Athlete of the week, Iron Arthur

May 9, 2009 - Cedarville, NJ
The New Jersey Devilman Triathlon - swim 0.9 miles, bike 40.3 miles, run 8.8 miles - was completed by our own Iron Arthur this past Saturday. Despite some technical difficulties (see commentary), he had an impressive performance with a finish time of 4:36:37. His splits were: swim 17:44; T1 2:29; bike 2:24:10; T2 3:38; run 1:48:38.

Here's a detailed account provided by Iron Arthur:

Well, I learned a lot at the NJ Devilman. The sun and heat are not my friends. But, the people who race these events are. When I left at 3:30 am to go to Cedarville, New Jersey, I thought I had everything with me. In fact, I even did a checklist to make sure. The night before I bought a wet suit for the event - and I had that too (check).

So, bleary-eyed, I drove to Cedarville, stopping at the local WaWa for Gatorade, coffee, and a hoagie. I saved the Gatorade and consumed everything else on the way. Mapquest didn't fail me until I got to Vineland, NJ where I overshot my target, but ended up getting good directions from a fellow at the 24-hour "Save-A-Lot". By this time, it was getting light and I could almost see the road signs.

Cedarville is a farming community. Flat as a pancake and I can already see it's going to be a hot day. My luck is that it's all open - 100% open sun exposure. But, unlike Nashville, I thought ahead and used sunscreen, block 50. It wasn't enough.

After I picked up my packet, I ran into Bob, a friend from jr. high school, who is a killer at these events. He won our age group at Philly's Triathlon (Olympic Distance) last year and will be racing in Australia. And, above all, he's unfailingly nice. We go for a quick warm up spin on the bike course and everything seems okay.

I didn't realize something was wrong until I racked my bike and set up my transition. It turned out that I had left my swim goggles and "race food" (goo and "sport beans" - yum) at home in another bag. I went through the usual search procedures only to confirm what I already knew - the trip was for nothing. There was no way I could race without swim goggles - not in the Cedarville (Bog) Lake. And there was no way I could bike 40 + miles and run for nearly 9 without any nutrition. In short, I was screwed.

So with the race about to start, I "scratched." I handed over my timing chip, unracked my bike, and headed to my car.

But, then, Joe Sise, from Amsterdam, NY, calls and says, "Hey buddy, what's wrong?" I explained and he said, "No problem. I have an extra pair of goggles." After going through the excuse of not having "food", he solved that problem too and gave me a bunch of Fig Newtons, some energy candy, and a spare goo. And he was incredibly nice about the whole thing. What a bunch of nice people.

As for me, people who now me generally let such scattered behavior go. And my father has a gentle term for it - Kutzen ha moyech, which means "Cat Brain." It's so good to know that those in the Ironman realm also have a soft spot for those with soft heads.

So I was pretty flustered, and my calf was also giving me some problems. And frankly I was plain scared because this was going to be a long day, in the heat (it got up to 80F) and I was suddenly not feeling ready for it. But, Joe says, "Relax. You're here to have a good time. Enjoy yourself." And so I did.

The swim went well as expected; the wet suit paid off - the lake is indeed a swampy, smelly, shallow body of water; and, don't forget, it rained most of the week. It's a mass start, I'm thinking we're going clockwise and we head counterclockwise. I'm swimming into people as others swim over me and we headed around the buoys in two laps. The course is supposed to be .9 miles, but I think it's shorter than that because my time is pretty incredible for that distance - 17 minute, 44 seconds. Normally, it's nearly twice this time.

Open water swimming is completely different from pool/lap swimming. You can't see anything and have to sight your way while you're taking breaths during your stroke. And, of course, you don't normally take laps with over 100 other people at the same time. The advice is to bring two pairs of goggles because in the fray you can easily have one pair ripped off your face. I thought I'd be okay - but of course I ended up coming without any swim goggles.

I'm number 68 into the chute and it's off to the bike portion. In Philly, my average bike speed is 19.8 mph and the course is fairly hilly. My thought was that I'd be happy with averaging 17-18 mph given the distance difference - 25 miles versus 40 miles. But, I was still hoping to do better, perhaps 20 mph, because the course is much flatter. What I really liked about the bike course was that it was really safe - no technical areas, just straight, flat riding.

After attacking the course at 23-24 mph and higher, reality struck me at the first turn - a fierce headwind that slowed my pace to about 14-16 mph with brief bursts beyond back to the start. My second lap was even tamer. You get pretty docile after about mile 30. I passed my new pal, Joe Sise, who joked that I'd have to give over my medal as Clydesdale winner (guys weighing over 200 lbs) if I took the prize. But, he passed me soon enough and it was a non-issue. In fact, as thing progressed, I found that I was fairly out classed by this group of athletes.

To put things in perspective, I was beaten by the oldest competitor in the field, Russ Abbott, age 66, who completed the course in 4 hours, 3 minutes, 44 seconds. To put this into greater perspective, he beat my buddy, Joe, who was a fairly experience triathlete of my age, 45-46, 20 years his junior. Tough guy.

I racked my bike and was feeling pretty tired and beaten when I started the running leg. The first thing you pass after leaving the transition area is a cemetery. The next and only thing you see for miles is farmland - "Children of the Corn" and "Cujo" territory, where you'd expect "Pennywise, the Clown" to be mayor. There just miles and miles of this, without end.

As I plod uphill, my childhood buddy, Bob, is cruising down to the finish on the opposite side - he crosses over, all smiles, to give me a high-five. About 3 miles later I see my buddy, Joe, who gives me a thumbs up and is heading home. Then, from behind me, I'm passed by Beatrice, my swim coach (I take a masters swim class on Tuesdays). As she passes, she gives me a few encouraging words and goes on. I had no idea she did these races. I found out later that she's doing a Half-Ironman in June.

I eventually get to the finish with a sobering 4:36:36 - which is 108th place in a field of 122. My average bike speed is 16.8 mph. My "run" speed is 12.21 mpm, a far cry from last weekend's Broad Street 8:26 mpm for 10 miles. I conclude that I need to run more and to bike a lot more. But, I'm really thrilled to take this to another level.

I ran into the finish with a veteran Ironman and conclude that it was a good race after all. I achieved my objectives, learn from this experience, and escape without injury. I am now prepared for my next race, the Great Hudson River Race, a 1.3 mile swim in the Hudson, in Brooklyn. My plan is to bike to New York city the day before just for kicks. Because, after all, the Ironman bike leg is 112 miles and much longer than this. I have miles to go before I am ready for the Ironman.

As for my buddy, Joe. I didn't use his goo, so I thought the only decent thing to do would be to return it. As it turns out, he's a Judge from New York State.

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Pretty awesome and inspiring, huh? Thanks for sharing your race experience with us Arthur! Congratulations on a great effort!

For anyone who may not know already, Arthur is registered to compete in the Ironman Lake Placid on July 29th, 2009.