Try, Tri Again

Wow, my last post was almost two years ago. I will say that it means I had an incredibly busy two years...almost all good, some not so good, all time-consuming to the point that my blog wasn't even in the car, much less taking a back seat. Here are the highlights, and I'll try to write separate posts about some of them:
In July, 2014, I volunteered for IMLP again, and this time I signed up for the race. I actually went for the race-ready package, Syracuse 70.3/IMLP 2015, on the Friday before IMLP. Then, I started training. I found a group of about six local friends who had also signed up. We often trained together; we always supported each other.
I ran a few local running races through the fall/spring 2014/2015 as part of my training. I ran the Octoberfest Half in Peru, NY and PRed. It was also a qualifying time for my age group for the NYC Marathon, and so I signed up in January 2015. I did a half marathon in Naples, FL in January 2015. Actually had a decent finishing time, considering how hot and humid the day was. The chip timing system failed, and I unofficially finished sixth AG, just out of the money. Literally. Huge race with pros from Kenya, and there are cash prizes for the first five places in each age group. I highly recommend this race if you get the chance. Planned to run the local Plattsburgh Half in the spring, but got the flu and was running a fever race day, so I had to bail.

My friend, Dan, and me before the sweltering humidty of Naples Half Marathon.

Meanwhile, I started Ironman training in January 2015. I planned to do Syracuse 70.3 as part of my training. I also signed up to do the Lake George Olympic again in early September. NYC was November 1st, and I foolishly signed up to do the Mohawk Hudson Marathon in mid-October. A training partner had signed up to try to qualify for Boston, and I thought it would be "fun" to go and give it a shot. Less than two months after IMLP. Three weeks before NYC. Clearly, I was delusional, but more on that later.
I have mostly used Joe Friel's training plans, and Ironman would be no exception. IMLP was the "A" race. Any other race would be folded into the training plan with maybe a few taper days before, and a rest day or two after. Syracuse 70.3 was five weeks before IMLP, and I did want to do well. My first attempt there the year before netted me a surprising 4th place spot on the podium, with a time of 6:07. For 2015, I really wanted to break six hours if I could. Race day started cloudy and muggy, if I remember correctly. I had a late wave start, around 8:00 a.m. The swim went ok, no horrible calf cramps this time, and a four minute PR over last year. I did catch my second toe of my right foot on something as I was running to transition and rolled the toe. I remember thinking that that was not good, but promptly forgot about it. Bike was similar to 2014, a two minute PR, I believe. The run is freaking hilly, and I'd had to have a cortisone shot in my hip just days before the race the year before, so 2015 definitely should've been better. And it was. The toe did hurt a little, but I'd forgotten what I'd done, and just dismissed it until after the race. Six minute PR on the run, and I finished in 5:55! Very happy with that result, and I felt like I was legit, that 2014 wasn't a fluke. Good enough for 5th place. A bad thunderstorm rolled in about an hour after I finished, and they pulled people from the course (2nd time this has happened, that race is cursed). If you were on your second run loop, they gave you a finishing time; if you weren't, you got a DNF. 2015 Worlds were in Austria, and because of the storm, there was no slot sign-up or awards ceremony. We were mailed our awards, and the slot roll-down was done via email. It came to me, but I turned it down. Wasn't going to happen for a variety of reasons (money, work, other races, etc).

 

 IMLP will be a separate post, as will NYC Marathon. They deserve it. In 2014, I had signed up to do the Lake George Olympic again, went down the night before, everything going really well. Race morning, on the beach in my wetsuit, and I have an episode of SVT (supra ventricular tachycardia). I've had it pretty much my whole life, always inconvenient, but this was the worst timing. No way was I going into the water that way, so my swim wave went off without me and I walked to the ambulance. Long story short, I had to get an adenosine push to be cardioverted, and I spent a good chunk of the day in the Glens Falls Hospital. I had purchased the insurance, so I did get my race fee back. In 2015, I was back, and this time had an uneventful race all around (Other than badly spraining my ankle six days before the race on a trail run.). I missed my PR by just a few seconds, but it was good enough for 2nd place AG.

Lake George. I'm starting to handle the swim much better.

My son's girlfriend, Sam, and me after Lake George. Sam has become a regular training partner.

October was the Mohawk Hudson marathon, and that's where the summer of fun came to a screeching halt. I had continued to run train through September and October, but had no idea what I was getting into. I had never run 26.2 miles before IMLP. My run time was 4:37, not too bad. The BQ time for my age group is 4:10, so I thought, what the hell? Bad mistake. If I remember correctly, there wasn't a 4:10 pace group. A pacer at the expo the day before advised that I go out with the next slowest group, and try to negatively split (MH is a net downhill race, and most of the elevation loss is in the second half). I didn't listen, and instead, went out with the next fastest group. The pacer for that group had a wild hair; I think we should've been doing around 9:15 miles, and he was doing sub-9's and just over 9 for the first 7-8 miles. My gut started griping, and I used a port-a-pot stop as an excuse to drop off the group, and try to get my own pace going. That worked ok for a few miles, then the gut started in again, and I had to dash into the woods. Around mile 17-18 there is a crazy long downhill. I want to say, for the record, downhill running needs to be practiced in training. I had done six months of training to run up the hills of Jamesville Park and Lake Placid, and it did not translate. Flat and downhill running takes a toll on the legs, and by mile 20, I knew I was in big trouble. By mile 21, my IT bands were seizing up, and slower pace groups were passing me. By mile 24, I was walking. The finish line photos, which I did not buy, show me running/limping sideways, about to tip over. I believe my time was 4:29, a PR, but it was ugly. Fortunately, NYC was a bit of a redemption, but that is a later post.