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TRAINING / RACING<br />
Into a new year<br />
of the Ironman<br />
journey<br />
BY SCOTT GAISER<br />
Top: In the days leading up to IM World<br />
Championships, Scott logs some light training miles<br />
along scenic routes around Kona.<br />
Bottom: Scott Gaiser prepares for his final<br />
race of the season at the 2012 Ironman World<br />
Championships in Kona.<br />
F<br />
or me, an Ironman race is<br />
much like a game of golf. It<br />
takes most of my day, I do it<br />
once or twice a year, and it<br />
is expensive. Unfortunately,<br />
unlike golf, there are no “mulligans” in<br />
an Ironman. After months and months<br />
of training, triumph, injury, unsolicited<br />
notoriety, and stresses of a new job, I<br />
can say this year’s Ironman experience<br />
has been an eventful yet wonderful<br />
journey. Nevertheless, I find myself<br />
wishing for a “do over” after my final<br />
race of the season at Ironman World<br />
Championships in Kona in October.<br />
Pre-race<br />
preparations<br />
As Ironman Kona<br />
approached, I really<br />
did not know how<br />
well prepared I was.<br />
A new job with added<br />
responsibilities, less<br />
time to train, and a<br />
lingering hamstring<br />
injury that kept me<br />
from running for<br />
much of late August<br />
and early September<br />
gave me pause. I was<br />
equipped, however,<br />
with the experience<br />
of three previous trips<br />
to Kona, a training<br />
regimen created by<br />
my coach and former<br />
age-group Ironman world champion<br />
Jim Bruskewitz, and a proven nutrition<br />
plan. Sunny days and unseasonably<br />
warm weather, along with extra layers of<br />
clothing, helped me create the conditions of<br />
the lava fields of the Big Island in the hills<br />
of Montana.<br />
Upon my arrival in Kona, thanks to the<br />
generosity and hospitality of Brian Frank,<br />
I enjoyed healthy food, relaxing days, and<br />
stressless restful nights with friends. When<br />
my 3:30 a.m. alarm woke me up on race<br />
morning, I was somewhat confident that I<br />
was going to have a good day.<br />
Race-day mantras and moments<br />
The beginning of the Ironman World<br />
Championship is an awesome experience.<br />
I can’t think of anything in the sport of<br />
triathlon that can match the magnificence<br />
and emotion. You’re in the water with<br />
1,800 competitors, thousands of people<br />
along the pier and shoreline surrounding<br />
Kailua Bay are cheering, and helicopters<br />
are flying overhead. As you tread water<br />
and the sun begins to rise over Mount<br />
Hualalai, it is impossible not to get a little<br />
emotional and have an overwhelming<br />
sense of gratitude to be privileged to have<br />
the opportunity to be in that place at that<br />
time. When the cannon sounds though, all<br />
the sentimentality is forgotten and the race<br />
is on.<br />
I immediately began focusing on my raceday<br />
mantras. The best mantras are unique<br />
to that day and can spark that extra<br />
motivation when needed. For Kona 2012,<br />
mine were:<br />
Relax: Given the bigness of the event I felt<br />
it was important to do just that . . . breathe<br />
and enjoy the moment.<br />
Be patient: I had a habit of starting too<br />
- continued on page 41<br />
40 Feb/Mar : Issue 83 "In light of the recent cycling news regarding doping, I am proud to say that I supplement legally and cleanly with <strong>Hammer</strong> <strong>Nutrition</strong>." - Beverly E.
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