Ironman Lake Placid 2011 – race report

Hi. I am number 565, but I will have you know, I am more than a number. I am an Ironman!

And I loved every minute of the journey getting there… well almost every minute, but never mind, because I don’t think I could add up the latter into more than an hour or two… ok, at max three.

Regardless of those darker moments, I had a smile on my face through the whole thing, even into the darkness of the night.

Sunday morning, 7/24/2011 : 7:00am anxiety set in. Well long before 7am that morning, but trust overruled at 7am. Trust in my training, trust in my endurance, and trust in myself, and oh ja, not to forget trust in my faultless (no bias) nutrition strategy.

During the singing of the National Anthem that morning, trust became anxiety again,  the gun goes off … and anxiety became trust… Ok Ok,  let me just get that part out the way now, those two words (trust and anxiety) will be interchangeable from now on. Of course just looking at my support system was my relaxant. First and foremost, standing next to me in the water was my training buddy and initial inspiration to do this race in the first place, Faye. Logistically we were about to be separated. But besides logistics, Faye, the energizer bunny is tough to keep up with. So we said our goodbyes and our promises to meet again at the finish line later that night.  Needless to say, Faye was with me all the way in spirit –  between our training and camaraderie, together we got through every stroke, rotation and step of the way.

The Swim

Mirror Lake is gorgeous, but tiny. Many may not think ‘tiny’ is an appropriate adjective, but if I put it like this: “host a pool party of 2499 close, very close, friends, in a pool that size, would you then refer to it as “tiny” or perhaps “minute” ? Furthermore, all these friends had somewhere to be before midnight. That somewhere was 140.6 miles away and  we were all hustling to get there, so lets get this party started !! Besides “tiny” or “minute,” 2.4 miles has other adjectives attached. I’m just sayin’ and moreover that’s all I’m saying. Ok, one more thing (this is about me afterall,) I was very proud of my 90 minutes in the tough stuff. I still had someplace to be before midnight and it was still more than 137 miles away.

The Bike

I was excited to see my gentle Giant, and to further light up that moment, my very own Sherpa Jay, handed it to me in transition.  Unbeknown to me, Jay (the second character in my support team) had signed up to be a volunteer and managed to secure his tour of duty, right by my transition rack, and surprised me. Too cool, especially now I am out the big pool/tiny lake.

Getting to the point – I shall summarize the bike portion as climb, screeching downhill, s-bends, climb, climb higher, climb highest, repeat! So after lots of long and lonely hours, gooey and sticky gels, sickly sweet and warm Gatorade, I wasn’t so happy to see my bike, the tough Giant anymore.

The Run

And now to cool down with this little thing we call a marathon… moreover, still smiling!

Mile one through six is not even worthy of words, because all that would spill out, would be more inappropriate adjectives. It took me that long to realize I was no longer pedaling and was no longer wearing a helmet to protect the brain. Ah, it finally dawned on me what those brick workouts were all about, and this one was on steroids.

So to summarize the run: hilly, hillier, hilliest (are those even a word? – remember my brain is no longer protected at this point). Actually, most of the run was rolling hills but there were a few mentionable steep mothers. The light in these darker moments consisted of iced colas (coke is my anti-kryptonite, but don’t tell my clients) and salty chicken broth  Besides the treat of coke, even more of a treat was the amazing people of Lake Placid and their support.  They take on the responsibility one day a year to get each of us obnoxious athletes across the finish line. Whether “obnoxious” is an appropriate adjective or not, we cannot forget that we make the rest of their weekend an endless traffic jam, set up long queues for them to stand in for any service or product, place our M-dots all over their town, so basically, the jury is still out on our demeanor.

Putting it all together – Swim, Bike, Run

That day, 7/24/2011, my day in Lake Placid, was not just a day at the races; it was a day of about 2500 stories. Some chapters are deeper and darker than others but those are the ones that illuminate the lighter and brighter ones. That day, has endless memories, each one created with a smile, and each one creates a smile.

On an individual note – some one put up a sign in glitter, egging Faye and I on. We both noticed it along the bike course, but no one we know who was there, admitted to making such a special treat for us. We still cannot figure out who – so if one of you reading this has any clues, please let us know, so we can pay it forward.

The things I have learned along my journey to Ironman:

–        everyone has somewhere before midnight, it just takes some longer than others to get there.

–        Screeching S-bend downhills on a bike can be relaxing

–        Gu’s are delicious up to the fifth one, then they are just a sticky mess and disgusting.

–        Which adjectives that describe an ironman training schedule are appropriate in the presence of children

–        Ilana’s nutrition strategy is faultless and fool proof (I met one of my online clients face to face after the race, and boy is he a lean, mean, racing machine)

–        Don’t tell anyone you ordered your Sherpa from dudsonline.com, but be sure to emphasize studsforhire.com once you realize you cannot become an Ironman alone (Jay signed up for IMLP 2012)

–        Although I never drink coke (other than in an endurance event,) I finally get why some of my clients are addicted (but don’t tell my clients)

–        Who is inside the energizer bunny costume

–        Many people actually get the “Sofa King” joke – (both Faye and I wore our Sofa King tri kit, and boy did we get a ton of giggles from the crowd)

–        Don’t pack a massage tool “the Stick” in your carry on luggage

–        I am the luckiest girl in the world to have such a support system – between my family, my friends, Fayes family and friends, my clients, and my students, I have been overloaded with the most amazing well wishes and congratulation messages.

And Finally I learnt that the town of Lake Placid has spotty cell coverage – and with that said, it was impossible to reply and thank you personally and individually for your words of motivation, inspiration and encouragement. I would not be an Ironman without you !!

GOOD NIGHT – Ironman into Tiredman after the high starts depleting —-