This was my biggest race of my career. My second full 140.6 but first M-Dot. When it was announced over a year ago I was ready with 2 computers to sign up and was one of the lucky ones to complete registration in 6 minutes! I remember looking at the event website after sign up and seeing the countdown clock- 370 some odd days- seemed like the race was way way off into the distance and I had a big schedule ahead of me to get there.
Well that stuff is past and the HARDEST DAY OF MY LIFE is done. I am an IRONMAN. My friends those words are magically. They take the pain, suffering, mental doubt, heat, humidity, chaffing and exhaustion, not to mention months of training and make it ALL WORTH IT. More to come on the finish line, but let me share the entire experience.
Packet pickup- The village opened up at Pier 92 (NYC West Side) which is near the Intrepid museum and cruise ship terminals. The village was large and some great vendors. Pickup was smooth and was very convenient as it was open until 8. When I got there around 6 pm it was not crowded and I sailed right through. Swag for an Ironman is pretty good- an awesome backpack- will be my Transition bag going forward. After a quick stop through the IM store to pick up a few things I was on my way home.
Pre Race Friday- One of the advantages of doing a lot of triathlons including some M-Dot 70.3's is experience with a variety of transition set ups and locations. However IM USChamps was definitely a new one- a small rock outcropping in the Hudson that required a Ferry ride to get there- this was a cool experience and while slow was really cool. Of course when I dropped off my bike it was pouring rain. Once the bike and T1/T2 bags were dropped off it was time for a nice slow ride back to the ferry terminal to pick up my overnight bag and then take another ferry across the river to my hotel. The last thing I needed to do was pick up my IronSherpa at the train station. That worked great and having my sister with me was a great thing- she is a 10X marathon finisher and just gets endurance racing- especially pre and post race needs.
Race Morning- after not getting much sleep (who sleeps before an Ironman) I was up at 2:10 and began to eat and get ready- race morning was going well. My Sherpa and I left the hotel about 3:20 for the short walk down to the ferry terminal. The morning was warm- warmer than any other race morning that I remember but rain was in the forecast so I was expecting that things might cool off- they didn't- more on that later. Soon it was time to board the ferry - WOW that was cool. Much better than the usual bus ride, plus the ferry created a nice breeze. The ride was about 30 minutes and I had some great pre race conversations- IM racing is much different than other distances. The goal is not so much around time or place, but finishing and experiencing an amazing day.
Transition Set-up- Ironman set up is much different from other distances because all of your T1 and T2 gear is in bags that you grab as you finish your swim and bike. So the only thing you do for the Bike in the morning is make sure you are in an easy gear and have your nutrition loaded properly. Speaking of gear setting, the first mile of the bike was a long steep climb so I was in my 39-21 and was so glad for that! There were several folks who had to dismount and set their gears low and then remount on a hill- not a good way to start biking 112 miles.
Swin- 2.4 miles in the Hudson. There had a been a report about the Hudson river having a bad sewage leak, but according to testing done by the IM folks as well as the EPA & river keepers we were safe and the swim was on! And I am so glad it was- it was an awesome experience. We all got on ferries for the 2.4 trip to the swim start barge. Once we got to the barge area we waiting for the Pros to start and the energy was Awesome. Lots of spectator boats, a helicopter with a news style camera and some loud music. The pro cannon went off at 6:50 and the male pros hit the water and were off like a flash. The women pro athletes and PC (these folks are amazing!) were next and then our ferry docked and we slowly made our way on to the barge. It took me about 12 minutes from docking to hitting the water- the good news is the timing mat was located right before the jump in area so no time lost waiting to swim. I decided to pick the middle area of the barge to hit the water as it the first 100 meters looked light in terms of bodies compared to the buoy line which was very crowded. My logic was get in, start swimming at a good pace and then work my way to the buoy line- instead of jumping in to a swim scrum. The course was very well marked- a buoy ever 100 meters and sighting was a breeze- the GWB west tower was all we needed. So after about 500 meters of swimming I worked my way towards the buoy line and got picked up in the current- wow what an acceleration. The swim became very easy and I swam normal to easy knowing the bike and run would be hard so best to take advantage of the current. The hardest part of the swim was the last 100 meters since we all were funneled into the swim exit- the water was very murky and it was pretty rough- both water and bodies. But everyone was relaxed- so you got hit, but not hard and very soon I was being hauled out of the water. I looked down at my garmin- 51 minutes+ a new Swim PR (but I am not loosing sight of the fact this is due to the current and my steering- not swimming!). I used the wetsuit stripper- super fast and quickly grabbed my T1 bag. Instead of heading into the Changing tent, I just parked on the ground and quickly got my gear on- no socks, bike shoes, headsweat head band (mistake), helmet and sunglasses. I stopped to get sunscreen applied- they had volunteers wearing gloves just to smear the stuff on- great job and kept my hands from getting greasy. My goal for T1 was to be smooth, take my time, but not waste time. I got to my bike and felt great as I got to the mount line (plus I remembered to both start my bike garmin as well as properly lap my watch garmin to account for swim and T1).
Swim time- 51:26
T1-5:23
Bike- As I mentioned the start of the bike had a mile long steep climb to get up and out of the palisades. Roughly 200 feet of elevation in the first 1/2 mile and then another 100 ft/el in the second 1/2 mile. But I was ready- I sat up and spun up easily- no sense in going hard in mile 1 with 111 more to go. The bike course was a two loop out and back on the completely closed palisades parkway (south bound lanes). The first 28 miles were easy- we had a tail wind and we did not have any hills until about mile 20. And during the first major descent I got up to about 48 miles an hour- WOW that was fast. My plan on the bike was to ride solid on the flats, sit up and spin on the climbs and take free speed on the descents- essentially get as much rest as possible when going down. And most of the downhills were at least 1-3 miles so getting 2-8 minutes of rest was a good idea. Around mile 40 I started to feel blah. The weather was getting warm and my stomach felt heavy- not quite bloated but heavy. I realized that I probably had too much fluid in my stomach and just needed to power through for the next hour or so until the balance was restored. But I was miserable until about mile 70. What got me through was a couple of things: 1) recognizing what was happening and knowing it would eventually get better, 2) grabbing some ice cold water at each aid station to pour on my body- that helped start to cool me down, 3) trying some Ironman perform sports drink- even though it was too sweet the extra salt (along with my Nuun mix with my carbopro) helped restore my salt balance, 4) I stopped to pee- I really did not have to pee, but felt like getting off the bike for 30 seconds or so would be a good idea- I took off my helmet and removed my headsweat head band- NEVER AGAIN WILL I WEAR IT. I felt so much better. I also removed the vent cover on my rudy helmet to allow for max air flow and water intake when spraying my face. By the time I got to mile 70 I was feeling much better and started playing mental distance games/goals. Eating up time and miles. And soon I was on the final loop with about 20 miles to go. The last 20 were very tough- hot and very humid with a strong cross headwind. It was a long slog and I was so happy to take the off ramp and start the descent back into transition. I sat up and coasted back to transition- no need to hammer- free speed and time to let the legs get their last bit of break time- I was feeling pretty good but knew I had 4-5 hours more to go (ended up even more) so any rest was good.
Before I cover T2 I want to share some thoughts on the bike- it was a straight course, but very dangerous. There were a lot of bad crashes- One took place behind me - I heard it as a guy slammed into the metal road divider- sounded like a shot gun blast. Another took place near the turn around point- a women crashed on the downhill into our lane- was knocked out. The med staff was there however very quickly. Later I passed a guy who had to ride aero- his right bull horn was shattered from a crash and the right side of his body was covered in road rash. I will say that the crashes seemed to be accidents and not a result of overly aggressive riding by others. There was a lot of courtesy and good riding habits- pointing out bottles, holes, bumps as well as on your left calls.
On to T2- I got to see my IronSherpa coming into T2 which was great- emotionally great. After 7 hours of racing seeing someone you love really makes a big difference in the way you feel (a bit more on that later too). I elected to slide my feet out of my bike shoes and leave them clipped in- after all I have done that on every other triathlon except 2 so why change- good idea as running in bike shoes stinks. After crossing the mount line and remembering the garmins, I handed the bike off and jogged to the change tent with my T2 bag. Again my plan for T2 was slow and smooth. I had my helmet off very quickly as well to vent my head. I sat down and got my socks and shoes on- definitely glad I ran with socks since my feet are in great shape- no blisters or bruised toes! I had some sunscreen which I pocketed, threw on my fuel belt (revenge 3 bottle) and got re lubbed with sunscreeen. I began a slow jog out of T2, hit my garmin and then paused for a quick picture from my Sherpa! Thank God she was there- and even better she was at the finish line.
Bike- 6:05:28
T2 4:39
A note on my two transitions- I am really happy with them. I am very good at fast transitions- usually 1 minute for T1 and 30-45 seconds for T2 in 70.3 and below races- obviously a 140.6 is much different and I did not rush- but did not waste time and in both cases felt refreshed and ready to go!
Run- or the deep journey inside my head and thank god for Dr. Pemberton!
The first 15 miles of the run took place inside the palisades park and were EXTREMELY hilly. We left T1 and climbed for about 3/4's of a mile then had a mile long downhill. The run was a two 3.5 mile out back loop before we made yet another climb up to the George Washington bridge- but lets get back to the run. I felt okay during the first 5 miles but as we got the long 1 mile climb up to the turn around point started to feel drained and very tired. I decided I needed to walk the hill to conserve some energy. And I decided it was time to hit the coke- early yeah but I needed caffeine and sugar bad. One complaint I do have about the race is the aid stations were varied in distance- some 1/2 mile other almost 2 miles apart. I would have preferred no more than a mile and even better smaller stations with water and coke every half with full stations every mile (ON THE MILE). So by the time I got to the top of the hill I knew I was in bad shape- I was starting to think was I gonna make the cut off- I was walking at a 17 minute a mile pace. But I decided I would push- let the coke work and go from there. At the aid station I took two cups of coke and added ice (which also was not at every aid station- nor were sponges) I mean 90 degrees and warm water, perform and coke- tough for athletes to take. Korff and WTC need to do a better job with that. The mile long descent was a bit more of inner hell- the coke had not yet kicked in and I was doubting a lot- how in the hell could I finish if I could hardly walk. But I said push to the next aid station- get more coke. And I reminded myself that I really wanted to get across the GWB- race across the iconic bridge that I commute over- yeah come on coke work your magic. Well Dr. Pemberton (coke inventor) your sugar and caffeine elixir worked for me in spades. By the time I got to the third aid station I felt so good that I started to run again- slow but wow did I feel great. I knew however that I needed to take coke at every aid station from here out and also be ready for the longer breaks and grab more when needed. I also decided that I would walk the long hill on the second lap. I also knew that I was now going to finish- it would take long time, but eventually I would cross that line. Finally I got out of the palisades park and began to climb again up to the GWB. On the walk I met up with a guy named Eugene Chen- He and I ended up running/ walking together on and off to the finish. We ultimately finished about 30 seconds apart and I know we each helped each other get through the last ten miles of hot hell. Running across the bridge was everything I thought it would be and more- it was and easy mile. I felt good and ran at a 10 minute pace but I ran the entire way and felt relaxed. I had crossed the icon and was now in NYC and only had 10 miles to go- 2 hours or so- easy.
Coming off the bridge and stairs was easy- slow and steady and the fans on the base of the bridge were great. And it was a downhill so finally a break from climbing. I did have an incident with a jerk who decided to block the course and try to spit on me. The course in NY was not closed to the public and there were people on bikes, BBQing, running, smoking, drinking, walking dogs etc on the actually course- not a great job- CLOSE THE COURSE please. The aid stations were again more than a mile apart- closer to 1.5 so I was grabbing 2 cokes and some perform as well as water to dumb on my head. And slowly we ticked the miles off- sometimes running, sometimes walking. But along with Eugene, there were about 20 guys and girls that I was with. We all gave encouragement, light pats on the back, a couple of high fives and the refrain- see you at the finish line. We were not racing each other, we were surviving together. And before long we were at mile 22- 4 to go but we had to conquer a set of out and backs in riverside park- complete with a bunch of short steep hills- Damn these hills! But as I turned up the hill I saw my Mom and Dad- and had to yell Grandma before they saw me- but wow what an emotional rush of joy. So slowly, oh so slowly my cohort of Ironmen and Ironwomen slogged our way around 3.5 miles of pain before we exited out towards the finish. The only plus of the out and backs- some really great spectators- cheering, hi-fiving and really giving us encouragement. And soon Eugene and I along with another guy named Adrian passed mile 25. We agreed that we try to run together to the finish line- but create some separation as we got into the finishing chute- Mike Reilly was gonna announce each of us and time/ place etc was irrelevant. Finishing was all that mattered. We even created the order- Adrian, Eugene and then me. However Adrian dropped the pace- we were going about 10:30 ish and he said to us just go on. So Eugene and I ran towards the lights and sounds at the finish- Eugene said go- you are a bit stronger right now so with the finish line about .4 miles away I began the greatest run of my life. I zipped up my tri suit top and got about 15 meters behind the guy in front of me. I saw my mom right before the finisher barriers and gave her a big hi-five and then started down the line. All of sudden Mike was calling my name, I was on the carpet and saw the clock.
And the sweetest words a Triathlete can hear "David Smith, from Sparta NJ you are an IRONMAN"!
I crossed the line and and was speechless. My good friend Billy Lister from CAF was my body catcher- so awesome to have a friend there to help me through the first few minutes of the post race craziness. However all the coke I needed to take to complete the run meant that I needed some real help and within 5 minutes I knew I needed to go to the med tent- billy got me there and very soon the great staff had me drinking chicken broth, as well as a leg massage. Plus they let me sleep for 15 minutes- I was SOOOO tired. Being in the med tent is such an inspiring thing- being surrounded by my fellow athletes who also endured their own personal hell to get to the finish line helps to show the triumph of the human spirit. Once released from the med tent I found my Sherpa, my awesome sister Alison and we made our way to the hotel. The walk to catch a taxi was perfect since it forced blood through my recently massaged legs and I think has helped with the lack of soreness I feel today (they hurt- just not too bad).
Run- 5:14:55
Total-12:12:51
789 OA, 166 40-44AG
There were 2021 finishers out of 2146 starters.
Now during my race, it turns out there were some amazing people not just tracking my race, but sharing encouragement through out the day on facebook. My sherpa was posting for me with my phone and Len Entrabartolo, Rick Sobona & Keiko Flores who are my great spinervals buddies spent the ENTIRE DAY Tracking and posting. Sure Rick had to get an eye exam and Len got in 20 miles out on the bike (hot out there!) but they devoted their day to me. Guys- words can not express the gratitude. As I read the comments from everyone I was blown away. Hundreds of posts, likes and comments all for me.
And to the rest of Spinervals members community:
Nancy Hall
Michelle Young
Bobbie Williams
Derek Couse
Shaker Brock
Judy Somes
Karen Haldane
Susan Sobona
Susie Walsh
Holly Lavigne
Pat Morris
and of course Coach Troy!
Beer is on me at the members conference!
And my wife Sue who supports (not always liking what I am doing since it takes so much time, BUT ALWAYS Supports me) Thank You.
