Jim Riccitello has been a pro triathlete since he was 12. That was back in 1962. No, that's not quite right. Maybe it was '68. Anyway, he's been a pro a REAL LONG TIME and, OK, it's a little embarrassing to admit, but he's never (shh!) done Hawaii. That is, until now....
First Installment 1: Monday, Oct. 5, 1999
Been training for the Ironman. Fifteen years as a triathlete, and this is the first time I've said that. I tried the Ironman in 1987. I did most of it. Unfortunately, I left out the most important part...the finish. In '87 I didn't train for it, I just did it. Tried to do it.
This is different. I'm actually training for it this time. As most of my tri friends have told me, "It's about time you do the Ironman. You've been training for it the past 15 years." I guess I have.
I've coached myself for my whole career--something I'm very proud of. This is probably why I've been in the sport so long. It's taken me this long to figure out what the hell I'm doing. Not wanting to be a professional triathlete for another 15 years, I called up my buddy, the person who introduced me to the sport in 1984, Paul Huddle, for some Ironman coaching advice. It sure is nice not having to think up a training plan.
It's weird, though. I've figured out what I need to do to get ready for the races I do. I know how fast the boys go. I know everything about everyone I'm racing. I have their strengths and weaknesses filed away in my brain. I know when I'm ready to do well in a race like St. Croix. Yet this Ironman thing...it's a mystery to me. I'm clueless. I have no idea how I will do.
I'm pretty sure I've done enough to finish, but I don't know how long it will take me. I don't know how fast the swim, bike, or run will be. I have no idea about race strategy. I don't know much about my competitors, other than what I watch on TV. I know I race them a lot, but not in the long stuff. As Dan "Slowman" pointed out to me...I'm a rookie...a newbie. It's kinda cool.
I've been traveling to watch the Ironman for the past 7 years. I go because watching everyone finish reminds me of why I do triathlon. I don't do this sport for money (I would've quit long ago if that were the case, although I'm not complaining). It's the individual aspect of the race that attracted me. In the old days, you did your training, showed up at the race, went as hard as you could, then compared your time with everybody. For the most part, the strongest person won. I like that. And the main race was with yourself. You against the course. Each year, when I stand at the finish line in Kona, I see in everyone's eyes the satisfaction they get by crossing the finish line. It doesn't matter what place they get. It's the accomplishment. I watch till late in the night. By midnight I remember why I do this sport. It leaves me refreshed and ready for another year.
You don't know how many times I've had to say, when people find out I'm a triathlete, "No, I've never done the Ironman." Then they say, "Oh. You just do the Tinman ones." Even though I consider myself a triathlete, I'm a little embarrassed about never doing the Ironman.
The best thing about finally doing the Ironman: I'll finally be able to say I've done it.
Today was hard. 5 hours on the bike at Ironman effort, followed by a one-hour run at Ironman effort. Things have been going well and I expected today to be a great workout. Not to be. I felt like a turd warmed over. I struggled the whole day and never really got into a rhythm. Just the way I don't want to feel in Hawaii. I guess it's better to get the bad one out of the way.
My wife, Traci, says I'm a paranoid hypochondriac. I told her when I got home I felt like I was getting sick. I kind of felt like I had a little sore throat coming on. I guess I'm OK, but I did get awful cold during my swim workout. Traci says I'm not sick.
I had to teach a "how to" class for the El Tour de Tucson (our big bike event) tonight. I guess I felt okay during that. I'm probably all right. I did feel kind of weak, though. Jeez, I am paranoid.
I'm sick. I'm actually glad. Gives me an excuse for feeling so crummy yesterday. I hope it goes away soon. I doing my super-duper, anti-cold treatment. I'm pounding echinacea and Vitamin C by the hour. I chomped down 3 cloves of garlic this morning. That was painful. It was unusually strong garlic. I can feel it working, though. By noon I was passing garlic gas. I'll kick this cold's ass. Like Traci says...better to be sick now than in Hawaii. The problem is that I'm supposed to do a fairly hard hour and 45-minute run tomorrow. Do I skip it, or do it later in the week? I'll sleep on it tonight. I'm thinking it's better to go in more rested. I'll probably skip it.
It's just nice to have that feedback you get from working out. Resting is the hardest part of this sport. It's hard to tell myself the rest will make me stronger. I'm better about it in my old age, but it's still hard.
Someone will be doing that 1:45 run. That bothers me. I'll have to be content with the fact that I've done enough. That bothers me, too. I did an hour and a half on the bike this morning. Tried to burn the cold out. I put on extra clothes, which isn't much because it's still hot as hell here, to get my body heat up. I'll probably do the same on my little jog tonight, assuming I don't get worse. I felt like crap riding. I could barely pedal up the hills. It sucked. I'm not depressed, though. I just sound depressed. I'm actually upbeat. Well, not quite upbeat. I'll feel better when Traci gets home.
Travel day. Generally, I like to travel. I was pretty rested up for this trip. I have my little cold under control. It's good when I can wail on a cold in a couple of days. Means I'm not too far gone with my training. I'm riding that fine line. Doing just enough training to totally stress myself, yet not so much that a little cold turns into the Bubonic plague. I am a little paranoid now about getting sick again, though. Nothing like a ride in a germ infested tube to ease my worries.
So I rested up for the trip to make sure my germ fighters were in good form. It's cool to say "good form" now, by the way. My Tucson to LA leg was great. Had a whole row to myself. I even dozed a little. So far so good. I took the evening flight over to Hawaii, and I was hoping it wouldn't be too crowded. I got to the gate, and it looked like the evacuation of Saigon. Why do people wait in line to get on the plane. Why would you want to be the first person on the plane? Who would want to prolongue the amount of time their right ass cheek will be asleep? People were standing in line 30 minutes before they even started boarding. I like to wait 'till the last minute. At least until they announce boarding has started.
Anyway, I'm in 33 B. I thought I specifically requested a non-infected section of the plane. The guy across from me has this runny nose. He sniffs, and sniffs, and sniffs, the whole frickin flight. I guess where he came from, they never heard of tissue. I came so close to telling him to blow his nose. Why do people sniff instead of blow. You blow...it's gone. You sniff...it's still there. I don't understand this. I could hear him sniffing over my ear plugs, and the engine. He was one sniffing bastard.
The dude behind me had the whooping cough. Of course he never covered his mouth. People can be such pigs. He was coughing on my neck the whole flight. And how all the sneezers got in my section, I'll never know. It's a test. Someone is trying to show me that, I'm fine and I won't get sick.
This still didn't make it any easier when the guy next to me sneezed out a piece of lettuce that stuck to my arm. I felt like hurling on his face. If I wasn't so adverse to puking, I would have done it.
Speaking of this guy next to me...he was the ultimate traveler. One of those people that nothing ever bothers. My wife travels like that. You know the kind. They get on the plane, and before it rolls away from the gate, they're snoring. And they don't even care that they're snoring. And they know they're snoring, because the sound of it wakes themselves up three or four times and, of course they fall right back asleep. They sleep right up to the second the food cart pulls up to their row. Then they're up, they eat, and right back to sleep. My guy ate his food (excepting the piece of lettuce that he sneezed out on me) in about two minutes. He was licking his fingers and shit. Never closed his mouth when he chewed. He made so much noise eating that food. I looked right at him a couple of times. He just looked at me and smiled. He gave me this look like, "This is good shit, isn't it?" Then he falls to sleep before they take his tray away. The flight attendant asked me if I would hand her the tray. I didn't want to, but I grabbed it. I made sure I gave him an elbow to the chest as I grabbed it. Of course he fell right back asleep. Woke up when the wheels hit the ground...bastard.
I made it. Don't feel too bad, actually. Today I did a little easy stuff in each sport to get the plane ride out of my body. I felt pretty good. Went slow...which is good. A hard effort right off the plane can ruin some good training. It does for me, anyway. So I went slow.
I started from the Four Seasons Resort at Hualalai. My friend is the spa director there. It's an awesome place. In fact it was just voted the #1Resort Spa in the world by Travel and Leisure Magazine. My wife worked with this guy, Thad, in Tucson. They were both Exercise Physiologists at Canyon Ranch (fancy spa in Tucson). Now he's the spa director at the Four Seasons. And my wife is an attorney. Weird. I'm staying with him and his family for the first week.
So I ride out onto the highway. I remember 1987. This is one long, hot, windy bike ride. I'm passed by five people in the first 30 minutes of my ride. It's amazing how fast these people train before the race. I experience this every year. While I'm here training for Xterra, people are dropping me left and right. No one likes to be passed out here. Whether it takes them 9 or 13 hours to do the race. You can't let someone dog you on the highway. It was hard, but I let them.
I had a great swim in the pool at the spa. This spa is incredible. They have a great locker room with an awesome jacuzzi and cold (48 degrees) dip. I like to switch back and forth from hot to cold. Last year I took Molina and Tinley to this spa the day after the race. Molina had nine Heinekens before we got there. Then he swam 9x300's with me...the day after the Ironman...not to mention the beers.
Later while Tinley and I were betting each other how much it would take to submerge ourselves in the cold dip, Molina walks in. He asks us what we're doing. I tell him I'll give him $20 if he submerges himself in the cold dip.
He never stopped walking. He walked right into the cold dip...up over his head...stood there for a while before saying, in the way only Molina can say things, "Easiest $20 I ever made." No one is tougher than Molina. He can be pretty funny, too. Tinley and Molina together is a sight to see. I consider myself lucky to witness these two together. They don't make triathletes like these guys anymore.
Today I did a long ride. I was supposed to check out the ride from town to Kawaihai and back. I figured about 4 hours. Coach Huddle told me not to go too hard. I went easy until I got 5 miles from Kawaihai. That’s were Chris Legh caught up to me. He was going hard. I figured it was only 5 miles till town...I’ll ride in with him. When we got to Kawaihai, he asked me if I started with Peter Reid and Tim Deboom. I told him no. He told me they were a little ways back. I’m thinking this would be an interesting ride back.
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