IRONMAN Maryland, Cambridge, MD September 28, 2019
I’m ready, rested, full of good calories and focused on the moment. I tried not to think of the race as a whole the entire 12 months since I signed up for my first full-distance IRONMAN triathlon. When I purchased my 6-month training peaks program from 80/20 endurance I did scroll through each month to get an idea of how much the workload would increase each week. This can really psych you out if you overthink it, so I stopped looking ahead and decided to just focused on the task at hand and lived each day one workout at a time.
However, I did fast forward to the race day on the calendar where they have you put in your race day predictions. This is when you enter in what you think your estimated completion time will be? I entered in 14hrs because that’s where my confidence level was at the beginning of all of this. Oh how quickly things can change my friends!
Race Gear:
Swim: 2XU Wetsuit, Roka Goggles, ROKA Sleevless TRISUIT
Bike: Cervelo P5 Disc, Zipp 404 wheels
Run: Nike air zoom pegasus 35 shoes, Nike Sunglasses, Boco Hat
First I have to talk about the venue and the event as a whole. The energy is just amazing. It’s a community of people that have one thing in common, we're all looking to better ourselves. Ironman is our choice of medicine to make that happen. Everyone is happy, excited and treating everyone like family because in a way we are. We’re all out there competing together, not against each other. I saw so many people helping and supporting fellow Ironman competitors along with the bike and run course, encouraging them to dig deeper and surpass the 40% mark, where most people quit.
Accommodations:
I was very lucky to find a host that had a big house within walking distance from everything. All the nearby hotels sold right away and I was too slow to book, not realizing that most people book their accommodations almost a full year in advance. I was reminded of this the other day because I didn’t book my room for Lake Placid Ironman, 2020 yet….This allowed me to walk to everything, even to the swim start in the morning. I love this because you can get extra sleep and not stress about driving or taking a shuttle.
I was also able to cook every meal that week which is very important to me as have follow a very strict clean, organic and healthy diet. We arrived 3 days before the race which allows to me take my time in getting registered, take some test rides and runs on the course and acclimate to the weather. It was only a 3-4hr drive from NYC so the weather was about the same.
The Swim
The Choptank River was full of jellyfish for weeks leading up to the race. This did not change on race morning. In-fact, I never did my test swim because I wasn’t sure If I was allergic to their stings. During the athlete briefing, they said “if you are allergic you will have a problem…” Well how am I supposed to know unless I allow myself to get stung? I didn’t want to risk getting sick (since I had a history of strange allergic reactions) the day before so I decided to forgo the test swim and instead chose to find out during the race. My logic was, if I was going to have an allergic reaction by getting stung and all fucked up; I’d rather do it during the race and figure it out then. I also really liked this added challenge because it made it the race even more challenging and makes for a cooler story later!
So bam! I’m in, no waiting, no delays. It’s a self-seeding, rolling start so the sooner I start, the sooner I finish. I felt great, pacing myself until I find my rhythm which I hit halfway through the first loop. On the second loop, it happens…ZZZZZ! An electric shock-like feeling hits my foot, then another one hits my toe! Yup, my first sting, the second one too. Not too bad, I just kept swimming. I brushed a few more with my feet (you can feel them touch you, it’s like touching seaweed). I figured, ok, I’m good just don’t hit my face….I thought too soon, one-minute later….ZZZZZZZZ, right on the face! I got 2-3 stings across my cheek and nose. Fuck it, keep going, I want to be an Ironman and this just makes my day harder which will make me harder!
I’m out at 1:11, not bad. The stings will stay with me for the next 6 hrs, some all night.
T1:
There are changing tents where you have to grab your BIKE GEAR bag which holds all your helmet, shoes, gloves, etc…They have chairs to make it easy as you put on all your bike gear and head out the tent for the long run to your bike. Dismount your bike and run it over to the mount line. Even at your fastest this will take almost 3 minutes. It took me a little over 6 minutes.
The BIKE
This is a flat course which most people think is easier but this course is also windy. The advantages are you can go fast like Ricky Bobby. The disadvantage is that your legs never get a break because there is no downhills…anywhere! The course was also open to full traffic on both sides, which made for some close calls. I actually had a car honk at a cyclist in front of me. The cyclist flipped him off and the guy in the car slowed down as if he was going to do something…he later just speed off, putting other cyclists in danger!
I felt strong and fast the whole time. The jellyfish stings stayed with me the entire 112miles! I kept wanting to touch my face but stayed focus and ignored the irritation. Out of transition they covered my arms with sunscreen, which was great except that I became a human windshield and my arms were covered with bugs, literally everywhere! I was holding about 21-23mph pretty regularly. When the wind picked up I was down to 17-18mph for several miles but kept pushing forward. The wind was stronger on the second loop. The scenery was nice, a lot of farmland, people fishing and some forestry which I liked because the views continued to change. To stay focused my mind continued to switch between Rocky songs, like “Gonna Fly Now” and lines from Rocky III where I caught myself saying out loud “You ain’t so bad…you’re nothing” which is what Rocky was saying to Clubber Lang during their second fight. I was saying this to the course because I was not afraid and I was going to kick its’ ass!
I finished with a time of 5:23:53. I was very happy!
T2:
Rack your bike and run back to the changing tent where your Run Gear bag is. This holds your running shoes, hat, sunglasses, belt, etc…You change, then go out the front this time to start your run. I stopped to use the bathroom, my only time during the race which I’m proud of. Time in transition was just over 5min.
The RUN
At this point, the heat and humidity was at its peak. People were walking right away and the stretchers were out! Many DNF’d here and I know why. It was much hotter than anticipated. The humidity claimed many souls that day but not mine. I trained in this heat all year, I grew up running in nasty, hot, smoggy Riverside, CA where the smog was thicker than humidity!
I stayed steady at around 8min/mile for the first 9 miles, then found I needed more water and ice. Since I’m a low carb athlete I don’t use any of the on-course nutrition. I have to bring my own which adds another layer to this already difficult task. So I was carrying a soft flask of SFules and I placed another one in my special needs bag for the second half. This worked out well except my shoulder started to hurt more than anything else. The old injury from a bike crash a few years back flared up from holding the bottle and pumping my arms. Next time I’ll get a streamlined belt.
At about the halfway mark, mile 13, I walked about 1 minute then would run for a mile. I repeated this until the end. I was pouring so much water on me that the water combined with all the sweat dripped down my legs and waterlogged my shoes. This happens at mile 8 and I was running in soggy shoes and socks the rest of the way.
I can see the finish line now and hear the names being called out as they cross the finish line. I’m only .2 miles away and all the training, sacrifice, discipline have all been leading up to this. A goal that was set over 1 year ago! The song “My Hero” by The Foo Fighters is playing as I run down the red carpet covered with the famous M-Dot Ironman logo…its so fitting. This is about to be the biggest, most rewarding moment of my life and I have a soundtrack from my youth….perfect! I’m feeling it all now, 12 months of training and emotions all come out of me as I cross the finish line and hear my name announced, “41 years old, from New York, NY, Greg Pawlisa, YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!” (I’m actually 40 but they always round up) I can’t hold back my tears as I see my wife and run over to hug her. We did it, I’m an IRONMAN!
Final time, 10hrs:57min, exactly!
Post Mortem:
This particular year had the highest DNF (Did Not Finish) rate in Maryland history, over 10%. The average Ironman DNF rate is around 5-6%. The jellyfish and humidity claimed many athletes this year.
The town and community were amazing and very helpful. Many people along the run course provided music and water hoses to keep the athletes cool. I would definitely go back.
-Get stronger on the bike.
-Build up my legs in the offseason
-New Hydration belt
-Longer brick runs
What’s Next?
I already signed up for IRONMAN St. George and Lake Placid for 2020. I plan to add at least one more late-season race, possibly Cozumel.
