Fit To Be TRI'd: Team Rabbit

Team Rabbit (me, Carol, and Pam) wore bunny ears on the run at Ironman Lake Placid. Priscilla gave us the idea when we were waiting to get to her birthday race, the Baltimore 10 Miler. We figured the spectators would like the bunny ears. Well, they did all right. And way more than we ever thought! These are some of the things that were said as we ran along, and the bigger the crowd usually the bigger the reaction. I was even propositioned(!):

BUNNY!!!!!!!
The rabbit is back!
The bunny is back!
Hey your ears are on backwards!
Little Bunny Foo Foo!
What’s up, Doc?
Energizer bunny!
Eveready bunny!
Silly Rabbit! (Trix are for kids!)
Playboy Bunny?!
Where’s your tail?
Run Rabbit, Run! (Walk Rabbit, Walk!)
How many of you ARE there?
It’s the Easter Bunny! (in July?)
Look at the bunny?!
Love your ears! (Love your hat!)
Angel is the centerfold!
Hop like a bunny!
Hop to the finish!
Peter Cottontail!
Thanks Easter Bunny, bock-bock!
I’d do you in two seconds
And what Tim said to spectators and he ran with Carol, “And she poops chocolate eggs!”

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A race day poem!

Rock Race Day, Sunday

Ironman is another fun day

It’s Team Rabbit’s time

Show them all how you shine

Team Rabbit is gonna kick some ass

Even if we’re low on gas

One hundred forty point six miles

Please don’t forget your smiles

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This was something funny my Z-mate Marie posted on my timeline on FB: Some folks in line to register where talking about "the lady with rabbit ears that did cartwheels at the finish line". I proudly said "That's my teammate! This was her third Ironman!". Your finish is now part of people's stories of the race!

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First, here’s a quick run down of the time leading up to race day:

Team Rabbit departed the DC area on Wednesday afternoon. We had two cars and were going to go almost halfway (reminds me of a GREAT song...) The ride with Pam was FUN! I mean we both missed Carol, but she was with Tim, so that was cool. Now if we’d only had walkie talkies...next time! Pam kept me entertained with funny stories and read entries from her training journals which was very cool!

The trip was mostly uneventful the first night. Though getting into New Jersey to our hotel was...interesting. The location was just odd. Ohwell. On Thursday we made good time to Lake Placid and we were checked in and had done packet pick-up by about 1:30. Ask me about my $650 backpack...

After packet pick-up we went to the Choppah (aka the Price Chopper) for supplies and stuff. I score the most awesome nail polish by OPI: Pedal Faster, Suzi! Perfect! But would it? Make me faster that is... Anyway, it was pink and looked great with my wheels and the rabbit jersey!

After the Choppah we stopped to get Pam check in at the Town & Country then we were of to the Golden Arrow. Wow – so nice there and right on the lake. We had requested rooms next to each other and they delivered! We were on the second floor, lake side. Awesome!

For the first time in three Ironman events I managed to get to the merchandise tent on day 1! It was awesome and I got a few fun things. I took a picture of transition before it was filled with bikes to compare with the picture I would take AFTER it was filled with bikes:

Later we had dinner that night at the restaurant at Northwoods Inn and did a bit of carbo-loading.

Friday morning we started the day with about a 30 minute swim in the lake. We swam from the Golden Arrow beach to the course where we picked up the course and swam to the start and back. The water was so nice! Then we changed and regrouped for a short ride. Pam needed to get her bike from Placid Planet and Carol needed to get hers from the race tech tent. We just did a short out and back in reverse of the end of the bike loop and did get to climb the three bears so that was nice. We went about 7-ish miles. After we put our bikes away we went on a short run. Brick: check! Friday night we had the mandatory athlete meeting. Getting there was ok – we walked. Nice to stretch out the legs. Getting back...interesting. We hitched a ride! Later we tried to have dinner at the Pub Brewery but it was too late and too long a line. So we ended up at a pizza place. It was really good – I had a grilled cheese with tomato sandwich.

Saturday morning we did another swim from the hotel beach. This time we swam to the course and since the buoys were in we swam to the turn around and back. The water was again so nice! I was still prepping my bags, though they were all laid out. It is amazing how much stuff goes into Ironman! It is always a little nerve wracking to have to drop off transition bags the day before, but knowing we can get to them race morning makes a difference. I really don’t know where my Saturday went, but I do know Carol and I were not early in dropping our stuff off! We saw Pam on her way back from dropping her things off. She’d had the chance to ride the descent into Keene on her race wheels so she was happy!

I think I tried to do some napping before and after the drop off but was so keyed up! For dinner we were meeting up with Carol’s family who was in town to cheer her on. That was fun! We went back to Mr. Mike’s Pizza and I actually had pasta that was pretty good! The bread was delicious, too! Eventually I was back in my room and making final preparations for race day. My alarm was set to go off at I think 3:45 AM.

Race Report (finally):

People always think there is so much time, but I know that no matter how much time you seem to give yourself you could always use more! Between walking down to transition and all the things needed to get done: body marking; air in tires; put stuff in transition bags; nutrition on bike; etc. Before we knew it, it was time to hit the potties one last time then wetsuit up! I felt so much calmer before this race than I did three years ago. And even before Arizona last November. I mean, I was still nervous, but I think it was just the experience that helped.

Pam, Carol, and I went into the water together but Pam stayed near the back while Carol and I made our way up to the front so we could be near the line. Again. The swim in Lake Placid is truly like no other with the cable permanently fixed about 5 feet under water. One hardly needs to sight! Of course, when 2500 plus athletes all take off at once and many go for that same line... well, the description ‘washing machine’ comes to mind!

Swim 1:11:06 22/108 (Goal 1:15)

The 10 minutes till the cannon went off seemed much longer to me. As we waited in the water and people started filling in the national anthem was sung and Mike Reilly was up there already cheering us on for the day ahead. So cool! Even the last minute seemed to take forever. Finally it was time! The cannon went off and WE were off!! I got pushed to the inside and did not even know it! And yes, it was like a washing machine! Even as I tried to move back towards the cable as I went along I still was being push towards the center. CRAZY! Eventually I made it to the outside and could see the cable and was easily moving right along. I seriously got sucked along and felt like I was hardly working on this swim! I got out of the water and the clock read 34 and I was pleased and knew I was a little faster than I’d planned. Of course, it is hard to...plan in this swim chaos! But more importantly, as I was running across the little strip to jump back in the water at this halfway point, I again heard Bon Jovi’s “Livin on a Prayer” which I’d ALSO heard at the halfway point of my IMLP 2009 swim! How cool was that? Ineresting note, I also heard that song in a remix version at the near halfway point of the bike! We (Team Rabbit that is) just LOVE that song and generally bur out into it at about every halfway training (or racing) point in preparation to race day!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDK9QqIzhwk

Back into the water for the second loop I started swimming right away. I will say that loop two for me was still pretty crowded. Once or twice I found some feet to draft off of and was happy for that. Between that and the cable all was good! It got crowded at the turn around and at the swim exit but when I got out of the water the second time I saw 1:11 – yay! My second loop was 3:04 slower – which was pretty similar to IMLP 2009. After the wetsuit stripper I was off on the run to get to transition. My feet felt surprisingly good here running along barefoot. In the past year or so with my plantar fasciitis the barefoot run to transition was often quite painful. I’m glad my feet are happy again!

T1 10:33 (Goal 10:00)

Found my T1 bag with no problem. When I was almost to the tent I saw Marie! Thanks for the cool picture you posted, Marie! Transition went ok. I was not doing a complete change so that was good. I have a system, it may not be fast but it works. I had a shared volunteer so that was good. She got my arm warmers on and I was set! The sunscreen volunteer did a great job as I did not have any burns after it was all over. Bonus! I realized I needed to hit the potty and needed to backtrack. I felt like a salmon swimming upstream! But it was a good thing.

Bike 7:42:18 60/108 (Goal 8:00)

It was great to get started on the bike! After my mad dash to hit the potty pre-ride that is. I felt good leaving town. It is always great fun coming down the hill and not hitting the hay bales! My heart rate monitor was actually not registering my heart rate but at least it was showing everything else. I guess I once again had some Garmin drama! Regardless, I would try to take it easy on the climb to the Keene descent. People were passing me left and right. Well, mostly left but seriously, later on people did pass me on the right! “W” Thankfully the shoulder was quite wide at this point!

Speaking of Keene, I was a little bit nervous about the descent as I’d only ridden on the new wheels three times, and one of those was just 7 miles two days prior! The first descent to Keene went ok! I flew by some folks here...who later passed me up after they’d made it down the hill! I had fun though. I won’t say I love descending like that but I do like it!

After making it down the hill, I tried to stay aero as much as possible while I could. This is a nice stretch of road and I quite enjoy it. I also enjoy much of the course after the turn to head towards Jay and the new out and back. My nutrition seemed to be going well – I was doing the usual on schedule. Then on the way back on the new out and back my tube of nuun flew out of my back pocket! Oops! I would need to improvise...because my quads were cramping a bit, especially my right, the lower inner part. I started taking extra salt tabs and bananas at every aid station. The shorter out and back on Haselton Road is so nice now! You can really move on the return portion! Too bad it is so short!

Oh I love Whiteface Mountain! The return to town is tough but I do seriously enjoy some of the views along here. Just as I was approaching the first of the three bears a woman passed me and said something like, “Welcome to Mama Bear” which I totally loved! If I had not read a former Z’ers race report years ago before doing IMLP for the first time I would have no idea what she meant, either!

Anyway, the first time of up Papa Bear I felt like I was in the Tour de France! Wow were there lots of people along the street! At the top I made the turn onto Northwoods and it was along here I saw a guy in a Chive t-shirt! I was SO excited! I would see him two more times that day! Finally made the turn on to Mirror Lake Drive for a quick stop at Special Needs! This time I remember to pick up the extra salt tabs. Too bad I didn’t have extra nuun in there... Note to self for the next time! After Special Needs I saw everyone from Carol’s cheer group. Yay! Now on to the second loop!

The second loop was a lot like the first, except I had a harder time on the initial climb out of town. The descent felt great, again! My legs were really cramping a lot so I started with the extra salt tabs and kept up with the bananas. On the second loop, after the turn towards Wilmington at Jay I got to see the family with the pet goats! I did not see them the first loop but I did see them three years before! It was pretty hot out there at this point and I appreciated any shade or cloud cover I could find along the way! I was even hoping for a little drizzle! I was super happy to greet Mama Bear the second time as well, along with Baby Bear and of course Papa Bear! I was pretty psyched as my 112 miles was nearly done! Coming back into transition I was really happy to move on to the next portion. I did not get emotional as I had done three years before but was more excited for what was about to happen...

Note: My top speed for the day was 42.0 miles per hour. This was my fastest speed to date! I’m not sure if this was the first or second loop as I have yet to download my Garmin data!

T2 8:40 (Goal 5:00)

Back into the changing tent after a quick stop at the potty. Speaking of the potty... I did not stop once to pee on the bike. This does not mean that I peed while on the bike, this just means I actually did not have to GO while on the bike. Actually in about the last 20 miles I did feel like I had to, but was not stopping. This does mean that part of my cramping probably was probably dehydration. Oops, I must not have been hydrating enough leading up to race day. This time I had a volunteer to myself! They sure do rock, the changing tent volunteers. Again, I was only changing shoes and headgear so not too much to worry about. The last thing I did before leaving the changing tent was put on the now famous BUNNY EARS! Out of the test for more sunscreen then I was on my way...

Run 5:57:48 71/108 (Goal 6:00)

Okay, when we (Team Rabbit) decided to go with bunny ears headboppers (thanks for the AUsome idea, Priscilla) we figured the crowd would like them. As you can see from the list above, the crowed LOVED them! I think I am going to wear bunny ears and the rabbit jersey in as many races as possible!

I felt really good when I started the run. I was planning to run/walk as needed but definitely at every aid station. Of course, there is a huge downhill leaving town so it was easy to run and with more speed than ‘normal’! The crowd was loving on the ears, too, and I was smiling like crazy. Very, very fun! I ran all the way to the first aid station, which I think was on an uphill where I definitely walked. I started taking in a variety of things: Ironman Perform, grapes, cola, oranges and pretty much repeated that at every aid station and eventually added in chicken broth and water.

Shortly after the aid station I started chatting with a guy athlete who said he liked the ears and mentioned he had a rabbit at home. Also told me his friends and family said that was why he couldn’t get a girl friend. Okay...But he was very nice! Was hoping to get a picture of us after the race to show his family, but he finished before me and I never saw him after. Oh well. Anyway, during my first loop out I saw Caroline! Yay Nice to see a familiar face when there were very little teammates there. Around the third or so mile (because I really cannot remember) there was a stretch of road that was exposed and I pretty much having a bit of an issue with the heat. I opted to taking walk breaks about half way between the aid stations and not long after started the counting of my run and walk steps. It really does keep my brain occupied and kept me moving forward.

The aid stations were fun and seemed to have themes, much like Arizona had. I loved hitting the turn around because there was an older gentleman sitting monitoring the runners wearing an AU hat! I actually got to should out “War Eagle” to someone! I told him my son went there and kept on moving. But that really picked me up!

Along the way back to town I was very happy to see Carol and Pam. Yay Team Rabbit! Carol said she had some buddies to run with so that was good. As I neared town the various spectator groups were happy to see that the ‘rabbit’ was back and they just cracked me up! As I was going up the last hill into town I was being prompted to run. Um, I tried! I made it about two steps and started walking again! I was psyched to be on the out and back as no one there had seen bunnies yet! It was along here I was propositioned! Hahaha I saw Barbara from Team Z at Special Needs! Yay for familiar faces! I changed a few items out here then continued on my way. I was actually surprised at how quickly I got to the turn around on the first loop! It seemed short, but I was doing more running than walking at this point. I think I saw Carol’s cheer group along here as well. And I saw Caroline on her way to being finished!

Back out to Main Street and on to the second loop. Love that downhill out of town!! By now the sun was no longer a factor and it was more that I was just tired. My breathing was starting to get to me a little but nothing close to three years before. I know I saw Carol and Pam again and was quite happy about that. I also saw the AU guy again and we talked a bit. I found out he was Class of ’64 – a great year and the year I was born! I told him that seeing him made my day!

Finally, I made it back to the out and back. This time it took a lot longer to get to the turn around. On the way out I did stop and drop my fuel belt in my Special Needs bag so I wouldn't have it in the way of my cartwheels! haha I was jogging with an older guy at this point and his fans were teasing him about the rabbing running faster than him. Once we hit the oval I let him go ahead because I know how narrow the finishers chute gets, especially at the arch. I saw some of Carol's fan club on my way around - yay! I heard my name getting announced and I unfortunately cannot remember if Mike Reilly said anything about my cartwheels! I have no clue what my finisher's song is, unlike Carol - who got an EXCELLENT one! One that the 2012 USA Olympic Swimming Team also likes (link below if not blocked):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPIA7mpm1wU

Some of the details from the run are fuzzy now (oops, next time I shouldn’t wait so long to write) but all in all I felt pretty good. I kept moving forward and had no nutrition issues. I did make three quick stops to the potty along the way, but this was because my hydration levels were up. Much better than I did in Arizona, where I was uber hydrated!! I walked more that second loop than the first but did keep alternating anywhere between 50 to 200 steps.

The run was a big breakthrough for me especially as compared to IMAZ 2011 which had a slower time than IMLP from 2009 by about 8 minutes. I kind of fell apart mentally in Arizona where in Lake Placid 2009 I just couldn’t breathe. My times had been 6:40 and 6:48 so my goal of 6:00 kind of scared me!

15:10:25 (Goal 15:30) Speaking of goal times, which I have in parentheses next to my official times, I had shared my 'dream goal' times with a few people before hand. Specifically so they would know when to try to track me. Of course, having done this race distance before, I truly would have been happy to finish at 17:00, or less of course! And with any marathon time! Going into the race I did really want to work on my brain and the mental aspect. Now that I’ve sort of done that I need to work on the brain and the pain together! The next challenge for that is hopefully Ironman Wisconsin 2013!

All in all, Team Rabbit was successful in Lake Placid! Yay!

Next up (so far): Army 10-Miler! I think I will be a rabbit...

Pages

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Cheering and Volunteering at Ironman, Chapter Two aka the Rabbit Rap

Monday, September 17, 2012

Cheering and Volunteering at Ironman, Chapter Two aka RABBIT RAP

Team Rabbit Sighting at Ironman Wisconsin!

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Bunnies in the house! Race Report and other stuff...