Re: An impressive feat.
It was a tandem bike, and she had a guide thruout the race. It would have been impossible any other way.
Her own recap is pretty amazing, and I copy it here:
IronMan Lake Placid Race Report: Total time = 14:38
I have now completed my first Ironman. We are the first female team to have
ever completed an Ironman, that includes Myself, Caroline, and Rebecca. Rebecca
helped me get there, due to injuries she wasn?t able to do the race. Caroline
helped me from start to finish. I couldn?t have done it without both of them.
I knew going into this Ironman is big, I didn?t understand exactly how big.
Overall:
I am thrilled at how we did. Those headwinds were no joke. Caroline had 5
weeks to prepare and performed like a champion. She forgave me for how hard I
pushed her on that run. I felt strong the entire time. I fully anticipated
having at least one moment where I would want to quit. I didn?t have a single
one. I felt so privileged to have had the support required to be able to
compete. I had my guides behind me, C Different behind me, all my friends and
family behind me?.. I felt like I must be one of the most fortunate people in
the world to have had this opportunity.
Having my Dad ,My big sister, and a few of my closest friends under one roof
for a few nights was the best vacation I have ever had. Having all of them at
the finish line made all of the training worthwhile. Having all of them their
(including Rebecca) made it one of the best days of my life. I?m so thankful to
have done it, and I?m thankful it?s over (for now J ).
Prior to the race I was all nerves; I checked and double checked everything
(almost everything
).
I forgot our tether for the swim. Without that tether I never could have
finished that swim. I also had no cell phone. I happened to remember the cell
phone number of my Dad, Glen, and Jaspreet. I called them from a friend?s
phone. One of them called back and was able to get the tether into our gear bag
for the run. In the mean time a friend, Sid, channeled his inner Magiver and
fashioned a tether for us out of slashed bike tubes. The swim was a zoo!!!!
Caroline and I entered the water for the swim. We were band together with giant
tubes tied together. We were so excited. I really felt confident, well
prepared, and ready for anything. I knew the swim was going to be the hardest
part for me, the sooner we start the sooner we finish. That whistle blew, I
struggled in the swim the way I knew I would. This was my first mass start. It
is one thing to have total sensory deprivation, it is another to have sensory
deprivation and be kicked all over. I had my head out of the water roughly the
first mile. I know better, but none of my tricks were working. I now have
half dozen little mind tricks I use to get my face back in the water.
Everrytime I tried I would get kicked in the head, then pop right back up. I
also must have swallowed some air. I have never felt nauseous on a swim. I
almost had to stop between the first and second loop to throw up. I was
absolutely sure the entire time in the water that I was going to lose it.
A friend had sent a text that morning that said ?just keep breathing, and and
clear your mind?. This proved to be the advise that saved my race. I couldn?t
get any of my counting tricks, or songs to work for me. Once I focused on just
counting to breath and clearing my mind I was able to pull it together. I was
still getting kicked, and getting my arm tangles in the bike tubes, but I was
able to keep moving forward. (Thanks to Stubby for good advise)
The swim will always be the hardest for me. My guide can push me, or pull me but
that is the extent of our ability to communicate. We are navigating with a
vocabulary of 2 words. Add a few decent turns and 2000 people swimming equally
erratically. and you have a real live challenge on your hands. It is terrifying
for me. Most blind athletes consider the swim to be the hardest part.
Our transition from the swim to the bike was seamless. We moved out of the
bike feeling strong. There are some awesome down hills in the beginning. Our
strategy; ?what breaks?. We made it over 55 mph on one of the downhill?s. You
better believe I was nervous. We were loving it. Then as you might imagine
came the uphill. I had done the course several times on a friend comp trainer
so I felt prepared for the hills. What I wasn?t prepared for was the
headwinds. It was rough. Tandems are not aerodynamic. It is like having a
high performance bike with a sail on the back. Head winds are a tandems worst
nightmare. We both pushed as hard as we could. Our initial loops we averages
17 mph, on our second we averaged 11 mph. Prior to race day I had imagined many
worst case scenario. I imagine crashes, swim accidents, nutrition issues, etc.
I have never in a million years imagined missing the bike cut off. We didn?t
miss it, but we came way to close for comfort. I expected we?d be between 6:00-
6:30hours, we were 7:55. We made it with a whopping 35 min to spare. I was so
worried.
We made up for it with a decent run. Caroline only had 5 weeks to train. She
did an amazing job at holding it on the run. I am a more experienced runner. I
pushed her like crazy on that run. We pulled it together for a4:30 marathon.
I was very proud of her. We passed Mark Griffin (another blind athlete) on mile
16, and passed Charlie (another blind athlete and my personal hero) on mile 20.
Overall of the blind athletes Caroline and I finished second. Everyone had a
hellish time with those headwinds.
Funniest Sign:
Caroline saw a sign that we think must have been missing a few delimiters, it
read:
?The weary will run come unto Jesus find us on face book win the race?. With no
space or punctuation
.
Recovery:
Today I feel like I am suffering the gravity of Jupiter. Everything I pickup
seams to weigh 6 times what it did just a few days ago. I am having strange
pains all over in muscles that I was previously unaware existed. All par for
the course I guess. I took the day off and laid in the sunshine by a beautiful
lake. I?v enever been happier in my life. Tomorrow back to work.
Local News:
We were on the local paper twice:
With a little help from a friend
http://www.adirondackdailyenterprise.com/page/content.detail/id/514497.html?nav=5010
?Race for our lives and salvation?
http://www.adirondackdailyenterprise.com/page/content.detail/id/514506.html?nav=5010
