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Discussion: A cronk and a smile: my Florida 70.3 story
Subject: A cronk and a smile: my Florida 70.3 story By: Ryan P. Written on: 2006-05-22 20:33:44 Message: Good Evening Everyone, As I write this message, I'm cramped up in a little cubicle at the Orlando International Airport, waiting for my plane to take me back to Philly. I finally found a place to plug in my trusty old iBook and I figured I'd put it to use. I had an extremely tough day on Sunday. I struggled every single second of the race. From the first few strokes of the swim, I knew I didn't "have it". My preparation wasn't there mentally or physically and it showed early. I felt like the swim was never going to end. I got left in the dust (or water) by pretty much everyone in my swim wave and got passed by most of the next two (I finished in 48 min.). My right knee began bothering me quite a bit as I turned the buoy to come back to the beach. But getting out of the water and hearing my dad yell out my name provided a bit of a spark as I raced toward T1 in a full-on sprint. I transitioned quickly (maybe too quickly) into the bike and took off. To echo Jael and Megan- the course was hILly. My Road to Kona guidebook said "flat and fast". It was anything but. I felt like the wind was in my face at every moment. I struggled mightily to get my bike over 20 mph on the flats. But I dug deep on the climbs and raced down the descents. And then I started cramping. First it was my right hamstring. I was able to stretch it out a bit and snag a couple of banana halves from a volunteer. As my mom said, it was like, "shutting the barn door after the horses got out". Too little too late. This was the first time the words "bonk" and " NF" started to creep into my mind. But I pressed on. At mile 30 I was ready to run Mickey over with my bike. I was not happy. Not having fun. I couldn't make my bike or muscles do what I wanted them to do. They were totally unresponsive. I couldn't wait to get off of that thing. My transition experience was again a pleasant one though. My dad kept hollering my name and I shrugged off a sub-par bike and quickly put on my visor and running shoes and took off. I was so happy that I was off the bike that I started out a bit too quickly. I ran the first mile and a half at a pretty fast clip. By the time I spotted the "Mile 3" sign my right quad had seized up on me. I pulled over to stretch it out and glanced at my watch- I could still have a very respectable time if I could just get this thing to work. I grabbed my ankle and pulled my leg behind me- uh oh - now my hamstring tightened up. I couldn't strech either muscle because of the other. I was in trouble. I did the best I could to stretch my ham so I could stretch my quad and started off again. By mile 4 I had adopted the run/walk style. I would run until one of muscles seized up and then buy some time by walking. This seemed to work for a while until my calves (my old nemesis) started to join in on the fun. I was now close to tears a la Norman Stadler at Kona last year. I did have to laugh at around mile 6 though- I came up with a new term. it's called "cronk" it's what happens when you combine cramping with a bike/run bonk. The cronk. I was cronking and cronking hard. My nutrition was awful as I couldn't take in nearly enough calories (I think it was 95 yesterday) and my muscles were acting completetly independently of my thoughts. This was not good. Then I saw Jael for the second time (the first being a hill on the bike course as I heard "Ryan, Ryan Pine!) yelled out. Jael's infectious smile was enough to make me smile and forget all about the pain for a moment. It made me remember. It made me realize why I was out there and what I was doing this for. To see her enthusiasm and spirit made me want to press on. But by the third lap, I was ready to take off my race belt and walk over to my dad. I wanted to call it a day. I knew that even doing the walk/run was a pipe dream. My day was, for all intensive purposes, over and done with. And then something crazy happened- I was passed by a blind man. That's right.- a blind man. Here was a guy who could not see, out there swimming, biking and running his way to glory. I felt really selfish. I felt really small and stupid for worrying about PRs and finishing times and my own sob stories about cramps and malnutrition. I thought about everyone at ontri.com and especially Brad who couldn't be with us yesterday. I picked up my little power walk pace, shrugged my shoulders at my dad, smiled and limped my way around the last lap and across the finish line. I didn't post a personal best (over an hour from it actually), and I didn't have a lighting-fast bike split as I had hoped for, but I received something much more valuable- a lesson about myself and what it truly means to be an Ironman- get through it whatever way you can. And that's something that can translate to every aspect of my life, not just swimming, biking, and running. Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart to all of my ontri family members, without whom I wouldn't be able to tell this story. -Ryan
Subject: RE: A cronk and a smile: my Florida 70.3 story By: Andy M. Written on: 2006-05-22 21:00:40 Message: Ryan, I know the disappointment of not performing at the level you anticipate but I think you learned a very good and perhaps life long lesson about adversity, pain and self doubt; but you had the courage to press on regardless of the outcome. You should be proud of your race even though it was not what you thought it would be. Your story about the blind man was inspirational and just goes to show that no matter how bad you are feeling it is likely that someone is feeling worse or dealing with a little more adversity. You are no less and no more a triathlete than the guy who stood on the top of the podium. Congratulations on a great race. Andy
Subject: RE: A cronk and a smile: my Florida 70.3 story By: Dan W. Written on: 2006-05-22 21:27:44 Message: "Cronk". You may have added to tri lingo. From here, every race will probably seem pretty easy. Although no one specifically wants to plan for a day like you had Sunday, it is the kind of day that's probably even more admirable than the "dream race." I bet a lot of people would have bagged out along the way. And just as you were impressed by the blind man, I'm sure your dad is enjoying his fatherly pride and has told your story more than once today himself. You have a lot to be proud of. Forget the clock for a moment - great race!
Subject: RE: A cronk and a smile: my Florida 70.3 story By: Jamie B. Written on: 2006-05-22 21:46:39 Message: Hey man tough race! I know how that goes! A few years ago I was 5th in my age group coming off the bike at the Great Floridian half and I ended up blowing up and doing a 3:05 for the half marathon (my marathon Pr is considerably faster than that I might add) I also stopped for several minutes at each aid station heavily debating whether to finish or hitch a ride back. Good job on sticking it out and there will be plenty of other races that go really well and still some that don't go as well. I am from PA (gettysburg area just moved to northern VA last may). I know it is tough to go down to FLorida in the early spring because it is sooo much warmer and more humid and I think that was a big thing with your race is that your body was sending off distress signals about the heat. There was a real good article in Triathlete mag about how your mind will stop your body from doing harm to itself way before you come close. I don't know the exact month but it was in the last 3 or 4. Listen to your body stick to your heart rate zones and don't worry about speed or anything like that remember that a half iron should be raced in mid zone 3 maybe upper if you are a well conditioned athlete. I have been on that course and if you think that is hilly than I would stay away from Ironman France!! That is pure mountains and nothing but climbing there!! Good luck though and keep your head up. Let me know if you have any other questions that I can help you with! j-
Subject: RE: A cronk and a smile: my Florida 70.3 story By: Steve L. Written on: 2006-05-23 11:16:28 Message: WOW, sounds like an extraordinary day. Ya know it's just like any other sport, some days you have it and some you don't and just as you did, just shrug and carry on. Nice job finishing and great inspiring story. SteveL
Subject: RE: A cronk and a smile: my Florida 70.3 story By: Steven R. Written on: 2006-05-23 12:08:36 Message: Great Job Ryan ! I found your experience very inspiring ! A great deal more than if you had done your PB. I am running my first marathon this weekend and I will definitely use your and Jael's experience to help me through the ruff spots. Thanks Steve
Subject: RE: A cronk and a smile: my Florida 70.3 story By: Andrew S. Written on: 2006-05-23 12:13:37 Message: Tough Race Ryno.. But you finished. 1/2 the people in America wern't up doing what we were all doing at 4:30 or 5:00 or 6-7-8-9 in the am. When I DNF'd last year, I swore I would never do it again. You made it. You had your "blind inspiration" .....an Angel maybe? ...and your Dad. and Jael...and all of us.. Great Job, way to struggle through...I think Andy M. sent me this quote.. .from Teddy Roosevelt. It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and who, at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat. -Teddy Roosevelt.
Subject: RE: A cronk and a smile: my Florida 70.3 story By: Brad H. Written on: 2006-05-23 12:17:37 Message: Ryan; I was tracking you on ironmanlive.com and was starting to get worried about you on the run. You learned a lot about yourself on Sunday. It's going to make all your future races much easier I'm sure... Great job on finishing against all odds. If you ever plan on racing in Canada (we've got an awesome Triathlon series), drop me a line. Brad
Subject: RE: A cronk and a smile: my Florida 70.3 story By: Paul B. Written on: 2006-05-23 13:16:54 Message: Man that's a great race report Ryan. It sounds like a tough day, but one that you'll never forget. Congrats on not only finishing, but on finding the inspiration to push on through the cronk. Paul.
Subject: RE: A cronk and a smile: my Florida 70.3 story By: Marty D. Written on: 2006-05-23 14:32:53 Message: Thanks for the accounts of the day, Ryan. What a great accomplishment to push through all the problems that you encountered and finish the race with a good time. Way to go! Being new to this sport, I can't even imagine going the distances that you and some of the others around here are going and it is truely amazing. I hope that some day I'll be right there with you. Marty D
Subject: RE: A cronk and a smile: my Florida 70.3 story By: Ryan P. Written on: 2006-05-23 15:07:43 Message: Andy- you're absolutely right- just like there's always someone faster or stronger, there's always someone overcoming more adversity than you. In addition to the blind man, I saw at least two other handicapped competitors, and at least half a dozen people who were obviously 300 lbs. or more. When I looked at these people pressing on, I had no choice but to do so myself. Dan- yeah, if "cronk" makes it onto the pages of Triathlete, you can write them a letter and tell them they owe us some royalties here at ontri.com. Jamie- yup, the heat didn't help matters. I wasn't ready for this race. But I am going to do everything I possibly can in the next month to prepare myself for Ironman France. It's going to be difficult, but I'm going to give it my best shot. Steve L- exactly. I just shrugged my shoulders and kept on shuffling my feet. Steve R- good luck this weekend. If you start to hit the wall around mile 21 just think about the nearly 400 lb. woman I saw walking the entire run course, fighting off 95-degree weather, all with a smile on her face and words of encouragement for everyone she passed. Truly an inspiration. Andrew- thanks for the quote buddy. That's one of my favorites. Brad- that's exactly what my dad said. He knew something had gone terribly wrong after the first lap took me 47 minutes. I'm down for a tri in Canada though. Is Ironman Canada full? Haha. I'm in. Paul- thanks. I can't take credit for the inspiration though. That was all Jael, Brad, and the blind guy. Marty- you'll get there. And hopefully you'll get to the finish line faster than me!
Subject: RE: A cronk and a smile: my Florida 70.3 story By: Paula O. Written on: 2006-05-23 15:11:42 Message: Ryan, I loved your story. Yes we all have bad races, and it makes us appreciate the good ones even more. It sounds as if you managed to pull something really positive out of all the suffering on the course. Those moments are what keeps us coming back for more. Good job. P.
Subject: RE: A cronk and a smile: my Florida 70.3 story By: Ryan P. Written on: 2006-05-23 15:30:25 Message: Paula- it's so funny because I was thinking to myself during the bike course, "I am never putting myself through this misery again. This is horrible." But I woke up yesterday and was already itching to start training again this week. I can't wait to get back out there.
Subject: RE: A cronk and a smile: my Florida 70.3 story By: Jael A. Written on: 2006-05-23 20:44:07 Message: Ryan, my apologies for taking so long to answer your incredible story. I was just able to get to a computer late today.... You are a hero! And yes, YOU ARE also an inspiration! Why didn't you tell me you were having such a hard time all day that day when I saw you? I would have sprinted to the half loop I had left to reach you and gave you a big hug to keep you going?! You encountered many huddles that day, and you did not give up. What you did was not easy to do. You deserve more credit that you give yourself! You are right to say that Triathlons are a lesson in life. You do what you can to get through it. It is not meant to be easy, it just gets great at times and get tough at other times. That makes us appreciate the good times and victories even more... Be proud of what you accomplished on Sunday, as you stuck with it and endured what you needed to endure. I am sure your family is Extremely Proud of you! The other thing I have learned with all this, is that there will always be people slower and faster than each of us. But what makes us so very special is that knowing that doing this is a gamble (just like life is), we take the risk all the time knowing that it can go either way. That in itself is courage....I read somewhere that Courage is not the absence of fear; it is facing your fears head on... Keep triing Ryan Pine! Please let us know when your Ironman France comes around so that we can keep track of how you are doing. You make us Proud! Jael
Subject: RE: A cronk and a smile: my Florida 70.3 story By: Ronald F. Written on: 2006-05-23 23:18:14 Message: Great story and peseverance Ryan, I'm glad you had the mental stamina to figure out a way to finish. That thing you said about never going to put myself through this again. Then feeling different about it after rest and nutrition is a classic major bonk and with the cramping adding pain to the mix is definately a CRONK as I understand the term. You will have to mention your new word on some other boards without defining it just to see where it goes:-) Hopefully in France you will have a NICE r time. Ron
Subject: RE: A cronk and a smile: my Florida 70.3 story By: Stacey U. Written on: 2006-05-24 11:30:43 Message: I'm still new here, Can you guys tell me how you found other ontri members at the race? Looking at someone's photo online is a lot different than actually seeing them at 4 am in the dark, or whizzing past on a bike. Did you all have a meeting place? I'm curious because I'd love to meet up for Disney in September. Any others out there? Stacey
Subject: RE: A cronk and a smile: my Florida 70.3 story By: Brad H. Written on: 2006-05-24 12:06:50 Message: Stacey, what we did was post a "who's going" thread a couple weeks before the race. People checked in, exchanged cell numbers. We also had a meeting place planned. Try it. It's nice to be able to track your online buddies as you get closer to race day. Who knows, they may even end up helping you out in ways you'd never expect... (I mean you Jael, Rick and Megan)
Subject: RE: A cronk and a smile: my Florida 70.3 story By: Jason O. Written on: 2006-05-25 20:08:26 Message: Megan's husband here (Jason)... (I haven't posted much on the board since signing up, but have been following everyone through Megan). I thought I'd post my race report as well... Megan and I trained for several months to do this race - a 70.3 being a first for both of us. I don't know about you, but every time I was training out on the bike, on the pavement or in the water, I was thinking about the Florida 70.3. I was also always trying to "compute" a goal time for myself. Without ever doing such a distance, I really had no idea. My "goal time" was: 6:30:00... Before I go any further, Megan finished in 6:25. I can't tell you how impressed I am with her - she truly kicked some major butt out there!!! I never did get to see her on the course, though. Her swim wave was approx. a half hour before mine... I was in the second to last swim wave to go... Let me tell you, being in one of the last swim waves to go is NOT good for someone like me who is not great in the water! Needless to say, I was thinking about Jael's St. anthony's experience and my many backstroke swims in the dozen or so triathlons that I have done in the past. It happened again... I got in the water and freaked out and had to backstroke for a little while - all the while breathing heavily. Thoughts of jumping on one of the boats crept through my head. I kept telling myself to take deep breaths and "just swim!" I finally got into a groove and managed to get out of the water in 50 minutes - just what I hoped I'd be able to do... With the swim out of the way, I got on the bike and started cruising. We also drove the course on Saturday and knew the hills were ahead... I was following a strict nutrition plan including gatorade endurance and gels and was feeling great. I must have drank too much too fast as I had to use the porta-potties twice on the bike course (for a total of 8 minutes!) I still managed to get off of my bike in my goal time - 3 hours... So... going into the run, I was ahead of my original goal pace and was feeling great! I started the run and really started feeling the heat and had some minor "stiches," which went away quickly. After about mile three, I started feeling cramps coming on in my calves... A few short minutes later, I hit the deck with cramps in both calves! I couldn't believe it and couldn't move either... (This was on the bike path heading back to the transition area). A nice guy stopped and massaged my calves out for a few seconds and helped me up (thank you to whoever that was!). I managed to start walking... And walk, I did... For the next 10 miles! A lonely and frustrating 10 miles it was. Any time I started to pick my feel up to jog, they started cramping up again. Heck, they were like tight fists for the rest of the race. As time went by, I told myself that I was going to finish under 7 hours... At the end of the second loop, I felt like dropping out, but kept going with the sight of my wife at the finish line keeping me going. On that thrid loop I saw lots of people int eh same pain as I was or worse and knew that we'd all finish. I was mad, frustrated and wondering that had happened for those two hours of walking. My tri suit was almost pure white (originally black) and I was eating and drinking everything I could to keep going... I hit that finishing chute, saw my wife, and almost burst into tears... She grabbed my hand and crossed the finish line with me - my watch read 6:59:00... Believe it or not - a great feeling to finish my first 70.3 and the pain subsided for those few seconds. A race I'll never forget. I will, of course, try a different nutrition strategy for the next one - probably some salt tablets or something. Three cheers to everyone on this board that finished. While I was walking, I realied that time is not that important... Just finishing is something that we can ALL be proud of!!! Good luck to everyone - you can all do it (whatever "it" is!)
Subject: RE: A cronk and a smile: my Florida 70.3 story By: Ronald F. Written on: 2006-05-25 22:27:34 Message: Jason, Everyone that finished that race has a lot more going for them than most. You are one tough guy. Congatulations on finishing and on landing such a wife. I hope you have the right balance of nutrients for your next race. Ron
Subject: RE: A cronk and a smile: my Florida 70.3 story By: Jael A. Written on: 2006-05-27 12:49:22 Message: Jason, wow! Great story...my eyes got teary thinking of you and Megan holding your hand...you two make such a great couple! The two of you are an inspiration as a Triathlete couple. I hope I get to meet Mr. Rigth one day and that we share what the two of you have! Congratulations on your finish for Florida IM. It was a tough one for you and you made it. I can very much relate with you about how hard it must have been for you to stay in that water and make it through! You should feel very proud of yourself for that accomplishment alone! My sincere Best Wishes to you and Megan! Jael
Subject: RE: A cronk and a smile: my Florida 70.3 story By: John P. Written on: 2006-05-27 21:12:21 Message: Some real good experiences here. All of you should be proud of your accomplishments. Some days are good and some are just plain tough. I have been in both places during Marathons and know how you felt. Be proud of the fact you are in the 1 percentile group. Only about one per cent of the population have to courage to go to the start line. GOOD JOB.
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