sporty: July 2004 Archives

*Ironman USA 2004*
Lake Placid, NY

Swim: 2.4 miles
Bike: 112 miles
Run: 26.2 miles

Sorry for the length of this folks! I write these things more for myself than for those reading it, thus the detailed description of EVERYTHING. If yer interrested, grab a cup of coffee and get comfy… if yer not, I’ll never know ;)

The boytoy and I and the world’s best ironspectators (my parents and aunt) (and we met the fourth member of the team, j’s mom, in LP)headed to the airport shortly after watching Lance completely tear up the AdH TT on Wednesday… seemed like a fitting start to our own mountain adventure!

The plan was to fly to NYC and then drive to some town outside Albany that night and then roll into LP Thursday morning. Flying into NYC was WAY cool… it was a clear day and we had a nice view of the city… the Empire State building, the Statue of Liberty, etc. We all had a good chuckle over how “fresh off the farm” we felt in NYC… even tho we all LIVE in cities! NYC is just a completely different world.

Got our luggage and breathed a big sigh of relief when we realized the bikes had made it to the east coast in one piece (well, at least the cases seemed to be in tact) and picked up our enourmous gas guzzling rental Navigator… in which we BARELY fit all our stuff! We actually had to unpack some of the car every time we stopped so that the person in the way back (which we dubbed the “mother in law” seat) could get out!

The drive to the small town we spent the night in (don’t remember what it was called, but it was outside Saratoga) was pretty uneventful. Stayed in a cozy hotel and got up in the morning for the drive thru the Adirondacks and into Lake Placid.

It was beautiful. I just couldn’t believe we were going to be RIDING out here!!! Made it to Keene and drove the course in reverse into Lake Placid… which meant driving UP the dreaded Keene descent… didn’t think it looked too bad.

The week before the race was actually a lot of fun. Every morning the boytoy and I would wander over to Soulshine Bagels and have bagels and coffee while we watched LP to come to life. We paid many visits to the expo and the various stores along Main Street and I think thoroughly enjoyed our time before the race. We met a lot of great people the week leading up to the race! Spent the first night we were there hanging out at the oval talking to a dude who was on the 1980 speed skating team and a totally hilarious guy from Italy who we ended up seeing EVERYWHERE we went! Every morning we would watch the dude take his parrot and dog for a walk… we ended up having a long chat with the guy on Monday…what a character! I love people like that!!

We drove the bike course twice… once with Brian in MA and once with my parents… I honestly didn’t think it looked THAT bad. The climbs didn’t seem steep AT ALL compared to what we’re used to although they were a little long. I basically broke the loop down into five points that I figured might give me trouble or at least prove to be somewhat memorable… I figured I could tick them off in my head as I went … kind of a “money in the bank” mental approach to riding.  The five points were the climb out of town, the descent to Keene, the climb to Wilmington, the wall on the out and back and then the long climb back up to LP. Of all of them I was probably most concerned with the descent and the climb to Wilmington…. I had no idea how wrong I was!

We never swam the full loop but instead swam out to the swim course from our hotel which was right on Mirror Lake (how cool was THAT?!) and then did part of the loop. The water was almost warmer than my pool water and soooo clear! I loved it! Did a short ride around the lake one day and a little jog thru town. Felt great. Running in LP was always quite a challenge for us as there were dogs EVERYWHERE! I feel the need here to say a few words about the dogs in LP… they were SO cool! We saw several Burmese Mountain Dogs which I have always loved but rarely see at home, two great danes (one a 12 week old puppy), an english bulldog, a Swiss Mountain Dog, a greyhound, several corgis, and of course all the labs and goldens your heart could desire… this place was doggie heaven… and we had to stop to pet all of them. 

Had dinner the night before the race with Kim (in ON), Leesure, Cindi and Brian (in MA), Steve (of dancing banana fame), and Terry in NH and Sherpa (great to finally meet you guys…!! Wish we had gotten to talk more)! Silke (SW in CT) stopped by to say hi too which was great! Always good to see the TNO/Jchat crew!!

Slept great the night before the race. The boytoy and I woke up at 4:30 to a BEAUTIFUL sunrise over the mountains… it was going to be a gorgeous day!

Went thru all the ususal pre-IM stuff… checking bags, etc… put on the wetsuit.. and headed down for the swim start…

The Swim

Hearing how much everyone loved swimming along the fabled cable that runs the length of the bike course, the boytoy and I actually decided to seed ourselves AWAY from it figuring we would miss much of the madness that would go on as people jockeyed for a spot along the cable. We swam our way over to the other side of the start area and found ourselves standing in the water next to MadMax! Woohoo!! MM and I started front and center at MOO together in 02 and were going to get to do it again (well, front, but not so center this time). The dude standing right behind MM gashed his foot on a rock and was bleeding like crazy… scary. Someone on the shore produced some duct tape and they taped up the sore paw… I sure hope that guy made it… It could have been any one of us.

The yellow “5 minutes to the start” flag went up and MM, J, and I made our way to our start position. I HATE those last 5 minutes because you NEVER know when the cannon will go off. The helicopter kept zooming by and the crowds were cheering. Its such a rush. My Swedes kept fogging up and I kept having to clear them… of course the cannon went off mid-clear but I managed to get ‘em back onto my eyes before I was completely run over!

This was the easiest IM swim start I’ve ever done. I had NO problems at the beginning and actually had pretty clear water for the whole swim with the exception of the second half of the way back in on both laps. I’m not sure why but that always got a little rough. My goggles were totally fogged the whole way and all I could do was follow the feet in front of me… which was fine. Mirror Lake is crazy clear and I could actually see the SCUBA divers below me!!! They looked like some sort of monsters looking up at us and it kinda freaked me out!! I never even realized there were so many of them down there at other races!!!

The first loop went ok but I expected the second one to hurt a little since my swim training is pretty sparse (I think I averaged about 1.5 swims/week with the longest being only 2500m) but I felt fine. Got out of the water in a high 1:01 which is a little slower than my past IM swims but it felt great so it was ok. I later found out that the boytoy and I had been swimming almost right next to eachother! 

Ran/stumbled up onto the shore and was “stripped” by Brian (sorry hon… and Cindi ;)) and headed off to T1.

The Bike

This is where I knew things would get interesting for me. The ride out of the oval was a LOT of fun as those roads are super fast and you go FLYING out of transition! That first hill out of town hit me pretty hard as my legs weren’t totally warmed up yet but I didn’t worry about it too much. What I WASN’T expecting was for most of the ride out to the start of the Keene descent to look like it was going down… while it was really going slightly up. I could NOT figure out why the hell I was going so slow and feeling so terrible. I even stopped to see if my brake pads were rubbing! Dudes went absolutely FLYING by me (the curse of a fast swim/slow bike combo) … but I’ve learned to expect that so it didn’t bother me much.

Made it to the dreaded descent which is really comprised of three descents with little breaks in the middle. I made it to what I thought was the bottom and thought to myself “wow… that was actually kind of disappointing” when I came up on a chalked message on the road that read “THIS IS THE REAL DEAL! HANG ON!!!” ohhhhh lord…. Here we go!! The last of the descents is the longest and definitely the steepest. I did a LOT of breaking but generally enjoyed my ride down. I had had a LOT of anxiety about this but it turned out to be GREAT! I think I did half the ride down with my mouth open stifling a roller-coaster style scream! SOOOO fun!!! And just when I thought I was at the bottom I saw one of those downhill truck signs saying to use a low great for the next MILE! ANOTHER MILE OF THIS?!?!?! WOOOHOOO!!! Loved it.  I have no idea how fast I went (or how slow I went later in the ride) because my computer wasn’t working… which was probably a blessing in disguse.

I thoroughly enjoyed the nice flat ride from Keene to Jay and the legs felt great even tho my hip flexors were pretty tight. Made the turn to go up the dreaded Wilmington climb and found that it wasn’t so bad… just long. The hill on the out and back proved to be nothing and I actually PASSED a couple people going up it (this was like the hills at home or the hills on the moo course… short and steep).

I wasn’t especially worried about the climb back to town… but maybe I should have been. This is where I started to hurt. It seemed like everything from the out and back on was either false flat or uphill. And none of it was steep but it just DRAINED my legs. We had NOTHING like that at home. I thought Papa Bear was REALLY going to hurt but it ended up not being a problem… I’d ride Papa Bear and the out and back hill a zillion times if it meant avoiding all that “gentle rise” crap leading up to it. I learned that I like my hills to actually LOOK like they’re going up!!! Lol! The best part of making it up Papa Bear was getting to the top and seeing… MY Papa Bear!! I was totally shocked to see my dad out there on the top of that hill! It was great!  He asked how I was feeling and I said that the climb to town had hurt quite a bit but I was ok… I figured my legs would recover… I couldn’t have been more wrong.

Riding thru town was a blast… kinda like riding thru Verona at MOO but without the TDF feel to it. It was just what I needed before heading back out on the loop.

The second loop hurt. It REALLY hurt. To make a long story short my legs NEVER recovered from the last 12 miles of the loop and they never felt good again. I kept my spirits up telling myself to just survive and make it to the run and I’d be fine. Considering how terrible I felt, I was awesome mentally. I honestly believed that if I could just get off the bike I would finish this damn thing… I never had a doubt in my mind.

A few notes on the course/volunteers/signs: First of all… this course is BEAUTIFUL!!! I can’t imagine a more scenic Ironman course anywhere! The volunteers and spectators were AWESOME!! There was a house early on into the loop where a live band was playing ALL DAY for us! How cool was THAT?! The aid station at the turn around on the out and back had a christmas theme …. Xmas decorations up on the light posts, volunteers in Santa Clause hats… and even Santa himself waving us thru the turnaround! The chalk and signs on the road were hilarious! Thanks to the jchat folks for chalking our names on the road and whoever put up the TNO sign. A few of my other favorites were the “SUITCASE OF COURAGE” messages on the guardrails on the last 12 miles and the sign right before the bear hills that said “BEARS DON’T SCARE (insert name)” … good stuff that definitely keeps ya going!

The Run/Walk/Death March

Made into T2 and said goodbye to Jose. Opened my T2 bag to find that my flask of ESPRESSO (think of the color here folks) Hammergel had completely emptied onto the contents of the bag. Which meant my super cute purple Sugoi top, my tri shorts, and my running hat were COVERED in sticky brown goo. And I mean COVERED! Wonderful. Spent a couple mintues trying to get ‘em somewhat clean and then headed out on the run course. … still thinking the legs would come back to life.

They didn’t… so I just kept walkin’. The out and back seemed to go on forever and the miles went by VERY slowly. I’ve had some tendonitis in my knee and that was really starting to hurt… but I just kept walkin. I was feeling TERRIBLE and I knew I would be cutting the midnight cut off close. When the boytoy went by me in the other direction I told him I couldn’t talk or I wouldn’t make the cutoff…I said hurry up and catch me and we’ll chat… Several times I tried to run and the legs would have none of it… no matter how much pretzels, Gatorade, water, chicken broth, etc I consumed… I just concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other… which got progressively harder and harder.

My dad had walked WAAAAAAAAAY out onto the run course (we figured out that between that and Papa Bear he walked over 12 miles race day lol) and walked next to me for a couple minutes…. And then a dude on a bike asked for my race number. DAMN… busted for “outside assistance”… at first I thought I was DQ’d but then found out it was only a 4 minute time penalty (which actually WAS big deal because at that point I still thought I might make it). Rules are rules tho and we had broken ‘em… in retrospect its kinda funny!

Ended up walking with both MadMax and Lee at the end of the run and I think both times I was in tears… it was just SO disappointing to have trained so hard and made it this far and see the dream slip away… At about mile 9 or so of the run I started to realize my effort was futile.

Made it back to town and headed out for the one mile out and back that finishes the first loop. At that point the boytoy had finally caught me and we walked together for a little while… and my legs started to lock up. I wasn’t even sure if I would make it back to the oval and there was no way another 13 miles were going to happen… I took off my number when I got back and called it a day… while the bf ran into the oval for his second IM finish.

Final Thoughts

I spent 9 months preparing for this race and over 14 hours on the course. To not finish was disappointing for sure but isn’t quite as devastating as I expected it to be. My first IM finish (MOO 02) came as “easy” as these things can come and the second one has proven to be rather elusive for me. My DNF at MOO last year was partially due to bad luck (I was sick as a dog and the temps were well into the 90s) and partially due to a lack of preparation on my part (which was largely because of some situations in my life that were beyond my control) … and THAT hurt. I KNEW I can do the MOO course. Our rollers here in KS aren’t as big as those in Madison, but its an adequate preparation. Lake Placid was a completely different story! NOTHING I’ve ridden out here could have prepared me to ride in the mountains. I feel like I was physically ready for this race and if it had been a different IM course, I WOULD have finished. That bike just took EVERYTHING out of my flatlander legs. I’m happy that I never ever gave up until the legs just couldn’t go anymore and proud that I was in a GREAT place mentally all day despite the suffering I was going thru.

I knew when I jumped into this race that the bike was going to be VERY rough for me because of where I live but also because biking just isn’t my strong point. Courage and confidence can only get you so far…and I let them carry me as far as I could. Having seen what that bike course is like, I’m just happy I was able to FINISH it and then had the guts to try the marathon. I handled the Keene descent (which formerly TERRIFIED me) pretty well and was never “afraid” of the climbs (which I would have been a year or two ago). I just wasn’t ready for this bike course… next time I will be.

I will be back to IM and I will DEFINITLY be back to LP… but I’ve GOTTA learn how to ride better before then. There hasn’t been a time in the last 3 years that I HAVEN’T been signed up for an IM… and its time for a break… both physical and mental. At 24 I’m just a baby in this sport and have many many IM’s ahead of me… but I gotta pace myself  I plan on spending the next year or so riding as much as I possibly can (on the road AND on my MTB which is starting to feel a little neglected after 3 years!) and trying some different stuff… the bf and I are already making plans for some off-road tri’s and adventure races next year and maybe some trail runs and possibly MTB racing. The future is wide open! :D

Did I accomplish my #1 goal of finishing this race? Nope… sure didn’t. BUT I had a great time out there despite all the suffering. I got to ride my bike in one of the most beautiful places I could imagine with 2000 of my best friends… I feel pretty darn lucky. I also thoroughly enjoyed the training this year… so there’s no regrets there! Life is WAY too short to lament things like this… especially when the endeavor is just SO way out there. Its NOT an easy sport we’ve chosen peeps… we do this for fun (and I had a LOT of fun) … and its not worth crying over. So maybe I fell 13 miles short this time… I made it THRU 127 miles of a challenging course and next time (and there WILL be a next time) I give this race a go, I’ll finish that pesky marathon (and feel a whole lot better about the bike!).

If you’ve actually made it this far, thanks for reading. Congrats to MM, Lee, and the rest of the IM finishers! You guys are AWESOME! Special congrats to the boytoy for finishing his second IM! And thanks to him and my family for supporting me for 3 years of IM!

Oh, and btw, after watching LP (and MOO last year), my dad says he’s gonna do the local sprint next year (and I think he might even have secret IM aspirations himself…) !!!

Sad news today was that Tyler Hamilton, GC contender, tough as nails, and all around nice guy's golden retriever Tugboat had to be put to sleep on the rest day. Tyler honored his family member's loss by wearing his doggie tags around his neck... I'm becoming a fan. :)

http://www.cyclingnews.com/photos/2004/tour04/stage10/DSC_0666tyler.jpg

So we're well over a week into le tour and its been rather boring aside from an abnormal amount of crashes. Nothing as dramatic as when Beloki went down and LA went tearing thru the cornfield... but lots of helmet bouncing, bike flying pile ups... I could never be a roadie!

This was posted by Hightower, one of the good folks over at TNO I had to stop reading it three different times... I think I had something in my eye... it wasn't tears I promise....

"A Little Motivation for those of you doing Ironman USA - Lake Placid

It is dark and you are extremely tired. Your every ounce of energy
focused on keeping one foot in front of the other. You have blisters.
Your blisters have blisters. Your legs are screaming at you. All you
want to do is finish. The thought of one more gu is nauseating. You hit
the final turn-around on Mirror Lake Drive. The Volunteer hands you a
glow stick with a heartfelt "Good job". You thank him and trudge on with
the outline of Mirror lake on your right hand side. It is silent except
for the sound of your own foot steps. The moon is shining on the water.
Spectators are sparse at this point because they are mostly gathered at
the finish line. One foot after the other... left... right... left...
right... Slowly, off in the distance, you begin to see a faint light.
You are beginning to hear a very distant sound. You begin to hear a
booming voice echoing off in the distance. The lights are becoming more
noticeable now. You begin to hear a voice that begins calling to you...
almost calling you home. The pain and suffering begins to leave your
body. Your pace is beginning to pickup as you are now seeing the
brightest light off in the distance. You can now hear the voice calling
to you. You round the corner and see thousands of people. Thousands of
people at the corner cheering you on. You are running now. You can't
feel your pain. You can't feel your legs. You are just running. Almost
floating. You run through the corner and into the oval. The crowd, the
sounds, they are too loud to comprehend now. They are deafening. You run
step by step around the Olympic oval and turn the final corner and see the
most beautiful sight you have ever seen. You hear the voice now calling
you home...
"YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!!!!"

3 weeks... "

3 weeks from tomorrow I'm doing an Ironman. Oh my friggin lord.

Did my last 3 hour run (pukepukepuke) on Monday... 3 hour runs are funny. The first 2 hours all I could think about was how fun it was and how pretty the KU campus is and how much I LOVE long runs... the last hour all I could think about was how happy I am that this would be my last 3 hour run for a while!!!

Tomorrow I do my last long ride... and then its taper taper taper. Holy freaking crap!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!