3 days Post Ironman

13:58:41
It will be one of the most memorable experiences of my life.
Friday morning - Ironman - 48 hours
Morgen and I drive up to Lake Placid in the morning together. We stop in Platsburgh and then get my race packet at the Oval Stadium around noon. I learn then that there are 2 Valerie Tremblays in my age category from Quebec competing in the IM. How will people tell us apart? I hope she's really fast...
When I get weighed in, I realize that I weigh the same as I did in my thinnest days 8years ago, except that now its all muscle. I have never in my life been or looked this fit. I get my chips and tags and bags and all the rest of the necessities and leave the stadium labelled 2656.
Friday evening there is an Athlete's welcome dinner in a huge tent on the Horse Show grounds, only 5 minutes walking distance from the house. We all leave together: David and Christine, Max and Marie-Noelle, Alain and Nadine, Catherine, Morgen and I. That is the moment where I really start getting into the atmosphere of the event. The IM announcer (same voice for all competitions), the video...The experience of being in that tent with all of the athletes is very moving -one man lost 185lbs to compete here. His journey started with a doctor telling him and his wife that they were too fat to conceive - 2 yrs later he is half his original body weight, she is cheering him on, and they just found out she is pregnant (of course I cried). The 3 survivors from the April biking accident in Montreal that killed 3 cyclists and injured 3 are here....they are the Ford Every Day heroes. I cry during this part as well.
There is a 79 year old man (looks 50) doing his 18th IM. He is brought on stage with the youngest participant who turns eighteen the day before the race. And out of the 3000 athletes, over 900 first timers. The majority are Americans. In terms of participation rates, Canada is the second of the 27 countries represented. Two thirds of the participants are men, one third women. The biggest age category is 40-44.
Saturday
Saturday goes by fast with Laurent, Matis and my mother arriving in the early afternoon. The morning is dedicated to packing the 5 race bags and checking in the bike and the gear. Many mom's and dad's are here to cheer on their children; the house is full.
8pm bedtime on Saturday evening...but I can't sleep!
Sunday - Race day
When the alarm goes off at 4am, the first thing I notice is that I have slept on my left arm, and I feel pain - but the rest of my body feels ok. The week before the Ironman I felt tired, anxious, and painful body parts kept manifesting themselfves..David and Max advised that it was part of the taper process. Exercise withdrawl makes your body starts to do strange things.
After a group picture (Laurent will take over 400 photos on this day), we head to town. First stop is body marking - your number is branded onto your arms, legs, and your age marked on your right calf. Bike check follows - thank you Louis for being gracious and checking my tires - then a walk to drop off special needs bags and finally time to put on the wetsuit and meet the rest of the antilopes at our chosen meeting point.
The energy in the air is electrifying. We all walk together to the swim start, singing and laughing. I am grateful not to be doing this alone. The sky is gray, it will eventually rain, but for the time being the water is calm.
We head into the water, all 2700 of us, and prepare to start the race.
The gun blasts at 6h50 am for the Pro start. Fifty athletes take off and the rest of us tread water waiting for our gun to go off. I keep wondering how many people are peeing in their wet suits in this confined area and remind myself not to swallow any water...
Finally its time. The beginning of the swim is absolute chaos. Swim for your life - I get kicked in the face, my legs get grabbed and pulled down; I keep reminding myself that no one is doing this intentionally; its just too crowded. And about 5 minutes in my goggles start leaking. So I take them off and put them on my head, constantly reminding myself that the only thing I control is my attitude - and it better be positive because I am only doing this race once.
I end the first loop of the swim with a quick glance at the clock. 45 minutes!!!! Never have I been so slow. It must be because of the need to swim wide-the water is overcrowded. But I adjust my goggles tighter, and go back into the water for loop 2I manage to find the marking in the water and decide to follow it in order not to waste anymore time. I get slowed down by swimmers who are doing the same thing ahead of me. I calculate that I will be out of the water after 1.5 hours, and get discouraged because I had estimated one hour and twenty minutes. But I keep going, and actually enjoy the swim. I feel powerful and at ease in the water; its my preferred and best discipline. My arm doesn't hurt. My wetsuit is on properly. The goggles are no longer leaking. The sun comes out, blinding, and I am smiling and laughing in the lake. The end of the swim comes too fast. I run out and peek at the clock. 1 hour and 12 minutes! Impossible!!!! How did I go so fast on the second loop? This is my fastest swim ever, and I come out in the top 1000 rank (it turns out loop 1 still had the pro time of + 10 minutes on the clock; i swam in 35mins, not 45mins). I run to the bike transition, grab my bag, and say a prayer of gratitude when I realize that it contains everything I need. I change out of my wet clothes completely and proudly put on my antilope tri suit. Less than 10 minutes later I am off on the bike. It is raining slightly, but the wind hasn't yet picked up. I have done this bike loop ten times before, and I LOVE the first part. Its alot of downhill, and in some parts you go so fast that you reach the 67km per hour speed. I pray for no bike problems - my wish comes true. The wind is mild at the beginning of the race, and so my speed is steady at around 30km per hour. That's fast for me - I averaged 26 km per hour when I was training.
I get past the out and back, and start the 17 mile climb back into Placid. The wind has picked up, but I remember David's advice not to get up on my bike and save my legs during the first loop. I had estimated 9 hours for the bike. I finish the first loop in 3hours and 23 minutes! Arriving into town after the first loop feels euphoric. There is a large crowd, the rain has passed, and as I grab my special needs bag containing some chicken noodle soup (Thanks Renata for the reccommendation), I rush off to start loop two, saving the soup for a quick pit stop at the family and friend tent which is pitched close to the house about 5km into the course. A few minutes later I am greeted by Laurent, Matis, Morgen, my Mom, other friends and family... I drink the soup, marvel with Renata about my unbelievable times and current pace, get a kiss from Matis, and off I go again.
Loop 2 goes just as well as loop 1. I play cat and mouse with a girl named Pam. I really pay attention to the majestic beauty surrounding me. The forests, the trees... everything reminds me of Mino. The air smells like camp fire in some places - and although there is not alot of chatting on the course, there is a feeling of camaraderie in the air.
I stop for my first bathroom break after the out and back to Ausable forks and before the last climb. I lose 5 minutes, but its a good mental break to prepare for the hills ahead. I attack them with gusto; and although I know I have slowed my pace from the first loop, I am still resisting the urge to get up on my bike - Annick has given me the advice to hold off doing that if I could, as it would save my legs for the run. Its raining again when we get to the river near Whiteface mountain - but soon I am 160km into the bike and know I am almost done. And I haven't even been on the bike for 7 hours yet. I get a fun surprise right before I start climbing the last hill (we call it Papa Bear because it is a big hill with a bear statue at the top right after a smaller one called baby bear) - my odometer shows 175km, and I have been wrongly thinking for about an hour that I have 190km to ride - It finally dawns on me that its just 180km, and so I am done!
I ride back into the oval, thanking my lucky stars that I had no flat tires, no bike problems, and still feel relatively no pain. At this moment I realize that I have not given myself enough credit; I did train long and hard for this event, and I am more ready than I thought I was.
Mentally, I had always imagined I would get to the end of the swim and of the bike, and I had not wanted to think about how I was going to run a marathon after that. Now it was time to figure it out.
The second transition is quick; the volunteer helps me with my socks and with sunscreen - I decide not to change my clothes, and I head out of the tent. The first 4kms are downhill - Our coach is there cheering us on. I get to the family tent - Laurent tells me he has been posting my progress on Facebook all day (Thank you!), and I realize that the strategy David recommended (walk one mile, run one mile) may have been overly optimistic for me. I start walking - speed walking - It feels as fast as my slow jog, and its easier on my cardio.
I do alot of math - I know I finished the first 2 events in 8.5 hours, which leaves me 8.5 hours to run/walk a marathon, highly doable, so I realize that unless something goes dramatically wrong, I will be an IronWoman before midnight.
The run is two loops of fun. Fun because I can cross my friends a number of times during this discipline. I know Christiane is a few hundred meters ahead of me. I see David finishing the marathon as I am 5km into mine. I see Max, and Pat, and JP, and Korkut, and all of the antilopes who are totally nailing this race. I walk up all the hills and jog down all the hills. When I get into town after the first loop, I am blown away by the enthusiastic cheering of the very large crowd - Go Valerie, you can do it, way to go... It gives me wings.
I don't have a watch (forgot it on the bike), so I have no idea what my pace is, but I don't care. In a few hours, I will be an IronWoman. I am sure of it now.
I gossip and chitchat with Renata for miles onto River Road. I cross Morgen and Stella who are volunteering at Aid Station number 2 and how are dressed as Jungle Jane's (they are the only two who followed the instructions of dressing up for the station's jungle theme). And when I feel the slightest big of pain and discouragement, I think of Alysia. I think of all of the Alysia's in the world who are currently going through chemotherapy and radiation and in a painful fight to stay alive - and all I feel is gratitude and strenght and so very lucky to be exactly where I am right this moment. I don't stop. Not for a moment. Renata urges me to run. I share a few choice words with her once in a while when I don't feel like picking up the pace. Marie-Noelle passes me running at around mile 21. She is on fire!!!!
The climb into town comes too soon. Bob is a few hundred feet ahead of me. I pass him in the final 2 miles. I know the end is near. I know I am close to 14 hours, and I don't realize that the 14 hour mark hasn't passed until I get to the stadium entrance and the clock shows 13:57. The sun has set but its not dark yet. I don't know how many loops of the stadium I need to run to finish, but there is a chance I can beat 14 hours. I start sprinting. There are people everywhere - touching my arm, shouting encouragements. Music is blaring, and then, within seconds, the voice of IronMan booms through the loud speakers and boldly announces: Valerie Tremblay, YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!!!!
Most of the Antilopes have finished and are waiting there to greet me as I join in their success. I am Euphoric as someone places a heavy medal around my neck and offers me a finisher tshirt and cap. I walk to see my family, who are on the other side of the white barrier separating athletes from spectators. I can't eat; my stomach is queasy; but other than that I feel very little pain.
We head home after a little while; and every one trades race experiences. By eleven I am in bed, but have difficulty sleeping.

Monday morning at 7am I am up and wanting to pack up to go home. Its time to put this experience behind me. And Laurent is working this afternoon, so there is no time to waste. We stop by the Finisher's store on the way into town - I treat myself to a beautiful gold necklace with the IM logo - a souvenir from this journey which will always remind me of my power, my resilience, and my ability to accomplish anything I set my mind to. I trained hard and well for this event. I feel no pain. I could do another race shortly. But I won't. The training took its toll in a number of areas of my life, and I need to focus on mending this now. I am one of the lucky ones; one of the lucky few who get to live this experience. I cannot express my gratitude enough to the friends and family who have been so supportive and encouraging. I am blessed.

Below are the official race results:

Valerie Tremblay
BIB AGE STATE/COUNTRY PROFESSION
2656 39 VERDUN QC CAN Business Executive

SWIM BIKE RUN OVERALL RANK DIV.POS.
1:12:16 7:17:35 5:14:47 13:58:41 1852 72

LEG DISTANCE PACE RANK DIV.POS.
TOTAL SWIM 2.4 mi. (1:12:16) 1:54/100m 1023 36


BIKE SPLIT 1: 30 mi. 30 mi. (1:34:51) 18.98 mph
BIKE SPLIT 2: 56 mi. 26 mi. (1:55:22) 13.52 mph
BIKE SPLIT 3: 86 mi. 30 mi. (1:42:02) 17.64 mph
BIKE SPLIT 4: 112 mi. 26 mi. (2:05:20) 12.45 mph
TOTAL BIKE 112 mi. (7:17:35) 15.36 mph 1928 67


RUN SPLIT 1: 5.7 5.7 mi. (1:01:50) 10:50/mile
RUN SPLIT 2: 11.9 mi 6.2 mi. (1:20:04) 12:54/mile
RUN SPLIT 3: 26.2 mi 14.3 mi. (2:52:53) 12:05/mile
TOTAL RUN 26.2 mi. (5:14:47) 12:00/mile 1852 72

TRANSITION TIME
T1: SWIM-TO-BIKE 9:39
T2: BIKE-TO-RUN 4:24