Ironman Lake Placid 2014 Recap

For the past year we have trained for this day.  I saw we,  because many of my family, friends and fellow athletes have helped me along the way.  One year ago, I was lucky enough to get a spot for the 2014 Ironman Lake Placid.  I wasn’t a volunteer and as of my sign up date I hadn’t even completed a half Ironman yet. 

A year of training went into this.  Some of the highlights were that I was able to hire a Coach to help me figure out how to train.  I didn't realize that my coach would become one of my best friends!

 From October up until race day she was there making sure I would stay on the right track both physically and mentally.  In October, November, December and January I had been training. It didn’t matter if it was 20 degrees out if it was a run day I  went outside and ran.  As training became more intense in January I would watch on youtube.com amazing athletes from all over the World compete in Ironman events.  Few stories had me so inspired than that of Chris McDonnell.

I would watch his story on the 2013 Ironman World Championship over and over.  Chris McDonnell lost his daughter in the Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting and his determination and sheer will is awesome.   Chris dresses in a pink and purple race kit and he can’t be mistaken out on the course.  Another story that has motivated me was from  Dick and RickHoyt.   The Hoyt’s live less than a ½ hour from me and their “yes you can” attitude is quite infectious.  I have seen the Hoyt’s finish numerous Boston Marathon’s on T.V. and I have also seen their features on Ironman.com.

I know what you are thinking where is the actual race recap.  Well, although my Ironman was going to be 140.6 miles long, it was the long hours of training that allowed me to get to this point.  Up until race day I Swam/Bike/Ran about 2,800 miles.  To put it in perspective In a straight line from my home town of Leicester, Massachusetts, 2856 miles takes me to Juneau, Alaska.  No kidding, Juneau.  In these 2,800(ish) miles I have contemplated a lot of different things.  One thing that never waivered was that finishing an Ironman needed to be crossed off my bucket list. 

So, now on July 23^rd were are heading up to Lake Placid, NY. I have my longtime friend Bill with me who is riding up in his own truck and I have my camper in tow.  The route is familiar as I trained there in May with a group of 9 other fellow triathletes many of whom I had never even met before.  Now, each and every one of them are my friends and we all keep tabs on each other to this day.  Bill and I ride along Route 87 North for 105 miles.  Once we take our exit to make the left turn toward Lake Placid I joke with him that had that been the Ironman bicycle course that I would still have 7 miles to go.  We both laughed on our little two way radios. 

We get to Lake Placid and set up camp. 

 Wednesday night we headed into Town and the Ironman village was being set up.  We grabbed a bite to eat and headed back to the Whiteface Mountain KOA campground. I would absolutely recommend staying at the KOA.   Thursday, I navigated through athlete check in.  I have to tell you that this whole time I have been nervous that I may not complete this event.  I had made a commitment that I would not take myself off that course.  I didn’t care how much pain I was in it would have to be the medical personnel that would DNF me.  

To spare anymore setup we’ll fast forward to race morning.  I wasn’t  as nervous as I expected and I checked the weather one last time and it seemed like race day was going to be ok with some pop up thunderstorms “mainly later in the day”.   My parents had come up the day before and my Coach was staying in the same campground as me.  At right around 4:15am we had the car loaded up and I have previously been told to enjoy the “fastest, longest day of my life”.  Friends of mine led us the “back” way into one of the hotel complexes so that my parents wouldn’t have to walk very far. 

OK, I can’t really believe that this day is finally here.  I drop off a bag to run special needs on Mirror Lake Drive and then I drop off my bike special needs bag.  I run into a young woman named “Brooke”  who we ran together during the Patriot Half Ironman just 6 weeks prior.  I mean what a small world! We wish each other luck and give out our athlete numbers in case we see each other on the course.  Mine is 1725 and hers was 865.  I get the rest of my gear together at transition and head out to the beach at 6am. You cannot fathom the energy that Ironman brings.  It was the best party atmosphere I have experienced! 

According to my Garmin my race started at 6:42a.m..  It was cloudy and my plan for the swim was acclimate to the water and don’t push too hard.  My goal swim time was 1 hour 30 minutes .  I finished the first lap in 45:47 seconds which I was quite happy with.  Now, triathletes are some of the nicest people I have ever met but in the water they will beat you up like no tomorrow.  In my first lap I had been elbowed, punched, kicked, slapped and dunked.  No problem, only 1 lap to go and I hop back into the water .  I made it past Turns 1 and 2 and was well on my way to the beach.  I felt my watch vibrate which meant I had already swam 2 miles and knew I had .4 miles to go.  At around 2.1ishmiles  I saw a volunteer on a stand up paddle board point me toward the shore.  I have had this happen before where I have had sighting issues and the volunteers would get you back on track.  When I looked down though I was right above the Swim rope line.  I kept swimming toward shore.  A short time later I heard horns from boats sounding and I figure a swimmer must have been in trouble or something.  Well, I look up to take a breath and see a boat blaring  its horn and a woman frantically yelling for everyone to get out of the water.  I stop and look toward the beach where I am supposed to finish and can’t figure out what is going on.  Then just beyond the beach I see a bolt of lightning.  I don’t think I have ever swam so fast as I did that morning.  I landed at the “boat house” and myself and hundreds of others were standing on the shore line waiting to see what was going on.  “Are they going to wait and put us back in the water after the storm clears”? “Are they going to stop the whole race”?.  These amongst other things were discussed for about the 5ish minutes that we were on the dock.  Somehow we got word that the swim was called off and to start heading to transition for the bike.  I didn’t see anyone running, heck it was a long way to transition anyway from the beach but we had to at least another .5 miles to get there.  Honestly, I felt the mood here change a bit.  You could see the disappointment on all the athletes faces.  From what I was told some swimmers had called it a day right there.  Lots of stuff was going through my head at this point about the race.  I decided that I was going to keep going,  I didn’t care if I swam less than 2.4 my body was still going to finish 140.6 and that was what was important to me.  Plus, I couldn’t tell my two kids ages 3 and 6 that daddy didn’t finish because he was upset about a storm.  Ultimately, there was nothing that could have been done about the weather and Ironman made the right call getting us all out of the water. 

Ok, so now I try to get my head back in the game and start to run down Mirror Lake Drive.   Some volunteers were meeting us there so they could help us strip our wetsuits.  These volunteers where unbelievable.  They were literally running to help us.  A wetsuit volunteer helps me and off I go to tranisition.  The rain is coming down in buckets right now and it is still thundering and lighting.  Mike Reilly is telling athletes that they can wait a bit if they want to.  There was no way I was waiting.  Neither were most of us; I mean it is an Ironman. The changing  tent was absolutely jam packed.   I get my bike gear on and a volunteer hands me my bicycle.

I make it through the first couple turns and take it slow due to the rain.  I am also trying to get myself back into race mode.  In fact all the athletes were.  The first  5 or 6 miles were very quiet.   At around 8 miles in we hit the decent into Keene.  This is a 7 mile long ride of awesomeness to the bottom, Except when it’s raining.  Normally, I could get up to about 50mph on this decent but today I tried to keep it around 30mph to be safe.  The rain felt like needles stabbing you and being wet with the realtively cold air made this decent awfully chilly.  I turned left onto 9N and found myself travelling  close to the stopped traffic  in the other lane. Why, was I so close to them? Well I could feel their engine and exhaust heat and needed to warm up.  Later I was told that over 300 athletes were  pulled at the bottom of the hill due to hypothermia.

I am now in the flat and fast section of the course. From here until the turn up 86 is the time to pedal  in an easy gear at about 90RPM’s.  There were times I didn’t even feel like I was pedaling and it was on this section of the course where I didn’t care about what happened on the swim and that today was going to be the day I get to hear Mike Reilly call my name.   The rain tapered and after the flats we climbed the first of a series of hills up Rte 86.   At around mile 40, the sun is shinning and I made the right turn onto Haselton. This is a quick out and back.  I always keep Ibuprofen on my bike but after the swim my Ibuprofen was disentergrated.  This is now kind of important because I’m getting some tension in my neck from my helmet and it’s giving me a bit of a headache.  Anyway, after the turn around on Haselton Rd. I stop at the aid station to use the restrooms. The volunteers again are awesome and the one holding my bike keeps telling me “suns out guns out”.   I have not yet nor do I ever want to master the art of actually urinating on the bike. I did however, smell some bikers who did do that and found it quite gross.  After turning back onto 86 we take a quick left and head toward Whiteface Mountain.  This section always has a head wind and it is usually fairly strong for whatever reason.  It’s filled with false  flats and false rollers the whole way.   Meaning, this section of roadway looks much easier than it actually is.  I look at my watch and figure I will be done with the first lap around 3.5 hours.  I hit the section of roadway known as the Bears (Mama, Baby, Papa) turn right into town and I’m happy with my watch time.  I stop at bike special needs, refill my water bottles and eat a pre-packed PBJ sandwich.

On the second lap the decent into Keene was a much faster ride this time but after the flats  I pretty much kept pedaling in the small front cog (I.e. easy gear).  I didn’t want to but my headache was getting a bit worse and didn’t want to aggravate it.  My second lap on the bike was 4:24.  I wasn’t real happy with this but given the factors I was ok with it.  A volunteer takes my bike for me and I grab my run gear bag and head into the changing tent.

Well, I came out of the changing tent and remember saying out loud “ok, only a marathon to go”.  Do you know how insane I would have thought this was a year ago? Anyway, those first 3 miles are downhill so I went “fast” at an 11:37 pace.  I have been out on the course now for around 10 hours.  At mile 3 you are near the turn around on River Rd. and my body is hurting.  My goal when I started out was to alternate a 4 minute run with a 1 minute walk during the marathon. This strategy has gone out the window.  I’m walking/jogging with a young athlete from Texas A&M.  We run and chat for a good 30 minutes and then we part ways.  I was eating at every single aid station. I had water, ice chips, pretzels, an orange, chicken broth, cola.  I steered away from the GU gels because I had a bad experience with them at last years Timberman 70.3.  I had my clif blocks on me but had decided that I would only take them if necessary.  I had only taken one clif block about 1 hour into the marathon.

At around mile 11 I see one of my VMPS teammates Shirley who had been sick for 5 days prior to IMLP.  Literally, she is doing  today’s race on a liquid diet.  I jog past her and offer her some encouragement and keep going.   I am getting kind of worried now because I have slowed to a crawl at a 15:10 pace by the end of mile 12.  I am doing the math in my head and I think I am ok for time but I’m not certain yet.  I know that I can’t slow down anymore.  I see a sign “thumbs up for run special needs”.  I can only muster 1 thumb.  I get to the special needs area and am thankful for the Ibuprofen that I know I had packed there.  Next up, I eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  I refill my Gatorade bottles on my fuel belt and I head toward the turn around.

I get to the turn around on Mirror Lake Drive and by the time I run back past the special needs station I feel much better.  I get to see some of the VMPS support crew and my parents.  I stop, give Mom and Dad both a hug and say a couple of words to them and continue on.  As I head back down the hill guess who I got to see headed up on his finally lap? Chris Mcdonnell, yup in his pink and purple race kit!  That was definitely a highlight in my race.  I said "God Bless You" and he gave me a high 5. My pace went to 12:31 for the next 4.1 miles.  At this point I ask a spectator “what time of day is it?”. I think this is the only time where you won’t just ask someone for the time but you specifically ask for the “time of day”.  I laughed when I did this but I couldn’t figure out how to get to the time of day function on my Garmin and I didn’t want to mess with it too much!  I am really energized going back down the hill toward River Rd.  There are a lot of spectators out on the course and they really give you a boost.  Previously, I have run a marathon in Washington D.C. and 70.3’s in New Hampshire and Massachusetts but have never felt the energy and excitement from spectators and volunteers as I did in Lake Placid.   I get back onto River Rd and am really happy that I feel good. I’m not sick like at Timberman the year before and I am very certain baring anything catastrophic that I’m going to complete this marathon.  On River Road the crowd of runners is much thinner than on the first lap but no one cares.  After the  turn around and at the end of River Road I make that right turn up the hill for the last time.  The spectators are also much thinner now but they are still saying’ “looking great”, “keep going” “great pace”.  At the top of the hill you have to take a right onto Mirror Lake Drive.  This was an awesome feeling knowing that in only a few miles that Olympic Oval will be in sight.  For the past year I have watched athletes become Ironmen over and over again while seated on my bike trainer.  I have literally dreamed about crossing  this line.  I pick up the run pace as much as I can muster after spending over 15 hours on the course.  I make that final turn around on Mirror Lake Drive and it is literally all downhill from there.  As I approach the Oval I am in a pack of about 3 or 4 other athletes.  I remember spacing out a bit so that we can all have our moment.  I enter the oval and see the huge crowd of people with the music blaring and it is almost the best feeling.  I make that last turn and I can see that finish line.  A year of sacrifice, a year training, long workout after long workout,  a year of dreaming,  and it is here. Mike Reilly mis-pronounces my name but I don’t care.  I get to that finish line, stomp on it and my friend Laura is there to place my medal aroundmy neck.  I am an Ironman, I am a FREAKING IRONMAN!

 

One of the most important lesson today that I learned and experienced today was your mind will quit long before your body ever will.  Hopefully in a few years I can train for another Ironman but until then, Keep training!

Ironman Lake Placid Training Weekend

This weekend was our dry run, our practice, our learn the course and figure it out.  This past Friday (May 2nd) 9 of us made the long drive up to Lake Placid, New York from wherever we hailed from.  It started with an idea about 4 months ago that we should try to get a group to go up and train on the Ironman Lake Placid course.  A facebook group was formed, and the 9 of us decided that this weekend was the best weekend to go.  We came from New York , Pennsylvania, New Hampshire and of course Massachusetts,  Many of us haven't even met yet.  I know, it's kinda crazy but, if you can't trust another triathlete, who can you trust, right?
So, Friday morning I left my wife and kids whom I haven't seen much due to training and work and went to pick up my Coach.  We left around 10am and made a couple of stops along the way.  Once we got off of the Main highway (Route 87) and headed on Route 73 West into Lake Placid I knew that one thing was for sure. This place was gorgeous.   We travelled through Keene and up what I later learned would be the decent into Keene.  In fact, while heading to our rental house we nearly crashed into an iceberg in the middle of the road. It's May 2nd and their is still ice on and falling off the Mountains, Pretty cool.
My coach and I were the first to arrive at the rental house on Colden Avenue.  This house was right in the middle of everything. It was literally, one block from the Skating Oval where transition will be come July.  Once settled in we awaited everyone's arrival.  To say we all got along from the start would be a serious understatement.  I couldn't have found a better group of people to hang out with and train with.. We all settled in on Friday night, had a great meal and chatted into the night.  Now, I don't know if I was nervous about the next day's ride or if it was due to staying in a strange bed or what but I didn't sleep well at all.
The next morning we were going to ride the bike and run course.  We hadn't planned to head out until around 10am because this time of year in the Adirondacks it is quite cold in the morning and we needed it to warm up.  One of our training partners had headed to the local bike shop for a bike fit and to pick up a few things for her tri-bike.  Once she was set up, we set out on our ride. It was sometime around 10:30 in the AM.  The weather called for a 30% chance of rain and it was about 40ish or so degrees.  We all dressed pretty warm.

Most of us were first timers except for Laurie who has completed IMLP before and knows the course well. She took the lead but we all had cue sheets in case we got lost.  We headed out of town for the first few miles.  Now, I thought we weren't going to pedal much headed out of town but it was quite hilly.  In fact until the "decent into Keene" we peddled quite hard.  OK, so I have read about the decent into Keene.  I have read about it's beauty and speed.  It was everything that I had imagined.  Their was a river below and from the mountain was huge cascaded water fall....Oh yeah the fact that you only have to pedal lightly through the "rollers" is awesome. I reached a maximum speed of 42.7 MPH.  The only problem with the decent is the poor condition of the road. It does appear though the road will be freshly paved prior to the actual event!
After the decent, the road was pretty flat and you can average some pretty good speeds.  This is going to be a good time for me to get a bunch of food in me for the climbs coming up.  We made it to the turn around at Golden Oaks (Frontier Communications) and headed back.  Made the right turn up Route 86.  This is a pretty tough hill and I imagine on the second lap of IMLP it will be extremely difficult.  It's long and has a constant rise.  After you make it to the top you travel a bit until around mile 40ish and you take a right onto Haselton.  Haselton is a flat 1 mile out and back and you turn back onto Route 86.  At the next stop sign you take a left onto Still Rd..  This is a tough little ten miles but another great spot to get some nutrition in your body.  This is another constant climb but it comes with spectacular views of the river below and of White Face Mountain.  At the end of this 10ish mile stretch are the infamous bears (Mama, Baby, Papa).  Coming from a hilly part of Massachusetts I thought the bears were manageable and the fact that they have three different names really breaks them up.  Then, it was a right turn onto Northwood, left onto Mirror drive and on to the Olympic complex.
Finally, we came back down to our rental house on Colden Ave. and a few of us continued on to bike the Run course.  The run course was mostly flat with one big hill.

I was so glad that I had an opportunity to tackle this course prior to IMLP.  I have learned where I can push myself on the bike course and where to take it easy.  Most importantly, I have seen where it is easy to fuel up for this long day.  This training weekend has showed me that I have a lot more training to do in the next 12 weeks in order to complete the 140.6 miles.  I have learned that I need more Bike, Run bricks as well.  Heading up to Lake Placid has also provided me with confidence that, with the proper training and nutrition that I can actually finish this beast.  I have been training for 7 straight months.  These months have been a delicate balance between work, family and training.  It has not been easy for me or my family but it has been awesome seeing my children take an interest in triathlon. It is great to see my son's running back and forth in the living room while I'm spending two hours on the bike trainer.  After this weekend, there is no stopping the 9 of us now!  Push yourself, Push your limits, Don't stop! 3 months to go!

Until next time, Keep training

@1st_marathon

AveragemantoIronman

Raising funds for the National MS Society

So, I have been telling you all on my facebook page that I will be raising money for charity as part of my Ironman Lake Placid Training.  In 2012 my team raised over $800 dollars for the Semper Fi Fund while my friend and I ran the 37^th Marine Corp Marathon in Washington D.C..  The following year we dedicated our time and energy raising nearly $3,000 dollars for the Myocarditis Foundation.

This year I’m happy to announce that we will be raising money for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.   I didn’t choose this charity, it really chose me.  I was looking for ideas on what to raise money for in 2014 and one person whom I met literally by chance has this terrible disease.  This woman whom I am not related to didn’t know what was turning in my head and how moved I was by meeting her.   This was the “final straw” that led me to this great cause.

I have also been motivated by my cousin who has been able to keep her MS at bay by working out hard and eating healthy.  She is one of the top earning Beach Body coaches in the nation.   Melissa is truly an inspiration to me and many others have tried to or are getting in shape and healthy.  This year, I am sure she will change the lives of many people she has not even met yet!

I also have some other personal connections to MS; I have an Aunt as well as my wife has an Aunt who have both been diagnosed with MS. What amazes me is that none of these people who have been diagnosed with MS let it run their lives. 

Now you know what we are raising money for.  Can you help?  I’m looking to assemble a small team who can help me take on this task.  One of my cousins will be coming up with a Logo for a shirt idea that I have. I can’t wait to share it with you.  I am also looking at some fundraising ideas such as; a motorcycle run, texas hold-em tourney, spin-a-thon.  If you can help please message me!

 

Until Next Time,

Keep training,

 

Nathan

Twitter: @1st_marathon

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Being the Influence

As a father to an almost 6 year old and a 2 year old I never knew what I was getting into. Before children I didn't know about late night feedings or your heart breaking for them being sick.  I knew love, but not this kind of love. The kind of love that you will do anything for and hold tight; tighter than you can imagine.  As I sit here writing this blog post. My two year old who has a cold and fever is snuggled up to me while my oldest is listening to country music dancing in our living room.  Being a parent has got to be the most enjoyably frustrating and loving experience possible.  

Triathlon has brought me to the best shape of my life.  I have gone from being an out of shape, out of ideas 30 something to an in shape 35 year old guy who  works hard and plays harder.  I take my kids everywhere and it shows.  They come to they gym with me so they can learn about the benefits of exercise. I have been their soccer coach so I can teach them about sports.  They watch what I eat, drink and try to get a taste of the protein shakes I make or the bananas I eat. I work hard at work picking up double shifts and working short days and it never goes unnoticed by the cherubs.  My wife though is their rock, she is literally super mom.  She does more with these young impressionable minds than I can possibly imagine. If you could put a picture of a woman in the dictionary of super mom I'm sure my wife would be the one.  We both have our strengths and weaknesses with our kids.

My oldest who turns 6 next month is in the stage of his life where he wants to be just like Daddy.  He wants to do everything that Dad does.  He wants to eat the same foods, play the same games and yes he wants to learn triathlon.  I have got to tell you this is pretty damn cool!  He has been in swimming classes the past summer and is again now until March.  I asked if he wanted to compete in the Kids triathlon in Sudbury, MA on May 17th and you should have seen his face light up. The kids tri isn't easy for a 6 year old.  It's a 50 yard swim, a 1 mile bike and then a 1/2 mile run.  I have come up of a training plan of sorts for him. Of course it's not serious, it's fun.  From now until May it will be my job to make sure that he not only finishes this triathlon but he has some great fun doing it! This is 100 percent his choice, I am just here to support his goal.  How cool is this though?  I wish I was interested in this sport when I was 5!  He already practices riding his bike almost every day up and down the hill in our neighborhood.  As soon as the weather gets better he will go on some "training rides" and "runs" with me.  Tomorrow, he will be hitting the pool with me. 

This is possible the best part of swimming, biking and running.  Your children developing a love of the sport at an early age.  I can't imagine ingraining this into him at such an early age. I can't wait to tell you all how he did. 

Until next time, Keep training!


Nate

It takes a village to raise an Ironman

This blog is written from the perspective of training for IMLP but you can substitute any race you like :-)

There is no other sport where one athlete can be in total seclusion and yet have the largest "family" any one can dream of.  This it the dichotomy of Triathlon, it's training and racing.  When I first started this journey swimming was my biggest fear. I would spend many solitude hours in the pool working on my form. When your actually swimming you can't see much around you. Total solitude right? Nope, there are life guards watching you, and other athletes ready to help out; all you have to do is ask.  One thing about us "a" type personalities is we aren't afraid to give an opinion.  The aquatics director will help you with form and so will swimming clubs.   Swimming is no longer a "fear" I have in triathlon. It takes a village.

There are many day's when you are training for an Ironman when no one is willing to get up at Zero God thirty to train with you on a random Monday in March in the rain.  This is where you battle yourself, your sanity, your reasons for training, your goals, your everything. Yeah, some damn random day in March this will happen.  The next long training run though you will have three people willing to sacrifice their Saturday or Sunday morning to make sure that you keep chugging along.  These friends are most likely just as crazy as you are. Their dedication has an overwhelming effect on your training.  It takes a village

In March we are now breaking our bikes out of the trainer which has got to be the most boring form of training along with the treadmill.  They are the necessary evils of the sport. So on some random day in March you will be doing a 60 mile bike ride and didn't expect their to be so many hills.  This reminds me of a training I had last year when training for a 70.3.  I was on a 50 mile training ride and at around mile 19 I was starting to get a bit tired.  I had pretty much climbed the entire ride from Leicester to Princeton and had 6 miles before I was to turn around. When I say six miles I mean, my goal was to get to the top of Mount Wachusett.  Right after the center of Town in Princeton I was really giving myself a 'gut check' when a random bicyclist coming the other way (down the hill) said; "good job, good job, keep going".  Those six words gave me the lift I needed to complete my first 50 mile ride.  Imagine that, six words of encouragement,  I didn't even know this woman, but all I could think of the rest of the ride were those six simple words.   It takes a village.

April and May are going to come around and you will now being doing 3 to 4 century rides followed by long run days.  Although you will be pedaling your bike with your own power many athletes, volunteers and friends will be there to cheer you on.  On the organized rides there will be volunteers handing out water and bananas amongst other items.  A bike mechanic will give you a tune up for 10 dollars when it should have cost 60.  While out on the ride you will inevitably get a flat tire and some other rider who was going to get a PR (personal record) just sacrificed that so that you can get back up and riding.  It takes a village.

Many of us triathletes take up a cause and raise money for it.  You will see the generosity in people you really didn't know existed.  People you have never met will donate to your cause because they have been personally affected by your charity.  Other's will donate, companies will donate.  In my fund raising for a 70.3 I asked a bike shop for a "bike fitting". I told them why this cause was important to me and without hesitation I was scheduled for a donated bike fitting. The donation had a net worth of 300-500 dollars. This bike fitting helped me finish my 70.3 and we raised around 3k for a great cause. It takes a village.

Now, we are in mid June and a final tune up before the IMLP.  A tune up at this point is a 70.3.  You are pleasantly surprised about how many other athletes are using this race as their tune up as well.  Again, volunteers, coaches, spectators, mechanics, all help you finish this race.  Hopefully you trained hard and it gives you confidence for the Ironman you are about to embark on. It takes a village.

It is finally July. You have just spent the better part of a year training for this one race.  You are in full taper mode.  After enjoying those 3 taper weeks race day is upon us and for the next umpteen hours you will be swimming, bicycling and running this course. Your family is excited because after this race they will get their Dad/Mom/Son/Daughter/Friend etc.. back.  Your family has put up with your training. For me, my wife has made sure that my nutrition is ready to go after training.  She takes care of a lot of the non-race stuff and she keeps the house in order amongst a million other things.  Your family has given up another weekend so they can catch a glimpse of you as you swim, bike and run past them.  The volunteers will make sure you have enough to drink and eat to get you through this journey. The volunteers are always amazing.  They also gave up their day to help you (and every other athlete) have a chance at finishing.  After hours and hours of putting your body through torture you will see that finisher chute.  There will be crowd's of people cheering for you.  These people never even met you and they are giving you high 5's. The winners finished hours before you and these people are hanging out hoping to catch a glimpse of their loved one.   You are picking up the pace as much as you can to make the finish "look good".  As you cross that line you here Mike Reilly say those 6 sweet words "first name, last name, YOU ARE AN IRONMAN".   You know you couldn't have made it without the countless people who have helped you along the way. It took a village.

Until next time, keep training!

twitter: @1st_marathon
Facebook: Averageman to Ironman

From couch potato to Ironman training.

Geez, if you asked me a few 3 years ago at this time if I thought I could ever finish a marathon I would tell you; "take a hike".  If you asked, Hey I'm doing a 1/2 Ironman, want to do it with me, I'd say, "your an idiot".  If you said Hey, I bet you can't finish and Ironman, I'd say; "You are absolutely right"!  OK, I probably wouldn't be so crass but you get the idea. 

In the winter of 2010 I was going to the chiropractor 3 times a week for back pain which was the result of a on duty motor vehicle crash a year earlier.  I had gained some weight, and wasn't happy with what I was becoming.  It took a full year for me to do SOMETHING about it.  So, on Dec. 28th, 2011 I ran 1 single mile.  It took over 14 minutes.  Yeah you heard that right, 14 minutes.  Dec, 31st, 2011 I ran 3 WHOLE miles and it took an excruciation 40+ minutes.  That night I went to my buddies house for a New Year's Eve celebration.  4 of us all made a pact that we would run the Marine Corp Marathon on the last Sunday of October. 

The first 3+ months of training where the hardest for a number of reasons.  I had some extra weight to get rid of and I was still struggling with lingering back/neck pains from that 2009 crash.  By June I was off to the races. Times were improving even though I had no idea what I was doing. I was just following Hal Higdon's novice marathon training program.  Just getting out there was making me faster and stronger.  So, I completed the Marine Corp Marathon in 5 hours 10 minutes and 25 seconds.  The last 6 miles is what really ballooned my time but I didn't care, I finished.  

A few weeks after the marathon I started to run again and stay active.  After seeing the Ironman World Championships I thought it would be a good idea for me to take up triathlon. I signed up for a 1/2 Ironman.  That's right nothing like going in head first!  Problem is, I can only swim to save my life, not to be competitive.  I spent 3+ days a week from November through April learning how to swim.  I had some people give me tips and pointers and of course watching youtube helped too.  As soon as the weather got warm I was out on the bike and running again.  the bike I borrowed from a good friend of mine.  After competing in my first sprint tri I was hooked.  

I did a few more and it was time for the big one.  A 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike ride and then a half marathon.  70.3 miles to glory, or something like that.   I have never felt better or worse during an event than at Timberman 70.3 . Even when I felt terrible I knew I was going to finish,   it was awesome.  So, after Timberman I said, if I can do a half Ironman why not do the real thing!  So, I signed up for Ironman Lake Placid (IMLP).  IMLP is the second greatest Ironman event in North America behind only the Holy Grail; Kona.  Actually, I was quite lucky to get in as I hadn't volunteered for IMLP 2013.   I was able to secure one of the few spots that were released on Active.com.

One thing I had learned from the 70.3 was that I couldn't do this by myself.  I really am to "green" to figure out the schedule, nutrition and all the other stuff.  I can follow a plan though. So I hired a triathlon coach and this was probably my best move yet.  Now training for IMLP is going to require a lot of time and sacrifice as well as patience and understanding by my family.  Can't wait to see how this journey progresses, especially with the great people I'll meet along the way!  Although triathlon is really popular the communities are relatively small.  You often see the same competitors on race day from other races. 

What a difference a few healthy years makes.  Until next, time, Keep training

on twitter at @1st_marathon
on Facebook at Averageman to Ironman.

Volunteering as a Swim Buddy

A few weeks back I was asked by a fellow triathlete if I could be a “swim buddy” for  the Title 9 sprintTriathlon that was coming up in Hopkinton, Mass.  I really never heard of this but I looked at my schedule and it fit so I said sure.  Now, I was going to compete in the FirmMan Half Ironman, BUT, I had recently completed Timberman 70.3 and wasn’t sure If I could get enough workouts in to be ready for FirmMan. When my friend Laura asked I thought  1) It was a great excuse NOT to compete in FirmMan and 2) I kinda wanted to see a triathlon from the “other side”.  I told Laura (who was the swim buddy coordinator that I was “in”. 

I received an email a few days prior to the event to make sure I was there for the “swim buddy meeting” by 7:15am.  I thought that it was awesome that I could “sleep in” while going to a triathlon. By sleeping in, I mean that I set my alarm for 5:50am.  Prior to training and competing in these events that would be early but now this is definitely, sleeping in. 

I got up and got ready.  I really hadn’t volunteered before and wasn’t sure what to expect.  I got in my car and took the 40 minute drive to Hopkinton State Park. I did make a stop at Dunkin Donuts to pick up some coffee and food.  I checked in at the volunteer booth, got my free T shirt  and headed to the Swim start where the meeting would be.  

I walked down and changed into my wet suit. I saw Laura and made some small talk with her and some of the other swim buddies.  I later learned that Chrisann from TeamRefuel was a swim buddy.  How cool was that?  She was selected by Team Refuel to train alongside Hines Ward for Ironman Kona.  Now, if you aren’t too familiar with Kona.  It is the Holy Grail for triathletes.  It’s where we all want to compete and very few of us will ever get the opportunity to be there. 

So 7:15am came and Laura gave the 8-12 of us the instructions for the day.  Laura is also an aspiring Ironman.  She is slated to compete in Ironman Florida and has her own blog titled a “Fat Girl’s IronmanJourney”.  She is truly and inspiration to many fellow current and aspiring triathletes. By her own admission she is not fast.  I asked her “so how long do you think it will take you?”. Laura told me that she wanted to finish in 16:59:59.  You have 17 hours to finish an Ironman and be considered an “Ironman”.  Every perspective Ironman wants to hear Mike Reilly say your name at the Finish line followed by “You are an Ironman”.    Laura told us all what we should be doing, where we should be in the water and what to look for in distressed swimmers.  The Newbie swimmers would be in the last three waves.  We all grabbed guard buoys or swim rings.  I grabbed a guard buoy.  The swim buddies also where a distinctive blue swim cap.

So, I was in the water about 150-300 yards from the start.  It is supposed to be a .25 mile swim but I think it is actually much further than that!  The first 5 waves of swimmers went past me with 5 minutes in between starts and no one needed or requested any assistance.  Normally, many new swimmers will have trouble shortly after the start.  It’s the intimidation of the water coupled with the nerves and adrenalin with can make the swim start challenging.   The 6^th or 7^th wave of swimmers came and “Michelle” was in that wave.    Michelle had swum about 150 or so yards and she was having some trouble in the water. She spotted me in my blue cap and life guard buoy and waved at me telling me she needed some help.  I swam over and she grabbed the red guard buoy.  I asked if she was ok which she said yes but she was out of breath and seemed nervous.  I told her not to worry that she was going to get through the swim.  I asked if she wanted me to swim with her and she said yes. 

In triathlon’s you can hold on to a swim buoy or a kayak or whatever else you want to as long as you don’t advance your position.  So Michelle and I had to make it past 4 marker bouy’s before turning for shore.  At first I let her try to compose herself and figure it out.  She got to the first buoy by a combination of swimming on her back as well as free style.   Michelle was not the “quitting” type and kept moving forward.  Midway between the first two buoys Michelle saw that the next wave of swimmers was beginning to overtake her. This was probably her “low point” in the water.  I saw it in her face.  I told her not to worry, and that it was very common for the faster swimmers in the later waves to overtake swimmers in the previous waves.    In order to try to get her in a rhythm and get her mind off of the fear of not finishing I told her;  “OK, this is what your gonna do, You are going to take a stroke and count 1 take another stroke count 2 and then breath.  Your going to do this at least 20 times before we stop again.  Don’t go to fast, don’t crush it. Got 1,2,breath, 1,2,breath.  You are gonna get there. Ready?”

Michelle was off.  I watched her swimming and she was SO MUCH smoother.   We made it past bouy two, then three.  I think it was here where she started to gain more confidence.  At the last buoy she started to make the turn toward shore and stopped.  She said “is it Tim”.  I said “no Its Nate”.  She thanked me and went on her way. 

I am sure she finished her first Triathlon and to tell you the truth I was really “Proud” of her as weird as that may seem.  This was such a rewarding experience to help a fellow triathlete.  If you ever get the chance to be a swim buddy I say go for it.  I also got a great swim workout in too!  Until next time,  Keep Training!

 Nate