A small look into the world of CRAZY!

When my dad called me a few months back and asked if I would crew for him as he attempted to complete a double iron distance (4.8 mile swim, 224 mile bike ride, 52.4 mile run); I was hesitant but certainly accepted. Although I agreed I was vocal in letting him know that I thought this was the stupidest thing I've ever heard of.  In fact, I questioned his mental stability and encouraged him to see a therapist.  Throughout this experience I realized that I was likely right...those athletes are absolutely insane. Even as a "spectator" I was exhausted in the two day span (and I got two 45 minute naps in) but I gained a unique perspective on the different emotions that the athletes experience over a 30+ hour work out.  From the start, we had 4 people to help crew three individuals; Dad, Dave from England, and Deb from Utah. By nights fall two other individuals showed up to help so we were six strong by about 8 at night.  I decided to tweet updates throughout the day (at least while my phone was alive) to keep people abreast of his progress and here is a compilation of the tweets.

The swim was the easy part for the spectators.  I could constantly see dad and know that he was chugging along, I felt that he was safe (other than possibly getting bit by a snapping turtle) and he didn't seem to show any signs of fatigue.  Keeping track of the laps (averaging only 2 minutes each time he finished one) helped the first three hours fly by.  Excitement for the day grew as he finished and was in good spirits.  I was able to share with him the good vibes that were sent his way via twitter as well.  I always knew that he was stubborn enough to finish the double iron distance but I didn't think (until that moment) that he would enjoy any part of it, or at least it seemed at the moment that he was having fun.  But how long could this "fun" last, I mean most people start hating exercise before it even begins.

The bike was intense.  By the time we made it over to the park, unloaded the multiple cars and RV with supplies, fluids, and nutrition, he was on the third lap.  Awesome! This might go by quicker than I thought. Well I definitely spoke too soon. At almost 7 miles a loop and 31 loops to do, we were just gearing up for the long haul.  Temps were higher than initially predicted, hitting 86 for the high and not a cloud in the sky. The winds were another story with sustained winds over 20 MPH and gusts even higher than that.  As a spectator, I was over-heated, disheveled and already drained from the early morning rise by mid afternoon.  As a group we decided to remain positive and try not to show our exhaustion considering we weren't working out as hard as these athletes.  By night fall however, it became apparent that as "crew" our job was tough as well. With only about 7 minutes between seeing Dad, Deb, David, the Dad again; we were constantly on our feet, filling up water, mixing poweders, making sandwiches, tracking times, getting gu, finding dry clothes, tracking down misplaced bike tool and the list goes on.  On top of taking orders, attitudes started flaring.  Even though we knew that this would happen, it can still be daunting to have orders barked at you from multiple people over and over, loop after loop and not feel a little frustrated.  Luckily around 8 we had two fresh faces to help crew and give a few of us a few hours to lay down and work on restoring our positive attitudes.  

Got a good 3 hours to lay down, but due to the noise and high temperatures probably only got a solid 45 minute nap in.  None the less, 3 am was wake up time and time to help pace pops.  Jon had already gone several laps with him by the time I woke up, quick change and I tagged in.  I was able to get about 7 laps in with my dad running about 1 mile of the 1.7 mile loop and walking the other.7 before Josh tagged in.  Limited lights + limited crew + one person out running = we were starting to lose our ability to keep everyone happy with the things they needed when they needed them.  Once the sun came up, it was definitely easier to prepare for these shorter loops and the three individuals. By sunrise, it was apparent that fatigue had set in for most of the athletes. Most everyone was walking, no one was talking, some were taking naps, several people had already dropped and attitudes were only getting worse.  But with the sunrise, the crew found our humorous spirits.  Joke telling, laughing, crude remarks and great drawings emerged to help entertain those who passed by.  We should have put a tip jar out cause the athletes were loving it and participating back.  During this time, we saw several people napping, several walking zombies and even one person practically pass out mid step for a two minute nap.  I remember thinking - "why would anyone want to do this." The joke telling and laughter at least helped all of us to get through a few more hours of agony.  In between, we took turns pacing all three people we were crewing and all got several miles in for the day.  I was actually just shy of a marathon; not a fast one, but certainly something to say I did.  My dad was one of the lucky few that didn't have to do a single mile on foot by himself.

As you can see above; he was miserable. And this started around the beginning of the second marathon.  He made a good decision at the half point to just try and walk out the rest of the race (although he got a burst of energy around lap 15 of 30 to do about 3 laps running).  I tagged in to walk the last seven with him and I am a little surprised that he didn't request for another partner.  I did what I could to keep his mind off of things and concentrated on just staying awake and staying safe; but I can only assume hearing me go on and on about who knows what, can get annoying.  My dad has always been stubborn when it comes to things like this, so although he mentioned quitting like 100 times, I never took him seriously. Every time he sat he said he was ready to turn in his chip, every time he rounded the corner to finish a lap he gestured that he was done, but walking continued.  I questioned his sanity multiple times and got very scared when he response time was delayed.  I don't even know if he remembers half of the things we talked about because he seemed to be going in and out of consciousness. There were a few times that his feet and head weren't communicating and he almost fell forward flat on his face.  I had to convince myself he would  be okay just so I wouldn't try and convince him that he should quit.  Seriously these people are crazy and this is only a small look into the world of crazy; I am sure I am leaving out so many details. As we got the bell indicating there was just one lap to go, he cried like a little baby (see that is where I get my crazy emotions from) and I cried too.  We were close to the end and we were all more than thrilled to finally be at that point.  For this last loop the entire 6 person crew joined him to walk the entire last 1.7 miles.  It was awesome to be there to support him for this goal.  I captured the picture above and he couldn't even muster a smile.  But before we knew it, other athletes were congratulating him, encouraging him, and cheering him across the finish.  As crazy as these people are, they are so kind, supportive and generous.  Glad I got the chance to be a part of this.

What a wonderful moment to share with my dad.  As he teared up as they played the national anthem, I did as well (although I don't know if I was crying out of pure joy for his accomplishments or pure joy that this experience was finally over).