Winter Time Inspiration: Carly's IM World Champs RR

Ironman World Championship, October 13, 2012

Training for another ironman 12 weeks after Lake Placid was more mentally tough than physically. There were days I was motivated and other days I just wanted to skip the workout and crawl into bed. With a little help from my friends and coach, I got through it. Ironman is mental game, our brain constantly trying to impose limits. I was ready to reach beyond those limits and compete in the World Championship with only 1 ironman under my belt. I wasn't going to skip a workout because I was tried, I wasn't going to give up. I also wasn't going to allow myself to slack off in my day to day duties as a mother and at my part-time job. It was a huge balancing act.

I arrived in Kona 6 days before the race so I could adjust to the 6 hour time change. I booked the trip with Endurance Sports Travel (EST) which was absolutely amazing. They made the trip so enjoyable and helpful for all of us. I met a lot of great athletes and had opportunities to preview some of the course before the race.

Race Day: 

Normal wake up at 3:30 am, only difference in my race morning routine this time I was able to give shout to my friends in NY. This got me pumped and ready to enjoy the day. One of the girls I met, also traveling with EST, had done Kona a couple times so she knew exactly where to go in the morning and which bathroom had the shortest line. Walking around transition was unreal. Passing by Crowie and wishing him luck, and seeing all the amazing athletes made this experience epic. Then looking beyond transition, the cameras, crowds of people, helicopters over head, it definitely was a celebrity moment.

Swim:

After the pros started, the crowd of age-groupers lined up to pass over the timing mat. I was hesitant to enter the water knowing I would have to tread water for about 10 minutes. My friend, Sandy, suggested that we swim out to the left and hang on to one of the kayaks. It turned out to be a 6 man canoe and I was able to get a spot right in the front after repositioning several times. Next thing I knew I saw people swimming, no cannon, no loud noise so I just went. I wish I could say that only the beginning was like a washing machine but it wasn't until the turn around where things started to thin out. When I would occasionally sight, I could see that I was positioned in the middle and I always made sure I was trailing behind someone. The conditions were rough, just as they had been for a couple of days leading up to the race. I could feel my body ride the waves and almost every other breath was a face filled with water, just hoping the next one would be a full breath. Done in 1:15

Bike: 

Onto my favorite leg. Once I exited transition, the crowd was about 5 people deep. I hear an announcer, "Carly Johnson from Yorktown Heights, NY." I gave a cheer and a fist pump, absorbing the energy from the crowd. The first couple miles were a little out and back through town, then I was out on the Queen K Highway for the rest of the 100+ miles. At around mile 20 it started, those notorious winds that I kept hearing about. They were coming at me sideways, preventing me from riding aero. As I passed though a water station, a guy in front of me completely toppled over from the wind. This was happening way too early. I could also start feeling the heat radiating off the lava rock and sun beating down on my shoulders. Once I reached Hapuna Beach, the wind died down a bit. It wasn't until mile 50 where I started getting a headwind on the climb to Hawi, and then again the last 20-30 miles. Through the wind, I just had to make sure my heart rate and power was where it needed to be. The last 20 miles of the bike I felt like I was done. A guy next to me, coming back into town, asked if I was ready to run a marathon. I wanted nothing more than to start crying. I did not want to run a marathon, not even a mile. But....I wasn't going to give up. I got my run gear and headed out. Bike done in 6 hours flat.

Run: 

From the first to the last step, it hurt. It wasn't an injury hurt, just a tired leg hurt which I experience many nights waitressing after a long day of training. It was all too familiar. I just had to suck it up and keep moving.

I was hot too...suck it up and keep moving.

Mile 10 I saw my family which got me pumped up. It was a different feeling from Lake Placid. I was out there playing with the big boys, which was amazing, but I missed seeing my friends, who would normally be there to give me a high five or exchange a quick hello. I hit mile 20 and I knew this is when the race starts, it was time to pick it up aside from all the aches and pains. As I entered town, the people lined the streets. I could hear Mike Riley echoing through the streets. The end was almost here. I just had to keep it together and not start balling down the shoot. I rounded the corner for the last stretch. It was the most amazing feeling as I was running down the ironman carpet at the World Championship. I fist pumped and cheered with the crowd. 11:18 and I crossed that finish line.

Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think this would happen. In 2009, I did my first triathlon with a borrowed bike and wetsuit and no swimming background. A year later, completed my first Olympic and half. Then last year getting the crazy idea to do an ironman. Barefoot and pregnant, changing diapers and chasing two kids to completing the Ironman World Championship all in 5 years. Hmmm...what's next?

2012 End of Season Party, Team Awards and 2012 Re-cap Video

First, a big thanks to Carlene Kuczma (and her committee) for setting up the first major end-of-season get together. We had close to 50 people show up and celebrate with food, drink, awards, secret santa, etc.

We want to thank our sponsors and Bikeway staff especially Doug Cory, Mike Berretta, Rob Scott and Tim Schopen for being involved with the team and helping it get to where it is!


Awards:

We came up with some awards this year....some serious and some silly but all are inline with either our Mission Statement of encourage people to participate in a healthy lifestyle or to show where the team is going. So without further adue the 2012 Team Bikeway.com Awards are....drum roll please...

Volunteer of the Year- George Prisco

Inspiring Athlete of the Year- Paul Frank  (award will now be known as the “Paul Frank Award”)

Community Leader of the Year- Lori Decker

Male Junior Athlete of the Year- Steve Kaufman

Female Junior Athlete of the Year- Alex Rizzo

Featured Athlete of the Year Award – Carly Johnson

Not Just a Sponsor, but also a Member, impressive ride award – Ross Ritter for the Suicide Prevention Ride

Best Dressed / Most Likely to Match bike and outfit- Kelly Heady

DieHard Award- Greg Tembeck -8k miles!

Most Extensive MDot collection –Team Sichler

Most Likely to provide a draft- Adam Ritter

Most Likely to be a Pro without actually racing- Justin Harris (c'mon man!)

Most Likely to eat part of your bike while working on it- Tim Schopen

Video:

Thanks to people sending in videos. I hope you all enjoy!

Erica Ruge ITU Triathlon World Championships

2012 ITU World Triathlon Championships- Auckland, New Zealand   October 22

Well this could be a long race report but I will try to keep it as short as possible.  But it was such an amazing trip!!

First of all just going to New Zealand is a dream in itself, so to be able to race on Team USA there in Auckland was so much better.  Although I have been on Team USA for Duathlon, this was my first time for triathlon.

The trip was super long getting there, 5 hours to LA then 12 hours to Auckland.  For me, the sitting kills my body.  So after the flights I had to try to get my back and hips back into place. I certainly haven't had great luck with my body lately (if you have followed my other race reports), going into this I hadn't run except 15 minutes since France and that was 3 weeks before.  Between my foot and SI joint/lower back, I knew this race wouldn't be that pretty, at least it was short enough I could push through this one last race.

I will spare you all the details of my body woes and get onto the race and experience.  Which was AWESOME!!

We arrived on Wednesday morning and ventured to the race site to see what-was-what.  Oh and the weather was shitty, cold, windy, and rain pretty much the whole time. Anyway, the race site was on the wharf and was huge.  Expo was great, with everything you can image. We checked it all out, couldn't pickup  packets until the specified USA time, so we went back to the hotel to settle in and put the bike together.

Trying to get workouts in when you are away is pretty tricky.  So, I stuck with the team and did a group ride on Thursday to see the bike course. It was hilly, which for me is great, but also windy. That is always challenging.

Friday was an early morning ride with my friend Kristin Kandiel and then an afternoon swim on the race course.  The water was a balmy 56 degrees, now I don't know about anyone else, but that is friggin cold!! I tend to get super cold in cool water, so this was of great concern to me. I had borrowed a neoprene cap from friend Jill Hartley (thank you Jill!!) so at least that and another cap would help.  I got my little toesy in and wow it was cold. Sat there on the pontoon just getting acclimated with my feet then slid in and got swimming.  Actually wasn't so bad, I did one loop of the course and got out. Very salty though after one mouth full when the water got rough.

At this point until the race, the days were filled with opening ceremonies, parade, and rest.  The night before the race, I had to rack my bike and stand in line for body marking.  It was pouring rain, thunder and lightning and windy as hell. Oh and cold.  Awesome..

Race morning was actually not raining and the wind had seemed to die down a little bit.  Kristin and I walked down to transition and started the process of getting ready.  I surveyed the transition area, which was very rough with old trolley car tracks and areas with no carpet and huge puddles. Lots of bike so I had to carefully eye up my bike so as not to miss it when frantically running to find it. I found my corral where I was to line up and tried to keep warm. Temps were about 55 and water temp at 56. They lined us up 20 min before and we waited, then down to the pontoon where I had no choice in my spot, we sat down, jumped in (cold!!) then off we went.  After the intial holy cold feeling and a few strokes the water wasn't so bad, but the pile up of women was.  I maneuvered as best as possible got to the first buoy and then finally at the second buoy/turn around it thinned out. I always do best after the turnaround when I can just push to the end.

Out of the water, it was a long run into transition.  But easily found my bike, I choose to slide some arm warmers on my wrist in case I got cold, so that cost me a few seconds.  I hammered the 12 mile bike and ended up with the 6th fastest bike time in my age. Happy to report not one woman passed me on the bike. Off the bike, again a long run into transition.  I was feeling good as I got started on the 5k run.  It is so great coming out of transition with the huge crowd yelling USA, it gave me that extra boost I needed.  I did feel good as I continued on the flat run course.  Only my breath was holding me back (that's what happens when you haven't been running in a month!!), my legs felt great. As I approached the last half mile, there was a woman in front of me from Great Britain in my age group.  I got up to her but she was not going to let me pass, we held steady together as I passed the USA team coach and he is yelling at me.  I passed her slightly but as we approached the finish she has that extra push to beat me out. Happy again to say she was the only woman that passed me on the run.  I did put out everything I had. I felt happy with my finish, 14th in my age group. And an amazing experience.

Thank you to Bikeway for the bike and support. And to Jason for helping me every step of the way.

Now onto a period of rest and healing for my aching body. Remember rest is as important as training.

Cheers,

Erica

2012 ITU Duathlon World Championships -- Erica Ruge RR

ITU Duathlon World Championships - Nancy, France Sept 23rd

A preface to my race report- I have been to Duathlon Worlds 4 times, and each time I am amazed at the athletes and so thrilled to be able to race with them.

Going into this year, I have been plagued with body issues/injury for weeks(maybe even months), so I was a little curious as to how exactly I was going to perform. I mean literally how was I going to run...And of course as most of you know, I crashed my bike so without Bikeway I would have been riding my broom for the race!!

Getting to an international race is always stressful. Getting the bike in the box and then to the actual destination is more than a chore. BUT luckily I have my wonderful fiancee/Sherpa/photographer/best friendmechanic, or whatever else I feel like calling him! This time travel wasn't so bad, just a little delay on the plane which makes a little late for the train (which we missed) but all worked out well and we arrived in Nancy on Wednesday afternoon. With the time change and travel we were super tired, but made it out for a short run just to get the legs moving. Thursday we ran the bike course which was 5 laps making up the 40k. Traffic was a little sketchy so I didn't want to venture out on the bike by myself, so we ran it instead. Very technical and lots of turns, two 180 degree turns as a matter of fact!

The next day I went out with a few friends and we rode the course, which didn't make it look any better. But come race day, it was super fun and different.

I met up with lots of old friends and made some new ones as well. And fellow Team Bikeway member Zuri Wilson was there to light up the young age group. So we all had a great time together. Food was fantastic and unlike the past, my stomach was not a issue. And my "systems" were working just fine.

Race morning was about 45 degrees, burrrr, I easily get cold so I went with the arm warmers which I knew I would need on the bike. My wave of about 92 women started at 8:40am, with just 2 waves before us. Zuri was in the wave after me, so I wasn't sure when I would see her. Starting out with the 10k run, I was feeling pretty good for the first 4 miles. But really my running has been suffering for the past couple months so I was laboring at a 6:45 pace which normally I would be comfortable at. So by mile 4 my foot was hurting and my pace has slowed drastically. I came into transition at about 43 minutes, which I was not overly thrilled about. But was super happy to get out on the bike. I jumped on the Cannondale that I really had only ridden 3 times, but felt very comfortable. 40k= 5 laps of lots of turning, slowing down and turning some more,,,very fun and I was pleased with my performance when I came into T2 at 1:09. As soon as I jumped off the bike and started running on the Belgium block (ugh) my body was screaming. My foot on the right and my SI joint/butt area on the left. Yuk, And I had to run a 5k... So I shuffled into transition and hoped it would get better. But really it didn't, so I did what I could and got over the finish line. That is always the best part! I ended up 12th in my age group of about 37 women from all over the world, so I guess its not half bad.

Just a great racing experience on a course that was very different than what I was used to. We got to enjoy some croissants, quiche Lorraine and of course wine! Oh and the macaroons.and chocolate!! SO thank you to BIKEWAY!!! and Jason and of course family and friends for all their support..

Ironman NY -- Carlene Kuczma Checks in!

Brian and Carlene raised funds for Team Continuum for IMNY

Ironman US Championships 2012 …

Anyone can do it!  
I don’t just say that as a slogan…but from the heart.
Anyone who puts their mind to something can achieve it.
Take for example, reaching for the stars and signing up for an ironman… OR better yet, have your loving spouse sign you up for an Ironman!

My journey began with my husband coming home and telling me, “Ok, we are all signed up for the Ironman”.  WHAT?  He knew that I would hem and haw about it and never really sign myself up for it.  So when the opportunity came to jump in with Team Continuum, he took it…for both of us.

Our training.  Well, since I have two young children and work full-time job, fitting in the training was difficult to say the least.  We follow a program called Cross Fit Endurance.  The program consists of strength and conditioning as well as endurance training for all three sports.  What that amounted to was getting up at 5:15am four days a week to get in strength work in the basement and running and riding twice per week in the afternoon each.  Luckily, we jumped in the pool with Coach Justin starting in June – otherwise we would have had to ‘wing’ the swim.

Pre-race issues.  No training is ever event or issue free.  For me, training was filled with missed workouts due to our children’s sports, sore muscles, lost toenails, and a minor ER visit with severe vertigo and a migraine (less than two weeks before the race).  But all healed and I was ready to go.  All that I needed now was the confidence to go through with it!

Race weekend.  I say weekend and not “day” because it was a very, very long weekend.  It all started on Wednesday when we drove down from Dutchess to the city to register.  Ok, this is it.  There is no turning back now!  On Friday we had to venture down to the bike transition area to check our gear bags and our bikes.  

Race day.  Wake up was a bright and early 3:15 am to catch a 3:40am shuttle to the pier to take a 4 am ferry to the swim start and bike transition.  It might seem early, but you aren’t really sleeping anyway!  At 6:30am we boarded yet another ferry to the swim start barge…2.4 miles up river.  Once your ferry docks, it was like herding goats… there were lots of people directing you to jump in the water and GO!  So, I did.  

The swim.  Did you know the Hudson River is salty?  I didn’t.  But it is.  The first half of the swim was a typical swim.  There was no current.  AND I DIDN’T panic.  Anyone who knows me knows that I panic in the water. No matter what the distance or situation… I panic.   But thanks to great coaching and a lot of practice, I did fine.  By the midway point, the current took over!  At one point, the unimaginable happened, I SWALLOWED A HUGE GULP of the river.  None the less, I miraculously finished 2.4 miles in 50 minutes.  On to the bike…

The bike.  Since I have never ridden 100 miles in one shot, let alone 112, I didn’t know what to expect of my body.  The course was an up and back double loop up the Pallisades Parkway (27 miles each way).  I was told by a very smart triathlete to think ‘externally’ when you are fatigued.  So, picking a goal, like getting to the next turn around was perfect!  The road course was rough… literally.  There was a ton of water bottle carnage everywhere!  Worse yet, it was narrow with two-way traffic in the two lanes which led to some NASTY crashes.  At one point there was a mangled P3 (similar to my husband’s bike) on the side of the road.  I slowed down and freaked out a bit but was quickly filled with relief and pity for the cylclist being assisted by the medics (it was NOT Brian).  If you haven’t ridden that distance…well, it’s not exactly comfortable.  When I got off the bike for my special needs bag, I took my sweet time to get back on.   Did I mention that I swallowed some of the Hudson?  Well, that led to a large amount of vomiting on the bike and an inability to keep down the necessary fluids (for us that was Infinit nutrition).  The funniest part about the bike was that I got a penalty. Yes, little old me, got a yellow card.  Why?  For talking.  I was riding side by side for a couple of minutes trading stories with a guy named Ryan from Long Island.  It was a good way to pass the time and we were talking about the crash 5 miles back.  My goal for the bike?  Under 7 hours. WITH the penalty, I came in at 7:01.  Close. All things considered, though, I was happy.

The run.  By now the Hudson River water was wreaking havoc with my system.  I couldn’t keep down much and cramps were grabbing hold of my left calf, both quads, and both hamstrings.  Good times.  No matter, though, I was determined to finish.  As I came up a huge hill, I got to see my husband and both Mikes from the Bikeway team.  It was awesome!  Everyone looked tired but strong!  Good advice from my hubbie:  walk up the hills, run down.  That is what I did for the first 14 miles.  At mile 16, the COOLEST thing happened… WE GOT TO RUN OVER THE GEORGE WASHINGTON BRIDGE!  I was determined NOT to walk it, so I ran that mile and then kept running for the next 3 (running is a loose term at this point!).  When I was down (it’s a huge mental game), I met a gentleman from San Diego who had done 32 Ironmans.  I told him that I just wanted to finish.  He calmly looked at his watch as we walked up a hill and said, “Well, you could WALK the rest of this thing and still make it with plenty of time!”.  That was all I needed to hear…so I ‘ran’.  As the sun set, I was on the upper west side.  There is a cool pic of me as the sun is setting with the GWB in the background.   I felt awful but was still happy to be in the final stretch.  I drank chicken broth and flat COKE  (YUCK!!!) at some of the aide stations because nothing else was staying down.  I knew I needed something since I hadn’t gone the bathroom in about 6 hours (TMI – sorry).   But I was close to finishing…. Close… another funny thing was that even though I was ‘running’ the last 4.5 miles, my times were not blazing, not much faster than a fast walk to be exact.  But I was still moving forward.

The finish.  Nothing will compare to hearing the announcer say, “Carlene Kuczma, you are an IRONMAN!”  As you come down the shoot, you are delirious with relief. There are lights and music and tons of people!  And the best part… was my loving husband waiting at the finish line to meet me!  Priceless.

One special note:  There was a TON of support and cheerleaders for Team Bikeway.  Several volunteers on the bike yelled, “Go Bikeway” every time I passed.  Steve was at one of the final aide stations on the run…it was awesome to see a familiar face ☺.  Also, George was in the medical tent helping out.  I felt so privileged to be a part of the team!  Thanks for all the support!

So, in closing… if I can complete an Ironman in just under 14 hours… anyone can do it!  Happy Racing!

Carlene Kuczma