I think it would be fun to go back just a bit to introduce
how I first fell in love with ironman triathlons. I am sure it is not too far out to assume
that it had a whole lot to do with my brother Peter. Peter and a few of his friends decided in the
Summer of 2003 to sign up and race Ironman Lake Placid on July 25th,
2004. It is necessity to sign up for these races a year in advance because, A.)
They sell out quickly, B.) It takes a whole year to train for them. I cannot
stress that enough. If any of you are
planning on racing an ironman anytime in your life you need to give your body
no less than one year to prepare for such a tremendous effort. Back to Peter and his cronies, they
were studs, all in their late twenties, early thirties, but finding the time to
train for an ironman while maintaining somewhat of one’s previous lifestyle is
a struggle, and Peter felt it, but he made it through, and arrived in Lake
Placid prepped and prepared for the race.
My sister Mary and I decided to cheer him on along with both
sets of our parents, but we were rollin’ on
a tighter budget than our rentals, and missing more than one day of work
was not an option, so we flew out on the redeye on Friday night, then drove
five hours through Manhattan and all of New York until we arrived at our
destination of mesmerizing Lake Placid New York. We stayed at a huge house that all of the
athletes were staying at too, and to say there was tension in the air is a colossal
understatement. Mary and I bunked together
in the basement, and woke up at ridiculously early hour of 5AM, mind you this
was EST, and we were still on PST, and had been traveling the entire day
before, so we were a little out of
sorts. Nevertheless, I did not think
about my fatigue at all because I was in awe of these five or six guys and
girls who were about to shatter their existence all day and possibly into the night
swimming, biking and running beyond what they had ever done before. I wanted to give Peter a big hug and tell him
how proud I was, instead I gave him space, which I think meant more than
anything else, because he knew I respected what he was doing, and secretly
wishing I was doing it, too.
Alexa had made these hysterical matching t-shirts for all of
us to wear during the race which were amazing.
The racers started off the day swimming two laps in Mirror lake, and Peter
was the first of his friends out of the water at just over an hour, that is
fast! We scrambled over to the Bike Out
section of transition so we could see him pedal off into oblivion, and after a
quick thaw from the chilly waters he was on his bike and off onto the course. We all decided to get some breakfast after
the swim because he would be on the bike for more than five hours, so we had
some time to kill. Over breakfast Alexa passed out cards that Peter wrote to
each of us, a genuine “thank you” fitting of his character. I was blown away by mine, obviously I still
have it, so following is an excerpt of what he wrote:
What up T! I’ll bet
you’re watching this whole spectacle wishing that you could be wearing a # on
your way to the finish line. Am I right? We both seem to share the same pleasure of
pushing ourselves for these long endurance races. And I think you understand the reason why I’m
out here better than anyone. Which makes
it that much more special for me that you’re here.
He was right, I did get it, and I knew that I would be there
some day, but it was his day today, and I just wanted to cheer loud and proud
for my big bro!
Peter started the run looking strong, which is an awesome feat,
because the Lake Placid bike course is one of the most difficult on the Ironman
circuit, but Peter is a runner above anything else, so I knew he would crush
the marathon. We found a great
spectating spot on top of a hill that the runners passed through four times, so
we saw a lot of everybody which was a lot of fun. I was stunned to see people of all ages,
shapes and sizes cruising right along on this arduous Ironman course, I was
both impressed and humbled. As a bonus,
Mary and I were having the time of our lives together. She is probably my favorite person to spend
an entire seventy two hours with, a statement my mother probably re-booted her
computer over to confirm she read correctly, but it’s true. Mary and I are very different, true, but she
is my sister and my best friend, and possibly the only person on the planet who
knows every inch of me inside and out. She
did make me drive the whole trip, all ten hours of our commute from JFK to Lake
Placid and back, but it was worth it, no one makes me laugh like Mary.
Peter’s last couple of miles were a teary mess for a few of
us, we were all so proud of him. We knew he would do it, but witnessing someone
you love finish an Ironman is truly an amazing experience, and he did it in spectacular
fashion, 11:29 hours.
Peter has yet to race another Ironman, but he has been at a
few of mine, and I can always count on him for a priceless pep talk before the
start and after the finish of every race, marathon or ironman, I can always
count on Peter to get me through it.
