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IRONMAN - It’s a long day for Everybody
Eric Belliveau • August 2, 2018

Two weeks ago, on July 22, 2018 IRONMAN Lake Placid was held for the 20th consecutive year. Four 18 Maple athletes took on this extraordinary feat of physical and mental endurance covering a total of 140.6 miles. I am incredibly proud to say that all finished. They allowed the hours of training and preparation to take over and bring them to the finishing line with times ranging from just under 11 hours to just over 14 hours.

but the resounding similarity between racing and spectating and IRONMAN is just how long and exhausting each are.

In past blogs I’ve written about my own personal experiences of the training sessions leading up to Race Day and Race Day itself. The range of emotions that as an athlete you go through are vast. IRONMAN Lake Placid was no different for the four 18 Maple athletes who put on an incredible showing of endurance and grit. What I’ve failed to write about, largely because I’ve haven’t been in this role often is that of a spectator. I made the trip to Lake Placid to share in the experience of IRONMAN but as a coach, friend, spectator, and volunteer. Race Day for me was just as special and nerve racking as a spectator but in completely different ways, but the resounding similarity between racing and spectating and IRONMAN is just how long and exhausting each are.

Below is a side by side comparison of how a typical IRONMAN Race Day typically unfolds for an athlete and how my spectating experience unfolded at IRONMAN Lake Placid. If you haven’t had the opportunity to watch an IRONMAN live and in person I can promise you you will not be disappointed. However, the day is long and while you are not doing the same amount of work as the athletes racing you are still doing work. The day is long, the coffee is plentiful, sleep is non-existent, and you’re feet will hurt by the end, but the reward of seeing your athlete cross the finish line makes it all worth it!

Typical 18 Maple Athlete Race Day

SK’s Day of Spectating 2018 IRONMAN Lake Placid

330am

Wake Up - you’re already awake, you just decide it’s time to get out of bed and tackle this massive event in front of you.

Bathroom visit #1

330am

400am

415am

1st Alarm - No. Just No.

2nd Alarm - I smell coffee.

3rd and Final Alarm - It’s time to get up. There’s coffee. I can do this. Why is it so early? I actually enjoy doing this

345am

Coffee & Breakfast - bagel & peanut butter, coffee, water, sports drink, a banana (maybe)

430am

Coffee #1 & slice of toast.

430am

Get dressed for the day. Do NOT forget to put timing chip on! Pack bottles and nutrition for bike, wetsuit, cap, goggles, bike pump

Bathroom visit #2

445am

Pack backpack - water, sunscreen, raincoat, sweatshirt, umbrella, phone, charging cord, extra of everything for athletes - gels, bars, goggles, etc.

Coffee #2 for the walk to transition

500am

Head to Bike Transition to load bottles onto bike, check to see if bike survived the night & pump tires

Body Marking

Wait in the longest line EVER for bathroom visit #3

500am

Head to Bike Transition with athletes. Hold onto anything and everything. Make these hours leading up to race start as easy and with as little stress as possible. Or, just get out of their way entirely. Consider waiting in the porta potty line and then force yourself to wait until the athletes get in the water. NO LINES!

515am

Special Needs Bag Drop off - Bike & Run.

515am

Maybe, if your athlete trusts you enough they ask you to drop off their special needs bags. DON’T screw this up.

530-630am

Make the walk to the Swim Start

Headphones in, music on.

Chat with other athletes, friends, and family.

Sit by yourself and envision your day.

Possible bathroom visit #4

Squeeze into wetsuit, take a short practice swim.

Make way into the sea of athletes to line up in predicted swim finish time

Watch for fly over, national anthem

530-630am

Hustled to the Swim Start to claim a spot along the swim exit chute to see the athletes fly by.

Be a calming force for the anxious athletes. Tell them they are ready and will do great. Tell them it’s a “really long training day” that they’ve done many times before.

Finally starting to feel awake from the coffee and they buzz of excitement and nerves at the start.

Begin to wonder what it would be like to be on the other side of the fence lining up to swim & quickly push that thought away.

Fly Over, National Anthem, PICTURES!

640-800am

Pro Swim Start & eat Gel

Rolling Swim Start & GO 2.4miles



JUST KEEP SWIMMING.

JUST KEEP SWIMMING.

640-800am

Pro Swim Start, Age Groupers Rolling Start. IM Tracker begins to blow up phone with athlete notifications. No lines at the porta potties for a quick bathroom visit.

Watch Pro Heather Jackson come out of the water in 1st (only to hold the lead ALL DAY!)

See and cheer for all 18 Maple and Cyclonaut Athletes

800-810am

Exit Swim, Run to T1 to ditch wetsuit, dress for bike, grab bike, and start 112 miles

800-900am

Hustled to Bike Mount to see as many athletes off on the bike as possible. Remarked at the ridiculousness of many of the spectators trying to get the “perfect shot” of their athlete.

810am-200pm

Bike 112 miles

Manage effort by:

Heart Rate

Power

Feel

NUTRITION - eat a bite every 5 mi

DRINK - sip every 15mins

Be smart. Have Fun!

Say THANK YOU!

900-1100am

Walk back to house for BREAKFAST & Coffee #3

IM Tracker APP - buzzing every 15-20mins with athlete updates

Sit still for a few minutes & work up enough energy to get a swim in

CHARGE PHONE!

1100-1200pm

Swim 1 loop of the IM Course - all athletes are out and bouys are gone, thank goodness for the cable running the entire length of the swim course for easy sighting.

Back to house to shower, change, check IM Tracker

200-205pm

Bike Dismount - the best moment ever!

Quick Run to T2 - grab bag, run gear out, bike gear off & into back, run gear on, race number & belt on, and GO!

1230-300pm

Quick Snack, Coffee #4, Walk to bike turn to scope out best place to see everyone in from the bike and heading out on the run

Cheer everyone out of T2, remember how awesome and terrible this moment feels, take pictures & video!

205-630pm

Run 26.2 miles

Settle into a stride by mile 1

Settle into race pace by mile 4

Each mile - Aid Station - water, gatorade, coke, food, gatorade, water, sponges - in that order

Mile 13 I feel great.

Mile 13.5 Oh man this is going to hurt.

Mile 18 #$&!

Mile 22 Just 4 more to go

Mile 26 Don’t trip. Just keep moving.

Mile 26.2/140.6 Done!

300pm

Lunch. Finally a chance to sit still

find an outlet in the restaurant and charge phone, again.

Try not to keep checking app while phone is charging.

330-630pm

Hustle back to run course to claim a spot where we can see the athletes come up from loop 1 of run, head out for loop 2, and take the final stretch to the finish line.

App check. App check. App check.

Cheer. Yell. Scream. Quiet. App check. App check. Nerves.

Finish Line.

Goosebumps!

Celebration!!

630-900pm

This is highly dependent upon how you feel after crossing the finish line.

Med tent is a possibility.

Pizza, Coke, french fries is a possiblity.

Lots of hugs and celebration from Family & Friends is inevitable.

700-1200am

Day is not over yet. It’s time to give back to the sport - volunteer at the Finish Line!

Catch finishers as they come across the line. Grab them their medal, t-shirt, hat, chip removal, pose for photos, and escort to food or medical.

Midnight finish with Mike Reilly calling in the last finishers. An Amazing finish to an amazing day.

900pm

Early to bed … OR...

cap off the evening by watching the last few finishers be called in to the finish line.

1200-200am

Celebrate a great day for 18 Maple and all of the racers with a few well earned adult beverages.

Martha walking to transition Race morning.

Swim start!

Mike making his way to the turn around on Mirror Lake Drive for lap 2.

Jeremy staying focused on the run.

Waiting not so patiently for Elena to pass by on her last lap to the finish line.

Big smiles with Martha at the finish.

The Meat Hangover

By Eric Belliveau • October 7, 2020
When it comes to taking meat out of your diet, some people have the idea that they will only see positive changes immediately following this choice. While those positive changes are definitely part of the deal, so is an adjustment period for your body.

We're Trying

By Eric Belliveau • September 23, 2020
We were all thrown on this crazy ride together. Emotions were running high but so were patience, empathy, inclusion, and respect. Most of us could rally behind the #WeAreInThisTogether manta. We wanted to do right by each other - donate to charities, lend a hand, check-in on one another. Do our part. As the days turn to weeks and the weeks into months these dispositions decayed rapidly. I know that this Quarantine order has been going on for a long time. I know that a great number of us do not agree on the why. I know an even greater number of us are “over it”. I am painfully aware of the difference of opinions surrounding the pandemic. It is impossible to NOT be aware of this. This leads us all to frustration, anger, resentment, and the feeling that you are not being heard. Very real and very human emotions! It is okay to feel this way. I am not only writing this from the perspective of a fellow struggling human. I do find myself struggling with everything I mentioned above. Not just daily but multiple times a day. My ability to focus has been challenged by my worry. My ability to create time for myself and focus on self-care has been derailed for fear of other things becoming more pressing. I work on this every day. I am not only writing this from the perspective of one of the business owners who were never given a playbook for this. For weeks on end I thought WTF happened to the business and how would our model need to change and remain viable, how each business owner had to either weather a period in which we were completely shut down or allowed to operate under capacity restrictions, etc. The unknown of what the timeline would bring and whether we would be able to continue our dreams or make an extremely difficult decision of not continuing. This still haunts every one of us daily. I AM very much writing this as a service provider! I am writing this as an impassioned human who genuinely loves what I do for a living. I feel incredibly lucky to be able to have built a career surrounding something I get excited about every day. I am making a stand for all of us that make their living in the service industry. To the receptionist, hostess, waiter, cook, dry cleaner, teacher, technician, barista, utility worker, automobile service technician… It is truly impossible to be inclusive of everyone here.  No one human mentioned above asked for this ‘situation’ we are in. We are sure as hell trying to provide a level of normalcy, service, care, and happiness to the lives in which we choose to serve. With added restrictions, added expense decreased capacity and the fear of being fined or shut down for doing it incorrectly, everyday.

The Meat Hangover

By Eric Belliveau • October 7, 2020
When it comes to taking meat out of your diet, some people have the idea that they will only see positive changes immediately following this choice. While those positive changes are definitely part of the deal, so is an adjustment period for your body.

We're Trying

By Eric Belliveau • September 23, 2020
We were all thrown on this crazy ride together. Emotions were running high but so were patience, empathy, inclusion, and respect. Most of us could rally behind the #WeAreInThisTogether manta. We wanted to do right by each other - donate to charities, lend a hand, check-in on one another. Do our part. As the days turn to weeks and the weeks into months these dispositions decayed rapidly. I know that this Quarantine order has been going on for a long time. I know that a great number of us do not agree on the why. I know an even greater number of us are “over it”. I am painfully aware of the difference of opinions surrounding the pandemic. It is impossible to NOT be aware of this. This leads us all to frustration, anger, resentment, and the feeling that you are not being heard. Very real and very human emotions! It is okay to feel this way. I am not only writing this from the perspective of a fellow struggling human. I do find myself struggling with everything I mentioned above. Not just daily but multiple times a day. My ability to focus has been challenged by my worry. My ability to create time for myself and focus on self-care has been derailed for fear of other things becoming more pressing. I work on this every day. I am not only writing this from the perspective of one of the business owners who were never given a playbook for this. For weeks on end I thought WTF happened to the business and how would our model need to change and remain viable, how each business owner had to either weather a period in which we were completely shut down or allowed to operate under capacity restrictions, etc. The unknown of what the timeline would bring and whether we would be able to continue our dreams or make an extremely difficult decision of not continuing. This still haunts every one of us daily. I AM very much writing this as a service provider! I am writing this as an impassioned human who genuinely loves what I do for a living. I feel incredibly lucky to be able to have built a career surrounding something I get excited about every day. I am making a stand for all of us that make their living in the service industry. To the receptionist, hostess, waiter, cook, dry cleaner, teacher, technician, barista, utility worker, automobile service technician… It is truly impossible to be inclusive of everyone here.  No one human mentioned above asked for this ‘situation’ we are in. We are sure as hell trying to provide a level of normalcy, service, care, and happiness to the lives in which we choose to serve. With added restrictions, added expense decreased capacity and the fear of being fined or shut down for doing it incorrectly, everyday.
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