Monday morning quarterback

As I sit here in my compression socks, ice pack firmly in place on my knee, what better time to recap my double iron accomplishment.

Yesterday morning prior to the swim start the sky opened up and I had fear that it would be a repeat of 2008's all day downpour. The rain did not last long and while the sky remained ominous it eventually gave way to brutal sunshine.

Entering the water for the swim, I positioned myself in the middle of the pack with the eye toward angling into the course. The contact was fierce when the cannon went off but I really enjoyed it. I remember looking up and seeing the turn buoy in no time. I was in the thick of it. Somehow my first lap was 40 minutes and I was in a pack of swimmers the entire way. I upped my goal to a 1:20 swim and I think that may have been doable except for two errors. The first error, someone (ok probably a guy given the 8 to 1 ratio of men to women in the race) kept pulling my legs down. I retaliated with a whip kick. Big mistake. The result: wicked calf cramp. Usually I can work through calf cramps in the swim but this one was so severe I could feel the different muscle groups through my wetsuit. I had to stop and tread water for several minutes while pulling on my toes. The second mistake: knowing I had given up time to the calf cramp I decided to sprint in within 200 yards to go. Somehow I ended up wide right. How do I know this--the kayaks were pinching me into the course. Oh well, still a PR 1:23.

The bike was amazing. I crushed the competition on the climbs and even managed to take the downhill aggressively (or my definition of aggressively) until I got stuck behind two women riding it like I normally do---Granny on the brakes. I could not get around them with bikes whipping by at 50 plus mph. I stayed aero as much as possible as it was very windy, however, the worst of the wind was on the back side of the course on the climb from Wilmington back to Lake Placid. It was totally shutting down any speed, even when you were not climbing. I returned to town feeling strong and pleased with my performance, grabbed my feed bag, waved to the entourage and away I went on lap 2. I started to feel a little bit fuzzy on lap 2 so I broke out my secret weapon, a stick of spearmint gum. That helped me recapture focus for the downhill. The stronger crosswinds were quickly evident and, as in 2007, a guy in front of me was blown over off his bike meaning I had to brake on the steepest hill and go into on-coming traffic to avoid his long and lanky frame that was sprawled across the road. And so you don't think I'm that competetive, he was being attended to when I passed by. My stomach started to turn on the bike and I had all I could do to keep taking in fluids but I finished strong setting a bike PR. It wasn't what I was shooting for but it was 23 minutes off and given the conditions I knew it was the best I could do. I gave it my all on the bike knowing that I may not be able to complete the run.

When I got back to town you can imagine after 7 hours and 37 minutes that I was happy to get out of my saddle. I remember wanting to cry in 2007 at this point in the race because I did not want to run. This time, no tears. I decided to run as far as I could without stopping. My stomach was revolting but the legs were holding up despite my 4 week layoff from running. After 13 miles my knee decided the cortisone was no match for my swollen IT band and it snapped back and forth across my bone. It is impossible to run with this kind of pain but I did not want to walk, especially on the endless River Road. I restarted about a dozen times before realizing my running was done for the day. I started walking with a guy named Scott who had a stress fracture in his foot. He was walking at a good clip and said that we were doing between 14-15 minute miles. I did the math. It was still possible to walk 13 miles and set a PR and so off I went. Barely able to sip water, I put my head down and used my full stride to walk as fast as I could. Everyone around me kept commenting that it was unfair to walk so fast. I passed a bunch of folks on the run. It made me realize that I may not have been able to even run as fast as I was able to walk. I was speeding by the Ironman shufflers.

I made the finish in under 15 hours. It was not pretty but it was all I had. I could not have done it without the support of my friends and family who screamed passionately every time I was near and who spread themselves throughout the course so I never felt like I was in this alone. It was an awesome day and although painful, one of the best days of my life. I have never enjoyed a race like I did yesterday's LP Ironman. While I will concede that this course is not designed for my talents, thus, this is my final LP Ironman, I will do another Ironman. It is amazing to push your body and mind to the edge and to have people stand behind you in firm belief that you will succeed.

As for now, if I don't get on my bike again for a week or two, I shall cry no tears. I'm scheduled to do the run leg for the Caz Tri in a few weeks as part of a relay team. While it remains to be seen if I can run then given my knee issues, my hope is I can compete and help my stacked team finish respectfully. Until then there are a lot of ice bags and rest ahead.