Ironman:Bake Flacid July 25, 2007
Posted by anton in : Ironman , 3 commentsRain. Everyday the week before the race…gully washers at times…cool and overcast the other times. Folks out riding the Lake Placid course or running or swimming in the rain, but not a harbinger of what was to come on Race day.
I won’t write about all the hype and shinnanigans that go on the week before the race with the “I’m faster than you” looks or “Look at me ,I’ve done 12 IM’s what about you?” questions. ( Folks with lots of IM finishes are, A: In the sport for many years, B: have LOTS of disposable income, or more often than not, C: Both.)
Race day dawned bright,clear with a promise of a warm day…maybe too warm,at least for my liking. Off the the transition area and get sorted out getting my nutrition on the bike and in bags and chatting with a few folks… back to the room on with the wet suit and down to the start with my wife Mary Lou…The best support ever.
With the cannon boom I hit the start button on my watch and waited 15,20,30,finally at 45 seconds. I started to swim on the far outside of the scrum. Had clear water the whole swim…I bumped someone, or was bumped, three or four times. Thats it. Easy…it was pleasant really.
My only contact came in the chute to transition. After seeing the wet suit strippers, I heard Mary Lou yell for me and there she was on the rail…we chatted a bit about the swim and handed up my wet suit…and headed off down the chute toward transition…I heard a woman’s voice say “Move!” I heard it again closer and then was shoved out of the way by a small woman in a Tri Life suit as she hurtled down the street. Rude. Saw her shove several others who, I guess, wern’t moving fast enough.
Lollygagged through transition and got out on the bike…and felt…happy.The hills wern’t that difficult as in past years because I’d spent more time training on the big knobs this time. Passed Kona Expat (Sheila, trifuel denizen) on the road out to Black Brook and it’s Halloween decorated aid station…saw her again when she passed me later and never after that…she’s a motor! I love this course…the big ups…the 50+ mile per hour decents the stunning views…awesome.
The first lap went well for me…but the sun was OUT and the day warmed…Stopped and chatted with Mary Lou on Parkside drive for a minute or two…and off on the second lap. Late in the second lap…my mouth went dry and things got a little hazy and I recognized some heat related problems (No sweat,chills, headache) and decided to stand down on my second visit to the Hamlet of Black Brooke. Was there for a good 15 minutes pushing fluids till I peed a nice Amber Bock Beer color…The Vols were helpful and got me whatever I needed. Felt tons better and pushed on but at a more relaxed pace…Had been pushing the fluids all day and supplimenting with elyctrolytes…but got behind and paid for it. The temp at the time was 81 degrees F. (Courtesy of Lake Placid News). 417 people went through the medical tent for dehydration I was told by a local Vol on Monday.
Saw ML again at the end of the second bike lap and scooted off to start the run…ok…walk.
This was going to be a long Marathon…would run for a bit then get sick and stop and walk and feel better and repeat the process…Not till mile 17 after a steady diet of pretzels and hot chicken broth did I get on an an even keel… but the really cool part?It was the first time in an IM I was out on the run course in the dark…what a hoot! It was actually fun to be out there on the road with a bunch of folks who felt and looked just as miserable as I! We laughed, shared stories and commiserated as we schleped toward the finish…My biggest regret of the day was that the race folks wern’t handing out the glow in the dark bracelets and such…I really wanted one!
Mary Lou was like a cold drink of water when I saw her on the run laps and she’d walk with me a bit up Mirror Lake Drive…on the last lap she handed up my kilt which I wore for the last several miles and across the finish line. I was hoping to get a good finish pic with it on but don’t think that happened.
As I approached the finish and came up behind a woman she glanced over her shoulder and I caught her meaning…”No..you go ahead” I said.
But she slowed at the finish…so my finish pic will be with someone I don’t know…
To my surprise Ryan or “Fitty-cent” of trifuel fame was there filming and being a VIP and seemed to be having the time of his life…Sorry I didn’t get get back to the finish area after a shower Ryan…I was a tad trashed.
This was my third and Last IMLP..There are too many other great IM’s, especially independant races, to do.
Learned a great lesson about hydration..again. Ya think ya got it all figured out…then ya don’t. It’s beautiful really. Keeps one humble.
Was happy to get through the training and the race itself without any major injuries, which was the point…More training to do…Double Ironman in 72 days.
Cue the pig. July 16, 2007
Posted by anton in : Ironman , 4 commentsMonday evening and leaving for Ironman Lake Placid early in the morning…
If you’re looking for me to post a bazillion reasons why I won’t do well or anything like that…forget it.
I hate it when I read peoples blogs and they go on about…”I don’t plan on doing well because this hurts/is broken/doesn’t work/haven’t slept
work has been pressing….” Blah Blah woof woof…. I don’t believe in couching events before hand with excuses about performance…you won’t hear me complaining later either.
Everything is as it is. I knew the job was dangerous when I took it.
The training is done…the long hours and all the synthetic food and all the gatorade and the sore muscles and the crisis of spirt and all the other stuff that rolls through the life of a race participant.
I’m a little more nervous than usual for this one…can’t put my finger on why…and it doesn’t matter. When the gun goes off all that stuff goes off too…
I truly don’t care about my time…and will make no predictions…that way is frought with too many pit falls/ land mines/IED’s. I will predict I’ll be in Lake Placid on Sunday…that’s about it!
As I get older I sort of feel an need to have a purpose for the things like this that I do…can’t explain why.
So why am I doing this? For no other reason than to be an example. An example to people who don’t run or workout or what not. I can name a dozen people at least that over the years have come up to me and said they have started running or walking or they’re doing their first triathlon …because of me. I was an example to them that they didn’t have to feel or look the way they did…and they like themselves better now and that their life has improved. If one person would have said it…it would have been enough to have made all the years of running and biking,swimming and whatever…worthwhile. It’s my legacy I guess…I won’t leave much else.
I’ll try the internet cafe this week in LP and try to send along a note from the road….but don’t count on it.
All that being said…the car being packed… and the bike ready to roll…
Cue the pig:
“Ba-bah,ba-bah,ba-bah…that’s all folks!”
Time July 10, 2007
Posted by anton in : Race Report, Observations , add a commentTime, n.,adj., v., 1. the system of those sequential relations that any event has to any other. 2. A system or method of measuring or
reckoning the passage of time.
There are 67 other definitions for time in the Random House Dictionary of the English Language (unabridged.)
I been reading recently, the blogs of others here at trifuel…especially Tracy and “J”. They are about time and basicly about being too wrapped up in watches, heart rate monitors, GPS devices and anything else that triathletes use to measure time in relation to distance.
How many times do you see pictures of people crossing a finish line and in a moment of what should be happiness, they are scowling at the face of their watch. I often pass people in races who’s heart rate monitor is beeping like mad because it says they are going too fast even though they look fine and could go faster…Folks with running pace beepers that beep everytime your right foot should be hitting the ground to help you maintain a specific pace… others with a GPS strapped to their wrist in an accurately measured race with the distance well marked on a well known course. It’s all about time…and THAT is the sad part. It shouldn’t be.
It’s about the day, the people you race with, the sun and warmth or the rain and cold, about knowing yourself and learning more. About finding just how deep you can go before you reach the bottom and the well is dry. It’s about screwing up and getting it wrong…and then laughing and bouncing back and coming back another day.
On June 30th I went to Tupper Lake in the ADK to participate in the Tinman Half Ironman… I’ve stopped saying race and now say participate because with the exception of a few folks out in front or in the top of your age group…races like that are endurance events. In saying that you eliminate some of the pressure right off the bat…Anyway, to Tinman.
I didn’t wear a watch.
Had no idea what time my wave started or what time I got out of the water or how long my bike took or how fast I ran…not until the results came out anyway…It was monster fun! The day went by feel…a very nebulous concept that many folks seem loath to trust.Participating by feel…how fast to go,when to drink and eat…by feel. It’s not for everyone…I have years of endurance sports background and know myself very well. It’s about knowing your “self.” I think it unfortunate that people do races or events and would rather trust a watch than what their body is telling them.
My swim went fine I felt good and never out of control… My bike…well that was different. I knew in a moment that it would be slow. My legs had no snap as I had been putting in a lot of miles getting ready for Ironman. Had a puncture…and don’t know how long it took me to change it. My run…I just flew…passing many people and just smiling the whole time…all by feel. walked the up hills and ran the downs and flats…crossed the finish line…looking at the folks around me with their cheery faces and cow bells…the blue sky, the finish line…..and no watch to scowl at. Freedom.
Why Training for Ironman is like the Seven Dwarves. July 6, 2007
Posted by anton in : Training , 2 commentsThis came to me in some gatorade and power gel induced haze…at last Saturdays Tinman 1/2 Ironman.
Folks try again and again to try and explain to others what it’s like to train for an Iron distance race…It’s all really simple.
It’s like the Seven Dwarves.
Bashful because I don’t talk about it much…sure there is a lot to know and things to do…but to hear folks endlessly drone on about how fast they are or their power output or their Vo2 max and what kind of bike they have is really just so much ego blather…This whole process is so personal and hard to explain…probably because I don’t much understand why I do it myself!
Doc…why? Popping blisters,pulling off toenails,caring for road rash and saddle sores, icing sore joints and deciding how much Ibu to take safely, eating right and knowing when to stop…If you can’t handle self-surgery…endurance sports aren’t for you!
Dopey…Every day. Why am I doing this? Dumping Gatorade over my head instead of water. Forgetting…well just about everything at one point or another…
Grumpy…spend any time around an endurance athlete and you’l meet Grumpy. Missing a workout,long days in the saddle,feeling fat dumb and ugly, doing something Dopey and just the grind of training…I am sorry ML for any time in the last 6 months when I was Grumpy. I hope I make up for it when I’m…
Happy…A road ride that goes exactly the way you want it too…the wildlife you see on a long trail run.Waking up on this side of the dirt everyday with the one you love. finishing a training race..the delightful feeling you get when you finish your last 7 hour road ride…feeling lucky to be able to do this..
Which brings us to…
Sneezy! Low grade colds…sniffles that dog you because your immunity is low after a long workout and sometimes turn into some nasty lung thing…
Finally…sleepy….If you like ten hours of sleep a night and going to bed while the sun is still up…Ironman is for you… God forbide you can’t get enough while you’re in a training cycle and then you’re nodding off when you shouldn’t be and getting Grumpy!
