Race Morning:
3:20 am
1 large cup of very strong French roast coffee (I drank decaf all week, what a waste)
1 800+ cal. Carbs/Protein shake:
16 oz Orange/Pineapple/Banana juice
1 cup French Vanilla yogurt
1 cup sliced strawberries
2 scoops of Whey protein powder
I woke up ten minutes before my alarm was set to go off, I felt really good so off to the coffee maker I went. Then I made my shake which I thought I would never get down, but after about 25 minutes it was all gone. I finished packing my special needs bags, and some other things I needed to add to my swim to bike and run to bike bags. At 4:30 am I woke up Alex so she could drop me off near the oval, the she went back to wake up the rest of the Kelly family by 6:00 am.
I walked right up to a volunteer for my body marking, waited outside the oval for about 10 minutes until they let us into the transition area. I walked right up to the port-o-john for my morning constitution, dropped off a few things in my bike/run bags, pumped up my wheels to 120 psi, and then walked to the other side of the lake to drop off my special needs bags.
Unlike my two previous Ironman races, this was my first were I thought I was going to puke from about the time I woke up due to wanting to finish this race with a time that had anything with 11 hours in it. My training had gone very well, but I wasn't happy with the program that I had been following. But I figured it was too late to switch to another program, so I had to stick it out.
My previous best time was at the Great Floridian in 2003 with a time of 12:06:55, Wisconsin in 2005 with a time of 12:28:50, but those courses were not even close to what I had in front of me in Lake Placid. But I finally able to sit down at the lake and just relax and do a little yoga to get some blood moving with about 40 minutes until the canon sounded.
My other concern was the weather/rain, the clouds were hanging low. I knew it was going to rain, I just didn't know when. As I was putting on my wetsuit it started to do the sprinkle thing. I love riding in the rain, just not the down hills.
It was about 6:50 am and I still didn't see anyone from the Kelly Klan. I just kept looking and what did I see.James on top of my wife's shoulders with his fresh new Mohawk and sign that he had made for me that said "gogogogogogogogogogogogo dad". So I ran over to give everyone a BIG hug and kiss. Of course as it always happens I start to get that frog thing in my throat. Then I look up and see my two daughters all red faced and crying. Now I'm really trying not to cry. So I give out all my hugs and back to the water I go. The water felt great and helped calm me down. I looked for a nice place to put myself and play the waiting game. I found a nice little place that seemed to be less crowded then other places, as the countdown continued the less crowded place was no more. I set my watch with only a minute to go.
Swim:
Started off with a great swim7:00 am and BOOOOOMMM the canon sounds and off we go, surprisingly it only took about 5 minutes to find a line that I could follow without getting kicked or hit in one way or another. At one point it got too crowded and I stopped to look around and what do I see out my left eye? A hand with a nice big ring on it clocking me right on the forehead. I didn't really notice it until after Alex brought it to my attention at the finish that I had a nice big egg on my head. Anyway, I finished the first lap right on time, 31 minutes. I started the second lap with a nice clean line and that's when the clouds opened up with a nice (not so light) rain. At the end of the 2nd loop with a time of 1:04 (not bad for my longest swim workout being 3200 yards) and some change, then I was off to the strippers. I found a nice place to drop down on my back and before I knew it the wet suit was gone. I gave the volunteers a great big thank you and off I went into the line of athletes headed for the changing tent.
Goal time: 1:10 Official swim time: 1:04:52
Hi. It's Alex, Terry's wife. At this point the kids and I are standing in the POURING down rain waiting for our Ironman. Lauren had to run to our belongings to get them out of the rain and under a truck at the oval. Despite her record-breaking sprint, it was too late and our things (books, magazines, towels, food.) were soaked.
Now we see the athletes coming and who do we finally spot but Terry's girlfriend, professional triathlete, Desiree Ficker. I aim the camera and get a nice out of memory message when I hit the button. Great.
Finally we see Terry and the first thing I notice is a huge, red goose egg on his head. Not a good sign. The four of us are yelling, whooping and hollering and what does Terry do? He runs right by us without a glance.
The four of us set second land record as we sprint back to the oval to watch him transition. The four of us are waiting (Again. It happens a lot) and we see him running to his bike. We once again start yelling like fools and what does he do? Run past us without a glance (again). We yelled his number so loudly that the volunteer heard us and ran to get Terry's bike.
Terry leaves on the bike and we leave to the hotel. We changed and hung out until he completed the first loop. I love the Internet. But first we had to stop at the laundry mat and dry out our cloths and then off to the store to buy umbrellas and ponchos.
T1 - 8:04
Bike:
It rained all dayAfter leaving the tent into a nice down pour, I grabbed my bike from one of the many great volunteers. As you now know because my family has a large mouth that everyone can hear but me. After saying thank you I was off to the bike mounting area. After about a minute I knew something was wrong, a front flat....GREAT.... It was also at this time that I started to get cold with the sporadic shivering. It was all I could do to replace the tube. After a few minutes and a little help from a spectator w/ a pump (shhh, don't tell anyone) I was off and riding.
With the exception of being in my teens and early twenties (after the first time I put down my bike down in the rain) I have never been a huge fan of riding downhill in the rain. I think I would have welcomed a nice little rain; instead I was in a complete downpour. While others were flying down even the smallest hill I was playing it very safe by using my bakes way more that I am accustomed to in normal conditions. I welcome the chance to get up to 40 or 50 MPH. But not that day. I was the one on the right side going maybe 22-24 MPH. I figured better safe than sorry. As more carefree riders going 40+ mph went by I thought for sure one of them was going to bite it. But no one ever did (that I saw). It was then that things really started to get bad with it being so cold, I could hardly squeeze the brakes without the bike shaking back and forth. I was really worried a few times that even with me being so careful on the 7 mile decent into Keene that I was going to be that guy that laid it down or have to call it a day because of hypothermia. But after awhile, I would go from cold to comfortable. After going back and forth my body finally started to warm up, and more often than not I felt comfortable.
During my two other Ironman races I had always tried to pee while on the bike, with no avail. I think it was more of a problem for me that I was pissing on myself and what would it smell like 10 miles up the road with the temperature being 85+. But this time with the heavy rains I couldn't use that excuse anymore. So, I lifted my butt up off the seat and started working those muscles to let it all go.. Finally after about a minute I let it go.. I have to say it felt a bit nasty when it was running down my legs and finally settling in my shoes. But after a few seconds the rain just washed it all away. Because over the course of the 6+ hours on the bike I went number 1 at least 15 times, so I saved myself an additional 20 minutes getting off and on my bike.
The first lap went very well, 3:13 and I felt too good. All I could think about was being that guy that went out too hard on the first lap, and totally blew it on the 2nd. But as it turned out I started to get more comfortable on the down hills (not too much, but a bit) I felt strong, so I figured when I feel good go with it, when I feel bad hold back a bit. That seemed to work well, with about 4 miles or so to go my legs really started to feel tight/heavy. So when I got to Big/Little Cherries I was worried, but I was still passing other riders with little problem. Nice and steady. Mamma Bear, nice and steady. Baby Bear, nice and steady. Shit. Papa Bear, still passing but the legs were heavy. I thought for sure my run was not going to be the 4 hours I was hoping for. Once I got on Lake Placid Club Drive I started to stand and stretch it out. Then, I did the unexpected. 2nd lap, 3:10. I know it was only 3 minutes faster, but still.. I dismounted my bike and handed it to a very motivated volunteer and made my way through the mud and puddles to T2.
Goal time: 5:50 Official time: 6:23:52
Alex's turn: The kids and I return to the final hill next to the Olympic skating rink heading into the oval to wait for Terry. The Kelly kids are standing under their umbrellas as I hoof it into town to find an Internet café to check Terry's progress. Good, we hadn't missed him. I leave the café only to realize its lunch time. I went across the street and ordered a lot of pizza slices and bottled water. I ordered what was ready so I didn't have to wait.
I leave the pizza shop and only walked a few feet when I see our friend, Traci pushing her bike and wrapped in a thermal blanket. Not a good thing. I go to her and find out that she dropped out due to hypothermia. We talked a bit and I headed back to the kids. Now I'm worried because I know Terry has had issues with it in the past.
The kids and I are hanging out under the Olympic building overhang eating pizza and enjoying not being wet. But it's time to head out into the rain (even with umbrellas we were wet) to wait at the barriers. We end up beside an obnoxious guy that yelled go, go, go, hurry up to EVERY athlete. But it was worth it because we had a great spot to see and cheer for Terry. As Terry rounds the corner we start yelling and he zooms by us without yet another glance. We were so close we could have knocked him off the *&% bike!
We leave the race (again) to return to the hotel for another change of clothes, hot chocolate, and to watch TV. While watching TV the kids fall asleep. I want a nap so badly since I've been up since 4:30 but I'm afraid I won't wake up in time to head back to the oval. So I watched a Mindfreak marathon and kept checking Terry's status. Once he had about another hour left in the run I woke the gang up and back to the oval we headed. Again.
Run:
Team racing suits - perfect for running in the rainOnce I got into the changing tent and sat down I knew in my head that I was screwed!!! My legs felt so fried that I didn't even change into my new pair of sweet running Sugio Turbo Fit shorts. But it was finally nice to feel warm again. A volunteer was helping me get my stuff out of my gear bag. I think he was a bit excited because his hands were shaking more that my legs. I took off my bike shoes and put on my racing flats, my hat and Fuel Belt. I thanked the volunteer and I was on my way.
T2 time: 3:56 (Nice)
After leaving the tent I went out at an easy pace, because I was prepared to be reduced to walking in the not so distant future. The rain actually felt really good during the whole run, it was really refreshing. I wasn't hot or cold; I was pretty close to perfect. At the 1 mile make I realized I was feeling good, almost too good, I was still worried about the legs not holding out. I had a goal of running a 4 hour marathon; of course my personal in just a marathon was 3:59 in 2001. So, I kept a positive attitude. After the bike my stomach was so blotted from the Cliff bars I used on the bike that all I could really get down was water. So at every aid station I took a cup of water, walked until I finished it and off I went. At mile 5 I was feeling great, legs were great. Mile 10 things were still great, legs, feet and stride. My stomach finally started to feel good, so I started mixing the IM cocktail I had on my Fuel Belt with water. I would alternate water at one aid station an IM cocktail at the next. This worked great, at the special needs bags I only went with the gummy bears that I had packed. They tasted so good because of all the rain and lack of sun they were perfect, a real pick me up. (1st lap time 1:58) The whole time the spectators were great, really pushing me along, but it was nice to get out onto River Road with just the other athletes and just focus on my run. At the turn around heading back into town things were still going very well. Unlike the bike where I could let all go without stopping (peeing), I had lost count at 15 pee breaks, but they were a nice break. I made it back into town and had to speed walk that final hill on Main Street, and I was still going faster than guys who were running. Looking at my watch I knew I was going to be able to make it in before 12 hours. So, after that last hill I picked up my stride going onto Lake Placid Club Drive. I felt great the cheering of the spectators was really motivating; I kept looking down at every guys calves hoping to see the # 40 to 44. Every time I passed one I was on the hunt for the next, I passed my last 42 year old entering the oval and I was off to the races. I crossed the line (2nd lap time 2:12) with my name being announced and no one else in the picture with me. I am now a 3x Ironman..
Goal time: 4:00 Official run time: 4:11:02
Alex's point of view:
We arrive back at the oval and it is still raining. We finally get the middle of the oval and find a nice spot at the top of the bleachers. We have a perfect view of the athlete's final stretch and we're beside the finish line. The rain made the bleachers slippery and people kept falling down them, including our James. Luckily, I have the reflexes of a cat and caught him before he hit bottom. What does every kid have to do when the time/location isn't right? Go to the bathroom. Morgan took James to the bathroom and Lauren and I waited for Terry. We're hanging out and checking out the runners and basically just enjoying ourselves. Is that him? No, too short. Is that Terry? When what do we hear..the announcer saying Red Lion. What!? Lauren and I whip around just in time to see Terry crossing the finish line. I guess one of the guys we thought wasn't Terry actually was him. If you could only have seen the looks on our faces! I told Lauren to stay and wait for Morgan and James while I went to find Terry and give him the bag of warm clothes I brought from our last trip to the hotel.
I found Terry relatively quickly which was amazing considering how many people were there.
The Kelly's were reunited and drove back to the hotel for the last time!
Goal time overall: anything with 11 hours in it. Official time: 11:51:46
I found Terry relatively quickly which was amazing considering how many people were there.
The Kelly's were reunited and drove back to the hotel for the last time!
Goal time overall: anything with 11 hours in it. Official time: 11:51:46
It has 11 hours in itThis is a great event, due mainly to the course. So, I will be back to do Lake Placid in 2010, goal time anything under 11:30:00. Next race will be the OBX Marathon on November 9, 2008. My wife Alex and I will be running it together, Alex's goal, under 5:00 hours. Hope to see you there.
