Ironman US Championship 1:00:55

The bike course started with a steady climb out of Ross Dock. I shifted to my lowest gear and took it easy.  There was a lot ofbike traffic, but it didn’t really matter. Most everyone was going easy at this point.  Then I saw them-  my beautiful friends.  

My friends rule.

Syed, Amanda, Casey and Rachel all rule.

Most popular sign on the course.

Donned in TNT purple, Amanda, Rachel, Syed and Casey lined the bike course with signs, cow bells, and energy.  I was thrilled.  They had huge smiles and were cheering for me,calling my name.  I made my way over to them and gave them all high-fives.   As I rode off, I thought about how for them to be out here at 8:25am-ish, they had to wake up before 6am probably, skip their own GTS, drive over to NJ, just to be here and see me for that handful of seconds. I get overwhelmed with love just think about that right now as I type.

The course leveled off enough as passed the GW bridge forme to up shift.  I grabbed a bottle ofwater from the first aid station- I probably didn’t have to, but wanted to beconservative.  Shortly after, I hit ahuge bump on the road and the bottle went flying out of its cage.  Oh well. I didn’t need it.

I could feel myself wanting to push hard, but I didn’t.  I reminded myself that the first loop shouldfeel like a normal long Sunday ride.  Ikept pace with a few teammates for a while, but as the field thinned, we spreadout.

 

Staying relaxed.

My parents were starting their volunteer shift at mile 18at 11:30.  I had already warned them thatthey would probably miss me on the first loop. I scanned that aid station just in case as I grabbed another water andIronman Perform drink.  Nope, not thereyet.

A bit further down the road the cyclists were slowingdown.   A woman was on the ground,volunteers around her diverting traffic.  She took a horrible spill.  She lay motionless, face bloodied, waitingfor medical support. 

This road was pretty rough.  There were a few stretches of smooth asphalt,but the majority was concrete slabs. With each break between slaps, the bike bounced.  Potholes where frequent and cyclists neededto be alert.  Some were freshly filled inby Ironman, others were simply marked with yellow spray paint.   Lots of people popped tires.  And there was at least this one really badcrash.

I reached the turnaround and everyone slowed down andfiled into a single line.  “This is a verypolite turnaround,” I said out loud.  Thecyclists around me laughed in agreement. We were all having a good day. 

The downed woman was still lying motionless on theground.  “Where the hell is theambulance?”  Fellow cyclists were indisbelief.  “She’s been out there fornearly half an hour!”  Yeah, where thehell was the medical support?

This sport is dangerous. We risk a lot to practice it. That’s the truth.  It’s not likesky diving or Nascar, but crashing on your bike when going anywhere between 15and 50 miles per hour is not fun, I imagine (I’ve been lucky enough not to havedone so yet).  Neither is drowning duringthe swim or straining your heart to the point of death.  A man died in the Hudson during theswim.  I think it was after I gotout.  I have yet heard the cause ofdeath.  Rather than read about the death, check this article out. I never told my mom about thesethings, fearing that she’d freak out.

I made my way to the end of the first loop and stopped atthe special needs bag area, grabbed my bag, and used the porta potty for the first time.  At this point I was well ahead of my planned calorie intake.  I was aiming for 250 calories per hour, but was probably closer to 300.  I reloaded my pockets with Gu and potatoes and was off.  The turnaround wasn't far.  I could hear the roar of the crowd before I could see them.  That was cool.  And they were plenty loud.

I made the turn and a few moments later, my watch beeped at me.  The battery was low.   

What the hell?

It had only been slightly more than three hours.  It usually lasts eight.  This was frustrating.  After thinking a bit, I stopped the watch and put it in power save mode.  This way, I could tell the time and the battery would last all day.  I needed 250+ calories per hour.  This, above all, was the top priority.


At some point leading up to the race, I made the decision to stop and hug them.  There was no need to fly by.  Especially when they drove 2+ hours and volunteered for 6 hours just to get a glimpse of their son riding a bicycle on the Palisades Parkway. So when I spotted them- my dad had just made a water bottle hand off with another cyclist and my mom was gathering empty bottles into a recycling bag- I stopped.

"Hey, how's it going?" I said to them.

"Hey!!" My mom was excited and gave me a hug immediately.  My dad decided to squirt me with a water bottle.  He thought it was funny.  I was worried about chafing.

We chatted a bit.  I told them I loved them and thanked them for volunteering.  My mom told me how strange some of the volunteers are.  I agreed- they were probably triathletes hoping to sign up next year.

I made a second bathroom stop, then continued toward the turn around.  At this point, my ass was hurting.  I expected as much.  I was shifting more than earlier and standing regularly for some relief.  Just after the turn around, I stopped to pee again.

Probably tired of being on the bike at this point.

 Why do I keep bringing the pee stops up?  Well, during a marathon, I don't stop.  I knew I'd be stopping.  I knew I would err on the side of too much hydration rather than dehydration for this event. And I would still stop one more time before getting off the bike course.  I also knew there was no way that I was going to pee on the bike.  Why?  Ok, indulge me while I go off on this tangent...

Back in June, I did a 90 mile ride along route 20 in the Catskills.  It was wicked hot and I was drinking a lot.  I had stopped to pee a couple times, but needed to go again.  This was about mile 70.  I've heard that hardcore cyclist just pee while riding.  How?  They just stand and pee.  They don't whip it out first.  They don't pull over.  They just ride and pee.  I had to try it, no?

It was fairly horrible.

How much detail do you want?  I'll spare you most of it, except for this: I had a puddle of piss in my right shoe for the next 20 miles.  Yeah.  Awesome.  Never again.

Ok, back to the race report...

Mileage signs were somewhat sporadic and I could no longer rely on my gps watch.  But I was quite familiar with the highway because of driving it dozens of times.  I just went by feel and counted down the exit signs.  I was ready to be off the bike.  I wasn't exhausted, just wanted off.  So actually, I sped up a bit.

I passed the special needs bag area which was empty and cleaned up.  The turn around was no longer there and the crowd vacated.  I exited the Parkway, knowing there were just a couple miles to the end of the course and took stock.

I had most of a bottle of Perform left, one Gu, and a few potatoes.  I was still ahead of my calories and my stomach felt fine.  So I decided to take the Gu and finish the bottle of Perform before I reached transition.  I popped in another potato while I was at it.  I also took the watch off and put it on my wrist.

Approaching transition.

I mainly coasted down hill, spotted my brother again, hopped off my bike at the dismount marker, walked it to a volunteer, and decided to get out of my cycle shoes immediately rather than clunk around in them.  I grabbed my run gear bag and made my way to the steamy changing tent.  I had a big smile on my face as I changed, I knew what I needed to do.

I laced up my shoes as a volunteer helped stuff my cycle gear into the bag.  I loaded my pockets with fuel and salt and stuffed my SCBkR hat back in the bag and tied the Warriors bandana on.  I grabbed my water bottle and got out of there.


Marathon time, baby. 

Bike> 6:53:16

Transition 2> 0:10:35
Start of Marathon 8:04:46 [next entry]