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| Brian and Carlene raised funds for Team Continuum for IMNY |
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
That is amazing Carlene! Congrats again and thanks for sharing your story. Although I don't agree that just anyone can do it. Only those with the determination, drive and commitment to train for months and then work their bodies for hours on race day despite pain and set-backs can do it. That is not everyone. You rock - Ms. IRONMAN!
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