Hello everyone!

    I made it through the race in one piece and I made it back to Omaha in one piece as well.

    Congratulations to Gary Bredehoft for qualifying for Ironman Hawaii with a 10:32:59!  Also congratulations to Kirk Morrow (10:40:32), Sam
Shaw (10:49:01) and Mariana Phipps (13:26:21) for their great showings at IM USA in Lake Placid.  Mariana is also qualified for Hawaii, back in
June at Buffalo Springs.  I will watch the Ironman Live web site during Hawaii to see how their races go.

    The short story is, I finished in 12:10:17.  That wasn't as fast as I had hoped.  I wanted to be under 12 hours and preferably under 11 hours 30 minutes.  But I finished without injuries and I am very happy
about that.  The long story follows.  I hope you enjoy it.  Frankly, my heart and my mind were not there that day.

    The long story is written with comments for non-triathletes.  Triathletes all know what Gu is.  I am sending this to family and friends, too.  So I have to explain some things.

    I arrived in Lake Placid on Wednesday, July 21.  I was nervous about the race.  I don't think I was truely focused on doing it since Brett crashed and dropped out.  I resolved to do the best I could and see how it went.

    The hotel was a few miles from the race site.  Brett had been told it was one mile from the site.  It was more like three.  That made me apprehensive as well.  I had to determine how to get to and from the
race site with traffic closed down.  It was one more detail than I really wanted to manage.  Life is easy when your hotel is at the race site.

    In hindsite, I think the hotel was in a great place.  Far enough from town center that the traffic was not bumper-to-bumper on the narrow
mainstreet.  It was close to resturants and a grocery store.  Finally, there was a city parking lot perfectly placed to drive to on race morning.  I think I would stay there again.  The only thing missing was a refrigerator.

    Thursday morning, I swam at the lake then went for a short run.  The swim went well.  The water was nice and clear and there really is a line that can be followed in the water.  The nice people from Gatorade
sponsored a tent with people to check gear for safe keeping while we swim.  They do that at all of the races now.  I like them for their support of the athletes.

    While in town, I checked in to the race.  First, they check your ID.  Then they take your weight (I weighed 163 pounds).  Finally, they give you a wrist band that identifies you as an athlete, give your your
gear bags, make you sign some forms and give you the opportunity to buy picture of your race.  There are a lot of oppertunities to buy things at an Ironman race.  It is a merchandising bonanza.  I am officially
checked in within 15 minutes.

    Back at the hotel, I reassembled the bike.  This is a process that requires 45 minutes to an hour.  One of the steps in assembly is to tighten the bolt on the seat collar.  That holds the seat in place when
riding the bike.  If the bolt is too loose, the seat slowly drops and may even slip from side to side.  I don't want that to happen so I tighten the bolt quite tight.  Tighten, tighten, tighten, *snap*, *ping*.  The bolt broke at 1:08 PM.  I said outloud, "Golly, the bolt broke.  What shall I do?"  Or something to that effect.  Whatever I said woke the baby in the next room.

    Either I get a replacement bolt or my race is done.  I cannot ride without it.  I got in the car and drove down to the Athletes Village and went to Inside Out Sports, the official bike repair company.  I drove
a bit faster than I should have and I didn't stop for people entering the cross walks.  I was on a mission. 

    Fortunately, Inside Out Sports had the bolt I needed and they fixed me right up.  The mechanic made sure I understood that I did not have to tighten the bolt so much.  He said, "Just so that the seat doesn't
move".  I gave him a dollar for the bolt and a $20 tip in the jar.  At 1:33, life is good again.

    Friday and Saturday were spent at the town center enjoying the area.  It really is beautiful there and the weather was perfect.  I gathered as much SWAG as I could from the race sponsors.  SWAG (pronounced
"Shwag") is Stuff We All Get.  It is free handouts from the sponsors.  I picked up a free tee shirt from the coffee company that set up shop there.  I also picked up around $30 worth of Gu from the Gu guy.  Gu is an energy gel.  The packets are 100% carbohydrate gel in several tastee flavors.  The packets usually retail for a dollar each.  I told him how much I liked the product (not a complete lie) and he set me up with
product for after the race.

  Last year at Ironman Wisconsin, the Gu guys gave out socks with their logo on it.  I foolishly used them in the race and suffered with blisters because of it.  Free Gu product is better.

    The number of vendors was a bit disappointing.  There are usually many more vendors handing out free stuff.  This year was a disappointment, according to Mariana.  However, I was happy to score the Gu.  Also,
Mariana scored a Timex mesh running hat for me.  Those are very nice.

    Saturday includes bike and gear check in.  All athletes are required to bring their bikes and their transition bags to the transition area.  The two transition bags contain clothes and other gear for the
swim-to-bike transition and the bike-to-run transition.  It is crucially important that you pack the bags correctly.  More precisely, you must pack
everything you might possibly consider wanting, not knowing what the weather will really be like tomorrow or how the race will go.

    Saturday there is a lot of energy and excitement in the race area.  Everyone is scurrying around with their stuff.  I got there early,
racked my bike and hung my bags in the correct spot.  Then, I just sat back and enjoyed the chaos.  There were a lot of people runing around with bags and bikes.  Racking bikes, hanging bags.  Checking their bike again to make sure no one disturbed it.  Recheck their bags and maybe put something in or take something out.  Recheck their bike.  Should I cover
the bike?  Inflate the tires today or wait until tomorrow?  What to do, what to do?

    I have been through this before, so I could sit back and watch.  There were 800+ first-time Ironman althletes here today.  Most of them are nervous and making last minute decisions on things that should have been planned days ago.

    I turned in early Saturday night.  I planned to get up very early so I was in bed by 7:30 PM.  I fell asleep after the sun set.

    Sunday morning July 25, I arose at 3:45 AM and ate breakfast.  By 4:30, I was heading down the road to Lake Placid town center to get a parking spot at the city lot, just two blocks away from the race site. 
The race doesn't start until 7 AM but I wanted a close parking spot.  I tried to sleep in the car for a while after parking, but that was impossible.  I was too nervous.

    Once other athletes started arriving, I decided to go to the race site.  Body marking started at 5 AM and I was in line a few minutes before that time.  At Lake Placid, we have to take our "Special Needs" bags
to the drop area ourselves.  I walked up the road with a few other athletes and put them in place.

    There were no officials at the drop site yet.  I followed the lead of the others and placed my bags in the correct area and hoped they would be there when I  needed them.  Special needs bags contain what ever
you want to store away for the mid-point of the bike and the mid-point of the run.  It could be food, drugs (legal ones of course) warm clothes, whatever you want.

    I packed very little in these bags.  The bike bag contained food for the second loop and powdered drink mix.  Mai Tai mix.  Just kidding!  The run bag contained blister packs in case I developed blisters, as I often do.  Additionally, I packed a warmer shirt in case I had trouble and thought I would finish after dark.

    Bags and bike were still where I left them.  I filled up the water bottles and went to the changing tent to put on my wet suit.  At 6:30 AM the transition area was cleared and everyone went to the lake. 
Ninteen hundred and sixty three athletes marched in a ragged mass to Mirror lake and jumped in.

    The weather was overcast and cold.  Only 40-45 degrees, or so.  The wetsuit helped keep me warm during the walk.  I wondered what the first part of the bike would be like in the cool weather.  I prayed it would not rain early in the morning.

    Only 1963 of the 2200+ persons who signed up actually made it to the lake.  I am glad that so many people dropped out.  It is a very crowded swim course.  More crowded than any I have been in.  I spent some time talking to other people to find out where I should place myself.  I ended up in the middle a bit back from the front.

    When the gun went off, I was pushed toward the line of bouys on my left.  I wasn't trying to go there, but several hundred other people
were so I went with the flow.  It was a rough swim. At one point I was kicked in the head by another swimmer several times.  I was really pissed about that and I sprinted - yes sprinted - around and in front of them
and started kicking as hard as I could.  It wasn't very nice, but I was mad.

    This swim had a feature I have never experienced before:  Between loops we have to run across a short stretch of beach, then dive back into the water.  It is part of the "Spectator friendly" environment since
your loved ones and supporters get to see you during the swim.  Assuming they can pick you out of the crowd of black wet suits.

    At the end of the swim were the customary peelers.  It's a great job, peeling the wetsuits off of the athletes in cold weather.  I ran up to a pair of idle peelers and they took off my suit.  Then, I ran the quarter mile down to the transition zone, grabbed my stuff and went into the mens changing tent.  The swim took 59 minutes.

    After dumping the wetsuit I opened the bag.  I saw my running shoes and exclaimed, "Golly, I have the wrong bag.  What shall I do?"  Or something to that effect.  Whatever I said brought stunned silence to the mens changing tent.  A tumbleweed blew across the floor.

    Nothing to do but go get the correct bag.  I ran out of the tent, upstream of the athletes coming from the lake and wiggled between the narrow racks to my spot.  I grabbed the right bag and ran back to the
tent to finish changing.

    Grabbing the wrong bag is a serious blunder.  I have replayed the scene in my head, but the bag retrieval is a gap in my memory.  I cannot
remember if a volunteer handed me the bag or if I grabbed it myself.  I assume I grabbed it myself and that I simply did the wrong thing.  It was a costly mistake which threw me off balance in the race.

    After changing, I ran to my bike.  The bike lot is a grassy field and I walked the bike to the mount line an rode off.

    The bike course is a two loop course.  My plan was to take the first loop conservatively and work harder on the second loop.  My reasoning was, I had not ridden the course at all and I didn't know where I was
going.  Also, the course features a long descent of about five miles.  I was not sure if there were good roads or bad roads or if there were sharp curves.  So, I decided caution would be best.  I followed through
with the plan over the next six hours.

    The long descent was incredible!  five miles of varying down hill riding on state highway 73.  There were a few curves, but nothing like the 90 degree turns in Wisconsin.  Speeds of 50 miles per hour were easy to attain here.  The descent lasted all the way to Keene, NY.  Then a left hand turn onto the road to Jay, NY.

    The road to Jay, NY is the flat part of the course.  After that, it's all uphill.  The hills get gradually worse as I ride closer to Wilmington, NY.  They culminate with a hill nicknamed Papa Bear just outside of Lake Placid.  One hill after another.  Rolling, rolling, rolling.

    At the special needs area, I dumped my warm clothes and picked up more food.  The sun had broken through the clouds turning it into a clear, warm day.  I had forgotten to put on sunscreen because of the
transition screw-up.  But I figured I would be all right for a few more hours.

    I ate five Cliff bars in the first loop - around 1200 calories of food.  Food for the second bike loop was five Power Bars.  Great taste, less filling.  Power bars have less fiber and a different consistency.  The change is good for my stomach.  I also have a bottle of diluted Gu on the bike but I have not touched it yet.  I was saving it for later
in the ride and possibly on the run.  I am not one who can live on liquid food for an Ironman race.

    The second bike loop started well since it was mostly down hill.  Then came the rolling hills.  Then I started slowing down, possibly because I had lost focus or possibly because my legs were not ready for the hills.  The second loop ended with me very happy to be off of the bike.  The last hills were slow torture.  In hindsight, I should not have had
so much trouble on them.  But, I did have trouble.  The bike took six hours and 19 minutes.  I was shooting for less than six hours.

    I went through another slow transition and started the run.  The run is also a two loop course.  The big hills are toward the end where there are two steep climbs, then a flat section at the end of the loop. 
I had no trouble on the first loop and actually ran fast, which is a bit unusual for me.

    If I am to have problems in an Ironman race, they always occur in the run.  In all three previous races, I developed large blisters on my feet, which made running and walking painful.  In one race, I developed
an Achilles tendon problem which was also quite painful.

    This year, to counter the possibility of blisters, I coated my running socks with Vaseline.  I figured it would not hurt to have something slippery inside my shoe.

    By the end of the first lap, I was feeling pretty good about the run.  I skipped the special needs area, since there was nothing there I wanted, and continued to the second loop.  I was running fast.  So fast,
that my stomach stopped processing food and water.

    By mile 18 I was nauseated and bloated.  I had no choice but to stop running and let my stomach recover from the stress I had put on it.  I walked from the aid station at mile 18 to the aid station at mile 19.

    I also had a chance to evaluate what my finishing time would be.  I had just over 10 kilometers to go and the race time was 10 hours and 50 minutes.  My stomach was bothering me and I might have to walk more.  I had two big hills yet to climb.  There was an outside chance that I could finish right at 12 hours.  But I would have to work hard for it.

    The remainder of the second loop was increasingly difficult.  I walked more because my stomach was bothering me.  I had taken a few Gu packets at the aid stations and they were beginning to haunt me.  The
nausea didn't go away, nor did the bloated feeling.  However, it didn't get worse either.  My running/walking pattern allowed a sort of equalibrium
in my discomfort.

    I started reciting a Mantra when I walked:  "Must start running."  Each time I walked, it became harder to start running again.  My legs were quite sore and stiff.  However, I found that once I started running
again, I loosened up quickly and could go for a while.

    I walked up the two big hills at the end and fell in behind two guys who were slowly jogging their last miles.  I followed them until the turn around on Mirror Lake Rd. even though they were going slower than I felt I could go.  At the turn around I passed and ran the final mile to the finish at a quick pace.

    The finish line is half way around a stadium-like area which is the speed skating oval in Lake Placid.  There were lots of people cheering and encouraging the athletes to finish.  I crossed the line in 12:10:17.  The beep of the timing system is the sweetest sound on earth.

    Immediately afterward, the "Catcher" helped be through the mass of people behind the finish line.  Someone gives you the medal and another person gives you the shirt.  Then walk to the finish line photo spot for your official photo.

    At that point, the catcher asks you what you want.  I asked for the medical tent.  I felt that I might be very dehydrated because of the stomach problems.  However, in the medical tent, I was weighed and found my weight was 162.5 (I started at 163).  I think there was a lot of water in my stomach that hadn't been absorbed yet.  The Doctor advised me
not to drink fluids (well duh) and let my stomach absorb what it had.  He asked if I wanted to stay in the medical tent just as another athlete was being wheeled away on a stretcher.  I asked to be released since they had more important things to do.

    I wandered around to the massage tent and received my 15 minute massage.  Standing in the line was very difficult.  My back and legs were quite sore now.

    I was starting to get cold and Mariana offerd me the shower in their hotel room so I found my warm morning clothes went to Art Devlin's Olympic Lounge, two blocks away and used the shower.  I felt better now, but not perfect.

    After the shower, I went back to the race site.  On the way back I met Mariana and Jean going back to their hotel.  We chatted a bit and decided to meet in the bleachers by the finish line later.  Meanwhile, I
gathered up all of my belongings and loaded them into the car.

    I never found Jean or Mariana that night.  I waited until after 11 PM and then left for the hotel.  I was exhausted.

    I did not make my minimum time by ten minutes.  The transitions were slow and the bike was slow.  But I finished well without injury or blisters.  That's a first for me in Ironman races.

    The next day, I awoke at 5:30 AM and ate breakfast.  At 8 AM, I met Mariana and Jean at the Ironman store where we all picked up official
finishers merchandise.  One more opportunity to buy something with the Ironman logo!  At 10:30, second breakfast at The Diner on Main St.  At 1:30, lunch downtown in Lake Placid.  A few hours later, I was having dinner in Albany.

    Next year, I will go back to Ironman Wisconsin.  I want to finish that course well since I had such a miserable time there last year.