| Gary's Ironman Blog |
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| Ironman 2010 – A Day in Lake Placid This Journey starts in late 2008, when I decided I wanted to attempt another Ironman distance race. (2.4 mi swim, 112 mi bike and 26.2 mi run, in case you did not know.) I had already completed six since 1999, the last one in Florida in 2006. I had done three in Lake Placid (2000, 2002 & 2003) and had vowed never to do another there since it is arguably one of the toughest Ironman races in the US, if not the world. However, in 2008 I changed (lost?) my mind and registered as a Volunteer Massage Therapist for Ironman 2009. Yes, you actually have to register to volunteer – no cost, but lots of forms to fill in and a wait to see if you are accepted. One of the reasons volunteering is so popular is that it virtually assures you can register for the next year’s event. The day after the event, volunteers go to the front of the registration line at the Lake Placid High School. Turns out several other friends also decided to volunteer – John, who had done the Lake Placid and the Madison Ironman, Mark, who had done Lake Placid, and Frank and Dave, Ironvirgins (as they are called). We are all members of the Somerset Runners Group, an informal group of runners/triathletes who run and train together occasionally. Every Sunday morning you can find the group at the D & R Canal at Blackwells Mills. The five of us went to Lake Placid in 2009, did our volunteer thing and registered for the July 25, 2010 event together. Probably 2800 initially registered for the 2010 event. I found out afterwards there are over 3700 volunteers, most of them from the Lake Placid area. As an aside, the volunteers are an incredibly supportive, knowledgeable and encouraging group of people. Without them the race could not happen. So at that point we had two things to do – find a place to stay in Lake Placid for 2010 and start to train. After a few false starts on lodging, we found a Lake Placid house for rent that would hold all of us, including a couple of groupies and friends: Jody, Caroline, Dale, Kevin and Jeff. Dave decided to stay at his parents “camp,” actually a cabin built by Dave’s Dad, located an hour or so away from Lake Placid. Lodging in Lake Placid for Ironman Week is difficult to find and expensive. Ironman Week is the biggest, busiest most popular athletic event they hold in Lake Placid. Finish Line for Ironman is on the Olympic Oval where Eric Heiden won his five gold medals in speed skating in 1980, not far from the tiny arena where the US won the gold in hockey after defeating Russia (“Miracle on Ice”). Lake Placid also hosted the 1932 Winter Olympics. I digress. Training for an Ironman typically begins 6 months or more before the event. I choose a 30 week intensive program that Mark had successfully used in 2008. Dave put the program on an excel spreadsheet. We all essentially followed the program, which starts at just six hours the first week and peaks at 20 hours of training a few weeks before the event. The first workout of the program was December 28, 2009 and the workout for January 1 was a 30 minute run. We all did the Hillsborough Resolution Run 5K on Friday, January 1, 2010! We all didn’t do exactly the same training but we followed it closely. Those cold, bitter and windy workout days in January and February finally gave way to some warmer workouts in May and June. Some of us even made a trip or two to Lake Placid. Bike rides grew from one hour to six hours and running from 30 minutes to three hours, sometimes with a run immediately following a ride and sometimes with a ride after a run. At least three hours a week we were in the pool swimming what seemed like endless lengths. The bike rides were the most challenging, since we knew the hills around Whiteface Mountain would be probably the toughest part of the contest. But, thanks to Kevin and Dave we were able to replicate them in western New Jersey. Kevin made up a series of cue sheets, which were helpful especially to me, since I was always the last (read as “slowest”) in the group and frequently missed a turn and got lost. One five hour ride (for everyone else) turned into a six hour ride for me. Bonus hour! Many of our supporters rode with us, too. Dale and Kevin were there for most every ride. Mark rode with a group of fanatic bikers from Sterling, and Jody hung on strong with that group. In the days and weeks leading up to Ironman, I trained 6 days a week with Monday off. I ran approximately 650 miles, cycled the equivalent of over 1,800 miles and swam about 75 miles. I increased my average sleep per night from 5.5 hours to over seven. I increased my protein intake, reduced my simple sugar and white flour intake and lost about 10 pounds. As the training week grew to 20 hours, my exhaustion after the long bike rides and long runs left me spent, but stronger every week. With the unselfish help and support of spouse MG and the assistance of my friends and coworkers (thanks for the massages, Stella), I was at last ready to tackle Ironman Lake Placid. Folks start gathering in Lake Placid 4-5 days before the event. I travelled the Wednesday before to the rental house and by Thursday we were all checked in for the race. Nervous energy was abundant. We started arranging the various supplies for the swim, bike and run as well as bags (known as Special Needs Bags) to stash things (nutrition, dry clothes, etc) for the halfway point of the bike and run. Friday night was the Athlete’s Buffet, where the 2600 or so athletes gather for dinner, two inspirational videos and pep talks by the Mayor of Lake Placid, race officials and “Iron Mike,” the Voice of Ironman (“You are an Ironman!”). The day before the race was very long. The Northern Counties Ministries had a free pancake breakfast Saturday morning. Very inspiring, caring, giving people who truly impressed me with their unconditional love of life and all of us. They had real maple syrup, also! In the afternoon, we brought our bikes and bags to the Transition Area in the center of the Olympic Oval in front of the High School. We wore out the Weather Channel. (Forecast was rain @7 am, 10 am and sun the rest of the day, with an almost full moon at night.) We had a pre-race meal (pasta for me) at our house Saturday and we were in bed by 10 pm for a 4 am wakeup. No one slept more than a couple hours. We left for body marking a bit after 5 am, 2 hours before race start. There were 2,640 athletes who were body marked and ready to roll by 6:30 am. Nearly all had wetsuits (temperature was a record 74.5 degrees). Dave, John, Frank and I had picked out a starting spot along the shore of Mirror Lake that was far enough away from the congestion to reduce some of our anxiety. Mirror Lake has a steel cable held in place about six feet below the surface and we were all ready to use it as a guide once the crowd thinned. At precisely 7 am, a canon went off and 10,560 arms and legs began the 2.4 mile, two-loop swim in beautiful Mirror Lake. The pro triathletes had started 10 minutes earlier. I did a personal best time of 1:35:25. Kinda slow, but I was pumped. I was 8 out of 12 in my age group. “Strippers” were ready to help us out of our wetsuits at the conclusion of the swim and we ran to the transition tent, found our bike clothes bags and changed. Volunteers had our bike ready to hand off to us and we were off for the 112 mile, two-loop ride. After nearly 8 and a half hours of screaming downhills and agonizing uphills with some strong headwinds and spots of cold temperature, I finished the bike with an average speed of 13.3 mph. I was 10 of 12 in my age group. I thanked my new bike, an Orbea Orca that I had purchased specifically outfitted for the Lake Placid hills. Rules specify that participants must be finished with the bike by 5:30 pm; I finished about 5:15 pm, way too close for me. By the time I got out on the run, I had only 6 hours, 35 minutes to complete the two loop, 26.2 mile run. Quick calculations (not easy to do at this point) told me I had to do 15 minute miles. Seems easy, right? Wrong! I struggled with a combination of jogging and brisk walking. I ran down hills and walked otherwise. My greatest fear was that I would finish after midnight (17 hours from the start) and get a DNF – Did Not Finish – in the record books. As strongly as I could, I pushed the thought out of my mind and replaced it with, “I will finish by midnight.” This was harder to do than anything I had done all day or anything I had done in the entire 30 weeks of training. I pushed those negative thoughts out of my mind by replacing them with thoughts of all the people who helped and supported me. It took hours to thank them all. My feet brought me to the finish line, but my thoughts enabled me to keep going. Luckily, I also had a realistic chance of making it. By 8:30 pm or so, it was dark and we were given “glowsticks” to put around our necks. There were portable lights on parts of the course but in the areas between the lights, the nearly full moon lent a surreal aura to the event. The scenery the entire day was spectacular. Around mile 20, I realized that unless I had a total meltdown, I would finish, although very close to midnight. Suddenly, a group of friends were running with me around mile 22 – first Jeff, then Dale, Caroline and Kevin. I had it made! At mile 24, they peeled off to get a position near the finish line (where an incredible party was taking place), as I continued to the final turnaround on Lake Placid Drive. At 11:50:54 (9 minutes, 6 seconds to midnight) I crossed the finish line on the skating oval, to the deafening cheers of the crowd and Iron Mike screaming, “Gary, You Are An Ironman!” I placed 9th out of 12 in my age group, 2,464 overall. There were 11 more finishers after me. About 150 did not finish; over 95% of those that started became an Ironman. All of our group finished. Here are the statistics: John: 11 hours, 50 minutes and 59 seconds Mark: 12:42:55 Dave: 14:13:44 Frank: 14:42:54 Gary: 16:50:54 The next morning, Jody and Kevin went down to the Lake Placid High School to register for Ironman 2011. The Journey continues……. Gary |