Post by Ed Slovenkay on Sept 4, 2009 12:33:37 GMT -5
This was my first Ironman distance race. All I can say is for those of you on the fence about doing an Ironman, just do it. There is nothing that can compare to that experience. It also helped that there were so many Cleveland folks signed up for the race it seemed everywhere you turned there was another triathlete who was racing IM Louisville. For those of you that say they would never do an Ironman, you are missing out. The local triathlon community here is so supportive and there are so many people to train with you simply cannot fail unless you don’t try. I was lucky to have Kim and Jason (who were racing) along with Matt (Kim’s husband) and several friends along the way to join me on long rides and runs as well as long Sunday swims and yoga workouts. At times the training seemed like my part time job for which I did not get paid. I also owe a big thanks to Mark Gorris for his assistance and advice throughout the year. I have seen some amazing improvements this year and without Mark’s help, I’m sure I would have posted a big fat DNF out there. Rob’s Oberlin swim classes also helped a great deal. If he is putting those on again this winter and you need swimming help, I urge you to sign up.
The morning of the race I was doing my normal pre race ritual, eat 1 banana, 1 bagel, take a shower and get my race gear on. I always put lots of chamois butter in my shorts. This day I used Vaseline instead since I was worried that the butter would not hold up after 2.4 miles in the water. Rookie mistake number 1, as I never trained with Vaseline. Transition opened at 5:00 and we loaded up our nutrition on the bikes and pumped tires. I planned to borrow a pump since I was not able to pass mine off to anyone. Rookie mistake number 2. The pump I borrowed was not pumping my tires for some reason. I panicked a little then walked my bike over to the bike tech and asked for air. All was good. At the swim start after body marking I ran into Tim Keyes who was near the front of the line and he was gracious enough to let me cut in. As we lined up on the dock a few minutes before the start I opened my powerbar gel and reached down into the water to wet my earplugs just as the gun went off. It startled me just enough that I squeezed the gelpack and got powerbar gel all over my goggles. By this time the line was moving fast and I was frantically dunking my goggles in the water to clear them of the blurry substance. I crossed the timing mat, forgot to start my watch, jumped in the water feet first and got a nose full of delicious river water. I knew this was not the end of the world, but was a hell of a way to begin a long race. The rumor had been to swim close to the island as the current would be less there. Well everyone was doing that so I decided to stay closer to the middle of the channel to keep from getting kicked. After about 10 minutes in the water, I ran right into a tree that was submerged under water. It stopped me dead in the water and I was yelling at the kayaker as if he miraculously had a chain saw and would come over to cut it out. After all that my swim went well.
T1 went smooth and I was on the bike. I started eating right away on the bike which was rookie mistake number 3. Apparently you are supposed to wait about 30 minutes to take in solids. I knew that after 30 minutes I’d be climbing so I wanted to start getting nutrition right away especially after that long swim. My stomach thanked me all day by burping up and feeling sick by anything I tried to put down. Oh, well I just had to deal with it so took in lots of water and the triple strength HEED and Perpetuum that I mixed the night before. The scenery on the bike course was fantastic. There was also a ton of support at various pockets throughout the race. It was really nice to see and have those cheers when you needed them. There was plenty of humor along the way as well. At the first climb, there was a volunteer saying that “after you climb this hill, Kentucky is all flat.” The best sign I saw all day was on my first lap just before looping back on 42. It read “Don’t Suck.” I am still laughing when I think about that sign. The LaGrange festival was an unreal stretch and it really fired me up on the 2nd loop. As I passed the 105 mile sign I was feeling dizzy since I did not get enough calories on the bike. I was encouraged as I passed this one guy who was zombie like and barely pedaling. Clearly he went out too hard and looked like he was going to pass out. I shouted an encouraging word to him but he did not even blink. I knew I was not that bad, but overall it was a tough bike course.
As I dismounted to head into T2, I was surprised at how quick my legs came back. I was going strictly by heart rate and did not realize until after the race that I went out too fast. Rookie mistake number 4. The run was flat and there were fluid stations just about every mile. I was able to see a couple of the pros on my first lap and was feeling okay. My legs were tired and my energy level sinking because I did not take in enough calories. I packed my special needs bag with my fuel belt with HEED and Tums which helped to settle my stomach. Running near the finish line as you complete the first loop was so motivating. The streets were jammed with people all cheering and it was a nice pick me up. By the 15 mile mark I was stopping briefly at each water stop for coke & water. I knew that any gel or foods would crush me so I was relying only on the sugar from the coke, it was wonderful. I kept telling myself to get to mile 20, as that was the final turn around. I’d have to say that those 5 miles were the darkest miles for me. I was truly exhausted but did not want to end up with a race that reflected an aquabike with a 13 mile run and a 13 mile walk. I had trained too hard and too long to just give up. I remember seeing a lot of friends along the way and they were encouraging me as I shouted encouragement back when I could. I didn’t want anyone to see me walking so that forced me to keep my feet moving. My knee, which had given me trouble for the last 6 months, was feeling good so that made running in the late miles possible. By the time I saw the 25 mile sign, I could hear the announcer calling names and could hear the crowd roaring. I cannot explain the switch that triggered in me from down and out to I am almost there. I was so pumped up that I even skipped the last water stop. It was electrifying after the final turn onto 4th street and seeing the finish chute. I saw Jodi, Emily & Rachel to my left and looked around at all the people cheering. I started to tear up and was so thankful that I kept my sunglasses on so that I did not look gay when they snapped my picture at the finish line. It was such a relief to finally be an Ironman. I had been talking about it for so long, training for what seemed like an eternity and heard constant complaints about the time spent training. The sore muscles, the long bricks and the water up the nose doing flip turns all paid off as I feel good about my finish time.
I will definitely do another one. I need some time off for now and have to finish some projects around the house. Hopefully the next one will be just as satisfying.
The morning of the race I was doing my normal pre race ritual, eat 1 banana, 1 bagel, take a shower and get my race gear on. I always put lots of chamois butter in my shorts. This day I used Vaseline instead since I was worried that the butter would not hold up after 2.4 miles in the water. Rookie mistake number 1, as I never trained with Vaseline. Transition opened at 5:00 and we loaded up our nutrition on the bikes and pumped tires. I planned to borrow a pump since I was not able to pass mine off to anyone. Rookie mistake number 2. The pump I borrowed was not pumping my tires for some reason. I panicked a little then walked my bike over to the bike tech and asked for air. All was good. At the swim start after body marking I ran into Tim Keyes who was near the front of the line and he was gracious enough to let me cut in. As we lined up on the dock a few minutes before the start I opened my powerbar gel and reached down into the water to wet my earplugs just as the gun went off. It startled me just enough that I squeezed the gelpack and got powerbar gel all over my goggles. By this time the line was moving fast and I was frantically dunking my goggles in the water to clear them of the blurry substance. I crossed the timing mat, forgot to start my watch, jumped in the water feet first and got a nose full of delicious river water. I knew this was not the end of the world, but was a hell of a way to begin a long race. The rumor had been to swim close to the island as the current would be less there. Well everyone was doing that so I decided to stay closer to the middle of the channel to keep from getting kicked. After about 10 minutes in the water, I ran right into a tree that was submerged under water. It stopped me dead in the water and I was yelling at the kayaker as if he miraculously had a chain saw and would come over to cut it out. After all that my swim went well.
T1 went smooth and I was on the bike. I started eating right away on the bike which was rookie mistake number 3. Apparently you are supposed to wait about 30 minutes to take in solids. I knew that after 30 minutes I’d be climbing so I wanted to start getting nutrition right away especially after that long swim. My stomach thanked me all day by burping up and feeling sick by anything I tried to put down. Oh, well I just had to deal with it so took in lots of water and the triple strength HEED and Perpetuum that I mixed the night before. The scenery on the bike course was fantastic. There was also a ton of support at various pockets throughout the race. It was really nice to see and have those cheers when you needed them. There was plenty of humor along the way as well. At the first climb, there was a volunteer saying that “after you climb this hill, Kentucky is all flat.” The best sign I saw all day was on my first lap just before looping back on 42. It read “Don’t Suck.” I am still laughing when I think about that sign. The LaGrange festival was an unreal stretch and it really fired me up on the 2nd loop. As I passed the 105 mile sign I was feeling dizzy since I did not get enough calories on the bike. I was encouraged as I passed this one guy who was zombie like and barely pedaling. Clearly he went out too hard and looked like he was going to pass out. I shouted an encouraging word to him but he did not even blink. I knew I was not that bad, but overall it was a tough bike course.
As I dismounted to head into T2, I was surprised at how quick my legs came back. I was going strictly by heart rate and did not realize until after the race that I went out too fast. Rookie mistake number 4. The run was flat and there were fluid stations just about every mile. I was able to see a couple of the pros on my first lap and was feeling okay. My legs were tired and my energy level sinking because I did not take in enough calories. I packed my special needs bag with my fuel belt with HEED and Tums which helped to settle my stomach. Running near the finish line as you complete the first loop was so motivating. The streets were jammed with people all cheering and it was a nice pick me up. By the 15 mile mark I was stopping briefly at each water stop for coke & water. I knew that any gel or foods would crush me so I was relying only on the sugar from the coke, it was wonderful. I kept telling myself to get to mile 20, as that was the final turn around. I’d have to say that those 5 miles were the darkest miles for me. I was truly exhausted but did not want to end up with a race that reflected an aquabike with a 13 mile run and a 13 mile walk. I had trained too hard and too long to just give up. I remember seeing a lot of friends along the way and they were encouraging me as I shouted encouragement back when I could. I didn’t want anyone to see me walking so that forced me to keep my feet moving. My knee, which had given me trouble for the last 6 months, was feeling good so that made running in the late miles possible. By the time I saw the 25 mile sign, I could hear the announcer calling names and could hear the crowd roaring. I cannot explain the switch that triggered in me from down and out to I am almost there. I was so pumped up that I even skipped the last water stop. It was electrifying after the final turn onto 4th street and seeing the finish chute. I saw Jodi, Emily & Rachel to my left and looked around at all the people cheering. I started to tear up and was so thankful that I kept my sunglasses on so that I did not look gay when they snapped my picture at the finish line. It was such a relief to finally be an Ironman. I had been talking about it for so long, training for what seemed like an eternity and heard constant complaints about the time spent training. The sore muscles, the long bricks and the water up the nose doing flip turns all paid off as I feel good about my finish time.
I will definitely do another one. I need some time off for now and have to finish some projects around the house. Hopefully the next one will be just as satisfying.
