Tereza Macel

Lake Placid IM female winner Tereza Macel was in the chalet next to us at the Swiss Acres Inn! Her husband, coach (brother), mother and father also came to the race.
Interestingly, her name was never mentioned before the race as one of the favorites. Tereza was the first pro (male or female) out of the water, in a time of 50:48, then biked the hilly course in 5:13, an average of 21.4mph, and ran a 3:20 marathon (7:39per mile). She had a large lead going in to the run and won by 12 minutes, also finishing 12th overall.
The morning after the race I talked with her husband and asked if she won. He said, "well, she had a good race". I said, "she won, right?". "Yes, yes she did win, but how did your wife do, she ran the race, right?", "it is so great, Tereza gets to take a nap, workout for hours a day, but people like your wife, they are the real stories, working full-time and still completing one of these events."
The whole family was great. When I asked if Tereza would mind signing the race poster for Jan, he immediately went to the chalet and brought her out. Tereza was really nice and now we have a poster that will be framed and proudly hung on our wall. We also have a person to really cheer on when IM Hawaii takes place in October.
It's nice to meet a champion and family who are so supportive.

Ironman Jan!

After a 2.4 mile lake swim with 2300 of her closest friends, 112 miles of biking on "rolling hills", and a mere 26.2 miles of running, Jan finished the Lake Placid Ironman.
There are many variations of a champion. Obviously the first man or woman across the line is a champion. Then there are people like Jan (actually not, she is pretty unique). Think about what a normal fifty year old woman is like in America. That is not Jan. Married soon after her 19th birthday, first daughter before turning 20, another at age 22 and a third at 25. Work, college, work, college, work and college together until earning a masters degree.
Four years ago a desire to learn about triathlons began with friends Lou and Eileen attending the Fleet Feet Tri-community college. A few sprint races, then entry into Louisville IM. Two attempts, two dnf's in the scorching heat of Louisville, but still Jan didn't give up her dream of completing an IM. So, she made it into Lake Placid and a year of training proved finally proved successful as we heard the words we had all been dreaming about,

"JAN MCCULLOUGH, YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!"

IM Pre-Race Lake Placid

Amanda, Jan and I arrived at our "chalet" in Lake Placid on Thursday. It's a convenient location, kitchenette (no stove), great view, so is working pretty well. The chalet is actually a longer version of a KOA cabin next to the Swiss Acres Inn, but I love sitting on the porch and looking at the mountains in the distance.
Friday morning I got up early and biked one loop of the IM course, a total of 60 miles. It went fairly well. Then Jan and I swam .5 miles in Mirror Lake. Then Jan and I biked 13.5 miles. The Pinot Grigio and beer helped me recover. There are benefits to being a supporter and not a racer!
Saturday was a day of Jan prepping her bags for transition. Amanda helped with that process while I tried not to hyperventilate from my own stupid pre-race nerves, and I'm not racing! Jan, Amanda and I went to the Gatorade practice swim. Amanda eventually warmed up (no wetsuit) and we did about 4-500 yards in the lake. Jan and I then went for another 400 yard swim. Jan seems to be comfortable in the water. Swimming in the lake is nice if you can keep your head in check. The wetsuit also helps.
There are athletes all over the town, of course. On Thursday Jan and Amanda were driving back from the store and saw a biker get hit by a stupid driver. He was going down hill, probably 25-30mph, and the driver said she didn't hit him. Amanda, fortunately a paramedic, was the first to him and made the biker lay still as his back hurt. The cops and ambulance came soon and backboarded him. Hopefully he will have a quick recovery.
We will be up around 4:10am on Sunday, as Jan needs to get set in transition, body marked (the best volunteer job ever!), and over to the swim start.
Hopefully Amanda and I can give updates throughout race day.

Musselman Sprint

Eileen and I had a great time at the 2009 Musselman Sprint Triathlon, with Eileen capturing a second place finish in her age group!
750yd swim in the canal, 16 mile bike, 5k run.

Pre-race










Finished swim!
Start of bike leg. Finally off to run.


Next year's Musselman is July 10,11.

Domestique

"In Italy and Spain, the term gregario (a soldier of the Roman legions, "one into the group" is used, while in Belgium and the Netherlands the term knecht ("servant") is used." (from Wikipedia, an extremely reliable web resource. Besides, if it's on the Internet, it must be true!).

One of the most famous Domestique's is George Hincapie, who played a large role in support of Lance Armstrong and his 7 Tour de France championships (George on left, Lance on right in photo).



Sometimes I feel like Eileen and I are domestiques for Jan. We don't ride with her for 100 miles, but team up or accompany Jan on shorter (20-60 mile) rides. Before rides I mix our bottles of Heed, Sustained Energy, get the Hammer Bars and gels, and make sure there is enough Endurolytes for both of us. Many times I plan the routes, Jan may not even know exactly where we are going until the turn is coming up.

Do you think George mopped Lance's floors or cleaned his tub? I wonder if George cooked many of the team dinners or had to do the dishes? As a teammate, did George mow Lance's lawn and pull weeds? Probably not.

Maybe I should put together a resume and apply for next year's Tour as a domestique? Of course I may have to learn how to ride up a mountain or take part in a team time trial riding at 30mph. There should be a masters division in the Tour. Why not have teams of over 40+ and 50+ age riders? Now that would be fair. Excuse me while I go write a letter to the head of the Tour de France.
Posted by Mike at 1:13 PM
Labels: Domestique, George Hincapie, Lance Armstrong

Dynasty Ends!

As the nation celebrated its' birthday and fireworks were being prepped to grace the sky, our local running universe was shaken by the defeat of Lou by his daughter, Jennifer. The torch has been passed down.

Maybe if the course had been an accurate 5 miles, instead of 5.1 Lou could have won? No, wait, Lou was behind the entire time. Well, maybe if Lou had biked to the course first, as in past years, his old man legs would have had a higher cadence during the race? Hmmm, probably not.

Oh, face it, Lou got his behind kicked. He might be King of the House, but he is no longer the fastest runner. Congratulations Jennifer!