Toughman Half Ironman

1.2 mile swim, 56 miles biking and 13.1 mile run (70.3 miles)

Sunday September 12, 2010

Croton Point Park, New York

Back in May this year while I was trying to find a Half Ironman distance triathlon race to do in 2010, I chanced upon the Toughman Half IM. I read the reviews of the athletes who had raced it in the past and based upon some of their views I wondered if I was ready for something as difficult as the race they had described in their reviews. I decided to contact the race director - Richard Izzo and confess to him that I was toying with the idea of considering his race but wasn’t sure if I had the ability to tackle the “toughness” of the course. In my email, I shared with him that I was a poor biker and swimmer and was especially worried about the swim in the Hudson. Rich responded promptly and tried to allay my concerns and encouraged me to register. Rich and I went back and forth in our email exchanges (until I drove him nuts!) and I also learned that my Chiropractor, Marc Bochner, is the designated Medical Director for the Race. Marc also contacted me and encouraged that I jump in. I did.

Since May, I was consumed with anxiety about race day - Sunday, September 12th. Will I be able to do it? How tough can it be? Am I training hard enough? Alongside, I was trying to determine where to stay during race weekend, its distance from the race venue (Croton Point Park), how to reach the race venue from NYC by train (I don’t drive and don’t have a car), its distance from the hotel, nearest Metro North train stations to the race venue and the hotel, how to get from the hotel to race site and then back to the hotel after racing a Half Ironman, places close to the hotel where I could possibly find vegan food,....every little detail had to be thought out extensively, every step had to be predetermined, every untoward occurrence had to be conceived and planned for in advance. Slowly but eventually it was all planned and set in place for race day. Although I drove Rich (the Race Director) crazy with my emails, I laud him for his patience and fortitude for dealing with me and my anxieties. He was enormously helpful in the process.

I learned that the Race organizers were organizing a “Training Clinic” - a preview of the race course - one weekend in August. I thought it would be ideal to check out the race course, gain some familiarity with the neighborhood and allay my concerns related to the location of the hotel, distances between race venue (Croton Point Park) and the Westchester Marriot Hotel, the location of the Croton Harmon and Tarrytown Metro North Train Stations, vegan/veggie-friendly restaurants nearby, etc. The Clinic/Preview was being held on August 14th and 15th (swim and bike on Saturday and, run on Sunday).

Since my office building does not allow bikes to be brought upstairs and I refuse to leave my expensive racing bike downstairs, I wondered where would I leave my bike during the day on Friday August 13th, while I worked in the office. Problem solved thanks to the generosity and kindness of my dentist Dr, Zhu (and my dear friend Eliza) who agreed to store my bike in his office for a few hours while I worked. I dropped my bike at Dr. Zhu’s clinic in Chinatown, Eliza also came in early to work that morning to assist me, then I rushed to the office next to Grand Central. Picked up the bike later from Chinatown, made a dash for Grand Central Terminal and off I went to Tarrytown, NY for the race clinic on Friday August 13th. The clinic turned out to be a terrific decision. I swam in the same waters we were to swim on race day and then biked the entire course with a team of professionals and coaches. It was a very well organized clinic and I was glad that I took part in it. It helped a lot. There I met Jeff Boyer - a triathlon USAT certified coach. Since I was slowest among the bikers that day and trailing far behind from the rest, Jeff was keeping tabs on the slower bikers and biking with us at the back of the pack. During that bike ride, I found Jeff’s coaching tips to be very useful and was impressed how he observed everything I was doing wrong. He hovered close-by and kept pushing me which helped me a lot. I stayed in touch with Jeff after the clinic via email and appreciated his support. Too bad I am in Staten Island and he coaches in Westchester or else he would be my triathlon coach for sure.

Fast forward to Race Day Weekend.

I took the Metro North Train on Saturday September 11th from Grand Central to Tarrytown. While on the train I met another triathlete heading to the same hotel for the same race - Luis. Incidentally, I had met Luis very briefly three years ago on the Metro North Train while returning from another triathlon in Westchester. We biked to the hotel, checked in, settled in our respective rooms, I ate my vegan dinner brought from home and tried to sleep. I was out at 9pm but woke up at 1:30am and never went back to sleep. Got out of bed at 3:30am, and both Luis and I took a cab to the race venue at 5:30am. I was in the water with my wave of athletes at 7:20am. As always, my poor siting skills took me all over in the water and I probably ended up swimming more than the required distance of 1.2 miles.

Out of the water, got my wetsuit stripped off me with the help of awaiting strippers and I was on the bike, wet, muddy and dripping. Sunday was a cool and damp day in Westchester and I am more of a warm weather athlete. Racing in warm/hot weather does not bother me., however, cool chills can be very distracting for me. (Oh! I forgot to mention, I was down with some viral fever on Wednesday and was popping Advils and Tylenols like candy!) Also, I found it rather windy on the bike course. The wind never seemed to calm down. Followed me everywhere! Scaling up and down treacherous hills (Westchester can be very hilly) with Jeff’s imaginary voice barking instructions in my head to “peddle! peddle!!...peddle!!!!”, I finished the bike ride in 4 hours. There was something awry with my bike. An annoying “squeaking” sound emanating from the pedals plagued the entire ride and pedaling was not as smooth. I must have it checked at the bike shop. I stopped a few times to get some nutrition and “irrigate the bushes and trees” on the course. I need to learn to urinate in my shorts while biking. I hear most athletes do it to save time but I have always been squeamish about it. I need to get over it.

Mighty relieved after finishing the 56-mile bike ride, I changed into my running shoes and embarked on the 13.1-mile run. Both the bike and run courses have sections that are visually stunning - breathtakingly beautiful. We ran over and under bridges with stunning views of the Croton Dam, and through quiet, snaking dirt trails in what seemed like a wooded area, where all that could be heard was sneakers hitting the dirt and heavy breathing of fellow runners. The run course turns particularly arduous in the second half with a steep incline but it hits us at close to mile 10 but by then the sweet thoughts of being so close to the finish line keeps us moving up the hill with undying determination and grit. I helped other athletes during the run to keep moving and gave some of them company and encouragement as they struggled. The hill was over before I knew it. A fellow runner yelled out at me “TOUGHMAN!” as I ran up that hill without stopping. Ha!

I crossed the finish line. 7 hours and 23 minutes by my watch but the Results Tally places me at 7 hours and 25 minutes. My name was called out as I finished and I was declared as a Toughman. Despite the tough course and the cooler-than-usual weather conditions (for me), I thoroughly enjoyed the race. The organization is excellent and the volunteers were amazing. An enormous effort and hard work goes into these races, not merely by the athletes, even more so by the organizers and this race had it all. I will be there next year!

In May I was circumspect about finishing, but today I have the finisher’s medal. Sometimes the hardest part is to believe. I agree with FDR, only thing we have to fear is fear itself.