Ironman Lake Placid: The Morning of the Race

Basking in the post-first Ironman glow, just a mere two days after the race, it is hard for me to remember any other day in my life that was more amazing, more inspirational, more powerful than the day I had on Sunday.

All's calm...For now

It started at 4:00 a.m., to the sounds of the Rocky theme (what else?) as the alarm clock on my cell phone went off.

I looked out of our hotel window. The sun wasn’t up yet, and the sky was dark.

John asked, “Is it raining?”

I smiled. “Nope.” Morning showers were forecasted, but they hadn’t started yet.

I immediately set to readying my gear. The day before, I wrote a list of what I needed to do in the morning so I wasn’t wandering around wondering what to do next—and more importantly to avoid forgetting something.

First thing on the list: eat. I drank 260 calories of perpetuum, then ate a white flour bagel (easy to digest, low fiber) that was also 260 calories. I find it very difficult to eat breakfast on race mornings due to my nerves, so I like to drink as much of my calories as possible. But, a little bit of solid food also helps to settle my stomach.  Of course, I had to have some coffee as well. I have practiced this fueling regimen during training and prep races–so I knew it worked.

After fueling, I dressed and got my swim gear together. By 4:55 a.m., John and I were ready to head over to the transition area to pump our bike tires, get body marked, drop off our special needs bags and get INTO THE WATER! As we headed out of the hotel, my heart rate monitor read 91 bpm. Normally, my resting heart rate is 43 bpm. Nervous much?

By 6:30 a.m., John and I were ready to get into the water. We headed to the swim start, where we ran into his parents, who were volunteering. They got the BEST gig working security at the swim exit. As soon as I saw Jeanne, John’s mom, I started to tear up. That’s okay. I’ve been a little bit weepy throughout this whole journey. I knew that would happen. Then, she said,

“Go get your dream.”

John and I, just before entering the water for the swim start. (Incidentally, not the last time I would cry on race day...)

That’s when the water works turned on. I went from tearing up to full on crying—and smiling. I was just positively overjoyed, humbled, awestruck to be at the start of my first Ironman.  I looked at John. Let’s just say his eyes weren’t exactly dry.

I heard the sound of the beeping as I walked over the timing mat. I took a deep breath as I took my first step into the lake.

John said, “Be safe, be smart, have fun.”

“Yup,” I replied. “Keep smiling.”

Then, we did our ritual fist bump, followed with a hug. We always give each other a fist bump before races. I would be lost without that.

And, with that, John mixed in with the other brave souls who were going to start along the front line of the swim. He is an exceptionally strong swimmer, and has the power and ability to get out in the front. While he headed for chaos, I gingerly made my way to the far right bank of the lake, where others were also standing. My plan was to start from the right bank, and swim straight out to avoid the washing machine that is the mass swim start at Lake Placid.

This year, with about 500 more athletes participating as compared with last year, the swim start promised to be even more chaotic than ever before. I didn’t want any of that. My preference was to swim extra meters to avoid the black eyes and missing teeth that would surely come my way from flying elbows, hands and feet.

Once over at the bank, I ran into some fellow athletes that I had met on previous days: Carrie, Katie and two athletes from North Dakota, whose names I didn’t get. We joked because we said we would see each other on the bank – and we did!

At 6:50 a.m., the cannon went off to signal the start of the professional triathlete race. Those lucky ducks only had to start with about 50 or 100 other athletes. The start for the age group athletes (i.e., amateur athletes) would be at 7:00 a.m., and would be considerably more crowded with about 2,700 athletes, according to the announcements from Mike Reilly, the “voice of ironman”.

So, what happened? Tomorrow’s post will tell.

Hold it now, hold it now...

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