The week before hand was magic. Everything I would ever expect and more. The city of Lake Placid New York was like none I had seen before, though much like I had read about – in horror novels from Steven King. I had trained like I had never trained before, hell I had run and swim. I was not a runner or a swimmer.I was pretending to be something I was not, just to prove someone something to someone I really did not know and prove to god that life was wrong. I was there because I was not supposed to be there. I was supposed to be allot of things – but trained for an IronMan trialthon was not one of the things I was supposed to be.
I woke up two minutes before the alarm was supposed to go off…not sure how I woke up, but I looked at the clock at 4:58am. I waited for the alarm to go off. At the first beep I pulled the sheets back and sat up…feeling more nervous than I had ever felt in my life for anything. As a matter of fact I don’t know that I had ever been nervous for anything before. Day light was not on the curtains…it was still dark out but the activity in the hotel was obvious. Blenders, toilets, water running and doors closing were in the back round. Turning on the television Bert and Ernie were waiting for me – not sure what they were up to but it was good to hear something other than blenders and toilets.
The morning was crisp and foggy, Enya playing in the distance as I walked to the bike area – all were cheking their tire pressure and being sure that their bicycles were ready to go, for there was one hundred and twelve miles to be ridden. There was a peace of mind provided by the music that was playing – a CD that I knew well, it was peaceful – a big day lay ahead. This was my first IronMan, hell; this was my very first triathlon period. I for some reason had to check my bags, not because I need to – but because I did not know what to do. Everything was the way I had left it…who would have thought.
I checked my bike; it was exactly the way I left it, sitting on the rack I had left it on, just under an Olympic flame. I meticulously pumped up the tires and walked over to the swim start…Enya still playing in the back round. Walking to the water there was electricity in the air, an excitement I had never felt in my years of racing road bikes…this was special. It was loud and silent all at the same time – the silence cutting into me at the while I prepared. I could not hear my girlfriend talking to me – I was deaf and had super hearing all at the same time. I slowly and carefully spread Body Glide on my arms and legs as I prepared for the swim…this was my, and the races first. IronMan virgin at a virgin race. I noticed that there was a restroom and figured I needed to use the restroom and walked to the men’s room, it smelt as it should, like a well used bathroom in a public place – the stench was awful and appropriate all at the same time. My bowels knew it was time to empty, I was not nervous and my body somehow knew that it was time to empty. Walking out of the men’s bathroom Enya was still playing and the feeling had not left – loud silence was still the ruling the day. I finished putting on my wetsuit…kissed Robynn and slowly walked into the water.
This was a first of many firsts. This was my first Triathlon, this was the first race since my “accident”, this was the first race in this place – no one knew what to expect. Walking into the water was again total silence. I could feel the water slip into the legs, then into the zipper just above my rear – slowly leaking in as I positoned my goggles into place. Once in place I swam out an took hold of the dock, all the while not getting my head wet. I was in the water for what seemed like forever – I did not warm up, I took hold of the dock and waited. The national anthem played and I waited holding the doc – a helicopter was going “thump thump thump thump” over head…waiting as I was for the unknown. The water cold and seeping into my and ever other person’s wetsuit around me. I had already urinated in my wet suit – there was nothing left but to wait for seven o’clock to come around. Then it would all start.