Race Day

The alarm went off at 3:45 but I had already been awake for nearly 2 hours, since 1:47 to be exact. I’d read where most people didn’t sleep much before their first Ironman, so I’d hoped my 3 hours of sleep wouldn’t cost me later.

Breakfast was my standard oatmeal along with a cup or two of cheerios for extra carbs and a cup of coffee. A trip to the bathroom and I was good to go. I gathered all of my hydration bottles, special needs bags, tire pump and dressed in what I would wear under my wetsuit. I think it was about 4:40 or so when I headed down to the parking lot to catch a ride with James, Wendy and Ben. We parked and caught the bus to main street and arrived just as it was starting to get light out … by 5:30 we were getting marked and were ready to head into transition.

My first of many shout outs to the Volunteers at this event – especially since the guy marking me agreed to put whatever age I wanted on my right calf!

I was surprised to see Warren Hale, from the Buffalo tri club as I was getting branded - I think he took pictures of that and he, along with a ton of other BTC members were out on the course cheering us on all day – I hope they know how appreciative I am of all the support and advice they’ve provided.

Once in transition, I readied my bike and placed all my bottles and actually surprised myself that I was as organized as I was and that so far I hadn’t forgotten anything. I didn’t want to leave transition, but both James and I were done so we headed out the main entrance at the end of Mirror Lake Drive. I wished James well and went off to try to calm myself down.

It was about 6:00 a.m. and I wasn’t so much nervous as I was tired, I felt very exhausted from not having slept and the more I thought about what I was supposed to do that day the more anxious and worried I became about my ability to finish … needless to say, I wasn’t feeling very confident. I was set to meet my brother at the Mobil station across from the Rink/Transition/Finish at 6:30 a.m. so I found a port-a-potty without much of a line and then headed to the less crowded municipal building across the street. A light sprinkle started and I hoped it wouldn't rain or at least hold off during the bike. Time was ticking down and I was tired so I just laid down on my wetsuit and tried to rest and NOT think about the day ahead… but there was none of either – I was anxious and apprehensive as can be – I think this was the first time I fought the tears that day and questioned what I was doing there in the first place.

Mike and Nick showed up right on time and I was glad to get on with everything, so I slathered up in body glide and did a decent job of catching every where I might chaff that day. I pulled on the bottom of my wetsuit and passed off my bike & run special needs bags and we headed down to Mirror Lake in a light rain. There were hugs and well wishes and then I headed down the lane to the swim start. There were quite a few people I knew in the race but in wetsuits & swim caps & goggles we were all pretty much unrecognizable. I waited until about 6:45 before entering the water. The temp was good and, as a few people had instructed me, I headed over to the far beach and little alcove on the far right side of Mirror Lake. It felt good to swim and unlike my earlier races I managed to get a breathing rhythm down right away. Once I found a spot to stand I started to get more nervous, there were a few women around me (they announced at the Friday night athlete meeting that the race was 73% male and 27% female) and we chatted about the spectacle of it all. The helicopter was circling overhead and it all seemed very surreal to me – like it was something I was witnessing rather than actually participating in. A few minutes before the pro start the Matchbox Twenty song “How far we’ve come” (I have the YouTube video in an earlier post) came blasting across the lake and I couldn’t help but smile. I took it as a sign and it went a long way in calming me down.

Mike Reilly was revving up the crowd and then the pros went off. As I stood chest deep in the water along the far shore, about 100 yards back from the start line I was searching around for my family and friends and regretted not mentioning to them that I’d be over on this side of the lake, the crowd was huge and it was a very cool sensation to be a part of it. As I scanned the crowd I noticed that just behind me was a group of the Buffalo Triathlon Club contingent – Rich Clark was there with his bullhorn – someone I’d see a whole lot of that day – I noticed Theresa Palmieri and Kara Klaasesz too, all IM veterans who’d provided me various bits of advice and information in the weeks leading up to this day