A Great Ironman Finish for Michael Stone

It was a glorious day! It started out rather confusing as I had no idea where to place myself in the swim. When swimming with a couple thousand of your most intimate acquaintances it is difficult to know where to place yourself. I have to stay slow as I cannot sight the buoys. Unfortunately I placed mysefl "too" far back. I assumed that since this was Hawaii the swimmers would be faster. I was wrong as I was faster than I gave myself credit. I was stuck in a slow group and had my slowest swim split ever by approximately 6 minutes. Everyone was somewhat slow as the currents were VERY strong, probably due to the earthquake. We also had jelly fish that stung most of us. That was quite the bizarre sensation. I had never done an ocean swim in a race and found it challenging. I just went slow, too slow. I never even raised my heart rate. I was lucky though as approximately 70 people didn't make it out of the swim (from what I am told). I was a bit stunned when they brought in an unconscious athlete while I was changing for the bike. They made me move to make room for this medical emergency.

The bike was nice, but windy for the first hour. It then turned to rain. The rain became harder and harder until I was actually hydro-planing on the road. I cannot see in such conditions as there is no contrast. Just slowed me down, but not enough for complete concern. I stayed relaxed and kept going. The rain stopped after approximately 45 minutes and then the sun. The humidity for the day was over well over 90% and was like cycling in my grandmother's soup. Although my Father might argue that her soup isn't that hot. OK, back to the bike. After the turn around, the rain hit again, but not as bad. It was challenging due to the cross winds we had, but not near as bad as the morning. The problem was this is the scariest part of the bike. We had just finished the 18 mile climb to the town of Hawi and the down hill is supposed to be quite the challenge. It certainly was. I had an NBC car following me for approximately 15 minutes on the way back to Kona. I rather enjoyed that, but was afraid to acknowledge them as I really needed to stay focused on the road. I had visions of looking at them and then crashing. Didn't want a repeat of Ironman Wisconsin.

I arrived into the transition area approximately 30 minutes later than I had hoped. I had been very concerned about a leg injury I had that hindered my entire day. It was a sciatic sensation that constantly hurt. I was very concerned I wouldn't be able to run and would be forced to walk the marathon. I came off the bike in considerable pain, but when I saw my parents, it dissipated. Unfortunately, shortly thereafter it returned. I slowed down and just kept moving forward. I actually ran a very good 15 miles and hoped to just keep that pace for the last 11. If I had I would have run approximately a 3:45 marathon, a personal best off the bike! The pain was just too much and I foolishly took a melted Advil liquid gel. It was so foul that I had immediate intestinal shut down. I knew better than this to take it, but just wasn't thinking clearly.

I walked approximately a half mile and started running again. Although it hurt I was too close to the finish at this point. I stopped approximately 3 miles from the finish as I wanted to savor one moment and contemplate what I was about to do; I was about to complete the greatest personal achievement of my life! Come on, this is the hardest one day endurance event in the world!! I needed to give additional thought to all of you who had supported me. I really needed to think about the countless people who wrote me and shared their own stories. This moment was only moment as at that very moment Mother Nature had other plans. The rain returned, this time it was relentless! The streets flooded to the point we had no where to run. In fact they actually stopped us to find the right place to run. The streets were just to deep. By the time we made it down to the last half mile there were kids actually swimming down the street!!! I had envisioned this moment for months and it never looked like that. I started cracking up. The finish line was at least a foot deep. I was done.

My parentsare truly amazing! They were out there from start to finish. They waited at the finish line with the hopes of crossing the finish line with me! It was too confusing with the rain storm. The rain had been up to my knees without the slightest exaggeration. They were out there in it! If that isn't dedication, I am not sure what is.

So there it is. Again this is a very brief account of the day. I can't really sum up 140.6 miles of swimming, cycling and running in just a few paragraphs. I can't really do the course justice as it is ridiculously challenging. I understand why this race destroys even the best of athletes. I have huge respect for anyone who does THIS race. I have completed 5 challenging Ironman Triathlons around the world prior to this one, but nothing came close to this. This race never lets up. There is not a down hill when you need one and there isn't an uphill when you need that. There is nothing flat and even when the terrain lets up slightly, the winds and heat wear you down.

In the end, I feel like the luckiest person on earth!!! No words can express the gratitude I feel for this experience!! It is beyond a gift. I am not even sure where to start. The support from FFB and the HUNDREDS of people who have written me was overwhelming. I thought of each person who wrote me throughout the day. I recalled each of your stories as if you were sharing them at that moment. I was able to draw an immense amount of strength from each of you. My family was truly amazing as their support made this day possible.

Many of those who wrote me are concerned parents or relatives of people affected by a retinal degenerative disease. My only hope is that they/you continue to correspond. This race was only the beginning. We needed to create some awareness of what it is like to gradually lose their vision and deal with the uncertainty of the loss. I truly believe "WE" accomplished this. We also raised some valuable funds and this is ongoing! Collectively, with the help of my wonderful family, we have raised over $225,000, possibly more. It is difficult to quantify as I know we had many people doing their fundraisers in support of mine. In fact, one young lady swam from Long Island to Connecticut (I believe 7 miles) in frigid, rough waters. She had a friend who is training for the 2008 Olympics who matched her mile for mile in his own swim raising funds for FFB! Neither of these wonderful individuals have any links to blindness. I am eternally grateful for this!

Then there is Joanna Zeiger who donated one of her bikes to raise money and awareness for us. She unfortunately had a rough day out there. She went into this race in the best shape of her life as far as I could see. For reasons to be determined she lost consciousness six miles into the run. Thankfully, she is OK, but very saddened. I am so grateful for all of her support. She has expressed sincere interest in continuing to support our cause. Please visit her website at: www.joanna-zeiger.com We need to support someone who is truly supporting us.

I promise you that I will continue to race for our cause and create as much awareness as possible. This includes stepping up my advocacy effort. You might not know this, but we had US Congressmen supporting my effort. I will appear on an NBC talk show based in Denver next Tuesday morning.

I believe the Hawaii Ironman will air on NBC on December 9th. You will need to check your local listing to be certain of date and time.

I am happy to share more of this experience with all of you. Thank you again and again from the bottom of my heart!!! You made this experience that much more special for me!!!

Are you a marathon runner or competitive racer? You can use your racing effort to raise money for the Foundation Fighting Blindness through our Race to Cure Blindness program! To learn more visit www.RaceToCureBlindness.org.