IMLP Race Report - Cary Blanco
My first Ironman experience was an truly amazing one, I had a smile on my face the whole day. I executed EN style and finished where I wanted to be.
On Thursday morning I load up my Xterra with what seems to be almost everything I own. Last minute I omit a few things, A guitar (to use as a stress reliever), a blender (my friend Lell was bringing hers), and my espresso machine (Coach Rich wasn't going to be there so I didn't need to impress him with my Latte skills). My dive is going to take from five to six hours and I note to myself that my bike split will be longer than this and quash any thoughts of complaining to myself about how long it's going to take to get there.
As I'm entering Lake Placid I see someone riding with an EN jersey, they're stopped so I pull over to say hi and make sure that everything is alright, it's Suzanne Kinsky with Eric Voboril and they're fine. I arrive at 3:00PM, check in to my hotel and swing over to registration. I weight in at 162, 3 pounds under my goal weight! I do a quick calculation and determine this will yield 3 watts/Kg on the bike. I do an easy 25 minute run show quickly and head over to meet the team at the EN dinner. I was so happy to meet people that I've only known through forum posts, twitter etc. It turns out I went to high school with Dave Martin's wife, Jen and was in homeroom with here sister - small world. After dinner I head over to Wise Guys bar and watch the TdF replay of the Tourmalet stage, I manage to keep it to one beer.
Friday: A 30 minute swim in the lake then back to my hotel for a shower and to grab some recording gear so I can capture the 4 keys talk for the team ,then it's over to the grassy knoll. Coach P gives a great talk and Mike from Infinit finishes with a bit on race nutrition. I go to meet Todd from TT bike fit who was nice enough to order and bring a Lazer helmet for me just in time for the race. I put the helmet on and proceed to ride down the back end of the course (the bears) and then back up, I then ride the run course as recon. I take note that my FD is giving me a bit of trouble but otherwise everything is working fine, I had a wheel cover issue that Chris G. had offered to help me out with, but it worked itself out. High Peaks cycle takes my bike right away and does a quick but thorough Front Derailleur adjustment for me. I take it for a quick spin around the lake and confidence is high. I run the first two miles of the run course and then back at a very easy pace, it rained a bit while I was out there but I didn't let that bother me. Lell and I head over to the KOA where a few of my friends are camping in an RV and check out their digs for the weekend. We eat some diner then it's back to the hotel and off to bed. I'm in bed by 10:30 (as a night owl, this is huge for me).
Saturday: No alarm set, I wake feeling very fresh at 9AM. I get my Bike and Run bags finalized, grab the bike and head to the oval. My mother comes in to town at 3:00 and I take her around and explain the logistics to her. I end up walking around a lot more and a lot later than I'd hoped. Mike from Infinit see me and gives me a look of disapproval.
I maybe get to sleep at midnight, thoughts are running a million miles an hour through my head.
Race day
2:00AM - wake up, down my smoothie and and a 250 calorie ensure, I want to get a full 700 calories, back to sleep.
4:45AM - wake up again - eat half a PBJ. Mom goes to grab me a cup of coffee. I quickly rinse in the shower and scrub my face, usually I get less goggle leak this way. I ate half a PBJ, I down the coffee and another banana smoothie.
I recheck everything five more times, then off to transition with my Mother. In the oval I give the tires a pump, check my Bike and Run Bags, get Body Marked. Somehow I'm behind in time, I'm supposed to meet my tri team at 6:05 for a quick prayer and pep talk, I get there at 6:15 - Dominic, one of my non-racing Runner's Edge teammates see me still holding my special needs bags, grabs them out of my hands says he'll drop them off and I suddenly feel like a 100 pound weight is lifted from my shoulder. I take out a sharpie and write B/X1 on my backside left hand, I ask my friend, Kristen to write "Angel" on my left wrist and "Blossom" on the right one. Angel was my father's middle name, Blossom is my mother's and interestingly enough, Cary is my middle name. I show my new markings to my mother, it takes a minute but she gets it and is very happy. I'll able to see this writing whenever my hards are in the aerobars and I know it will make me happy.
I suit up and head over to the swim start. I completely stretch out my arms and do a quick stretch to my calves. I zip up at 6:51 and get in the water at 6:52. I put myself around 40% of the way off of the cable. People are giving each other plenty of room once you get five feet behind the flags, there's a lot of space around me, I know it wont last long. I seed myself slightly faster as per EN instruction and wait for the gun.
BOOM! My first mass start, wow I'm getting swung at and kicked from every conceivable angle. I try to settle in on just being abel to complete a full stroke, but there's not a lot of room to put my arms in the water. I know it will ease up eventually, I'm just not sure when. I get swam over by several people and eventually get in to a pseudo stroke rhythm. I then get kicked in the forehead. I begin to wonder if I'm going to have a lump and if it will hurt to wear a bike helmet. BOX - worrying about a possible lump on my head does me absolutely no good and there's nothing I can do to change what has already happened, I go back to concentrating on my form and counting my strokes. By the time I get to the first turn buoy, I've got a clean line of sight to the underwater cable. The second length I maintained sight of the cable and had occasional "interactions" with other swimmers. I ended up kicking someone in the head, which hurt my instep quite a bit, nothing I can do about that and i count more stokes. I get out of the water for the first loop and the clock says 45:XX - is that the Pro 10 minute earlier start time I hope? I cross the beach and get back in the water - i'm halfway done with the first part of my Ironman swim. More of the same just concentrating on form and keeping the cable in sight with somewhat minimal contact. Turn buoy, I'm heading to the shore for the last time. As I approach I can hear the announcer. I cross the timing matt at 1:15:13 - 5 minutes shorter swim time than I expected.
Off to T1 I grab my bag and hit the changing tent, it looks busy. I go to the back as per EN protocol find a chair right away and end up sitting next to Mike Graffeo, I say a quick hi and get to business cleaning my feet then putting on my shoes helmet and sunglasses. I decide it's warm enough to skip the arm warmers.
T1: 7:54
Bike: I go past the mount line to avoid all the craziness get on my bike, hit start on my Edge 705 and prepare for the descent and hairpin turn. I know i need to go real easy for the first 40 minutes so i keep a close eye on my power and try to stay in 1st gear. I hit the climb out of town and just the RnP said, guy are flying up the hill like nobody's business. One gut that passes me actually say, "You know what you're doing, you're taking it easy". I reply with "I don't think there are any King of the Mountain points for this climb and I'm pretty sure I need to run a marathon after this." He smiles and proceeds to start hammering up the hill albeit not as fast as the everyone else. I take in some Infinit at the top follow with water and take a couple bites of a powerbar protein bar to keep me feeling full. The descent to Keen is wet and I'm a bit nervous. I know i can't ride the brakes, but I also know I want to control my speed. I decide on sitting up at the turns and feathering the breaks on the straight parts to keep my speed down. I didn't get over 41 mph.
I make the turn towards Jay ad settle in to aero and start taking in more nutrition. I'm grabbing a new water bottle for my aerobar mount and a banana at each aid station. I try to thank as many volunteers as I can. The wind seems reversed on the new out and back and it's slightly downhill with a headwind out and slightly uphill with a tailwind back. I welcome turn to Wilmington and it's climb as I'd been sitting in aero position for a while and was happy to sit up for a bit as I was going 8mph up the first hill while maintaing my 3rd gear watts. I see Coach P about halfway through "The Notch" and was feeling good. After a quick and uneventful turnaround on Hazelton, I head for the climb back in to town.
To me this section offers the most rolling parts where you can maintain your power and really bomb the descents and take the free speed up the next hill. I get to the bears and it's just crazy. Papa Bear is a scene. I've got a big cheering section from Runner's edge and their running up the hill with me. I crest and head towards town and I get another group of friends cheering for me. My buddy Chris even made a special flag for me and ran along side for a minute. A quick stop at Special needs for a new bottle of Infinit that I kept cold with a insulated lunch back and a small freeze pack. I took the turn on to main street and I see the crowds and barriers and I just think WOW, this is really something. I hear my name over the PA. I hit the LAP button at 3:20.
The second lap was very similar to the first except the downhill to Keen. The road was dry now, but the wind had pick up quite a bit. I felt my front wheel vibrating and I got nervous. I pulled over, tightened it even more, it well worth the 2 minutes I lost pulling over rather than risk a really bad accident. I finished the second loop with plenty of energy and feeling good which is exactly the opposite feeling I had when I did my race rehearsal here a month prior. My second infinit bottle is 2/3 full - this doesn't bother me as I had a lot of water some bites of a powerbar and a few bananas and 2 GUs
Bike: 6:52:22 - After RR I expected anywhere from 7 to 7:30 so I was happy with this split.
After handing my bike to a volunteer I grabbed my bag headed into the tent, changed into shorts and an EN hat, visited the portapotty, applied sunscreen and hit the run.
T2: 6:58
Marathon: After several injuries starting with an IT band issue that surfaced in the NYC Marathon to Metatarsal bruising during the holiday run challenge and a few other issues that plagued me thru-out the training season I was worried if my body would hold up during the run. My longest training run was 2:10 - I had to trust the system and hope for the best. I exit T2 and the crowd is just electric, I've got a lot of friends lining the street cheering me on. I look down at my garmin and it says i'm doing an 8:20 pace, this is waaaay fast and I actually say out loud "Slow Down". It took me about a mile and a half to consciously slow myself down 10:30 (LRP+:30), walking the first aid station as per EN protocol helped. I maintained the LRP+30 for the first 6 miles and found that I couldn't kick it up to LRP without physically feeling like I was going little to hard for a marathon, so I stayed at the +:30 pace. I broke the course down to 6 manageable, easily attainable milestones per loop and this helped me a lot to get through the 26 miles.
I see Patrick on the after my turn on the first loop of river road - he gives me a couple words of encouragement and I'm off.
I hit town for the first time, it's so great to be in-the-center of it all. I'm getting lots of high fives from my friends and family.
I do a quick stop a run special needs and grab a long sleeve shirt for the second loop, I'd actually been cold for a good portion of the first loop. I also change my socks, the new dry socks make it feel like I have a new set of feet to work with for just about five minutes. I try the chicken broth for the first time, not bad, not bad at all. I run down into town and begin my second loop.
As I pass by the Marriott I see a giant "Go Dave Go" written in chalk on the street, I think "wow, this Dave guy has got a great support crew". Closer inspection of said chalk markings reveal in smaller writing underneath in quotes: "The Halligan" - I laugh out loud and continue on my second loop. Dave, I'm sorry you didn't get to see it, but your friends and family should know they did provide pleasant distracting entertainment to other members of Team EN.
I continue onward keeping a 11-12 minute pace hoping that I won't have an IT band, knee or foot issue. I make it to the line and I'm still running. I hit the turn on river road and I know that everything I see will be for the last time today. I go up the hill after river road without issue. I think maybe I should start to "race" - no way, I've been without problems so far I don;t want to introduce any at this point. I go through mile 20 and I've got dry mouth, nothing is working to alleviate it, broth, pretzels, just water, oranges. I'll just have to hope it's not the precursor to something bad. Mile 23 - I'm heading up the big hill into town, I've got 5k to go should I put on the gas? I decide that I've had one of the best days of my life to this point and the 5 minutes I could save by racing the last 5K while I'm passing my tri team supporters and friends in town isn't worth it. I do the math and at the current pace, I can finish by 8:30 - sundown, my goal.
I take the last 5K as a personal victory lap. I'm super stoked. I hit the turn on mirror lake drive and I know it's downhill to the oval. I run in to the oval and I know that this is it, my first Ironman finish, I make sure there's space in front and in back of me so I can be alone in my finisher's photo. I hear Mike Riley "Cary Blanco from atlantic Beach, NY you are an Ironman". I cross the line and I've done something that I never imagined possible.
Run: 5:08:32
Total time: 13:30:59 - a half hour over my original estimate, but top end of my adjusted estimate after the first race rehearsal.
I go thorough the shoot, get my finisher's swag, and then food. I have a cola and pizza that quickly makes me nauseous and I start to get the chills, I need to get away from the finish. I go to meet my mother and my friends, they walk with me to my hotel and I sit with my feet up for a while then take a hot shower. I start to feel human again and I head to the finish by 10:00 - I want to watch the last tow hours. I see David Martin cross as well as a few friends and Elvis. There's nothing like the last hour of an Ironman finish.
Monday; The EN Breakfast was nice, everyone was so relaxed and happy. Later I have the vanilla shake I've been dreaming about for months. I get a massage at 2:15. At 7:00 we hit the brewery for a post race celebration.
Tuesday: I take my time packing the truck for the ride home. It's just too nice out, I decide to hang till 3 and I go to the lake and read on the grass and jump in the water to cool off every once in a while. I hit Tail o' the Pup BBQ in Saranac right before the ride home and I do not hit one bit of traffic.
I will do another IM maybe in 2012 - I need to decide the venue. Next time I'll be more about racing.
Mistakes:
I forgot to apply sunscreen in T1. It was overcast for most of the bike time, so this didn't get me, but I could have gone badly. I consider myself lucky on this one.
I once again forgot to put the sticker over the valve opening on the wheelcover. I don't know how much this affected my "aero-ness".
Regrets:
I wish I had gotten more long runs in. A few cycle crashes, travel and other miscellaneous injuries limited my abilities to do every long run. That being said, I felt like EN prepared me very well for a 5:08 Marathon with my longest run coming in at only 2:10.
I had said to EN teammate Tucker that we'd ride Route 9 together and it never happened. Hopefully we can get it done while he's training for CDA next year.
Miscellaneous:
Thanks, just thanks. Thanks to Rich and Patrick, thanks to Team EN, Thanks for answering any of my questions throughout the OS and the IM training. I hope I helped out others even half as much as i asked for help.
Next up for me: Syracuse 70.3 Sept 19th, NYC Marathon Nov 7th. San Juan 70.3 March 19, 2011.
I'll post some photos soon.
Comments
@Barbra - thanks - If you do what RnP & the 4 keys tell us tom you will have a great day in LV - good luck!
@Dave - execution was spot on - i left a bit out on the bike course - which according to the coaches is OK - better to do less in a full IM. Run I was conservative and I listened to my body as I didn't want to have any issues.
Nathalie
Congrats, Cary!! Great job and great report... I picked up a few pointers for special needs bags as I'm starting to think (and dream/nightmare) about my first in a few months. Hope you and your team will be out at Eagleman again next year so we can catch up!
Great race report Cary! Congratulations on a fantastic result. Well done all around.
Cary,
Well done! You exemplified what it is to 'enjoy the day'. You were always encouraging and enthusiastic and it helped me tremendously. I'm so happy you had such a great experience. I'm glad my family's writing on the road helped. I guess I was always looking at them when I passed and not the road.
Sounds like you've got quite a second half of the year plan. Enjoy some down time first!
Dave
Nice to meet you and what a great 1st race. You have that great positive vibe within you and it spelled out to us all.
Congrats!!!
Cary - sorry I'ma bit late. this was such a joy to read. Your optimism and good spirits during the race, and especially the continued good feelings afterwards really shine thru.
I'm strongly considering doing another IM in 2011, this time with more of a race focus. I've got to show support for my friends in LP next year (and that includes EN peeps), so if I can swing the finances, I'm considering reg'ing up for CdA.
@eric - thanks!
@Nathalie - thank you! ... [me, race day] ...
@becky - thanks - the reusable ice back/insulated lunch bag worked great - enjoy timberman, it a fun race/weelend.
@paul - thank you!
@dave - great meeting you out there - I was totally psyched to see you and the rest of team EN out on the course. And I will not let everyone know you're really a super-down-to-earth-nice-guy!
@trent - thanks bro - great seeing you out there - you were awesome!
@Bill - thank so much!
@Nemo - I know if you execute IMOO half as well as you did eagleman, you're gonna be amazing on that run. I'll be keeping tabs on you all day.
@AL - thanks so much, any sign of approval from "The Oracle" means a lot here!
Cary, this sentence is huge. Just huge.
Congratulations on executing like a pro and success that was well-deserved!