he’s interested in. That or he’s super duper into the study of bugs. I’ve seen Izuminokami having a bit of a interest in beetles due to him being rather young amongst the swords, so I think he’ll be interested in that!

Super interested in martial arts and kendo, catch him in a competition and his admirers are cheering him on from the sidelines.

Actually now that I think about it, all of the Shinsengumi swords in the college AU have to make sure that Izuminokami is alive because this ho can’t take care of himself for shit. His room is always messy and sure he does clean up and stuff but dude, please take care of yourself. Horikawa is already at his limit.

Mutsunokami Yoshiyuki

Frat boy, party animal. He might be in the rival frat to Izuminokami’s but can actually handle alcohol. He doesn’t sleep around but like Izuminokami, will offer to walk people home sober or not. Can and will fight a ho to protect people. No one’s stopping his ass. Though he would prefer to talk it out, it don’t mean he won’t hesitate to sucker punch a ho. No homo? What’s that? Mutsunokami is physically affectionate with everyone of any identification.

Yes he volunteers at an animal shelter. Yes he feeds all of the stray animals around his dorm/apartment. Yes he tries to sneak them into his room. No he’s not hiding a puppy under his shirt what are you talking about?

Also the kind of man to fall asleep in class. He plays games yes but most of the time he stays up just to hang out with animals or just stargaze. He really likes the stars. Probably has a hobby in astronomy.

This dude has like idk five majors. He wants to major in languages, history, military history, man there’s so many things that Mucchan wants to do! He may get in a little bit over his head but he just want’s to learn everything! He is just oh so curious about the world!!! He has to see it!

Yes he will be the first student to sign up the minute he’s asked to travel abroad.

He’s also that person who throws a mini party to welcome new students into the dorm! He loves meeting new people and gets them gifts and all! It’s so sweet!!!

I feel like Mutsunokami’s dream job is a travel agent or just backpack around the world? His dream is to travel and see the world after all, but he’ll be just as happy to work in a museum! no im not crying at the thought of a museum date with mucchan i just.....wanna...hold.....hAND

Dude he’s the kind of student who is not really a kiss up to his professors but has a super good relationship with them. He gets into friendly debates with them about the subjects in class and he loves getting new perspective on things!

Is also still very much into photography, hell yeah he’ll be in a photography class. Maybe become a professional photographer in his spare time? As a part time job? Maybe!

Of course he volunteers to hang out with kids. He’s a pretty damn good baby sitter, that’s also a part time job. He’ll happily tutor peeps of all ages!

Juzumaru Tsunetsugu

OH this man turns in all of his work like a week early, is the model student, quiet as hell in class but dude he knows his worth. He sits so still and so quiet you almost don’t see him and you kinda think he’s probably dead. BUt then he notices you staring and smiles softly at you and you almost die because sHIT SHIT HE CAUGHT YOU STARING but also he’s so pretty how dare.

Juzu takes really good care of himself. He most likely volunteers at the library and helps old people walk across the street. Goes to sleep on time, wakes up at least three hours before class to prepare breakfast and meditate. Hell he’ll cook for his roommates too. No stopping him from doing that. He can kinda cook? It’s small and simple tho.

While Juzumaru might be a religion major, I think that he will be interested in history and math? If anything he may be a bit like Mucchan. He’ll want to learn everything and anything! Yes he will prefer his religion studies but hey, it doesn’t hurt to learn about everything and anything!

Like the others above, Juzumaru will also offer to walk people home. He doesn’t like fighting all that much so if he’s at a party (which is impossible) and sees someone spike a drink, he’ll be more so being the person who warns the drinker and pretends to be their friend/is their friend to take them out of the situation. This doesn’t mean he won’t defend himself or that person if they get into a scuffle.

No Juzumaru isn’t part of a frat and he mostly keeps to himself. He is probably found hanging with Yamabushi, Kousetsu, or just hiding by his lonesome in the library.

He also helps tutor other students. If anything I just think that he’s the best tutor. He’s so calming and sweet and patient, able to guide the hand of anyone he teaches. His voice is so soothing its some asmr quality shit im sorry i just love his voice and like you can fall asleep to that.

Juzumaru is also a kid who probably wants to go study abroad. For fun and for learning.

Is the mom friend, if you drag him to a party, you better expect him to watch over you and the rest of your friends like a hawk.

His handwriting is so pretty? How the hell he always does his papers by hand is beyond me but he can use computers his handwriting is just...so pretty????

His dream career? Librarian.

[jordanjaeger]

Life Update + What Will Become of This Blog

Hello everyone! I know it’s been a very long time since I last updated this blog. I still log in and browse around from time to time, but obviously I’m no longer very active. So I apologize for that.

I see I’ve gained quite a few new followers. I want to say nearly 150-200+ since Fall 2017. I’m not sure. I haven’t really kept up with who’s new and who isn’t. That’s why I wanted to come on here and give you guys an official update and what the future of this blog may look like.

If you’re not necessarily interested in my life update, then you can go ahead and skip down to the section where I talk about my blog and what I foresee it becoming in the future. If you are interested in getting to know me, where I’ve been, what I’ve been up to, and how I’ve been, then keep on reading!

To my old friends whom I made when I first started this blog, I really, truly hope you are all doing well! I noticed some some of you have changed usernames, or moved on to new blogs. I’m just happy to see that most of you you all are still here. <3

As you may know, and to the new followers who may not know, I’ve been in college for about three almost four years now. My first university was a four year school just ten minutes away from my home. I attended there after graduating high school back in 2015, but I only attended for two years primarily to focus on my general education courses and save money. I did this because my first school didn’t offer my degree, which was Graphic Design, so I knew I would eventually end up having to transfer.

While I was at my old school, I had a lot of free time on my hands. If I wasn’t at school I was at home in, my room drawing, writing, or binge watching Netflix, Hulu, YouTube, and other various anime. It wasn’t until Attack on Titan season 2 that I really became invested in the show, and decided to create my blog jordanjeager.

I knew I loved anime and writing, and I had already been following a multitude of different AoT/SnK blogs, so I thought why don’t I create one myself? It’ll be fun, and hopefully I can make some friends who enjoy the same things as I do in the process. In the end, my blog became very successful. I found myself writing almost everyday all day, even at work, and I made about five or six really amazing friends on here.

In Fall of 2017 I transferred schools to pursue Graphic Design. That’s when things started to turn left. It was my first official “freshman” year as it was my first time being away from home, and having to adjust to a new city, new environment and new campus turned out to be more than I could handle. Also, I was distracted with new friends, and just overcoming personal battles that would help me to promote growth and happiness. Because of this, I had a hard time focusing on school which in turn reflected on my grades. Not to mention I was still trying to find time to write for my blog. I ended up triggering a small era of depression that would come and go.

2018 was just a bad year for me period. The friends I had made my first semester at my new school started falling off one by one. One got pregnant, so she moved back home, and the others just failed to reciprocate the same energy I had given, so I eventually backed off and became isolated. I was alone, and for a while I was fine with it, but as time went on, my depression worsened.

In the summer of 2018 I took two classes, each one was four hours long, which in total was 8 hours. You guys, I was going to school for 8 hours a day, four days out of the week, with no breaks. The classes were extremely accelerated and it felt like I was working a 9-5 job with no pay. Not to mention towards the end of the summer semester, I became extremely ill for two weeks.

Fall 2018 came around and my on and off depression had gotten a lot worse, mostly because of my degree. I was finally getting into my upper level classes for GD, and after barely passing one of my classes, I was starting to come to the realization that maybe GD wasn’t for me. But I was too conflicted to switch majors because I was afraid of either starting over or prolonging my graduation year. I currently won’t graduate ‘til Fall 2020. You guys, I’m 22. You see my dilemma here? 

I tried to do my research on what I else I could possibly pursue in the arts that wouldn’t put me behind, but my options were degrees that I knew I’d struggle to find a job in. I don’t want to be living paycheck to paycheck after spending hundreds and thousands of dollars on a degree.

Finally, 2019 rolled around and I started another semester. This time though, I’m taking the part II to the class I barely passed last semester. Still unsure of what to do as far as my degree, still depressed, I wondered if I’d ever find something to study that brings me joy and makes me happy, but will, at the same time, sustain me with a decent salary. Then something amazing happened.

After talking to one of my professors, whose class I both needed to take for my GD degree and am now currently taking, I learned of a new degree that overlapped with GD. It’s called Intermediate Design (app and website building) and it was basically the gist of the class I’m taking right now, which is Interactive Media. You guys, when I learned about this degree, I was quick to do my research and schedule an appointment with the advisor and head coordinator, because the class I’m taking now with said professor is basically a synopsis of ID, and I love my IM class.

So after talking to both the advisor and coordinator of the ID degree, I realized that this is what I want to pursue. This is what makes me happy. Despite it being challenging, I find myself becoming more and more excited as I work on my projects for my IM class, and if the projects I’m doing now are what’s to be expected of the ID degree, then I know what I want to do.

Since making the decision to switch my major, I have been nothing short of happy. I withdrew from the class that was the second part to the class I barely passed last semester, and am now only taking three courses. I can’t tell you how happy and relieved I am, and how much weight I feel has been lifted off of my shoulders. I feel like I have a clearer headspace now that I know what I want to do for the remainder of my college career.

The Blog

With all that being said, I want to start back writing again. I’ve had a lot more time to catch up with AoT/SnK, and now that I’m up to speed with the manga, I feel inspired to write again. I want to write again. Writing has always been a hobby of mine and a getaway from everyday life.

I don’t have any friends where I go to school, so I’d like to pick back up this hobby because I know it’ll help take my mind off of the loneliness I sometimes feel being here. Plus, I know that I won’t be judged for liking the things I like and participating in the things I enjoy.

But, I want to know what you all’s thoughts are. To those of you who have been with me since the beginning and those of you who are new, would you be interested in me opening my request box up again? I still get many notes and reposts from you all, and I’ve even gotten a couple messages from some of you hoping that I’ll start taking requests again. I want to make this an experience for both you and I, and I want to become more engaged with my followers. So let me know you guys’ thoughts and I will take them all into consideration.

That’s all I have for now!

Xoxo

Jordan Jaeger

[myneighborhood-thelake]

IronMan Canada 1998

IMC '98 meant a lot to me because it paved the way for some major changes in my life which I really needed to make. There are probably to many tri-related details and too many extraneous issues in this and the subsequent post that I will send out. I apologise in advance if you dislike rambling stories, but the IMC experience was much more than 14 hours 10 minutes and 48 seconds of swimming, biking and running (walking). It was over a year of contemplation and training, and it was 10 years of racing narrowed down into one event.

That said, please enjoy.

I think that my story starts out about 5 years ago. I was putting myself through my final years of college and money was just a little tight. I made a conscious choice to stop racing triathlons for a while to reduce my expenses. I graduated and landed a great job with excellent potential for advancement. Since I was pushing hard in my career tri's were still regulated to the backseat. 2 1/2 years passed in that job and I was experiencing severe burnout. I had focused all of my intensity on my work, and work was not as exciting as it had been when I was fresh out of college.

Labor Day (U.S.) 1997. One of my best friends got married in Philadelphia - which is an incredible town. At an after party I was talking with a couple of people - an associate editor of Triathlete magazine and a guy who occasionally does a few tri's. The tri-geek was trying to get the Triathlete editor to give him a slot for Kona. He would have been better off trying to score a date with her - there was no way that she was going to conjure up a Kona slot. She suggested IMC as a place to qualify.

The wheels in my head started to turn - "I need a challenge" "I have wanted to get back into tri's for several years" "I need a really big challenge to get me out of my workaholic rut" "Maybe I should try IMC"

Back at work I downloaded the IMC '98 application and contemplated the commitment to training for an IM. My wife was 100% behind me signing up for IMC. When we started dating I was racing tri's in Southern California, and she knows how much I enjoyed the scene. I bit the bullet and mailed in my application. I even started training  - somewhat. Four plus  years of inactivity had taken their toll. I had purchased a new Kestrel KM40 in the fall of 1996, but I only had ridden it for about 100 miles in the year since I bought it. It was pretty embarrassing to be out riding my shiny, new Kestrel as I was getting passed by everyone on the road.

I soon subscribed to Tri-DRS and saw all the traffic about IMC filling up in record time. I wondered, I worried, I fretted, and then the confirmation letter came. It was true - I was going to Canada in 9 months.

To say the least - I was really scared. I was out of shape. I had never done an Ironman. I used to train for Oly distance races using a "feeling" plan - "How do I feel today and what do I want to do?"  I knew that I could not train for an Ironman on such an ad hoc training plan.

I wrote down my goals for IMC '98. A

1. Finish my first Ironman. 2. Have fun.

After the race I would: 1. Smile. 2. Hug my wife. 3. Be happy that I went from couch potato to Ironman in 10 months!!!!

I needed some help in training, so I talked with my college teammate and now QR pro Greg Thompson. Greg suggested that I contact Lauren Alexander for coaching advice. The best thing that I did in the months prior to IMC was hire Lauren as my coach. She is a major asset.

The months flew by, I had a hideous race at Wildflower, I DNF'd at San Jose due to a mechanical, I finally had a great race at a local sprint tri and I did pretty well at the 1/2 Vineman. The 1/2 Vineman taught me that I could overcome problems during a race and still continue on to a good finish. I sent out numerous emails to both the Tri-DRS and the IMC lists asking all kinds of stupid questions. Luckily there are a lot of great people on the list who answered my questions and gave me some great guidance. Unbelievably - Taper Time for IMC arrived - my first IM was only 3 weeks away.

During all of this IM training,  life continued to march forward. My wife continued her studies and supported my training endeavors. My job structure changed again, and again, and again, and finally I found a new job that started two weeks before IMC - of course I negotiated a one week break for IMC into my offer. As always there was a multitude of issues to deal with that really got in the way with training. As time marched on I forgot about my initial race goals - I started thinking about racing IMC as opposed to surviving it, and that was a big mistake. My initial goals were what I should have focused on, but I wasted a lot time worrying about split times, average speed and run paces.

Tuesday Afternoon,

Flew from San Francisco to Vancouver. A hometown friend drove to Penticton, so I stashed my bike in his mini-van for the trip. I did not have to worry about packing a bike box, or whether my bike would arrive in Penticton on my flight.

While waiting for the puddle jumper from Vancouver to Penticton, some guy sat next to me and asked me if I was doing the race. I am not sure why he would look at me and assume that I was racing IMC - Okay, maybe the shaved legs and Specialized transition bag were pretty good indicators. He introduces himself as Scott Adams (it sounds familiar). I introduce myself as Ron Renwick. Sometimes it is very useful to have your name and email address coincide. Scott recognized my name, and further introduced himself as an infrequent poster to Jason's IMC list - this is a really small world!  Another friend of mine, Bill - from my Wildflower debacle, showed up and we waited for the plane to Penticton.

We arrived in Penticton. Scott had a seat next to me on the plane where he tried to avoid listening to me whine about how hungry I was for the duration of the flight. Thanks for the pretzels Scott. In the Penticton airport, Scott started talking to this big guy with bright 'blonde' hair and a smaller guy with very little hair. Jason Mayfield and Bruce Grant had come to pick up Scott. I think that Bruce's wife and Eric Austin may have been there too, but it was a few days ago and my memory is not what it used to be. Scott's bike actually made it into Penticton on our flight. My buddy Bill was not so lucky. His bike did not show (as expected), and Canadian Airlines had lost his suitcase too. His carry-on consisted solely of his race wheels, so he was not a happy camper.

Bill and I made our way to the Rochester Resort - 2 doors from the Sicamous, and "The Best Value On The Beach."  It was late so we walked the 10 steps to Salty's restaurant for a bite to eat. FYI, avoid Salty's if possible. Bill was able to buy a toothbrush at the local convenience store - he now had race wheels, the clothes on his back and a toothbrush - Bill was not a happy camper.

Wednesday,

0700 - I made my way to the Sicamous for my first pre-IMC swim. I met so many people that I had emailed with over the last 10 months. I only swam for 20 minutes, but meeting everyone was incredible. My goggles broke during the swim - add one more thing to my "Must Buy" list.

After a shower Bill and I walked downtown to the Hog's Breath. We grabbed a cup of coffee and some breakfast. Bill was impressed that we kept bumping into Tri-DRS'ers. I finally told him that "Everything I know about Penticton I learned on from the List."  Which meant that anywhere we went we were sure to bump into some Deads. We walked around town, checked out the construction zone of the Athlete's village and hit the Bike Barn - a really cool bike store. Most bike shops in the SF Bay area are pretty streamlined. They look more like a Blockbuster Video store than a neighborhood bike shop  - everything is in its proper spot. The Bike Barn rocks - racks of stuff and a good assortment of bikes. Bins were overflowing with stuff. It was a great place to dig around for bike goodies. The place was humming with tri-bikes. There must have been at least 8 workstands going continuously.

We went to lunch at Front Street Pasta (Jason's choice) a great meal for a very low price. I finally met Dave 'the starving student" Barclay. Jason was quite the entertainment director - as the week progressed he started looking more and more like Julie Tewes, the Cruise Director from the Love Boat ;-).

My bike arrived in the afternoon - reassembly consisted of putting the front wheel back on (no allen wrenches for me). For dinner it was Front Street Pasta again this time with my bike hauling friend Ray, Bill, Dead Chris Nugent and lurking Dead Bob Castaldi. A post-dinner beer with Ray and Greg Pressler was quite relaxing. Greg truly is a poet at heart.

Thursday

Thursday was my glycogen depletion/carbo load day so I did a solo swim and run and 4 of us rode the first 15 miles of the bike course out and back. We meant to ride the run course, but we turned left on McClean by mistake. We then picked up our registration packets and got our wrist bands. It was official - I was signed up for an Ironman.

Friday

I missed the 0700 swim by 10 minutes, so I did not get to meet anyone new from the list. However, after the swim I finally met the person that I have tried to meet for months now. We train in the same locations, we race the same races and we live only a few miles apart, but I had never met this person. Finally, after a 2000 mile trek to Canada, I finally met Tri-Baby, the one the only Tricia Richter. Now I wonder how the hell I missed seeing her in other races!  And I thought that Jason had some noticable hair.

My buddy Ray and I went to the Hog's Breath after the swim for a dose of caffeine, and we bumped into some deads (imagine that). Gerry Kuse was talking to Tricia and Skippy. He was wearing a 1993 Mike and Rob's shirt, a race that I had my 1/2 IM PR in way back when (it's a small world). It turns out the Gerry and I have raced at several of the same races over the years.

At the carbo load dinner we learned that there would be 675 IronVirgins racing on Sunday. 40% of the racers were attempting there first IM. Wow!

Saturday

My wife flew into town on Saturday morning. I was really glad to see her. She had been so supportive of my training, and she deserves the title of IronMate. She had originally been scheduled to fly up with me on Tuesday, but her school schedule mandated that she stay at home during the pre-race week and attend classes. I often say that you should always have at least one smart person in the family, and I was lucky enough to marry well.

The day pretty much flew by with the pre-race meeting, the parade, packing Special Needs Bags and bike check-in. My nutrition plan was pretty simple - Gu and Cytomax and salt tabs. I had trained with Gu, Cyto and salt tabs over the past 10 months with great results. At the last minute I decided to toss an Okanagan pear into my Bike Special Needs Bag.

A post parade dinner at the Gunbarrel and a walk home were all that I needed for the evening. It was time to get some sleep. Before I drifted off I thought back to my original goals. Oh yeah, I was here to have fun. I was not here to break 14 or 12 or 10 hours, but I still held out for a good race even though I knew that I just wanted to finish. I wish that I would have looked back on my goals more often.

The actual Race Report follows.

Sunday - RACE DAY

I started the day with a 3:00 am breakfast run to Denny's. Ray and I figured that an early breakfast would be useful for us. I had actually slept for about 5 or 6 hours the night before, and I felt pretty good.

At about 5:00 am I gathered my Special Needs Bags and swim gear bag and marched 3/4 of a mile to the transition. I got body marked, Championchipped and went straight to my bike. Even at 0500 the volunteers were friendly and incredibly helpful. I chose to leave my floor pump at the hotel [good choice] - with my floor pump absent from the transition area there were only 1,699 floor pumps in the TA waiting to be used. In addition there was a crew from the Bike Barn with a compressed air cylinder for filling tires. I pumped up my Conti's to about 160psi, loaded my aerobag, filled my jetstream and walked around the corner to the Swim and Run transition bag racks.

The 2 hours from 0500 to 0700 flew by. I chatted with a few friends, revelled in the fact that I was about to start my first Ironman and donned my wetsuit. I did a warm up swim for about 10 minutes in the clear Lake Okanagan. I chatted with Chris Nugent. I high-fived and chatted with Greg Pressler. In Greg's race report he mentioned that he saw "fire in Ron's eyes."  With all due respect, I think that Greg is confusing the "Happy Face" holograms on my goggles with fire.

Meeting the people on this list has been a special thrill, both Greg and I have both been doing tri's for over 10 years, but we had waited until now for our first IM. We both had that "This is finally it" feeling, he went on to an incredible race that he really deserved.

The day before the race, Greg had a great observation about the IMC swim course. "It's an International Distance swim on the way out, a few hundred meters to the right and a 1/2 IM swim on the way home - we have done this before."

Oh Canada was played. I think that I heard some bagpipes somewhere, and the race STARTED!

I was here to have fun so I held back for a few seconds to let the mass of humanity clear out from the start line. I started swimming. I kept thinking to myself "This is so COOL!  I am finally doing an IronMan."  I passed the first set of marker bouys and thought to myself "WOW, I just passed my first set of IronMan marker bouys. This is AWESOME!"

The swim went very well. It was much less brutal than Wildflower, and the course is very well marked. I  was so happy to be racing. I was bumped a few times, I swam over a few folks, I drafted a little and hit some toes and I was drafted off of. I hit the first houseboat (leg 1) in 25 minutes - I was ecstatic. I stopped for a second to adjust the neck of my wetsuit as I was experiencing a little chafe. I made it to the second right turn at 35 minutes - one more leg to go. The swim course is so well marked that I had to do very little sighting - maybe one look every 10 strokes. Basically, the swim was all mine. I focussed completely on how I was doing. If I bumped someone or got kicked it just did not matter. I really enjoyed being out there. I hit the beach and attempted to walk over the annoying rocks.

I looked at my watch - I had completed the swim in 1:06!!!!!!!!

I was expecting to have a 1:20 swim as I have only been in the water 5 or 6 times since Wildflower in May, and two of those times were tri swims. A 1:06 was incredible.

I thought "It cannot get any better than this!"

It did not get any better.

In fact, things got far, far worse.

SWIM TO BIKE TRANSITION

I wore my Speedo and singlet under my wetsuit during the swim, so I only had to don my cycling shoes and helmet. I also stopped to urinate - little did I know that I would not have to worry about that for the next 12 hours. . .

I rolled out of town feeling really good. I had just finished an incredible swim, and I was finally starting on the bike leg of my first Ironman!  I took it easy for the first 5 miles - I figured that I had 107 more miles to make up time. I hit the drops as we hit South Main Street. My first priority was to hydrate and the cytomax was not tasting very good. I spun my way up McClean Road and picked off many people on the downhill - when you weigh 195 pounds downhills are a real rush. My stomach was a little tight, but I attributed that to being so early in the race.

At the bottom of McClean someone was nice enough to tell me that I had lost my pump during the rapid descent. The bracket holding my pump on my bike broken off. "Nothing I can do about it now - I hope that I don't flat."

At about mile 10 my JetStream went dry. I had a bottle of highly concentrated Cytomax on my downtube with markings on the bottle to delineate portions. I shot some Cyto concentrate into my JetStream and filled the rest with water to make a 7% solution. I immediately took a drink from my JetStream. The concentrate and the water had not mixed together, so I got about an 80% solution of Cyto in that mouthful.

I should have pulled off the side of the road and tossed my cookies.

I chose to keep the cytomax concentrate down and chase it with water - it's hard to say, but this may have been a big mistake.

My stomach started cramping big time!  I could no longer drink. I tried to take a Gu, but I could not get it down. 10 miles into the bike and I could neither hydrate nor feed - OH NO!

I tried some different positions on the bike to alleviate my stomach cramps. The aero position put direct pressure on my abdomen which was not feeling too good. I alternated between sitting upright and going aero.

I was still doing pretty good with respect to speed. At mile 41 I took the right turn to head up Richter.

Can someone please tell me why both Wildflower and IMC have a hill at  Mile 41???

At the base of Richter I was still holding a 22.5mph average. Then I started climbing Richter. In the grand scheme of things Richter is not a terrible climb. I ride much worse on my regular training rides. However, Richter is at mile 41 of an IM and I had not eaten much for 3 hours (swim and bike time)

I bonked.

I hurt.

I struggled to the top of Richter,

I cursed the wind.

I quit looking at my heart rate monitor - it just did not matter.

I got passed by most of the people racing at IMC.

I got passed by pedestrians who were walking up Richter.

The downhill after Richter should have been a lot of fun, but I could not hold a good tuck. I only hit 47 mph. The uphill after Richter and the rollers through the Osoyoos were intolerable. I just kept pedaling forward. I stopped at about mile 60 to eat a banana - finally I was able to consume something. I was very happy that it stayed down. I continued to slog forward. The head wind was really causing problems. Even the flat spots were hard to ride. I promised myself that I would take a break when I got my special needs bag. I passed a med tent on the way out the second out and back section. I was very tempted to stop and take a nap.

When I got my special needs bag, I rode to the closest clear spot, dropped my bike and sat down. I  opened my bag. The Gu's were completely unappetizing, but the pear looked great. I started eating my Okanagan pear  - man that tasted good. Unfortunately that was the only good item in my SNB. [Note to Self:  diversify nutrition plans in future long races]. Some saint in one of Jason's IMC-RST jerseys stopped next to me. It was John Welch. He had an extra turkey sandwich that tasted incredible. I could eat! This tall guy with a mustache and a blue Softride stopped next to me. He was not having a good day. My personal saint, Jeff, said "George are you OK."  It was George Ball. Since I was sitting on the ground in close proximity I have to say - George has some big, skinny feet. George was not feeling too good, and he crossed the road to sit down in a chair.

I shouted to a teammate, Gerry Morton, but he looked around at eye level and missed me sitting down. I saw Tri-Baby, and pretty soon Steve "Gibbo" Gibson rolled up. Gibbo looked incredibly fresh. He looked more like he had just started his ride than that he had already ridden 75 miles. Gibbo's special needs bag was missing and he was pretty irate about not getting to his vegemite sandwiches. To be honest, I have tried the stuff and I think that he was better off not having access to his vegemite, but then again I am not an Aussie ;-).

I gave myself 20 minutes of rest at the special needs stop. The first couple of miles felt OK, but soon thereafter my quads wanted to quit (again).

The course turned back onto Highway 3A and started the gradual climb to Yellow Lake Hill. It was really hot and really windy. Then we hit Yellow Lake Hill. I kept telling myself to live only in the moment - forget about the rest of the race - things will get better, but I was really hurting. It became a battle of feet. Instead of pushing to get to the next mile marker, I goaled for the next traffic sign or the next rock on the shoulder of the road. Bit by bit, pedal turn by pedal turn.

Finally, I stopped on the climb and sat on my top tube for a while (I chose not to time myself). Most people were really great. Almost all of the athletes asked if I was OK, and the race marshalls stopped to check on me. I seriously thought about dropping out. I looked at my watch just as it hit the 7 hour mark. I was at mile 90. I did a quick calculation - I had 10 hours to ride 22 miles and run a marathon. 22 mile rides are easy spins during training. I could do this.

I chose not to DNF. I started riding again. I passed some guy who was walking his bike and I decided to do the same. Two teammates passed me as I was walking, my buddy Ray and Tana, who always looks like she is just out doing an easy training ride even though she is hammering along. They made sure that I was OK as the cruised on by. I made it to the aid station at the top of the hill. A volunteer offered me cold, de-fizzed Pepsi. Pepsi was not in my pre-race plan, but then again, walking up Yellow Lake was not in my plan - I took the Pepsi.

The caffeine and sugar boost was amazing. I started riding once again. My stomach wanted to get rid of the Pepsi, but I made it stay down. I passed Ray and I caught Tana. Tana and I chatted for a minute until my specialty arrived - the Yellow Lake Downhill. I expected to cruise with the downhill bias back into town, but after the big downhill the headwind took over again. I slogged back to the transition area.

As I crossed paths with the people already on the run course I tried to assess their condition. Some people looked pretty good, but most were looking pretty tired. I got to the transition area, but I forgot to slip out of my shoes before I handed off my bike. My brain was not working too well.

BIKE TO RUN TRANSITION

Since I was going to wear my speedo and singlet for the run I did not need to change. I went into the changing tent just to sit down for a while. I applied some vaseline and stuck some reflective tape on my speedo. Ray had slipped the reflective tape in my Bike-Run bag (thanks Ray). I ate a little watermelon and drank some water. The watermelon tasted great, but I was worried about it staying down during the run. I left the changing tent to start my first ever marathon.

An Amazing IMC tidbit - I fully expected to have to carry my gear bags to a rack and hang them up. For both transitions you simply leave the gear bag on the ground. A volunteer comes along and gathers up the gear bag and hangs it on a rack - so simple - so easy for the athlete.

THE RUN

My original plan had been to start running slowly and see how things turned out. Running slowly was not a problem - everything was going to be slow. Running fast was unthinkable. I walked the aid stations, drank, ate a little bit and drenched myself with sponges. It was really hot!!

My first mile was an 11:30 and I was really happy. I hit mile 2 in 22:30 - amazingly I was actually picking up the pace (if only slightly). I walked mile 4. At mile 6, I was caught by some guy who wanted ibuprofen. After Vineman I made sure that I had Ibu with me, so I handed him a tablet. We chatted for a while until it became obvious that we knew each other. It was Dennis from RST and Greg Pressler's friend. Dennis pulled me to the run turnaround by alternating running and walking. Dennis kept talking about his Run special needs bag that contained a pair of dry socks. I remembered that my SNB only had Gu.

[see Note to Self from Bike Special Needs bag section - vary the contents of the Special Needs Bag]]

My split time for the 13.1 miles to the turnaround was 3 hours even. My friend Bill ran into and out of the turnaround looking great. He had a mechanical on the bike that cost him almost an hour.

Then I remembered that I had also put a pair of dry socks in my special needs bag. In fact I had brought a pair to Canada just for this purpose. The socks were pretty old, so if I chose not to wear them it was no big deal if I lost them. I was so happy that I had remembered to put fresh socks into my Needs Bag. The socks would only provide a momentary relief, but that moment would be enough. I needed something to brighten my day.

Dennis and I sat down to open our special needs bags. We ripped off our shoes and wet socks. We opened our special needs bags. Dennis pulled out a pair of dry socks.

OOPS!  I had forgotten to pack the socks. I put my sweaty socks and shoes back on. Putting wet, icky socks back on was not the most pleasant feeling. The delivery truck with the chicken soup stopped at the turnaround.

I originally had hoped to be off the course by the time the chicken soup hit the aid stations. I had never envisioned myself only being halfway through the run when the chicken soup came out. Oh well, here I was and the soup smelled good. I sipped a cup and almost hurled. What is manna from heaven for many triathletes just did not sit well with me - I gagged at the first sip.

We started back down the road toward Penticton. The sun was starting to set which meant that it would finally cool off. Ray was just climbing the hill to the turnaround. He was surprised that the turnaround had come so soon - he looked smooth in his running form - nice and steady.

For Dennis and I it was:

Run some.

Walk more.

I ate what little I could at the aid stations.

Ray caught up to us just as we caught up to Bill. Bill had looked great leaving the turnaround, but he was struggling through a low point now. The four of us marched slowly along - it was good to know that every step was bringing us back into town. After a while Bill perked up again, and he and Ray started jogging back to town. Dennis and I kept shuffling along. A mile or two later, Dennis ducked into a porta-potty and I just stopped by the side of the road - the first time that I had urinated in 12+ hours!  Believe it or not it was a major mental boost. I had really been starting to worry about my kidneys.

It became apparent that Dennis had a lot more left in his legs than I did. I wished him luck as he disappeared around a corner. My feet were really starting to hurt. I did not have any blisters or abrasions, but it felt like someone had taken a meat tenderizer to the soles of my feet and my toes. I was almost hoping that a couple of my toes would just fall off so that they would not hurt anymore. I came around a corner and hit another aid station. On the other side of the aid station Ray and Bill were walking slowly. They had dropped their pace in order to wait for me - THANKS GUYS!!!!

At that point we were about 20 miles into the marathon. Two women came running by us like it was a 10K - I wondered where they got the energy from. A few seconds later about 4 guys caught us and they laid out their very detailed plan for breaking 14 hours. It is great to be at a race with sooooo many engineers - almost everyone is incredibly analytical. The plan was pretty simple - hold 11 minute miles and we would break 14 hours, but these guys had even calculated walking zones and rest stops..... To everyone we passed - two of the guys kept on saying - "hop on the 9:00 o'clock express. You can do it."

It turns out that the guys had also shared their plan with the two women who had run by like gazelles. The women had found something inside themselves and they chose to push it hard into town. Unfortunately we passed them about 1/2 mile later as they could not hold that pace that they had charged ahead with.. We left the water line of Skaha Lake and started climbing the rollers. I passed another guy and this time I looked back and saw a Tri-DRS singlet. I introduced myself and finally met Jay Capers.

The group of us was still shuffling along trying to hold 11 minute miles. The detail oriented engineer guys were still calculating our odds of breaking 14.   I dropped off as we went through the Skaha rollers, but I was able to catch the group again on the downhills. Ray and Bill were feeling pretty good, so they pulled ahead. This left me with the two human calculators/cheerleaders. The guy on the right introduced himself. I was not hearing or concentrating very well so I thought that he said his name was "Ralph."  He corrected me that his name was not "Ralph" but  "Rolf" - even my feeble brain was able to decipher that I was running next the "Keeper of the IMC Lodging and Goal Times List"  I introduced myself to Rolf Arands.

The guy on my left said "didn't I give you a sandwich at the bike Special Needs Bag?"  It was John Welch of RST. He had saved me on the bike and he was trying to pull me in for a sub 14 hour finish.

As before - we were shuffling along - only we had picked up the pace to give ourselves a margin of error. We debated about how fast we were running

"do you think this is a 9 minute mile?" "I think it's more like an 8:30" "Yeah right, like we could run 8:30's right now?" "It sure feels like an 8:30"

We turned onto Main Street and hit the aid station. I had to walk and asked Rolf and John to run on. Rolf tried to talk me into running with them, but I was not up for it. The finish line was getting closer, but I was hurting too much - my feet were lodging a formal protest.

I kept trudging along on Main Street. The fans were incredibly helpful. An ironvet on a bike talked to me for over a block - he was very motivating. I promised him that I wouild run again when there were three stoplights to go. Hurricane  Bob Mina passed me and I congratulated him. I started jogging again.

Two blocks from the Hog's Breath I picked up my pace. I ran (actually ran - not jogged) the last few yards of Main Street - high fiving the kids and cheering with the crowd. I could not believe that I was running. The left turn onto Lakeshore Drive was incredible. I ran hard to the finish line and crossed in 14:10:48.

I completed my goal. I had gone from couch to Canada in 10 months. I am an IRONMAN.

POST-RACE:

Two incredible volunteers escorted me from the finish line. Somehow I received my IMC towel, finisher's medal and T-shirt (the correct size - how do they do it?). The ladies escorted my to the line for the massage tent per my request - they stayed with me for several minutes until they were sure that I was OK - they brought me water and some chicken soup. The chicken soup actually tasted great. I had a great massage, and I walked back to the finish line to find my wife who was standing right next to the results tent. It was sooooo good to see her. I got my congratulatory hug (over the snow fence) and I heard how proud she was of my accomplishment. After a very long day that was filled with ups and downs it was very uplifting to hear her words.

I picked up my gear bags, changed into some dry clothes, had my finishers photo taken (remember to wear your finisher's shirt and medal - they look great in the photo), I soaked my legs in a hot tub, and I waited to no avail for some pizza. I then picked up my bike and Winter and I walked back to the Rochester. My eyes felt like they had a salt shaker dumped in them - I had to squint to see anything. Winter was hungry after waiting for me for several hours so we went to the Iguana for a bite - nothing else was open at 11:00pm. Fajitas in Canada are not what I am used to - what is a tomato tortilla anyhow????  My stomach was still in an act of rebellion so I took my meal home to eat the next day. We turned on Channel 11 to watch the 17 hour finishers - there was no way that I was going to make it back to the finish line. The fireworks (like the start cannon) went off a little early. I then realized why my eyes were barely open - I was EXHAUSTED. I passed out almost immediately.

THE DAYS AFTER

I awoke on Monday feeling hungry (finally). My stomach was still a little tender, but I managed to eat.

I was happy to have completed my first IM in such difficult conditions, but I was frustrated that I had fallen apart during the race. 14 hours was much longer than what I had hoped to do.

I contemplated IMC '99. My legs hurt, my stomach still ached and I had not totalled the bills for the cost of IMC '98. I did not want to come back to Penticton again in '99. Then I thought twice - this race has the best organization and volunteers of any race that I have ever done. I want to do better than a 14 hour IM. In a month I would be ready to contemplate IMC '99, but I would not have a month to decide. I chose to submit my application for '99.

The rest of the day was a blur - finisher's merchandise, results book (Vineman and Wildflower's took about 3 months to arrive - IMC's was complete with pictures in about 10 hours), awards ceremony, shopping, packing, meeting friends, handing my bike off to Ray for the drive home. soon it was Tuesday morning and time to fly home.

Back home I evaluated the race. In Penticton, surrounded by IronVets, my finish did not look to stellar. As I reread my goals for the race and talked to non-triathletes I started thinking clearly again:

I have completed every one of my IMC '98 goals.

I am an Ironman.

I am not the same person that I was 10 months ago and I am very, very happy that I did what had to be done in order to finish.

To every IronVirgin out there - good luck training for your goals, and be sure to remember what your goals are!!!!