Up at 4:20 on race morning and then down for breakfast at the motel. Greg and Chris, owners of the Adirondack Holiday Lodge were doing a great job of catering to the Ironman crowd this year with a special early breakfast on race morning after serving an Ironman dinner the night before. There were a few of us having breakfast together. It was still pitch black outside as we looked out the windows at the front of the motel but we could see that the flags at the front of the motel were flapping away in the already brisk wind. Wonderful. We wished each other luck and headed back to our rooms to grab all our gear for the drive to LP.
The highway was busy with people making the trip into town and some roads were already closed. We finally found a parking space and I headed off to check my bike tires, load up my nutrition for the ride and fill my water bottle. We met up with Tim at the body marking area and then headed down to the swim start to get ready. Tim’s sister and her family were there to cheer Tim on and we all hung out on the hill overlooking the swim start until it was time to make our way down to the water. We passed through the swim start and made our way a little further back so we could get started without getting too beat up when the gun went off. As we were standing there, Armen came up. What a great surprise to see him out of 3000 people and be able to wish him luck in his first Ironman. Armen has been raising money for MS, in memory of his uncle, while he has been training for the race. Tim and I got in the water with about 3 minutes to go and slowly made our way up closer to the start line.
The Gun went off right at 7am and the melee began. It’s hard to describe what it looks like when 3000 people start swimming all at once, let alone describe how it feels. The course is a long rectangle and it took most of the way around once before I could find any open water to swim in without constantly making contact with someone else, or being kicked or elbowed by someone. I’m a good swimmer and comfortable in the water, but I can’t imagine how some other people survive it. Terry, Tim’s brother in law, told us later about the number of people that the kayakers brought back in soon after the start.
At the halfway point of the swim, you exit the water and run through a timing shoot to record the split time. I was 37mins and change for the first, as I re-entered the water for the 2nd loop, I thought to myself, hopefully I can find some clear space to swim and equal or better that time for the 2nd loop. It was better, but still a lot of swimmers all around you. I finished in 1:17:04, a couple of minutes slower that last year, but understandable with the crowd.
The run from the swim exit to the transition area if about 250m, it’s a long way. As I was running down the carpet I looked over to my right and saw my coach from last year, Rick Choy, it was great to see him and we wished each other good luck for the day. I grabbed my bike transition bag from the numbered rack and headed for the changing tent. It was chaos in there! At least 400 or more guys changing into their bike gear, along with another 100 or so volunteer helping them. I changed up quickly and ran for the tent exit and into the Olympic Oval to get my bike. I looked the Girls at the top overlooking the Oval, but couldn’t see them. I went to the wrong rack and then quickly to the right one and got the P3.
The bike course starts with a couple of tight turns and steep down hills, so you have to be really careful and watch out for everyone else. Within a couple of minutes we were out of LP and well on our way on the climb out of town to the start of the big decent into Keene. Sure enough, just as we were starting the decent, it started raining. I’m not embarrassed to say that I feathered my brakes the whole way down. I’m just not willing to take the chance of going flat out in the rain. One little misstep and your day is done, at best. At worst, you’re going to get hurt. Finally, this is the only hill that I’ve ever ridden that I’m always wishing it would end before it does, we were on the flattest section of the course from Keene to Jay. Once at Jay we headed up to Ausable Forks before turning around. We passed by our motel in Wilmington and made the long climb back to LP and then repeated the whole thing again. On the way back to LP, I saw Jason on the course and it was great to see him and he was looking great.
I finished the bike in 6:31:44 and was happy with that. LP is a course the rewards the patient athlete and I felt that I had gone hard enough but not too hard. I dropped off my bike to one of the bike catchers who then place it back in your spot on the bike rack, grabbed my run bag and headed for the changing tent again. There was a lot more room in the tent and it made it a lot easier to take a breath and get ready for the run. Once on the run I settled into a really easy pace and was just taking the first few miles really easy. At mile 3, I came up on Coach Rick again and we ran together for about 3 miles, it was great to see him and be able to talk to someone for a while a take your mind off things. I was running between each aid station and walking through and getting everything I needed before starting to run again. I was starving when I got off the bike and couldn’t wait to get to the first aid station to get something to eat. Those grapes and oranges never tasted so good! I didn’t get enough calories down during the bike and I knew it was going to affect my run. I saw Tim at the turn around and we ran together for a couple of minutes. I told him to get going and not let me hold him up, he is such a great runner I knew he would finish really well if he ran at his quick speed.
At about mile 10 my foot started acting up. I have, what I think, is a Morton’s Neuroma on the bottom of my left foot. The pain is described best as someone poking you in the bottom of the foot with a red hot fire poker. Then at about 15miles I was having pain in both my Achilles tendons, down close to the ankles, at least it took my mind off the foot pain. Not sure why that started up, I didn’t run over 15 miles in training and I was wearing new shoes, that could have been it. I eventually made it back to town. The final 2 miles is amazing in LP, the road is lined with people screaming and cheering and calling everyone’s name. I saw Tim’s family just at the entrance to the Oval and then the Girls up at the top of the Oval, I waved like crazy as I ran those last few meters to the finish line, and yes I did hear, you are an Ironman! Tim was in the finish and we congratulated each other, he went 12:10! An absolutely amazing run for a first time at LP. He’s such a great runner! I was collecting my gear bags and heard my cell ringing in the bottom of the bike bag, I got it out just in time, it was Steve, my brother calling from Singapore, he was just watching on his computer at work and called to say congrats, hearing from him was awesome!
My goal was to beat last year’s time of 13:47 and run a sub 5 hour marathon. I accomplished both and it was a bonus to finish under 13hrs in 12:54:25. Thanks to Rick for doing the math on the run to make sure I could get there. And yes, I did sign up for 2011.
Once again, thanks to the three amazing women in my life, having you share these experiences with me is what gives them meaning and your love, support and encouragement is what fuels my passion for the Ironman. I hope you all had fun too!
Next up, Ironman Louisville, August 29th, should be hot and humid, just the way I like it!
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