70-year-old Completes Ironman Challenge
Allen Johnson — 12 December 2005
The temperature dipped to zero degrees with snow Wednesday
when I changed planes in Chicago, 82 degrees and sunny when
landing in Honolulu, Hawaii to compete in the Ironman Challenge.
After picking up the rental van, I loaded the luggage and
headed for the Kailua beach house I rented. First I unloaded
my bicycle, swimming and running gear in the five-bedroom
house on Kailua Beach and then took a dip in the private swimming
pool. I made certain the house had a pool so I could continue
to practice my swimming after dark.
Thursday I rented a kayak to accompany and support my ocean
swim. My friends, Karla and Carl Brun and I checked the water
conditions at Kailua Beach and found two-foot to three-foot
high whitecaps. I swallowed a quart of seawater on my practice
swim. Backup plan—try Ala Moana Beach in Waikiki. It
turned out to be a millpond, glass-smooth water protected
by a barrier reef.
Friday Karla, Carl and I drove to Ala Moana Beach, unloaded
the kayak and I got on my wet suit. The water temperature
measured 78F, which isn't particularly cold, but I expected
to be in the water for up to three hours and felt I need the
protection. Carl manned the kayak while Karla swam with me.
I dove in and started for the one-kilometer marker at the
other end of the beach. My daughter, Judy, took documentary
photos as our trio swam/paddled down to the marker and back
two times for a total of 4-kilometer or 2.4 miles. After the
first lap I rolled over on my back for a 30-second rest. The
combination of buoyancy of the wet suit and the salt water
made me float high in the water—I couldn?t sink. As
I swam the second lap I saw some yellow-tailed jack and other
fish. They swam alongside of me for a minute and then darted
ahead at several time my swimming speed.
Two hours and ten minutes after I started my swim I arrived
back at the beginning marker and climbed out of the water.
I finished the first leg of my Ironman Challenge about an
hour ahead of my pre-race estimate. We drove back to the beach
house to rest up for the next day's bike challenge.
 Carl
and I started biking out of Kailua in the dark Saturday morning
while it was still cool. We hit a long, steep hill just out
of town and dropped the bikes down about 10 gears to make
the climb. Cool heck, I had sweat pouring off my head and
my T-shirt was soaked by the time I made the top of that hill.
As we peddled toward The Crouching Lion, the sky lightened
in the east and we witnessed a beautiful golden Hawaiian sunrise.
Karla and Judy drove the van to Crouching Lion and refilled
my water bottle as I rested under a palm tree. After a five-minute
break, Karla and I started on around the island. We had a
wind to our back and were whizzing along at 20 MPH. The road
was smooth without too much traffic. Carl and Judy caught
up with us and took video and still photos to document the
ride.
We stopped again at the Mormon Temple for more water and
a granola bar. The temperature warmed up to 80 degrees, but
the wind blowing off the ocean kept me cool. Karla and I rode
right along the beach and watched the bluish-green water and
surf—what a wonderful place for a scenic bike ride.
My legs felt good, but my calves were tight from Friday?s
swim. We biked past freshwater shrimp farms and the beautiful
Turtle Bay Resort.
Traffic started to pick up as we approached the famous North
Shore surfing area, Sunset Beach. Cars were parked solid on
both sided of the road and the highway turned into a 5-mile
long traffic jam. Karla and I wove through the slow moving
cars, trying to avoid the tanned surfer and bikini clad girls
carrying their surfboards on their head. With a little effort
we biked safely to Waimea Beach Park and found Judy and Carl
waiting for us. I ate a baloney sandwich and stretched out
under a plumeria tree for a 5-milute rest.
Carl and I biked out to Waimea and on toward the 56-mile
turnaround point. We passed a polo field where my wife, Gloria,
and I watched a polo game back in 1962 and reached Dillingham
Field about 10 o?clock. Carl and Karla swapped places at that
point and Karla and I started back, riding against the wind.
The traffic around Sunset Beach was still a mess and we wove
back through a dozen cars fighting over one parking place.
The sun was shining, but I could feel occasional raindrops
blowing off the mountain. On the way back we stopped to rest
at the Valley of the Temples and then biked into Kailua 9
hours and 112 miles after we started. My shoulders ached and
my calves felt like a couple of tightly knotted ropes, but
I completed the second stage of the Challenge.
 BOOM,
BANG, KABOOM, the biggest fireworks display I've ever seen
lit up the sky at 5:00 a.m. over Ala Moana Beach in Waikiki
signaling the start of the 33rd Honolulu Marathon. Twenty-seven
thousand runners and I started running down Ala Moana Blvd.
in the dark. An hour and a half later, the sun peaked over
Diamond Head Crater as I jogged up the only big hill on the
26-mile route. My legs felt pretty good and my breathing wasn?t
labored. I could actually enjoy the view of the deep-blue
ocean, the volcanoes and the beautiful flowers. I smelled
the plumeria and pikake flowers every time I ran by them.
I stopped at every aid stop, picked up a glass of water,
cold sponge and walked while I drank the water. Then I?d run
to the next aid station. The sun got hot about 8:00 o'clock
as I turned the loop at Hawaii Kai and started back to Waikiki.
The outfits of the other runners provided a much-needed diversion.
One newly married Japanese lady ran in a full-length bouquet-bedecked
white wedding dress while her husband ran in his tux. One
fellow had a swan headdress with outstretched white wings,
another an Indian headdress complete with feathers. Another
Japanese fellow clopped along in a kimono and wooden platform
shoes. There were at least a dozen Santas and a number of
reindeer.
At about the 20-mile marker my legs started to feel like
two sticks of wood. I switched to my run-walk mode—running
to the next mile-marker and then walking 3 minutes. That got
me back to Diamond Head Crater and the 25-mile marked.
"It's downhill from here," a fellow yelled as
I headed for the finish line.
The finish clock read 5:51:15 as I crossed the finish line
and completed my Ironman Challenge.
"I'll take you out for a big dinner," Carl offered
as I left the finishers gate.
"I've been dreaming about a double cheeseburger and
a big Coke for the last 10 miles," I said.
"You got it."
When we arrived back at the beach house I got hugs from
Gloria, Judy, Kelsey, Emily, Jessica, Connie, Ray, Karla and
Carl. Connie and the twins had made me a beautiful gingerbread
house elaborately decorated with flowers, candy and lei. I
took my shoes off and jumped in the pool, still wearing my
running clothes. Then I relaxed in the Jacuzzi until to was
time to leave for Kobe Japanese Steak House and our victory
celebration.
Now it's time to relax in paradise before heading back to
the snow and ice in Dayton, Ohio.
Thank you for your pledge to the Salvation Army. If you
haven?t sent the pledge in, please make the check out to "Lawrence
County Salvation Army" and send it to Allen Johnson;
1040 Harvard Blvd; Dayton OH 45406. After an intense year
with 2,700 miles of practice and three grueling days of competition,
I'm going to be very careful about picking my goal for my
next birthday celebration. Aloha and Mahalo.
End
Newsletter Archive:
Setting
Goals—The Ironman
Walking
Hadrian's Wall — Part 1
Walking
Hadrian's Wall — Part 2
Walking
Hadrian's Wall — Part 3
Canadian
Rocky Mountain Horseback Adventure |
