I am so sorry that they are so long but it was a 140.6 mile race. I posted them so that they go in order Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday. They can all be read separately or together or you can just go to Sunday and read about the race if you don't have time to read them all. I will have pictures soon to share as well.
Thank you to all who supported us. I really appreciate it!
I am excited to have finished the 2009, 2010, and 2014 Lake Placid Ironman, 2016 Ironman Mont Tremblant, the New Jersey Marathon, Rock n Roll Arizona and San Antonio Marathons, ING NYC Marathon, Mohawk Hudson Marathon, and the Vermont City Marathon. I have also run lots of other running races and several 70.3 races. I love racing and triathlons. This is a blog about training and racing!
About Me
- Kelly
- I am a biology teacher by day but a crazy triathlete and runner at all other times.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Thursday, July 23
We woke up to “It’s a Beautiful Day” by U2 just to get in the right frame of mine. The theme of the weekend was U2 and Black Eyes Peas “Good, Good Day” musically since these are very motivating songs. We packed up our swim materials and went up to Lake Placid to participate in the Gatorade bag check but we didn’t get our act together quickly enough so we didn’t make it in time to check our bags – oh well. When we got to the beach there were so many people and I had to remind myself that I belonged here. We got our wetsuit on, which was interesting because on Wednesday I had caught my leg on the door to my car and had a gash and a massive bruise exactly where my wetsuit rested on my leg. We got into the lake and started to swim. I couldn’t believe how many people were in the water. It was amazing. I just wanted to remain calm during the loop so I went out with the intent to just relax. I found my “zen” place when we were out. It was amazing. I swam my fastest loop of my training on the Thursday before Ironman with the little effort. I was getting a little nervous and caught up in the craziness because I had a moment when I though “I didn’t do enough today. All these people did so much more than I did today. Maybe I need to go for a run” but I calmed myself and made myself stick to my plan!!! I was ready and I needed to do what I was supposed to do.
We got changed and went to registration. I knew what to expect here because I had worked it last year and understood the process but I was still just really nervous as this meant I was actually going to do this thing. Joe and I were separated because I had a USAT card and he didn’t which was a little scary for me because he was my rock through all of this, reassuring me that I belong here. I got through the sign your life away line without crying and went to the weighing station where I was told that the head nurse needed to talk to me. Cora (the head nurse) was asking about my pain level from ankylosing spondylitis and shared her concerned with my asthma. She told me that I was to bring my inhaler to her at the start and if I needed it, then it would be easily available when I exited the swim between loops. She even highlighted my blue form and put it aside so that the people on the swim course knew that number 2001 had a medical issue. They wanted to be prepared just in case. I then was sent to Tammy another volunteer who gave me my wrist band and all of my stuff in an Ironman bag (which was really exciting because I didn’t know we would get that). Tammy was amazing, happy, and so excited for all of the athletes. She was the 4th volunteer that we encountered on this entire journey and all of the volunteers were absolutely amazing (THANK YOU!) When we left registration I couldn’t believe we were actually registered and were a part of this amazing race.
We went into the oval where we got to see all of the vendors and buy Joe a new watch as his broke when he had taken off his wetsuit today and I got Baker’s Breakfast cookies, Newton socks, and a t-shirt. Once we were done at the oval we went back to the camp to relax, eat dinner and watch a movie. Just unwind and then get a good night sleep.
We got changed and went to registration. I knew what to expect here because I had worked it last year and understood the process but I was still just really nervous as this meant I was actually going to do this thing. Joe and I were separated because I had a USAT card and he didn’t which was a little scary for me because he was my rock through all of this, reassuring me that I belong here. I got through the sign your life away line without crying and went to the weighing station where I was told that the head nurse needed to talk to me. Cora (the head nurse) was asking about my pain level from ankylosing spondylitis and shared her concerned with my asthma. She told me that I was to bring my inhaler to her at the start and if I needed it, then it would be easily available when I exited the swim between loops. She even highlighted my blue form and put it aside so that the people on the swim course knew that number 2001 had a medical issue. They wanted to be prepared just in case. I then was sent to Tammy another volunteer who gave me my wrist band and all of my stuff in an Ironman bag (which was really exciting because I didn’t know we would get that). Tammy was amazing, happy, and so excited for all of the athletes. She was the 4th volunteer that we encountered on this entire journey and all of the volunteers were absolutely amazing (THANK YOU!) When we left registration I couldn’t believe we were actually registered and were a part of this amazing race.
We went into the oval where we got to see all of the vendors and buy Joe a new watch as his broke when he had taken off his wetsuit today and I got Baker’s Breakfast cookies, Newton socks, and a t-shirt. Once we were done at the oval we went back to the camp to relax, eat dinner and watch a movie. Just unwind and then get a good night sleep.
Friday, July 24
Joe and I got up and did a 10 min swim in Chapel Pond, a 15 min bike ride, and a 15 min run from the camp just to get the muscles responding. It felt great. Kate and Jeff arrived at the camp from Phoenix (yes, people came from all around to see us do this race). My dad was at the camp and we just hung out during the day. My dad also cleaned and lubed our bike chains and helped put on our numbers to prepare our bikes for the day ahead. My mom and my nieces arrived in the afternoon with the t-shirts for our Iron Spectators which Lila organized very diligently for us. We had a very nice lunch at Cedar Run with Kate and Jeff and watched very nice bikes come down the hill – it was nice and relaxing. Then we started organizing our run/bike gear bags and special needs bags. I had made a list of all of the things I needed in my bags before hand because my friend Melinda said that that was the best strategy so that you knew you had everything. So, I was sitting on the floor with all of my bags out in front of me placing all of my gear and food in the appropriate places. Because I am horribly anal, I had my cousin Kate read off my list and show her that I had it, then I took a picture of all of the gear in each bag so that on race morning when I was freaking out that I didn’t have everything, I would have a visual of each thing in each bag. We then packed ourselves up and went in for the athlete banquet and mandatory meeting. The athlete banquet was fantastic. They played a video that was very motivational that at the end said “You WILL be an Ironman”. They brought up the youngest and oldest participants who were amazing. They showed the story of Matt Long who was the everyday hero. He was almost killed and is now doing an Ironman with his physical therapist in support of the I WILL foundation. They brought up the people who lost the most weight during training, they had those who did a previous Ironman stand up (the man with the most Ironmen completed had done 104 total); they had all of the IronVirgins stand up. The whole thing was so motivational and exciting!!! I was so glad that I had Joe with me the entire time experiencing this from an athlete perspective as well because it made it all the better. Then the rules meeting started and they started freaking me out with all of the rules and the constant reminder of the time cutoffs. I knew the cutoffs and was worried about them already but had gotten myself to a place where I knew I could do it and they were undoing all of my good mental work. I knew that if I could just make it out of the water and off of the bike, I was going to be an Ironman so having someone keep telling me about the 1:30 and 5:30 time cutoff was torturing me. We left as soon as we possibly could because I was getting too worried.
We met up with Kate and Jeff at the Lake Placid Pub and Brewery for a beer after where I found out that Jeff had proposed to Kate at the lake while we were at the banquet. We were soooo excited for them. (That story is probably for another blog) We were in for a fantastic weekend with a start like this. Then we headed home for a nice nights sleep.
We met up with Kate and Jeff at the Lake Placid Pub and Brewery for a beer after where I found out that Jeff had proposed to Kate at the lake while we were at the banquet. We were soooo excited for them. (That story is probably for another blog) We were in for a fantastic weekend with a start like this. Then we headed home for a nice nights sleep.
Saturday, July 25
We woke up earlier to go to the pancake breakfast with my Mom, Dad, Lila, Kaelah, Sierra, Kate, and Jeff. It was a lot of fun and the people from North Country Ministries (the people who put on the free pancake breakfast) were great. The kids got a kick out of it because they could go up and get as many pancakes as they wanted and were served by people with a smile on their faces and very kind words to say.
Joe and I left the family to go and sign up for next year’s race. Yes, that is right, we signed up without doing the first one just on shear faith that it would be a great experience. We met another wonderful volunteer who was from Amsterdam, NY, which is right down the road from where we live, who wished us the best of luck on the day ahead. The line was quick and easy and we were registered before we knew it. It was great to not stand in line on Monday morning after the race to sign up.
We then brought my family down to the Janus tent where they made motivational signs for us and then got free snow cones from the North Country Ministries tent while Joe, my Dad, and I went to get our gear bags and bikes and checked them in. We then left as soon as possible to get out of the chaos and relax before our crazy day ahead.
Our friends started to arrive that afternoon – Brenda and Scott from Pittsburgh, PA, Kim and Cady from Springfield, IL, Amy, Grace, Alynn, Erin, Melinda, and Kristie all from the Albany, NY area – they all came just to see us do a race. I couldn’t believe it. Not only did they all come to see us but they traveled at least 2 hours to get here but some traveled for 8 to 10 hours just to see us do this race. Aren’t they amazing people!! Scott and Brenda also took some time to make fun signs to show us when we were out on the course. They all got to know one another pretty well so that they could have fun with each other for many hours the next day. We rewarded them by giving them food and then going to bed at 9 pm (yes, we all were in bed by 9:30 pm).
Joe and I left the family to go and sign up for next year’s race. Yes, that is right, we signed up without doing the first one just on shear faith that it would be a great experience. We met another wonderful volunteer who was from Amsterdam, NY, which is right down the road from where we live, who wished us the best of luck on the day ahead. The line was quick and easy and we were registered before we knew it. It was great to not stand in line on Monday morning after the race to sign up.
We then brought my family down to the Janus tent where they made motivational signs for us and then got free snow cones from the North Country Ministries tent while Joe, my Dad, and I went to get our gear bags and bikes and checked them in. We then left as soon as possible to get out of the chaos and relax before our crazy day ahead.
Our friends started to arrive that afternoon – Brenda and Scott from Pittsburgh, PA, Kim and Cady from Springfield, IL, Amy, Grace, Alynn, Erin, Melinda, and Kristie all from the Albany, NY area – they all came just to see us do a race. I couldn’t believe it. Not only did they all come to see us but they traveled at least 2 hours to get here but some traveled for 8 to 10 hours just to see us do this race. Aren’t they amazing people!! Scott and Brenda also took some time to make fun signs to show us when we were out on the course. They all got to know one another pretty well so that they could have fun with each other for many hours the next day. We rewarded them by giving them food and then going to bed at 9 pm (yes, we all were in bed by 9:30 pm).
Sunday, July 26
RACE DAY!!! This day was my 30th birthday present to myself – what a present!!
I was sleeping really well until around 1 am when I woke up and had this horrible feeling that I couldn’t do this. I had to spend a good ½ hour telling myself that I could do this and went back to sleep. My stomach was in knots already. This is also when the rain started. It down poured!!! I couldn’t believe that we were going to have a repeat of last year. I knew that I wouldn’t be able to descend the hills as I wanted to if it was raining like this during the race. I also felt sorry for our spectators if it kept raining like that. I didn’t sleep well the rest of the night but got in enough sleep to feel rested. We actually had an alarm go off at 4 am and got up to get ready. I was totally freaked out at this point. I mean I had to do 140.6 miles today – who does that?? I got downstairs and the first thing I saw was my husband with the video camera telling me and everyone else over and over again that we have trained in this weather all summer long and were ready for this race. He wasn’t doing this for himself even though he was doing the race as well he was doing it for me because of how freaked out I was. That was my mantra the past few days and he just kept repeating it for me to hear. I ate my Baker’s Breakfast cookie and had a glass of water for breakfast even though I felt like I was going to puke the entire time I was eating. I would realize later that this was not enough for breakfast on an Ironman day but I didn’t know how to get anything else down with a stomach that was unstable. All of our friends and family started to wake up and wish us luck and reassure us that we could do this. When we were getting ready to go I decided that I wanted my raincoat but I couldn’t find it and thus we left about 15 minutes later than we had anticipated which freaked me out even more. During the ride into town, I sat in the back of the car with my eyes closed trying to center myself and calm down, it worked slightly but not as well as I wanted it to.
We arrived and grabbed our special needs bags and bike pump and started walking down to the special needs area where we checked our bags and then headed back to the body markers and the oval. The body markers that I had were great. She could tell that I was nervous and kept reassuring me that I could do this while marking my body with 2001 and my age 30 while my cousin Kate was taking pictures of me and the journey that we were embarking on. Once we were marked, we went into the transition area to pump the tires, put the bottles of Infinit on the bike, go to the bathroom, and then find a dry place to put on our wetsuit since it was raining like crazy at this point.
We then headed back out at exactly 6:30 am and saw people being denied access to the transition area because it was after 6:30. Kate took another picture of Joe and myself in our wetsuits to show a before. We headed down to the beach to find the medical table to check my inhaler and head to the start. We ran into a parent of two of our former athletes there and said hello which is when I promptly started to cry when he asked how we were doing this morning. He told me that I was going to be fine and that it was good to be this emotional over the race. It meant that I was invested. He also said something that I will remember for a while, he said “There will be times when you think, this is impossible, I can’t do this. But you can, you say a prayer, do something to get yourself back then take it one mile at a time.” He was very supportive. This is his 9th or 10th Ironman so I take his advice to heart except the advice he gave me last year to not sign up for the race, I didn’t take that one obviously. I went to find the medical table and couldn’t find it and started to freak out again. This random man from ART (active release therapy) not sure what they were doing for the start of the race but this man took me by the shoulders, navigated me through this sea of 2400 people to find Cora the head nurse to turn in my inhaler. I was so moved that someone cared this much to help me this much and I was so full of fear/nerves, that I lost it again. He gave me a hug and told me that I would do great and to enjoy the day. I had lost my husband at this point which was freaking me out even more but I went through the chip pad and found a spot to stand and take it all in. Joe found me though and gave me a big hug which calmed me down. We went over to where we wanted to start. I told him again “I did the training and I belong here”. Another athlete heard me saying this and started asking us if this was our first. When we said yes, he said “You will get beaten up in the swim but just envision it as a swim with 2000 of your closest friends and family.”
It was funny though because from here everything moved really fast – the anthem was sung and then all of a sudden the cannon went off but there was no “Beautiful Day” played. I waited for the mass of people in front of me to leave and as I was being pulled out into the lake I kept telling myself to wait and stick to my strategy of waiting for the area to get cleared out. I started to swim exactly 1 minute after the cannon had gone off. There was open water all around me. I found myself to be completely calm and just couldn’t believe that after all of these years of watching and volunteering I was actually a part of this race. I wasn’t right on the line the first loop but I was being very methodical about being under control, not freaking out, and following all of these people that I could see on the line. It made for a really easy first loop. I loved when you turned and were about ½ way back, you could hear Mike Riley talking and the big screen made for easy sighting. I came through on my first loop in around 47 minutes which was fine with me since I spent one of those minutes standing on shore. I got back into the water and found the line pretty easily. I didn’t spend the entire second loop on the line though as I was faster than a lot of people and kept navigating easily around people the whole time just in amazement that I was actually doing this. When I could hear Mike Riley again on the second loop I wanted to smile in the water because I knew I was going to be out of the water soon and heading to the wet suit strippers!!! I had stayed calm in the water the entire time and was very pleased with myself and my swim. I got out after a second loop of about 46 minutes which gave me a total swim time of 1:34:12. This was a solid swim for me. I grabbed my inhaler from a volunteer, and then was shuttled to another 2 volunteers (wet suit strippers) who grabbed my inhaler, swim cap, and goggles and then started to pull. It was so nice to have someone doing this for me. I ran to the transition area (wow, didn’t realize how long it actually was even though I have walked it several times) and saw my friends Melinda and Kristie cheering and then all of our friends and family in their Team Joe and Kelly t-shirts screaming their heads off at me. I unfortunately didn’t see the poster that Scott had made for us that said “Only 138.2 miles to Go” when I exited the water. 1/3 of the event down, only 2/3 left to go. The only problem with the swim was that I got hungry during the second loop. I hadn’t eaten enough for breakfast. I knew I had to get in some calories during transition to keep up the rest of my day.
T1 went really well. I grabbed my gear bag and ran into the change tent where I was shocked to find it completely full with no seats available, volunteers running around like crazy people trying to keep up with all of us, and athletes frantically trying to get ready for the bike. I was surprisingly calm though at this point. I changed into my bike shorts, put my food into my pocket, put on my shoes (big mistake), bike helmet, and glasses, asked a volunteer to put sunscreen on my back where I couldn’t reach (SPF 70 just to make sure I didn’t scorch), rechecked that I had everything, put all of my stuff back into my bag and asked a volunteer what I needed to do with it and she just took it from me and said “Good Luck!”. What fabulous volunteers!!! I retrieved my bike from a volunteer and asked another to open my Sharkies for me and headed out. I was only in transition for 10 min 32 sec.
Bike: I mounted the bike and tried to clip in while stuffing Sharkies down my throat and going downhill – great combo. Problem #1 on the bike occurred immediately. Because of the crazy rainy summer and the horrible rain that night, I had gotten gunk in my speed-play pedals and couldn’t clip in. This had happened to me at my 1st ½ IM last year too. I knew not to freak out but got off the bike and tried to clean out the garbage. It didn’t help. I pulled over again and had someone pour water down and in the cleat and clean the pedal and then got back on and finally clipped in. So, I was on my way with some delay. I climbed slowly out of town taking my time as was everyone else which was so neat to see a line of people climbing out of Lake Placid just spinning. I hauled ass down the Keene hills which was fantastic. I love going downhill and had practiced on this course 5 times prior to race day (I am lucky that I live here during the summer so I train on the course from June to race day). I was doing well until I hit mile 22 where my calf started cramping a little. I am not sure why it started to happen nor why it started to happen to me about 3 weeks ago during training but at the next two aid stations I made sure I got a banana, drank more of my Infinit, and took in more water. The weather at this point was sunny and in the low 70’s which isn’t really what we have been training in due to the cold wet summer here in the Adirondacks and wasn’t the forecast for the either. Once we started the climb on Rte 86, I didn’t feel great. Hazelton Road went well even though this is where problem #2 occurred – my chain fell off for the first time ever!!! I had to unclip on an uphill which proved to be a problem as my left cleat was still being weird due to the mud. I got the chain back on and continued on. After getting back on the bike though, it the pedal started making this high pitched squealing sound. I couldn’t mentally fathom dealing with this terrible, ear piercing sound for the next 70 miles. I rode back up through the Wilmington notch feeling spent, dreading the second loop and feeling like my legs were not functioning. When I got back to the special needs area, the volunteer held my bike and let me take all that I needed from my bag and then sent me on my way still squeaking away. I rounded the hot corner in town to see my dad waiting for me and then a huge group of family and friends cheering loudly. I waved and used the adrenaline from seeing them to push me back up the hills. I saw a sign that said “Kelly you are an Ironman (My Hero)” which made me laugh. I stopped at the first aid station to see if they had any lube for the pedal to stop the ear piercing sounds that was emanating from my bike but they didn’t so I kept going and miraculously just stopping and readjusting my foot made the sound stop. It came and went for the last 56 miles but was bearable. I was at Cascade Lakes before I knew it and then climbing on 86 quickly after that. I kept repeating my friend Melinda’s “song” in my head “In life there are hills” but I kept coming back to “Why does it take so many hills to become an Ironman” and “Just keep Spinning”. Just before Hazelton Road there was a sign that said “Suck it up Princess” and I did. On Hazelton Road I was doing the math, I had 2 hours to complete 22 miles – plenty of time even though I had some of the toughest climbs ahead of me. The entire last 22 miles I kept redoing the math to make sure that I could get back before 5:30. It was tough to remain positive when a couple of people around me where really afraid that they were not going to make it but I have ridden this course many times and know it well and knew I was going to make it. Not only that but I knew that I hadn’t done all of that run training to not get off of the bike and head off on the run. It felt easier the second loop though. On the way back after Hazelton Road, I made sure I took in a more food and Infinit to be ready for the run. I found my dad at the top of the Papa Bear hill waiting for me freaking out that I wasn’t going to make it. He yelled for me to keep going and then called to tell our cheering section that I was on my way. They were waiting for me when I got back cheering like crazy. I finished the entire bike course in 8:35:29 which leaves a lot of be desired but I got back before 5:30 so I was golden. Due to the cleat problem, a volunteer had to physically take my foot and move it with force to get my foot out of the pedal. I have to say that on the bike course the volunteers and spectators were just amazing the whole way though – cheering, motivating, bringing out goats to the road (I think that is what they were, really big goats).
T2 went by really quickly. I gave my bike to a volunteer, grabbed my gear bag, a volunteer met me at the tent and open my bag and started to hand me things. I changed into my tri shorts and started to put my socks on before she put a bag under my feet to make sure I didn’t get my feet wet. She put more sunscreen on me and went through my entire bag to make sure that I had everything that I needed. She even put all of my bike gear back into my bag – now that takes a special person to voluntarily touch anything I had been wearing on the bike since it was disgusting. I stood up and realized that I had to run a marathon now. I was out of transition and on the run course before 5:30 with only 5:18 spent in T2.
I started out on the run and my dad met me right at the top of the first down hill telling me just to keep putting one foot in front of the other and I was going to make it. He also told me that my husband was right behind me going out for his second loop. I did the math and realized that as long as I kept moving with 15 min miles I was going to finish before midnight. My family and friends were screaming for me which gave me lots of energy. I was so excited because I was going to be an Ironman. This is what I had trained for and wanted for the past 6 years. I decided to use the porta potty at the first aid station and still ran a 10:40 first mile. The spectators on the course were fantastic. I loved having my name on my bib because everyone was yelling “Go Kelly!” which made me smile and kept me moving forward. My goal was to run most of the first half only stopping at the aid stations to drink and eat. For each mile that I was under 15 minutes that meant that I had time in the bag and would finish before midnight. I really wanted to run the marathon in 6 hours or less. I am a slow runner with my fastest marathon being a 4:50 so I was expecting to be slower on the run anyway. I met Kathleen who was also doing her first Ironman and we talked for a little while and enjoyed the scenery. I was overtaken by my husband about a mile before the turnaround and told him that today we were going to be Ironmen. I just kept plugging away at the miles knowing that I had a cushion and I was making it closer to 11:30 than midnight for my finish. I went by the Ford Ironman Motivation Station and saw my message to myself “They’re Waiting 4 U” and knew I needed to get to my family. I passed my husband who was walking around my mile 8 his mile 19. He was having horrible calf cramps and we had a small interaction about nutrition but I just kept going. Around mile 9 my stomach was sloshing and I wasn’t feeling great but the thought that I was going to be an Ironman was overwhelmingly powerful enough to keep me smiling and going. As I was headed up the hill onto Main Street, my dad and my niece Lila came out to walk with me up the hill as I had consciously made the decision not to run this hill as it always killed me during training. Lila said to me why aren’t you running and touched my shoulder and then told me that I was really gross. My dad was really supportive and when I told him about not wanting to eat or drink he told me that I needed to make sure I was hydrating. I headed out on the out and back with all of these people with their Ubu’s on the side of the road and the smell of beer permeating the air and enjoyed the boisterous yelling. Joe overtook me again here and I told him to enjoy the oval and I loved him to which he returned with “I Love you too” as did another man who was passing me. I laughed and he laughed. Joe headed into the oval as I was heading out to do my second loop – how nice, I got to see how excited he was which allowed me to be even more excited about what was coming for me. I loved doing this with Joe; it made the entire experience even more amazing. I headed back down the hill to a few of my family members yelling for me since most of them had already run to the finish to see Joe finish. As I was heading down though, my stomach was really upset and my legs and feet were starting to hurt. I couldn’t really take in food at this point, just liquids which were not giving me the calories I needed to refuel my muscles. The spectators were amazing and just so happy. It started to get dark at this point and I was walking and jogging with a couple of people from Team Z. We were all having stomach issues but were pushing through it. As it got darker on River Road, I was inhaling mosquitoes and choking on them. The volunteers were great handing out cola and making sure we were hydrating enough, even walking with us and asking what we needed and then going to get it and making sure we ate or drank what they gave us. At one point as I was walking I looked up and there was the moon – a perfectly clear beautiful night!! It was going to be my night!! We got our glow sticks so they could see us. River Road gets really dark at night. Spectators were still out on yelling and cheering even tough it was past 10 pm. I started to realize that walking was faster than running at this point and I found Jennifer. Jennifer and I didn’t look at each other the entire time but talked and hauled ass together. Her husband had also done the race and finished in the 13 hour range as had my husband. We both were maintaining about 14:45 miles at this point by walking and when we tried to run it would drop to close to 16 min miles. My feet hurt and my legs were tired but I just wanted to get to that finish line. All of us were suffering but I knew that was going to be part of my day when I signed up. My dad found us at the Horse Show Grounds and walked with us telling me how great I did. There was a group of people who were rowdy with a microphone and singing and I sang along with them as they cheered for us. We got up the hill back onto Main Street where my friend Melinda had her Ipod hooked up to speakers and had been playing music for all of the athletes but when she saw me she put on the Black Eyed Peas song “I Gotta Feeling, that tonight’s gonna be a good night” and started to run along side of us playing my song. Jennifer told me that this was great because it allowed her to feel like she could move faster. I was laughing and singing with the song and then we started running again with a renewed vigor. One of the other spectators said “That is a good friend”, I agree!! We got to the next little hill and walked to the turn-around where this older couple was yelling/screaming “Here come two more Ironmen. Someone tell the oval that we have two more Ironmen coming!!” They were fantastic. We got a little ways from the turn-around and we found Brenda and Scott. Brenda asked how I felt and my response was “Like I just covered 140.6 miles in a day.” We started running now and Jennifer took off. I had a huge smile on my face. I have watched this for the past 10 years and now it was going to be me. The crowd got louder and louder, you could hear Mike Riley telling people they were Ironmen. It was an amazing feeling. All of the pain in my feet that had deterred me from running disappeared. As I entered the oval I couldn’t stop smiling. Joe was at the turn showing me the way with his metal around his neck. I was giddy!! I entered the finishing straight and was overwhelmed by how amazing it was. It was like you were a rock star!!! There were so many people screaming and cheering. I gave high fives to a whole bunch of guys with their hands out. I saw my mom and niece Sierra screaming for me. The lights were so bright. The Ironman arch was beautiful. And when I crossed the line the crowd cheered and I was an Ironman. I didn’t hear him say it but I knew I had done it. I almost wish I had slowed down and enjoyed the moment a little more. The volunteer gave me a hug, escorted me to the pictures, got me my shirt and sent me on my way. I was an Ironman at 11:24 pm with a finishing time of 16 hours 24 min and 8 sec. A man in the shoot told me I did great and gave me a hug – a random man was happy for me. I kept walking to find my family and when they found me, my friend Alynn gave me a hug and told me how proud she was of me with tears in her eyes. Then my support crew all gave me a hug and took pictures. A random guy gave me a handshake and told me I did well. After we were done with pictures and everything, my family and friends went to get to their cars and I went to get my bags and bike. While we were in there we heard Matt Long finish and the last person come to the finish. It was absolutely a fantastic night.
I have to say that without all of the volunteers that were out there that day, none of us could have done this. I was a volunteer once but had no idea how much the athletes actually rely on the volunteers to get them through the race. I can not say enough about how fantastic these volunteers were. They rock!
This race was more than I would have ever imagined. It outlived every expectation that I ever had for it. Having both myself and my husband become Ironmen on the same day was just fantastic. WOW!!! Even though I have written a lot, words cannot express what an amazing experience this has been. I became an Ironman Rock star!!! I told my dad that I made the most of my money by taking as long as I did (I was kidding) but it was just an unforgettable experience.
I was sleeping really well until around 1 am when I woke up and had this horrible feeling that I couldn’t do this. I had to spend a good ½ hour telling myself that I could do this and went back to sleep. My stomach was in knots already. This is also when the rain started. It down poured!!! I couldn’t believe that we were going to have a repeat of last year. I knew that I wouldn’t be able to descend the hills as I wanted to if it was raining like this during the race. I also felt sorry for our spectators if it kept raining like that. I didn’t sleep well the rest of the night but got in enough sleep to feel rested. We actually had an alarm go off at 4 am and got up to get ready. I was totally freaked out at this point. I mean I had to do 140.6 miles today – who does that?? I got downstairs and the first thing I saw was my husband with the video camera telling me and everyone else over and over again that we have trained in this weather all summer long and were ready for this race. He wasn’t doing this for himself even though he was doing the race as well he was doing it for me because of how freaked out I was. That was my mantra the past few days and he just kept repeating it for me to hear. I ate my Baker’s Breakfast cookie and had a glass of water for breakfast even though I felt like I was going to puke the entire time I was eating. I would realize later that this was not enough for breakfast on an Ironman day but I didn’t know how to get anything else down with a stomach that was unstable. All of our friends and family started to wake up and wish us luck and reassure us that we could do this. When we were getting ready to go I decided that I wanted my raincoat but I couldn’t find it and thus we left about 15 minutes later than we had anticipated which freaked me out even more. During the ride into town, I sat in the back of the car with my eyes closed trying to center myself and calm down, it worked slightly but not as well as I wanted it to.
We arrived and grabbed our special needs bags and bike pump and started walking down to the special needs area where we checked our bags and then headed back to the body markers and the oval. The body markers that I had were great. She could tell that I was nervous and kept reassuring me that I could do this while marking my body with 2001 and my age 30 while my cousin Kate was taking pictures of me and the journey that we were embarking on. Once we were marked, we went into the transition area to pump the tires, put the bottles of Infinit on the bike, go to the bathroom, and then find a dry place to put on our wetsuit since it was raining like crazy at this point.
We then headed back out at exactly 6:30 am and saw people being denied access to the transition area because it was after 6:30. Kate took another picture of Joe and myself in our wetsuits to show a before. We headed down to the beach to find the medical table to check my inhaler and head to the start. We ran into a parent of two of our former athletes there and said hello which is when I promptly started to cry when he asked how we were doing this morning. He told me that I was going to be fine and that it was good to be this emotional over the race. It meant that I was invested. He also said something that I will remember for a while, he said “There will be times when you think, this is impossible, I can’t do this. But you can, you say a prayer, do something to get yourself back then take it one mile at a time.” He was very supportive. This is his 9th or 10th Ironman so I take his advice to heart except the advice he gave me last year to not sign up for the race, I didn’t take that one obviously. I went to find the medical table and couldn’t find it and started to freak out again. This random man from ART (active release therapy) not sure what they were doing for the start of the race but this man took me by the shoulders, navigated me through this sea of 2400 people to find Cora the head nurse to turn in my inhaler. I was so moved that someone cared this much to help me this much and I was so full of fear/nerves, that I lost it again. He gave me a hug and told me that I would do great and to enjoy the day. I had lost my husband at this point which was freaking me out even more but I went through the chip pad and found a spot to stand and take it all in. Joe found me though and gave me a big hug which calmed me down. We went over to where we wanted to start. I told him again “I did the training and I belong here”. Another athlete heard me saying this and started asking us if this was our first. When we said yes, he said “You will get beaten up in the swim but just envision it as a swim with 2000 of your closest friends and family.”
It was funny though because from here everything moved really fast – the anthem was sung and then all of a sudden the cannon went off but there was no “Beautiful Day” played. I waited for the mass of people in front of me to leave and as I was being pulled out into the lake I kept telling myself to wait and stick to my strategy of waiting for the area to get cleared out. I started to swim exactly 1 minute after the cannon had gone off. There was open water all around me. I found myself to be completely calm and just couldn’t believe that after all of these years of watching and volunteering I was actually a part of this race. I wasn’t right on the line the first loop but I was being very methodical about being under control, not freaking out, and following all of these people that I could see on the line. It made for a really easy first loop. I loved when you turned and were about ½ way back, you could hear Mike Riley talking and the big screen made for easy sighting. I came through on my first loop in around 47 minutes which was fine with me since I spent one of those minutes standing on shore. I got back into the water and found the line pretty easily. I didn’t spend the entire second loop on the line though as I was faster than a lot of people and kept navigating easily around people the whole time just in amazement that I was actually doing this. When I could hear Mike Riley again on the second loop I wanted to smile in the water because I knew I was going to be out of the water soon and heading to the wet suit strippers!!! I had stayed calm in the water the entire time and was very pleased with myself and my swim. I got out after a second loop of about 46 minutes which gave me a total swim time of 1:34:12. This was a solid swim for me. I grabbed my inhaler from a volunteer, and then was shuttled to another 2 volunteers (wet suit strippers) who grabbed my inhaler, swim cap, and goggles and then started to pull. It was so nice to have someone doing this for me. I ran to the transition area (wow, didn’t realize how long it actually was even though I have walked it several times) and saw my friends Melinda and Kristie cheering and then all of our friends and family in their Team Joe and Kelly t-shirts screaming their heads off at me. I unfortunately didn’t see the poster that Scott had made for us that said “Only 138.2 miles to Go” when I exited the water. 1/3 of the event down, only 2/3 left to go. The only problem with the swim was that I got hungry during the second loop. I hadn’t eaten enough for breakfast. I knew I had to get in some calories during transition to keep up the rest of my day.
T1 went really well. I grabbed my gear bag and ran into the change tent where I was shocked to find it completely full with no seats available, volunteers running around like crazy people trying to keep up with all of us, and athletes frantically trying to get ready for the bike. I was surprisingly calm though at this point. I changed into my bike shorts, put my food into my pocket, put on my shoes (big mistake), bike helmet, and glasses, asked a volunteer to put sunscreen on my back where I couldn’t reach (SPF 70 just to make sure I didn’t scorch), rechecked that I had everything, put all of my stuff back into my bag and asked a volunteer what I needed to do with it and she just took it from me and said “Good Luck!”. What fabulous volunteers!!! I retrieved my bike from a volunteer and asked another to open my Sharkies for me and headed out. I was only in transition for 10 min 32 sec.
Bike: I mounted the bike and tried to clip in while stuffing Sharkies down my throat and going downhill – great combo. Problem #1 on the bike occurred immediately. Because of the crazy rainy summer and the horrible rain that night, I had gotten gunk in my speed-play pedals and couldn’t clip in. This had happened to me at my 1st ½ IM last year too. I knew not to freak out but got off the bike and tried to clean out the garbage. It didn’t help. I pulled over again and had someone pour water down and in the cleat and clean the pedal and then got back on and finally clipped in. So, I was on my way with some delay. I climbed slowly out of town taking my time as was everyone else which was so neat to see a line of people climbing out of Lake Placid just spinning. I hauled ass down the Keene hills which was fantastic. I love going downhill and had practiced on this course 5 times prior to race day (I am lucky that I live here during the summer so I train on the course from June to race day). I was doing well until I hit mile 22 where my calf started cramping a little. I am not sure why it started to happen nor why it started to happen to me about 3 weeks ago during training but at the next two aid stations I made sure I got a banana, drank more of my Infinit, and took in more water. The weather at this point was sunny and in the low 70’s which isn’t really what we have been training in due to the cold wet summer here in the Adirondacks and wasn’t the forecast for the either. Once we started the climb on Rte 86, I didn’t feel great. Hazelton Road went well even though this is where problem #2 occurred – my chain fell off for the first time ever!!! I had to unclip on an uphill which proved to be a problem as my left cleat was still being weird due to the mud. I got the chain back on and continued on. After getting back on the bike though, it the pedal started making this high pitched squealing sound. I couldn’t mentally fathom dealing with this terrible, ear piercing sound for the next 70 miles. I rode back up through the Wilmington notch feeling spent, dreading the second loop and feeling like my legs were not functioning. When I got back to the special needs area, the volunteer held my bike and let me take all that I needed from my bag and then sent me on my way still squeaking away. I rounded the hot corner in town to see my dad waiting for me and then a huge group of family and friends cheering loudly. I waved and used the adrenaline from seeing them to push me back up the hills. I saw a sign that said “Kelly you are an Ironman (My Hero)” which made me laugh. I stopped at the first aid station to see if they had any lube for the pedal to stop the ear piercing sounds that was emanating from my bike but they didn’t so I kept going and miraculously just stopping and readjusting my foot made the sound stop. It came and went for the last 56 miles but was bearable. I was at Cascade Lakes before I knew it and then climbing on 86 quickly after that. I kept repeating my friend Melinda’s “song” in my head “In life there are hills” but I kept coming back to “Why does it take so many hills to become an Ironman” and “Just keep Spinning”. Just before Hazelton Road there was a sign that said “Suck it up Princess” and I did. On Hazelton Road I was doing the math, I had 2 hours to complete 22 miles – plenty of time even though I had some of the toughest climbs ahead of me. The entire last 22 miles I kept redoing the math to make sure that I could get back before 5:30. It was tough to remain positive when a couple of people around me where really afraid that they were not going to make it but I have ridden this course many times and know it well and knew I was going to make it. Not only that but I knew that I hadn’t done all of that run training to not get off of the bike and head off on the run. It felt easier the second loop though. On the way back after Hazelton Road, I made sure I took in a more food and Infinit to be ready for the run. I found my dad at the top of the Papa Bear hill waiting for me freaking out that I wasn’t going to make it. He yelled for me to keep going and then called to tell our cheering section that I was on my way. They were waiting for me when I got back cheering like crazy. I finished the entire bike course in 8:35:29 which leaves a lot of be desired but I got back before 5:30 so I was golden. Due to the cleat problem, a volunteer had to physically take my foot and move it with force to get my foot out of the pedal. I have to say that on the bike course the volunteers and spectators were just amazing the whole way though – cheering, motivating, bringing out goats to the road (I think that is what they were, really big goats).
T2 went by really quickly. I gave my bike to a volunteer, grabbed my gear bag, a volunteer met me at the tent and open my bag and started to hand me things. I changed into my tri shorts and started to put my socks on before she put a bag under my feet to make sure I didn’t get my feet wet. She put more sunscreen on me and went through my entire bag to make sure that I had everything that I needed. She even put all of my bike gear back into my bag – now that takes a special person to voluntarily touch anything I had been wearing on the bike since it was disgusting. I stood up and realized that I had to run a marathon now. I was out of transition and on the run course before 5:30 with only 5:18 spent in T2.
I started out on the run and my dad met me right at the top of the first down hill telling me just to keep putting one foot in front of the other and I was going to make it. He also told me that my husband was right behind me going out for his second loop. I did the math and realized that as long as I kept moving with 15 min miles I was going to finish before midnight. My family and friends were screaming for me which gave me lots of energy. I was so excited because I was going to be an Ironman. This is what I had trained for and wanted for the past 6 years. I decided to use the porta potty at the first aid station and still ran a 10:40 first mile. The spectators on the course were fantastic. I loved having my name on my bib because everyone was yelling “Go Kelly!” which made me smile and kept me moving forward. My goal was to run most of the first half only stopping at the aid stations to drink and eat. For each mile that I was under 15 minutes that meant that I had time in the bag and would finish before midnight. I really wanted to run the marathon in 6 hours or less. I am a slow runner with my fastest marathon being a 4:50 so I was expecting to be slower on the run anyway. I met Kathleen who was also doing her first Ironman and we talked for a little while and enjoyed the scenery. I was overtaken by my husband about a mile before the turnaround and told him that today we were going to be Ironmen. I just kept plugging away at the miles knowing that I had a cushion and I was making it closer to 11:30 than midnight for my finish. I went by the Ford Ironman Motivation Station and saw my message to myself “They’re Waiting 4 U” and knew I needed to get to my family. I passed my husband who was walking around my mile 8 his mile 19. He was having horrible calf cramps and we had a small interaction about nutrition but I just kept going. Around mile 9 my stomach was sloshing and I wasn’t feeling great but the thought that I was going to be an Ironman was overwhelmingly powerful enough to keep me smiling and going. As I was headed up the hill onto Main Street, my dad and my niece Lila came out to walk with me up the hill as I had consciously made the decision not to run this hill as it always killed me during training. Lila said to me why aren’t you running and touched my shoulder and then told me that I was really gross. My dad was really supportive and when I told him about not wanting to eat or drink he told me that I needed to make sure I was hydrating. I headed out on the out and back with all of these people with their Ubu’s on the side of the road and the smell of beer permeating the air and enjoyed the boisterous yelling. Joe overtook me again here and I told him to enjoy the oval and I loved him to which he returned with “I Love you too” as did another man who was passing me. I laughed and he laughed. Joe headed into the oval as I was heading out to do my second loop – how nice, I got to see how excited he was which allowed me to be even more excited about what was coming for me. I loved doing this with Joe; it made the entire experience even more amazing. I headed back down the hill to a few of my family members yelling for me since most of them had already run to the finish to see Joe finish. As I was heading down though, my stomach was really upset and my legs and feet were starting to hurt. I couldn’t really take in food at this point, just liquids which were not giving me the calories I needed to refuel my muscles. The spectators were amazing and just so happy. It started to get dark at this point and I was walking and jogging with a couple of people from Team Z. We were all having stomach issues but were pushing through it. As it got darker on River Road, I was inhaling mosquitoes and choking on them. The volunteers were great handing out cola and making sure we were hydrating enough, even walking with us and asking what we needed and then going to get it and making sure we ate or drank what they gave us. At one point as I was walking I looked up and there was the moon – a perfectly clear beautiful night!! It was going to be my night!! We got our glow sticks so they could see us. River Road gets really dark at night. Spectators were still out on yelling and cheering even tough it was past 10 pm. I started to realize that walking was faster than running at this point and I found Jennifer. Jennifer and I didn’t look at each other the entire time but talked and hauled ass together. Her husband had also done the race and finished in the 13 hour range as had my husband. We both were maintaining about 14:45 miles at this point by walking and when we tried to run it would drop to close to 16 min miles. My feet hurt and my legs were tired but I just wanted to get to that finish line. All of us were suffering but I knew that was going to be part of my day when I signed up. My dad found us at the Horse Show Grounds and walked with us telling me how great I did. There was a group of people who were rowdy with a microphone and singing and I sang along with them as they cheered for us. We got up the hill back onto Main Street where my friend Melinda had her Ipod hooked up to speakers and had been playing music for all of the athletes but when she saw me she put on the Black Eyed Peas song “I Gotta Feeling, that tonight’s gonna be a good night” and started to run along side of us playing my song. Jennifer told me that this was great because it allowed her to feel like she could move faster. I was laughing and singing with the song and then we started running again with a renewed vigor. One of the other spectators said “That is a good friend”, I agree!! We got to the next little hill and walked to the turn-around where this older couple was yelling/screaming “Here come two more Ironmen. Someone tell the oval that we have two more Ironmen coming!!” They were fantastic. We got a little ways from the turn-around and we found Brenda and Scott. Brenda asked how I felt and my response was “Like I just covered 140.6 miles in a day.” We started running now and Jennifer took off. I had a huge smile on my face. I have watched this for the past 10 years and now it was going to be me. The crowd got louder and louder, you could hear Mike Riley telling people they were Ironmen. It was an amazing feeling. All of the pain in my feet that had deterred me from running disappeared. As I entered the oval I couldn’t stop smiling. Joe was at the turn showing me the way with his metal around his neck. I was giddy!! I entered the finishing straight and was overwhelmed by how amazing it was. It was like you were a rock star!!! There were so many people screaming and cheering. I gave high fives to a whole bunch of guys with their hands out. I saw my mom and niece Sierra screaming for me. The lights were so bright. The Ironman arch was beautiful. And when I crossed the line the crowd cheered and I was an Ironman. I didn’t hear him say it but I knew I had done it. I almost wish I had slowed down and enjoyed the moment a little more. The volunteer gave me a hug, escorted me to the pictures, got me my shirt and sent me on my way. I was an Ironman at 11:24 pm with a finishing time of 16 hours 24 min and 8 sec. A man in the shoot told me I did great and gave me a hug – a random man was happy for me. I kept walking to find my family and when they found me, my friend Alynn gave me a hug and told me how proud she was of me with tears in her eyes. Then my support crew all gave me a hug and took pictures. A random guy gave me a handshake and told me I did well. After we were done with pictures and everything, my family and friends went to get to their cars and I went to get my bags and bike. While we were in there we heard Matt Long finish and the last person come to the finish. It was absolutely a fantastic night.
I have to say that without all of the volunteers that were out there that day, none of us could have done this. I was a volunteer once but had no idea how much the athletes actually rely on the volunteers to get them through the race. I can not say enough about how fantastic these volunteers were. They rock!
This race was more than I would have ever imagined. It outlived every expectation that I ever had for it. Having both myself and my husband become Ironmen on the same day was just fantastic. WOW!!! Even though I have written a lot, words cannot express what an amazing experience this has been. I became an Ironman Rock star!!! I told my dad that I made the most of my money by taking as long as I did (I was kidding) but it was just an unforgettable experience.
Monday, July 27
We woke up to all of our stuff that needed to be unpacked and friends and family still sleeping because I think it is harder to watch sometimes than it is to participate – just standing all day and waiting is exhausting. We were tired and a sore but overall felt better than we had expected. I still can’t believe that people can cover 140.6 miles in one day even though I actually did it. So, what do you do when you become an Ironman, you go shopping!!! We went back to the oval and spent a lot of money on Ironman gear. We put the stickers on my car that day as well. We went to the awards ceremony and saw the volunteer video and the video of the day. It was a beautiful day to become an Ironman, wasn’t it!
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
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