| Maps | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Transition | Swim | Bike | Run |
| Swim Low Res | Bike Low Res | Run Low Res | |
| Transition Hi Res | Bike Hi Res | Run Hi Res | |
| New Transition Map New Neighborhood Map New Bike Chute Map |
New Swim Map | New Bike Map | New Run Map |
There are so many damn factors and this one was no different. Actually, it also included a 5 hour drive so I guess that worried me too.
I guess I should try to answer the What is this race? Where is this race? Why am I doing this race? How did I hear about this race? Who is doing this race?
Hammad immediately was excited. He originally wanted to go to Lake George with me but didn't train on the bike. He also had shoulder issues. He really wants to do a Half Ironman. Donald was heavily considering doing the Olympic. Still, both of them have a tendency to wait till the last minute. There was no danger of it getting sold out like other races they wanted to do but as usual, I think they enjoy keeping me on pins and needles. Will I be driving all that distance by myself?!? Spoiler alert: Neither of them did it at the end.
And here comes another friend... Mary Harvey, an excellent Ultra-Marathoner who finally broke the 24 hours for a 100 miler, was doing Ironman Lake Placid. Unfortunatly for her, she had issues with her electronic shifters which both stressed her out as well as distracted her so that she took a fall going up a hill. She sat on the side and cried until a kind stranger helped her up. She walked the bike up and then even tho she knew she wouldn't make the bike cutoff, she finished the bike anyway. I give her kudos. Still, when I heard about this, after I talked (texted actually) to her, I asked if she wants to go with me to mine. She immediatly perked up. She was actually considering going to Mount Blanc (spelling?) but this sounded a hell of a lot better. After hearing that my plan was to race and then immediatly drive right back, she decided yes. Cool.
This time around, she didn't tell anyone except 2 good friends (Neil and Jessie) and they actually decided to drive from Massachusats, 4 hours, to cheer her on. Wow...
Sometime passed and race day was fast approaching.
Since the race is on a Sunday, we decided that we would leave on Saturday.
Since she lives in Brooklyn, this would actually add an hour or so to the drive in each direction but at the end of day, it would be worth it since I wouldn't be alone. I picked her up a little early and on we went. Very easy conversation followed as if we were long time friends or perhaps even siblings. We stopped once to get gas, use the bathroom and stretch out and later on to eat lunch. We wanted to make sure to get to the packet pick up on time as well as the athlete meeting.
Easy drive for the most part and got there about 2 hours early. We picked up our stuff and Mary asked how many females there were and also how many in her age group. Being that there were only 5 females all together (I think), it meant that as long as she finished, she was definitly getting an age group award and more importantly, she would be in contention for overall status. I kept trying to bring her back down to earth with the statement, "just gotta get off the bike". I wasn't being mean. It's my mantra for me. I never consider the swim and issue or the run. The bike is my fear...
We got our goody bag which was very heavy, our long sleeve tech shirt accompanied with the usual: You sure you want a XXL? Yes, unless you have 3 XXXL. You sure? Yup... Just my size. That is NOT your size...
From there we went to the time keepers truck to pick up our timing chip. Mary got hers first (ladies first) and then I braced myself for the usual with my name. I told them my number was 9 and the guy in the truck yelled out my name correctly(!!!) to the guy outside the truck. Am I missing something here? Outside guy's name was Elek. What?!? Pronounced the same just spelled differently. Wow! Guy asked me if I am Hungarian because he is. He also told us he named his kid "Coal" which earned him me asking him if his kid hates him yet?
Anyway, we racked our bike and talked to some race officials who told us that the swim may NOT be wetsuit legal and that the weather is calling for a 60% chance of a bad thunderstorm which is great because it was 80% earlier. Ugh. By the way, the water temperature was 74. At 74 or more, it is no longer wetsuit legal. Wearing a wetsuit not only makes it easier but also keeps you safe and trust me the RD wanted that too.
Jessie and Neil showed up and they were super nice. Eventually the meeting started and that was stressful to me. I didn't understand it all.
So, here's the deal... There were different closing times for the transition area which made sense since they want a pre race meeting before each race and since each race started at different times... Get it? The swim was 2 loops. There were different color buoys but for us, the loop was to the yellow buoy, make a right and go straight to the next yellow buoy and then make a right turn and head back. Two loops please. He did say that we only care about the yellow buoys and that we must have all the buoys on the right. This is a little ambiguous and you may not have caught it. I didn't at the time. We will come back to that later. The bike was 4 loops of 29 miles each. They mentioned 2 things that I didn't exactly understand at the time. They mentioned that a portion of the road was chip sealed which illicted a groan and something about a chute during the bike. No idea what either meant at the time. Chip sealed means that while they tarred the road which is a good thing, it also meant that there were little rocks on the road which are great for causing flats. The chute thing was actually simple. At the end of a loop, you would let the volunteer and the cop know what you are doing. If you are done with the bike, the cop would stop traffic for you and you would cross left and head back into transition. If you still had more loops to do, you would stay within a cordoned of area (a chute) to continue past that point. The volunteers would know what race you were doing based on the colored sticker on your helmet. Wait a second, we didn't get a sticker. Yup... The fullers had no sticker. Everyone else did tho. Anyway, after those 4 loops, you start your run. It included 4 loops of a flat surface. Hm... Later on that too.
Drove to the hotel. Jessie and Neil were staying with Mary. They went to eat. I stayed behind. I had my food but more importantly, a) I wasn't feeling that great after the drive and b) I still had classes to finish.
Guess, I should explain. I'm taking online classes (for fun) through Coursera. At the time, I was taking 6 classes at the same time. Let me take a small step back in time to the few days before race day so perhaps you can understand how stressful things were. My first day of vacation was Monday August 15th. The following day, Elizabeth started hers and to celebrate we scheduled MD visits. First was the Pediatrician which gave Jessie a shot. From there, we took Jeremy to the Oral Surgeon to get all 4 wisdom teeth removed at once. After that, the car didn't start right, which stressed us out. I was in charge of changing Jeremy's bloody Gauze pads. Wednesday, August 17th, was our 21 year wedding anniversary and we celebrated by sitting at Honda and paying another $ 900 to complement the $ 1,100 we had spent there the week before. Since I was on vacation, I was working furiously for work. Lots to do, lots of calls to make and of course a huge conference call that I took at Honda. Meanwhile, Jeremy's fussiness with food was further exacerbated by the teeth removal so that was fun. Through all that, I was taking care of buisiness for my 6 classes. I was getting things done. Thursday night I knew what I had to do for one of my classes and I set up Friday for that. Woke up early and got set on doing it. Unfortunatly, nothing worked. I couldn't get to square zero and I was freaking out. I posted on the forums and nothing. After much hair pulling, which I can not really afford, I figured it out and proceeded until I got stuck again. I then decided to try to follow the teachers example to the letter and that didn't work. Fortunatly, the forums did talk about that, and I got cracking. Finally at around 5pm, I was able to submit my project. I still had one more class to do and that's what I had to do Saturday night before the race. Yay me... ;(
Oh, and that Friday night before I was supposed to depart? I had to do an install for a client that could not be tested at all. I asked them to move the date but they wouldn't budge. As is, I made a small booboo and I had to talk my boss on how to fix it during the car ride there.
By the way, it would have been nice if the hotel lady would have told us that in order to open the hotel doors, you need to pull up on the door handle, instead of pushing down. Ugh.
Back to the story, I went to sleep early. I woke up in the morning, feeling restful but of course stressed. I wanted to leave the hotel at 4:45 and get to the race site at 5am. This way, we would have the close parking and of course no lines to the clean port-a-potties.
Spoke to Neil in the morning and he was cheerful. Jessie was too. Mary didn't really look at me and I couldn't understand why but I couldn't deal with it at the time. I drove alone ManoWar blaring in my ears. We did stop at a gas station to buy soda for my bike special need bag.
We got to race site pretty early and not too many people were there. That's ok. Took my headlamp and straight to the port-a-pottie. Nerves...
The bugs were killing us. They were attracted to the head lamps. Yay. Mary and I were setting up our bikes when I heard her whimper. First I wasn't sure I really heard it. Then I definitly heard it. Hm...Conversation follows:
ME: You ok? MH: Yup MH: *Whimper* ME: You crying? MH: No! MH: *Whimper* ME: Oh boy. Ok. You are crying. MH: No! MH: *Whimper* ME: OK... Hug time. But first, something very important here. While I am very happy to see you, I definitly have a lot of stuff in my pockets so let's not get the wrong idea... MH: Crying and laughing and snot flying while hugging ensued. Stress released.
We finished setting up and of course numerous trips to the port-a-pottie happened. Without too much of a TMI, not enough was coming out of me which was very very disconcerting. Oh well.
I started talking to the dude next to me. He had done this one I think 3 times and also did Beach 2 Battleship which is my PR IM and my favorite. Awesome.
Finally it was time to get in the water. We were joking around. Mary was talking to the women and saying that they were all guaranteed age group awards at least. I piped in with call me "Caitlyn". Yes, I also used that joke the previous day to Mary's annoyance.
He eventually reached the yellow buoy and turned. I don't remember if at this point, I was second with a female on my heels or if she was second and I was at her heels but in any case, after the second right turn at the second buoy, I realized she didn't turn and was going off to who the hell knows where. I started yelling to her and I guess she heard me because she stopped swimming and looked at me thinking I'm nuts. I pointed to the correct direction. She looked at where I was pointing and where she was (off course) and where she was going and turned back to me yelling thanks. We continued swimming. Just a side note, I would have done that for a male (even one in my age group). We have to look out for each other, don't we?
Let me just talk about the swim for a minute here and the conditions. Going out was not easy. We were getting hit with a lot of wind induced waves. Big waves. Coming back to finish the first loop was not easy either. It was actually a struggle. I got back, stood up to run around the buoy to start the next loop. I heard Neil call my name and just as I waved I stepped on something sharp and almost fell. Wonderful. Can't think of that now. Hopefully, I will be able to bike and run. I swam in a foot of water until the rocks were gone and then I stood up again and ran until it got deep.
A few things here... Before I got the end of the first loop, the half-ironman started their swim so my goal was to chase them down. Stupid? Perhaps but I never claimed to be smart. As I was going out again, there was a man trying to get back to shore. I had seen him before I turned around and he was closer to the shore than I was but I still beat him. Interesting. I stopped and asked him if he was ok, and he said to me that he is heading back. I asked the kayaker who was right there and not helping if she knew about it and she said yes. I didn't ask her at the time but I was thinking "then why don't you help him???" but I guess she needed to look for people in trouble rather than helping someone who should be able to deal with it. Later, I found out that she was not affiliated with the race. Her husband was racing and she was just helping out. Ok...Cool. Next thing that hit me was a swimmer almost hitting me. What?!? So here's the ambiguity. Do we only really care about the yellow buoys or do we keep all buoys including non yellow to our right? I don't know. This dude clearly wasn't and I decided that one loop of keeping all of them to my right was enough. If no one else did it then what the hell...I would only keep the yellow on my right from now on. Going out for the second time was actually worse if you can believe that. The water was all over the place and I believe it rained on us. They told us that if there was rain while we were in the water, we would have to stop and find shelter. no bueno for me. I need a short swim to bank time for the bike. I was hoping that if there was lightning, I would already be out of the water. Anyway, as I said, going out to the buoy was horrible and I switched to breast stroke. This way, I could sight easily and get air easily and I can still be fast. I was a little annoyed thinking that the whole field must have passed me when I was the only idiot keeping all the buoys to the right but I couldn't let it bother me. First right and second right and I was headed home. Going back was much much harder now. I tried to sight every 6 strokes but everytime I did that, I realized I was swimming 180 degrees away from where I was supposed to be. That's when I started sighting every 2 or 3 strokes and slowly I was getting closer to the beach. It seemed very slow but I was geting close. I got out of the water and Neil yelled to me that I was 3rd overall out of the water or 2nd male. What?!? ok...
Into transition and time to get ready. I transition slowly. I don't care. I have to be comfortable. People came in all talking about the swim. Mary didn't finish the swim as of yet. I'm not worried. She's a strong swimmer and actually wanted it to be not wetsuit legal so she can swim in her 2 piece. Nah, better off with the wetsuit.
It was pretty bad. I was beyond drenched. I think, I was also getting dehydrated as I wasn't drinking anything unless you count rain water. There was so much rain water going into my face and mouth that you didn't feel like you needed to drink. So I didn't drink nor did I eat at all. The bike loop started flat and immediatly went into a climb. Wasn't anything terrible as of yet. Eventually, we got to a 90 degree right turn and that was good because there was less car traffic. From there, a 90 degree left turn into a not nice hill for 2 blocks until a right turn. Eventually a right turn into the chip sealed road with a huge downhill and an up. During the uphill, you make a left into a hill and go straight for a while. At the end, a right into a hill and eventually a flat until you make a right turn. This section after the turn was supposed to be downhill but it turned out to be rolling. We were instructed not to leave the shoulder but we did have to slalom between horse poop. The Amish live here and there were road apples all over the race but there especially and who wants to wipe out into horse poop?!? Anyway, the roller gave way to a screaming downhill. I had already decided not to do more than 30 MPH even on the downhills. The bike shakes at 40 MPH and with all that rain, it just wasn't safe. Anyway, the screaming downhill led you to an intersection guarded by a cop who wold stop traffic for you (COOL!) and then after a series of turns, you would get to the end of loop 1 and the chute.
That was a pretty accurate description as a whole but now let me fill in some pieces. I was wet. I was beyond wet. Everytime I pedalled, I would hear squishing sounds from the bike shoes. Visibility sucked. Downhills, usually a pleasure, were stressful. Uphills would be hard because you had to worry about your tires slipping. And of course between the rain and the chip seal, people were getting flats like crazy. I had just picked up my bike on Friday and Ed decided that I need new tires so I knew I would not get a flat. Sucks for those people. Sucks for those people who had a disc wheel in that rain/wind combo.
I should mention how awesome the volunteers manning the aid stations were. Standing in this flood in ponchos gettin drenched, offering water or gatorade. Even kids were doing it. At one aid station, a woman yelled out that it looks like it was clearing up. It actually stopped raining for a few minutes. As soon as she said it, it started again much harder too.
The next few paragraphs describe something that happened during the race. I still haven't spoken to the family about this. The truth is, is that we live in a dangerous world and even crossing the street is taking a huge risk. I have almost been run over during my runs plenty of times. I acknowledge that when I ride at 3am, perhaps it is more dangerous tho not from humans but rather the animals. Still, I do it since I would like to have time for the family. So, we all kinda live the ostrich way and bury our heads in the sand and don't really think about it. I try to make things safe but again, crossing the street is huge. Time has passed but I am still processing all this...
On the second loop was when the mood changed a little for me. Let me explain. Remember the screaming downhill? The "I won't go faster than 30 MPH?". Well, I had started my few blocks of screaming downhill. It was coming down really hard again. Right away, I noticed that the cop wasn't there. God... I was going about 35 MPH. I started screaming and the cop came out of his car and stopped traffic. Thank God he was there. All was good for me to go through the intersection. It's not like I could stop anyway. A light blue minivan decided to go through anyway. I can't describe the panic that set in. The adrenaline kicked in and the heart rate shot up too. I was still in control tho. I started screaming to the cop "I CAN'T STOP!!!"... I realized that instead of "becoming a hood ornament", I may just become a trunk ornament. Things were ugly. There was no way to stop. Actually, I guess I could have just laid the bike down. In plain english, cause an accident to myself. I chose not too. I do think tho sometimes that I have a guardian angel sitting on my shoulder. Not trying to be religious here or fanatical but I have survived more things than I probably should have. Anyway, I was screaming and the car went through the intersection and I went right behind it and cleared the intersection. I'm not trying to be melodramatic. Really... The truth is is that the whole thing took about a second or two. For me tho, it was all in slow motion. I saw what was happening and I could not control it. Still, I survived it. Bike pants still dry. Well, still wet but only because of rain. It was exhilarating. I could not believe what happened. I was so into the moment that I missed my right turn without realizing it. When I got to the next major intersection and there was no cop there, I knew something was wrong. I U-turned and luckily recognized where I was. I made it back to what I thought was the right direction. I got to a (different) cop and asked him if I'm on the right road and he said that now I was. OK not I was wondering if I am going to be DQed because I missed an aid station. They mentioned timing mats but there weren't any so I was wondering if they are writing numbers down at aid stations. If so, then I effectivly missed an aid station and missed a loop. In realitym, I biked a little extra. Can't be helped now.
I got to the chute again and continued straight. To my left there was a car who decided to give the cop a LOT of space. Before I knew it, I was getting pushed off the road. I started screaming at the car "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?". He didn't see me so it wasn't on purpose but dude!!! PAY ATTENTION! Not a very auspicious start to the 3rd loop. That's 2 almost's for those who are mathematically challenged.
Just a recap, 7 law enforcement vehicles and an ambulance all pretending to be driving Nascars. You do NOT send that many law enforcement people to a red light or something silly like that. And an ambulance too?!? I'm riding. I was about 3 blocks from the first 90 degree right turn when I spied an ambulance coming from the left and going where I need to turn. I took a breath. I assumed that whatever it was and I'm guessing a pretty bad accident happened "over there" and doesn't affect us. I mean, stil sucks, but at least it's not one of us, right? Cars have seat belts and airbags and structural support that's meant to save you and all that. I got to the intersection to make the right and there was a volunteer fire truck blocking the road. Crap. The road was closed. I asked if I can go and he said "I guess so...". I asked what happened. Sucks being right... He told me that "a cyclist, one of you guys, got hit by a car". Crap.
The cops shut down a stretch of 1/2-3/4 mile of a road down completly. That was probably the longest stretch of the race for me. Lots of thoughts. Let's see what I remember...
Yes, I was thinking all of this. I got to ground zero and they sort of parted so I had room to go through. I was actually slaloming through emergency personal. They wanted me through and out of the way. I slowed down. I wanted an answer. I needed an answer. They kept waving me through. I kept slowing down. I was barely moving when I saw the bike. I tried to see the bike number. It's not Mary's bike. Sigh of relief tho a second later it hit me that it was still someone.
I got out of there. I was a little shaken. Little known factoid. Cars are big. Cyclists are small. In a contact situation, it will always be worse for the cyclist.
It had stopped raining finally and the sun was shining through. I realized I didn't drink at all nor did I eat. Except of course for all the rain water I drank involuntary.
I started drinking and eating. Gotta move on. I was trying to figure out who the cyclist was. I had a feeling it was Larry. At this point, the bike wasn't shifting well. Also, the chain came off a few times. Twice it was during a climb. I had to get off the bike, put it back on and then try to get back on it, clip in all going up a climb. Next aid person I saw, I stopped and talked to them. I asked them for a favor. If they see the bike guy, and let me tell you, this guy was changing flats all over the place, to tell them that number 9 wearing a red shirt could use some help. As it was, I saw him first. What a smart guy. This guy was riding the course in the other direction so you can easily flag him. I did. I asked him to clean/lube my chain. He did and I took some peanut butter covered pretzel nuggets and ate. I asked him if he heard about the cyclist and he told me it was a hit and run and that they caught the guy. Some good news I guess. We were talking about the flats and he mentioned that he was very busy today and he asked how many I had. I told him I had brand new tires and that I was at a perfect zero score for flats and that I wasn't gonna get any. He explained to me that that is NOT how it works. I didn't care. I wasn't getting a flat. I thanked him profusly, and set off. I think it was less than 10 miles later that the bike started bouncing weird and I had a flat. To make things worse, it was the dreaded back tire. Oi!
Pulled over and started changing the tire. Took the tube out but couldn't find the cause. There's no point in putting a tube in unless you know what caused it. I found something thay may have done it and put in a new tube. Unfortunatly, the tire being so brand new, I couldn't get the tire on the rim. Luckily for me, there was bike dude. I waved. He U-turned and less than 5 minutes later I was on my way.
End of the third loop was uneventful. I didn't almost crash into a car. I didn't miss my turn. I didn't almost get pushed off the road. Still, as I was in the chute, I saw Jessie and Neil and... Mary. What the Hell? I yelled out what happened but she just shrugged unhappily and I was on my way. Lots to think about on this loop. So, Mary is out. Why?!? At least, it definitly wasn't her on the bike but perhaps something did happen?
A little later, Mary, Jessie and Neil came through with their car and waved. Awesome. They went to get food. I continueed on. Finally the last screaming down hill. During my flat, I was actually passed by 2 people. I assumed (as usual) that I was DFL as usual on the bike. I really wanted to get off the bike. Last aid station. Last cop. Signalled to him that I'm done and he stopped traffic for his holiness (ME!!!) and I crossed traffic and into T2.
The 3 musketeers were there and everything I owned was drenched. Thank goodness, I always put my phone and keys into a ziploc bag just in case during these things. My shoes... I actually brought my brand new shoes to the race. I literally took them out of the box, the day before. I love breaking in a new shoe with a Marathon. And here I was going to ruin them in the rain. I had left them in a bag so they were actually dry. Cool. My socks weren't. Oh well.
Mary asked me if I want a coke and I said YES! and she ran to get me one. Cool. I sat on the ground and got ready. I tried to confirm that I was DFL but in actuality there were people still on the bike behind me. What?!?
Tangent time: Neil was very curious what I eat during these things. His wife is a Marathon Maniac while he doesn't run. He has seen his wife plenty of times run but in a race that you have 17 or in this case 17.5 hours, he was curious. Mary had told him her plan. He asked me mine and I told him what I eat on the bike and that during the run, I just chew gum. He was shocked. Super gum with steroids? Nope... Sugarless. Mary was I think shocked and certainly couldn't believe me. Luckily, I told him about this because he reminded me about the gum. Can you believe I almost left T2 without gum?!?
Grabbed a piece and left.
The run was supposed to be 4 loops of flat out and back. They weren't. Not terribly hilly but certainlynot flat. What was surprising to me was that my shins were on fire and I needed to walk/stretch them out a little. Also, during the flat change, I didn't want to sit on the wet ground so I kinda sat on my left leg. Now, my left calf was hurting badly. Cool.
I started running and as I saw people, I asked them how many loops there up to. Almost everyone was either on their 3rd or 4th loop. Seriously? Not even first loop? Remeber my new friend who did Beach 2 Battleship? He was finishing his second I think. I was determined to catch him. I did find someone who was finishing his first loop as I started mine. Oi.
First loop was uneventful. Running/some walking while stretching shins, basically doing recon on the course. One of the aid stations had no one manning it which I thought was super weird. Going out was mostly uphill, followed by a left turn into a down hill and uphill to the turn around which was an unmanned red cone. Downhill, uphill, right turn and then mostly downhill except 1 small up.
As is my personality, I was the friendliest guy there. Some people actually had pacers which they weren't supposed to. I was hoping Mary would ask me if I want company but I didn't dare ask her.
As I was finishing my first loop and heading to Transition to turn around, I saw a race person and I told them about the aid station that was unmanned and she told me that the volunteers leave at 5:30 and that someone usually drives out there every so often making sure that it is well stocked. What? I was shocked. Well, I told her that we are low on Coke and she said she will take care of it.
I started my second loop and I heard the buzz of a huge mosquito. Actually, it was the RD's vespa. Take a look at the pictures. He told us that he would be driving up and down the whole night making sure things are cool. I thought he was joking. He wasn't. There he was on a toy little moped and a bicycle helmet bringing Coke. Nice. We started talking and actually we talked the whole 2nd loop. Talk about great company. This guy, who does not look like a serious athlete, has done 35 Ironmans. I mean this guy has a little beer belly and hates swimming except for races and meanwhile 35 IMs?!? Today he did the swim part of a relay. Awesome. It seriously was a great talk. Very nice guy. By the way, he admitted to me that the swim today was the worst conditions he has ever seen in a race and that the bike must have sucked big time too. We talked about Larry the cyclist who got hit who is apparently a good personal friend of the RD. He told me the whole story. It was a Hit and Run but the driver was NOT caught. Apparently, they have a tip. Actually it's worse than that. Let's see... The bike is dead. not fixable which I guess means a break in the frame. Larry has a broken scapula and is at the Hospital and is fine. He got real lucky. The bike was thrown where it was barely seen from the road. Larry was thrown into a ditch and if not for the little old lady who was driving the other way and saw the whole thing, Larry would still be there. I told him that I would gladly pay for the cops OT, if they spent the night working the tip and catching the bastard. You hit someone. Let's say it was an accident. You gotta call it in. Seriously!
By the way, a few before this race, I was driving in Manhattan and there was a cyclist fully intending on giving cyclists a bad name. I mean, I was hating all cyclists. This guy was riding up and down the Avenue, in both directions against traffic, weaving. He almost hit my side mirror. On purpose! During a race tho, with the chance of getting DQed so high, we cyclists behave. No one wants to leave with a DQ. I can't believe it was Larry's fault and even if it was, call it in!
Anyway, I was close to finishing the second loop and I passed a female runner. She told me that she was D-O-N-E, done! I congratulated her and she quickly added "but I would rather stay here and stare at your cute ass". Whew... Without missing a beat, I yelled to her that "my wife always told me I have a cute butt but then again she married me so clearly she has no taste". The female racer tripped and almost fell because she was laughing.
I started the 3rd loop. At this point, I actually passed someone. I chased him down. Took about 7 miles or so. Yay me. The dude from B2B? My original target? Haven't seen him. What?!? How could that be?
So, one nice thing about this race is that they are very forgiving. If you swam the whole thing and biked the whole thing but decided that you can't run, instead of a DNF, they would give you a Swim/Bike result. You wouldn't be eligible for awards but no DNF. If you Swam, biked and then after running 2 loops (13.1 miles) and then decided you had enough, they would give you a half-ironman result. Obviously your time would suck since you swam extra and biked extra but that's better than a DNF. That guy from B2B? He stopped after 2 loops on the run and got a half-iron result. Nice.
Aid stations were randomly handled by specators who had nothing to do or they were just self serve. Wow.
Remember that I actually wasn't DFL (Dead Freaking Last) on the bike? I wasn't but those people weren't allowed to go out on the run since they missed the cutoff. Wow. So, in reality, as is my usual in these small races, I was DFL. That's ok... I can only move up and trust me, if I have enough real estate, I will chase you down.
Before the 3rd loop started, I did grab my reflective light up vest and headlamp. Didn't turn them on but took them. I wasn't sure when it will turn dark. I did turn the vest on at 1 point. It doesn't need to be fully dark to be invisible. These roads had some cars on them and I wanted to be visible from a mile away.
The 3rd loop was done and I started on my 4th. I turned the headlamp on. They gave headlamps but I brought my own. It's a much stronger one. Unfortunatly, I didn't change the batteries and it started to fade. Nice. I spoke to a runner who was about 2 miles from the finish (his last loop) and asked him to send word that I need a new headlamp. He offered to trade but I refused. He needed to see as well. I thanked him tho.
At the mile 3 aid station, I came across a female athlete and her pacer. This was her last 3 miles while I still had a 1/2 mile to the turn around. That means that we were about a mile apart. I was almost at her and still had uphills while she had downhills. They suggested I take a headlamp from where the RD left some on the road to light the road up a little. I thought it was a great idea. I was also assessing her. I made up so many miles on her. Can I do this? I don't know. The road wasn't straight so I wouldn't be able to see her. If I could only see her from afar... In any case, we said our byes. I got to the turn around and back up the hill. I figured she's probably 1.5 miles away. If only...
A race official drove down and asked if I was the one who needed the light. I said yes and thanked him. I then asked, "How far is she from me?". Guy understood me. Told me about a mile and asked if I want him to measure. I said YES! He U-turned and went to her. I was disappointed because even though we were both going the same direction now, he still hasn't shown up. Does that mean they are so far away?!?
He finally came back and asked if I saw where he was stopped and that she was there. She was only 0.6 miles ahead of me but I already have made up 0.3. What?!? This is doable. Even tho I can't see her, this is doable. I chased. I just wanted to catch a glimpse of her light. I finally did. She was turning into the last uphill. She is 1 mile away from the finish. I can do this.
Finally, I saw her. I went to stealth mode. Silent feet. Covered my headlamp so not to spook her. Like a hunter... I finally eased in, right near her and her pacer. We were less than 1/2 mile away from the finish. We talked for a little while I got my breath. Slowed my heart rate down. I said my byes, congratulated her on her (almost) finish and left. Dead sprint for the last 1/2 mile. No one was gonna surprise me. I finished. The king came over and knighted me. I got my finishers medal and an age group award. Even thought it was supposed to be 5 year age groups, I got 2nd for 40-49. That's good too. The guy who offered me his headlamp? He was in the 45-49 age group or in this case, 1st for 40-49. I would have gotten 1st for 40-44. Cool. I also got a finishers shirt. Nice.
Mary had already packed her stuff in the car so it was only my stuff that had to go.
Hung out very little and left to load the car. One last thing to take care off. I tend to chafe easily and I knew that I had to change clothes right away. Worse, I needed someone to look at me and tell me if I am chafed so I can apply Vaseline to it. I knew I got it bad from the wetsuit in the usual place (back of neck) but I needed my back and front checked. I was embarassed as hell since I felt bloated like a whale but it needed to be done. I took of the shirt and let her assess. I couldn't even look her in the eye due to my embarrassment. She was shocked at that. "You call that being Bloated?". I actually lost weight but I still felt huge.
We left and the roads were narrow and dark. No lights and then this huge fog rolled in. Not an easy drive. There was a little dog who decided to bark at the car and run away from us. God, I hope he is ok. He finally veered off the road and we continued. I drove as long as I could but at 1 point, my eyes wouldn't focus. Normally, I would find a spot and take a 20 minute nap but I just couldn't find any place. Luckily, Mary was there and she was willing to drive. I told her I am gonna close my eyes for 20 minutes but as soon as I did that, we found an open gas station. I got out to fill gas and that woke me up. She drove a little more but I stayed awake. No sleep for me. She drove for about 30 minutes which was enough for me to recover. She couldn't drive anymore and I drove. She slept some and eventually we talked. Eventually she talked but could not physically keep her eyes open. She kept apologizing for being "useless". Nope...Not useless. Her being there helped me.
Her story: Lake placid screwed her up. The impending storm didn't help matters. Even though she is a strong swimmer, the out of control water did her in. She (unfortunatly) saw a jet ski and called him over. She just wanted to hang on for a second, which is legal as long as they don't give you forward motion, but it was too much. She took that lifeline and said I'm done. Sucks. Apparently, she was only a 1/4 mile from the swim finish. She never got a chance to get on the bike.
She asked me how do you train for riding on a torrential downpour... Isn't it too dangerous. I replied that "I'm just too stupid to stop and that I would NEVER go out in the rain on the bike on purpose. Oh well.
Got to Brooklyn and dropped her off. Had to get home since Jessie had her Trapeze camp starting that Monday. I got home and unloaded. Everyone was still asleep. Jessie woke up first. Said hello to her and then quickly went to run a mile for the streak. From there, into the shower, eat breakfast and I was good to drive her to camp. After that, we had so many errands to do. No time to rest.
The following Wednesday, I ended up freaking out my fellow Lifeguards at the YMCA. I was on vacation from Job 1, so I scheduled a blood donation at the blood truck at the ymca. There was a long line and I was afraid I wasn't going to have time for everything. I quickly went to run another mile (2nd run of the day), gotta be productive. I then donated. When I finished, the Vampire looked at me and gave me the speech about no strenous exercise, not getting things wet, drinking and resting etc. She then lookedat me with a sidelong look and said "no chance of that happening right?". I just smiled at her. Usually they physically escort you (drag you) to the front of the bus to eat and drink. She didn't even try. I quickly got my bag and ran out of the back. Straight to the pool. I grabebd some gloves and my water proof bandaid and went to Ray. He's a supervisor Lifeguard and an EMT. I gave him the gloves and he said "what the hell is that for?". Put it on I asked and told him to help pull the bandage off my arm and put the band aid on. This was on my right hand and I'm a righty. All the lifeguards there explained to me that it was a really bad idea to swim and that Nisca (spelling?) was guarding and she won't save me. I annoy her a lot about Pokemon. It's cool. I then jumped in. On Wednesday, I only have 50 minutes to swim before I have to guard and I was already 10 minutes into it. Unfortunatly, I realized I forgot to bring food with me and I figured between the blood donation and the butterflies I was doing, I would be starving so I asked that a lifeguard please get me some food. They took it as I wasn't feeling well and that sparked a whole lot of hoopla. Fortunatly, doing butterfly kinda squashes that. Anyway,they ran out of food so he brought me a small container of apple juice. Wonderful... ;( Still, beggars can't be choosers. I finished my swim, and as I was showering I drank that. After that, I guarded from 8:30-10:15 and closed the pool down. I ate more at 10:30 that night when I got more. I was fine tho.
Just a quick shout out to the MVP of the race: Jim Hogan of Geneva Bicycle Center. Dude kept changing flats the whole day!
Here's a letter that the Race Organizers put out. It's an interesting read...
I definitly recommend this race. The only thing that sucked about it was the 5 hourish drive to and from. Actually mine was more like 6.5 because of the Brooklyn thing but still, I'd would rather extend my drive and have company.
You (almost) never find yourself in a situation where it's an easy name to remember and pronounce. So, what gives? I mean I already ran into Elek which was huge. Turns out the RD went to school with an Elick. Seriously? Unbelievable... Two (variations I give you) in one place?
Finally, let me go back to the results for a minute. Yes - I got an age group award. Yes - I deserved it. There was a 50% DNF rate that day. What the swim didn't finish, the bike sure did. Am I that fast? No...Plain and simple no. What I did do was show up and I didn't stop. I kept going. I'm just stupid that way. As I always say, it all depends on who shows up... If I show up, unless I have a serious mechanical issue or real other serious issues, I will finish. Sometimes being stupid, helps...
By the way, after all the DNF's, I was first out of the water. Yay...
