I was talking to S2 (Sean Snow) on the phone one day and he said,” You know K2, you should really come up to Lake Placid this year… “You will LOVE it!”
Dolly is one of my best friends and I had been watching her prepare for this race for over a year. As her yoga teacher, I could see the effects of her training on her body (both good and bad), I knew how much time she had put into it and she had really busted her ass.
I have been lucky enough to have most of the S2 Crew in our S2K2 Yoga Classes over the winter. Trust me, Quest Yoga Studio has never been full of so much energy (and NOISE) as when the Tri-Athletes show up for class.
It is always like a big family reunion when we get together and I knew it would be the same up at IMLP. I wanted to be there to support the S2 Crew out on the course and to witness them coming across that finish line.
So I shot Dolly And John Rymes an email and they said I could crash on their floor. With housing and coverage for my Monday night class taken care of, I was all set. I packed up a cooler of yummy, vegan snacks and I was on my way.
I had traveled to Egypt backing 1996. My hotel was directly across the street from the great Pyramids of Giza. The energy of that sacred place was so powerful that during my stay, I hardly slept at all. There was so much “aliveness and light” radiating all around me that I couldn’t help but be effected by it.
I felt the same way pulling into the Adirondack Park making my way up Rte. 73 towards town. I just couldn’t stop smiling!
It had been a sunny, dry drive most of the way but on the uphill climb past the gorge, the rain started coming down pretty hard. This didn’t seem to even remotely faze the cyclists that I saw whizzing past me doing about 50MPH downhill not using their breaks.
Yellow uniforms, orange uniforms, green and black - all flying past me... sure, I was concerned for their safety… my face was all clenched up tight and I was repeating to myself out loud, “Jeezy Creezy, slow down” but I nearly jumped out of my seat when I saw the red, white and aqua blue of an S2 Crew go charging by. (Turns out that the speed demon was no other than Lynda Lubelczyk just out for a “leisurely” ride.)
This wasn’t the first time that I thought to myself, “Holy crap, these people are totally F***ING nuts!”
A few moments later, when I drove past the gargantuan Olympic Ski Jumps, I had to do a double take. I was both horrified and completely dazzled by the size of them and the fact that people willingly hurl themselves off these things while going wicked, wicked fast.
All I could think of was Saturday afternoons as a kid and hearing the ABC Wide World of Sports announcer Jim McKay saying “… AND THE AGONY OF DEFEAT” as they showed that poor lung jump skier Vinko losing his balance and totally rocketing wildly out of control…. until he crashed through that flimsy plastic retaining fence and finally came to a stop. Man, you totally remember that too, don’t you? :)
As I drove past the jumps and later past the spot where the “Miracle on Ice” happened, I realized that LP was the perfect place for the Iron Man to be held. It has such great tradition and history; and has been home to thousands of athletes who experience what it takes to train and compete for the Olympics and for the Ironman. It is the perfect blend of absolute insanity and magic.
I arrived at the house… found Reggie, had a quick chat and then heard the roar of JR and Chuck coming back from a ride on their Harleys. It didn’t take long for John to be entertaining us with his warm smile, sarcasm and quick wit. Chuck was a such a friendly, laid back guy… I can see why John likes having him around. (Plus he’s one hell of a driver! Anyone that can keep from driving off the road while John enthusiastically presses his white ass against the window is OK in my book.)
The house started filling up. Stew was there with her kids: Hannah & John Walter, Dolly came back from town, Team Snow arrived with pasta in hand (of course), Scott Duval and Chad Carter dropped by for a short visit and then Lynda L came blasting through the front door with handmade signs for us to hold up for the S2 Crew on race day! Lynda had also “borrowed” a few of the markers from the sign tent so the kids could make signs too. Lynda is a master "borrower".
Lynda L is a long time student of mine and I have come to see her as the official S2 Crew Den Mother. Whatever you need... Warm clothes, a ride home, a yummy snack and Lynda L is there. Lynda loves people by being of service to them.... Which is the true yogi way. She is one of the most thoughtful and kind people that I know. We are so blessed to have her in our "family”.
Sitting around the table, while I watched in fascination as S2 ate an amount of food that shouldn’t be humanly possible ....I spotted a few folks sporting some new fancy-shmancy compression socks and commented on them. This sparked a whole discussion on the compression sock theory. I told them that I thought the socks were totally “SEXY” and that they should be an essential must have of the S2 Uniform. Lynda L. vehemently disagrees saying that “they are the ugliest thing she has ever seen.”
Last minute preparations took place and then it was off to bed for the Ironman. This was around 9pm.
Now for most people this bedtime is not a big deal but I am a bit of a night owl. I usually stay up until about 1:00am... Partly because it’s my nature but also because I live with a professional musician. (My sweetie is the guitar player in a band called Mama Kicks and his head doesn’t usually hit the pillow until 2:00-3:00am)
Luckily, Lynda L. is a night owl too. I found her lying on a blanket on the bathroom floor with her feet up the wall... reading a book. We had ourselves a good chuckle at our inability to sleep and chatted in the bathroom like sneaky teenagers.... Laughing and trying not to wake up Reggie.
I finally went to bed and did my best to get some rest but I am a wicked light sleeper. When I heard Dolly roll down stairs at like 3:15am, I got up and joined her in the kitchen.
It wasn’t long before JR & Chuck came cruising in - so we had a little pre race pow-wow, fuel belts and bottles full of Heed & Gatorade were filled, John stashed his Sweet Tarts in his special needs bag for when his mouth started to “taste like ass” halfway through the race and then they were off!
I could write 50 pages as to what it was like to witness the Ironman but I am going to try and keep it short. Here are some of the happenings:
1) You’ve all heard about the The Rain.... For the LOVE OF GOD it just wouldn’t stop. We were absolutely drenched on the sidelines but I have to tell you.. Anytime my mind would start to complain, I would remind myself to stop being a “Sissy La-La” because even though I might be wet....A) I was not wet AND swimming 2.4 miles while people scissor kicked and whacked me in the back of the head, trying to drown me just so they could cut .3 seconds off their finishing time and B) I was not wet AND riding a bike to Timbuktu and back with a flat while going 90 miles an hour down a steep hill with no flippin’ breaks and no ability to see what the hell is in front of me and C) I am not wet AND running a 26.2 mile marathon while shiny, happy, people sipping warm drinks cheer my ridiculously tired ass on to go faster, faster when all I want to do is stop to pee, puke, poop or punch their stupid, smiling faces in. :)
2) Man, what a treat for the eyes... Talk about BODIES! Of all shapes and surprising sizes and let me tell you... There were some beautiful bodies racing by me. I saw chiseled calves, gorgeous deltoids and bulging biceps, powerful quads and amazing hamstrings but honestly, the best was the sincere smiles. When they come out of the water like pistons and whiz by on the bikes and trudge by on the run... they do hear you cheering and their smiles just LIGHT everything up! Wooohooo!
3) The S2 Crew IronFans were rocking the IMLP that day! It was such a blast to know that our support made a difference for the athletes.
• Dolly just radiated so bright when she heard us yell for her on the first pass on her bike. I swear she pedaled harder and faster up that hill!
• S2 was feeling so good he high-fived on the way by. Wooohoo S2!
• Steve Reed even cracked us a sly smile on the run and I hear he is one tough cookie to crack. :)
• Steve Smith had such a sweet, appreciative smile for us that it brought me to tears.
• JR makes so many other people smile and laugh so often that it was a true honor to be able to provide him with a little bit of that in return. It was so great to see him cruise by in his sexy compression socks as Lynda L. bravely stood in the street to snap his picture, risking severe consequences from the IMLP sidewalk Nazi that was keeping a close eye on our shenanigans.
• Mary Susan was struggling on the bike but she did her best to acknowledge our thunderous calls with a crooked smile.
• I don’t know Barret W but I think I saw him come out of the water and spotted him again on the run... He was really focused but I saw him shoot us a quick smile.
• I have never met Mike C. but when we saw him coming up the hill on the first loop of his run the S2 crew went ballistic! We had all covered up for the rain and I could see that he didn’t know who the crazy yelling people were so I flashed him. I ripped open my rain jacket (which isn’t waterproof by the way) like superman to reveal the S2 jacket underneath and when he figured out who we were, he smiled so big that Reggie and I started to jump up and down with excitement.
4) Reggie & Chuck: OK seriously, these two were the best side line buddies I could have ever asked for! By the end of the day, we were deliriously laughing due to lack of food, water and dry clothes. I have never had so much fun while being so physically uncomfortable in my whole life. I had a blast with them!
I admit that I was jealous when I saw Rich E & Jeremy W with their DRY, new, spiffy EMS gear on. I was also becoming unhealthily, emotionally attached to Sharon Nall & Larry Nice’s big ole’ green and white umbrella that were thoughtful enough to share with us. I almost shed a tear when we had to turn it back over to them. God bless Pam Snow for giving Chuck the little black umbrella to hold above our head for the last four hours at the finish line. You are a lifesaver Pam!
Reggie almost lost here eye several times when our enthusiastic neighbors at the finish line decided it was a good idea to use a broken umbrella with an exposed sharp metal prong that they insisted on thrusting at Reggie’s face every chance they got.
Chuck should be put in the Guinness Book of World Records for having the strongest arms. I shit you not, the man help up an umbrella for 15 hours straight switching arms back and forth and never ONCE complained. He was soaked through and though, wearing a short sleeve shirt and draped only in a white trash bag that said, ”BRING IT ON” in black marker across the front. By the end of the night he was doing fantastic, unintentional impressions of Brando in “A Streetcar named Desire” except instead of yelling “Stella”... Chuck was yelling “Dolly” at the top of his lungs. It was hysterical!
Dolly might have had Betty C (Betty was the only one I didn’t see that weekend- I missed you BC!) but we had Lynda L. and she was an angel of mercy. That warm, green blanket she brought us saved us during the last hours of the race. We love you LL.
Lisa & Geoff R were such a nice addition to our cheering crew... They have such lovely spirits and more importantly they were dry! They represented hope that our fingers would not always look like puckered old prunes and that the feeling would return to my legs some day.
5) Without a doubt it was amazing to watch my friends compete and complete the Ironman. You have heard all of their accounts directly from their mouths... From S2’s magnificent finish qualifying for Kona to Dolly’s last 6 mile stumble across the finish line and straight into the medical tent. What they accomplished out there is on some level beyond words. I can only tell you that my heart was full for them and because of them and I was dazzled by their tenacity and courage. Like a proud parent, I kept wanting to turn around and tell anybody that would listen “See that person right there? They are MY friend! Aren’t they amazing? There is nobody else like them on the planet.” But I was too busy screaming like a banshee to say all that.
6) Here is another moment that will stay with me for the rest of my life:
It was about 13 hours into the race. We were flanking the finish line waiting for all the S2 crew members to wrap it up. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a women in a light blue uniform rounding the final corner and heading towards the finish line. She had long dark hair and a body that certainly did not scream elite athlete. She was drenched like everyone else, her ponytail hanging limply down her back and she looked TIRED. About 25 yards from the finish line, her legs started to wobble like a new born colt, her knees buckled under her and BAM! she went down - hard - into about three inches of water.
The cheering crowd collectively gasped, held their breath and watched her struggle to get back to her feet.
She tried to get up and BAM! down she went for a second time.... We could barely contain ourselves; Reggie, Chuck and I start to scream like crazy, we were leaning over the barriers as far as we could, shouting at this woman, pounding on the barricades “GET UP..... YOU CAN DO IT.... LET’S GO..... GET UP, GET UP, GET UUUUUUUUPPPPPP!!!!!!” Like our lives depended on it.
She tried to get up again and BAM down she went down one more time. At this point I am crying like a baby... My heart is breaking for her, all I can think is, “Oh my God, she made it this far, she HAS to get up... C’mon lady.... You can do this.”
And the woman is looking up at the crowd from the ground and the yelling is getting louder and louder and louder. Total strangers pleading with her, begging her, encouraging her to get her ass OFF the ground and moving again....This woman was determined... She dug DEEP and she gave it one more try and this time she got to her knees... YES!.. Then she clumsily made it to her feet... The crowd went F***ING WILD!!!! I will never forget the feeling of all the LOVE that was coming from the crowd and blasting that woman! I saw the fire in this woman’s eyes as she stumbled past me and let me tell you, even though her gait was wobbly, she looked absolutely triumphant!
Reggie and I were wiping away the tears and I was smiling like an idiot because I had just witnessed a bona-fide miracle.
7) As a yoga teacher I am hyper aware of people’s bodies... Their postures, how they move, stand, run, how they breathe, etc.. And I have to say to watch people huffing and puffing, those spines and shoulders all hunched over on the bikes and to see all the crippled hamstrings and cramped quads and crooked spines as the athletes hobbled over the finish line was sooooooooo NOT SOOTHING. I had to contain myself from screaming, “YOGA... YOGA.... YOGA... PLEASE.... DO SOME FRIGGIN’ YOGA!”
8) In the practice of yoga, although there is a lot of focus placed on the physical body and yes, awareness is brought to the breath and the mind.... Most importantly however, is what happens once you get off your mat and how you live in the world. It is about your heart. Your character. Your compassion. Your Love. It is about being of service to others and caring for all beings and creatures. I witnessed so much of that at the LP Ironman. From supportive families to massage volunteers to wetsuit strippers– I was a witness to all kinds of big LOVE. What a gift it was.
There is a great yoga quote that says, “Everyone is a candle. True. But not everyone is lit.”
S2 Crew - you are lit by deep passion, dedication and perseverance. You are lit by a coach that believes in you and dares you to dream. You are lit by your family and your friends and all the
other thousands of blessings that surround us at every moment.
Whatever you do, whoever you meet and wherever you go.... Remember that you are LIT and it is your duty, your calling, your purpose to keep shining that beautiful light in the best way that you know how.
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