Liebs HIM Syracuse race report
Note: this was originally directed to all of my non-racing friends/family on Facebook, half of which don't even know what a triathlon is, so please excuse the amateurish-ness. 
Sooooooo, I’m sitting here in my hotel room after the Syracuse Half-Ironman race. Had showered up, went to Dinosaur BBQ with the wifey to load up on grub, and am now horizontal with this nice, warm laptop on my...well, lap...and it feels so good on my legs! Ironically, my wife is fast asleep. She had a long day too, and was phenomenal with the support, constant schlepping back and forth (race started and ended at two different places), and putting up with my BS for which she should receive a Ph.D. But I digress.
I’m pretty emotional right now about this thing but there’s some stuff I wanted to get down in writing, both for memories and to share. Because that’s what I do. 
For those who haven’t heard for the millionth time over the past 5 months, I’ve been training for and just completed my first Half-Ironman. I’ve run 6 marathons but took 12 years off from triathlon, and this was my foray back into it. A Half-Ironman encompasses swimming 1.2 miles, biking 56 miles, and running a half marathon of 13.1 miles. The cutoff time is 8 hours. The pros finish in just under 4 hours. My time was 6:03:06, which includes running the half marathon in 1:59:57, breaking my previous PR. And that’s AFTER 4 hours of exercise. I’m very happy with the time, and more so with what I learned about everything - about racing, about myself.
Some highlights:
I did not know how to swim freestyle 4 months ago. At ALL. And I’ve always been afraid of putting my head in the water, let alone breathing underwater. This was always the dealbreaker for me starting back up in triathlon. So I bought a cheap wetsuit, and spent tons of hours with it in the pool after work teaching myself. Final result? My swim split was 43:37, just below middle of the pack. And I kept my heart rate down, sighted well, and felt great coming out of the (very cold) lake. This, I am VERY proud of.
It rained on and off the entire bike - thick fog limiting visibility. And the hills on this ride were insane, at least for me. All of my training has been done on an inside bike trainer. SO glad I changed my gearing, crankset, and crankarm length after hearing one of my coaches’ “Come To Jesus Ironman Gearing” podcast. End result? Not only did I not have to get off my bike and push up any hills 
, but I kept my ass planted squarely in the saddle the entire ride - not once did I stand up to mash gears up the hills. This was also at my coaches advice. I kept my heart rate manageable, and had some INSANE descents, one at 41.7 mph down a hill after which I was screaming like an 8th grader with joy afterwards and was impressed with myself (I’ve never been above 40 mph on a bike). That was until the next huge descent where I hit 47 mph and literally was the most scared I’ve ever been in my entire life. Remember - this is on a BICYCLE people. I was actually afraid to blink. Lastly, the equipment gods were smiling upon me as I had no flats, dropped chains, or other gear issues. I nailed my nutrition eating GU chomps and drinking Gatorade every two miles from my aerobottle, and actually felt great coming off the bike.
Hmmm...maybe a little too great...
I definitely went out too fast on the run. It was hard for me not to - I felt great, kept my transition short, and the first few miles were downhill which hurts for me to put the brakes on. I paid for this during the middle third where my quads were on fire, my HR started to go zone 5, and I finally backed off my pacing. I somehow dug deep and ran fast enough on the back third to run a sub- 2:00 half marathon (by 3 seconds which made me very happy. I saw and heard Andrea at the finish chute upon which I started sprinting like crazy (like I always do) and which she got some video of me hooting and hollering with excitement as I ran by. True story: after I ran by and stopped filming, she revealed to me that the woman next to her said as I ran by’ “Boy, he sure still has a lot of energy. You’d better be careful tonight!”
Lastly and on a humorous note, I saved many precious minutes peeing in the lake during the swim, and on the bike during the ride. That may gross some of you out. But I am very proud as I actually had to teach myself how to do this effectively.
My take on all this?
Given my other commitments with fellowship, family, board exams, etc the past few months - plus given that I am not riding an $8,000 carbon-bling super tri-bike, but rather a 1996 Cannonwhale Aluminum overized frame - I’m pretty freaking happy with everything. This is the longest I have ever exercised. Even my slowest, most disastrous marathon where I had to walk several miles was only 5 hours 21 minutes, whereas today was 6 hours of constant pushing, strategizing, and self-talk.
I thought on a lot of things on the journey. Thought about many of you kind folks who have supported me; my friends and family of course; those who are no longer with us but dear to our heart; and most poignantly - my old self. The guy who weighed 241 lbs in January. The guy who chain smoked Parliaments for 10 years. The guy who gave up his triathlon dreams because of fear and excuses - it’s too hard, I’ve no time, I’m too old, blah blah blah.
So I guess the main reason I’m sharing this is maybe to motivate even just one person. Hey that’s all it takes sometimes. A push in the right direction. A nagging idea that won’t go away. A fly in your ear. A pain in the ass. I’ve been all of those things to some of you, as you have to me. A string of events, happenings, stressors, and even some disappointments all led me to become who I am this year. And I have always believed that every single g-ddamn thing on this earth happens - or doesn’t - for a reason. And our job is to figure out that reason, and to learn from it. To better ourselves.
I will end this with a quote from one of my old favorite songs. Cheesy song but VERY fitting, especially living and training in Philly the home of Rocky:
Risin' up, back on the street
Did my time, took my chances
Went the distance, now I'm back on my feet
Just a man and his will to survive
Risin' up, straight to the top
Had the guts, got the glory
Went the distance, now I'm not gonna stop
Just a man and his will to survive
Be well.
Liebs
Comments
Congrats on great race. As I mentioned, now its time to take an hour off the time. No excuses about being too busy or having a metal bike
Also, looks like we missed each other at dinosaur bbq on sunday.
Awesome! Congratulations on a very memorable and (clearly) significant accomplishment... not to mention EN ninja execution! I'm super impressed by your swim (and not just the peeing part). And 47 mph will get anyone into the HR stratosphere...
Great report and very fun to read
P
Thoughts on next year?