Getting to the starting line
I always said that I had an Ironman in me and now it is complete. 5 months of training and in just under 12 hours the Ironman experience is over. I am so happy that I committed to this endurance bucket list goal as the entire journey was awesome. Those of you who know me understand that I will not commit to something unless I know I can be "all in". For anyone considering doing an Ironman you must be able to commit totally to the journey and sacrifices must be made to ensure that your race day event goes smoothly. Proper diet, proper rest, scheduling your workouts around your life events, being tired, being grumpy, all required to achieve your goal. If you want to be a Ironman you must read "
So you want to be a triathlete" it sums up the Ironman experience exactly.
Friday - 25 July
First thing on Friday morning I completed my 50 min recovery ride and 20 min recovery run. Then Mary lee and I packed up the car and headed out on our 5 hour ride to Lake Placid. We arrived in Lake Placid around 2 p.m. and could feel the excitement of Ironman as soon as we arrived. We headed over to the convention center to register and pickup my race packet. The registration and packet pickup was seamless and easy. The volunteers the entire race weekend did an awesome job and deserve many kudos. After packet pickup we went to the Olympic speed skating oval for the athlete meeting and listen to the voice of
Ironman Mike Reilly explain the race day details. After the meeting I was able to grab a picture with Mike.
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| The Voice of Ironman Mike Reilly |
From there Mary lee and I headed over to Mirror Lake to see the swim layout and to meet my coach
Matt Curbeau of
QT2 Systems. Matt is a professional triathlete who guided me along this journey and I would not have been ready without his counsel. Matt and I went over my race day execution plan and strategy. Things we discussed were; swim wave seeding, power and heart rate goals on the bike, and pace and heart rate goals on the run. This was also the first time I had met Matt face to face and thanked him for coming to the race as I was the only athlete he coached that was doing Ironman Lake Placid. From there Mary lee and I went to the athletes welcome ceremony and then to dinner. Just before dinner I had two very important phone calls to my kids to let them know I was about to do something very special and it had nothing to do with Ironman.
After dinner, I talked Mary lee into going back down to Mirror lake to have another look at the swim location. At this point in the day the sun had set and it was starting to get dark. When we got to the base of Mirror lake right at the monument for the Ironman, I started talking about the commitment and dedication that the 2700 athletes had to have to get to this point and how I had that same commitment and dedication for her and that I loved her. I got down on one knee and she says "what are you doing?" After 4 1/2 years together I asked her to marry me and she said YES!. The race was 36 hours away and I was already a winner. Newly engaged, we went and got some ice cream and the day was over. I love you Mary lee.
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| The spot where she said yes! |
Saturday - 26 July
Sunday - 27 July
Swim Strong - 1:07
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| Can you find me at the start? |
Race day is finally here and the weather does not look promising. Driving to the start there was a slight rain and gray skies. The thing with Lake Placid weather is it changes constantly. As we await the start of the race, the sun tries to break through ever so slightly giving us hope that the rain will stay away. The cannon went off at 0630 for the start of the age group swim and utilizing the new rolling swim start I was in the water about 2 minutes later. I had seeded myself near the front of the 1:01 - 1:10 minute swim finish projection hoping to get a draft off a good swimmer. Once I hit the water I immediately ran into traffic bumping into swimmers. I then shifted myself to the right of the buoy's to get some clear water. I finally got into a rhythm and was knocking off buoy after buoy until I got to the turning buoy. As expected it got congested again as all swimmers were diverging to the turn buoy. I was able to get through without much fanfare other than an occasional foot tap or arm to the head. It was a quick swim to the next turn buoy with the same congestion. I again positioned myself right of the buoy's and headed back to the start. I felt good and was swimming strong. After 1 lap my time was 32:04 and I was very happy with it.
As I exited the water I spotted Mary lee in the balcony of the boat house and I waived to her.
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| Photo from local newspaper |
On to lap 2. I was still feeling great and swimming smooth but swimmer traffic was more congested. By now all 2700 athletes were in the water so I was doing lots of dodging left and right of swimmers. With about half a mile to go it got really dark out and it started to rain. I found some occasional clear water and felt like I was swimming fast but by the time I complete my swim my time was 1:07:23 for a 2nd lap time of 35:19. After the race when I downloaded my swim GPS data it showed that I swam 2.57 miles, .17 miles longer than the 2.4 mile distance. All that dodging back and forth cost me some time. I made it out of the swim and headed to transition in the rain. The next couple of hours would be very interesting.
Bike Smart - 5:58:43
The distance from the beach to the transition area is the longest I have ever seen in a triathlon, just under a 1/2 mile. Even though it's long it is awesome. The crowds are so large along the way it is like being in the Tour de France. I made it to the transition area, got my bike bag, headed to the changing tent and then headed out on my bike. The transition went smoothly because of the great job that the race volunteers do.
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| Just a little bit of rain |
As soon as I mounted my bike the sky opened up with torrential down pour with thunder and lightning and thought to myself that this is going to be a long day. As I headed out of T1 to start the first 56 mile loop, I immediately started my nutrition and hydration plan and pedaled easy for the first few miles and got my heart rate in check. The rain was coming down in buckets which helped in the conservative start that was part of my race execution plan. The first 6-7 miles after leaving town are all up hill and you don't want to smoke yourself right from the start. I then got to the top of the hills and was ready for the fast 6 mile descent to the town of Keene. That descent on a dry day is nerve racking enough but during this driving rain made the pucker factor a little bigger. What made it hard is I had to squint my eyes as the rain was pelting me in the face. I did my best to stay off the brakes but was riding them on a couple of areas. Not a relaxing time as I was hitting speeds of 45-47 mph. I finally reached the bottom without incident and made it to the flat section of the loop. This was the best part of the course as we also had a little tail wind. I got into a nice cadence and was easily riding 20-23 mph along this section. I continued to drink as my coach told me I had to pee at least twice during the entire bike section and was worried if I did not pee I would be dehydrated for the run. Well after 45 miles the rain stopped and on the last section of the first loop I finally had to pee and if you are a good triathlete you pee on your bike while riding to save time. I could not do it so I used a rest stop. Shortly after that I finally came upon the three hill section called Mama Bear, Baby Bear, and Papa Bear signaling the end of the first loop. You could see the crowd of spectators in the distance along Papa Bear and it was great to have them there to cheer you on over the final hill of lap one. Soon after that I was on Mirror Lake Drive heading into town where the crowds were enormous. I soaked it all in and headed out to do it all over again.
Split of first lap 3:00:29.
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| Photo Credit: Steffo Photography |
The second loop was not much different than the first except that it was dry and the sun came out. After taking the first lap conservatively, I went a little bit harder on the flat section on lap 2 to see if I could make up a little time and try to have a negative split which means doing the second lap faster than the first. My race execution plan was working, I kept up with my nutrition plan eating every half hour and drinking two bottles of perform sports drink every hour. I felt great and headed into town with a
second lap split of 2:58:13.
Run to Survive - 4:32:18
I hit T2 feeling good about my ride and knew that the hard part was about to start. I jumped off my bike and handed it to another great volunteer. My legs felt a little wobbly as I headed to get my transition bag and into the changing tent where another volunteer assisted me with my running gear and run nutrition items. I switched shirts, got my shoes on and off I was to do a full marathon. 1997 was the last time I ran a marathon and I knew what was coming. The run course is two 13.1 mile loops. My race execution plan called for me to go out slow running the first two miles at 9:15 per mile pace until my heart rate settled and got my legs under me and to do 20 second power walks at each water stop. The first two miles are down hill and the crowds are big so I tried to keep calm and run slow. I missed my targets; Mile 1 - 8:24, Mile 2 - 8:38. I finally settled down and was doing fine as my goal was to run a 4:00 Marathon.
Split after first loop 1:58.
The second loop was not much fun. At mile 15, I started feeling nausea and could no longer take
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| Feeling good for now |
eating my cliff shots bloks which were part of my nutrition plan. The sugar was just to much and I abandoned my nutrition plan and just took water and occasional sport drink. The plan now was survival to the finish. Run from aid station to aid station. The 20 second power walks turned into 30-35 second shuffles pouring water and ice over my head while trying to keep focused on moving forward. My mental toughness was being challenged and I walked more than I should have. With 4 miles to go I had one hour left to break 12 hours for the day. I kept telling myself, I got this, stay under 15 Min miles and your goal will be met. I kept having a conversation with myself and having that internal struggle about walking versus running. In the end I convinced myself that if I did not break 12 hours after all the work I put into getting here the day would be a failure and I would not be happy with myself. All I had to do was get past mile 23 and 24, the two major hills on the run course which I walked on the first loop. Once past them you are home free in town with the energy of the crowds and the anticipation of running into the Olympic Speed skating oval and on to the finish. Well I got through the hills and saw my coach and he asked me "what do you think of the Ironman experience" My response "I'm smoked"
With two miles to go he sent me off with encouraging words "go and get it done" With that I picked up the pace and headed for the finish. Coming into the Olympic Oval was awesome and I was all alone. I made the turn and raised my arms
while Mike Reilly announced my arrival and said "Philip Schoenig you are an Ironman" .
After 5 months of training and a long day of racing the Ironman experience was over. What I will remember more than the race itself is the 5 month journey that got me here. The commitment and the dedication to the cause and the support of the woman I love. Thank you Mary lee! Thank you for always being there for me and supporting every crazy thing I do and thank you for saying YES! I love you.
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| ML and I |
