My First Tri - IMLP 2009 - Finisher!!!

My Road to Ironman

 I am 45 years old and a Clydesdale.  Below is my story about my first triathlon.  I was afraid to post on BT about an IM going to be my first tri especially once I realized that was going to happen.  I know getting something smaller in for your first tri is recommended and I would have liked that as well but schedule didn’t permit.  I want people to know that if you plan well, put in the training, have the determination and perseverance you can do any event you put your mind to.

 I have to go back two years when my wife (Angie) tried to sign me up for last year’s IMLP.  She did the online registration filled out all the info and got in.  Then logged on again and filled out my info but it was full.

 IMLP 2008 – Angie had a great day but blew out her knee at mile 11 of the run and was a DNF.  She loves the sport.  The next morning we slept in, went out to breakfast and happened to be going by the oval and decided to see if there were any more slots at the registration tent.  No lines at all, she walked up and signed up for this year, on a whim I said sign me up too!

August 2008 – I did nothing different for training.  I run 4-5 times a week usually 6-10 miles each on trails (never road) and play 2 hours of hockey once a week.

 September – Time to buy a bike.  Angie spent AT LEAST a month going to every bike shop in the area until she found one that “felt” right.  I’m usually the same way.  I research everything thoroughly, narrow my options and then go try it.  Angie will tell you how fussy I am about running shoes.

 Luckily, about a month before last year’s IM I had a bad time on my first road bike experience.  I had been riding my 29’er MTB with her on training rides and she was killing me.  We went to Lake Placid a month before the race to ride, bike, and swim the course.  I rented a road bike.  Well after one loop my knee hurt and continued to click for about a month after that ride.  So this time I mad an appointment and got a professional fit at Fitwerx.  Angie was shocked I wasn’t all over the internet researching different models.

 I’ll skip all the details but the fitting took 4 ½ hours and at the end they recommended some bikes they could “build up” to fit me or have a custom frame made.  I chose one they had in stock (Cervelo Team Soloist) and came back another day to pick it up.

I have to thank Marty and Ian from Fitwerx for all their help.  I had lots of questions after I got the bike and some comfort issues which they were always happy to correct.  Their service was exceptional!

Now, I needed a plan for training.  I downloaded the free IM plan from BT.  I bought several books.  I reviewed some of Angie’s plans from her coach last year.  Angie was using the same coach this year as well, Martha from Dynamic Training.  I thought about using her as my coach as well but frankly the costs of this sport were adding up quick!  Especially, since Angie decided to have a professional fitting now and buy a new bike!

 I made somewhat of a hybrid plan of all the stuff I read.  In a nutshell, I would try to swim at least three times a week as I felt this was my weakest area.  I’d bike 2-3 days with one long bike, and only run twice as this is my strongest area.  I would have a rest week every fourth week with light workouts.  Some of these were bricks of course.  I also kept playing my 2 hours of hockey each week.

 I work a lot of weekends and Angie works every Sunday.  So trying to get some smaller events in before IM was going to be tough especially with our 2 sons (Joe and Ian).  Angie already had Mooseman HIM scheduled for herself as a practice race, which she had a great race!!!

April, I took a private class at the Total Immersion Swim studio so I could improve my swimming.  Coach Mike T. was GREAT!  He set me up a plan to work on and I went back for some follow up and further corrections.  He had me focus on technique for the whole next month.  No breathing and no workouts more than 1000 yards.  He emphasized doing longer workouts with bad technique wasn’t going to help me.  So for the next month all my pool workouts were less than ½ hour 3-4 times a week with nothing but stroke work.

On my subsequent visit he taught me proper breathing technique and made a plan which now built up to some longer swims.  I would have liked to have gone back once more before IM but couldn’t fit it in my schedule.  I do plan to go back now.  I love swimming now and I’m thinking a long swim event would be fun!

  June, since I work a lot of weekends and I’m starting to get nervous about this big event ahead of me I decided to take a weekend off of work.  I had to take a week of vacation hour wise but it was worth it.  Instead of trying to fit a smaller tri in that weekend I opted to attended a training camp at Lake Placid put on by Mary at Train-This.  This would give me an opportunity to ride, run and swim the course.  Even though I had done it last year, I felt a refresher would be good.

  I have to give a lot of thanks to Mary for letting me attend this camp.  In the past it was only for athletes they were training and this year they let some outsiders in.  I might have been the only one I’m not sure.  Anyway, Mary is a very determined woman but with a heart of gold.  It’s easy to see why she is a great coach!

At the camp we did a bike, run and swim on Friday, all pretty light.  Saturday, I rode 119 miles; the course plus a little extra to the hotel, ½ hour run, ½ hour swim.  Sunday 1 loop of the run course, a 13 mile run and swim about 1 lap.  The others also did a 42 mile bike but my butt was too sore!

 Two days after the camp I went for a 20 mile hill run (9510 ascent, 9332 descent according to Garmin) with my running shoes I’ve been using for the last 8 months.  Bad idea after the training camp, I now had pain from the outside of my right foot and the back of my Achilles.  Peroneal Tendonitis.  I’m not sure if it was abused running shoes, overuse or combo of them both.  But, buying new running shoes more frequently especially for road running would be a good idea.  Duh! I knew better.

  I rested for a few days and only swam.  Once it started to feel a little better I tried biking but the pain would quickly came back.  I continued this routine until 2 weeks before IM.  Every time I biked it would hurt again.  I never ran again before IM.  About the same time Angie developed a knot in her calf about the size of a golf ball.  She was going to every type of therapist there was to try and work this out before IM.

Her leg was feeling better before IM but the knot was still there and she knew it wasn’t 100 percent.  She had pretty much decided not to start as she didn’t want another DNF.  I didn’t do anything the two weeks before IM but swim.  I figured my leg needed the rest.  The Friday before IM I hadn’t felt any problems in my legs for several days so I tried about a 15 mile bike ride.  It wasn’t painful but my tendonitis was letting me know it was there.

  I told Angie I’m going to try my best and if nothing more than all the time I’ve put into this I want the experience.  I convinced her to do the same.  Saturday morning when I was getting my bike and gear ready for check in she still wasn’t sure if she was going to do it.  I talked her into getting her gear ready and checked in.  I told her to keep your options open and get your gear ready.  I knew once she got her gear together she was going for it!

 The night before the race I didn’t sleep a wink.  My mind was racing with thoughts about the race.  I kept thinking anybody have any valium or versed?  Only kiddingJ I know that wouldn’t be good but I was so tired and just couldn’t sleep.

 Race Day

 Getting marked, dropping off special needs bags, etc.  It all went pretty quick.  Forecast 50% chance of rain.  Last year was 10% and it poured all day, thankfully I was only a spectator but I’m mentally preparing for something similar.

 I lined up ¼ of the way over in the starting line and in a gap behind what seemed to be a very crowded group in front and another crowd of people in the back.  Once the gun went off any open water closed up quick.  A lot of bumping into people on both sides, felt like I was getting squeezed a lot.  Of course there were people touching my feet and I was touching the legs in front of me.  It felt like I was stuck in traffic with people behind you beeping but you got no where to go.

I kept looking to find little pockets of open water so I could get a steady rhythm but I didn’t get much of that until after ½ ways through the first lap.  I ended up MUCH wider than expected by trying to find these pockets.  Except for a few people which tried to grab my legs I never got swam over or swam over anyone else.  I just bumped into a lot of them.

First lap 40 minutes, I was a little bummed but not surprised.  Second lap seemed smoother; I stayed close to the buoys and could see the cable under the water a lot of the time.  Not as much contact except at the corners.  Second lap time 43 minutes for a total of 1 hour 23 minutes.  I was shooting for about 1:10 at least under 1:15 by my OWS times in training the last month.  It did rain during the swim but then the sun came out on the second lap and stayed out the whole race!!!!

I saw Angie about 5 rows of people in front of me coming out of the swim.  She didn’t see me.  We both came out within seconds of each other.  The people are just coming out of the water in droves.  The wetsuit strippers whisked us off before I could yell to her.  They do a great job!

 Transition: Wow what a mad house.  The volunteers are great and get your gear bag and keep you moving in the right direction. I’m sure I looked lost!  After the rain the ground was muddy in the changing tent.  Thanks to Angie, all my stuff was in ziplock bags inside the gear bag and the small towel really helped to get the mud and grass off my feet.  I was a little slow as I forgot to put on my compression socks before my bike shoes.

 No heart rate strap in my gear, oh well.  I got on the bike and the Garmin wasn’t picking up the cadence sensor.  So I had no HR or cadence to go by on the bike.  I had to use my perception on how I was doing.  The tendon let me know it was there but it wasn’t painful.

 I felt good on the bike.  I had one girl (Lynn) crash into me but it was my fault.  I was coming into an aid station and yelled I wanted a power bar.  The volunteer said he had to get one from the table.  So I stopped and unclipped and she came into the back of me and toppled over.  I didn’t think about it until after but if you are going to stop at an aid station make sure you get off to the side first.  I apologized to her.  She was fine but still felt bad.  Sorry again Lynn.

 I passed Angie about mile 40 on Hazelton road.  She said her leg was sore and I knew it because I normally don’t pass her on the bike except on down hills where being a Clydesdale gives me a gravity advantage.  My first bike lap was great with a 3:40 time.  My goal is to make the cutoffs for the bike.  I know if I can make the run without any problems I will be an Ironman.

 The second lap I was doing great again until about mile 92.  I started to get some cramping on my inner thighs.  First one leg then the other and I just tried to ride through it and stretch by standing on the pedals.  I started eating and drinking more thinking I might be dehydrated or not taking in enough nutrition.  I also started putting the electrolyte powder in my mouth and washing it down with water.  Yuck!!

 It fought the cramps the last 20 miles of the ride.  Just as I was coming into the run transition Angie yells to me she is right behind me.  What a coincidence us finishing the bike and swim at about the same time.  Total Bike time 7:45, slower with the cramps but I made the cutoff and that’s all I cared about!

 I started the run and my legs felt fine but my stomach was a little upset.  I could feel the Gatorade repeating on me; maybe I did too much trying to fight off the cramps.  I was running a 10:30 min/mile which is slow for me especially for the downhill section.  I kept telling myself save it for the end, don’t be stupid!  So I kept my pace slow.

Between, mile 2-3 I caught up with Angie.  She said her knot in her calf was hurting.  I slowed a little and stayed with her.  My stomach was still upset and would probably be a smart move.  The next few aid stations I drank some coke and after some time my stomach cleared.

 Angie was sticking to her plan of running 10 minutes and walk 3 minutes to try and save her legs.  I stayed with her while I was trying to get my stomach settled. We were averaging an 11-12 minute mile.  While we were together it was clear her leg was getting worse and her opposite knee was starting to have some pain as well.  She kept telling me she wasn’t going to make it.  She eventually couldn’t run any further.

 At this point it we had just passed mile 8.  She kept telling me to go ahead and run and finish the race.  As we continued walking I convinced her to just keep walking.  She said it didn’t hurt too much walking.  I calculated that if we did approximately 20 min/mile for the rest of the race we would cross the finish before the cutoff and we would both be an Ironman.  She was still unsure but kept walking.  We were walking about a 16.5 min/mile

 As we get to into town and are about to start for the second and final loop of the run, I saw that determination in my Wife’s eye.  We both knew we were going to make it.  It was a matter of just plugging along the next few hours.

 About mile 14-15 I started feeling some hot spots on the balls of my feet.  I knew I was starting to get some blisters.  Angie told me to stop and get it fixed but there was no way I wanted to stop.  Plus we didn’t have that much of a buffer of time.  I did ask one of the EMT’s working on the ambulance if they had anything for blisters as we passed them.  He said they had Vaseline.  Not what I was hoping but I put it on and it helped a little.

 The rest of the walk I just shuffle onto different parts of my feet.  Walk on your heels; curl your toes, etc. Just try to pressure your feet in different areas.  The last two miles I was having trouble keeping up with Angie her determination was as strong as ever.

 We crossed the finish line at 16:26:29 holding hands.  It was priceless!!!  I wouldn’t trade it for the world!

 After we crossed the volunteers asked how we were.  I asked if they had someone to look at my feet.  Once I stopped I felt a little light headed and nauseous.  They sat me down gave me some water to drink and a trash can in case I vomited while the podiatrist looked at my feet.  After sipping the water I felt better and the podiatrist cleaned and dressed blisters across my forefoot and my heels.  My toes were black from curling them and I’ll probably lose a few nails.  Not sure why I had the problem with my feet as I have never had a problem in the past.

 While I was in the medical tent Angie got the bikes on the car and our gear.  What a trooper!  Getting up to walk after sitting a while now my feet really hurt!

 A few final notes:  A HUGE thanks to all the Volunteers!!!  They are all FANTASTIC!!!  .  The logistics for this race to keep us safe and be able to respond in timely fashion is no easy task EMS, Police, Fire/Rescue, etc. need to be commended for doing a great job.

 Angie’s BFF Marie who came with us to Lake Placid to help.  She took care of Joe and Ian as well as her daughters Katie and Emily not only on race day but the day and night before the race so we could get some rest.  And the day after the race as we are doing the Ironman shuffle limping around and licking our wounds.  Taking care of four kids all between the ages of 7-9 for 3 days, we owe you!  Thanks so very much!!

 Lastly, if you ever want to feel what it is to be a sports celebrity?  Do this race!!!  The spectators are phenomenal!!!  They make you feel so important, calling out your name, encouraging you, ringing cowbells, other noise makers, dancing, etc.  Their energy is incredible!  No other event have I done has there been such a feeling, even events where I have been the winner!  I was a spectator last year but you don’t understand until you do it.

 Hope you enjoyed the story.  It might be long but some is for my benefit so I don’t forget all the details.

 My first tri is done and I’ll remember it forever!

 Bob