Difficult Roads Lead to Beautiful Destinations

David Wade has been working with me as a dedicated triathlete for a few years. His long story is amazing and one we can hopefully share one day. Today though, we share his story of the Extreme Alaskaman Triathlon. David has been training hard for this race since last fall. His weekly training consisted of cold open water swims in the Tennessee River all winter foll owed up with century rides up mountains like Lookout Mountain, Raccoon Mountain, Signal Mountain and finishing off the week with 4-6 hour run/hikes on the trail systems on those same mountains the next day with hill repeats.

On top of this, David works full time as the President of a very busy company and his schedule and stress level is top level. Despite his busy lifestyle with work and family, David found his balance.

David never missed a workout. Not many people would even think of doing this kind of training, but he embraced the challenge with a spark in his eye & a smile on his face. I am extremely impressed with his attitude and work ethic. Through all of this, he raised money for Cure Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy association to help find a cure for his friends child who is affected by the disease.

Here is his race report.

Alaskaman Extreme Triathlon

The most insane and incredible thing I have ever done!    

Of course the journey started months before we left but heading to the airport I felt well trained and confident. Our flight out of Chattanooga was delayed  three hours causing us to miss our first connection.  Fortunately, we arrived in time to snag the last flight of the day to Seattle after a zone 4 run across the concourse.  While we made it to Seattle, our luggage did not.  The following morning we made it to Alaska without luggage.  Our luggage finally caught up with us the following morning.   Evidently my bike did not travel too well either as one of my base bar shifters was not working.  After a couple of hours repairing wiring, all was good.   Ready for race day.

Race day I was up at 2:00 a.m., ate, and headed to T1 to set up.   T1 was a simple setup as I had placed all my bike stuff in two large plastic bags to start dry in case it rained.  Good thing as it was low fifties with light rain.  At 3:30 we loaded buses for the swim start.  We were in the water by 4:20 a.m. awaiting the start.  Light level was low with fog.  All I could see was three lights in the distance.  The race director instructed us to spot off the left light then turn right as we approached shore.  It was a deep water mass start but cleared quickly. The water temperature was 55° at the start but cooled as expected throughout the swim.   We swam past three points where glacier run off was filling the bay, each dropping the temperature more.  By 45 minutes into the swim it was down below 49°. My training had paid off as I was dealing with the cold pretty well.  It was a little unnerving that all I could see was the three lights, not buildings, other swimmers, support boats, or even the shore.  I had no perception of how far I had swam or how far I had left to swim.   I kept swimming.  Finally, I started to see a building.  I knew then that I must have made it most of the way across and was within a half mile or so.  I could now see the shore, a kayak and another swimmer.  This was a good feeling as before it felt as if I was the only one left in the dark expanse trying to reach the light in the distance.  The water started to get rougher.  It seemed like I was swimming awfully hard but getting nowhere.  Later, I found out that those of us that took longer than an hour on the swim were fighting the  tide and a constant stream of fishing boats leaving out for the day.   Finally, I saw the exit buoy and knew that I had made it.  It took me 1:49 to swim the 2.85 miles across the bay, the toughest swim I had ever done.  I was glad to be out of the water.

One of the best things about the extreme triathlon is having your own support.  My son Justin was knee deep in 49° water to help me out.  The almost two hours in cold water had taken a toll on me, but I was out and on to transition.  There was no red carpet to run on and no changing tents.  O well, changed anyhow.  Would not have been smart to remain in the cold wet clothes.  Out of transition and onto the bike.  A long transition 20:40.

Once on the bike panic struck.  My bike would not shift, not the front or rear, nothing.  Off the bike, I removed my battery as I have Di2 shifters.  I knew I had charged it the night before so what could be wrong   I pulled the battery, wiped the contacts and reinstalled.  I was thrilled it worked.  Lesson for the future always test on race morning even if all you do is charge the battery.  Off on the bike course. It was raining and I was still cold from the swim, but the cold did not last as the climbing started early on the course.  Around mile 20 my stomach started to hurt.  At mile 25 I was in the woods.  At least I was prepared.  I saw my support crew at mile 30 ready with nutrition and hydration. I passed without stopped only yelling for them to find immodium and more toliet paper.  At mile 40 my support was waiting with fuel, immodium, and toilet paper.  After a stop in the restroom, I was on my way again.  Mile 50 was my last trip to the woods.  I remembered from the elevation map that mile 58 was pretty much the end of climbs, followed by a long downhill with the last 30 flat.   My memory and a false flat led to a frustrating 10 miles as the end of the climb was really at mile 68.  Instead it was ten miles of around a one percent grade that looked more like a slight downhill to me.   At mile 70, came a fast downhill.  At mile 78 I turned south toward Portage Glacier and slowed to 13 mph fighting a strong head wind.   At Portage Glacier, we turned north.  This time I had a strong tailwind. Instead of 13 mph i was now easily hitting 26+ on the same flat road.   I kept the tail wind most of the remainder of the ride. This was absolutely the most beautiful ride you can imagine.  The bike leg was 6:59 with 4698 feet of elevation gain.  Not the bike split I expected, but considering my issues I will take.  Today was all about pace and nutrition for me, with the main goal of the day to save enough energy for the mountain climbs.

Pulled into T2, I was ready to get off the bike.  Someone handed me my bag and off I was into T2.  Again no changing tents.  Changed anyhow.  Loaded up my backpack with 100 ounces of water and I was off  - T2 12:29.

The first fourteen miles of the run was along a path with woods on one side and water on the other.  My main goal for this section was  to keep a easy pace and maintain my nutrition plan as I knew I needed to go into mile 20 in good shape.   For most of the run I was alone with nature.  I managed my plan and reached mile 14.7 feeling good.  In all a pretty uneventful section 673’ elevation gain 14.7 miles.

One of the great things about this race is that your support joins the last section.  At mile 14.7 my son Justin and my son-in-law Nathan joined.  It was great to have company.  Mile 14 - 20 was an out and back on the nordic trail with 577’ of elevation gain. An amazing run through tall evergreens.  

I arrived at mile 20 feeling good.  I swapped my run shoes for trail shoes and headed to the medical check in.  My backpack was getting pretty light, so I stopped to fill up before heading up the mountain.  After 50 yards, the trail turned straight up.  The first half mile or so was brutal.  It was so steep that my ankles could not bend that much, so I was forced to use the side step approach.  When it flattened to a reasonable 15° grade, I was thankful.  Took a quick fuel stop and headed on up.  The rest of the first trip up was this same pattern, brutal steep for a half mile or so followed by an more reasonable 10° - 15° grade.  The views were amazing with lush green plants, clear  glacier fed lakes and snow.  As we approached the top, we transversed snow bowls and a freshly melted stream.  No way to avoid just plunging through the cold water.   It was freezing but actually did not feel that bad as I was burning up.  My heart rate was zone 2 - 3 just to keep moving.  Having Justin and Nathan with me was great.  Justin made sure that I stayed on nutrition schedule, and Nathan kept me from falling backwards more than once.  We saw the Alaskaman flags and knew that we were almost up the first climb.   When we reached the top, it felt like we were on top of the world.  

After several meters across a narrow ridge with steep drop offs on both sides with gorgeous views, we started the descent.  We decided to make up all the time we could on the descent to leave as much time as possible for the second trip up.  Shortly after we started the descent, the trail took us very close to the finish line.  It was exhilarating.  It felt like we were flying down the mountain.  We passed several walking.  The views were stunning, but we dared not stop for but a second to fuel and take a quick look.  There was definitely no autopilot on this mountain either up or down.  Each foot placement counted.  About three fourths of the way down, the mountain patrol told us to keep our eyes peeled.  There was a bear just ahead of us.  We looked around  as much as we could without risk of a major tumble but did not see the bear.  We did see several bear and a few moose later in the week.  As we took the final turn of the decent, I heard my family cheering.  After a few high fives, we were on our way up the final two miles.

It was a little before nine when we started the final leg.  For the first time all day, I was not worried about a cutoff time.  I took the first half mile or so to let my heart rate slow to low zone 2.  By this time my legs were heavy, my back was hurting from carrying the heavy pack, but I knew I would make it.  I kept eating and drinking.   I had stayed on my nutrition plan, and it was paying off    All in all I felt good going into the final mile up the mountain.  Of course, the last mile was the toughest with over 1,000’ of elevation gain.  We spotted the tram station.  Just below it we saw a couple of racers ascending what looked to be ridiculously steep slope.  A few minutes later I would find that to be true.  I knew from reading about the course there were several switchbacks near the finish.  The switchbacks were crazy, often 15” - 20” step ups.  Not easy any day, but the last mile of an insane iron distance race was really crazy. I remember one particular step my leg said “no”.   I feel quite sure that I would have ended up a good ways down the mountain if Nathan and Justin did not catch me.  I caught my breath and a quick sip and was climbing again.  A quarter mile from the finish I heard my granddaughters yelling, “Go Papa.”  I looked up to see my gang cheering.  It was way different than the typical Ironman running the red carpet through screaming crowds.  Instead of hearing crowds of folks cheering as I approached and the announcer called my name, I could distinctly hear the voices of each and every one that I care most about, all my kids, their spouses, my grandkids and my wife.  The 27.5 mile run with 6,015’ of elevation gain had taken me 8:24 to complete.

Crossing the finish line with Justin and Nathan was incredible.  There was no one there to catch me or put a medal around my neck when I crossed the finish line.  My family was immediately there with me ten feet from the finish with sweaty hugs from all.  After family hugs,I looked up to see the Crawfords and their son Mackenzie, my young friend with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.   Mack was sitting in his wheel chair with his Alaskaman hat on cheering for me.  I was humbled and reminded just how blessed I am.  I noticed the effort it took him to give me a high five was as much effort as each step up the mountain was for me.  I am thankful for the experience of completing Alaskaman but even more thankful that God utilized it to remind me of my many blessings.

What an incredible experience!  An experience only possible with the help of several folks.  My support team was amazing.   Coach Robyn’s training plan had me well prepared for the challenge. A huge number of others contributed in some way to my success.   I am thankful for each and every one of these.   

Our bodies may be strong, but it is the mind and heart that are strongest.

Fun facts:  Inaugural Alaskaman Extreme Triathlon

307 Registered

198 Started

157 Finished

My Overall Time 17:41

My Overall Finish 134

Second Oldest to Finish

Median Male Finisher Age 44

Median Female Finisher Age 39

Finishing Time Percentages:

• 11 Hours - 1%
• 12 Hours - 4%
• 13 Hours - 8%
• 14 Hours - 13%
• 15 Hours - 16%
• 16 Hours - 21%
• 17 Hours - 27%
• 18 Hours - 10%