You are an IronMan!
How to burn 16000 calories in comfort and style and not go by the book
An IronMan Triathlon race consists of 2.4 miles of swimming, 112 miles of biking, and a marathon (26.2 miles) of running. This sums up to a grant total of a 140.6 miles which athletes are to cover for maximum of 17 hours. The winners often break 8 hours. This is the story of my first race of this kind… It will likely be a strange and improbable story for many reasons… but here it goes.
Prerace
Why
I have been fascinated by triathlon for a few years now. My first event was no less than the 2010 Rhode Island IronMan 70.3 and therefore I was (perhaps appropriately) classified as insane by the presenter at the mandatory race briefing. I wish I could go back and tell him something along the lines of “wait till you see how I am going to attempt the full 140.6 mile distance one day!” But I sat there a little quiet and a little worried about “can I really pull this off?”
I became a volunteer at the 2011 IronMan Lake Placid so I could get priority to sign up for the 2012 race. Little did I know that they will inaugurate IronMan US Championships in NY/NJ in 2012 and I will get to sign up for that as well. Of course most of my friends (former IronMan finishers or not) classified me as insane once again, attempting to do two IronMan races not only in the same year, but within 3 weeks of each other. I figured if I trained and I did not push hard, what is the worst that can happen?
The Training
This has been a ridiculously depressing year in terms of physical fitness for me. I developed a stress fracture in my left fibula going into January (which has enough meat for a whole other story) and after some struggle with getting it properly healed, and just when I could start doing “stuff”, I did a crash landing from my new tri bike. The special ingredients were a pedestrian crossing on red, 20mph, 200lb, 2 sq.in. area of impact…
The aftermath was a posterior dislocated right shoulder, broken head of humerus at the lesser tuberocity, a floating free body in the joint, and a few tendon tears for a good measure. It took what appeared to be a 4-in-1 surgery procedure (both open and arthroscopic) to bring things back where they anatomically belong. The details of that process while interesting are once again out of scope here.
I was initially advised by the surgeon that the process of getting back into crash test dummy shape will be long and time-consuming, so I lost hope of doing any of the races I had signed up for at the time (3 full IronMan triathlons, 2 half IronMan triathlons, and a bunch of half marathons). I further accepted the fact that the registration money which was running close to $3K was going to waste…
Then things started to fall together faster than expected. Two weeks out of surgery I was sent to physical therapy for first cut at improving range of motion. Four weeks out I was advised to throw away the sling and start the first strengthening exercises. A month out I did the HITS Series Open distance triathlon with my 8 year old daughter Julie (100m swim on legs only, 2mi bike with one hand, 1mi jog) and funnily won my age group (by virtue of being the only one in it). Then 8 weeks out something ridiculous happened… at my check up the surgeon told me that I am doing great and now “there is truly no limit” and without even me asking he said “you can swim now”. I was not going to question this. I just asked for two clarifications:
Me: Can I bike? Probably not yet…?
Doctor: Well, if it is well paved road and there is no traffic, you could;
Me: (gasp) Can I run?
Doctor: Well, your shoulder might bother, but you could.
So much the wrong thing to say to a person like me…
IronMan Rhode Island 70.3 was next weekend (July 8), which would mark my second anniversaty of doing triathlons. I had additionally convinced my friend Steve to do it as his first half IronMan triathlon. Next morning I was in the pool checking if I can actually swim the distance (which was my biggest concern). I cruised through the 2000 yards almost effortlessly at a turtle’s pace in about 50 minutes, but no pain and even more mobile shoulder as a result. I gave the race officially a green light without telling anybody but Steve. He let me crash on his floor at the Providence Hilton Hotel. It is amazing how much fun you can have when your expectations are so low. Since mine were to make the cutoff times or give up, I had a great time. I finished in 7h11m, about 1.5 hours slower than the year before, but 20 minutes faster than my first attempt in 2010. Apart from a few cramps, nothing really hurt. I was ecstatic! I waited a week to make sure nothing weird showed up and gave IronMan Lake Placid (July 22) a green light!
I called this section training, and you probably think I went off on a tangent. But no… it contains all the training I did.
Getting There
Since I committed to doing the race one week before the actual event, a few close calls had to be made. There were no available hotels, and I was advised last minute that I need to be on site on Friday before race weekend to check in, or else I won’t be allowed to compete. A camping site reservation, a tent rush ordered from Amazon.com and a personal day away from work addressed all of the above.
Bright and early on Friday morning I started my 6 hour drive to Lake Placid. I got there early afternoon, way ahead of the 5pm deadline, so decided to get myself properly fed first. A stake, a lobster, and a huge loaf of bread in the local grill solved that problem (there might have been some veggies there but I really don’t remember).
I proceeded with check-in, which went smoothly apart from one small hiccup. I filled in my weight in the forms as 195lb as this is what I measured out of bed that morning. They never really check this, but this was an IronMan… so they did. I stepped on the scale. The lady looked at my filled in form, then looked at the scale, then looked at both again… then looked at me, smiled and said something along the lines of “who are you kidding”… between my clothes, and my party dinner at the grill I had packed 11lb extra for a total of 206lb. If they had a Clydesdale’s division at IronMan, I would have been in it!
After visiting the local grocery store and getting some bare necessities, I was off to the camp site for my first ever experience of that kind. Amazingly it had hot water, clean toilets, a lake and a beach… Who knew?
Saturday was uneventful. I gave my bike for tuning, I bought a new heart rate monitor strap (the one of the few things I forgot to pack), I racked my bike and gear bags and went off early to bed… like 8pm early. Oh and last but not least, I abused my privilege to sign up for Lake Placid IronMan 2013. They make you do this before you take on the race… I wonder why? At this point I had paid for 4 IronMan races and started/finished none!
Preparation
The most interesting part of my preparation is the nutrition. I was set to try and have as much fun as possible, and as Steve likes to comment, we only exercise so we can eat more! I don’t know about you but I have never looked forward to the moment where I need to squeeze another GU gel in my mouth or down a bottle of Gatorade. Moreover at times when I had tried to get “enough” of this fuel at previous races, I felt less than great.
They say you should not experiment with new fuel on race day and should use what you use in training. I have been training to eat certain things for 30 years now and Nutella and bacon are on the top of the list. So the decision was clear cut – I would order original 200g Italian Nutella jars and prepare turkey-bacon-avocado-provolone sandwiches and put them in my gear bags!
On an IronMan they give you five gear bags – one “morning clothes” bag, two “transition” bags (from swim to bike and from bike to run respectively) and two “special needs” bags (provided in the midpoint of the bike and the midpoint of the run respectively). I had a 200g jar of Nutella and a sandwich in each.
I prepped and packed my gear, loaded the car, and went straight to bed… sorry straight to tent. I checked out at 8pm with the alarm setup for 5am the morning after.
The Race
Swim
The first part is a two 1.2 mile loops of Mirror Lake. Professional racer start at 6:50am, 10 minutes before everybody else. The remaning 3000 people start together at 7am. It looks something like this:
The lake is great, clean, and they have a white cable 6ft below the surface which you can use as a guide. You never have to pop up your head, that is unless somebody knees or elbows away your goggles. Water was a comfortable 75F, and since I was not going for time I left my wetsuit at home (i.e. tent). I was one of few that chose so… it generally gives you extra boyancy and makes you go a little faster. I took it extra easy, and 1h40m later I was on my way to T1.
Transition 1
This is where the fun started. I spent leasurly 20+ minutes eating my sandwich, the jar of Nutella, cleaning up between my toes and putting on my bike outfit. Helmet, glasses, sunscreen, and off to the bike journey. I left T1 about 30 minutes ahead of the official cutoff. So far so good.
Bike
The bike is “hilly”. As in 8000ft of climb hilly. To make things more interesting, there is a downhill where pros go 60mph+ (I barely hit 30mph), a somewhat flatter section, and then a climb. After a 56 mile loop, you go around for a second one. But not before you get your special needs bag, and guess what mine had inside… They announce your number on a megaphone as you approach the station so that the bag is ready and prepared for you to quickly recover the contents. I was naturally in no rush. Dismounted, sat on a rock and had a nice 15 minutes of sandwich, Nutella, and seltzer. The volunteers were discussing me, trying to figure out this unorthodox strategy… Ultimately they decided that I am from Europe. Go figure!
The worst part is that the hill is at then end… so the Nutella is already burned. The best part is the scenery… this is 56 miles of closed course to enjoy the magnificence of the Adirondaks. I had water and bananas at the aid stations. No GU, no sugary drinks. A salt stick tablet every hour to keep the minerals in check and avoid the Rhode Island cramps. I learned that lesson.
The Cervelo P2 triathlon bike and the aero helmet made me look like a pro going in slow motion recording… for a grand average of 14mph. I finished in about 7h45m, which included the midpoint party on the rock. I had made another 15 minutes on the cutoff and was running 45 minutes ahead of schedule. Off to T2.
Transition 2
This time was no different. Since it is a long race, I had decided to use the most comfortable clothing for each stage and completely change inbetween. I had a Speedo jammers for the swim, a Pearl Izumi heavy padded bike shorts, and Solomon compression shorts and calf sleeves for the run. After a successful wardrobe remake, I started on my third set of sandwich and Nutella.
While enjoying my meal I saw my chiropractor from Ithaca, who I visited while I was doing my PhD at Cornell. It was a surprise, both because I had not expected to see him there, but also because I had blown off a 50 mile ultra trail run recently which he was participating in and had blamed it on my cut open sholder.
We chatted briefly and looked at the clock. It showed 5:20pm. I had 6h40m to the final cutoff at midnight to finish the race. And then the weirdest feeling emerged, and with a relief I thought — now the only thing left to do was to run a marathon. It felt like weight has lifted off my shoulders. It is hard to explain, because a marathon is a serious thing, and I have never approached one before with such a feeling. After the 112 miles on the bike, it just seemed that it is going to be easy! Plus for 6h40m I could even probably speed-walk it.
Run
Despite the high spirit it did not start great. My legs felt the recent bike ride in the first 6 miles. They are also the hardest because you are seeing the course for the first time. At the 6 mile mark you turn around and run back to finish the first out-and-back loop of 13.1miles. I was already looking forward to cater to my special needs and the bag did not disappoint. After the fourth and final portion of sandwich and Nutella I got my second wind.
I was initially cautious and was running at about 12min/mile which included a 1 minute walk every mile. After the chocolate recharge I started cranking 10:30min/mile without walking for a while but the sugar burned fast… It was necessary to make a second stop at an aid station and eat double digit of orange slices. This ultimately did the trick. As with the bike, I also took a salt stick tablet every hour… no brainer.
Because of the slow swim and bike, I was now moving together with the slowest people… Many of them had gone too fast too early and were now paying the price. Most were walking. I was still in jog mode and even scaled most of the hills without slowdown. The crowd was great. They were shouting and encoraging me, being the only one running: “Man, you are making it look easy! Go for it!”
My last mile was (under the circumstances) a blistering 10min/mile pace with a sprint around the olympic oval skating ring to the finish line. It was an emotional experience and I was overwhelmed with joy. I was an IronMan… against the odds, the books, and the wise people who told me that it can’t be done this way.
Aftermath
It has been more than two weeks and I still can’t believe I did this. Such is the conventional wisdom, and so you are told. You need to train hard, be in top shape, and what not. I read Chrissie Wellington’s “A Life Without Limits” and felt a little more understood… the woman did things way crazier than mine and won 13 IronMan races of 13 she tried. I particularly liked the idea that she has named all her bikes to date. I that spirit I christened mine and from this day forward it is Victoria Cervelo — fitting, isn’t it? No, I did not create a facebook page for it and I did not put my status to be “in open relationship with Victoria Cervelo” like my friend Russ did.
It is not uncommon for people to have downturns after reaching a goal that big, which they have been chasing for a while… fortunately for me this was not the top of the hill. It was a life goal and a big one at that, but somehow it came a bit too unexpected and fear I say a bit too easy. Never the less, it is an achievement I am second most proud of to this date… try to guess the top of the list.
I would not go as far as to say that anything is possible, because it is not. But the truth is that way more is possible than you think. If you always stay in your comfort zone, you will never find out what you are capable of. And this applies to all aspects of life… not just triathlon.
So here I am today 8/8/2012, just checked in for #2 The New York / New Jersey US IronMan Chapionship!
This time I have trained more — I have done IronMan Lake Placid :), I have circled Governor’s Island on the water two weekends ago, and I have done a leisurely 65 mile ride with Lauren and Drew last weekend. It is little by every standard, but it is more than nothing.
So I am a little more confident and less embarrased, thus I am letting you know. If you are in NYC, come on over and cheer a bit. If not, you can track me on ironman.com. My BIB number is 1309. The fun starts Saturday, 8/11/2012 @ 7am!
