Race Coverage

One Pedal and an Altered Mindset...

Saturday, 17 September 2022 00:10

ED. Earlier this week we recieved this email from SAMUEL RODEN, who became an Ironman last weekend in Madison:

It’s Samuel, the guy who sprints into every finish! Was recommended by my friend Darin Westfal to share my insane story from September 11. 

I knew it was going to rain, but didn’t expect what was going to happen that day. 

The swim went great. Enjoyed seeding myself a bit farther back and passing people. A very odd enjoyable moment for me was getting passed by the elite men as they were finishing. Here I was swimming at a fast pace and then I find myself getting climbed on by 4 bodies one after another. I then knew it was the elite pack going by. 

Transition went well, was ready for the bike. Got on my bike and had a great ride out to the start of the loop, and then on the ride up for Mt Horeb besides having to go the bathroom really bad. Made it about 45 miles into the bike which was where the 3 big hills are on the first lap, and after the end of the 3rd hill, my pedal felt a bit weird. ...

Pulled over and had someone look at it with me and couldn’t figure out what was going on. Made it back to Verona and my dad was there. He didn’t know what was going on either. Made it to the tent for aid and they couldn’t help. I considered stopping at that point, but pressed on. 

That next section back to Mt Horeb again was miserable. Some of the most painful biking of my life. Basically biking with 1 leg and the other one barely holding on. 

When I got to Mt Horeb I got a true diagnosis. Darin Westphal was there and said that it was not repairable. The carbon snapped and would need to be fully replaced. That devastated me. One idea I had was to see if a racer that was backing out would let me use their bike. But that didn’t work out. Also not sure if that’s legal. 

Once I got to the aid station at Mr Horeb, something changed. I’m not sure who the volunteer was, but he changed my mindset. He said that I’ve already come this far with the broken pedal, just keep going. You’ve got plenty of time to finish, and that’s what you want right?

From that moment, my mentality changed and I pushed through. I proceeded to bike over 65+ miles on one pedal. I went up the 3 hills again, made it to Verona, back onto the stick back to Madison, and finished the bike. 

At that point, my mentality wasn’t even focused on the Marathon. I was just happy to get off of that bike! 

It was all history from there, ran a 4:30 marathon and became and Ironman in under 15 hours despite all the trouble!

ED. Check out Samuel's explanatory video: https://youtu.be/JYkrk1X7d_8