The Lake Placid Ironman: My Story by Richard Gardner

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Richard, a Wanderer relay veteran from Syracuse, just completed his first Ironman race, and in doing so joined the elite Ironman Club of Wanderer athletes which consists of Bernie Brosnan and Petra.

The Lake Placid Ironman: My Story

by Richard Gardner

In some ways my Ironman experience started on the Wednesday before the race. I had planned on driving to Lake Placid on Friday 7/21, arriving sometime in the evening, getting up the next morning and going into town to get my race packet, set up my bike, and take care of other details. On that Wednesday, however, I found out that race packet pick-up ended at 3pm on Friday. That set me into a panic. I had to make arrangements to get not only myself to Lake Placid on time but also my daughter and her friend who were coming. For the next 48 hours I was cranky and totally unable to "go with the flow", roll with the punches, or be flexible in any way at all. However, by Friday evening I had gotten my race packet, taken care of many details, and was feeling a bit calmer.

During the weeks prior to the race, I kept an eye on weather forecasts in the Lake Placid area. Those who have been following my comments on the discussion pages of the Wanderers' website know I was concerned about a 90 degree race day as was the case last year. I was pleased when forecasts predicted no rain and temperatures in the 60s and 70s for race day and the day before. Saturday morning, however, I woke up to find it raining. That meant running around in the rain to make my arrangements and leaving my bike set up in the transition area to get soaked overnight. I didn't like the idea and didn't know how it might affect the bike's performance on Sunday but there wasn't much I could do about it. Later, I was able to get a couple of garbage bags from the cafeteria in the Olympic Center next door so I put those over parts of my bike. I don't know if it made any difference but it set my mind at ease a little.

The night before the race I got very little sleep, maybe two or three hours. This is always the case with me prior to a big event like this so I wasn't very concerned.

By race morning the rain had stopped (or so I thought). I took the boat from the lodge where I was staying into town and was able to flag down an Ironman shuttle bus so I didn't have to walk the mile from there to the start. I think I was somewhat relieved it was finally race day and I didn't have to worry any more about forgetting something critical. I went through all my pre-race preparations from getting my bike ready to go, setting up my transition bags, getting body marked, and putting on my wetsuit.

I had thought about the swim for quite awhile. I couldn't decide if I wanted to swim wide and avoid the crowd or go for swimming the shortest distance. I opted for the shortest distance which meant banging into other swimmers throughout a good portion of the swim. My mental preparation of accepting whatever happened during the race served me well during the swim. Given the crowd, I actually had to swim a bit more slowly than I wanted to during the initial stages since we were getting so bunched up. It didn't seem to bother me, though. I also didn't mind the few times we were so close I didn't have room to lift one arm out of the water to make a stroke. After finishing my first loop (each leg of Ironman Lake Placid consists of doing two loops) I exited the water, checked my split time (about 40 minutes, slightly better than I was hoping for) walked the 20 yards or so across the beach, and went back in for my second loop. I was a little surprised to find there were still periods of time when we were banging into each other like we did at the start. As I approached the end of the swim I was almost sorry to see it end. I exited the water, checked my split (1:23:??), got help removing my weatsuit (they have volunteers known as "peelers" who help to yank your weatsuit off your ankles and feet) and started jogging the quarter mile or so to the transition area. I was surprised later to find out it had rained heavily during the swim. I guess I was too busy to notice.

The air was still chilly when I got out from the swim so upon entering the changing tent I was happy to feel the warm air stirred up by all the warm bodies in there. I got into my biking stuff and jogged to the bike area. I was mildly dismayed to see so few bikes left. The bike area doesn't usually look so sparse when I come out the water during my other races.

So now it was time to do some riding. Heading out onto the course I tried to take it easy thinking I could pick it up a bit during the second loop if need be. The part of the race I found to be the most fun was the ride back into town after each loop. People line the streets cheering. It felt a little like the Tour de France.

Despite my intentions I found myself going a bit slower during the second loop. I came into town and got off the bike in 6:45:58. I got in and out of the transition relatively quickly and headed out for the run. That was when I saw my daughter and her friend for the first time. They were standing across the street from the transition area and we waved to each other. I found myself feeling a little stronger than I expected to feel during the first stages of the run.

I tried to stick to my plan of running from aid station to aid station and walking for a couple of minutes. At first I shortened my walking breaks to less than a minute but as the day wore on the ratio of walking to running changed significantly. I had stretches of walking for three or four minutes and then running for 30 seconds. The walking was a result of a combination of fatigue and cramping. I actually stopped a few times to stretch out because I couldn't even walk. About halfway through the marathon I switched from Gatorade to cola and chicken broth. That may have helped a bit I don't know. I just knew I was getting sick of Gatorade.

The volunteers and fans out on the course were great. Elvis was helping to hand out nutrition at one aid station. Everyone also seemed to recognize that walking didn't mean you had given up. As one spectator said to me as I went by, "Everybody walks".

With about a mile or so to go the crowd started cheering wildly. Before I had a chance to feel too flattered I became aware they were cheering for a guy behind me who only had one foot. We played a little tag as we walked and jogged towards the finish. I felt like I could have taken him at the end but thought people might boo me if I did. As it was, I took my final walk just before entering the finish area.

The Lake Placid Ironman finishes on the same speed skating oval where Eric Heiden won five gold medals in 1980. I jogged past pictures of him and three other Olympic Legends I had never heard of to the finish. I raised my arms as I broke the tape (volunteers put up the tape for every single finisher to break) and felt fine.

I had anticipated being totally drained physically and emotionally at the end of the race but found I wasn't. I had more of a sense of, "Okay, that's over. Now what?" A volunteer grabbed me after I finished and wouldn't let go. I guess they're supposed to do that in case we pass out or something. It was nice but felt a little unnecessary to me at the time.

The next morning I went to the Lake Placid Horse Show Grounds for the banquet, awards ceremony, and to collect photos, my certificate, and video of the race. It was announced that next year's race sold out in an hour and a half. I think I'll wait until my daughter graduates from high school (two years) before I try this again. I spent the rest of the day in town window shopping and getting stiffer and stiffer. Most of us had our finisher's shirt on so it was nice to talk to each other about the race. It was also nice when a local would see our shirt and congratulate us. I felt a little like a celebrity.

Yesterday I packed up and headed home. Tomorrow I'll be going into work and its like as usual. I'm planning on going into a serious depression.

RICHARD'S PHOTOS

The Finish line was prepped in anticipation of Richard's arrival.