From Berlin we made our way to Chicago for the second World Marathon Major of the 2019 Fall season! What an exciting weekend it was for all of us. With over 30 runners, and even more friends and family members, Queens Distance was well represented in the Windy City. This year’s weather fared so well for the runners that many achieved big PRs, one more star closer to completing the six World Marathon Majors, and one more city to tick of the marathon bucket list.
Thanks to everyone who joined us in Chicago! From meeting up at the expo, to eating together, there were plenty of events to meet up. Since everyone flies into the city at different dates, with different time schedules, it is hard to coordinate. We’ve been told “sorry” before when teammates go to a race but cannot meet for events. Remember that there are no obligations to meet up. Doing the best to your ability is all we ask!
There were many, many big PRs this year in Chicago. Yes, the 30+ runners who participated in the 5K and the Marathon put in all the work but let’s not forget the supportive friends and family who came to Chicago! Running a marathon is an amazing accomplishment and that feeling is better when shared with everyone who has supported you through the training, through the bad races, through the PRs, through trying new nutrition or new workouts, they know everything you’ve gone through to make it this far.
This year’s QDR cheer stations were held at the same spots as last year but many went to their own spots to cheer for their loved one. This is fine and encouraged because it helped the runners; there were more chances to hear all the “Go Queens Distance!” shouts on the course. Sometimes, however, it may be hard to spot and take pictures of everyone. Take it from Mike Bocchinfuso who said
1. Cheering and supporting our FAM (and all runners) is a lot of fun and the smiles, seeing your crew cheese for photos, etc, are totally worth it. It’s definitely worth coming out if you can. 2. Tracking multiple runners AND handling photography is TOUGH. I have a new level of respect for the work that Albert and Jose put into their race photos that we get. Not that I got photos anywhere near their quality, nor did I put in the work they do, but I appreciate even more what they do even more now as Horse and Duck.
As hard as it may be, we will be there cheering for you! Not only is it fun, but it’s one of the most inspiring things you can do.
International Chicago 5K
First up for the weekend was the International Chicago 5K. This 5K is similar to the NYRR Abbott Dash to the Finish 5K as it celebrates all the countries who have participants in the Marathon. It’s one of those events where you see a lovely mix of culture in an athlete’s attire; one runner from Australia had an inflatable kangaroo on her back, a group of Japanese runners had cute anthropomorphic pineapples on their heads, and many had flags of their countries as capes.
For our teammates, many ran it as a shakeout for the Marathon. That means two medals for the weekend and a gorgeous beanie souvenier. Others raced it, like Edwin who cracked the top 10 overall in 17:10 and coming very close to a PR.
Get this, we had 30+ Queens Distance members run the Chicago Marathon! For a race outside of NYC, that’s incredible. Many teammates we spoke to were inspired by last year’s Chicago Marathon and wanted to have a go at it. For others, it was another chance at running it from deferring it last year. And for some it was their first marathon in a long time. We can only imagine the nerves everyone had leading up to the race!
Last year, the Chicago Marathon was a humid and rainy race. We know very well how those conditions can affect a race, just ask the three QDR co-founders who ran the race together (both Edwin and Kevin helping pace Maria). But this year, the weather was in everyone’s favored as it was a chilly and clear morning.
Marie-Ange Brumelot led the team coming in 20th place overall female with a time of 2:36:23! This is the fastest Marathon in QDR Women’s history and also the second fastest overall QDR Marathon time! It was a spectacular performance we will not forget and we know there’s more in the horizon from Marie and her husband, Coach Luciano Medina.
Just as amazing were all the other races. There were so many PRs that day; some by a few minutes and some by more than 30 minutes! Not everyone runs for a specific time goal, however, as a few were unfortunately pestered with injuries in the past months. We’re very glad to see that they are now healthier to complete the marathon without further hurting themselves. And, of course, some ran this race as a long run for other upcoming races!
Laura Pisani even ran for two as she announced to everyone that she and Joseph are expecting a baby! What a wonderful way toannounce such a joyful life event.
We really love seeing everyone’s achievement and send everyone a huge congratulations on such a phenomenal day!
Full B.O.A. Chicago Marathon Roster:
Ana Soto Brian Wysocki Cannigia Laluw Chinedu Ogueri Christine Nasol Cinthya Sandoval Daryl Valerio David Dominguez Deki Yangzom Denny Moran Diana Wong Ellen Hoo Gloria Morales James Liu Jeff Munoz Jenny Hwang John Pierre Johnathan Tom Jonela Mola Jordan Lee Josep Betancourt Katrine Stroyberg Kieran Garvey Laura Pisani Marie-Ange Brumelot Michale McCaffery Nancy Silva Ray Valderrama Roy Menendez Sara Lee Victor Kyi Wiliam Wong
Alright, here we go! We are two days away from the biggest block party in the world. The TCS NYC Marathon is upon us and we are so excited to welcome every single runner to Queens! Our volunteer water station will be located at Mile 14 and the marathon route in Queens will be lined up with Queens-based running clubs, friends, and family.
What led up to this race? The past few weeks of training! The TCS NYC Marathon is not the only marathon left and we’ll see teammates in more races such as the Philadelphia Marathon, the California International Marathon, and more. It’s going to be a beautiful month!
First up in October was our first race that feature NYPD protected road closures. We can’t thank them enough for coming out to support us. Yes, it’s there job to be there and close the roads for us, but they cheered us on and were even counting how many times we passed by! One could tell that they were very much into the race.
The 30K featured three-10K loops around Crocheron Park and on the Joe Michaels Mile path in Bayside. It’s was a surprisingly chilly morning for early October but it was great for the runners. This also meant a windy long stretch on Joe Michaels Mile but thankfully runners got into groups to run together.
After running for more than two hours, we were greated by Dan Huang, a sports physician and owner of Level Up Sports Chiropractic. We really appreciate the many hours Dan volunteered in Bayside giving runners post-race massages. For more information, check out Level Up Sports.
As always, our weekly schedule has held up well, even when group run leaders are gone! Lillian, who leads the Thursday AM Long Island City group run ran the Berlin Marathon last month and stayed longer to explore Europe. During her stay, Desmond led the morning runs. In the Astoria #FunFridayRun, Jona was also on vacation and Ashley took the lead for the Fridays she was gone. Now that Caroline is teaching and can no longer lead the Monday Evening group runs in Central Park, others have met to continue that tradition. Team work really goes a long way!
Thursday PM Flushing Group Run
Astoria Park Track recently opened to the public and we are already thinking about hosting track sessions there soon after the marathon. Like all our other group runs, everyone is welcomed to attend. From beginners to experienced track runners, we’ll have sessions to work on strength, endurance, and form. More to come later! For now, here’s the current schedule of weekly group runs.
Monday – 2 – Morning Miles in FMP, Even group run in Central Park Wednesday – 1 – Speed Session at QCC Thursday – 3 – Morning group run in LIC, Evening group run in Flushing, Evening Tempo run in Forest Park Friday – 3 – Morning Miles in FMP, FunFridayRun in Astoria, Kessel Run in Forest Hills Saturday/Sunday – Long group run or races!
This month we also hosted the Last 13.1 of the TCS NYC Marathon long run. We started off in the summer running from the Queens Center Mall to the Rockways and now our series of Destination Runs for this cycle comes to an end. We will have more group runs in the near future!
From short to long distance races, we covered them all. Early in October, Woodside-Sunnyside Runners and Sunnyside Post hosted the Sunnyside Post Mile. There was the weekend long Runner’s World Half & Festival and Atlantic City challenge held between October 18 through October 20. There was also the Urban Bourbon Half Marathon where Nicholas got a nice bottle of bourbon with “Queens Distance” lettered in the front. There was also a fan-favorite, the Army Ten-Miler.
One thing I think we can all attest to is that we were inspired by Eliud Kipchoge’s sub-2 hour marathon challenge held in Vienna on October 12. Even though it was not an official world record, he showed us that humans really are not limited when they set their minds on a goal. This inspired many on their own races in the second half of October and will keep inspiring us for a long time!
NYRR Staten Island Half! Photo courtesy of Rafael Guzman
Coincidentally, the INEOS 1:59 challenge was held the night before the NYRR Staten Island Half. The inspiring feat spurred some last minute motivation to one more NYRR Club Points race of the year. It may take the longest to get to Staten Island especially early in the morning, but we love attending there. We have car shuttles that take groups of us to the start line, but one of the best part of the race is taking the Staten Island Ferry back to Manhattan. It can definitely be cold and sometimes miserable, but the views make up for it. And, also, we’re all collectively experiencing it and in some ways brings us closer together.
With this last club points race, the Five-Borough challenge is complete! Huge congrats to everyone who participated, who experienced these races for the first time, and who ran the races to get into their first United Airlines NYC Half!
Team work makes the dream work at the NYRR Staten Island Half! Photo courtesy of Rafael Guzman
Chicago Marathon
Check out the blog post we have for the B.O.A. Chicago Marathon! Just one of many highlights in October but one we looked forward to for many months!
Keep an eye out on our site’s calendar as well as on Strava for more group runs and training sessions. Make sure to also follow us on Facebook and Instagram for updates and news!
Queens Distance
2 – QDR Queensborough Community College Wednesday PM Track Session QDR Wednesday Evening Tempo and Track Session: Forest Park
3 – QDR Thursday AM Long Island City Group Run 4 – QDR Friday Morning Group Run: FunFridayRun Astoria QDR Friday Evening Forest Hills: The Kessel 5 – NYRR Grete’s Great Gallop 10K
6 – QDR 30K Fall Marathon Tune-Up NYRR Harry Murphey Cross Country 5K Wineglass Marathon 7 – QDR Monday Evening Group Run: Central Park 9 – QDR Queensborough Community College Wednesday PM Track Session
10 – QDR Thursday AM Long Island City Group Run 13 – B.A.A. Half Marathon 11 – QDR Friday Morning Group Run: FunFridayRun Astoria QDR Friday Evening Forest Hills: The Kessel 12 – INEOS 1:59 International Chicago 5K
NYRR Staten Island Half Army Ten-Miler 14 – QDR Monday Evening Group Run: Central Park 16 – QDR Queensborough Community College Wednesday PM Track Session 17 – QDR Thursday AM Long Island City Group Run 18 – QDR Friday Morning Group Run: FunFridayRun Astoria
QDR Friday Evening Forest Hills: The Kessel 7 Bridges Marathon, Chattanooga, Tennessee 18-20 – Runner’s World Half & Festival 19-20 – Atlantic City Marathon, Half, 10K, 5K 19 – Urban Bourbon Half Marathon NYCRuns Brooklyn Marathon & Half Marathon
Baltimore Run Festival QDR – Last 13.1 of the TCS NYC Marathon 20 – Yonkers Marathon Amsterdam Marathon Toronto Waterfront Marathon
Desmond in Toronto!
21 – QDR Monday Evening Group Run: Central Park
23 – QDR Queensborough Community College Wednesday PM Track Session 24 – QDR Thursday AM Long Island City Group Run QDR Thursday Evening Tempo and Track Session: Forest Park
25 – QDR Friday Morning Group Run: FunFridayRun Astoria QDR Friday Evening Forest Hills: The Kessel 26 – People for the Pavillion 5K 27 – Marine Corps Marathon
28 – QDR Monday Evening Group Run: Central Park NYRR Marathon Monday Course guide at the NYC Marathon Pavilion
30 – QDR Queensborough Community College Wednesday PM Track Session 31 – QDR Thursday AM Long Island City Group Run QDR Thursday PM Flushing Group Run QDR Pre-Marathon Dinner – Sac’s Place
The following was authored by Nicholas “Flock” Rachowicz, the “QDR Midwest Chapter President” as he puts it! He has graciously helped Queens Distance numerous times even though he currently resides in St. Louis! The commitment to the team goes even further as late last year he set up a spreadsheet detailing, per month, races that QDR members have signed up for. That way, one can find out someone else on the team who is going to a race, especially if it’s a destination race outside of NYC. We thank him for leading the team out in this year’s BMW Berlin Marathon!
The Berlin Marathon is one of the world’s most prestigious and largest marathons. As one of the Abbott World Majors, Berlin makes for tough competition to get in. The Queens Distance Runners Family had a sizable contingent present for the festivities with over 15 runners. The race is known for being very flat and providing for very good times which is evident when you see how the team did overall. Many emotional wins for the QDR squad as they ran from the Victory Column through the many sights of the once divided City of Berlin ending with a pass under the Brandenburg Gate and then the last 400m to the finish.
Team Results
Even in the rain, team member Daniel Rivera crushed his marathon time giving himself a new personal best over 5 minutes faster than any previous marathon. Daniel described excitement about his victory despite dealing with jet lag, seeing kilometer markers instead of the mile markers and dealing with the paper bibs. “My bib at one point ripped off and I had to re-pin my bib to my singlet as I ran. All of this made it much more satisfying to cross the finish line with a five minute personal best.” In an Instagram post, Lillian Kim exclaimed that this race was an “…incredibly unforgettable way to see my very first city in Europe” as she closed the books on her second marathon. Vikram Singh celebrated Berlin as his 25th marathon and part of his triple crown of races this fall season. Martha Panora and I ran the race together and we both noted that running together helped both of us feel stronger and able to complete the race feeling strong. Martha was able to shave 12 minutes off her best time! We caught up with Keyvan at the end for some medal biting photos and high fives.
While not able to run this year, Ashley Hall captured action shots and cheered us on while on the course. She gave many of us a needed boost as the kilometers climbed. Valerie Lores noted on her Facebook that Berlin was a “…PB in fun” and that it was an amazing experience. Elsie Alonso scored big with a seven-minute personal best according to her Instagram. She was even able to give her parents a hug at mile 22! Nelsey Coste felt right at home running her third marathon with the team even though she, like me, no longer lives in Queens.
Expo
The expo was located at the Tempelhof Airport. The airport has a rich history. During World War II, the airport was a place where dive bombers were made, but it was most notably used as the place that western allies flew in supplies to the Soviet-blockaded West Berlin. The expo itself took up the majority of the facility. It could easily be compared to NYC or Chicago in size. Though massive, it was very crowded. Valerie suggests coming early and that it would be “less stressful, less crowded, and that more merch would be available.” The race merch was in short supply by the afternoon on Friday. Many sizes had sold out. I, too, suggest coming on Thursday if you can. The expo was a walk in the park that day. Daniel Rivera was a hero to most of us when he pointed out that most if not nearly all of us were in the last corral and that if you could provide a faster marathon or half marathon, you could be moved up in corrals. Several of us were able to move up two to three corrals and start as much as an hour sooner. This would prove to be a big help as it rained for much of the 26.2 miles. Many of us got a few drier kilometers to run during the race.
On Saturday before the marathon, there was the Generali Breakfast Run. This run, in friendship, was a slow shakeout that began at the Charlottenberg Palace. It was there that runners from different countries and cities showed off their flags in celebration. The run was full of energy that lasted a full 6 kilometers but only increased in intensity as we entered the Olympic Stadium or Olympiastadion. This stadium hosted the first televised 1936 summer Olympics and we were able to run a lap on a track that is shared with greatness like Jesse Owens, Usain Bolt, and Tyson Gay, as well as where World Cup soccer has been played. The team took a photo under the Olympic Rings once breakfast was had.
Race Advice
I asked for some thoughts from the team on different elements of the trip for the QDR family who didn’t attend with us and want torun Berlin in the future. Several family members answered the call with some advice:
Jet lag. Several teammates reported that the jet lag was real. Howie suggests that those wanting to run Berlin to “give yourself a few days to acclimate”. Valerie Lores suggested that those running will want to stay near the starting line in order to minimize their travel time after.
Watch out for cups. the Berlin Marathon uses plastic cups. Daniel Rivera noted that they get slippery at the water stations. Some of the cups were recyclable and were difficult to grip. Many teammates noted that the fluid stations were different than any other race they had run. Nelsy suggests you may wish to bring your water belt with you.
Remember your cash. Some places in Berlin did not take credit cards so cash was a necessity.
Check-in with Nike and Adidas. Elsie, Keyvan, Daniel, and others attended shakeouts through the stores. Daniel noted that the Nike store was offering free cryotherapy and recovery boots too.
Coach Medina. Nelsy, Kristin, and Martha credit our Coaches Luciano Medina and Marie-Ange Brumelot for helping them have successful races.
Post-race, the team parted ways and some, like Valerie or Johnathan Fu, went on to Oktoberfest in Munich and Bavaria. Lillian could be found climbing up mountains in the Swiss Alps. Vikram went off to Barcelona to explore the Pyrenees. Diego Britez came back to the Brandenberg Gate after the dust cleared to take one last photo with his medal. I got on a train to Paris to fly back to NYC (learning a valuable lesson about traveler’s insurance and with an unexpected stop in Madrid) to enjoy a couple of days in my old stomping grounds before heading back to St. Louis.
All in all, everyone seemed to have a great time in Berlin. Your chance to be a #BerlinLegend is now! Registration continues through Oct 31. https://www.bmw-berlin-marathon.com/en/
Nicholas “Flock” Rachowicz, QDR Midwest Chapter President dchiflock on Instagram
Goodbye hot Summer days and hello crisp and cool Fall days! Just kidding—we still experienced some humid and warm days! Yet, that didn’t stop us from getting so many training runs done and PRs achieved. September was a great month for many of us and the start of the much-anticipated Fall marathon season.
We had great team results at races as well as individual results, such as Marie Ange-Brumelot’s TCS NYC Marathon 18 Mile overall win which included beating her husband Luciano Medina! We can’t wait to see how she does in the Chicago Marathon.
The rest of September saw many more long runs and the first of the Fall World Marathon Major: the Berlin Marathon! We also saw Corey Hanson PR with a sub-3 hour at the Erie Marathon and Frank Poline with a sub-3 hour at the Last Chance Marathon.
Two more World Marathon Majors and many, many more marathons left to go this year!
Forest Park 10, 5 & 1 Mile Race
Photo courtesy of Horse and Duck Studio
We started off September with our very own Forest Park 10, 5, & 1 Mile race at the beloved and hilly Forest Park. If you’ve been to any of our Forest Park race before, you know that it’s quite a hard course! It’s loops of the course, however, makes for an encouraging time as you pass spectating areas multiple times. We’d like to congratulate the winners: Adrian Gutierrez and Leigh Gerson in the 5-mile race, and Corey Hanson and Alanna Hollborn in the 10-mile race!
This year we decided to throw in a 1-mile race around Victory Field track for those who wanted a last tune-up before the NB 5th Avenue Mile. Congrats to Weiheng Sun (5:15) and Sabrina Cohen (6:58) for winning the male and female division, respectively.
The following weekend we got our night racing mood on as we hosted Take The Bridge on the Triboro Bridge. It was an exciting night that involved great coordination from volunteers on the streets to safely get runners on the bridge to and from Astoria Park. The race started at the foot of the Hellgate bridge and the checkpoint was on the 103rd bridge. Whichever route the runners took to the checkpoint and back to the foot of the Hellgate bridge was up to them!
Make sure to also check out the Take The Bridge podcast, wherever you listen to podcasts, and listen to the co-founders before the race, and then post-race.
Best of all during the night, we even had a Spider-Man sighting on the bridge and in the park!
As mentioned before, Marie outright won the TCS NYC Marathon 18 Mile training run. Team Captain Kevin was there to capture the moment and Runner’s World even wrote about it! Huge congratulations to Marie who will be running the Chicago Marathon in October and aiming to beat her previous best time of 2:40.
Destination Runs, Group Runs, and Training Sessions
Before the start of the Destination Run: Hoboken.
FMP long run
FMP long run
As usual, we have a consistent weekly schedule. Although Caroline is unable to lead the Monday Evening Central Park runs, teammates still meet and run and we absolutely love it. Here is the schedule and group runs per day: Monday – 2 – Morning Miles in FMP, Evening group run in Central Park Wednesday – 2 – Speed Session at QCC, Tempo run in Forest Park Thursday – 2 – Morning group run in LIC, Evening group run in Flushing Friday – 3 – Morning Miles in FMP, FunFridayRun in Astoria, Kessel Run in Forest Hills Saturday/Sunday – multiple long group run or races! * Check our Strava club page for group runs!
As we’re getting closer to our goal marathon races, our runs have become longer. This past month we’ve had many long group runs, such as the three runs in one weekend: Destination Run #7 Hoboken, long run in Bayside, and a long run in Flushing Meadow Park. All were supported with a water station and the Hoboken group run was another joint group run with the Hoboken Harriers.
Races
The previous week us many of us race a much shorter distance: the New Balance 5th Avenue Mile. As is tradition, we cheered at the ¾ mile mark for all the speedy runners.
Finally, we ended the month with the New Balance Bronx 10 Mile, a competitive Club Points race. For the competitive A division, the Men’s Team came in 9th and the Women’s Team came in 4th! We’ll have more details about the past few club point races soon.
It was also a very special month because registration opened for the 2020 Boston Marathon and we saw so many teammates register for that amazing race!
Berlin Marathon
The Berlin Marathon was amazing! We’ll have a longer post specifically about that race but until then know that there were many PRs achieved that day, like Anibal who ran his first sub-3!
Keep an eye out on our site’s calendar as well as on Strava for more group runs and training sessions. Make sure to also follow us on Facebook and Instagram for updates and news!
Queens Distance
1 – Labor Day Pain 12 Hour Endurance Trail Run
QDR Forest Park 10 & 5 Miler Rock ‘n’ Roll Virginia Beach Half Marathon
2 – QDR Monday Morning Miles: Flushing Meadow Park QDR Monday Evening Group Run: Central Park 4 – QDR Queensborough Community College Wednesday PM Track Session
QDR Wednesday Evening Tempo and Track Session: Forest Park 5- QDR Thursday AM Long Island City Group Run QDR Thursday PM Flushing Group Run
6 – Take The Bridge: Triboro QDR Friday Morning Miles: Flushing Meadow Park
QDR Friday Morning Group Run: FunFridayRun Astoria QDR Friday Evening Forest Hills: The Kessel 8 – NYRR 5th Avenue Mile Erie Marathon 9 – First day to register for the Boston Marathon! QDR Monday Morning Miles: Flushing Meadow Park QDR Monday Evening Group Run: Central Park 11 – QDR Queensborough Community College Wednesday PM Track Session QDR Wednesday Evening Tempo and Track Session: Forest Park
12 – QDR Thursday AM Long Island City Group Run
QDR Thursday PM Flushing Group Run 13 – QDR Friday Morning Miles: Flushing Meadow Park QDR Friday Morning Group Run: FunFridayRun Astoria
Saratoga Palio Half Marathon NYRR Kurt Steiner Cross Country Rock’n’Roll Philadelphia Half NYRR TCS NYC Marathon Training Long Run 18 Mile Training Series 16 – QDR Monday Morning Miles: Flushing Meadow Park QDR Monday Evening Group Run: Central Park
18 – QDR Queensborough Community College Wednesday PM Track Session
QDR Wednesday Evening Tempo and Track Session: Forest Park
23 – QDR Monday Morning Miles: Flushing Meadow Park QDR Monday Evening Group Run: Central Park
25 – QDR Queensborough Community College Wednesday PM Track Session
QDR Wednesday Evening Tempo and Track Session: Forest Park 26 – QDR Thursday AM Long Island City Group Run
QDR Thursday PM Flushing Group Run 27 – QDR Friday Morning Miles: Flushing Meadow Park QDR Friday Morning Group Run: FunFridayRun Astoria QDR Friday Evening Forest Hills: The Kessel 29 – NYRR NB Bronx 10 Mile Berlin Marathon Chicago Half Marathon 30 – QDR Monday Morning Miles: Flushing Meadow Park QDR Monday Evening Group Run: Central Park – Caroline’s Birthday
The following was authored by Cathy Huang who recently completed her first full Ironman at Lake Placid! It is hard enough to run a marathon but running one after swimming 2.4 miles and a 112-mile bike ride is a step many of us have yet to complete! This is how Cathy trained and performed at Lake Placid and her original post can be found on her Strava.
Queens Distance
The journey to an Ironman takes a village, and I am so thankful for my village that got me to the finish line for Lake Placid! From the encouragement (read: coercing) to sign up for the race, to the training buddies who made sure I logged miles, and family and friends who provided mental and emotional support leading up to, during, and after the race – thank you!
It’s been weeks since I completed Ironman Lake Placid (IMLP) and it still feels surreal that it’s done. It took me a long time to write this recap because there were so many different aspects of my journey that I wanted to convey without making this recap even longer. I decided to focus on the why, the how (training), and the race so that if I ever decide to do this again, I’ll remember what some of the main drivers were. I’m also hoping it provides perspectives for others who are considering tackling the 140.6 miles. There’s a lot more details than what’s written, so happy to discuss further over a run/ride/drink/meal anytime!
Results: – Finish time of 12:55:00 – 20th in AG; 104th in Gender; 619th overall – Swim 1:32:56 – T1 8:56 – Bike 7:06:21 – T2 9:25 – Run 3:57:24
Basking in my sweet, sweet victory.
Where It All Started
If you told me when I first started doing triathlons 5 years ago that I would one day compete in an Ironman, I would’ve told you you’re crazy. In fact, after I did the half-ironman distance in Lake Placid in 2017, I said I would never do a full in Lake Placid… But when you’re surrounded by the same “crazy” friends who like to push the limits, you inevitably end up signing up for one. My reason for Ironman Lake Placid is redemption. I Did Not Finish (DNF) the Age Group Nationals Champion Triathlon last year, which was the first time I DNF. I won’t go into all the details, but I signed up for IMLP as a goal to work towards. I wanted a course that would have an easier swim and Mirror Lake is exactly that. IMLP is a hilly course, but also an iconic race and one of the longest running Ironman events, or so the friends who were already registered told me when they were encouraging/coercing me to sign up.
Bae 😚😍
Alix and me at body marking – required before you can get into transition.
With Ildar, my HS friend who flew from Texas to support me and his coach (who won second overall!). We haven’t seen each other in 10 years so this was a really nice moment.
The Training
I signed up for the race almost a year out with the intention to work on my swim technique (my weakest sport) and keep up a running base during the winter, before ramping up the miles on bike in the Spring. But between the combination of being the busiest time at work, buying an apartment, and moving to Queens, I didn’t start triathlon training until late March. Most people take 6-7 months to train for an Ironman but given I was short on time, I tried to maximize my training by incorporating brick workouts (doing two different sports with minimal rest time in between) to help my body adapt, focusing on swim drills to improve my technique, and doing one long bike ride during the weekend. I started with 50 miles as a long bike ride before getting two 100+ miles before the race.
While I almost never met this schedule, my training plan was to swim 2-3x, run 2-3x (two early weekday runs, and one run on the weekend after a bike ride), and bike 2-3x a week. In reality, I had a great training week if I swam 1x, bike 2x (usually only over the weekend), and ran 2-3x a week. Training hours per week varied between four hours to peak of 15 hours (more in June when I ramped up the long bike rides). I missed more training than I liked, especially when work hours got crazy, and it led to many moments where I really considered deferring my race because the training and miles seemed impossible. I felt stressed about being behind in my training, which added to me not feeling ready and questioning why I signed up for this race. Thankfully I had family and friends who lent an ear, talked me off the ledge, and offered to ride/train with me to keep me accountable. Shoutout to Maria and Kieran for the routine and company during our early #morningmiles; Jason, Samson, and Jackie for the company on long bike rides; CC and Alex for their advice throughout my training; and to Jessica and Jian for calling me impromptu at always the perfect moment to ease my concerns, and sound advice to focus on one week at a time. Lastly to David for always being my #1 supporter and taking care of everything else (often doing all the cooking, cleaning, and laundry) so I could focus on training.
It wasn’t until two weeks before the race that I finally felt ready for the Ironman. Yin, Jackie, Nima and I went to Lake Placid for a training weekend. We swam two loops of Mirror Lake on Friday and Sunday, and rode almost the full bike course (minus the newly added out and back by the Olympics Center) on Saturday, followed by a brick run. It was a hot day and we didn’t have enough water on the bike course but we got to fine-tune our race strategies. I learned I needed to eat every 45 mins and that I needed to drink way more liquids. I also finally felt comfortable (enough) going down Keene Valley descent (about 5 miles of downhill ~2,000ft elevation change) to not brake the whole way down. Of all three sports, I trained the least in running. My longest run was 13 miles 8 weeks before the race, but I was trusting my running base that I’ll be ok for the marathon.
Congrats to Jackie, Nima, and Yin on finishing! We couldn’t have done it without this support group.
Race Weekend
Friday – I finished packing around 1AM Friday morning (so much for getting extra rest before the race!). I had learned from other Ironman friends that Ironman is not like your traditional triathlon where you get to lay out all your race gear for each segment. Instead, you’re given gear bags to pack what you need for each transition, in addition to special needs for halfway through the bike and run. Worried I would forget something, I re-packed multiple times and used ziplock bags to simulate packing for the gear bags.
David was really great at trying to help me relax on the drive up to Lake Placid, and didn’t let me split the five-hour drive so that I could focus on positive race visualization. We arrived at the athlete check-in around 1PM and met up with Vikram, Yin, Jackie, and Nima for athlete briefing. We went for an easy 30 min swim before heading for our Airbnb to make a pasta dinner and pack our gear bags. Even though I had prepared my bags already, I still repacked a few more times until I felt ready. I ended up not using the special needs bag for the run since I planned to carry my gels. Knowing I likely won’t get much sleep on Saturday, I was in bed by 10:30PM.
Saturday – After a light breakfast, we headed out for one more short brick (13-15 mile ride and 2 mile run) before bringing our bikes and gear bags to transition. On the way to the Oval I realized I had left my goggles and cap at the lake after the practice swim yesterday. Rookie mistake since you’re not supposed to use anything new on race day! Not the worst thing to lose since you can test the goggles before the swim start and make adjustments. I bought new ROKA goggles at the Oval. After hanging in our gear bags, I counted the number of rows I would need to pass as a mental note for when I get out of swim and back from bike tomorrow. Trying to stay off our feet, we checked into our new Airbnb before joining TriLife’s pasta dinner (thank you CC for making that delicious meal for all of us!). Besides great food, we got to talk to the TriLife coaches and other athletes on race strategies. I was most worried about the potential rain forecast, especially if it happened while I was on the Keene Valley descent. Based on when I expected to start the ride and when the rain was going to happen, I might be going down the descent right when it started raining. Knowing it was something outside of my control, I just hoped for the best. We left by 8PM and I was in bed by 9:30PM.
Saying farewell to my gear bags on Saturday – not your usual transition site!
RACEDAY – I managed to fall asleep almost right after going to bed but woke up a few times throughout the night until my alarm finally went off at 3AM. Vik and I wanted to get to transition right when they opened (4:30AM) in case there was limited parking (we were staying in Keene), so we headed out earlier than Nima, Yin, and Jackie. My breakfast was oatmeal with Justin’s version of Nutella and half a bagel. We arrived at the parking lot around 4:45AM and took a short 15 min nap before getting on the shuttle bus to transition. After getting to transition, I lost Vik and didn’t see him again until I was on the run. Saw Alix at the entrance to transition and she marked my arms with my bib number, and age on my left calf. For triathlons, your age is for the end of the year, not your actual age. I dropped off my special needs bag for the bike (second half of my food, which was Honey Stinger waffles and SIS bars, and a cold bottle of water with SIS tablets), pumped my bike, went to the bathroom one more time before I walked over to the swim start. I was carrying a banana with me to eat 30 mins before my swim start. Once I was in the swim area, you can feel all the nervous energy and buzz as athletes went in for a practice swim and spectators watched. I ate my banana and went in for a short swim to test the new goggles – works great!
Lake Placid swim is two loops of Mirror Lake, and a self-seeded swim start so you put yourself in the corral based on when you think you will finish the swim. My best practice swim time was 1:50 but I seeded myself in the 1:20 – 1:30 corral based on Ildar’s advice that everyone else is seeding themselves faster than actual pace, so I would get stuck behind other swimmers if I didn’t do the same. I saw Yin and Nima at the same corral, which was great since I didn’t see them since the night before. I lost Yin when she went for her practice swim but Nima and I got to talk to other first-timers before it was our turn to enter the water. The cannon went off (for the pros to start) and before we even started our swim, we saw the top three men finish their first lap (talk about fast!).
In my first lap, I was in a vortex of much faster swimmers and they helped pull me along. The best part of swimming in Mirror Lake besides the calm water is a cable line that holds the buoys and marks the swim course. Most swimmers try to stay close to this line to help with sighting and minimize extra yards, but you often get scratched, kicked, and bobbed in the head by the other swimmers. I tried not to swim right on the line but was pushed toward the line by the other swimmers so just tried to draft off of them. I finished the first lap in 43 minutes – my fastest yet! Grabbed a cup of water and ran back into the lake. In the second lap, most of the faster swimmers were already done but I was still getting bobbed and kicked to the point where I got really annoyed. I just wanted to get out of the water! When I got to the final turn before the exit, I was met with more arms and legs contact before I finally got out of the water. I realized later I got a cut on my right ankle, likely from another swimmer’s Ironman wristband, which is now a new battle scar on my ankle. I finished the second lap in 49 mins for a total swim time of 1:32 – 20 mins faster than I expected!!!
I happily ran out of the water and made eye contact with one of the wetsuit peelers, Mary, who got me out of my wetsuit. Got to say hi to CC and Alix during the run to transition before Mary caught up to me – my timing chip had came off when she peeled off my suit! Good thing she saw that or my time wouldn’t have recorded! I grabbed my bag from transition and ran into the changing room. This was an interesting experience as everyone was quickly stripping and volunteers were trying to help us get dressed and sunscreened up before the run. I tried to dry myself off with the towel I packed before changing into dry clothes. A volunteer came over to help me with my socks and I ate half a banana (the other half fell), drank 3/4 bottle of water before I ran out of the tent and to my bike. If you’re lucky, a volunteer would’ve already grabbed your bike while you were changing but given I was middle of the pack and there was so many of us, I grabbed my own bike.
The bike ride is two 56 mile loops of the Adirondacks, with about 8,000 feet of elevation gain per the athlete guide. You have small hills in the beginning, then a huge descent, then hills, more hills, and more hills. Then you repeat that again. I did the practice ride in 6 hours and 50 minutes and I felt good, but I wanted to save my legs for the run so I was aiming for 7 hours on the bike. I can’t say I remember all the details of the bike, especially the first loop. I remember going a little easier in the beginning, enjoying the beautiful views, going down Keene, some hills, eating every 45 mins, drinking every 10-15 minutes, taking two salt tablets per loop, and successfully grabbing water and bananas from the volunteers in the aid stations without unclipping or falling off my bike.
So happy to see David and Jenny – right after first loop of bike!
Around 30 miles, I saw a porta-potty and started thinking about needing to pee. Before the race, I read about people peeing on the bike to shave time but I couldn’t do it. I didn’t stop at that aid station but a few miles later, the urge to pee was bad. I tried not to think about it but the next aid station wasn’t for another 10 miles! I barely held it together before I finally got to the aid station. Of course, everyone else seemed to have skipped the earlier station and there was a queue for the porta-potties. I felt like I was going to explode. I finally got to do my business and continued the ride.
Around 50 miles, I started to feel very full. I was eating and drinking on schedule but perhaps too much since I didn’t practice this before, or I didn’t factor in the half bananas I grabbed from volunteers. I finished the first loop (around 3:23) and saw Alix during special needs and told her how I was feeling. She told me to only drink water until that feeling went away. I reapplied some chamois butter, grabbed the rest of my nutrition and cold bottle, and started my second loop. This is where I saw CC, Jenny, and David on the course and that gave me a small boost. Short lived because around 60 miles I was SO sleepy. All I wanted to do was pull over and take a nap. Since the bike portion is so long, the ride can get very monotonous. In hindsight, I should’ve packed gels with caffeine to wake myself up but since I never got sleepy on training rides, I didn’t think I’d need them. Between going down Keene descent (very happy to report no rain at this point because I had shaved off time during the swim!), which had some strong headwind, and another bathroom break that included reapplying sunscreen, I felt more awake. The full feeling I had finally went away and I was able to eat again. At this point my butt was starting to get sore. I didn’t realize I would have the opportunity to change for each leg until a week before the race and had done all my long rides with tri shorts, so per the “nothing new on race day” rule, I was racing in tri shorts. Tri shorts don’t have as much padding so I was feeling the pain.
When I got to Wilmington (another hilly portion of the ride), we got a few minutes of heavy rain, but not on the descent. I was relieved for the rain but right after, we were hit with 100% humidity and I could feel the steam coming off the ground. It was hot and with 16 miles left (which were mostly uphills) and a sore butt, I was losing steam. I stuck to the same nutrition plan of eating every 45 mins and drinking water and Gatorade (when my SIS water ran out) so I wouldn’t bonk on the run but I couldn’t keep to the same pace as before. During the practice ride, I was able to climb the second round of mama bear, baby bear, and papa bear hills with ease but I struggled on race day. There was a great support crew on top of papa bear cheering everyone on, and I leveraged their energy and pretended all the “Go Grace” written on the floor was actually “Go Cathy.” Finally, I got back to the village and saw the runners and knew I was close to transition. There was one more small out and back and this is where I saw Ildar who told me I was crushing it. Fueled by his positivity, I picked up the pace a little right into transition. I couldn’t be more happy to get off my bike and handed Eleanor to a volunteer to rack her. My Garmin watch showed about 7 hours for the ride so I was still on track with where I thought I’d finish.
Grabbed my bag in T2 (the second transition) and ran into the changing tent again. I had decided before the race that I would change my entire outfit again so that I would be comfortable on the run. I even took the time to wipe my face and reapplied sunscreen so total time spent was longer than my first transition. Some may say this was wasted time but comfort was important to me.
For the run, I had a secret goal of 4 hours, and it was actually my only goal for the Ironman. It was a secret goal because I didn’t think I can do it since I ran only 15-25 miles a week and had done no speed work. It was a goal because before this year, in all my triathlons, I felt terrible on the run. It was more of a mental block on my end that I wanted to train so I had this 4:00 mark on my mind when I started the marathon.
At the beginning of the run, the sun was out and it was HOT. You start off with a huge downhill that seemed great until you realize you’ll later need to run back up for the second loop. My legs didn’t have that heavy feeling after getting off the bike and I was able to keep up a pace around 8:30 ish per mile. I had set my watch on ultratrac mode to save battery but because it wasn’t picking up signal as frequently, I couldn’t always tell if the pace I was seeing on my watch was accurate. I saw Ildar again at the beginning of my run and we chatted for a bit before I was on my own. I stopped at every aid station to either get water or shove ice down my sports bra to stay cool. I could tell everyone around me was feeling the heat and humidity and most were walking by this point. I had watched a Ted Talk on “How endurance athletes are using the power of the now” before the race and it talked about focusing on the present to get through the run/difficult part of the course. I focused on putting one foot in front of the other and was able to break up the marathon into smaller miles, like thinking about the early morning runs I did with Maria and Kieran on Mondays and Fridays. Because the run was set up to be 6 miles out then back into the village, and repeat, I was able to see the other athletes multiple times on the course. I saw Fabian around 3 miles and Jackie was going back into the village as I was about to hit the 10K mark. I slowed down my pace around mile 8 and this is when I started to walk through the aid station instead of running through them, taking two cups of water – one to dump over my head and one to drink. It was still sunny and hot. Going back into the village around mile 12 was when we hit that big hill we started with, and I decided to walk it. I didn’t want to waste effort going up the steep hill and risk cramping, which worked well for me. My Strava showed my pace for that hill was still around 9:33 so the walk was definitely worth it. I saw TriLife members, David, Jenny, and Vik around the halfway point, which gave me another boost.
My nutrition plan was one SIS gel every 40-45 mins and I stuck to it. I ate some chips and pretzels on some of the aid stations, took a few licks of salt from salt base to prevent cramping, and continued taking water and shoving ice down my sports bra. My shirt was completely drenched in a mixture of sweat and melted ice. I was passing everyone on the run and still feeling relatively good. My legs were getting tired but again I thought of the Ted Talk and kept thinking, one foot in front of the other. Around mile 20, I saw Ross from TriLife on River Road and he told me to imagine everyone in front of me as a “kill” and to keep up the pace. It made me laugh and think of Ragnar days. When I got back into the village, I saw TriLife, David, Jenny, and Vik again (yay!). I walked the big hill again and knew I only had about 3-4 miles left even though my watch was showing me something different. I was trying to do math to see if I could hit my marathon goal but I was estimating maybe 4:03 or 4:04, which was ok too. I started to think about needing to pee again and saw a porta-potty around mile 23. This part of the course has a small out and back so I was thinking maybe I’ll pee on the way back. At the turnaround point, I saw Ildar again and he tells me I’m about to finish under 13 hours if I kept up this pace. I really wanted to pee but I was about to go through the finisher chute and blocked out the thought. I saw Jackie again and I ran in front of him for a little bit before he started running towards the finish. Going through the finisher chute I started to get emotional when I realize I was about to finish the race. I saw CC and she’s telling me to chase Jackie, but I just started crying. I wanted to hold on to this moment. I came around the finisher chute, saw the red ironman mat, saw Jenny, and David on the left, right before the finish line and heard Matt Riley say, “Jiayan Huang, you are an Ironman.” I had crossed the finish line.
Mixture of tears and joy as I crossed the finish line. Will never forget this moment.
Ildar was by the finish line and I told him my marathon goal. He checked the app – 3:57. I had beat my goal and that made the finish even sweeter.
Would I do another Ironman again? I initially said no but I think a part of me will want to. I had such a great race experience and want to hold on to that high a little longer. For now, I’m basking in this sweet victory.
