July 31st - Justin Schettini, YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!

My goal has been met, my dream has been realized.  The voice of Ironman, Mike Reilly, called my name (he didn't butcher it as bad as I thought he would) as I came down the finish chute and as I crossed the line he declared that I had become an Ironman.

I had seen the emotion of the finish line as a spectator last year, and as a spectator got choked up for those that realized their goal as they crossed the finish.  As the clocked ticked closer to midnight the crowd grew larger, louder and increasingly shared in the emotion of the final finishers as well as those that fell short of the official cutoff.  I will say that the feeling that I experienced crossing the line myself was immeasurably greater than anything I had expected.  As the run miles (slowly) ticked by and the finish became closer I knew in the back of my mind that I was going to finish, and finish well.  However, I would not let myself believe it and I did all I could to suppress the emotion until I descended the final hill towards the finish chute on the Olympic Oval.  Once I saw Kelly and her tears of joy, my own started to flow.  Having my family at the event to share in this accomplishment was critical to finishing the event.  I don't know how people finish these events without family or friends there to cheer them on an offer encouragement.  I will post some photos of me looking like a whipped dog at the finish as soon as I get them from Kelly's phone and Nathan's camera.  Until then here is a pic of a couple of stickers that I can't wait to display:

While finishing any Iron distance event is an accomplishment, the first one will always be special.  As sappy as it sounds, it is a very personal journey in which you learn more about yourself physically, mentally and emotionally than you can imagine.  To overcome a major injury makes it that much more special and emotionally fulfilling.  Most people think triathletes are crazy for swimming, biking and running any distance in a single day.  When they find out what the distances are for Ironman their suspicions are confirmed, and when they find out that I went against the wishes of my surgeon they think I should be committed to an institution.  I learned more about what my body and mind can handle from this experience than probably anything else in my life, and because of that I was able to protect my reconstructed knee during training and on race day.  I did not feel a single twinge of pain throughout the entire event.  Yes, there is some swelling and soreness in these days following the event but even my good knee is showing the same signs.  I am still enjoying the incredible feeling of accomplishment while I rest and recover.  It will still be another week and a half or so until I shift my focus to preparing for Ironman Florida in November which will be an entirely different emotional experience because I will be participating in that event with two of my very close friends that helped introduce me to the sport and prepare me for Lake Placid.

Here is a brief breakdown of how the days leading up to Ironman Lake Placid and the race itself played out:

Friday 7/26 - Arrive in Lake Placid:  The town was already packed with athletes and their families and there was a party atmosphere in the air.  I checked in to the race, got a pretty nice Ironman book bag (that I refused to use until the race was over - didn't want to jinx myself), and then checked into the ridiculously over-priced Comfort Inn.

Saturday 7/27 - Our wedding anniversary, 11 years!: Spent the morning sorting through my gear and getting my bike stickered for bike check in.  Checked the bike in later that afternoon and spent the rest of the day relaxing and going over my nutrition and run plans.  Went to bed early and actually slept pretty well until 2am.

Sunday 7/28 - RACE DAY:  Up early to eat, shower and get my head right.  Headed to body marking and transition at 5am for one last bike prep and on the swim start at 6:15.  After a short swim warm up I lined up on the shore ready to get the longest workout of my life under way.

Swim: Although I have done quite a few swims in open water, this one freaked me out.  My heart rate spiked, I couldn't catch my breath and I swallowed more Mirror Lake water than I care to think about.  I was seriously panicked for the first few hundred yards and swam with my head up.  Thoughts of missing the swim cutoff definitely crossed my mind.  I was able to calm myself and settle into a good rhythm for the remainder of the swim.  At one point, Andy Potts the eventual race winner, was swimming right next to me on his second lap.  I finished the swim in 1:28:22, which is pretty good for me.

Bike:  My transition was pretty slow (12+ minutes), but that was because I walked most of the nearly quarter mile from the swim exit to the transition tent.  My plan on the bike was to ride the first lap conservatively and save energy for the second lap and the run.  The bike was mostly uneventful except for the ludicrous speeds attained on the 7 mile descent from Lake Placid to Keane.  My hands and butt cheeks were cramped on the first lap from being on the brakes.  The course is the most scenic I have ever ridden and the hills over the last 11 miles are brutal.  Lap number two was definitely more difficult and even though I was able to descend faster this time around I had a pretty good scare when a wind gust blew me across 2 lanes and almost into oncoming vehicle traffic.  The "3 Bears" climbs this time around were especially tough.  My nutrition plan held together well and I followed it the best I could.  I found myself stopping at aid stations for a quick stretch, a pee break and to top off my bottles pretty frequently.  This race was about finishing so I wasn't worried about losing time to much.  My bike split was 7:33:02 with an average of 14.4mph.

Run:  Transition #2 was a bit better at 5:43.  As I headed out on the run I felt much better than I thought I would and I knew that my nutrition and hydration plan was working.  I had to remind myself to stick to my 6 minute run / 4 minute walk intervals because I was feeling so good.  I was able to follow this plan for about 18 miles, and as I started to get tired I adjusted to 5 minutes running to 5 minutes walking.  I did make the mistake of not drinking enough at the run aid stations so I was starting to feel a bit dehydrated for the last 6 miles or so.  I adjusted to a ratio of 2 minutes / 2 minutes to carry me through the last miles and had to resist the urge to run when I was in town among the enormous crowds.  This carried me to a 5:16:36 marathon and a total Ironman Lake Placid finish time of 14:36:40.

Now for the most important part of this post, and really this whole journey.  As I said before, Ironman is a very personal journey, and while the training and racing hours involve spending a lot of time alone, there is no way to get through it without a solid support crew of friends and family.  A simple thank you is not enough to express my gratitude to the following people who made this possible:

Eddie Kirk, Ironman Florida finisher - Thanks for keeping me in check, reminding me to rest and for reminding me of the real reason we do this.  I'm looking forward to continuing our training rides/runs and can't wait for IMFL 2013 brother.

Shaun Dailey, Ironman Florida finisher - Thanks for the tips and sharing your personal Ironman journey with me. It helped and inspired more than you know.  Let's get after it with Eddie for IMFL 2013...love you buddy!

Ben Madden, Ironman Lake Placid / Arizona finisher; Xterra racer - Thanks for the advice and helping me get into the sport.  I'm ready for us to do a race together and I think that HITS race sounds like a great idea.

Darrell Hynson, Multiple Ironman finisher, 2x Kona finisher - Thanks for the swimming tips those first few days in the pool.  You might not realize how close I was to giving up.  The sage advice you have given me has been invaluable and I hope that I can learn even more from you soon.

Nathan and Cindy Hempel, bro-in-law & sis-in-law; personal paparazzi and cheering section - Thanks so much for coming all that way, paying all that money and standing around for hours to see me for all of 30 seconds.  Cindy, the signs were awesome and I did laugh when I saw them.  Nathan I can't wait to see the pics you were able to take.

Vince and Christine Schettini - Dad and Chris, thanks for putting up with me.  I know that feels like an endurance sport in itself.  I'm so glad that you could share this with me and I hope that the memories you have of this event are as awesome as mine.  Love you guys!

Amanda Schettini, NY training partner; sis - Skipper, thanks for sharing in this with me.  Also, thanks for the punishing training ride we did just 4 days before the event!  I know I keep bugging you to sign up for that Greene County Tri, but I know that you will love it!  Can't wait to ride/run with you again soon.

Kelly Schettini, IRONWIFE - Living with me is never easy.  Thank you for keeping me on track with my training plan, and for picking up the slack when I was putting in long hours training.  Your encouragement when I was feeling discouraged about my knee or perceived lack of progress got me through some pretty rough patches.  Thank you, and I love you more than you know.  Now it's your turn!