Michael’s Race Report
Ironman Maryland (IMMD)
Being an Eastern Shore-man who lives by the weather, I knew
that excessively high tides were in order after 4 days of strong winds out of
the East. Watching the Ironman Village
battle flood tides last week made me think this Ironman was in trouble. As the wind forecast crept up for Saturday’s
Ironman, I was not surprised, nor too disappointed in the swim portion
cancellation.
Up at 0330, breakfast, shower, transition by 5:30, shoes off
to get through tide, body marked, friends and volunteers, Tina, Allen, Sara, Steve(s)
and more, CMS, fun, coach help, bike setup, drop bags, get in wetsuit… ready,
whew!
At 0630 as my support crew gathered around me near the
corral for the swim-start, the river did not look promising. My 86 year old mother was standing next to me
having the wind beat at her back, “her 52 year old boy is not really going out
there, is he?” I saw my sister shake her head, “there’s no way they’re going to
let you in the water”-look. I felt I could
have swum the course and fared better than most; I was not too anxious about it
(most of my anxiety was for the run).
The swim is my strongest leg in an Ironman. But, I was concerned for those not as comfortable
in the water as I was. It was a Hemmingway/Castanza
moment, “The sea was angry that day, my friends…”. By now, 0730, while waiting in my wetsuit for
the swim start, the bottoms of my feet raw from too much walking on the asphalt,
we awaited the obvious news.
After a 30 minute delay to see if the “sea” would lay down
after sunrise, the race committee cancelled the swim portion of IMMD. My 2000 friends and I herded towards the gear
bags and change tents to ready ourselves for a time-trial style start of the
bike leg, which would begin in 20 minutes.
The volunteers were so wonderful, and so were the athletes around me (I
heard others were not so pleasant). The
tents were designed to only hold 75 athletes at a time, so I changed out of my wetsuit
and swimwear in the wide-open for all to see; most of us did that, we had no
choice.
Several athletes had some chilling discomforts resulting
from them having done a warm-up swim and/or having relieved themselves in their
wetsuits (a common practice just prior to your swim start). Not me, I learned
of this later this week on the IMMD facebook page; tmi for sure.
Each athlete started one at a time in a time-trial fashion
every couple of seconds starting with the lowest to highest bib numbers. Mine was 420.
Bibs went as high as 2700 which meant it would take two hours to start
all the cyclists; a long time to wait…and get cold.
With the east wind comes the tide. The bike course (2 laps) was shortened by a
total of twelve miles, cutting out a six mile section of road near Andrews in
Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, which was a foot under water. With no swim and a shortened bike I decided
to pace a bit faster on the bike then I planned, which I did.
The bike was fast and I was having a blast, saying polite
and witty things to other athletes as I passed them, “Good morning! Lovely day (which it wasn’t). Nice bike!
Good pace! Whose idea was
this? Watch out for eagles!” I pushed a bit harder every time I felt the
wind not in my face. This extra “push”
was controlled and practiced, never over extending my efforts. Even with four stops (1 planned, 3 unplanned)
I did the 100 miles in just under five hours, my fastest ride of that length
ever.
My first stop was on the Golden Hill Road when my right knee
hit the bottle I was refilling my tank with, sending it flying into the middle
of the road. Though nearly empty, I went
back for my bottle. Several cyclist whom
I had passed just, recently, said positive and complimentary things to me as I stood
on the grass, both feet on the ground, holding my bottle and bike in my hands. No littering penalty for me.
The second stop involved me relieving myself at the Aid
Station potties on Route 16. As I
approached I saw it was a good time to stop with three potties and only one
bike hanging on the parking rack. It took
all of a minute for that stop.
The planned third stop was to refill my fluids at Special
Needs. George Robinson yelled, “420!” in
his gloriously, booming Eastern Shore voice as a lady volunteer helped me
manage my stop. I, also, had a chance to
say hello to some of the volunteers, including Kathy, who worked the Eagleman
finish line for me in June. It is amazing
what it means to these volunteers to work these events. I’m so grateful for their time and enthusiasm.
The fourth stop was to check my tires for the “tap tap tap”
I had ever since leaving Special Needs.
Surely, I thought, there was something in a tire. I stopped after four more miles when I saw
Cory in the TriCycle and Run bike-support truck. She ran over to me and we looked together at
each tire and found nothing. Later I
realized the “tapping” was fluid hitting the rubber valve in the new bottle
picked up at Special Needs. It sounded
like a thumbtack lodged in my tire when pedaling. A shout out to Cory for great bike support!
There was plenty of wind and rain on the course. The last hike up Route 16 from Taylor’s
Island was the slowest of the ride with a healthy headwind. There were some interesting Pep-chalk
paintings on the course done by supporters.
One painting looked like a crime scene with the outlines of people laying
on the road in various dubious positions.
Another had red chalk which, momentarily, made my front tire turn red;
that freaked me out!
Coach Will, Carita, Melissa and Steve, Sara, Anna were all
at or near the bike dismount alley, cheering me on along with hundreds of
others when I came through. Adrian, who
rode with me a few weeks back, assisted me in the tent with my nine minute
change into my run gear and mixing of my nutrition.
Out into the mud toward the run course I went, drink in
hand, gels in thigh pockets, salts and more drink mix in my rear pocket. In a moment I was past the cheering of my
personal supporters and of the partying mob, making a solid 9:15 pace… right on
plan. Other than stopping to pee at 1.5
miles and down a gel at mile 3, I followed my plan and kept running until my
first official stop around mile 8. The
plan from there was to walk all the Aid Stations (one every mile or so), and
ingest at regular intervals my salts, hydration, and nutrition.
Add to those obstacles, something was not right with my
plan, I was wanting to walk more often and when running I could not hold my
competitive race pace; my competitive race was done. I slipped into a dark place for the next
several miles; I couldn’t even smile back at Carita with all her joyful
cheering and love.
But, something hit me in the ass and by the half marathon
mark I was a much happier camper, though still not able to maintain my targeted
race-pace. This points to where I got in
my training. The sickness I had five
weeks prior to IMMD put an end to the longer runs in my training. My right knee issue, which affects the whole
leg from hip to calf got the better of me, too.
One can see in the race photos a distinct right-side favoring in my run
form (I’m determined to improve this issue).
Excuses, right?
But the highs well out numbered the lows in this race. The highlights were the light in people’s
eyes that I know and love along the race course. Carita was constantly cheering me on, as was
my coach, CMS friends, my weekend hosts Paul and Michael, Carlos on the High Street post, anyone local who saw my CMS kit, and those who met me
from speaking on stage at the Opening Ceremonies.
Joanna and Amy were the first to greet me, Amy taking me
through the finish-line conveyor belt to Carita and Margaret, the photo booth,
and more friends and family. I was
stoked. It took me a good half an hour
to get feeling well enough to have something to eat in the athlete-food tent;
thanks Matt of Rhode Island for dining with me.
After food and a 10 minute massage, I was good to go.
Tracy, Rebecca, and Ben who were wearing the
CMS green kit, too, inspired me during the run to run faster (don’t know how I
missed Sam and Steve??). Cindy at High
and Water Street was in her element having so much fun. Sara has the most patience and endurance of
any of us as she managed the bike area, took photos, and cheered me on every
time I ran through the flood. Michele
gushed with encouragement. Anna looked hot in her boots. Chris’s encouraging hand
fell on my back at one point. And having
Dean pass on the small American flag for the finish line was like manna; the
rest was, literally, downhill over the High Street bricks to the welcoming arms
of the finish line.
It was awesome to be with friends under the Tomeley’s party
tent when the deluge of rain hit; hot off the grill cheeseburger in my hand,
sitting with Carita and friends rehashing the race and hearing plans for IMMD
2017.
Training for an Ironman takes a large chunk of time out of
one’s life. And, even though I dedicated
myself to this process over the past twelve months (and years leading up to
this), I fell short of being as prepared as I wanted to be for a competitive
Ironman for myself. That’s okay. So, for now, I say I’m DONE with the full
distance Ironman, but look forward to many more triathlons, including
Eagleman! I plan to continue to make “training”
be a way of life for me, but will tackle only enough as to allow the rest of
life to flourish.
Being surrounded by the like-minded people of Cambridge
Multi-Sport, TCY Masters Swimming, the YMCA’s of Easton and Dorchester, and my
family makes this “way of life” fulfilling, fun, and life-giving. It is a privilege, that I take heavily, to
race Ironman Maryland; I am blessed. My gratitude
goes to every person that has touched my Iron life.
Stats: Bike 4:59, Run
5:08, T2 9min, total time 10:17
The projected finish time with all the missing portions of
IMMD added back had me besting my previous Ironman time by close to half an hour.
with Gratitude ~ Michael
