Race Report- Ironman Maryland
October 3rd 2015. Kidding… Lets go with October 17th 2015. Thanks a lot Joaquin.
Pre Race: Alarm went off at 3:45am although it did not matter. I had basically been awake all night. This was just my “warning” shot and had another set for 4:05am when I would get up. The race was going to be cooler than originally expected/planned so my goal of leaving by 4:15 to be on the first shuttle out was pushed back a bit (I am always one of first at races). I already had my clothes out and ready, bags and such dropped the day before, water bottles with Infinit and a flask of gel prepared. Went to the bathroom and got dressed. I was wearing my super old Pearl Izumi bottoms with a Craft top, calf sleeves (that match my bike, obviously!). I put my awesome winter running tights over my bottoms and a 5$ Walmart neon yellow sweat shirt to stay warm. I had my breakfast already out and ready to go also, white bagel with strawberry gel on top in place of jam/butter, banana, water, power bar, and power bar bite type thing that are like gushers. I ate ¾ the bagel, the banana, and made hot tea. That was all I could get down due to nerves. I felt like I was going to puke. Kept thinking to myself, holy shit is this really happening, it is FINALLY HERE. While my training was not nearly what it could/should have been, I was still confident that today was the day I hear those magical words. I put my left over/untouched breakfast in my bag and figured I could try and choke some more down on the way there, as it was sports nutrition and not that hard to digest.
Went outside to leave a little later than expected, and it really wasn’t that cold! Was high 40s it felt like. Awesome! This Buffalonian still has it (a little bit). I was driving a fellow competitor and her mom to the shuttle that I was staying with. I was amazed how many cars were already there! We boarded and I ended up with a seat to myself. I put my headphones in, ate my Gatorade gusher things, and blasted my favorite pump up tunes. We got to the venue and had a slight walk to transition. I blasted my music louder on the walk, listening to my all-time favorite race day song (lose yourself, Eminem). Repeating my favorite sections of the song to myself in my head
“Look, if you had, one shot, or one opportunity
To seize everything you ever wanted. In one moment
Would you capture it, or just let it slip?
You better lose yourself in the music, the moment
You own it, you better never let it go
You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow
This opportunity comes once in a lifetime
Success is my only motherfuckin option, failure’s not
So here I go it's my shot.
Feet, fail me not
This may be the only opportunity that I got”
I went to my run transition bag and dropped off the last few things to be put in, and did the same with my bike transition bag. I had hand warmers that I opened up and put in my shoes to help warm my feet as the water was expected to be cold. Pumped up my tires and put my bottles on my rear cage. Went to fill my aero bottle with water… Whoops! Never remembered I needed something to fill it with. No big deal! Grabbed the bottle off the bike and brought to water fill station and then back to my bike. I asked a body marker for their marker to write my papas initials on my forearm underneath my IMCrabby tattoos. This is routine for me for any big race, if not all to bring him with me.
The cameraman saw me do this and asked me about it. I told him that my papa was one of my biggest influences in life, and that I wish nothing more for him to be here for the biggest race/day of my life. I said a lot more than that, but I was so put on the spot and taken back that I don’t remember. All I know is that by the end of the mini interview I was crying and overcome with emotion. This day means so much to me, and still feels too surreal to be actually happening after so many attempts not working out. I headed over to get my wetsuit on and decided I should pee beforehand. Waited in a long line and started chatting with a guy and his daughter in front of me, I hope he had a great race! Both very nice. Find a table nearby to hold my bags while I put my wetsuit on, and the lady across the table asked a question and my personality took over, I made a funny reply to answer her question. She snapped something back at me. Woah lady calm down. I politely said that it was meant in jest to help lighten the mood on such a stressful morning. I think she figured out that she was kind of a bitch to me and was nicer after that, making some small talk. That’s when they announced it…
Due to a small craft warning from 20-30mph winds, the swim was being cut short. I was pissed for all of about 5 seconds until I felt magically all the stress, nerves, and anxiousness leave my body. My only worry was the swim, and I KNEW I can kick ass in that short of a swim (well, by my standard anyways). Mentally preparing myself to swim a little quicker and the adjustment to my stroke I would try to make, along with trying to remember it is now only 1 lap and not the previous 2. Then they announced again- they are lengthening the swim back to 3,000, or just over ¾ of the original 3800m. This is better, I am still very confident in that distance (granted I was confident in the 3.8k also, confidence is not something I ever lack…). The race was also starting much later now, 7:30 approximately compared to 6:50 as originally planned. Also happy about this (finding silver linings people does a person good!) as it will be a few degrees warmer. I was not too worried about the cold water even in a sleeveless wetsuit, one cap, and no booties (63 degrees), nor after getting out as it would be roughly 50, I love that weather. Perfect day for me, was so excited about the weather. Ultimately that weather difference wouldn’t be a big difference but positive mindset, it was not a bad thing at all.
Swim Start: We begin to line up and I found the group I was with at the first IMMD attempt, we took some pictures and wish each other luck. It is so great to see some familiar faces! At this point I can’t believe how calm I am, it was serene almost. I lined up quite a bit further back than initially planned, but this didn’t bother me. I lined up around 1:45 finish time group, when I was hoping to be quicker than that. Much better to be too far back rather than too far forward. We slowly waddle our way forward and as I get closer to the water high five every person spectating that I can. I want to enjoy the living hell out of this day. As my good friend from Washington says- suffer with a smile. Although, I had no plans of suffering during today! My feet step in the water down the boat launch and I start to tear up.
My day has started.
I swim out of the boat launch and swing a wide right to enter the course, I planned on staying outside to avoid the congestion as the first people in would be starting lap two as we started lap one, and wanted NOTHING to do with people throwing down for a Kona slot and trampling all in their path. The water wasn’t too choppy at first, but definitely had some pretty rough sections. I was so calm and relaxed, had no issures breathing, never choked on water, I started to smile everytime I breathed and choked back more tears. This was actually happening. Not only was it happening- I was ENJOYING what for years was the bane of my existence- the swim. I was even passing some people?! That is pretty new to me in the water, although happening much more often lately. I was site-ing pretty well which must be some swim god looking over me as I have never really been able to do that. My goggles didn’t fog up at all either? Baby shampoo trick worked like a CHARM. The swim could not have been any better. I finish lap one and notice it is shallow enough to walk. Thank god. Not that I needed to walk- but I needed to pee. REALLY REALLY badly and tried going while I swim but failed. Walking and peeing? Now THAT I can do. First time ever peeing in my wetsuit, kind of want to burn it now and get a new one! I start the second lap and holy crap did the winds pick up, I make the turn into lap two and am picked up and slammed back down into the water by a wave. I try to site and can’t even see the bouy from the height of the wave completely blocking the view of the course. Oddly enough, I smiled and loved it, still never lost rhythm or nerves, and just kept swimming my race. I would alter my breathing to one side or the other depending on which direction I was getting bitch slapped by the waves. Never had an issue. I had one that caught me while I was breathing but for the first time in my life- it didn’t bother me at all or disrupt my rhythm. I just spit it out and breathed on the next stroke, and continued kicking ass. Wow, could this be ANY more perfect? I could see my papas initials every stroke and started to think of some of the memories I have of him throughout. I am going to finish this race if it kills me. I could have gone much faster probably, but I am not out to win anything today. Just treating this as a long warmup for my bread and butter(s) of the bike and run. Overall swim time was 1:14, and 2:27/100m (roughly 2:12/100yds). This would have put me between 1:30 and 1:35 for the full swim. HELL YES I think to myself as I convert it, that was my goal time. The 2:12/100yds is right around where I do my easy distance workouts, so as far as I am concerned I crushed the swim. My furthest swim ever was 1.5miles, so this was my new longest and I held my pace and left the water not tired. At all. Ends up, as usual, I was one of the slowest in the water ranking at like the 1290th swim, out of what I believe was 1500. I don’t care at all, I hit where I wanted to be and can’t control what other people do. You can’t win your race on the swim, but you can lose it. For my personal race, that means not psyching myself out, or burning all my matches hyperventilating and getting discouraged. I nailed it.
T1- I run up the bank and get stripped, go find my bag and find some open grass. I take the hand warmers out of my shoes and shove them up my tri shorts to help keep my knees warm, and easy access in case I needed for my hands. I couldn’t believe how warm it was though, and decided I didn’t even want to grab my arm warmers or gloves. I throw on my helmet and shoes, grab my tools and nutrition and am on my way! Hand my bag to the volunteers and run to grab my bike. Holy long transition batman, we had to grab our own bikes today with less volunteers. Total distance was over 1/3 of a mile. I grab my bike and run out, I mount the bike and start spinning. My GPS had some error message but didn’t look at it until I got settled in. I was passing people nonstop. Literally. I felt like I was effortlessly spinning my pedals and knew I was in for a good day. I took the first lap just slightly harder than I wanted to, as I was determined to NOT get a penalty at all, and this course looked like the friggen tour de france. Instead of 1 rider ever 10 meters, it was about 15 riders every 10. Even still, my effort level felt like it was easily sustainable and I was not worried at all. My goal today was the 15 minutes slower on the bike will save you hours on the run. I wanted to take it easy. My longest ride in training was only 1:45, on a spin bike and 80-90 mins on my bike, my only worry was my god awful saddle. I had to pee again. Wait what?! I have already peed like 239473 times this morning?! I hold it as long as I can until mile 30 looking for a place without a line. I contemplated peeing on the bike but I saw an open porta potty. I felt like I could have gone #2 here also, but decided against it for time reasons. I would later regret this as it came back to haunt me, lesson learned. I was originally counting how many people I had passed and did not want them all to catch back up! While I am here to finish, I am still competitive on the bike, and always will be. The end of the second lap got really windy, although not too terrible. At its worst points it slowed me down to 17.5ish mph, and that usually wasn’t for too long. I hit the start of lap 2 and was on pace for about a 5:20-5:30 bike, amazing. My goal was to break 6 hours! I stopped at special needs for tums for my gas issues I get during all events, some aleve just in case, my gummies(!!!) and to pee. Again?!?! What the hell. This took forever as the line was crazy long but it was that or pee my pants. Overall, this whole process took about 8 minutes. We all had a good time in line bitching about the wind (which was pretty rough but doable), our swims, the race, why we do this godforsaken event, etc (sadly it was all dudes, not a single female). I start the second lap and it has spread out a little bit more so I decide to go slightly easier, not that I thought I needed to at all, but why not? Half a mph slow here can save me a lot more on the end. Half way through the lap the wind was INSANE. I was blown off the road twice, and the trees and grass was being blown so hard I could hear it even with my aerohelmet which basically makes me deaf. At this point my saddle had me in so much pain I could hardly stay in aero, this saddle gives me serious issues and will be upgraded this winter, just did not have the money to replace. For my future children’s sake I better not ever use that piece of shit again though, or I won’t be able to have them. I could have toughed it out but wanted to sacrifice some speed to be comfortable and spent plenty of time out of aero to be more upright and relieve some pressure on my crotch, afterall, I am here to finish today not to win.
Twice a gust took me off the road into the dirt but was able to recover quickly and never fell. I am a pretty strong rider, these gusts had to be 35mph+ easily to move me that far. The wind on this second half dropped my speed to 15mph for long stretches, and I also let it knock me down that far. With knowing the run coming up is not a 5k, I took it easier in the wind, saving my matches for later. My nutrition seemed to work flawlessly as I never lost energy. I was doing Infinit nutrition custom blend, cliff blocks, and gels, alternating what I took every half hour. I slowed on water as I was peeing too much, but would grab one at the aid stations whether I needed it or not. Overall, my second lap was much slower than the first but I knew it would be and didn’t care. Overall I am quite happy with my 5:52 bike. Insane winds, hardly any training on my bike, and more importantly? I loved every second of it. Just like the swim, the first lap wasn’t great conditions but very doable, and the second was much tougher. The wind seemed to be getting stronger as the day went on and that was what was called for by the weather people, so makes sense. Anyone who was a fast swimmer had a huge advantage of being on the bike so much earlier when it was not as bad. I’ll get there some day! Overall- I moved up. A SHIT TON. And a half. Wow. I didn’t even think my bike time was that fast as I took it so easy. Then I saw the rankings. I finished the bike in 380th for males, and 494th overall.
Holy shit- did I REALLY PASS 803 PEOPLE ON THE BIKE?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! I moved up from 57th AG, to 29th or 28th. Wow. Even happier with that- especially knowing I took the bike super easy and when I got off the bike my legs felt AWESOME.
T2- I found myself choking back tears as I rolled into transition and started what seemed like a marathon run just to get my bike back to the rack. I crushed the bike while going easy. My legs felt amazing. The volunteer asked how I was feeling as he handed me my bag, and my reply was something must be wrong with me, I feel incredible, like I can actually run a STRONG marathon.
Then I opened the note from my parents. As I mentioned- I always write my papas initials for races. The first thing I see is his name at the top. His old personalized stationary I haven’t seen since I was a child. I instantly started bawling. First line my parents wrote was “the stationary should be all the motivation you need.” They had no idea I write papas initials on myself for races, they just know me that well. I cried for two minutes and my towel that I had to wipe my feet turned into a snot rag and drying my eyes. They also mentioned one of my other biggest influences in life, and the only reason I am doing this sport- my high school track coach and one of the greatest men to walk this earth.
They both fought extreme health issues and are the two I remember when anything in my life seems hard. One (Coach C) kicked pancreatic cancer’s ass (with a 95% mortality rate). Twice. The other (my papa)had several heart attacks and strokes/mini strokes throughout his life and repeatedly through the better part of his last year. And he NEVER. GAVE. IN. That man was the strongest person I know when it came to fighting through shit, and I am pretty sure that those are worse than a day of covering 140.6 miles. I was overwhelmed for sure. I finally get myself together, kiss my forearms with his initials, and I leave T2 pumping my first, my note tucked in my pocket, and a spring in my step which stayed for a hell of a lot longer than I thought it would!
Run: I started the run strong, and really felt like I could stay that way. Goal was to hit 5k without stopping to get my legs moving and assess how I felt. I hit 7:45 for my first mile and knew that was too ambitious for now, and slowed down. I held 8:30s the next two miles and was feeling great. I knew my knee would tighten up at some point during the race so I decided to do 5 minutes run, 1 minute walk that way I can run faster and maintain my normal gait. This was working brilliantly. I was clocking miles no slower than 9:30 with the time for walking aid stations and 1 of every 6 minutes. Miles where I only walked once and not twice I was low 8’s including the walk. I also was getting stronger as I went with this, and my pace was definitely opening up and body loosening up the further I got in. I felt amazing. I had kind of hoped to be at least even split if not negative split on the marathon, and this was seeming like a distinct possibility. The miles went by quickly and I was loving it. I had my race belt and carry bottle with 18oz of infinit blend, but decided I was going to use aid stations instead and keep that in case of emergency between aid stations. I have an iron stomach and know I can pretty much eat whatever, so each station I alternated between red bull and water, and would grab some chips (which have never tasted better) or a cookie. Red Bull was amazing, and will be a staple in my long course racing from now on, it literally gives you wings. I was steadily passing people and moving up pretty quickly. Anyone that passed me while I was walking I passed in the first minute or two of my next run session. I was perfectly ok with this! I felt amazing still. I get to mile 10 and know that special needs is coming up, I decided against stopping now (we pass it 6x) and get it around mile 16-17 at the next time I stop. This is when disaster number one crept up. I was strong through the first 12, then my knee/ITBS decided to start showing up. I ran through 13 to hit the halfway point strong and figured I would re-adjust then if needed. Ends up, I NEEDED to readjust drastically. Felt ok… ok… ok…. BAM. Tightened up and dropped me to the ground in pain. I knew I had a long way to go to get back to my special needs bag where I had a tennis ball to roll my hip out. My feet hurt a little bit, but knew I had socks also, and a long sleeve as it was getting much chillier out now that the day was passing by. I was reduced to a walk for a while and would run a little bit when I could. I changed my intervals to 4:1, but wound up walking probably every other run interval also. After what seemed like eternity I made it back to special needs, 1-1-7-7 I said as they asked my number. They’re looking. And looking. And looking. Oh. Shit. My bag was nowhere to be found. This was the ONLY moment of the race I had any negative thoughts about the race/outcomes/negativity in any sense. That quickly left when I did the math, I was at mile 16, 10 miles to go. Even if I walked backwards and took 3 naps- I would finish by midnight. And it was only like 9:20 into the race, I could walk and still have a chance at my main goal of 13 hours. I helped them search for a minute and then gave up. One of my biggest mantras for this race which I repeated to myself numerous times. Rule 5 of the Velominati. HTFU. Harden The Fuck Up. I thanked the volunteers, gave one a hug who looked like she was ready to cry for me, told her I’d live and that they rocked for being so diligent trying to find my back and tried running off.
Special shout out to the volunteers- these people were friggen incredible human beings. It was cold as hell, even windier than it was cold, and they were willing to do ANYTHING to help us reach our goals and never once complained about the weather. Never once took a break. From 4am until well after midnight these people dedicated themselves completely to us. Never once let anything besides a smile hit their face. Always had something encouraging to say. We might not always show it during the race, but we could never even dream of doing these without you guys. I try to thank you everytime I can during the race as I do with the police at every intersection for holding traffic for me, but I know that I neglected to do so a few times then the going got rough.
So leaving special needs I tried running… Knee had other ideas and I collapsed again. Someone helped me up and I had a few tears roll down my face for what seemed like the 67th time today, although this time was the first that it was from pain. Debilitating excruciating pain. I started walking and that did not really seem to be allowed by my knee either. I sat in the grass and stretched for about 30 seconds to get any release if possible. Thankfully it took the edge off and I got up and was able to walk. After half a mile I started to run a little more which didn’t last long. I finally got near the finish area and heard the magical words being said for some faster finishers. I had about 7 miles left. I started to run slowly again, and ignored the watch and just kept going. One step at a time. There were so many people I chatted with through these last 10 miles. People reminding me just keep moving forward, one step at a time if that is all I can do. But whatever I do, do NOT STOP MOVING. I had zero plans to stop. I was able to run 2-3 miles without stopping albeit those who could see the look on my face knew I was hurting, and bad. I stopped to walk again, and I was at mile 22. I was almost to my short lap turn around, here I heard another guy around my age ask a volunteer how much further until the turn around. I knew the answer but he was too far ahead to hear me. As I passed the next aid station I saw him leaving a porta potty right in front of me and told him where it was. We were running about the same pace and ran to the turn around together. We chatted a bit, it was his first also and he had only been doing triathlon about a year, 22 year old kid. Good for him. Talking helped take my mind off the pain. He stopped at the next aid station and I said I was going to keep going, if I stopped I was not going to start up again. I told him he would catch me soon when I did stop to walk, which did not take long. He passed me maybe a half mile further up the road when I was walking and I cheered him on as he went. I was almost done. Mile 23. I was freezing when I was walking as the winds, especially near the water, were INSANE. It was also dark now for the last 30- 45 mins and the temperature was dropping quick. My long sleeve shirt was in my special needs bag- so good thing I don’t mind cold as much as most people (the amount that people were bundled up really had me laughing, it looked like we were cycling and running in Antarctica). That little bit of chilliness was enough to get me to start running again as I was not cold when I was jogging no matter how slow. Walking was not enjoyable though. I was a little disappointed that I was not finishing when I had calculated was possible during the run because the sun was setting as I would have ran down the chute, oh well. I was still on pace to crush my goal by an hour. Walk a few steps, run a few steps. Mile 24. At this sign it became surreal again. I was heading back towards the finishers area and could start to hear music, and team tent area, and volunteers. I picked up the pace and started running like I did at the start of the marathon. I ended up catching the kid from a few miles back with a mile to go. I gave him a big cheer as I went by and told him I would see him at the finish. I made it to downtown and the last turn around. The brewery. The party. I start pumping my first and making the “make some noise” movement with my arms. The crowd ERUPTED. What an adrenaline rush. That is all I needed. I was running quickly at this point already, and had two people in the last half mile compliment my speed, but I found another gear and was finishing around 6:30 pace. My body was numb. My mind was numb. All I saw was straight ahead the bright lights. The start of the chute. The arch at the finish. I had been carrying my parents note through the last mile or so. I grabbed it with both hands and kissed it as I entered the chute, saying thank you papa for getting me through this. I had tears rolling down my face as I ran. I blew by one person in the chute arms overhead and there it was, the flash of the camera and the voice of god on the PA system…
Nicholas Cumbo- YOU ARE AN IRONMAN.
Overall, My run averaged 10:57/ mile for a 4:4x:xx marathon, about 1:45 per mile slower than I was originally doing when I was still getting stronger. I finished in 12:02, and would have been about 45 minutes faster if I had my tennis ball. But as my favorite soccer coach growing up always said – “If If’s Ands Or Buts, were candy and nuts, we’d all have tooth decay.” If I had my tennis ball is just that, an if. I didn’t so (in the words of my favorite cartoon character) “why fill your head with hypothetical bullshit that you have no control over.” My time would have been faster absolutely. But it would not have been the test that it was, and that is what this race was for me. A test.
A test of my mental fortitude which has waned since my ACL tear. A test of my love for the sport which I have had trouble motivating myself for the last few years with being so much slower than I used to be. A test of my iron-will and perseverance to see this finish line when I had not even seen the start line for my first 3 attempts. A test of what my body is capable of. I blame my parents note and two minutes crying in transition as what kept me from breaking 12 hours, half joking because 11:59 vs 12:02 really does not make a difference to me at all. My “A” goal for a perfect race was 12 hours. My “B” goal of what I expected to do was 13 hours. I crushed it. My preparation and execution of my race plan was immaculate. Every single thing I had control over I nailed. And the rest? Who gives a shit. It is out of my control. I couldn’t be any happier with my race. The “perfect race/A-goal” picture did not include blistering winds on all 3 legs. It did not include debilitating knee pain. It did not include freezing my ass off when the wind chill was in the 30s and I was in a only tri suit. It did not include getting a concussion halfway into training and missing 2 months. It did not include moving for work and working 2-3 days a week 6am until 9pm costing another 6-8 weeks of good. It did not include a fucking hurricane and nor’easter cancelling the race two weeks earlier.
And I still hit it.
An Ironman isn’t an Ironman without a little adversity. I proved to myself that not only can I overcome the biggest obstacles I have faced in my life thus far, but I truly can do anything I want to and exceed all expectations. Just like I did in college with turning myself around from almost failing out to graduating Summa Cum Laude and then getting my Masters. Just like I did in HS track kicking ass in hurdles at only an inch or two over 5’ at the time competing against much faster talent but who didn’t want it as badly as me. Or my first half marathon when I was working full time, had 21 credit hours (with a 3.86 GPA that semester) and got hurt 3 days before the race, yet was stillone of the fastest finishers that day in my first race ever longer than 5k. My parents also wrote in their note to me what Coach C said at our sports banquet my senior year- that what has and will ALWAYS set me apart has been the size of my heart, and my sheer determination and indomitable will.
I moved up throughout the race to 460th after finishing the swim in 1297th. I had passed quite a few people in the first half the marathon (200+) that then passed me again when I was reduced to a walk. Doesn’t matter. I was here to compete against myself this time, and I kicked ass, took names, then repeated the ass kicking part.
Next time, and there will be a next time- I WILL be under 10 hours and vying for a Kona World Championship slot. I promise you that. And I will do it, because I am capable of whatever the hell I say I am, and then some.
October 3rd 2015. Kidding… Lets go with October 17th 2015. Thanks a lot Joaquin.
Pre Race: Alarm went off at 3:45am although it did not matter. I had basically been awake all night. This was just my “warning” shot and had another set for 4:05am when I would get up. The race was going to be cooler than originally expected/planned so my goal of leaving by 4:15 to be on the first shuttle out was pushed back a bit (I am always one of first at races). I already had my clothes out and ready, bags and such dropped the day before, water bottles with Infinit and a flask of gel prepared. Went to the bathroom and got dressed. I was wearing my super old Pearl Izumi bottoms with a Craft top, calf sleeves (that match my bike, obviously!). I put my awesome winter running tights over my bottoms and a 5$ Walmart neon yellow sweat shirt to stay warm. I had my breakfast already out and ready to go also, white bagel with strawberry gel on top in place of jam/butter, banana, water, power bar, and power bar bite type thing that are like gushers. I ate ¾ the bagel, the banana, and made hot tea. That was all I could get down due to nerves. I felt like I was going to puke. Kept thinking to myself, holy shit is this really happening, it is FINALLY HERE. While my training was not nearly what it could/should have been, I was still confident that today was the day I hear those magical words. I put my left over/untouched breakfast in my bag and figured I could try and choke some more down on the way there, as it was sports nutrition and not that hard to digest.
Went outside to leave a little later than expected, and it really wasn’t that cold! Was high 40s it felt like. Awesome! This Buffalonian still has it (a little bit). I was driving a fellow competitor and her mom to the shuttle that I was staying with. I was amazed how many cars were already there! We boarded and I ended up with a seat to myself. I put my headphones in, ate my Gatorade gusher things, and blasted my favorite pump up tunes. We got to the venue and had a slight walk to transition. I blasted my music louder on the walk, listening to my all-time favorite race day song (lose yourself, Eminem). Repeating my favorite sections of the song to myself in my head
“Look, if you had, one shot, or one opportunity
To seize everything you ever wanted. In one moment
Would you capture it, or just let it slip?
You better lose yourself in the music, the moment
You own it, you better never let it go
You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow
This opportunity comes once in a lifetime
Success is my only motherfuckin option, failure’s not
So here I go it's my shot.
Feet, fail me not
This may be the only opportunity that I got”
I went to my run transition bag and dropped off the last few things to be put in, and did the same with my bike transition bag. I had hand warmers that I opened up and put in my shoes to help warm my feet as the water was expected to be cold. Pumped up my tires and put my bottles on my rear cage. Went to fill my aero bottle with water… Whoops! Never remembered I needed something to fill it with. No big deal! Grabbed the bottle off the bike and brought to water fill station and then back to my bike. I asked a body marker for their marker to write my papas initials on my forearm underneath my IMCrabby tattoos. This is routine for me for any big race, if not all to bring him with me.
The cameraman saw me do this and asked me about it. I told him that my papa was one of my biggest influences in life, and that I wish nothing more for him to be here for the biggest race/day of my life. I said a lot more than that, but I was so put on the spot and taken back that I don’t remember. All I know is that by the end of the mini interview I was crying and overcome with emotion. This day means so much to me, and still feels too surreal to be actually happening after so many attempts not working out. I headed over to get my wetsuit on and decided I should pee beforehand. Waited in a long line and started chatting with a guy and his daughter in front of me, I hope he had a great race! Both very nice. Find a table nearby to hold my bags while I put my wetsuit on, and the lady across the table asked a question and my personality took over, I made a funny reply to answer her question. She snapped something back at me. Woah lady calm down. I politely said that it was meant in jest to help lighten the mood on such a stressful morning. I think she figured out that she was kind of a bitch to me and was nicer after that, making some small talk. That’s when they announced it…
Due to a small craft warning from 20-30mph winds, the swim was being cut short. I was pissed for all of about 5 seconds until I felt magically all the stress, nerves, and anxiousness leave my body. My only worry was the swim, and I KNEW I can kick ass in that short of a swim (well, by my standard anyways). Mentally preparing myself to swim a little quicker and the adjustment to my stroke I would try to make, along with trying to remember it is now only 1 lap and not the previous 2. Then they announced again- they are lengthening the swim back to 3,000, or just over ¾ of the original 3800m. This is better, I am still very confident in that distance (granted I was confident in the 3.8k also, confidence is not something I ever lack…). The race was also starting much later now, 7:30 approximately compared to 6:50 as originally planned. Also happy about this (finding silver linings people does a person good!) as it will be a few degrees warmer. I was not too worried about the cold water even in a sleeveless wetsuit, one cap, and no booties (63 degrees), nor after getting out as it would be roughly 50, I love that weather. Perfect day for me, was so excited about the weather. Ultimately that weather difference wouldn’t be a big difference but positive mindset, it was not a bad thing at all.
Swim Start: We begin to line up and I found the group I was with at the first IMMD attempt, we took some pictures and wish each other luck. It is so great to see some familiar faces! At this point I can’t believe how calm I am, it was serene almost. I lined up quite a bit further back than initially planned, but this didn’t bother me. I lined up around 1:45 finish time group, when I was hoping to be quicker than that. Much better to be too far back rather than too far forward. We slowly waddle our way forward and as I get closer to the water high five every person spectating that I can. I want to enjoy the living hell out of this day. As my good friend from Washington says- suffer with a smile. Although, I had no plans of suffering during today! My feet step in the water down the boat launch and I start to tear up.
My day has started.
I swim out of the boat launch and swing a wide right to enter the course, I planned on staying outside to avoid the congestion as the first people in would be starting lap two as we started lap one, and wanted NOTHING to do with people throwing down for a Kona slot and trampling all in their path. The water wasn’t too choppy at first, but definitely had some pretty rough sections. I was so calm and relaxed, had no issures breathing, never choked on water, I started to smile everytime I breathed and choked back more tears. This was actually happening. Not only was it happening- I was ENJOYING what for years was the bane of my existence- the swim. I was even passing some people?! That is pretty new to me in the water, although happening much more often lately. I was site-ing pretty well which must be some swim god looking over me as I have never really been able to do that. My goggles didn’t fog up at all either? Baby shampoo trick worked like a CHARM. The swim could not have been any better. I finish lap one and notice it is shallow enough to walk. Thank god. Not that I needed to walk- but I needed to pee. REALLY REALLY badly and tried going while I swim but failed. Walking and peeing? Now THAT I can do. First time ever peeing in my wetsuit, kind of want to burn it now and get a new one! I start the second lap and holy crap did the winds pick up, I make the turn into lap two and am picked up and slammed back down into the water by a wave. I try to site and can’t even see the bouy from the height of the wave completely blocking the view of the course. Oddly enough, I smiled and loved it, still never lost rhythm or nerves, and just kept swimming my race. I would alter my breathing to one side or the other depending on which direction I was getting bitch slapped by the waves. Never had an issue. I had one that caught me while I was breathing but for the first time in my life- it didn’t bother me at all or disrupt my rhythm. I just spit it out and breathed on the next stroke, and continued kicking ass. Wow, could this be ANY more perfect? I could see my papas initials every stroke and started to think of some of the memories I have of him throughout. I am going to finish this race if it kills me. I could have gone much faster probably, but I am not out to win anything today. Just treating this as a long warmup for my bread and butter(s) of the bike and run. Overall swim time was 1:14, and 2:27/100m (roughly 2:12/100yds). This would have put me between 1:30 and 1:35 for the full swim. HELL YES I think to myself as I convert it, that was my goal time. The 2:12/100yds is right around where I do my easy distance workouts, so as far as I am concerned I crushed the swim. My furthest swim ever was 1.5miles, so this was my new longest and I held my pace and left the water not tired. At all. Ends up, as usual, I was one of the slowest in the water ranking at like the 1290th swim, out of what I believe was 1500. I don’t care at all, I hit where I wanted to be and can’t control what other people do. You can’t win your race on the swim, but you can lose it. For my personal race, that means not psyching myself out, or burning all my matches hyperventilating and getting discouraged. I nailed it.
T1- I run up the bank and get stripped, go find my bag and find some open grass. I take the hand warmers out of my shoes and shove them up my tri shorts to help keep my knees warm, and easy access in case I needed for my hands. I couldn’t believe how warm it was though, and decided I didn’t even want to grab my arm warmers or gloves. I throw on my helmet and shoes, grab my tools and nutrition and am on my way! Hand my bag to the volunteers and run to grab my bike. Holy long transition batman, we had to grab our own bikes today with less volunteers. Total distance was over 1/3 of a mile. I grab my bike and run out, I mount the bike and start spinning. My GPS had some error message but didn’t look at it until I got settled in. I was passing people nonstop. Literally. I felt like I was effortlessly spinning my pedals and knew I was in for a good day. I took the first lap just slightly harder than I wanted to, as I was determined to NOT get a penalty at all, and this course looked like the friggen tour de france. Instead of 1 rider ever 10 meters, it was about 15 riders every 10. Even still, my effort level felt like it was easily sustainable and I was not worried at all. My goal today was the 15 minutes slower on the bike will save you hours on the run. I wanted to take it easy. My longest ride in training was only 1:45, on a spin bike and 80-90 mins on my bike, my only worry was my god awful saddle. I had to pee again. Wait what?! I have already peed like 239473 times this morning?! I hold it as long as I can until mile 30 looking for a place without a line. I contemplated peeing on the bike but I saw an open porta potty. I felt like I could have gone #2 here also, but decided against it for time reasons. I would later regret this as it came back to haunt me, lesson learned. I was originally counting how many people I had passed and did not want them all to catch back up! While I am here to finish, I am still competitive on the bike, and always will be. The end of the second lap got really windy, although not too terrible. At its worst points it slowed me down to 17.5ish mph, and that usually wasn’t for too long. I hit the start of lap 2 and was on pace for about a 5:20-5:30 bike, amazing. My goal was to break 6 hours! I stopped at special needs for tums for my gas issues I get during all events, some aleve just in case, my gummies(!!!) and to pee. Again?!?! What the hell. This took forever as the line was crazy long but it was that or pee my pants. Overall, this whole process took about 8 minutes. We all had a good time in line bitching about the wind (which was pretty rough but doable), our swims, the race, why we do this godforsaken event, etc (sadly it was all dudes, not a single female). I start the second lap and it has spread out a little bit more so I decide to go slightly easier, not that I thought I needed to at all, but why not? Half a mph slow here can save me a lot more on the end. Half way through the lap the wind was INSANE. I was blown off the road twice, and the trees and grass was being blown so hard I could hear it even with my aerohelmet which basically makes me deaf. At this point my saddle had me in so much pain I could hardly stay in aero, this saddle gives me serious issues and will be upgraded this winter, just did not have the money to replace. For my future children’s sake I better not ever use that piece of shit again though, or I won’t be able to have them. I could have toughed it out but wanted to sacrifice some speed to be comfortable and spent plenty of time out of aero to be more upright and relieve some pressure on my crotch, afterall, I am here to finish today not to win.
Twice a gust took me off the road into the dirt but was able to recover quickly and never fell. I am a pretty strong rider, these gusts had to be 35mph+ easily to move me that far. The wind on this second half dropped my speed to 15mph for long stretches, and I also let it knock me down that far. With knowing the run coming up is not a 5k, I took it easier in the wind, saving my matches for later. My nutrition seemed to work flawlessly as I never lost energy. I was doing Infinit nutrition custom blend, cliff blocks, and gels, alternating what I took every half hour. I slowed on water as I was peeing too much, but would grab one at the aid stations whether I needed it or not. Overall, my second lap was much slower than the first but I knew it would be and didn’t care. Overall I am quite happy with my 5:52 bike. Insane winds, hardly any training on my bike, and more importantly? I loved every second of it. Just like the swim, the first lap wasn’t great conditions but very doable, and the second was much tougher. The wind seemed to be getting stronger as the day went on and that was what was called for by the weather people, so makes sense. Anyone who was a fast swimmer had a huge advantage of being on the bike so much earlier when it was not as bad. I’ll get there some day! Overall- I moved up. A SHIT TON. And a half. Wow. I didn’t even think my bike time was that fast as I took it so easy. Then I saw the rankings. I finished the bike in 380th for males, and 494th overall.
Holy shit- did I REALLY PASS 803 PEOPLE ON THE BIKE?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! I moved up from 57th AG, to 29th or 28th. Wow. Even happier with that- especially knowing I took the bike super easy and when I got off the bike my legs felt AWESOME.
T2- I found myself choking back tears as I rolled into transition and started what seemed like a marathon run just to get my bike back to the rack. I crushed the bike while going easy. My legs felt amazing. The volunteer asked how I was feeling as he handed me my bag, and my reply was something must be wrong with me, I feel incredible, like I can actually run a STRONG marathon.
Then I opened the note from my parents. As I mentioned- I always write my papas initials for races. The first thing I see is his name at the top. His old personalized stationary I haven’t seen since I was a child. I instantly started bawling. First line my parents wrote was “the stationary should be all the motivation you need.” They had no idea I write papas initials on myself for races, they just know me that well. I cried for two minutes and my towel that I had to wipe my feet turned into a snot rag and drying my eyes. They also mentioned one of my other biggest influences in life, and the only reason I am doing this sport- my high school track coach and one of the greatest men to walk this earth.
They both fought extreme health issues and are the two I remember when anything in my life seems hard. One (Coach C) kicked pancreatic cancer’s ass (with a 95% mortality rate). Twice. The other (my papa)had several heart attacks and strokes/mini strokes throughout his life and repeatedly through the better part of his last year. And he NEVER. GAVE. IN. That man was the strongest person I know when it came to fighting through shit, and I am pretty sure that those are worse than a day of covering 140.6 miles. I was overwhelmed for sure. I finally get myself together, kiss my forearms with his initials, and I leave T2 pumping my first, my note tucked in my pocket, and a spring in my step which stayed for a hell of a lot longer than I thought it would!
Run: I started the run strong, and really felt like I could stay that way. Goal was to hit 5k without stopping to get my legs moving and assess how I felt. I hit 7:45 for my first mile and knew that was too ambitious for now, and slowed down. I held 8:30s the next two miles and was feeling great. I knew my knee would tighten up at some point during the race so I decided to do 5 minutes run, 1 minute walk that way I can run faster and maintain my normal gait. This was working brilliantly. I was clocking miles no slower than 9:30 with the time for walking aid stations and 1 of every 6 minutes. Miles where I only walked once and not twice I was low 8’s including the walk. I also was getting stronger as I went with this, and my pace was definitely opening up and body loosening up the further I got in. I felt amazing. I had kind of hoped to be at least even split if not negative split on the marathon, and this was seeming like a distinct possibility. The miles went by quickly and I was loving it. I had my race belt and carry bottle with 18oz of infinit blend, but decided I was going to use aid stations instead and keep that in case of emergency between aid stations. I have an iron stomach and know I can pretty much eat whatever, so each station I alternated between red bull and water, and would grab some chips (which have never tasted better) or a cookie. Red Bull was amazing, and will be a staple in my long course racing from now on, it literally gives you wings. I was steadily passing people and moving up pretty quickly. Anyone that passed me while I was walking I passed in the first minute or two of my next run session. I was perfectly ok with this! I felt amazing still. I get to mile 10 and know that special needs is coming up, I decided against stopping now (we pass it 6x) and get it around mile 16-17 at the next time I stop. This is when disaster number one crept up. I was strong through the first 12, then my knee/ITBS decided to start showing up. I ran through 13 to hit the halfway point strong and figured I would re-adjust then if needed. Ends up, I NEEDED to readjust drastically. Felt ok… ok… ok…. BAM. Tightened up and dropped me to the ground in pain. I knew I had a long way to go to get back to my special needs bag where I had a tennis ball to roll my hip out. My feet hurt a little bit, but knew I had socks also, and a long sleeve as it was getting much chillier out now that the day was passing by. I was reduced to a walk for a while and would run a little bit when I could. I changed my intervals to 4:1, but wound up walking probably every other run interval also. After what seemed like eternity I made it back to special needs, 1-1-7-7 I said as they asked my number. They’re looking. And looking. And looking. Oh. Shit. My bag was nowhere to be found. This was the ONLY moment of the race I had any negative thoughts about the race/outcomes/negativity in any sense. That quickly left when I did the math, I was at mile 16, 10 miles to go. Even if I walked backwards and took 3 naps- I would finish by midnight. And it was only like 9:20 into the race, I could walk and still have a chance at my main goal of 13 hours. I helped them search for a minute and then gave up. One of my biggest mantras for this race which I repeated to myself numerous times. Rule 5 of the Velominati. HTFU. Harden The Fuck Up. I thanked the volunteers, gave one a hug who looked like she was ready to cry for me, told her I’d live and that they rocked for being so diligent trying to find my back and tried running off.
Special shout out to the volunteers- these people were friggen incredible human beings. It was cold as hell, even windier than it was cold, and they were willing to do ANYTHING to help us reach our goals and never once complained about the weather. Never once took a break. From 4am until well after midnight these people dedicated themselves completely to us. Never once let anything besides a smile hit their face. Always had something encouraging to say. We might not always show it during the race, but we could never even dream of doing these without you guys. I try to thank you everytime I can during the race as I do with the police at every intersection for holding traffic for me, but I know that I neglected to do so a few times then the going got rough.
So leaving special needs I tried running… Knee had other ideas and I collapsed again. Someone helped me up and I had a few tears roll down my face for what seemed like the 67th time today, although this time was the first that it was from pain. Debilitating excruciating pain. I started walking and that did not really seem to be allowed by my knee either. I sat in the grass and stretched for about 30 seconds to get any release if possible. Thankfully it took the edge off and I got up and was able to walk. After half a mile I started to run a little more which didn’t last long. I finally got near the finish area and heard the magical words being said for some faster finishers. I had about 7 miles left. I started to run slowly again, and ignored the watch and just kept going. One step at a time. There were so many people I chatted with through these last 10 miles. People reminding me just keep moving forward, one step at a time if that is all I can do. But whatever I do, do NOT STOP MOVING. I had zero plans to stop. I was able to run 2-3 miles without stopping albeit those who could see the look on my face knew I was hurting, and bad. I stopped to walk again, and I was at mile 22. I was almost to my short lap turn around, here I heard another guy around my age ask a volunteer how much further until the turn around. I knew the answer but he was too far ahead to hear me. As I passed the next aid station I saw him leaving a porta potty right in front of me and told him where it was. We were running about the same pace and ran to the turn around together. We chatted a bit, it was his first also and he had only been doing triathlon about a year, 22 year old kid. Good for him. Talking helped take my mind off the pain. He stopped at the next aid station and I said I was going to keep going, if I stopped I was not going to start up again. I told him he would catch me soon when I did stop to walk, which did not take long. He passed me maybe a half mile further up the road when I was walking and I cheered him on as he went. I was almost done. Mile 23. I was freezing when I was walking as the winds, especially near the water, were INSANE. It was also dark now for the last 30- 45 mins and the temperature was dropping quick. My long sleeve shirt was in my special needs bag- so good thing I don’t mind cold as much as most people (the amount that people were bundled up really had me laughing, it looked like we were cycling and running in Antarctica). That little bit of chilliness was enough to get me to start running again as I was not cold when I was jogging no matter how slow. Walking was not enjoyable though. I was a little disappointed that I was not finishing when I had calculated was possible during the run because the sun was setting as I would have ran down the chute, oh well. I was still on pace to crush my goal by an hour. Walk a few steps, run a few steps. Mile 24. At this sign it became surreal again. I was heading back towards the finishers area and could start to hear music, and team tent area, and volunteers. I picked up the pace and started running like I did at the start of the marathon. I ended up catching the kid from a few miles back with a mile to go. I gave him a big cheer as I went by and told him I would see him at the finish. I made it to downtown and the last turn around. The brewery. The party. I start pumping my first and making the “make some noise” movement with my arms. The crowd ERUPTED. What an adrenaline rush. That is all I needed. I was running quickly at this point already, and had two people in the last half mile compliment my speed, but I found another gear and was finishing around 6:30 pace. My body was numb. My mind was numb. All I saw was straight ahead the bright lights. The start of the chute. The arch at the finish. I had been carrying my parents note through the last mile or so. I grabbed it with both hands and kissed it as I entered the chute, saying thank you papa for getting me through this. I had tears rolling down my face as I ran. I blew by one person in the chute arms overhead and there it was, the flash of the camera and the voice of god on the PA system…
Nicholas Cumbo- YOU ARE AN IRONMAN.
Overall, My run averaged 10:57/ mile for a 4:4x:xx marathon, about 1:45 per mile slower than I was originally doing when I was still getting stronger. I finished in 12:02, and would have been about 45 minutes faster if I had my tennis ball. But as my favorite soccer coach growing up always said – “If If’s Ands Or Buts, were candy and nuts, we’d all have tooth decay.” If I had my tennis ball is just that, an if. I didn’t so (in the words of my favorite cartoon character) “why fill your head with hypothetical bullshit that you have no control over.” My time would have been faster absolutely. But it would not have been the test that it was, and that is what this race was for me. A test.
A test of my mental fortitude which has waned since my ACL tear. A test of my love for the sport which I have had trouble motivating myself for the last few years with being so much slower than I used to be. A test of my iron-will and perseverance to see this finish line when I had not even seen the start line for my first 3 attempts. A test of what my body is capable of. I blame my parents note and two minutes crying in transition as what kept me from breaking 12 hours, half joking because 11:59 vs 12:02 really does not make a difference to me at all. My “A” goal for a perfect race was 12 hours. My “B” goal of what I expected to do was 13 hours. I crushed it. My preparation and execution of my race plan was immaculate. Every single thing I had control over I nailed. And the rest? Who gives a shit. It is out of my control. I couldn’t be any happier with my race. The “perfect race/A-goal” picture did not include blistering winds on all 3 legs. It did not include debilitating knee pain. It did not include freezing my ass off when the wind chill was in the 30s and I was in a only tri suit. It did not include getting a concussion halfway into training and missing 2 months. It did not include moving for work and working 2-3 days a week 6am until 9pm costing another 6-8 weeks of good. It did not include a fucking hurricane and nor’easter cancelling the race two weeks earlier.
And I still hit it.
An Ironman isn’t an Ironman without a little adversity. I proved to myself that not only can I overcome the biggest obstacles I have faced in my life thus far, but I truly can do anything I want to and exceed all expectations. Just like I did in college with turning myself around from almost failing out to graduating Summa Cum Laude and then getting my Masters. Just like I did in HS track kicking ass in hurdles at only an inch or two over 5’ at the time competing against much faster talent but who didn’t want it as badly as me. Or my first half marathon when I was working full time, had 21 credit hours (with a 3.86 GPA that semester) and got hurt 3 days before the race, yet was stillone of the fastest finishers that day in my first race ever longer than 5k. My parents also wrote in their note to me what Coach C said at our sports banquet my senior year- that what has and will ALWAYS set me apart has been the size of my heart, and my sheer determination and indomitable will.
I moved up throughout the race to 460th after finishing the swim in 1297th. I had passed quite a few people in the first half the marathon (200+) that then passed me again when I was reduced to a walk. Doesn’t matter. I was here to compete against myself this time, and I kicked ass, took names, then repeated the ass kicking part.
Next time, and there will be a next time- I WILL be under 10 hours and vying for a Kona World Championship slot. I promise you that. And I will do it, because I am capable of whatever the hell I say I am, and then some.