I started writing this blog at the end of 2011 to chronicle my journey to my Ironman Lake Placid race. I wasn't very comfortable writing because doing so ultimately meant that I was putting a part of myself on display. Some of my friends and family may argue that I like to be the centre of attention. Not so, really. (That's my husband). Although, truth be told, I like to be a ham when I'm surrounded by the people I love and with whom I'm comfortable.
Like most people, I only want others to see the best parts of me. Reality is, the beginning of 2012 was a very difficult year for me and I went to many dark and unhappy places. Writing about it would have been very dismal. Thank goodness for friends who like to laugh because they took me out of my funks.
The most important thing I learned this year is that some of the bad stuff that happened ultimately turned out to be the best thing that could have ever happened to me. It's still an evolving situation, but one that I am learning to embrace this year with less fear and more happiness.
I knew 2012 would be a rollercoaster year, and it didn't disappoint. These are some of the things that happened. I came up with 12 to commemorate the year 2012.
1. End of a business (and, sadly, a friendship). This was where the darkness came from. I had a fitness testing facility/triathlon and running coaching business that I was very passionate about, but when my partner/friend pulled out of the busines out of the blue, I couldn't carry on by myself and had to close the business. It was also the end of our friendship.
2. End of a career and on to a new chapter which is yet to be determined. In my previous life, I was a court stenographer for over 20 years. I primarily covered criminal trials so I've heard just about everything there is to hear when it comes to crimes. Very exciting at times, and much more interesting to everyone else who has morbid fascinations with death and criminals. I have lots of stories. This past March, I decided I needed a career change. I'm still working on that, but I have been lucky that I've had many transcripts to work on to keep me preoccupied and to maintain some sort of cash flow in the process. Lawyers do not like to pay on time so that's been challenging at times.
3. Working from home. See above with respect to transcripts. I love working from home. I hated commuting to Toronto. Three hours of my day was spent in my car and sitting on a train. I also managed to keep some of my previous athletes and am coaching them in their future goals.
4. Great success in my own training. It's amazing how much more selfish I can be with my own training when I'm not focused on everyone else's. This isn't a complaint. I loved/love coaching but my own took a backseat for many years. This year, I managed to win my age group in a 5K race back in April. Okay, that's because it was a small race and the woman who actually won my age group won the Masters division so that bumped me up to first.
5. Friendships strengthened. As I said above, some amazing things came out of 2012 and one of the best things is that certain friendships that I hadn't expected became stronger.
6. Ironman Lake Placid accomplished. Best experience ever. My race report was finally completed in November. Bad blogger, I know.
7. Old bike/new bike. Hated the old bike and LOVE my new bike. I wasn't looking for a new bike, but when I discovered a six-inch crack in the frame, I NEEDED a new bike. Afterall, I was doing Ironman about three months after this discovery. I fell in love with my new Cervelo right away. Again, some wonderful things happening.
8. Training myself = I need some mental toughness. Since there was no one else I knew doing Lake Placid, this necessitated some long solo bike rides and many, many solo long runs.
9. Girl nights are important. I have some amazingly supportive friends and these nights were a blast!
10. Wills signed. Not a real exciting thing, but one of the resolutions for my husband and I was to do this in 2012. So it only took us to December to finally get it done, but we did it.
11. Nutcracker - first time ever seeing it was in December. It wasn't the spectacle that I'm sure the ballet puts on in Toronto, but we're going to see it in Toronto this year. (Again, girl nights are important).
12. Writing more blog posts near the end of the year. I finally got pro-active and began posting more. I became more motivated and inspired by reading and following so many amazing bloggers.
I'm going to give a shout out to Janae who wrote a great post on tips on starting your own blog and one thing she said was to write about things that you're passionate about. There are lots of things that I'm passionate about, other than running and triathlons, so I will be writing more about that in the future. Unfortunately, you may also learn more about me, too, warts and all :)
Hope your 2013 is shaping up to be the year you want it to be and deserve it to be.
Wednesday, 9 January 2013
Saturday, 29 December 2012
Boxing Day 10-Miler Race Report
This was the 92nd running of the Boxing Day 10-Miler in Hamilton, Ontario. They used to start this race at 11:00 a.m. A few years back, they pushed it further back to 12:00. I don't know whether it's to allow people to fight off their food and drink Christmas hangovers or to allow the shop-a-holics to get their Boxing Day sales fix, but either way, I'm grateful for the extra hour.
My husband and I woke up to howling winds. Not a comforting way to wake up when you're racing. What can you do, but get out there and get it done anyway. The weather was calling for 15 cm of snow. That didn't happen overnight -- woohoo -- so I'll take my small mercies where I can get them.
After my husband and I got ourselves ready, we went to pick up a couple of friends and made our way to the race. It was only 15 minutes away and we had no problem finding parking in front of the YMCA. We weren't too thrilled with the $12 parking fee, but once we found out a friend got a $72 ticket for not paying it, we stopped complaining.
Registration was painless and we got a toque with our registration. I got a little noggin' so the hat was just
We got to the race start and I finally met Sam from Daily Mile. It was great to finally meet her after many months of chatting on DM.
The start of the race was a bit slow as it usually is till the crowds thin out and everybody finds their paces. I knew I wanted to finish around 1:25, but anything better than 1:29:50 was a PB for me. I ran with my girlfriend Janine who has qualified for Boston too many times for me to count. A 1:25 for either of us would have been a record time.
The wind was a factor a couple of times, especially before you hit the pier and run through the Pier 4 Park. Once we made the turn into the marina we were good. The path all along the waterfront was clear. The water looked cold but the waves were very cool. It was through here that the wind side-swiped us a few times. Nothing like getting knocked over by runners.
We hit the half-way point right on target, but we hadn't hit the hills yet. The first hill isn't so bad, but it's the Chedoke hill which is the kicker. AND that's where the wind was, full-on in the face. The hill is incredibly steep but the wind made it feel like we were getting pushed back by a wall. My lungs were ready to explode by the time I got to the top. I took a short walk break to wait for my friend, but she told me to keep going. I knew she'd catch me once we got to the down hill section.
The next few kilometres after the hill has a trail and then you're back onto a residential area. I love this part of the race....until you hit Aberdeen. It's like this realllly looooong climb up the escarpment that never seems to end. Once you finally hit the turn, you get this nice down until you hit another hill. It was on this down section that Janine caught back up to me. But just for good measure there's another little hill within the last kilometre of the race....ugh!! And it's all in the wind...again!
But there's just a couple more turns and you're into the finish chute. So we pushed through it and gave it our best shot to try and make our goal time. We missed it by 1:15. Official time was 1:26:38. Chip time was 1:26:15. Janine won her age group and I managed a 7th place finish. I literally jumped for joy when another friend told me how I'd done.
We headed back to the YMCA gym to warm up and meet up with everybody. They put on a good post-race spread. There was hot soup, fruit, water, bagels and cupcakes. We got changed and stuck around for the awards to watch Janine get her gold snowman belt buckle -- did they make it with yellow snow?
Then it was on to Slainte's Pub to get our beer -- free with your race bib. That alone is worth the entry fee!
Even with the 40+ kph winds, our group had lots of PB's. What a team!
This race has become a tradition and it's a great way to hook up with friends that you don't get to see in the days leading up to Christmas. Here's a sampling of some of the gang that came out:
Happy New Year!! Here's to a year filled with good health, happiness, good friends, wonderful family, new adventures and new beginnings.
Sunday, 23 December 2012
Happy Holidays!!!!
Merry Christmas, everybody! Hope you get to spend it with the people who are near and dear to you. I also wish you no drama, lots of laughter and lots of running.
Next up: Boxing Day 10 Miler. I'm really hoping the 45K winds and 15 cm of snow don't materialise.
Until then, I will be spending the next few days with friends and family. Can't wait!
Next up: Boxing Day 10 Miler. I'm really hoping the 45K winds and 15 cm of snow don't materialise.
Until then, I will be spending the next few days with friends and family. Can't wait!
Friday, 14 December 2012
2012 Races and Results
Last year, I resolved to start pushing myself in my races. I used to save my target races for the ones where I would aim to do my best, which meant one or two races a year. I decided that I wanted to see how well I could do at shorter distances and started coming up with some pretty good PBs -- for me anyway. My first two races this year I wasn't aiming for anything other than a finish. Even though my Ironman Lake Placid wasn't, technically, a PB, it was better than my goal finish time by 13 minutes and it was better than my Arizona finish three years ago. In my opinion Lake Placid is a much harder course. So yay me!
Here are my details:
Chilly Half Marathon -- March 4, 2012 --- 2:16
NYC Half Marathon -- March 18, 2012 --- 2:30
Around the Bay 30K -- March 25, 2012 --- 2:54 -- PB by 13 minutes (last PB was in 2005)
JDRF 5K -- April 28, 2012 --- 24:05 -- PB
Angus Glen 5 Miler -- June 28, 2012 --- 59:17
Ironman Lake Placid -- July 22, 2012 -- 15:17
Oakville Half Marathon -- September 23, 2012 -- 1:55 -- PB (and the course measured 316m too long)
Detroit Half Marathon -- October 21, 2012 -- 1:51 -- PB
Boxing Day 10-Miler -- December 26, 2012 -- Unknown -- still to come :-) (Hoping for a PB, but weather is always a huge factor with this race) Time to beat: 1:29
I only have one race confirmed for next year, but I'm waiting to hear whether I got into the NYC Half again. December 20th is the announcement date -- can't wait! I've been very fortunate thus far to have been randomly selected through their lottery two years in a row. Here's to hoping for a third year in a row.
I'm still on the fence about the Chilly Half. I'm definitely in for the Around the Bay and am leaning towards the Toronto Good Life in May. I've done Mississauga twice and I hear the Toronto medals are huge. I like medals, all medals, but especially big, obnoxious ones. They are my kind of bling.
Tonight I'm excited to finally see the Nutcracker Ballet...for the first time ever!
Am I the only person who has never seen it before?
Here are my details:
Chilly Half Marathon -- March 4, 2012 --- 2:16
NYC Half Marathon -- March 18, 2012 --- 2:30
Around the Bay 30K -- March 25, 2012 --- 2:54 -- PB by 13 minutes (last PB was in 2005)
JDRF 5K -- April 28, 2012 --- 24:05 -- PB
Angus Glen 5 Miler -- June 28, 2012 --- 59:17
Ironman Lake Placid -- July 22, 2012 -- 15:17
Oakville Half Marathon -- September 23, 2012 -- 1:55 -- PB (and the course measured 316m too long)
Detroit Half Marathon -- October 21, 2012 -- 1:51 -- PB
Boxing Day 10-Miler -- December 26, 2012 -- Unknown -- still to come :-) (Hoping for a PB, but weather is always a huge factor with this race) Time to beat: 1:29
I only have one race confirmed for next year, but I'm waiting to hear whether I got into the NYC Half again. December 20th is the announcement date -- can't wait! I've been very fortunate thus far to have been randomly selected through their lottery two years in a row. Here's to hoping for a third year in a row.
I'm still on the fence about the Chilly Half. I'm definitely in for the Around the Bay and am leaning towards the Toronto Good Life in May. I've done Mississauga twice and I hear the Toronto medals are huge. I like medals, all medals, but especially big, obnoxious ones. They are my kind of bling.
Tonight I'm excited to finally see the Nutcracker Ballet...for the first time ever!
Am I the only person who has never seen it before?
Wednesday, 12 December 2012
2012 Year in Review .... For Now. More To Come.
A blogger I follow reviewed her 2012 and encouraged others to do the same. I've answered the same questions that she posted, but will have a more fulsome review later in the year. So here's my preliminary 2012 year in review.
1. Best Race Experience: Without question, it was Ironman Lake Placid. I worked my butt off (literally and figuratively) for this race.
2. Best Run: Running the NYC Half Marathon in March with some amazing friends. This one was for fun because my target run-only race was the very next week and I wanted to save the PR for that one.
3. Best New Piece of Gear: My Garmin 910 XT. I love how it tracks my swim workouts. It tracks my distance so that I don't have to count laps in the pool-- I'm a spazz when it comes to that -- and also gives me my distance in my open water swims. This baby gives me all the minutiae of detail that I want for my swims, my bike rides and my runs.
4. Best Piece of Running Advice: Someone telling me I needed to start training for myself.
5. Most Inspirational Runner(s): I loved Grete Waitz. Such a class act. But now I am inspired by the runners that I train with.
6. Sum up Your Year: I am stronger than I think, but I need to be stronger and less afraid to do things.
Feel free to tell me what your year was like, or do as I did and post on your own blog.
1. Best Race Experience: Without question, it was Ironman Lake Placid. I worked my butt off (literally and figuratively) for this race.
2. Best Run: Running the NYC Half Marathon in March with some amazing friends. This one was for fun because my target run-only race was the very next week and I wanted to save the PR for that one.
3. Best New Piece of Gear: My Garmin 910 XT. I love how it tracks my swim workouts. It tracks my distance so that I don't have to count laps in the pool-- I'm a spazz when it comes to that -- and also gives me my distance in my open water swims. This baby gives me all the minutiae of detail that I want for my swims, my bike rides and my runs.
4. Best Piece of Running Advice: Someone telling me I needed to start training for myself.
5. Most Inspirational Runner(s): I loved Grete Waitz. Such a class act. But now I am inspired by the runners that I train with.
6. Sum up Your Year: I am stronger than I think, but I need to be stronger and less afraid to do things.
Feel free to tell me what your year was like, or do as I did and post on your own blog.
Friday, 7 December 2012
Motivations and Inspirations
I have a great life and feel very fortunate to have the things I do. A lot of times, I need to remind myself of this because I get sucky when things don't go as planned. So I look to my friends and family, near and far, real and virtual, for some added inspiration and motivation.
Biggest Motivation for 2013: I am on a quest to qualify for Boston in May.
To that end, I've embarked on a new training plan and trying to qualify is a huge motivator for me to stay on track through the winter. I haven't raced a marathon (other than in Ironman -- and there's no racing going on there) in over two years. This will be my first attempt at taking on a BQ and I'm overwhelmed at the support I'm getting from my fellow runners. Their offers of pacing me on some of my training runs is much appreciated.
I'm even making my husband pull out the treadmill from the corner of the basement and set it up because there will be no excuses this winter that it's too icy and snowy to run. Just an FYI, I hate winter and I hate treadmills.
But I love to run and I love to run with people and on my own. I'm inspired by new runners, especially when they have that first moment of "Yes, that felt awesome!" I want that feeling to stay with me as I continue to age. I've started doing some solo runs on Saturday mornings on a path near my home, and the first time I went, I ran into three running friends I hadn't seen in years. They are my inspiration to keep on keepin' on. The "youngest" is in her 60s and the oldest is in her 70s. I want that in my life when I hit their age and I hope to still be running with the people I run with now.
I'm also inspired by my friends who have had spectacular success in racing this year. I want to see them continue on that path to greater accomplishments because they deserve it after all the hard work they've been putting into their training.
The past few months that I've been logging my workouts on Daily Mile, I've "met" a great group of people that also inspire me everyday. A lot of them have children (I don't) and they manage to fit in many workouts nonetheless. So I'm grateful to them for kicking me in the pants even though they don't know that they do.
I am constantly reminded that in this crazy world there are many people who have amazing souls. We are fortunate to have our health and to use that for the good of others. I am proud to be surrounded by philanthropic people who use their passion for fitness to raise funds and awareness for causes like The Ride to Conquer Cancer, The Healing Cycle (which raises funds for palliative care in Ontario), Craig's Cause Maritime Bike Tour (which raises funds for the severely underfunded area of pancreatic cancer), to name a few. They inspire me to be a part of this incredible community. I have participated in all of the above and will continue to do so in the years to come. And if there's something else that has an event that strikes a chord with me and raises awareness and requires funding, I'll probably do that, too, because we can all use a little help sometimes.
Biggest Motivation for 2013: I am on a quest to qualify for Boston in May.
To that end, I've embarked on a new training plan and trying to qualify is a huge motivator for me to stay on track through the winter. I haven't raced a marathon (other than in Ironman -- and there's no racing going on there) in over two years. This will be my first attempt at taking on a BQ and I'm overwhelmed at the support I'm getting from my fellow runners. Their offers of pacing me on some of my training runs is much appreciated.
I'm even making my husband pull out the treadmill from the corner of the basement and set it up because there will be no excuses this winter that it's too icy and snowy to run. Just an FYI, I hate winter and I hate treadmills.
But I love to run and I love to run with people and on my own. I'm inspired by new runners, especially when they have that first moment of "Yes, that felt awesome!" I want that feeling to stay with me as I continue to age. I've started doing some solo runs on Saturday mornings on a path near my home, and the first time I went, I ran into three running friends I hadn't seen in years. They are my inspiration to keep on keepin' on. The "youngest" is in her 60s and the oldest is in her 70s. I want that in my life when I hit their age and I hope to still be running with the people I run with now.
I'm also inspired by my friends who have had spectacular success in racing this year. I want to see them continue on that path to greater accomplishments because they deserve it after all the hard work they've been putting into their training.
The past few months that I've been logging my workouts on Daily Mile, I've "met" a great group of people that also inspire me everyday. A lot of them have children (I don't) and they manage to fit in many workouts nonetheless. So I'm grateful to them for kicking me in the pants even though they don't know that they do.
I am constantly reminded that in this crazy world there are many people who have amazing souls. We are fortunate to have our health and to use that for the good of others. I am proud to be surrounded by philanthropic people who use their passion for fitness to raise funds and awareness for causes like The Ride to Conquer Cancer, The Healing Cycle (which raises funds for palliative care in Ontario), Craig's Cause Maritime Bike Tour (which raises funds for the severely underfunded area of pancreatic cancer), to name a few. They inspire me to be a part of this incredible community. I have participated in all of the above and will continue to do so in the years to come. And if there's something else that has an event that strikes a chord with me and raises awareness and requires funding, I'll probably do that, too, because we can all use a little help sometimes.
Sunday, 25 November 2012
Long Overdue, I Know...
...but here it is anyway. My race report for Ironman Lake Placid.
Cole's Notes Version: It was the hardest race I've ever done, but it was the most fun, most fulfilling and best experience I've ever had.
If you plan to read on for the full report, you may want to grab a coffee/tea/wine/beer -- whatever. It's a long one.
The first and most important thing for me to say about this race is that I had the BEST support crew -- both at the race and at home. Other than my husband, four friends came down to cheer me on and support me. It's trite to say that I couldn't have done it without them. Starting with my husband who did not complain, even once, at the endless hours away from home life that my training took me. Weekends? For any triathlete training for an Ironman, you know that the weekends leading up to a race are consumed with hours on the bike one day and hours on the run the next. The weekend is shot. Exhaustion is just assumed and expected.
Secondly, my friends. Well, they are just incredible. They rode and ran countless hours on the bike and run with me (so did my husband. He was training for his first sprint tri -- a funny race story in itself). There were some friends that wanted to travel to Lake Placid, but for many various reasons they couldn't make it. It ain't easy to fly into Lake Placid for the weekend. The fact that they even made efforts to get there is just so awesome to me! So, instead, they sent me numerous emails and Facebook messages to encourage me and keep me motivated. My two girlfriends that came down (I'm the shorty on the left):
The week before my race, my husband and I travelled to Geneva, NY with a couple of friends. My girlfriend was doing her first Half Ironman at Musselman (above, on the right) and my husband was doing his first sprint tri. All I will say about my husband's race at this point is that he acknowledged that he needs to do more swim training. Thank you, Steve, the 80-something-year-old kayaker for saving my husband's ass.
The only thing missing from my girlfriend's race (held the next day) was the swarm of locusts, that's how bad the conditions were for her on race day. The skies literally opened up just after she got on the bike and it poured -- with thunder and lightning for good measure. Don't know how she did it, but she did. To say that I was proud of her is an understatement.
On to Lake Placid after Geneva's races were done. We rented a beautiful cottage just on the outskirts of Lake Placid in Wilmington. I had no desire to be near the mayhem and anxiety-riddled Ironman racers by staying in town. Besides, I was having my own meltdown after seeing the hills while driving into town. Thankfully, I found out that I would be riding down those particular hills, not up. I LOVE riding downhill. Wheeeeeeeee!!!!!! (Wussy boys, move out of my way!)
After settling in for a few days and sightseeing around town -- and researching the "Three Bears" of hills -- it was finally time for athlete check in. The volunteers are amazing and check in was a breeze. There were still lots of insurance forms and liability waivers to sign -- I thought I did that when I registered??
Until race day, I did a little bit of training and relaxing and did a whole lot of nothing really the day before the race, other than taking my bike and gear bags to the race site. There was a photographer at the entrance to the bike check-in asking all the athletes if we had Ironman tattoos. I did and he asked if he could take a picture. I said sure. Who knows? Maybe it will end up in the 2012 Ironman race memory book that's coming out at the end of the year. My husband bought me one!!
My two previous Ironman races, I was a nervous wreck race morning. Not wanting to have breakfast and gagging through every bite and feeling nauseated right up until I got into the water.
I don't know why, but this year I was amazingly calm. I kept waiting for the nerves to kick in, but they never did. Even as we were waiting to get in the water -- my worst discipline -- I never freaked out.
I stayed at the back of the group so that I wouldn't get kicked in the face or body. The swim is definitely a contact sport! If you've ever opened the lid of a washing machine while you have a load in, that's what we look like when the gun goes off.
I had a pretty good swim, but not the goal finish I wanted. I was hoping for a 1:35 but ended up with 1:38. I'll take it. Certainly better than the 1:50 at Arizona three years ago. Worst swim ever and couldn't feel my limbs for another 45 minutes after that debacle. Sorry, I'll leave Arizona behind and carry on with Lake Placid.
The bike is a bit of a sufferfest. 180K, it's a double loop and the last 16K of each loop is ALL uphill. It is by far the most beautiful bike route I've ever done and I didn't get delusional enough not to notice how spectacular Lake Placid and the Adirondack mountains are. I'm sure I gave them a few choice words on the second loop, but forgave them after the race. I did better than I initially thought I would do on this bike course, but I was secretly hoping for much better. Had some nutrition/hydration issues on the second loop and needed to stop at a couple of aid stations to make sure I fuelled up. Rookie mistake. It was also a very hot day.
Goal: 8:00.
Actual: 7:54.
Thank god it's run time. Generally, this is my best discipline. I love to run and I've been doing it longer than the other two. Not that I'm a great runner, but it's my favourite part. The run was a double loop, too. I am so freakin' grateful I did endless hilly long runs and did hill repeats on the Around the Bay Valley Inn hill. This run course had one mother of a hill right in town where everybody cheers for you. That part is great, but not so much when you're hurting like a mofo and all you want to do is walk up that hill. Nope. Those spectators will have none of that. I am definitely the type of person that gets motivated by people cheering for me. I would have walked that whole damn hill but for those people that were still out there at 9:00 cheering and yelling and ringing cowbells. I didn't quite make it the whole way, but 3/4 of the way up was good enough for me at that point in the game. I was hurting and hurting bad. I can fake it for a picture, though.
It's amazing how I don't "feel" pain when I'm running down that finish chute to that big banner that says Ironman. All I'm feeling at that point is the goose bumps all through my body knowing that every single step, every single pedal stroke, every single swim stroke culminated in this finale and that announcement of, "Mari XXXX, you ARE an IRONMAN!" I've heard it before, but it doesn't get stale. EVER!
Goal Time: 15:30
Actual: 15:17:10
This race meant more to me than any other. I was the most emotional after this one and so incredibly grateful for my training partners, my friends, my family and most importantly, my husband. I could barely walk after I crossed the finish line and it took me at least 30-45 minutes to find everyone. I practically fell into my husband's arms when I found him.
Pizza and beer followed. My hubby and buddies know how to take care of me :-)
Cole's Notes Version: It was the hardest race I've ever done, but it was the most fun, most fulfilling and best experience I've ever had.
If you plan to read on for the full report, you may want to grab a coffee/tea/wine/beer -- whatever. It's a long one.
The first and most important thing for me to say about this race is that I had the BEST support crew -- both at the race and at home. Other than my husband, four friends came down to cheer me on and support me. It's trite to say that I couldn't have done it without them. Starting with my husband who did not complain, even once, at the endless hours away from home life that my training took me. Weekends? For any triathlete training for an Ironman, you know that the weekends leading up to a race are consumed with hours on the bike one day and hours on the run the next. The weekend is shot. Exhaustion is just assumed and expected.
Secondly, my friends. Well, they are just incredible. They rode and ran countless hours on the bike and run with me (so did my husband. He was training for his first sprint tri -- a funny race story in itself). There were some friends that wanted to travel to Lake Placid, but for many various reasons they couldn't make it. It ain't easy to fly into Lake Placid for the weekend. The fact that they even made efforts to get there is just so awesome to me! So, instead, they sent me numerous emails and Facebook messages to encourage me and keep me motivated. My two girlfriends that came down (I'm the shorty on the left):
The week before my race, my husband and I travelled to Geneva, NY with a couple of friends. My girlfriend was doing her first Half Ironman at Musselman (above, on the right) and my husband was doing his first sprint tri. All I will say about my husband's race at this point is that he acknowledged that he needs to do more swim training. Thank you, Steve, the 80-something-year-old kayaker for saving my husband's ass.
The only thing missing from my girlfriend's race (held the next day) was the swarm of locusts, that's how bad the conditions were for her on race day. The skies literally opened up just after she got on the bike and it poured -- with thunder and lightning for good measure. Don't know how she did it, but she did. To say that I was proud of her is an understatement.
On to Lake Placid after Geneva's races were done. We rented a beautiful cottage just on the outskirts of Lake Placid in Wilmington. I had no desire to be near the mayhem and anxiety-riddled Ironman racers by staying in town. Besides, I was having my own meltdown after seeing the hills while driving into town. Thankfully, I found out that I would be riding down those particular hills, not up. I LOVE riding downhill. Wheeeeeeeee!!!!!! (Wussy boys, move out of my way!)
After settling in for a few days and sightseeing around town -- and researching the "Three Bears" of hills -- it was finally time for athlete check in. The volunteers are amazing and check in was a breeze. There were still lots of insurance forms and liability waivers to sign -- I thought I did that when I registered??
Until race day, I did a little bit of training and relaxing and did a whole lot of nothing really the day before the race, other than taking my bike and gear bags to the race site. There was a photographer at the entrance to the bike check-in asking all the athletes if we had Ironman tattoos. I did and he asked if he could take a picture. I said sure. Who knows? Maybe it will end up in the 2012 Ironman race memory book that's coming out at the end of the year. My husband bought me one!!
My two previous Ironman races, I was a nervous wreck race morning. Not wanting to have breakfast and gagging through every bite and feeling nauseated right up until I got into the water.
I don't know why, but this year I was amazingly calm. I kept waiting for the nerves to kick in, but they never did. Even as we were waiting to get in the water -- my worst discipline -- I never freaked out.
I stayed at the back of the group so that I wouldn't get kicked in the face or body. The swim is definitely a contact sport! If you've ever opened the lid of a washing machine while you have a load in, that's what we look like when the gun goes off.
I had a pretty good swim, but not the goal finish I wanted. I was hoping for a 1:35 but ended up with 1:38. I'll take it. Certainly better than the 1:50 at Arizona three years ago. Worst swim ever and couldn't feel my limbs for another 45 minutes after that debacle. Sorry, I'll leave Arizona behind and carry on with Lake Placid.
The bike is a bit of a sufferfest. 180K, it's a double loop and the last 16K of each loop is ALL uphill. It is by far the most beautiful bike route I've ever done and I didn't get delusional enough not to notice how spectacular Lake Placid and the Adirondack mountains are. I'm sure I gave them a few choice words on the second loop, but forgave them after the race. I did better than I initially thought I would do on this bike course, but I was secretly hoping for much better. Had some nutrition/hydration issues on the second loop and needed to stop at a couple of aid stations to make sure I fuelled up. Rookie mistake. It was also a very hot day.
Goal: 8:00.
Actual: 7:54.
Thank god it's run time. Generally, this is my best discipline. I love to run and I've been doing it longer than the other two. Not that I'm a great runner, but it's my favourite part. The run was a double loop, too. I am so freakin' grateful I did endless hilly long runs and did hill repeats on the Around the Bay Valley Inn hill. This run course had one mother of a hill right in town where everybody cheers for you. That part is great, but not so much when you're hurting like a mofo and all you want to do is walk up that hill. Nope. Those spectators will have none of that. I am definitely the type of person that gets motivated by people cheering for me. I would have walked that whole damn hill but for those people that were still out there at 9:00 cheering and yelling and ringing cowbells. I didn't quite make it the whole way, but 3/4 of the way up was good enough for me at that point in the game. I was hurting and hurting bad. I can fake it for a picture, though.
It's amazing how I don't "feel" pain when I'm running down that finish chute to that big banner that says Ironman. All I'm feeling at that point is the goose bumps all through my body knowing that every single step, every single pedal stroke, every single swim stroke culminated in this finale and that announcement of, "Mari XXXX, you ARE an IRONMAN!" I've heard it before, but it doesn't get stale. EVER!
Goal Time: 15:30
Actual: 15:17:10
This race meant more to me than any other. I was the most emotional after this one and so incredibly grateful for my training partners, my friends, my family and most importantly, my husband. I could barely walk after I crossed the finish line and it took me at least 30-45 minutes to find everyone. I practically fell into my husband's arms when I found him.
Pizza and beer followed. My hubby and buddies know how to take care of me :-)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)