Ironman USA 2000 Race Report Page 2
E-mail Adam
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| Three quarters
of the way through the first lap I was getting tired, and I was
bothered about having to swim another lap of this. I knew
I could do it, but I sure as hell didn't want to. After lap one, I exited the water and looked at my watch, it read a few seconds over thirty minutes and I briefly thought of picking up the pace to get a sub one-hour swim. An internal voice reminded me to stick to the plan and forget about the time. I needed to swim comfortably and within my limits, saving my legs for the other nine plus hours of the race. I mostly tried to focus on pulling with my arms. The second lap was boring and uneventful. Again, I just kept my face down in the refreshingly clear and cool water. I chuckled to myself thinking how worried I was over the last year about the water being too cold for me. The small packs of swimmers that form in any race were thinning out. As we made the last turn for the final half-mile to the finish, I looked down and saw three or four scuba divers looking up at us. I wondered what they were thinking and wanted to wave thanks between swim strokes. But, I just kept on swimming. I exited the water and looked at my watch. I felt it was a good time despite my appalling lack of swim preparation this year. Swim Time: 1:01:39 Transition One: The transition area was about a quarter of a mile from the swim exit. They had a path lined in green astroturf all the way to the changing tent. In a neat bit of nostalgia, the transition area was on the Olympic speed skating oval where Eric Heiden had won five gold medals in the 1980 Olympics. The astroturf alley was fenced off and lined with several layers of cheering people all the way to the transition area. I tried to focus strictly on running safely in my bare feet to the changing tent. Just before I made my turn onto the speed skating oval where the changing tent was, I caught a brief glimpse of my sister Jen on the left hand side. She gave a quick shy smile as I whizzed by. In the tent I dumped my transition bags on the ground and methodically changed into my bike gear. I put on my bright yellow bike jersey that had a PeopleSoft logo on it. A guy bumped into one of the race volunteers and I jokingly said, "What does he think this is a race or something." It broke up the tense atmosphere for only a second. As I ran out of the tent, I put a rolled up arm warmer on each arm figuring I might need them if it rained and got cold. I never needed them. I was handed my bike, and I ran to the transition exit where an electronic mat caught a signal from the timing chip strapped to my ankle. A loud "chirp" sounded signifying that I was officially on the bike course. Transition time: a terrible 7:02. The 112-mile bike: As soon as I got on the bike there were a few short steep downhill sections to ride out of town. All my family and friends were gathered in a group along the left hand side of the road. They whizzed by me as I sat on my bike. I immediately settled into a calm and comfortable rhythm that was not strenuous at all. The bike course was two laps of a 56-mile loop. The general profile of the course was gradual up hill steps in the beginning as we left Lake Placid. This was followed by a long screaming down hill. Then there would be twenty miles or so of mild rolling hills to ride, ending with a long gradual uphill climb right past Whiteface Ski Mountain back into town. My plan was to keep my heart rate around the mid-120's. On the hills I felt it was safe to venture into the mid-130's. The night before, I spent a lot of time visualizing being passed often on the bike in the early going. One reason I did this visualization was so I could get used to being passed when it actually happened. I knew there would be a lot of people who would likely go out too hard on the bike and start to die in the later sections and on the run. I did not want to join their party. My nighttime visualizations were now reality. In the early uphill sections people were breathing very heavy as they labored up some of the long hills and went by me. I was proud I stuck to my plan staying at comfortable heart rate even on the hills. I checked my heart rate monitor every few minutes to make sure I was on track. All around the scenery in Adirondack Mountains was stunning. Just out of town we passed the Olympic ski jumps. They were two or three towering structures rising out of the middle of a pine forest. The view from up there must be incredible. During the bike course we rode passed thick green pine forest, clear rushing rivers and glass smooth lakes. I tried to enjoy as much of it as someone can with a heart rate in the upper 120's. My picture was taken at about mile eight. |
