IMLP 2013 Race Report Part 4 - The Run...

Part 1 - The Days Before
Part 2 - The Swim
Part 3 - The Bike

I have never run a marathon.  I've run/walked two Ironman marathons, but never run a marathon.  I started this one ahead of where I was hoping I would be.  My goal for this Ironman was to go under 14 hours.  When I left the transition area and started the run, my watch said I'd been racing for 8 hours and 10 minutes.  That gave me just under 6 hours.  I was feeling pumped!

Heading out on the run is so weird because the world instantly slows down.  After seeing a blur of spectators on the bike, now I can make out faces.  I kept hearing people yelling my name, but I didn't see anyone I knew.  Then my rattled brain recalled that I was now wearing my race number, which has my name on it.  Duh!  It wasn't long before I ran by my parents and high-fived them.  I love that they made their way from the bike finish to the run entrance as quickly as they did - it's not easy!

The beginning of the run is tough.  I'm feeling great from my bike split and I'm starting with a small downhill and the crowd is crazy loud.  But...  I was a little worried that maybe I'd gone too hard on the bike and wouldn't be able to run 26.2 miles.  Then I made the first right-hand turn and the downhill gets crazy steep.  It's probably an 18% grade and it's tough on the quadriceps.  I had set my watch for a 10-minute run followed by a 1-minute walk.  I was determined to stick to this pattern, and I was doing well.  The only deviation was when I hit an aid station.  I walked through each one of those, grabbing Gatorade or Coke, water, some ice, occasionally an orange slice or some grapes or a pretzel (for the salt, which I just sucked off).  After taking it all in, I resumed my run/walk schedule until the next aid station.

Just after the first mile or so, I heard someone yell that the leader was coming through.  Sure enough, there was Andy Potts coming my way!  Andy won last year and was so kind to sign a bunch of autographs for all of us.  He is a machine in the water and pretty much killed the course last year and again this year.  All that, and he's a total babe!  I shouted out a "great job" as he flew past me.  The second and third place guys were well behind him and they were only about three miles from the finish.

After that, as I approached the next aid station, I saw Randy coming back to finish his first loop!  We met in the middle of the street for a smooch (awww...) and I wondered when I would see him again.  I knew what his goal was and I was happy to see that it was definitely in reach.

The run is nice because it's a chance to see everyone.  The course is a double out-and-back done twice, so there is always company.  I saw Matt and Keith go by and a lot of other people I know.  The volunteers at the aid stations were great.  They had everything ready to go and plenty of encouragement as we slogged around the marathon course.   The part of the course on River Road is pretty peaceful.  There aren't many spectators, just a lot of athletes and volunteers.  We run along the river so it is relatively flat and on the way back, you get some great views of the Olympic ski jumps.

I managed to maintain my 10-min run/1-min walk the whole loop.  After turning off River Road, it's time to climb the hill by the ski jumps.  It figured that my 1-minute walk was after I'd run up the hill.  Oh well.  I refused to wuss out on the hills of the first loop!  The run past the horseshoe fairgrounds is flat and has amazing views of the mountains and the 1980 Olympic torch.  So inspirational!

As I get back into town, the crowds get bigger and there are many places playing music.  This was great.  I don't usually train with music, but it was fun to have something playing as we ran.  Of course, when I heard Jimmy Buffett's "Cheeseburger in Paradise" I realized how hungry I was.

The worst part of the run is the ridiculously steep uphill before turning onto Main Street.  It's the same hill we had to go down at the beginning of the loop.  Of course, my watch did not tell me it was time to walk, so I ran up the hill.  Well, I use the term "ran" loosely.  I don't know if I would call it running, but I wasn't walking!  I saw some friends along the hill and that was cool.  I made another turn toward the oval, but it was still uphill.  This is where I saw my parents again.  They knew just where to be!  I turned onto Mirror Lake Drive and ran past the club tent and my friends.

That part is always great!  I realized that there were still cyclists coming in, and the road was pretty crowded.  Bikes were in one lane and runners in the other going both directions.  There were a lot of people around!  At the special needs area, I dropped off my sunglasses.  I don't know why.  I guess I was thinking that it wouldn't be sunny anymore since it was after 5 o'clock.  Of course, that's about the time the sun finally came out.  I ran to the turnaround and back to the oval to start loop number 2.  By this time, I saw Randy again as he was finishing his second loop.

My time for the first loop was around 2:20-2:25, although I don't have an exact split.  I was pretty happy with that.  If I could keep running, I would make it under 14 hours!

As expected, the second loop of the run was the toughest part of the race.  I'd been out there for a while and I'd never run that much of an Ironman marathon before (injury always forced me to walk).  But, I was determined to keep up my run/walk pattern as long as I could.  I must admit that there were times I was very tempted to just walk.  I started looking at my watch constantly to figure out when I could walk again.  My legs HURT!!!  But I kept going.  At the aid stations, they started serving chicken broth.  Now, that may seem weird, but I must tell you that, at mile 16 of the run, chicken broth was like crack.  I couldn't get enough and after every aid station, I was anticipating when I would reach the next one so I could get more!!  So warm and salty, it's just perfect.  I even stopped to make sure I didn't gulp it down, but to savor it.  Mmmmm...

Funny side story:  When I was running down the hill past the ski jumps, I ran past two guys.  One of them commented on my shirt, "You're wearing a Providence shirt?  Wasn't that race horrible?"  To which I replied, "Well, I qualified for Vegas there."  I heard his running partner say, "I guess it wasn't so horrible for her!"

As I turned around on River Road, my spirits lifted for a couple of reasons.  One, I was on my way back.  I still had seven miles to go, but I was on my way back.  Two, I saw my friend Jennifer for the first time all day.  Jennifer attempted Ironman a couple of years ago, but didn't make the bike cutoff.  Despite fighting asthma and arthritis in her hip, she signed up again for this race.  I was SOOOO happy to see that she'd made the bike cutoff!!  Yeah!!!!

At one point, I realized that I could walk the rest of the marathon and still go under 14 hours.  That was both good and bad.  Good because I could make it and bad because now I had an excuse to stop running and make my legs happy.  Well, happier.  This is the true test of Ironman.  When faced with the choice, what do you do?  Even though I left that bracelet on the bike, I thought of my friends' daughter and her amazing battle against stage-3 cancer.  The struggles in my legs were nothing compared to the struggles that they've all faced.  If they can get through cancer, I can run six more miles!  I told myself to brush it off and move.  Thank you, Gabby and family, for being an inspiration!

Somewhere along the way, it started to rain.  We'd been incredibly lucky with weather all day.  It rained early in the bike ride, but stopped about an hour in.  The rest of the day had been mostly cloudy and a bit humid.   The temperatures were in the low 70s, which made it nearly perfect.  I'd been feeling the humidity on the run and when the rain started, it was a nice relief.  Time to cool off a bit!  Then the rain came down harder.  Okay.  We don't need THAT!  So it ended.  I think it rained all of twenty minutes and that was just enough.  I was heading back into town and hurting, but still happy.

Of course, I had to face those hills again.  I knew that there would be no shame in walking the hills.  Most people were doing that, but damn it, I was going to stick to my run/walk.  (Apparently I had become stubborn - when did that happen?)  I knew if I started walking more than my allotted one minute, that I would likely not start running again.  When I hit the steep hill, everyone was walking and I had another two minutes of running on my clock.  At this point, I was definitely going to reach my time goal.  I almost started walking it anyway, so that I wouldn't be walking on the flatter part.  But, I looked up and saw Ricky.  I don't know Ricky personally, but what I know about him is that he does not have the use of his legs.  He did the Ironman bike course on a hand cycle and the run course on a wheelchair.  He was at the steepest part of the hill and I can only imagine how much his arms must have been burning at that point.  But, where most of us could stop and rest, he couldn't.  If he stopped, he'd roll backwards.  Everyone was cheering for him and I just prayed for him to make it to the top.  He did and it was a huge moment of relief for everyone.  It was also another "suck it up" moment for me.  If he can push himself to the top of this hill, surely I can run to the top.  So I did.  Thank you, Ricky, for the inspiration!

My last few miles are a blur.  I ran by the tent again, waved to my friends and family and tried to enjoy the moment.  After the turnaround on Mirror Lake Drive, I had a little over a mile to the finish line.  I also had one more walk break, but I decided not to take it.  What the hell...

Lake Placid has the best Ironman finish line.  The athletes run half a loop around the Olympic oval where Eric Heiden won five speed skating medals in 1980.  There is a ton of room for the spectators, so the crowd is loud and fun.

I entered the oval and checked behind me to see if anyone else was there.  I was feeling a bit selfish and didn't want to share my finish with anyone!  The coast was clear and I got to run around the oval all by myself.  As I ran down the straightaway to the finish line, with people lining the way and cheering very loudly, I heard Mike Reilly say, "Karen, you are an IRONMAN!!!"

My run split was 4:58:56, over an hour faster than the other two where I had to walk.

My goal for this race was to go under 14 hours.  I knew it was possible, even if I had a few hiccups along the way.  My official time is 13:07:56!!! 

I crossed the finish line and immediately two volunteers were by my side.  One of them put one of those mylar blankets over my shoulders and they both grabbed onto my elbows so I didn't fall down.  It's weird to think that I'd been moving forward for 13+ hours and now they are expecting me to fall.  But, the body is strange that way.  I felt strong throughout the race, but the moment I stopped, I felt weak.  I felt warm all day, but now I was shivering.  But, it wasn't bad.  My body settled quickly.  Someone put a medal around my neck and handed me my finisher shirt and hat.  I also got some chocolate milk and a bottle of water.

Randy was waiting for me at the finish line.  He'd finally broken 11 hours on this course (10:47:29).  I was so happy to see him!  I'm so proud of you, Shmoopie!

My parents were there too and we visited with them before they left for home.  Thank you, Mom and Dad, for your love and support!!

I grabbed my bike and gear and wandered my way back to the tent and to our car.  We went back to our house to shower and eat something, then returned to the oval to watch the final finishers of the night, including our friend, Jennifer, who displayed amazing endurance and determination to finish 140.6 miles with an arthritic hip and a sprained ankle (from falling in T1).  Love you, Jen!

I know that most people don't have any interest in doing an Ironman, but I would highly recommend that everyone goes to watch one someday.  It is an amazing celebration of life.  Everyone out there earns their race - there is no faking it.  I'm often asked why I do Ironman.  I think people expect a complicated answer, but the truth is very simple.  I do it because I can.

IMLP 2013 Race Report Part 3 - The Bike...

You can read Part 1 here and Part 2 here.

It had rained during the swim and it was still a bit rainy when we left for the bike ride.  After 2008, I was ready for rain.  Leaving the transition area, we descend some very steep hills before climbing out of town.  These are not hills on which you increase your average speed.  They are crowded and there is a sharp left turn at the bottom.  In fact, hay bales await anyone who does not make the turn!  I checked my brakes before getting to the steepest parts and was on my way.  I thought my parents might be at the bottom of the hill, but they weren't.  They missed me coming out of the swim and were still looking for me there.

I've ridden the Lake Placid loop dozens of times, so I know it well.  It is not a difficult loop - not the first time anyway.  But, it is an unforgiving course and if you aren't smart about it, you will pay for it on the run.  The first part of the loop includes a long climb about a mile long, then rolling hills until about mile 8.  It's a tough way to start 112 miles, so I have some rules that I follow: stay in the small chain ring until the big descent, always ride the first loop in one gear easier than I think I can manage, and pay attention to the scenery.  The rules force me to take it easy.  I would bet that this is one of the most scenic courses in the Ironman circuit, so I plan to enjoy it, which keeps me calm on race day.

I managed the opening climbs with ease.  I love being tapered!  The best part of this section was getting caught by our friends Keith (Alan! Alan! Alan!) and Matt.  It's always nice to see familiar faces.  Once I hit the Cascade Mountain trailhead, it was time to pick up speed.  Going past the Cascade Lakes is breathtaking and fast.  I'm finally in the big chain ring and my aerobars heading for the long descent into Keene.  Unfortunately, the descent is on a pretty crappy piece of road - lots of patched holes and washboard bumps due to the snow plows.  They opened up a second lane on the road for us, which helped.  After the first mile or so, there is a flatter part on the hill and another cyclist next to me said, "I'm glad that descent is done!  That was scary!"  To which I replied, "We have about another three miles before getting to the bottom!"  So, I made sure I got in front of him and wound my way to the bottom of the hill.  Close to the bottom there's one of those speed limit signs that tells you how fast you're going.  I hit 27 mph in that spot, but I knew I'd gone faster further up the hill.

Once in Keene, we take a left turn onto Route 9N to make our way up to Jay and the out-and-back.  This part of the course is relatively flat, so I got down to the business of eating.  I grabbed one of my Luna bars and chowed down.  I was able to stay in the aerobars and big chain ring on most of this section and maintained a pretty decent average speed.  Between the starting climbs, the descent, and this flat section, I managed an average speed of 18.2 mph for the first 30 miles.  Some people went flying by me and I was passing others.  One girl went past and said "Hang in there!"  Hang in there?  I was doing fine!  In Jay, we have a 5-6 mile out-and-back section to Ausable Forks.  It was here that I saw Randy again!  He was on his way back while I was on my way out. (Hi Shmoopie!!!)  I also saw Keith and Matt again.  After the turn around and back in Jay, I made the right hand turn to Wilmington.  Someone asked, "Is this Papa Bear?" referring to the well-known named hills at the end of the loop.  I replied, "Not even close.  We call this hill the 3-mile climb."  "Is it really 3 miles?"  Ummm....yes.  That's why we call it the 3-mile climb.

To be fair, it's not three straight miles of climbing.  There is a nice downhill in the middle that opens to a field where you get an amazing view of Whiteface Mountain.  But, it's still a lot of climbing!

We have to do a little out-and-back on Haselton Road, where I watched a guy in front of me try to cut to the inside of the turnaround.  Really, dude?  Did you really have to make your pass on the 180-degree turn?  He promptly tipped over.  Karma.

The next part of the loop is the 12 miles back to Lake Placid.  It is the longest, slowest 12 miles of your life.  All uphill.  All of it.  In my mind, I break it up into three parts.  The first is getting past Whiteface Mountain.  This is where the climbs seem long and I don't like them.  There was a lot of crowd support though.  One group had a sign that said "Honey Badger Don't Care!" which made me laugh.  The second is going right along the Ausable River.  There are a lot of twists and turns and quick up and downs.  Even though it's mostly uphill, I can get into a pretty good groove.  Then, we hit the end of River Road and the Cherries and the Bears.  These are the named climbs I mentioned earlier.  I hardly notice Little Cherry.  It's not marked anymore, but there is a sign for Cherry Patch Pond, so I know I'm at Little Cherry.  Big Cherry isn't so bad either.  Then comes Mama Bear.  You come around a curve and there she is all laid out in front of you.  At first, she doesn't seem like much, but I knew I'd need a small gear.  A quick downhill pops you over Baby Bear and then comes Papa Bear.  Papa Bear is straight and, although I'm in a pretty small gear, it isn't as bad as it looks.  The best part about it is the crowds of people cheering you on.  They line the road and it has a very Tour de France feel to it.  Very cool and inspiring!

Some people think Papa Bear is the end of the climbing.  Those people would be wrong.  At the top of Papa Bear, we make a right hand turn onto Northwoods Road and yet another hill, Sonofabitch.  That's what we've named it.  Right after that comes the Bitch.  Those hills are tough mentally, but then I made the turn into town and got to enjoy the crowds. 

I heard someone yell my name and tell me to look for my parents up ahead.  I saw them as I passed by the club tent and heading to special needs.

 I dropped my garbage and picked up some more food before finishing the loop and heading out again.  My first loop time was 3:22:44, the fastest I've ever ridden it without drafting off someone (it also includes one pit stop and my special needs stop).

The second loop was pretty uneventful, which is to say it was great.  Except the downhill.  I had a water bottle in my aerobar cage and it was rattling around so much from the crappy roads.  I thought I was going to lose it and I worried about crashing if I did.  I managed to keep the bottle and make it down the hill.  I even posted my fastest speed ever...  41.9 mph!  That probably wasn't too smart of me and I had to tell myself to cool it. 

I settled in for the rest of the loop and I was feeling great.  My legs were starting to get tired and I got bit by a mosquito on my eyelid (weird), but I was spinning a high cadence and getting enough food and water to keep me alert.  As I made my way from Wilmington to Lake Placid (those dreadful 12 miles), I started to get excited about my time.  I was doing really well, but I didn't want to jinx it.  I had been flip-flopping positions with about six different people along the second loop, including two guys with disc wheels.  My advantage was either knowing the climbs, being lighter, or just being a stronger climber, because by the time Mama Bear came along, I'd lost them all.  And, remember the chick who told me to "hang in there"?  I passed her like she was standing still.  That was a good (and very unfamiliar) feeling!

I saw so many people and heard them calling my name as I came into town, I felt like a rock star!  Unfortunately, it goes by so fast so I wasn't able to acknowledge them all.  As I pulled into the transition area, there were my parents!  I waved to them, dismounted, and passed my bike to a volunteer. 

My time on the second loop was 3:20:57.  I didn't realize it at the time, but I had a negative split!  I was hoping to go under 7 hours on the bike course, but deep down I really wanted to go under 6:45.  I clocked a 6:43:41!  Yeah!

I grabbed my T2 bag and headed into the women's changing tent again.  I stripped off my cycling clothes and gear and struggled into my running clothes.  I had two volunteers helping me get dressed and I headed out to run a marathon.

IMLP 2013 Race Report Part 2 - The Swim...

You can read Part 1 of my race report here.

On Sunday morning, the alarms went off at 3:30 and 3:40 (just in case).  Of course, by that time, we were already up and eating breakfast.  Who can sleep the night before an Ironman?

There was a lot of good energy in the house as we all ate, used the bathrooms, and gathered our special needs bags.  We took a few cars down to the lake and walked over to our tri club's tent.  Gerry had set up his own tent right behind the club tent and we used that as our home base for the day. 

First, we dropped off our special needs bags for the run and the bike.  These are bags that you can access halfway into the bike or run to get anything you may need or drop things off.  For example, in my bike special needs bag, I have a second set of food and two tubes in case I get a flat or two on the first loop of the bike.  In my run special needs bag, I have a long-sleeved shirt in case it's getting cool and a packet of Tums (for what I hope is an obvious reason - I hope I don't need them!).

We walked over to the transition area.  I un-taped my gear bags so that I could easily open them during transition and headed over to my bike.  There were only a couple of other people around my area at that time.  It was nice to have the space.  I unwrapped the bag off the back of the bike, put my nutrition on the bike (water bottles and Bento box full of food), pumped up the tires, checked to make sure the bike was shifting and in a decent gear for the beginning of the ride.  Back to the tent to get the damn wetsuit on!

At the tent, I had some time to sit and relax before getting ready for the swim, but soon it was time to put my wetsuit on.  This is the worst part of my day!  Not only do I not like wearing a wetsuit (despite the advantages), I am really slow at putting it on.  It's just annoying.  We were all milling about and goofing around before heading over to the water.  Check out the IM tattoo on my chest...

 

 

I've experienced two mass swim starts at IMLP in the past and I have to say that I have never had a problem.  There was always a lot of people and it was always crowded, but this year was much worse.  There was no mass start this year.  Instead, they announced a couple months ago that we would be doing a time trial start.  Athletes would walk into the water and their time would start when they cross the timing mat, similar to a big marathon start.  We were instructed to line up according to our projected time.  Randy, Keith, and I got into the 1:01-1:10 group.  When the cannon went off, we slowly walked to the water's edge.  Once we crossed the mat, it was time to dive in!

Randy was right in front of me, so I decided to see how long I could stay on his feet.  The buoys are numbered to the turns.  Eight down and nine back, then repeat for loop #2.

Loop #1 - I stayed with Randy until somewhere between buoys 4 & 5.  At that point, I got pushed to the outside.  Oh well, I was still in the thick of it, but I was getting into a groove.  After going around the second turn buoy, two things happened.  The first is that I got punched in the side of my head, right on my ear.  It hurt a lot and I was stunned, but no damage was done.  The second is that I found Randy again!  I looked up to sight and there he was!  So, I hopped back on his feet.  I thought it would be cool if we came out of the water together.  Unfortunately, I lost him again.  This time, I got pushed to the inside of the rectangular swim course.  It's not against the rules to be on the inside, as long as you go to the outside of the turn buoys, but they asked us not to swim in there.  The problem was, I couldn't get back to the other side!  There were others on the inside as well, so I just kept going.  I jumped back to the outside when it was time to go around the dock to finish the first loop.  As soon as my hands hit the bottom of the lake, I stood up to run over the timing mat.  I was surprised to see Randy about 30 seconds in front of me!  I'd found him again!

Loop #2 - This was a little better on the way out.  I was able to stay within sight of the underwater cable until the two turns.  On the way back in, however, it got bad.  I once again was pushed to the inside of the rectangle, but this time was different.  Due to the time trial start, we were starting to catch up to the big groups of slower swimmers who had started 10-15 minutes after us, and were just finishing their first loop.  It's one thing to have to go around a few slower swimmers - I'm used to that.  It's entirely different when you come up on a large group of them.  This time trial start was bad for all of us.   My group had to fight their way through them and they were getting hammered.  This was the first time I felt unsafe in an Ironman swim, even though they told us that it was going to be easier.  I made it out and hoped Randy was okay through all of that!  Funny thing...  as soon as my hands hit the bottom, I stood up to run over the timing mat and there was Randy, about 30 seconds in front of me....AGAIN!!  He didn't see me, but it made me smile to know we were practically together the whole time.

I was hoping to go under 1:10 again in the swim, but I also knew that was dependent on the conditions of the swim.  My time was 1:09:09, a 42-second PR from 2008 and the 13th fastest in my age group (out of 103 starters).

I got my wetsuit peeled off by one of the volunteers (if only I could just get someone to put it on for me!) and jogged to the transition area.  I grabbed my T1 bag and headed into the women's changing tent.  There was plenty of room (one perk of the time trial start) and I had a volunteer help me with everything.  I changed out of my bathing suit and into my bike clothes.  At one point, as I was putting my jersey on, I looked out the opening of the tent and saw Randy running by toward the bikes!  Too bad I'm so slow in transition or we could have started our rides together!  Anyway, as I finished up, the amazing volunteer put everything back together for me and I ran out to get my bike.  They have a great system set up.  Volunteers call numbers out and other volunteers get our bikes.  Not everyone's bike is waiting for them, but mine was.  I ran out of the oval, mounted the bike, and headed out for my ride around the Adirondacks...