An excellent race and report by Russ on his first Ironman experience!
I’ll warn you in advance, this is long. The first one only happens once.
How I do I describe this journey? Some of you reading this might have known me when I was a large lad, some of you not. Most have seen the pictures by now. I never set out to do an Ironman. I just wanted to run a few miles in a row. I hated running growing up. It was always a punishment in the sports I played. I credit my friend Jay and his wife Libby for starting me down the running path. I first caught the bug while she was
At the Holyoke Road Race in 2010 I met a Cyclonaut who was out running me, by a lot, while pushing their kid in a stroller uphill and realized these are the people I need to be training with. 2 short years later, here I am. At a rented house in Lake Placid, unpacking for the start of Ironman week.
I arrived on Wednesday. Checked into the house we rented and unpacked. It was nice to have a day to just relax with no one around. A run around Mirror Lake and I was done a back out the house for the night. Thursday morning was a swim, and an hour ride on the bike. Ended up running into Paul Mik, Jim & Kelly Sullivan and off to the athlete check in we went. All went smooth. They gave us sweet back packs with all the race swag in it.
Over the course of Thursday and Friday the family showed up. First on Thursday afternoon was my brother Jimmy and his wife Denise. Friday brought just about everyone else; Barb, Mr & Mrs. Collette, Xavier, Frances, Glenn, and the entertainment for the trip, Michael, Shawn, and Donald. Saturday morning brought in Barb’s sister Sue and the group was all there.
We did the usual touristy things around Lake Placid. Ironman week is a great time to visit Placid. The town is alive and has an energy unlike many places I’ve been. Saturday checked the bike and the bags in and was a bit of a hermit the majority of the day while the family went up the ski jumps, not to jump though I did wonder a bit if someone would try. Saturday night we had the athlete meeting. I went with Jeff, Ben, and ended up running into Bruce, and Martha as well there. Convenient being how often we all trained together. Saturday night the nerves started to creep in, and sleep was almost a pointless endeavor.
Sunday 4am. It’s just a stupid time of day. Had as much of the planned breakfast as I could. My brother and Barb were seeing me off. They dropped me off at the Hockey rink and I made it almost all the way to the oval before I realized my wetsuit was still in the car. For those of you that were at Pumpkinman you read that right, I did it again. Thankfully they hadn’t left yet. Crisis averted.
The rest of the setup went without incident. Saw just about every Cyclonaut racing before we got into the water. Had our little conversations and moved on. 6:30ish made my way into the water with Ben, Jeff, and Bruce. Quick little warm up and made our way across the lake to the far end of the start line where we didn’t have to tread water and the chances of being in a cage match of a swim were less. 6:50 the cannon went off, and so did the pros. They are so fast. Before I knew it they were playing the national anthem. It seemed like I blinked and Mike Reilly said 1 minute to go. I’m surprisingly relaxed still. Nervous as all hell don’t get me wrong but this is the most relaxed I’ve been at the start of a tri ever. Bang, were off.
Swim – 1:18
I’ve worked hard on relaxing in the water, both in my stroke and my mind and it paid off. Had some trouble at first finding a clear piece of real estate to swim in but it wasn’t nearly as bad as I expected. I stayed to the right of the buoys but not as far as I anticipated. About halfway out on the first lap I could hear yelling so I popped my head up to see several swimmers with their hands up screaming at the kayaks that they needed help. I couldn’t locate the source of the problem. All I heard is someone was unconscious. I thought about what I should do here. I couldn’t locate the person but it was obvious several others had. I am not a first responder nor am I medically trained in anyway. I am in the way. Start swimming, let the professionals handle it. I later learned through various reports that the person regained consciousness in the water and was taken out of the water by the Ironman rescues boats, and transported to a local hospital. What has happened since and the persons condition I do not know but it was a scary scene to come across. The rest of the first loop was uneventful. Just kept plugging along. Nice and easy but moving forward, before I knew it, I was on the beach and starting lap 2.
Absolutely nothing remarkable happened on lap 2 and that was fine with me. Kept moving from person to person drafting off them and actually moving forward. Again, before I knew it, the beach was in sight. Out of the water in 1:18. In the triathlon world that is a very average swim, for me, it was awesome. I felt great coming out of the water. Not dizzy, or feeling off as I normally do. I was expecting something in the area of 1:30. This was starting off great. Ran by my brother and Nise down the chute. Huge smile when I saw them. That was the first sign this was going to be an emotional day. Into the changing tent I went where I saw the largest collection of naked males I’ve ever seen. On my way out of the tent Lisa Totz was calling out numbers for the transition volunteers to grab bikes. She called my number, yelled my name and gave me a high five. This put an even bigger smile on my face.
Bike – 6:27
Out onto the bike I could see a Cyclonaut in front of me. It tokk about 200 yards to catch up and see it was Ben. I trained a lot with Ben the last few months, it was funny to me that after all that here we are next to each other in the race. We chatted for a bit, then got on with our own races. The climb out of town is sneaky tough. Made sure I took it easy while I was passed quite a bit. I just kept saying you’ll see all the people on lap two or on the run. The descent into Keene was a bit windier than I liked and the front end was getting blown around a bit, so I took it pretty conservative. Made the left heading towards Jay, this was the one designated spot where I allowed myself to open up a bit. I don’t know if it’s the pavement or what but there are few places I’ve ever ridden that I enjoy more than this. The first out and back was easy going out but I knew what to expect coming back, and it didn’t disappoint. A solid steady headwind, This part is not fun. Head down, do work. After you get out of the headwind your reward is what I personally think is the hardest climbing on the course. Head down, climb easy. Don’t blow it all here, it’s a long day. One quick out and back and its onto the signature climbs into town. I’ve pre rode this course enough to know whats in store here. Nothing terribly hard just 8 miles of constant uphill. Through big cherry, and little cherry, the momma and baby bear. Poppa bear was a whole different animal though. You would think it was the tour de france. I had seen Peter, Wayne, Julie, Seth, and a few others who are escaping me right now a few minutes earlier and they had pumped me up. It came at a time when I was getting really sick of climbing. Thank you for being awesome guys, and gals, I needed it. This would be a recurring trend. At the top of poppa was Kelly & Chris Sullivan. They were screaming as well. This is going to be a fun day.
Now its back into town and the hunt to find my family is on. Most people were sitting up and riding slow through town but this is another fun road by the lake and I was screaming through it. Stopped at special needs for a nutrition swap and back at it I was. Around Mirror Lake, made the left to head towards the hockey rink and there they were. They went nuts. I went nuts, though not really cause I didn’t want to crash. Threw them a hang loose, and they got louder and they sent me off on lap 2 grinning ear to ear. This is awesome. My last piece of entertainment was passing the Econo Lodge and the campground. Most of the Nuats had assembled by now and they were cheering their faces off. It just keeps getting better.
Lap two was uneventful. Climbed out of town nice an easy again, and it was less windy on the downhill so I was able to let it loose a bit more. The road in Jay was still awesome. The headwind on the out and back sucked just as much the second time, as did the climb. By the time I hit the final 10 miles I was ready to be off my bike. The doubts started to creep in. Were my legs too tired to run a marathon? No, I had trained for this. Just get to the top of this mountain and get off the bike. Back into town, and the people were still screaming. Not as many on poppa bear (apparently their races are fast and had moved on to the run!) My family was right where I left them, and just as loud. I hope everyone at some point in their lives gets to feel the way I did when I saw them that second time. It was a truly great feeling.
Off the bike and there is Lisa again. She’s everywhere! Almost cramped trying to throw my leg over the top tube, damn I’m short. Into the tent, changed into to running shorts and shoes, grabbed a few things and off I went. The entertainment had made it to run out and gave me one last scream before I started the first 13 mile loop.
Run – 5:15
And this is where things get interesting. Went to take salt tabs at the mile 1 aid station, and somehow in my run bag the container had broken. When I took it out of my pocket to take the salt pills the bottom literally fell out and they all went into a puddle, dissolving into nothing. I honestly considered drinking the puddle but didn’t think my legs would stand me back up. Hmm, what to do now? Passing the Econo Lodge the crowd came out to the middle of the street to greet me. Told them my story of the salt pills and about a mile or so down the road Joe G. appeared on his bike and hooked me up with some (A rules violation I know but I wasn’t winning the race so lets just look the other way). Unfortunately they were Endurolytes which don’t do a whole lot for me. The next 6 miles I spent run walking trying to stave off the cramps in my legs I could feel coming. I would get a sharp twitch and have to walk. It was extremely frustrating. When I was able to run, I was holding a nice pace but it was never for more than 5 minutes. I tried to stick to 5 minute run, 2 minute walk schedule.
The Econo Lodge section was coming and I was smiling. It made a lot the run tolerable knowing this was coming up. Gave high fives and an update on my cramps and kept moving. Out to the out and back past the family, who are louder than ever, and past Wayne, who is also louder than ever. Past the aid station where George was, and on both sides of the street he took excellent care of me. I have to thank all of the PCS folk at this point. Jill, and George went out of their way to tell me I looked strong and talk me through anything I was struggling with. Mary did the same as she was running by in the opposite direction during her marathon. Top notch people to say the least. Back through town, last time I would see the family on the street. 1 more lap, it’s not going to be pretty but I’ve got this.
Past the Econo Lodge (again) and I got some Lava Salts and they literally saved my life. Between those pills, and the chicken broth the cramps are gone but the damage to my legs is done. I get back on the 5 on/3 off schedule and hold that for the rest of the run. Once you get past the ski jumps the run becomes pretty mundane and difficult in my mind. Outside of the volunteers, there isn’t much for people out there, though there is a volunteer tent where they were grilling for them. I wanted so badly to raid it but they deserve it for the job they did for us races (just made me very jealous). Coming back up the first hill into town there was 2 guys with rainbow wigs cheering through a road cone. Somehow these guys knew about the party at the campground, and as I suffered up the hill they proceeded to tell me how awesome it was going to be, and how they were going to be there as well. Judging by their state of “happiness” I doubt they made it.
Past the Econo Lodge one last time and the Nauts are calling me an Ironman. This is really happening. Walked the steep hill into town, my legs have nothing left. There was a guy on a mic there who threw out a Cyclonaut shout out every time I went by, only this time it was followed by another one about to be an Ironman. Through town and past where my family was, they aren’t there anymore. It sets in they are by the finish line waiting for me and the emotions kick into high gear. I don’t remember a whole lot of the out and back as I was just soaking it in. I wasn’t rushing, as my legs were toast, but it was nice to really just enjoy the final minutes. Past the brewery and the crowds are getting loud. I rember standing there last year trying to imagine what it would feel like to make the right then quick left into the oval, and now here it was.
I make the right and there is Wayne again, jumping and screaming. At this point there were four of us bunched together. My first thought was to organize it so we could all get our finisher photo, then a second thought came in my head. Kicked it and dropped them. Into the oval, it’s better than you imagine. Nothing hurt anymore. Halfway through the turn I found my crew. Pointed at them and they went nuts. A high and mighty fist in the air and through the arch in 13:15. I can’t describe the feeling. I had a flash of every training ride, run, swim, mistake, and revelation I’d had. It was the marathon I had wanted to have but I’ll take it.
Everything after that is a bit of a painful blur. I’ll spare you the details (I believe I’ve been long winded enough). I can’t thank this club enough. You guys and girls are amazing. You all inspire me on a daily basis. Thank you for helping me to accomplish this. I look forward to screaming for all the racers next year, then signing up for this rodeo again for 2014.