By JO1(SW) Daniel Sanford
Naval Station Everett Staff Writer
JUNE 2003
The sun scorched the pavement where Lt. Rome De Las Alas stood. This was the moment of truth for Naval Station Everett’s administration officer. Having already completed a 2.4-mile swim and a 112-mile bike ride, De Las Alas had completed two-thirds of the Coeur d’Alene, Id. Ironman Triathlon. But with unseasonably high temperatures threatening to rise above 100 degrees, exhaustion began to rear its ugly head. De Las Alas had to decide whether a 26.2-mile marathon was even possible.
He’d seen fellow competitors drop off one by one as he pedaled through the second phase of the race. But the sweltering, humid conditions also took its toll on the diminutive lieutenant as well.
At five feet, two inches tall, De Las Alas’ slight, muscular frame poured sweat. He was already exhausted to the point of collapse, his legs knotted in painful cramps his progress slowed by a violent fit of vomiting. The question he would have to answer was, why go on?
A better question might have been, “Are you crazy?” What propels these Ironman competitors to subject themselves to an entire day of intense physical activity?
For many, this is a hobby, a leisure time activity that is done outside of normal working hours. However, few hobbies are as renown for their grueling criteria and for pushing the limitations of human tenacity and endurance. Then again, there aren’t very many Ironmen and women in this world.
They come in all sizes, both men and women. Some look like they’re chiseled from actual iron while others look like they are more adept at using a chisel. They come from all walks of life and cultures throughout the world. They are fathers, mothers, neighbors, coworkers, parishioners, et al. They have their own agendas but they share a common title — Ironman.
As noble as that may sound, it doesn’t make them exempt from the problems and concerns of the regular man. Take De Las Alas for instance.
In the week leading up to the competition, De Las Alas overcame a week’s worth of trying episodes that would’ve threatened the resolve of the hardiest of Ironmen.
Over the course of the week, De Las Alas endured a house fire that caused $20,000 worth of damage to his home. He also gave a finance presentation that counted and took a mid-term for the MBA finance class he’s taking. He rounded out the week as Den-leader lecturing on basic citizenship to his Scout pack. “Going to the Ironman was like a vacation for me,” De Las Alas laughed. And it was to a certain degree.
De Las Alas brought along his wife, Grace, and son, Christian, for the event. The trio spent the weekend at a local campsite preparing for the race and eating a lot of pasta.
“On Friday, one of the most important things I do is pig out on pasta,” said De Las Alas. “You need to eat as much carbohydrates as possible. You’re trying to store as much energy in your system as you can. I try to consume 4,000 calories a day, which is double my normal daily intake.”
If you go into an Ironman without energy reserves, you’re going to die out. So you have to start ahead of time,” he added.
Another item that needs to be taken care of ahead of time is staging the transition equipment. Because the race is broken down into three parts - swim, bicycle, run - it is important to pre-stage the bicycle, clothing, and other special needs of each competitor.
“Dropping your bike off at the staging area is like going through Fort Knox,” De Las Alas said. “Each bike’s average cost is between $3,000 and $5,000. So with about 2,000 bikes, there’s over $7 million worth of bikes being staged in the bicycle transition area overnight.”
“It can be tough for people to leave their bikes there overnight because they baby them,” he added. “They oil and prepare them to ensure they are completely primed and ready for the next day’s race. You look around and you’ll see people talking to their bike and even petting it.”
While he may not treat his bike like the family dog, De Las Alas still goes all out when it comes to his bike. He went as far as to tuck his bike in for the night by placing a Thermo-cool blanket over it.
“My bike has so much Navy stuff on it that it looks like a recruiting picture board,” he said. “I’m proud of what I do and it looks cool too.”
“I also have three carbon-fiber wheels I use for the rear of the bike, depending on the race conditions,” said De Las Alas. “Each wheel is specially made for either windy conditions, hilly environments, or out-and-out straight-aways.”
Each contestant also has the opportunity to have special needs bags stationed at several spots around the race site. Changes of clothes, medication and food can be put in these bags so contestants can quickly grab them as needed. For De Las Alas, aspirin is the most important item in these bags.
“I don’t take any medication during the event, but I do take about 10 aspirin over the course of the race,” he said. “Aspirin helps increase blood flow and increases the amount of oxygen delivered to your muscles. The more oxygen in the muscles, the more flexible they are and the more capable they are of doing work.”
The morning of the race, De Las Alas dragged his son out of bed at 3:30 a.m. and treated him to a pancake breakfast.
“The race started at 7 a.m.,. but I was trying to eat enough to sustain. I try to eat as many pancakes as possible before the event because they’re loaded with carbohydrates,” he said. “Normally carbohydrates are bad because they retain water and make you fat, but they’re good for the race. The carbohydrates store water and energy and you’re going to need every ounce of it in a few hours.”
Once at the race site, it’s time to suit up. With the other competitors preparing all round him, De Las Alas felt self-conscious at first. “Looking around and seeing all these other tri-athletes, with cut physiques and in amazing physical shape, you automatically feel inferior,” he said. “You ask yourself, ‘how am I going to compete against these people?’ But in reality, you have every reason to be there. I’m just as fit as the next guy and I can be proud of that.”
“I’ve trained just as hard as they did and I’ve done the things they did to get in this position,” added De Las Alas. “The self-consciousness and doubt goes away and you start feeling good about what you’re doing.”
Each contestant is body marked with an individual number on their legs and arms, then they enter the water where the race will start.
“Everyone looks very graceful, like a bunch of swans in the water,” De Las Alas said. “It’s like the calm before the storm.”
Then, with the sound of the horn, the race is on.
“All those people who looked like swans, suddenly they’ve transformed into salmon,” said De Las Alas. “2000 people crowded together, all swimming in one direction.”
After receiving several kicks to the face due to the large amount of competitors clustered together in the water, De Las Alas completed the swim. He made his way to the first transition area, where his bike awaited along with the looming 112-mile course.
“In the transition phase, I striped off my wetsuit and put my biking shorts and helmet on,” he said.
Somewhere amidst the transition, someone walked over and swiped a big glob of suntan lotion across his body. Soon De Las Alas was pedaling off into what would eventually become the downfall for many participants.
The bike course consisted of two revolutions around the scenic Coeur d’Alene countryside.
“The morning ride was really nice, it was a picture perfect trip around Lake Coeur d’Alene with a nice breeze to keep you cool, De Las Alas said. “Then hell happened.”
As many competitors began their second round of the bike course, the sun bore down upon them with blistering intensity. The once picture perfect course now carried the burden of 100 degree temperatures, sans the cool breeze.
“It was hot, real hot,” said De Las Alas. “It was now noon and those hills that seemed like a molehill the first time all of a sudden felt like mountains. That 500-foot climb suddenly felt like Mount Everest. I was sweating like crazy, losing a lot of water and electrolytes. The heat really zaps your energy level.” He added that the bike ride was where the majority of the race’s dropouts were lost.
Upon completion of the bike portion, De Las Alas’ quads felt like twisted rubber bands. He put ice under his bicycle shorts to cool them, but the pain hardly subsided. Exhausted and in pain, he asked himself the question again. Why go on?
“In the background you could hear the announcer say, ‘and the winner is...’. Before I even started my run, the race had already been won,” said De Las Alas. “Obviously I had no chance of winning, but that’s not the point. The point for me isn’t about winning, the point is surviving, and that’s what got me,” he said.
“All around me I saw numerous other contestants in pain and suffering just like I was. Inside the emergency tent there were people with IV’s in their arms who couldn’t even walk at the time,” De Las Alas said. “I thought to myself, I am not going to be one of the few who didn’t at least try. I knew if I could move, I could finish this race.”
So that’s just what he did. Unable to run, he began to walk. Slowly and shakily, he willed his legs to take step after step. His quads on fire, his energy long depleted, the lieutenant set out on the marathon-length course. “The first two miles, I was completing a mile every 15 minutes,” said De Las Alas. “That’s slow enough to fail the PFA (Physical Fitness Assessment).” Soon walking turned into a slow jog. With each painful step he took, he began to believe that he could indeed finish the race.
“It hit me at mile 10,” he explained. “I knew I was nowhere near my original goal of completing the race in 12 hours and 30 minutes, but I began hearing the crowd cheer. I saw people I knew and didn’t know encouraging me to finish. At that point, I picked up the pace.
“The pain was just superseded by all these people cheering me on. At that point, I knew I was going to not only finish this race but I’m going to cross the finish line running.”
Now averaging eight-minute miles, De Las Alas stormed toward the finish line. “The greatest joy was to see my friends and my family standing there,” he said. “I saw my son and picked him up and ran to the finish line with him. But he became too embarrassed, so I put him down and we crossed the line hand-in-hand.
With the event now over, De Las Alas has little time to sit back and reflect. The Ironman Canada Triathlon is Aug. 24, and he is already signed up and looking forward to beating his goal time.
It could be possible. He’ll be happy to know that the Farmers Almanac is predicting rain that day.
Results : http://www.athlinks.com/Race/Event?raceID=8657
Overall Results
| A/G/O | Athlete | M/F | Age | Bib | Pace | Time | Speed | Time | Pace | Time | Final | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 176 / 779 / 949 | ROME DE LAS ALAS | M | 30 | 06:42 | 16:46 | 14:06:57 | ||||||||
