Ironman Lake Placid 2010

In July, visualy impaired RF team member, Ryan Van Praet and myself headed down to LP to compete in Ironman Lake Placid.  This was our first attempt at an IM distance race as guide an athlete.  Both of us are experienced IM athletes, but doing it together is a whole different challenge!

First, I would like to say that the WTC guys were fantastic at setting everything up to make it as safe and easy as possible for us to compete their.   5 visually impaired athletes were competing.  They registered us with the pro’s and gave us our own racks near the bike in/out.  Making everything sooooo much easier.

 Race Day.

I had been fighting a cold all week and was really leary about how my body would react to doing an IM while sick.  When I woke up (didn’t sleep very well at all!) I was doubting even making it to the bike.  However, I was determined to give it a shot.  Ryan was very good about not putting too much pressure on me to race if I physically couldn’t.

We got to the venue and did the normal pre race stuff.

The day before the swim , during our practice, I noticed a small nic in the under arm of my Aquaman wetsuit.  As I pulled on the suit at the start it turned into a gaping hole under my armpit!  So much for my fancy suit!  Figured I had to make due with it as it was.

We were most scarred about the start of this race.  It is relatively wide, but narrows a bit out of the start gate.  We wanted to avoid as much of the chaos as possible so we seeded ourselves right at the front hoping that if people were faster than us they were decent swimmers!

The start was tough, but not as bad as I thought it would be (Ryan has a different opinon on this!  :>>).  I was feeling really sick at this point, and pretty much the whole way thorough the swim, but the body kept moving.  Things cleared out a bit on the way back on the first loop of the swim.  We were out in 32min which was ok.  The second loop was  alot less crowded, but my body was rebeling from the extra work.  Especially my abs from bracing against the tether when Ryan swam too far away from me.  This had never been an issue before.  Needless to say we were happy to get out of the water.  (1:08 swim)

Running into T1, my head was a cloud, but we got out of the swim, and the start of the bike is easy so I had some time to get my head into the game.  Drank like a thirsty camel the whole day.  Gatorade is the sick mans best friend (and the drugs!)

The first 40km are relatively easy on the bike, including a massive downhill into Keene.   Our strategy was to be REALLY conservative on the first lap, and if we felt good, pick it up on the second.  The last 30km of the bike is mostly uphill, so you really need to race smart on this course.  We got through the first lap feeling really good.  My body had accepted that I was going to be doing this, and decided to make the best of it!

The crowds were unreal, even at worlds, I have never seen anything like this!

We crusied into the second lap passing people like crazy.  I don’t think more than 5 people passed us the entire bike.  I actually got off the tandem feeling really good.  The effort I put out on the bike seemed to be well within my limits.  Ryan was hurting a bit.  180km on a tandem is not fun!  (bike 5:45)

The run.  We started out of T2 at a conservative pace.  Our goal was just to run as much as possible.  As both of our preps had been less than ideal, we were just happy to get to the run in decent shape.  (Guess a new baby does that!)

The first lap was a cruise (for me) and Ryan started suffering some major GI issues.  He really toughed it out to the end of that lap, which was very inspiring as he didn’t look good!  He wanted to hit that timing mat so that his wife knew that he was ok and would finish.

The second lap was different.  Ryan’s GI issues forced us to walk almost all of it, as if he ran, he would throw up.   We were guranteed our finish, and our new goal was to keep him out of the medical tent.  We decided that it was not worth pushing too hard and having him end up there so we went very conservative.

The finish of this race was very emotional.  The entire day, people had been unreal with their support of us out there.  It was a constant barrage of words of support and encouragment.  It was a really special experience.

When we hit the finishing track, the crowds were ballistic!  Once they saw it was Ryan and me tethered together, the sound hit another level.  It was a wall!  I couldn’t even hear what Ryan was saying to me!  Soooo cool!  We did the blazeman roll across the line, and made our way through the normal post IM throngs.  (12:22 total time!)

Thanks for all of the support.  It was a really cool experience being in that environment with Ryan.  Guiding him continues to be a rewarding experience and I am really looking forward to racing with him for years to come and helping support the new organization that he works with (WonwithOne!)  www.wonwithone.com   It is a new group with the CCB that has been created to help give blind athletes the opportunity to participate in sport.  Check out the website.  If you know anyone that might be interested in being a guide or helping out financially let me know, or contact them directly.

We are off to Clearwater next.  Will update with how that goes.