Woody Freese - Lake Placid RR
Lake Placid 2015
If you are looking for a “race report” that will compare pace per 100 meter swim, wattage on the bike and run mile splits, ounces of fluid intake and calories counted – you will be disappointed.
I have always been public in my pre-race proclamation about the desire to “Cross the finish line with Dignity… and I hope like hell that she shows up!” In advance of many races, I would often have an additional goal or two - tucked under my swim cap, inside my cycling helmet and in the waistband of my running shorts.
For Ironman Lake Placid 2015, there were no 2nd or 3rd level “top-secret” finish goals. Based on last year, I SO needed to finish and to cross that damn finish line. Nothing more! Nothing less!
The swim went well – I was quite pleased, given the volume of swim training. Admittedly, I was very gentle on the shoulder area this year, walking a fine line between swimming “hard” and fearing additional injury of the collarbone and scapula area after last fall’s crash.
On lap 2 of the swim, I took one helluva brutal kick to the upper right chest area – one that still radiates sharp pain if I twist and/or move quickly in the wrong direction. At times, the pain is on par with the broken ribs of last fall. The cement headed part of me sees no need, whatsoever, to go to the doctor.
The bike was slow and steady. Very slow and steady. Made much slower and much steadier with 2 front flats. Not sure what the cause of the first flat was, but I can say with a fair amount of certainty that the 2nd flat was my bad – the tube was installed incorrectly. Duh! (Insert vision of me smacking my forehead with the palm of my hand – very hard). I stopped at most aid stations (vs. riding thru and grabbing on the fly). I thanked volunteers. I peed off of the bike. I enjoyed the beauty of the Adirondacks and I focused very little on miles per hour or watts.
The run (and I use that term very VERY V-E-R-Y loosely) was simply an exercise (no pun intended) in getting thru 26.2 miles - one small step at a time. The run was a bit spooky at times. Early on, I had a funny taste in my mouth that I could not shake. At one point, I spit in order to clear said funny feeling. I discovered blood in my spit! Now I am no doctor… but even I know this goes in the “bad” column! While there was minimal pain (no more or less than any other triathlon), I was mildly concerned about what might be going on inside (for the record, I was NOT concerned enough to stop – that would have been downright silly!!) – concerned enough to stop Stephanie Siggard-Stevens (a friend, a doctor and teammate from Endurance Nation) on the run and ask for a bit of medical advice. I spit at her feet (not ON her feet J), to show her what was going on - asking if I should be worried. Steph asked if I was having problems breathing - I said “no.” Steph gave me a high five and said “You’ll be fine – don’t stop unless you are having issues with your lungs.” If I could only get my GP to be this efficient J Thanks Steph!!
For those keeping score at home, I cut the inside of my mouth chewing on ice cubes – which caused the bleeding!
16 hours and change is mighty damn slow – especially compared to some of my teammates and friends. Geez – even by my puny standards, this was one long day! And yet, I cannot recall being happier entering the speed skating oval and crossing the finish line!
It’s really difficult to explain the pre-race emotions that led up to Lake Placid.
For the past 6 months, I have had this recurring nightmare that wakes me up 2-3 times a week. It is a brief (think less than 1 minute in “dream time&rdquo
and involves last fall’s cycling crash in Montreal. It is raining, I am on the course, the turn, the cyclist passing me on the right, feeling his left shoulder hit my right shoulder, my tires skidding across the wet pavement, slamming into the ground and bouncing/sliding. More often than not, I wake up and have difficulty falling back to sleep. I was not sure how I would feel come race morning.
There was also a bit of anxiety driving up thru the Keene descent, where I DNF’ed last year’s Lake Placid – thus ending “the streak” of finishing every Ironman Lake Placid. It’s taken a while, but I have finally come to terms with starting every year.
In 34 years of training and racing, I have seen thousands of athletes come and go in this sport. I have seen pro careers blossom and end in retirement… I have seen spry, young eager beavers who announce that they are going to Lake Placid, do their first triathlon (not their first Ironman – their first triathlon!) and they are going to qualify for Kona… Underwear runs, beer & scotch exchanges, neon colors (sadly and oddly, neon is starting to come around again!), Scott DH bars (google the image), Look pedals, heart rate monitors the size of a pack of cigarettes (is it odd that I use a pack of cigarettes as a comparison to a heart rate monitor??) bacon festivals, applesauce diets and just about every other techno-whiz-bang-boom shiny piece of gear you can imagine. And yes - I have seen those spry, young eager beavers – who thought they were going to be Kona-bound, selling their gear in tri club newsletters.
I have seen it all.
The tri world, for the most part, has been pretty damn good to me. Yeah, it’s no secret that I’ve had a few speedbumps and glitches along the way. What 34 year old relationship doesn’t have speedbumps and glitches?? All-in-all, and moving forward every day, I am choosing to focus on the positives – the friendships, the miles of therapy AND the image of how much fatter I would be if I didn’t do this nonsense J
Roll everything together and I have seriously contemplated walking away from the sport all together:
34 years – CHECK
30 Ironman finishes – CHECK
Kona in 2012 – CHECK
Just missed the sub 11 hours in Panama City (which would have translated to my version of an Olympic gold medal) – CHECK.
What else could I give to the sport? What else was there to gain?
Knowing that Lake Placid was going to be a super-slow long, catered training day with many friends, I contemplated quitting Endurance Nation and relinquishing my slot on the Ironman Foundation – Newton Running Ambassador’s Tri Team – out of embarrassment. Truth-be-told, I didn’t think my performances were going to be worthy of the uniforms and that I might be better off on the sidelines, clapping and cheering – making way for another spryer younger eagerer beaver trying to get to Kona.
And then I arrived in Lake Placid.
With my dear friend (my brutha from anutha muthaJ ) Larry Lewis, we navigated around town, laughing and enjoying the beauty and history of Lake Placid. We ate and caught up on “life.” And we spent a fair amount of time stopping and chatting with friends, family and passers-by… folks who commented that they watched our Lake Placid video from 2014. We listened to stories from athletes who watched the videos over and over and over again, while logging countless hours on their trainer. We had athletes tell us that we were an inspiration. We took pictures with strangers who became instant friends. We hugged. We shook hands. We celebrated the true meaning of the sport.
We made a difference. And knowing that we made a difference and gave something back to the sport was enough to talk me off of the proverbial ledge.
No report would be complete with saying “THANK YOU!” Think of this as a virtual high five and a hearty fist bump to all! (This small fine-print disclaimer includes an apology, in advance, for folks who may not have been included by name. I promise you it was not intentional.)
To my partner Sue: You are a rock star – being an Iron Sherpa is NOT easy and I truly appreciate your love, support and patience with this nonsense. Thank you so much – I love you. J
To my wonderful daughter Keegan: You have no idea how special it was to share the day with you. I am so proud of you and I love you. Thank you for making the day that much more special.
To the folks from the Ironman Foundation – Newton Running Ambassador’s Tri Team: I am so incredibly blessed and humbled to be part of a great group of athletes and an even greater group of individuals. Julianne (best Team Mom evah!), Christine, Whitney and Dave, as well as the folks at Newton, Sugoi, Roka, Flo Wheels, Rudy Project, Foster Grant and Quintana Roo – thank you for all that you do with and for us. As for my IMF-NRA teammates – KOKUA rocks! Seeing Green Peeps out there throughout the day was so inspiring – BOOM!
Endurance Nation: What an AMAZING group of coaches, athletes and administrators! Coaches Patrick McCrann and Rich Strauss are second to NONE in the coaching world – THANKS for everything! At the risk of forgetting some – Al, Tim, Heather, Teri, Brenda, Steve, Stephanie, Scott, Ed, John, Michelle – and soooooooo many others: thank you for keeping the spirit of Endurance Nation so high and making it so special.
To my dear friend Julie: Thank you so much for your wonderful & lovely hospitality each year. Without your kindness, as well as Zach’s and Mark’s, “the streak” would have ended years ago!
Larry, Chris and Joe: words cannot express how special you are. Thank you for a million laughs - I love you guys J
TJ – this one was for you - finally :-)
To all the folks at the WTC – you put on one helluva dance. Thank you for continuing to make dreams come true!
Just 36 shopping days until Ironman Chattanooga - BOOM!
Comments
Great report and it was a pleasure to speak with you again in Lake Placid this year.
Hope you have another great experience in Chattanooga next month.
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You're an inspiration Woody!! Good luck in 2016!
Don't know if you're aware, but MDs have a concept called the "curb-side consult." (Stop a colleague in the hall and ask for help.) So your conversation with Steph brought a chuckle ...a REAL curb side consult!
Sounds like you've put your PTSD into abeyance with that long slow trip to the oval this year?