An Unstoppable Runner - Book Interview with Down Under Dave - Episode #286
Description
This episode has the interview with David Williams (aka "Down Under Dave") who wrote a book about his life and ultra running adventures. The book is really good! Dave graciously made himself available for an interview and he's really funny and has an outstanding outlook on life. More information about the book can be found at the following links:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zn5yEcuJyhs
And here is Karen's Iron Man distance race report, it's very detailed and pretty cool:
I’ve wanted to do an Ironman distance triathlon for a long time but was intimidated by the amount of time training would take. I already have a full-time job and training would be like adding a part-time job. However, sometimes friends get you to do crazy things. I have a group of friends who have been together since about 2012 when we joined forces to do Ragnar Chicago. We started the weekend as acquaintances and after 36 hours and 200ish miles, ended the weekend as dear friends. We’ve gone on to finish five more Ragnars as an ultra-team (six runners and one van as opposed to 12 runners and two vans). In 2017, someone saw (ok, it was me) there was a relay race across the state of Iowa (west to east). Within about two weeks, we had eight runners and found a driver to get us the 339 miles across the state. Half of us live in norther Indiana, the other have in Indianapolis. We keep coming up with events to participate in so that we have something to train for and participate in together.
In 2015, Julie and I met up for a run and she asked if I wanted to do Muncie 70.3 with her and her sister Pamela, one of the Indianapolis tribe. I was in. Julie and I trained together in Northern Indiana and met up with Pam when time allowed. Many of the Ragnar group showed up to cheer us on, just as we did with Pam and Tina completed Ironman Chattanooga in 2017 (this was for Pam’s 50th)
For Julie’s 50th birthday last year, she threw out hiking the Grand Canyon (rim to rim) in one day. Once again, it didn’t take us long to commit. We persevered against COVID scares and some other issues. We traveled to Flagstaff and on October 7 we completed the hike, starting around 4:30 a.m. and finishing around 5:30 p.m. We made it back to Indiana safe and sound, with the exception of a bit of trail rash on Pamela from a fall she took and a badly sprained ankle, Melinda, ironically, our driver suffered. She hiked down the trail about a mile and we as we were hiking back up, just past one of the tunnels, she stepped off the trail, canyon side, and went down. Unfortunately, what goes down, must go up and she persevered up.
2021 was my turn to hit 50. While planning for Grand Canyon, the goal of completing an ironman distance was swirling in my head. Pre-COVID, I found out a friend’s husband, Matt, was training to do Ironman Louisville, which would be on October 9. As Ironmen usually are on Sundays, I did the math and realized Louisville would be on my birthday in 2021. That would be pretty cool. Then COVID hit, Louisville was cancelled for that year, and then cancelled permanently. Since Matt had put in all the training and didn’t want to waste it, he organized his own event. Then Muncie 70.3 announced they would have a 140.3 event this summer. It piqued my interest, but I really didn’t want to spend the money.
The town I live in is located on the north shore of the second largest natural in Indiana. Perfect for swimming. Outside of that, we are surrounded by corn, soybean, and wheatfields. Perfect for biking and running.
The more I thought about it, the more I thought I could follow Matt’s example and stage my own Ironman distance triathlon. I could do it by my own rules (accept assistance from spectators, have friends/family participate with me) and if training went off the rails, the weather was bad, or doing the full wasn’t going to work, I could cover the distance over three days or move the distance back to the 70.3, or a half ironman.
Pamela, who completed Ironman Chattanooga in 2018, shared her training plan and at the end of April, I started “training”. This would be a don’t do as I did disclaimer. I trained but didn’t complete every workout. I skipped the second week because I was out of town for a conference. I didn’t start swimming until Lake Maxinckuckee (Max – in- kuk – kee or Lake Max as well all call it) warmed up in late July. I tried to hit the longer workouts but when we went on vacation in August, didn’t get in the long bike rides. I tried to balance family demands with work and training. There were many workouts that were shortened or skipped because I needed to work late or my husband and daughters were actually home. We have two girls, 20 and 17. My 20 year old has a 2 ½ year old daughter and has moved out of the house. I will drop just about anything if Kate and Mabel are coming over. My youngest, Emily, had a summer job and then attends a private boarding school in our town. Again, if she is home, I want to spend time with her.
The longest swim I did was 2.4 miles. It was on a Friday evening, after Labor Day, so activity on the lake has slowed. I ended up chasing daylight and enjoyed watching the sunset over the lake toward the end of the swim. There were a few early morning swims, too, getting in the lake while it was dark and watching the sunrise. What a way to start the day!
The longest bike was 89 miles in about 5 ½ hours. The training was based on time, not distance and by 5 ½ hours, I was ready to be done! The next day, I ran 12 miles and, surprisingly, it wasn’t bad. I ended up getting a cheap spin bike from a friend and started doing spin workouts during the week and hitting the road on my bike for the long rides. The spin workouts provided a good challenge that I might not have had if I road my bike.
The longest run was around 16 miles. I will add that three weeks before the event, another Ragnar teammate, Kim, and I ran the Sunburst Half Marathon that started in downtown South Bend and ended at the 50 yard like of Notre Dame stadium. We finished in two hours and Kim came in first in her age group. We were not expecting that! On the bus ride back to the car, Kim wondered how must faster we would have gone if we actually trained.
Probably the best week of training, was my taper week leading up to event day (I’m hesitant to call it race day as I really didn’t race). I had to attend a conference and stayed at a hotel with a lap pool and workout room. You know I took advantage of that!
My plan was to start my swim at a friend’s cottage on the south shore of Lake Max and swim to the town park on the north shore, which is 2.4 miles. If the weather was bad, I would either find a smooth spot in the lake to swim or go to a pool about 20 miles away and swim laps to complete the distance. My husband planned to kayak with me for safety, and to keep me on course. My younger daughter would drop us off at the cottage, grab my bike and meet me at the town park.
Next, I’d ride 112 miles. I didn’t have a particular route in mind. I just knew I wanted to end at Julie’s house in the northern end of our county. It happened to be about 26.2 miles from my house so once I ended the bike, I just needed to run home. I figured I would bike by solo and my Ragnar teammates would accompany me on the run.
The day before the event, my friend Melinda, who has been our driver for our Ragnar events, asked if I wanted company on the swim. Her husband Doug completed Ironman Maryland a few weeks ago and was willing to swim and would keep me company on the bike for a while.
The weather in October has been amazing in Indiana with high temperatures in the 70s and lows in the 60s. While it rained Friday and turned foggy Friday night, Saturday morning was absolutely perfect. The wind was calm. It was a little overcast. The lake was like glass and the temps in the low 60s. We got to the cottage on the south shore around 6:20 a.m. and walked the kayak down to the water. It started sprinkling but it was short lived. We went back up to the car to wait for Doug and Melinda and get the wetsuit on. By 6:45 or so, Steve was in the kayak and Doug and I were in the water. My daughter Emily sounded the airhorn on her phone and Doug and I were off.
It took a bit for me to get into a rhythm and to fully put my face the water. Initially, the water temperature took my breath away but once I acclimated, it was perfect for a long swim. Steve had a headlamp on the front of the kayak and a red light on the back and wore a headlamp. Doug had an inflatable buoy with a light in it strapped to his back. It kind of looked like a Chinese lantern floating on the water. At times, the lights on the kayaks blended into the lights on the shoreline and I’d have to stop and get my bearings. I think I swam pretty consistently for the first half of the swim. The second half, I started losing sight of Doug and Steve. At one point, I popped my head up and couldn’t see either one of them. There was a bit of panic as I felt very alone. Finally, I caught sight of Steve again in the dark, asked him to turn his headlamp around so there was a light to follow. That made a huge difference. The sun rose at 7:50 a.m. and by that time we were about halfway done. I don’t think that I was getting tired so much as getting bored toward the end. I was very happy when the Beach Lodge began getting clearer, then I started running into some of the tall plants growing in the lake and could see people on the beach. Finally, I could see th
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