It always comes down to the last event. It’s the Acadia Triathlon and we just think it’s a blast. I guess for a few reasons. Number one, it’s in Acadia! Number 2, it benefits the Lions Club of Acadia. My grandfather was a Lyon and my cousins are current Lyons. Don’t ask me what they do, I couldn’t tell you, but it’s a male family tradition (the Lioness Club seems to have gone by the wayside!). Number 3, it involves kayaking. Number 4, the run is first, yes, first. It’s a run, bike, kayak. Oh, and afterward, it’s Oktoberfest in Southwest Harbor.

The first year we did it, 2005, it was in the aftermath of a hurricane. When we arrived Long Pond was white capping! I was sure they were going to cancel, but no! Race was on and we did it in the crazy weather, the volunteers working at least as hard as we did! I got a first place, so did Rob, my infamous husband.

Per usual, this trip is a multitasking event for me, I have to close up my home here for the winter and then focus on the race….so I’m rather distracted, and typical for me, at the last minute, I think I have to work late, but I finally get out of the office and we arrive the night before with plenty of time to be race ready. I did talk us out of bringing race wheels, too much of a hassle. I sort of mistakenly take this race for granted, a small town race without the need for the highest end gear. I was almost embarrassed the last time we did this race with our high tech stuff. But, we show up and a few ringers are present, disc wheels and serious racing boats! This race may have changed a bit! But, it is such a nice casual atmosphere and the weather is so glorious, I relax a bit. I haven’t trained enough (perennial issue!) and didn’t ever lose that extra 5 pounds this season. My husband knows it’s the wine I just can’t give up….We sign up and 3 of my cousins are present, making me feel at home. One of them organizes this event!

Here is my cousin Tom, with part of the members of the soccer team he coaches, they don't have a game today, so he enlists them to volunteer! Nice coach!

Long Pond is like glass and the leaves are just about at peak color, the sky a perfect blue. Well, its 2007, the weather is balmy, I think it’s almost 70 degrees. Not only is that odd for October, it hardly gets that warm here in August! It’s just a perfect day and I am more relaxed than I have ever been at a race start. I have checked out my competition and later will learn that I was close in my prediction, but not totally! I didn’t check out the boats, just the bikes and the clothing. The woman I am focused on is in a tri-suit, like myself, the only other woman wearing one. I’m sure she’s going to be tough to beat. Rob says, relax, as I have a great record with sprints involving kayaks, I’m 3 and 0! Undefeated! I have won this race and 2 Sea to Summit sprints. No pressure now.....

The horn goes off and the 50 of us at the mass start line go off. There will be a split given at the first mile. I am so relaxed I didn’t even bother with my heart rate monitor, so I have no idea of my heart rate or time. Well, I feel great, as I run up the hill, yes, the start is at the base of a hill! A woman passes me wearing a camisole! Her long braids moving with her rhythm. I have my husband in sight, he must be going a bit slow. The other year I had done it I lost sight of him immediately! Well, the first mile split, and I’m in trouble! My mile is a 7:01. It’s been uphill and I’m screwed! I am not kidding when I say I haven’t been training, I haven’t done a 7 minute mile for a long time! Mile 2 and I get passed by the next woman. She looks like a total runner, perfect stride and a pace that never falters. I’m huffing and puffing, in a lot of pain! Why do I do this to myself? Halfway point and the woman I had been eyeing is just behind me. I heard breathing, I didn’t want to look, but I had to, yes, it’s her! She passes me as I slow my pace, I just can’t keep going that hard! The opposite of my goal of negative splitting the run, I just hope to make it to the bike! Mile 3 a woman passes me in a skirt. Ok, this is the third time this season a woman in a skirt is going to beat me. The last one was at an X-Terra, and before that at a 30 mile mountain bike race. I’ve learned now not to judge woman by her skirt, almost…it’s still hard! I have them all in sight…and figure, the ones except the one in the tri-suit, are not going to be good on the bike or the kayak. Ha. Finally, in just under 32 minutes, I get to T1. My heart rate is so high, the run is soooo hilly, that I’m worried about getting it down in order to get my pace on the bike. It’s only 12 miles, so I don’t have much of a choice, I’m trying to catch my competition. I pass one woman right away, the woman in the skirt is now just in bike shorts, I pass her on the 2nd hill. One issue I’m having is one I’ve yet to encounter, the dreaded muscle cramps; when I stand on the climbs my calves seize up. Wow, now I know what people are talking about, this must be because of the run. I’m finally on a flat and totally aero, and then the camisole girl is next. I pass her counting down, three down, one to go. I finally see her at mile 7. This is one race where I don’t pull my usual self sabotage; instead of giving up, I actually do chase her. I fly by her, but this only causes her to speed up. We jockey back and forth and pass a few men, boy they hate that! Then there is a dump truck in our path. This stinks! We are almost at the same pace and cannot get past the truck, the roads are too narrow. I try to draft off the truck! It seems to be working as the woman I’d been chasing seems to have dropped back as well as the guy who tried to stay with us. But, it doesn’t totally make sense…she was very strong when we were riding together. I make it to T2 and am totally thrown off, they had moved T2, sort of, the bike rack is across the street but my water, hat and gel are where I left them. I lose my focus a bit and a lot of time. I get to my boat with my competitor right behind me. I ask her what had happened and she had dropped her chain. We get in the water at the same time and I ask if she had done this race before, yes, last year she says. I state that she must have won, no she says, her friend a paddler won, beating her by 7 minutes on the kayak, she’ll catch us she predicts. Now I paddle as hard as possible. I have kayaked 4x this year, I’m not sandbagging, I really haven’t trained! But, I have been swimming…just not 4 miles, the distance of this paddle. Head down, I just work as hard as possible. I start catching a few guys and seem to be losing my competitor. Maybe I won't get caught by this infamous paddler. I don’t know who she is, so I have no idea where she is in the race. Again, head down, I’m just working the paddle. It’s a tail wind and pretty nice. The water is crystal clear and I can see the bottom as I skim along. A big black boat with 2 paddlers passes me and we trade greetings. (There are a few boat categories, one of them being the canoe, this canoe looks more like a Darth Vador weapon.) I’m parallel to a guy now, I can’t quite pass him and so far I’ve evaded this mysterious paddler that is pegged to catch me. We are heading toward the portage and then I see her, she passes me on my left, looking really strong. Her boat looks completely race worthy with flames around her cockpit. Then I see her winged paddles. I’m screwed. She gets to the portage and out of her boat easily crossing the road. I get to shore and out of my boat. But, as I go to pick it up, I forget it is 18’ and I haven’t been picking it up lately! My calves seize and I’m frozen. I drop my paddle, the end of the boat hits the rocks and I am paralyzed. The volunteers, who aren’t allowed to help us, cheer me, they must be wondering why I’m not moving! Finally, I get the boat on my shoulders and basically limp across the road and toss the thing in the water, nevermind the carbon composite I’ve been protecting every other time I paddle! The woman that passed me is way ahead, traveling to the finish line. Now, I just have to look over my shoulder at the portage, 3 paddlers are heading my way, jump in the boat and paddle! if I can’t catch the woman ahead of me, I have to secure 2nd place!

I get to the finish area and remember that we had to get out of our boats one year, but there are boats everywhere and I’m yelling, where do I finish, what do I do? A guy on the dock says, you’re done! So, I’m second and after standing in the water to get my calves to relax I wait for my ‘competition’ to come in and capture 3rd place. So….the woman that won….was the one in the skirt! I go up to her to meet her and talk and find out that not only is she a good paddler, and she is the one that passed me on the run, she lobsters for a living in Tenants Harbor. Awesome! The woman who got 3rd is in a nice boat and had ridden a very nice bike. She is new to Portland and I hope to run into her in the future, I think! Well, as it always comes down to the last event, let’s go to Oktoberfest!

Ironman - why don't they add Ironwoman?

MARY LOU AND IRONMAN ATHLETE & COACH ROB DISCUSSING THE UPCOMING RACE

It's almost here, the Hawaii Ironman World Championships. http://ironman.com/worldchampionship A very good friend of mine, Mary Lou Lowrie, leaves for Kona, Hawaii this coming weekend. She is an incredible athlete and someone who is truly inspirational. She is 56 years old and her goal is to win her age group at this year's 2007 Ironman World Championship. This quest is an odd one. First you are an athlete, you might run, or swim or bike. You might not even do any of those, maybe you were once a weight lifter, maybe a rock climber, a surfer, maybe you were a couch potato. But, usually, you did one of the three, swim, bike, run. Then one day, you are an Ironman. I mean, Ironwoman, Ironperson? For starters, here's the distances: 2.4 mi. swim, 112 mi. bike, 26.2 mi. run. Yes, the icing on the cake is a marathon. It began in Hawaii btw. http://www.ironman.com/mediacenter/history/ironman-triathlon-world-championship

I started with cycling. I dabbled in it all, road riding, touring, a few cyclocross races, a few mountain bike races. I was a 'roadie' who thought triathletes were 'tri geeks'. (They do wear small clothing and aren't usually great bike handlers at the amateur level!) I also did rock and ice climbing with my ex-husband. Like many triathletes that go Ironman, or just keep it to the sprint, this is a journey.I met my current husband at the gym. We both taught spin. I remember the day I was converted, I was teaching, he was in my class. I knew who he was and I was intimidated that he was attending. (I'd been slacking a bit, read on.) He is the biggest Ironman supporter around; he convinces people every day to do triathlons and then he gets them to do an Ironman! I think his slogan should be 'Zero to Ironman!' Some people at the gym accuse his supporters (disciples?) of 'drinking his 'Kool-Aid'; it's insane! Anyway, there is a triathlon in the town where I went to high school, Bethel, Maine, the Bethel Tri. It's a great venue and I had thought of doing it since I heard of it, visit my alma mater, do a triathlon. But, I didn't run (hadn't for 17 years) and I certainly hadn't swam since I was a teen ager swimming across lakes on Mt. Desert Island. So, the one in the same guy in my spin class brings it up and I reply, 'I don't swim, but I've wanted to learn'. The next week I had a swim lesson on my calendar! It was February 2004 - I'd been living the Bridgette Jones Diary. My personal life had hit some bumps in the road and I was not taking it well. But, I had made a New Year's Resolution to make a change, and here it was happening, right before my eyes. I showed up at the pool after trying on about 50 bathing suits and getting ear plugs and goggles, plus a nylon swim cap. There he was, in the pool lane...almost naked in that Speedo...wow! I went to get in the lane next to him and he pointed to the one he was in. How was I going to jump in and not touch him by accident? What I was not prepared for was the fact that when I jumped in one of my ear plugs fell out, and I got water up my nose! Ugh.A few dates later I was committing to early spring road rides and even running after spin class. Yes, I was cross training! Our courtship continued...even after I struggled through an April 66 mile hilly road ride with an 11-21 cog...I walked up the last hill, later finding out that it was about an 18% grade and I've seen riders walk it since.Don't forget, I live in Maine. I think it was in the 40's and I needed hot chocolate to keep me going. But, my mind remembered the old me, the one who used to ride! Not the new me, teaching spin 2x a week as my only riding, and consuming more than my fair share of wine!So, it continued. I met other triathletes. I have witnessed and been part of many sub cultures, here was the newest. My new boyfriend was the leader of the pack. I still remember wondering how he did it...he was a commercial pilot, owned a small triathlon shop and had done 7 Ironman Competitions, including Hawaii 2x, he was a personal trainer. Yes, I did tell him he was an over achiever - what's that distance again?! It was May of 2004 and he was going to do a local race, Iron Bear. (A very popular race organized by a friend of ours at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, ME, whose name has been changed to Polar Bear) Check out this interview with Glenn Close on David Letterman, as she discussed doing the race this year - note how her entry to the pool mimicked mine with the snorkel vs. the ear plugs! www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKZac9yS7HA I give Glenn major kudos for doing the race and being one of us in the locker room, pool and race course, and of course, for being an incredible actress - oh and trekking in an air cast! Maybe she's more of an over achiever than my husband! Now I know all the terms I didn't know then, it's a 'sprint' distance. It is, as Glenn says, a 500 Yard pool swim, a 12 mi. bike and a 5k run in the beginning of May. (There are other sprint distances, but they are similar, but often in open water too.) I was still on the fence about the triathlon thing... So I waved to him in my bathrobe with coffee cup in hand, as he left for the race. Yes, he won overall.

I did do Bethel. And, for some bizarre reason I got 2nd overall. I was beaten by a friend, Kim White (now Kim Nestle) who is a great runner. But, she beat me on the bike and I was pissed! Still in the mental past about my cycling! However, the other thing that happened was that I beat a woman who is a local legend, Erin Brennan, I hadn't heard of her, until after the race. Yes, she had just had a child, I think the week before~! I've never beaten her since, not even close! Apparently she was chasing me in the woods on the trail run. I never look over my shoulder, I might trip and fall. Earlier in the season I did the Unity Tri, (set in the home town of an ex-boyfriend), Kim beat me there too, but I had no expectations then...so getting 2nd got my expectation set up for Bethel. Then I attempted Camden, I flatted on the bike course. The season was over. I got 2nd in the two races that I finished. I was a convert. I had a tri-suit, I had a wetsuit, I bought a tri-bike! Yes, as I have been told, I am a gear head and this sport is great for those of us who are!

It's now October 2004. Robert Smith, the guy of this story, has qualified for Hawaii, again. I don't know how he did Lake Placid, NY Ironman and qualified while I was just doing those sprints, I was so new to the sport, I just didn't quite get it. He invited me to go to Hawaii in August, I said, 'Yes!'. (I'll say, 'Yes' a few more times!) He had a condo already rented in Ku'ai as his gift to himself for doing the Ironman and ending a 20 year marriage. We go, I'm still really a neophyte about all of this. I have my bike shipped so that I can ride with him and ride around to watch the race. We meet his cousin, Janet, the first family member that I've met!We're in a condo with a great pool, just a few miles from the race venue. It's Kona, Hawaii and we're here with all the other Iromman racers. It is exciting, it is really the explosion of a sub culture that I was still getting to know. Ripped bodies parade about, totally tricked out tri-bikes spin by, many different languages are spoken, though mostly white skin and the foreigners were from Europe, a lot of Germans. In fact, a German, Norman Stadler is slated to win (Stormin' Norman) and Natascha Badmann of Switzerland, (Swiss Miss) is the female contender. One day we did a 6 mi. run and it was so hot I stuck my head in a public fountain! I've now learned the race course, the start, the bike course, that includes The Energy Lab where the black lava radiates the hot sun back at you, and the run course. Race day approaches and Rob has been getting ready all week. He shaves his whole body. If he wasn't so hot, I'd really think he was a weirdo! A few days before the race he prepares his bike for T2, numbers on, water bottles on, disc wheel, all of it. We drop that off the day it's due. His cousin and I prepare the race night meal, something simple. But, we have wine, he doesn't. I get up with him at 4:00 a.m. I am sure he didn't sleep. I ride my bike to town in the dark, bringing my cell phone. Rob's cousin drives him and we meet at Java on the Rocks for his pre race coffee. Now, even I'm nervous. But, I still don't get it quite yet. I don't own this world. We move to the race start, the loud speaker, the race start, the energy. Rob's cousin and I watch the racers hit the ocean and then plant ourselves among the crowd on the bike course. The Pro-Racers speed by in their aero bars, the age groupers, I spot Rob! (Heart Throb!) and later, the high tech wheel chair recumbents go by too. I ride to the run course to cheer him on. The pros go by and then again, the age groupers, I wait, and wait, and wait at the run turn around wondering what happened to him. Long story short, Rob was injured since his Camden race, he pulled a very small but important muscle that attaches the achilles to the calf....he didn't finish the Ironman, due to the run. Of course, where would we be without cell phones, Rob's cousin and I have been calling one another trying to spot him. We find out he has been to the medical tent. At this point I have decided all of these people are insane and the last thing in the world that I would ever, ever want to do, is an Ironman. I will make special mention of the athletes that are quadriplegics, amputees, etc. Prior to the race you can read Racer Bios about different athletes. I don't remember her name, but I do remember the amputee athelete who dedicated her race to her gym teacher who in grammar school didn't include her in the activities. That's powerful. http://forum.realityfanforum.com/index.php?topic=9259.0;wap2 Maybe this is the woman? There are a multitude of stories of heroic people that do this sport.

Somewhere in the midst of all of this I meet Mary Lou Lowrie.

I think it was at Crystal Lake in Gray, ME where we do group open water swims. She had a bubbly smile and a partner, Nat Steele with her, they were training for Ironman Couer D'Alene. After I met her she showed up everwhere! At the time I didn't know much about her, but I was soon to become a close friend and training partner....and someone who just can't catch her in a time trial. Oh, yeah in 2006 she set the course record for her age group at Mt. Washington. Maybe, like my husband I'll wear her down due to age! Just note, not only is Mary Lou and incredible cyclist, she is a fantastic cross country skier, an incredible artist and gardner. You can hardly stand her she's so genuinely kind!I have since done 2 Ironman competitions, I'll write more about that later! But, this is about Hawaii, and my friend's impending departure. She qualified in 2006 at Wisconsin, one of the worst weather days in Ironman history, setting a new course record by an 1:15, and she has dedicated her entire being to this upcoming quest. Rob has been her coach and I have been privy to most of it, the challenges and the rewards of training. I know that she is planning it all down to the last detail, what she'll wear, what she'll drink and eat, every minute of the day. It is a journey, not only getting there but crossing the finish line. So, on October 13, 2007 you can log into www.ironmanlive.com and watch for your favorite athletes! Don't forget the time zone change! Beware, just watching could change your life.