Race Report
- Ironman USA Lake Placid
July 24, 2005
Pre race
First off, many thanks must be extended
to the fabulous and extensive support system in Sudbury
and beyond who provide me with the means and ability to
train for triathlon, including all my great training partners,
coaches and mentors in Sudbury, coach Steve for showing
me the path to follow, Dave and Ghislaine for the adjustments
and so much more, Andrea and Gerry-Lee for working out
my kinks, and Mom, Dad, Chantal, Jen, Catherine and Shannon
for incredible emotional and on-site support, not to mention
the dozens of well wishes and promises of online scrutiny
of my progress to keep me honest. I am lucky to have such
great people in my life.
Race week was a mix of panic trying to squeeze
a week’s worth of work and other life commitments
into 3 days, and relaxation once I was at the race site
and only had to concern myself with the last few taper
sessions and race day preparations. Sunday dawned early
after a few fitful hours of sleep, and the race morning
rituals began: The 3am breakfast of 3 packets of oatmeal
with chopped fruit, half a cup of cottage cheese and a
baked potato. The quiet march into transition to get body
marked, drop off supplies and pump tires. The counteless
trips to the washroom. The sharing of nervous smiles with
the other athletes on the beach.
6:58am. Treading water in Mirror Lake, the
atmosphere was electric. Most of the 23 female pros had
just finished the first lap of swimming after their early
6:25am start, and close to 2000 of use age group swimmers
were getting ready to join in the fun. About 20% of the
starters were looking forward to their first Ironman finish.
For me, it would be my third time going the distance and
my first time on the Lake Placid course. A winter and
spring of hard training had me fitter than ever before,
and I was looking forward to a significant personal best.
As the helicopter hovered just overhead, I adjusted my
goggles, quieted my mind, and got ready to rumble. Game
on!
Swim
2.4 miles
59:20 (PB!)
I chose to start towards the outside where
there was more room. The logic was to get a clean start,
avoid the washing machine, and only really have to swim
a few extra metres since the distance to the first buoy
is nearly 1km. Treading water at the start, I found myself
next to age group legend Joe Bonness so I reckoned I was
in a good spot (Joe has over 40 IM finishes, most under
10 hours so I figure he knows what he’s doing!).
Sure enough, after the cannon went off I
was treated to my least eventful swim start. Before I
knew it I found myself at the turn and was able to follow
the line from there. For those who don’t know about
it, the “line” is a cable that runs ~6ft under
the water and is used to anchor the course marking buoys.
I had heard that it can be an ugly fight to get a position
within sight of this wonderful swim course feature, but
I had no such trouble. I also found myself in a good pack
of swimmers that kept me honest without working me too
hard. I was rewarded with a 4 minute PB, a sub-hour swim
and a great start to a very long day.
T1
5:01
A long run to transition and a quick porta-potty
stop made this a smooth but lengthy affair. It was fun
though; my training partner Jack Kosmerly and I must have
traded positions 5 times during this time – head-to-head
racing in transition!
Cycle
112 miles
6:19:19 (yikes!)
I decided to take a conservative approach
and do my hardest work in the second half of the bike.
While this made the first loop a bit of a snore, I made
sure to enjoy the 9km descent into Keene (where I learned
that I get a little speed wobble in my front race wheel
once I hit about 75kph – who knew?) and all the
amazing scenery this fabulous course had to offer. I was
concerned that I was hallucinating at the out-and-back
turnaround, but others also reported seeing a gorilla
handing out gatorade so at least I knew I wasn’t
alone.
The first lap and a half went smoothly and
I was back to say hi to the gorilla in no time. I suspected
I was going a little slower than predicted, but I promised
myself not to look at the time and just ride to effort,
something that I increased according to plan as the bike
ride wore on. I was rewarded by passing many of the “one
lap wonders” in front of me and holding my own with
the other wise cyclists around me.
As I rolled through 100 miles and into the
Whiteface Notch for the second time, I got to thinking
that 112 miles didn’t seem as hard as it used to.
I credited my new InfinIT energy drink, which allowed
me to meet all my nutrition, hydration and salt intake
needs simply by drinking one bottle every 40 minutes.
I had also nailed my pacing which showed in the fact that
I had been passing other folks easily in the second lap.
Maybe it was bad karma to think so positively, because
Murphy was listening and next thing I knew it “BOOM!”
– there goes my back tire. I checked the script
– this was not in there. I had never changed a tubular
in a race before, but there has to be a first time for
everything so I got to work. Wheel off, rip tire off,
take valve apart to swap valve extender, spare on, pumped
up, pop the wheel back on the bike and….
“BOOM!”
Uh oh…..this was DEFINITELY not in the script.
I just stood there, looking at my tire,
slowly letting it sink in that my day was now effectively
over. 8 months of training and sacrifice and here I was
at the side of the road with two blown tires watching
hundreds of cyclists go by.
It eventually occurred to me that many of
these cyclists have their own spares. I became a beggar,
calling out “tubular” like I was looking for
front row seats to a Jay’s game. It didn’t
take long for a generous cyclist to stop and gave me his
spare along with his compressed gas inflation device (mine
was spent). I would end up owing my race to a guy I had
never met. This spare proved to be MUCH harder to get
on my wheel (don’t forget to pre-stretch your spare
tubulars!), and impossible to inflate with the new inflation
device for some reason (lesson: always bring a mini-pump
just in case), but with the help of the neutral support
van that eventually arrived, I was on my way. The damage?
40 AGONIZING minutes.
The rest of the bike ride (all 8 miles of
it) went just fine. I now had the marathon to look forward
to
T2
2:32
It was really busy in the changing tent,
but I found place to change. There was even a volunteer
there to help me. I felt like I was getting ready for
my first day of school. “Do you have your fuel belt
Mikey? You don’t want to starve out there on the
marathon. And don’t forget your hat – it is
really getting hot out there.” I got extra credit
for bringing a full bottle of my InfinIT nutrition drink
along in addition to my fuel belt. Then I staggered out
into the sunshine for a little 26.2.
Run
26.2 miles
3:39:40 (PB!)
Out on the run, I began to feel pretty sorry
for myself. I thought about my goals for the day, about
how a “best effort” performance was what I
was after regardless of finishing time. Yet for some reason,
I could not summon the will to focus on maintaining my
goal pace. It was like the race decided to call my bluff
by saying “Are you sure finishing time is not that
important? Let’s add 40 minutes to your day and
see if you are still willing to push yourself to your
limits on the run”. With my hopes of a personal
best gone, I just couldn’t find the desire to let
er’ rip. I had encountered a different kind of mental
barrier than I ever expected.
After fighting with myself for the first
6 miles, I decided to make the best of my situation. If
I was going to be moving along at a “conservative”
pace, I had better take advantage of it. When I came across
Jack walking (he had been knocked down by another cyclist
on the bike course and hurt his back in the crash –
and I thought I had bad luck!), I decided to walk with
him for a minute and give him some encouragement. I hammed
it up with the crowds, making faces at my friends and
paying special attention to the volunteers – especially
the kids. For some reason I really took notice of how
many kids there were on the course and how enthusiastically
they were helping out and cheering us all on. In particular,
there was one little boy on the roadside holding a plate
of fruit from one of the aid stations on top of his head
– I don’t think he knew what it was for but
you could tell he was enjoying being part of the race.
Speaking of fruit, I took advantage of my comfy pace by
eating all the grapes I could find – yum!
Coming up to the halfway point on the marathon,
I met up with my girlfriend and her sister and told them
that I was having fun but was a wee bit behind schedule,
so not to bother waiting for me to finish (they had to
work in Toronto in the morning). With that business out
of the way, I hit the timing mat to start lap 2 and decided
that it was time to start running like I meant it.
It has often been said that the Ironman
is all about not slowing down on the second half of the
run. Well I must have been successful then because I actually
sped up, negative splitting the marathon by a couple of
minutes. I am not sure if it counts when you sandbag the
first half and eat half a pound of grapes, but it sure
was fun passing all those people towards the end.
Finish
140.6 miles
11:05:50
Click
here for Detailed Results
Entering the Olympic Oval was bittersweet.
It felt fantastic (finishing an Ironman is always an exhilarating
feeling), but there was definitely disappointment. In
the days that followed, however, I realized that my race
was successful for many reasons. I had discovered that
mental barriers can take many forms and that your best
effort on a given day can be quite different than what
you envision it to be. I also had taken the opportunity
to observe elements of the race that would have eluded
me had I been able to push myself into the world of pain
I was looking for on the run. Along the way I was also
able to prove to myself that I can execute my nutrition,
hydration and pacing in such a way that the second half
of the marathon is a breeze – a great mental place
from which to approach my next attempt of this challenging
distance.
With this experience behind me, I can now
look forward to an early off season filled with work and
coaching challenges and an opportunity to save money and
rejuvinate my body and mind in preparation for my next
adventure: A winter of full-time training and travel in
New Zealand where I can continue to explore my athletic
and personal potential.
Follow your dreams!
Mike
mike@discomfortzone.com.
