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 "It's only a failure if I let the course beat me. Just like all the long training runs during the summer. I never stopped for running breaks because I knew come race day, I would do the same. I stuck to autopilot and let my training do the talking." |
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Eric Chang Lake Placid, New York, July 2008
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It was a challenging race, it rained and rained and rained. Some performed very well under these conditions, while others ... well, didn't do their best. At any rate, being a first timer, I'm satisfied with the result, but I definitely have room for improvement! Objective going into the race (all met with the exception of #5) ================== 1) Cross the finish 2) Stay out of Medical Tent. 3) Run the entire marathon. Do not walk at any point. 4) Smile and enjoy the journey. 5) If stars align, under 11:00 (1:10 swim, 6:00 bike, 3:40 run, 10min T1+T2). I am not aiming to break any land speed records here, but to enjoy the race, and not walk the entire marathon and call myself an Ironman. I just want to "race it" and not survive it! Something to be proud of, in my eyes at least! Swim (1:10, 7min T1) === Yes, it's fairly well documented that it rained all day, so I won't go into it too much. Yes, all morning/afternoon/night. It never stopped. Everyone's in the same boat, so suck it up! I have 0 prep going into the race for the swim. Just swam once a week during the summer. That's it. I did attended some seminars and improve my technique. I applied it (to the best of my ability). High elbows on the catch and shoulder rotation was the key. Swam 2/3 out of the rope. Next time, I'll seed myself a tad further back ... or actually train for it and get to about 1:04-1:07 range. Thank god for competitive swimming days in my youth! No complaints here. Got kicked in the eye, and clobbered a few times. But I played water polo in my youth, so I've been thru worse. On track so far! I considered changing into my bike gear outside, and skip the tent. Just need to put on my helmet, shades, shorts; there is mud everywhere. There wasn't even a place to put your stuff on the ground or table. I lost some time running to transition. People were running so slow, adding congestion going from Mirror Lake to the bike transition. I wasn't going to shove people out of the way, just to shave that 1min off my T1. Bike (6:08, 2:55 Loop1, 3:13 Loop2, T2 5mins) The bike felt horrible. I was quite cold. I thought I can hold off on the arm warmers since the rain might go away in a few hours. Boy was I wrong!!!! I froze. All 145lbs of me. Skinny folks just aren't designed for cold races! You know how it is, putting on arm warmers takes time and leaving it on while the weather might warm up..... more aerodynamic without it..... Must go faster .... Note to self ... MUST wear arm warmers on rainy rides! The bright side was I kept the pace steady. Relatively speaking I paced myself right. Just lost too much heat in Loop 1 to recover from it in Loop2. My HR was right around where it should be the whole bike, a steady pace. No flats, unlike the countless others. I wasn't hypothermic, but it's never good to be shivering going out on the run course! I drank way too much. I drank like it was 30 C outside, and pee 6 times on the bike course. Learned to pee on the bike though! At some point, gotta stop the nonsense and just learn on the job. Just make sure no one is behind you. Live and learn. Nutrition wise, I wasn't hungry. I ate enough (5 cliff bars, 7 gels, 3 Gatorades, 2 waters, 8 salt pills). Note to self, I don't need to drink that much on rainy days, nor do I need that much salt. I kept worrying about cramping on the run. Rather safe than sorry. I am disillusioned about this whole ITT thing. A lot of folks dropped the "I" out of "ITT". You know who you are; we all saw the packs along Haselton. The same packs that I pass, but 10mins later, show up again, only to be repeated for 112miles. If you want to ride in packs, go do a road race. People just have no shame on race day. You only cheat yourself for doing so. In T2, I took my time and dried my feet, and applied Vaseline. I prayed for no blisters. I am willing to lose a few minutes instead of run with blisters for 30km. Did I mention we'll be running thru, not puddles, but pools of water along the course?!?! No, running thru pools of water was never part of my training plan. Run (4:08) ======= Forgot my Garmin on the bike. Just wasn't used to volunteers taking your bike at the dismount line. Actually, some water got into my Garmin during the bike, and started to malfunction. It rained that hard!!! No, I didn't wear it during the swim. The run course has no clocks anywhere to be found. I have no idea about pacing/speed. All I have are mile markers. Can someone put a clock up at the mile markers? I just needed something! Ran well the first 5km or so and started to slow down the pace after that. Just lacked my usual energy levels. I didn't feel bad enough to walk, but not great enough to "run it". I got quite sick of converting miles to KM. It was a bit confusing since I probably had the IQ of a 5 year old during the race. This was my first race on US soil. Along the aid stations, I grabbed bananas, grapes, melons, NO water (still pee 3 times on the course), 2 gels (ok, I still drank some to wash it down). Coke the last 10km.... sorry 6miles. I didn't pee "on the run". That's just stupid. Saw a bunch of folks along the course ======================== Jen Eberman, looking strong as usual, slowly but surely catching up to me. You looked determined! Rock on! Dev Paul, I figure with him wearing a plastic bag over himself on Loop2, he's probably in the same boat I was.... COLD. We both share the same physique. Jean Lacroix, too far ahead to catch up to you, you bike demon! Paula Van N., I finally caught up to her on Mile 22. Although, ever so slowly. At this point in the race, any victory is better than no victory! Mark Herbst, my training partner totally rocked. 5th in M50-55. In the final two miles, I found a sudden surge of energy. Felt like Mile 1! I picked up the pace significantly. I sprinted up the steep hill and felt great. Likely this was adrenaline; the hard work finally came thru. I knew the finish was within reach. Saw Louise from the Ottawa crowd cheering. I saw some folks from TTC (Toronto Tri Club) saying hello. You might as well look like a stud now for the Finisher’s Photo! Running the final 200 yards, I didn't know what to expect or feel. Twelve months ago, it seemed like such a ridiculous challenge to sign up. Running the entire marathon off the bike seemed so crazy. It all seemed so extreme. My first and only marathon in Ottawa, in 2003, I ran with wrong shoes, wrong training plan, tight muscles solid as a rock, basically no idea what I was doing with a 3:57 finish (walked the last 10km). At the finish, I felt relieved for taking up this challenge. I conquered IMLP. The course didn't beat me. I beat the course. Too many times during the run, I wanted to stop. You see people walking everywhere around you. The temptation is so there ... there's no shame in me walking right?? What's 100m? 200m? Who's going to know? I guess it all went back to setting myself objective for the race. Although #5 is not going to happen (11:00), I knew that I was tougher than the course or Mother Nature, if I had the right mindset throughout the race. I am mentally focused Soto speak. It's not a race against time, well not yet, maybe in the future, but a test of one's will. It's only a failure if I let the course beat me. Just like all the long training runs during the summer. I never stopped for running breaks because I knew come race day, I would do the same. I stuck to autopilot and let my training to do talking. Yea, sure, I can't brag about my time. Sure, if you merely look at those infamous time splits (like most people would), it wouldn't indicate much. But that only tells 1/2 the story. The time goals are great to brag about it to your friends and hanging it on your walls along with your finisher’s certificate. To me, it was about the test of will and how we overcome/conquered the difficulties/demons during the race, and how you apply your experience to everyday life. Otherwise, it's just that, you "leave it all out" on the course, but you left it there. I'm an Ironman! Good enough for me! No one can say that I didn't earn it. Final Tally 11:41:04 I'll be back for more in 2010! It's going to be a long road to Kona, but in time, ever so slowly, I'll be there! With moderate training….and years of base, I believe it is possible. Doing this doesn't have to be extreme, if you have the right mindset and training plan. It worked for me! Don't show up at an Ironman under trained because it's disrespectful to the course and your fellow competitors who put in countless hours of dedication and training just to show up on race day. I talked to a 50-60 year old woman from Chicago at the Expo while lining up to buy a finishers hat on Monday morning. She mentioned about doing another Ironman distance during training in 7 weeks. Her plan was to run around the park 52 times for the run portion. I asked her, why on earth would you want to do that? Why not sign up for a race instead? She said something in line of wanting to do well in her next race, and running in a loop allows her to get support along the course, it toughens her up. It is a commendable effort, even for someone like me; a healthy & fit 32year old male would not attempt such a feat! Eric Chang, Ottawa,
Ontario
July 2008 |
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