2 Days Until Ironman United Kingdom

With my bike roadworthy again, but my bike computer completely dead, I had no choice but to buy a new bike computer.

(How do you balance a laptop on your handlebars?)

A bike computer is a device slightly larger than a digital wristwatch. The computer sits between the handlebars of the bike for easy viewing.

(Why not just use a wristwatch?)

Have you ever looked at your wristwatch while driving? On second thought, don’t answer that.

We made “early” Shabbos.

(How early?)

We were in Bolton, England, near Manchester, on the latest Shabbos of the year.

(So, like 7:15 p.m.?)

Try 9:25 p.m. as an early start. Candle lighting that Shabbos was at 10:46 p.m.!

This was our 15th year of traveling for triathlons.

(I thought you said that you did your first Ironman in 2010.)

We did the Escape to Bermuda Olympic Distance Triathlon in 2007 and 2008.

We have learned where to put the Shabbos candles; how to set up a Shabbos table on our beds … and how to avoid getting a bed full of challah crumbs.

1 Day Until Ironman United Kingdom

We were in the same hotel as last year, so we did the same things as last year. I davened in our room. We then invited the kids in for kiddush and Shabbos lunch of challah, grape juice, cold cuts and dips.

(Did you drink coffee over Shabbos?)

No coffee this time. Last year Shabbos was a cold, overcast day, so instead of drinking Gatorade to top off my electrolytes, I drank coffee to warm my insides.

(And you dehydrated your cells, which…)

….caused me to cramp up on the bike course and….

(…almost fail to finish the race.)

That Shabbos I read, sipped my electrolytes and relaxed.

(How did you get a bottle of Gatorade through airport security?)

I rehydrated my powdered Gatorade.

Late in the afternoon, I turned to my wife and said, “Let’s take a walk to where you will meet me after I cross the finish line.”

As we walked out of the hotel, we passed a group of people in Ironman staff jackets and I heard, “That’s David!”

(Wait! What?)

I stopped. I turned around and saw an event photographer I met last year at this race.

He introduced me to Joanne.

My friend Peter Shankman had emailed Mike Reilly and Mike Reilly emailed Joanne,

“Keep an eye out for my friend David Roher. He looks just like Tony Stark and he will be dressed in an Ironman costume.”

(OK, you just tossed out three names I do not recognize. Please explain.)

I met Peter Shankman at my first Ironman, Cozumel 2010. A few years later Peter interviewed Mike Reilly on Peter’s podcast “Faster Than Normal,” so Peter had Mike’s email….

(Don’t you have Mike’s email too?)

I do … anyway, Joanne sat with us for an hour as we explained the Ironman costume and how I look like Tony Stark, how Janet and the kids always meet me at the finish line.

That’s when Joanne dropped a bomb on me.

“If you finish the race tomorrow you will be offered a spot at the Ironman World Championship in Nice, France!”

(France? Who wants to do that? Everyone knows that the Ironman race was born in Hawaii and that is where the World Championship is held.)

Well, this year they were holding the World Championship in Nice, France on the French Riviera and it sounded nice, but I had to focus on the race I was about to compete in.

We ended Shabbs at 10:46 p.m.. I had to be up at 3:15…

(A.M.???)

Yup, so I spent an hour and a half preparing my morning gear and attempted to get a good night’s sleep. I was about to start the longest day of my life…

David Roher is a USAT certified triathlon and marathon coach. He is a multi-Ironman finisher and veteran special education teacher. He is on Instagram @David Roher140.6. He can be reached at [email protected].