MYM #015: Ironman Maryland Recap

I’ve been looking forward to writing this newsletter/blog for quite a bit now. For those of you who follow us on social media - you’ll know that I (Fran) have been training for Ironman Maryland for about 9 months.

(Warning - this is a long blog. I won't be offended if you don't feel like reading all the way through)

Happy to report that I completed it in 11 hours & 10 minutes - which I was extremely happy with.

There are usually two questions people immediately have when they hear about this: 

• What is an Ironman? 

An Ironman is a one day event composed of the following:

• 2.4 Mile Swim
• 112 Mile Bike
• 26.2 Mile Run

Athletes have 17 hours to complete the entirety of the race, and each individual part of the race has its own cutoff time as well. 

Ready for the hardest part of this whole thing?

No music/podcasts allowed. No headphones, no cellphones, etc. Nothing but you & your thoughts all day long.

Not only is this challenge a physical endurance event, but it's a mental war as well. (We’ll dive into more on this later)

• Why are you doing this? (AKA what is wrong with you)

One major philosophy I’ve been trying to model my life decisions on recently has been “Be The Best You.” I try to make decisions with the question in mind of whether the things I’m doing maximize my potential. Whether that be in the business world, personal life, financially, physical fitness, spiritually, relationships, etc. I am on a mission to push myself to my limits in every aspect of my life, and am trying to encourage others to do the same.

I saw a clip a while back of a guy saying - “Imagine we were in a universe where there were thousands of realities - and hence thousands of versions of you. If a portal opened up & suddenly you were face to face with the BEST version of yourself - how would you feel? How close are you to them? Why are they better than you? What are they willing to do that you’re not? Most importantly, what would you change after seeing them?” 

This framework of thinking has really changed the way I make decisions in life. I may never catch that guy - but I’m always going to be chasing him!

In the last few days - we've gotten tons of questions about everything Ironman related. I've done my best to go into as much detail as possible to answer anything someone could possibly have questions about.

The 3 Areas I want to focus on in this recap are the following:

1. Training Requirements
2. Race Weekend/Race Day
3. Financial Aspect

Training Requirements

Naturally, when you hear about a one day event composed of 3 activities totaling 140.6 miles, the mind immediately goes into question mode. How does someone even train for that?!

Well, for our financial fans out there who know how much we use this answer… IT DEPENDS!

There are people out there who sign up for these events with 0 baseline training whatsoever, and hence the training regiment is severe & needs to be clearly outlined with the end goal in mind. Others are well-versed veterans who do multiple events a year & hence stay in Ironman shape year-around. For these individuals the requirements are much less.

We fell somewhere in the middle. We had a great baseline from completing a Half-Ironman in Atlantic City back in 2019, and also just are naturally very conscious about making daily fitness a priority in our lives. When I say “we” I trained & completed the Ironman with an awesome group of guys; Chris Rahill, Justin Rubin, & Kevin McCarthy.

The community aspect that we built was incredible. We had a group-chat daily where we would be sending each other our workouts, tips, gear & nutrition recommendations, etc. Not only did this help each of us improve in multiple areas, but also built a sense of competition into our daily regiment. 

On a Sunday morning after a long night of fun at a Wedding or whatever, it’s very easy to say “Oh I’m just going to lay around and relax today.” Then all of the sudden you get a notification that Chris got up and biked 20 miles & ran 7 miles. Your mind immediately starts racing “Jesus - he got up and did all that? Okay guess it's time for me to get to work then.” 

Motivation gets you through the first few days of anything, but competition, discipline, and community are what keep you going once that early motivation fades. I cannot recommend finding your group to do an event with. Whether that be an Ironman, Marathon, 10 miler, or even a 5k. Having people to train with & work towards a common goal makes the experience easier & much more enjoyable all around.

It doesn’t need to be your best friends either. We weren’t all super close before this event, but after months & months of daily communication & camaraderie built, we will have a bond forever having accomplished this as a group. My suspicions are that this will not be the last event we do together either.

I am very happy to report that we all completed the race (and dominated at that!) Here is our picture together post race:

Anyway - back to training. There are TONS of programs out there that I am sure many people follow & it probably works out great for them. Chris actually bought a program, but the training requirements were upwards of 4 hours a day! (Who has time for that?!) So, naturally not many people are going to be able to follow that perfectly unless this is your job and that is all you need to do each day!

I didn’t exactly follow a program - I pretty much make-shifted a program based on what I thought would work best for me. I am a bit of a hybrid athlete by nature, meaning I love endurance training, but also enjoy lifting weights - so I tried to balance the two and slowly leaned into the endurance stuff more and more as we approached race month. 

Disclaimer: I am POSITIVE that this is not the most optimal programming that is out there, however - it worked great for me. If you are thinking about doing an event like this - you just need to figure out what works best for YOU! It’s never one size fits all.

Here is the general weekly framework I would follow:

• Monday: 1 hour cycle + (Upper Lift)
• Tuesday: 1 hour run + (Lower Lift)
• Wednesday: 1 hour cycle & 30 min speed run
• Thursday: 1 hour cycle + (Upper Lift)
• Friday: 40 minute run/swim + (Lower Lift)
• Saturday: Big Training Day (All 3 exercises)
• Sunday: Walk + Rest

Every Saturday (Big Training Day) would be composed of some mixture of the 3 activities, and we slowly built those up over time to get more and more prepared for what race day would actually feel like. We were essentially trying to replicate race day as much as possible so it just felt like any other training day.

Here is what we originally modeled back in December. We didn’t follow this exactly - but it was relatively close to this with slight modifications depending on how much time we had to train, and where we were in the world (sometimes you don’t have access to a pool/bay to swim.)

• January 28th: 30 Bike/10 run
• February 25th: 37 Bike/11.5 run
• March 25th: 45 Bike/13 run
• April 29th: 50 Bike & 14 run
• May 27th: 56 Bike & 15 run & 0.5 swim
• June 24th 62 bike & 13 run & 0.5 swim
• July 29th: 70 bike & 10 run &1.0 swim
• August 26th: 45 bike & 10 run & 2 swim
• September 16th: Race Day

The most difficult part throughout the training process was definitely time. At a minimum you were committing 2 hours a day, and oftentimes even more as we got closer to September. 

I would break it up into a morning & afternoon session. Whether that be run in the morning, bike in the afternoon, or lift in the am & run in the afternoon. Made it seem much more feasible than trying to find a straight 2.5 hours (including preparation, shower, etc)  where you could block off time for training.

However, once it becomes part of the daily routine & regiment it is rather simple to follow. I’d wake up, train, go to work, come home, train, cook dinner with Taylor, relax & watch tv, and prepare for the next day. Having a consistent & disciplined routine makes anything much easier to do - (hence why we are ALWAYS talking about those two words when it comes to personal finance!)

Saturday training sessions could range anywhere from 3-6 hours, so obviously that time commitment was even more! On those days, not only were you worried about having enough time to workout, but also the nutrition required. We would need to always have coolers on hand with water, gatorade, snacks, gels, etc. 

To summarize, training was a lot. Tons of time, effort, and energy goes into just PRAYING that you are prepared for race day. No matter how great you feel about how hard you trained, there is always that little bit of doubt creeping into your mind as you approach race day.

People start asking you - are you ready? Do you think you can actually do it? All of the sudden, no matter how great you felt a day ago - you start wondering whether you are actually ready!

But once you’re in race week - at that point you don’t have a choice anymore. There’s no more training that can be done and you just need to see if you are able to do it!

Race Weekend:

Our race was located in Cambridge Maryland. It is a very small town with not a ton going on. From what we gathered over the weekend talking to locals & checking out some restaurants, the annual Ironman event there is probably the biggest event of the year.

This made it an incredible spot for a big race with 1500 people. They were able to block off all the roads, hotels were only 2 miles away from everything, and it's just a very cool environment to be around. During the race itself, one of the best parts was running through the neighborhoods seeing all of the different front yard parties going on. 

It was hilarious as you almost got to know the people, because the run course was three 8.7 mile loops - so you ran by these people multiple times. There was a notorious group of young guys wearing “Pit Crew” shirts who were absolutely incredible & would go crazy for every person so passed them.

So anyway, they make you come in on Thursday for basic check in. It is nice that they give you your gear, instructions, and all that good stuff a few days before so that you aren’t stressed doing everything the day before race day. 

They also have this place called “Ironman Village”, which is very cool. They essentially have a gigantic shop of awesome ironman gear you can buy. (Side note: absolutely genius marketing tactic by them making you walk through the store anytime you needed to get to anything) Additionally they have tons of stations with anything you could possibly need; extra nutrition, a bike tech team, bike rentals in emergencies, etc. 

On Friday, you bring your bike, bike gear, run gear, and anything else you might need to your check in/transition area where you will make your transitions throughout the race. It’s nice to get that done the day before so that on race day you can just wake up, put your swim gear on and be ready to roll.

Cambridge is notorious for “Choptank River” which is where we swam on Saturday. On Friday, it looked like the middle of the ocean with how the waves were crashing up on the rocks. I was wondering how it was possible we were going to swim there the next day. Everyone assured the forecast was much calmer the next day, but it was extremely intimidating to look out there when you are used to swimming in the nice easy LA fitness swimming pool. Cambridge is also notorious for tons & tons of jellyfish, but by the grace of mother nature they were nowhere to be seen this weekend.

A special thank you goes out to all of the Ironman team & Volunteers who made this an incredible experience - you guys were all rock stars & I cant thank you all enough for your efforts to make our experience even better!

Race Day:

4 Am Wake Up. Not a great night of sleep. Usually falling asleep the night before an event like this is very difficult. A combination of nerves & excitement keeps you up thinking constantly. Then on top of that you add having to get up to go to the bathroom multiple times because of how much water/electrolytes you have been drinking to make sure you are hydrated!

So we wake up, and head down to Breakfast. Shout out to the Holiday Inn Express who put out breakfast at 4:30 am knowing that most of the people staying there were participating in the race that day!

Transition area (where all of our bikes/gear was) opened at 5:00 am, so after eating breakfast we took a quick drive over there to do some final preparations before the swim was supposed to start at 6:30 am. 

Upon arrival, you get a rush of excitement & nervous energy. For those who have played a sport - that opening gameday feel is exactly what it was. You check your tires one last time, make sure your sneakers are definitely in your bag for the 20th time, and then just play the waiting game.

Within about 30 minutes - we hear an announcement that the infamous Choptank River is acting up, and there were some severe issues with the current course they had tracked for us. It was supposed to be 2 big rectangle shaped loops.

Essentially - the wind was blowing 20 mph in one direction, while the current was extremely strong in the other direction. The way it was explained to us, even the best of swimmers would be caught swimming in place for hours if we kept the current course. This led many people to go into panic mode out of fear of canceling the swim. 

All throughout training & the weekend we had heard rumors of how often swim portions of an Ironman get canceled. If the water is extremely rough, they often need to either shorten the course, or cancel it altogether. Multiple people die each year at triathlon events, and oftentimes it is because of the swim portion. 

Therefore, race directors are extremely cautious when figuring out what to do, because obviously you are looking at the safety of 1,500 people. At the same time - people WANT to swim, because they feel unfulfilled if they don’t complete the full thing. So it is a hard business decision at the end of the day to balance the safety & happiness of your customers.

Fortunately for us, what they decided to do was shorten the swim from 2 loops to 1 loop, and designed it so that we would avoid where the current was extreme. 

Sigh of relief. We still get to swim & it’s a shortened course! (For someone who was not stoked about the swim - this was a WIN WIN!)

Because of how rough the water was - we didn’t end up starting the swim portion until 7:30. The pros went first, followed by all of us normal participants in a single file line starting every 5 seconds. (I didn’t get in until 8:00 exactly)

They did this because the swim portion of these races gets very dangerous. People grab, kick, panic, you name it! Therefore they try to spread us out as much as possible to avoid any disasters. They also ask that you line up in estimated swim speed (but naturally everyone jumps to the front no matter how slow they are because they just want to start)

So anyway - time to swim. As I approached the start line - butterflies hit, you start saying to yourself “okay here we go!” Once I get there, 5 seconds go by, and the guy there says “go.” Boom - You just start running, dive in, and here we go…

To be honest, the swim wasn’t bad at all. I felt extremely prepared even for the full thing, so only having one loop - I wanted to try to fly as fast as possible. You really don’t even have much to think about while swimming, because it’s really just focusing on your form & counting strokes until your next breath. 

I followed a simple 8 strokes, breathe, and look for the next booey system. It worked well. I got lost once to which some guy on a kayak came up to me and pointed me in the right direction, but other than that it was all good. I popped out of the water in just over 18 minutes, and was ready to crush the bike portion for the next 6+ hours. 

Side note: Getting the swim cap off my giant head was a near impossible task - see picture below for a good laugh:

The bike portion was the one I was probably most nervous about but also excited at the same time. I felt as though I would do relatively well as I have pretty strong legs from years of lifting. The only thing I was concerned about was how my back was going to feel in a hunched over bike position for over 6 hours.

Most people’s biggest concern is the bike. Not only because of how long you are out there, but also because of how many things can go wrong. Many times people pop a tire, break a chain, crash, etc. There are a TON of nightmare situations that can happen during a 6+ hour ride. Some people know how to fix a popped tire, but for most people - if any of these situations were to happen they are pretty much just out of luck & done for the day. I saw this happen to many people throughout the day as it's rather common. So obviously with that in the back of your mind all morning & early afternoon - you are just praying for no issues while you continue to pedal on. 

The first 70 miles (3.5 hours) were pretty great all things considered. Felt like I was really moving well. Legs felt good, was staying on top of my hydration, and wasn’t getting too bored mentally yet. Then from mile 70-95 it was pure hell. 20 mph gusts of wind in our face the entire time. No matter what turn you made it was always right there in your face again. I couldn’t help but laugh a few times and think to myself “How is this even possible?!”

I distinctly remember an older woman (who was a total beast flying past me) paused next to me to say “This wind is amazing!” to which I responded “Amazing is a very nice word compared to the one I’m thinking in my head!” She laughed and we went on our way. 

It was really humbling on the bike to be honest. I am 28 years old, and relative to most people I know - I’m probably one of the best athletes. But here? I was getting passed constantly by old men, older women, people who looked much less fit than me, etc. It was crazy! I kept thinking - “Is something wrong with my bike?!” There wasn’t. That’s what is so great about these events. They humble you and show you that ANYONE can do it. 

It's inspiring, you have all these people thinking my group of friends is nuts for signing up for this event - meanwhile there are men & women ages 60-80 who are also crushing this thing! What heroes! You also see people who are 300+ lbs & wonder how the heck they are possibly going to finish this thing. But guess what? They do! It may take a while - but with grit & determination they cross that finish line eventually.

Eventually - after 6 hours & 20 minutes, I finished the 112 mile bike ride, which I was thrilled to finally get off that thing. The most difficult part other than the physical aspect of racing against the wind for nearly the entirety of it, was just how bored you were. Contrary to popular belief, 6 hours of farms is not the most exciting sightseeing… This was the part where no headphones or music was really a factor. Just being in your own head for over 6 hours gets really old. You run out of things to talk to yourself about.

Your mind wanders constantly. Everywhere from what you have going on at work this upcoming week, to mistakes you've made over the past year & things you could have done better, to how the Philadelphia Eagles are going to fare this season, and more. What honestly got me through it was starting to write this blog in my head and think about how I’d describe what I was experiencing.

I got a spark of energy seeing my fiance & my mom cheering right at the bike dismount spot. “Okay - 26.2 to go” was what I kept saying as I smiled and ran past them with my bike. At this point I knew I was going to finish the race. My only real concern of not finishing was a pending disaster on the bike, so once we got through that it was a huge sigh of relief to know worst case scenario I will crawl through that finish line at midnight if needed.

I felt very strong going into the run. Pre-race I knew this was going to be my best & favorite part of the race as I felt most prepared when it came to running. For the first 16 miles - it was all smooth sailing. I had a great system of running a mile & walking through the aid station every mile. When I walked through the aid station I’d load up on water & gatorade (gels if needed), and then get right back to it. 

I was averaging about 8:30 miles, which after the swim & bike I felt fantastic about! My goal pre-race was to finish the run in 4 hours & 30 minutes. At this point I was tracking to go sub 4 hours - which had me ecstatic. I couldn’t believe it! Then disaster struck…

On mile 17, as I was passing my family & friends, my right calf turned into a number 6 and completely cramped worse than I’ve ever experienced in my life. 12 years of football & working out - never has this happened to me. It took me a couple minutes of limping to finally rub the cramp out of my calf. For the next 3 miles - I would run 10 seconds, and walk 10 seconds as I kept feeling the cramp coming back. No matter how much water or gatorade I put down, I couldn’t catch up to the salt/electrolytes needed to break the cramp.

I was in mental hell at this point. I went from the highest high to the lowest low thinking I was going to have to walk the final 10 miles of this thing to finish. I was so frustrated because physically & mentally I felt great but it was my body failing me. Anger would be an understatement of a word to describe what I was feeling. I was having some bad conversations in my head with some inner demons to say the least. 

Then all of the sudden, around mile 20 my guardian angel saved me. A young guy in a yellow tank top saw me cramp badly during my 10 on/10 off that I was doing for nearly 3 miles. He says “Do you need salt?” To which I replied - “If you have any you’re a lifesaver.” This hero proceeds to whip out 1000 mg of a salt packet and says to throw this back & you'll be good in 5 minutes. 

After swallowing a bag of salt with no water (we had just passed an aid station) I didn't feel it kick in until about 5 minutes later just like he mentioned. At this point - I was a man on a mission and got right back to running. I felt like a superhero with this newfound energy after this salt pack brought my body back to life. I didn’t stop the rest of the way until I crossed the finish line. My run ended up being 4 hours & 14 minutes. Not what I wanted earlier in the run, but still better than my pre-race expectations.

On mile 26, with 0.2 miles to go, I started to get very emotional. 9 months of training multiple times daily, 11 hours of powering through all day, just for this moment. I started crying - which was not something I expected to do, but I couldn’t help it. I was just overwhelmed with emotions and just felt so relieved that I did exactly what I said to myself & everyone that I could do. For those who know me well - one phrase I try to live by is "Say what you're going to do then go out and do it"

I approached the red carpet - rang the "first-time Ironman" bell - and sprinted through the finish yelling “WOOOOOO LETS GOOOOO” as I passed my friends & family who had been there all day supporting me.

It was a remarkable feeling. I immediately went over to my family, took some pictures, and just tried to get myself together after being overwhelmed with emotion. I am so lucky and thankful to have such an unbelievable support system around me. My mother, brother, and fiance drove 3 hours each way just to see me pass by a few times throughout an 11 hour day. Truly the luckiest guy in the world and I cannot thank them enough. 

My fiancé especially. Dealing with me over the past 9 months of early mornings, and just hours & hours of time dedicated to this one day. She has been my rock through a lot this past year and I don't have a strong enough vocabulary to explain how much I love & appreciate her.

My favorite part of the day came a few minutes later. My best friend Chris finished just behind me (part of the reason I knew I needed to book it those last few miles was I could not let him catch me or I’d never hear the end of it). Watching him cross the line made me smile even more than when I crossed. I could only think of how much we had put into this - and it was just an incredible feeling to know we did together. We talked every single day about this event for 9 months. We motivated each other, competed daily, and pushed ourselves to new limits. This was just an awesome moment I’ll always remember:

The last thing to note about race day. Everyone wants to know what the first meal is after an 11 hour workout day. The answer? Nothing. Unfortunately - your body is in such a state of shock you can barely get anything down & just feel so sick. I was barely able to sleep at night, but can assure you that when I finally went to bed, there was a smile on my face.

Financial Aspect:

One thing I think people may find hard to believe is just how expensive it is to participate in an event like this. Between all of the gear needed, nutrition in training, etc it can be an extremely costly period of time.

I tried to log as much as possible throughout the process, but obviously missed some things here & there. Naturally things like the bike are a one time cost, but this will give you a good idea if you are new & looking to do something like this:

Lets breakdown the total cost:

Swim:

• Gym membership to Swim (LaFitness) - $30/month
• Goggles - $20
• Wetsuit ~$150

Bike:

• Average Bike Cost - $2,000 (Though some go up to $15,000!)
• Bike Fitting - $100
• Bike Shoes - $125
• Bike Tune Ups - $200
• Triathlon Suit/Bike Shirts - $150
• Aero-Bars - $100
• Spare Parts & Flat Tire Kit - $50

Run:

• Training Sneakers - $120
• Race Sneakers - $250
• Running Shorts - $50

Nutrition:

• Roughly $50/week (Including drinks, snacks, gels, etc)
• We will call it $1,500 overall throughout training

Race Sign Up:

• Cost of Event - $850
• 1 Day USA Triathlon Membership - $15

Hotel & Travel:

• $500 Total

Total Cost: ~$6,350

That number may seem like a crazy amount, and it is! For that reason alone, there were not a ton of younger individuals at this event, even though you’d think the opposite because it involves a great deal of athleticism. 

Some people likely spent even more money than this, and some may have spent less. I was fortunate enough to borrow my Uncle Ken’s road bike (Shout out Uncle Ken you are the man for that!), so I got to avoid that bike cost. 

However, everything else is pretty spot on & I imagine that's pretty average for what most people experience. I can see why people like to stick to one sport! When you combine all three it can become an expensive hobby very quickly!

All of this just for the opportunity to hear “______ - YOU ARE AN IRONMAN.” It’s a big risk, but one that can be extremely fulfilling. It’s something I think everyone would find a ton of value in doing at some point in their lives. 

Conclusion:

This was one of the best days of my life - despite being one of the hardest. To push your body & mind to places it's never been before gives you a new perspective on what you are capable of accomplishing in your daily life. 

I left that weekend with a profound appreciation of how lucky I am to have the support & love I do from my friends & family. Without our support systems - we have nothing. 

I can’t help but acknowledge what may be a good or bad thing depending on who you ask. I woke up Sunday morning with one thought in my mind. Not happiness of a major accomplishment, not sadness that I could have done some things better, but instead just the following - What’s Up Next?

This is an important lesson for all of us. Running your first Marathon, Completing your first Ironman, making your first $100,000, making your first $1,000,000, etc - they all feel awesome for a moment. Then - after that moment we need the next thing to work towards to get that feeling again & again.

It’s so important to appreciate the journey we are on. Because hitting that goal is always great for a moment, until it doesn’t matter any more. We love the path of growth. The mission of trying to accomplish something bigger & better than anything we’ve done before. It’s what wakes me up in the morning.

This is why I love this stuff. I cannot recommend it enough. It will change the way you look at things in your life, and most importantly change the way you look at yourself. Growing up - all little kids want to be Superheroes. While that may never happen - continuing to push yourself to new limits gets you pretty damn close.

When that portal opens up, and the best version of Fran Walsh walks through - I want that to be me.

If you made it this far - you are a rock star. Thanks for reading my story. I hope you enjoyed it. I promise it’ll be the longest thing I ever write.

Actionable Tip: 

Sign up for something that scares you. You'll thank yourself later!

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