“Never ever give up on your dreams”
On importance of Bear Spray.
- You must have your Bear Spray at all times with you after 100 miles on bike and all the time during the run.
And now I know why. Cause – bears. They are almost like squirrels in Georgia – everywhere out there. So the organizers of Alaskaman did stress many times: you can get bear spray in Seward, AK, but you can not travel with it. We got bear spray in Seward port outdoor gear store, which was, probably , Helly Hunsen .
Pre-race.
I wanted to finish Alaskaman 1 year ago. When I was looking for a race that would have an ocean swim, that would be harder then an average Ironman, and that would help me heal my heart, broken twice by 2 consecutive DNFs in Leadville LT100 Runs. Visiting Alaska for this cause and doing the Extreme Triathlon was somewhere slightly beyond the level of “possible” for me. So as soon as the race lottery registration opened, I sent my name in. A couple of weeks later I was faced with the puzzle of setting KEYS100 100 miles run training and Alaskaman training at the same time.
For the cold water swim: I used almost every weekend of Georgia winter to swim in local lake at http://www.cummingfair.net/mary-alice-park/ with a group of cold water swimmers my best friend and an ice swimmer introduced me to with a charming smile. I tried Wim Hoff method. I read books by Lynn Cox and fell in love with cold water even more.
I also have my trusty and true 2XU wetsuit, ORCA wetsuit base layer just in case and ORCA booties and gloves, Blueseventy neoprene cap. That I used for the race day only. Not for the “social swim” the day before.
For the bike training I used regular Ironman training during the period of preparations for 100 miles race with hopes to gear up for 4 weeks before the Alaskaman taper. I did our local hills couple of times, but that’s not the same level as I would actualy do for Alaskaman. Which did not happen cause right then I lost a job and all the training needs went way down in priority: for the month leading up to the race I was so focused on job search, interviewing skills , professional certification , that I just could not even focus on anything longer then 1 hour of training.
For the run I had a great base of 100 miles training and loved scaling up and down stairs at my previous work building *n times every Friday night. Appalachian trail is my stomping ground, love the Blood Mountain trails! When I wanted to have some civilization around , I routinely headed out to Kennesaw mountain or Stone Mountain for hill repeats.
Pre-race communication
Alaskaman has absolute clarity about any pre-race prep advice on site. They also organize regular Facebook events and webcasts leading up to the race.
Dealing with the time zones different through the year did mean for me that I missed some parts of the RD webcasts, but they did help tremendously to get things organized well for the mission. The webcasts were long, packed with tons of verbiage, but eventually quite useful once the given pre-race prep information was condensed and organized. The pre-race briefing was the quintessential paramount of the pre-race prep. If you head out to the Seward High School gym get yourself a couple of bottles of water with hydration. And nutrition for the journey to stay sharp and listen up!
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Also, there might be a possibility for shortening and compacting information that is mandatory for the pre-race briefing…
Flight tickets – I got direct flight from Atlanta to avoid any hustle with luggage.
https://us.sciconbags.com/ bike bag turned out to be an excellent bike bag. Probably due to the softness of the bag, the bike is handled more like as a fragile bag rather then a sturdy case hard box being tossed around. Delta charged $150 one way.
Hotels: Also booked partially in advance. 1 night at an airport hotel in Anchorage, then: 2 night in Van Gilder Hotel in Seward, 2 nights in Ski Inn a mile from the finish line in Girdwood.
Van Gilder Hotel
308 Adams Street
Seward, Alaska 99664
1+ (907) 224-3079
Ski Inn, Girdwood
189 Hightower Rd
99587, Girdwood, Alaska
Tel: 907-783-0002
Mail: akskiinn@gmail.com
2 days before the race .
We got to Anchorage on Wednesday night flight from Atlanta, GA, hopped to an airport hotel, packed up am and drove out to Seward. The Alaska Highway drive is a blast, scenic, slightly more then 100 miles, so it’s also a great way to pre-view the course, even though going backwards.
Got the bike together, got several gallons of water for pre-race and during the race support. Went to Seward SeaLife Center for packet Pick up http://www.alaskasealife.org/ . Packet pick up means bringing mandatory bike and run gear: they do mean it when they are saying it’s for your own safety. After rolling on highway for 7 hours I was happy I had reflective vest. Getting packet picked up early allowed us not to worry about the logistics the day before the race.
1 day before the race :
morning “Social Swim” at Millers Landing . https://www.millerslandingak.com/index.php
I brought my super-old surfing wetsuit for this one. I wanted to keep the “main” wetsuit and underlayer dry. Jumped to water without wetsuit just to feel that “switch” that comes after emersion to cold is completed and I start feeling hot when blood rushes to surface of body, warming up skin.
A sea lion goofed around the athletes. They are pretty curious critters, not harmful at all.
The night before the race: 2am wake up, 3 am out of the door of the hotel. A fellow athlete gave a ride to T1, but if you are staying downtown Seward, everything is a walkable distance.
The setting is similar to local Ultra races more then to Ironman: it’s quiet, yet there are bright lights and Transition area. My crew sends me off with the first school bus to Miller’s landing… And I forget to take off my flip flops. For the rest of the morning I am running around Miller’s Landing area like a mad squirrel trying to find somebody that would take my precious flip-flops to T1. You see, I am a minimalist and I own only 1 pair of flip flops, got them in Israel in 2005, and they are still kicking, having Brazil flag beaded on them. They are special. Eventually a crew of another athlete asks if they can help and they did bring the flip –flops to my T1! Love these people!
1 Macrobar and 1 water bottle with Vega energizer before the start, my usual routine for races. I taken 2 plastic water bottles with me this time , usually trying to avoid plastic bottles.
National anthem and we are walking into water.
The swim started with a leaking goggles!!! right before the start. “Classic!” I thought and nailed down these new goggles to eye sockets . It worked. We plunged in, it was a fun start, I felt truly happy to glide through these waters not many people get to swim at . Aftert 50 min in cold water it wasn’t that fun anymore . I knew I was at the tail of the race, I felt super lonely.
Strange effect – when the water temps dropped to like 45′, for good 600 meters cause of waterfall, I still felt warm, but I got incredible sadness, deep sorrow for no reason. I had to google it, what does the feeling of sadness come from? I figured, fear and sadness manifest in body in very similar ways. I did not feel fear as such, and I think my body was trying to signal me that I really-really should be afraid, but my mind interpreted it as sadness.
When I reached the city, I got slightly visually disoriented, asked a kayaker to just stay with me t. It helped. Came out of water, ran to transition.
Changed to my #haleychura #smashfestqueen bike kit.
T1 – 21 min transition is not much more different then my usual 15 min. We used a sleeping bag to cover me, so that I can strip off swimsuit and wear dry clothes. 2 layers of long sleeves over the tri kit by #smashfestqueen. Warm gloves and shoe covers. Light bike gloves – to my back pockets so that I can toss the warm ones later.
The bike.
Heavy fog for the first couple of hours . I love my Bollé sunglasses – they did not fog at all!
Handwarmers packs in my pockets and in my bra. They made the transition from cold water easier. I would have never imagined biking on highway . Right side off the white line always no matter what gravel it is there. I was lucky not to get a flat. Joe was spot on with support, I stopped a couple of times more then I planned cause I drank more Osmo then I thought I would and eat more then I usually would eat on bike. Peeled off layers at mile 38, felt hot after that.
- Coffee from my crew’s mug: priceless!
- Macrobars
- Amrita bars https://www.amritahealthfoods.com
- and OSMO for hydration .
RD and voluteers checked on us during the whole bike race distance. How did they manage to be at many places at once? Overall putting out the bike race on the one and only highway is a tremendous effort !
After mile 60 traffic was heavy. So heavy that you really want to hug that shoulder and never ever cross the white line. Was fun to watch patrol helicopters over us!
After mile 80 no support till finish, bear spray in my back pocket, solo ride on trail off the highway. I tried to call Joe thinking if it’s 117 miles then I DNF by time. I fit the bike cut off. Overall the effort was not much more different then the 100s I do in Georgia, but I was physically not as trained as I wanted to be to make that ride better.
The Run.
T2 15 min.
Again changed to running gear, I have Kiwami kit with shorts for trail running I am confident in for going on forever. Got my vest on , OSMO hydration in bladder, OSMO and water in bottles, BlackDiamod carbon hiking poles.
The run was gorgeous. A couple of miles to warm up after the bike and then some lovely trails with the rope tram over the river! The race has several runs in one. Woody trails. Nordic Skis trails with big waves . The mountain. The town part. Super fun and super hard. Joe was reminding me to eat, I went on gels and bars which I don’t ever do. And that kept me feeling strong till the finish. Joe was literally walking me through every step out there. The mountain climb us lower by elevation, but more steep then the Hope pass at Leadville, but there is oxigen! The view on the top is so worth it.
I did “the low route” run : for those who were finishing their 1st loop of the mountain after 9pm there was an option to run the remaining 4 miles on lower trails and town roads. So grateful for this option . Zoned into my ultra mode, when you run without walking no matter if you are at mile 60 or mile 87 of the run, kept even pace and kept running till finish.
After the finish the only thing I wanted was a shower. For one moment I felt weak and had medics walking to me , checked on me, I was just fine. After all it’s still shorter then 30 hours of running 🙂
Super stoked to be one of the 129 finishers, with the “lower route” option.
Total Registered: 228
Did Not Start (DNS): 76 (33.5%)
Started: 152 (66.5%)
Did Not Finish (DNF): 23 (20% from start)
7 Swim DNFs
11 Bike DNFs
5 Run DNFs
Finished: 129 (85% from start)
Finished High Route: 95
Finished Low Route: 34
If you think you can get yourself out there technically, logistically – do it. It’s so worth the effort. The race Alaskaman team sets in “Untamed Wilderness” is one of the kind.
– Why do you do this?
Because being part of these evens, the overcoming of what seemed impossible before , all these experiences make your quality of life as of a human – better. It connects you with people of much, much more amazing lives and prompts you to aim higher. One girl did not get her bike and luggage in , did the race on a borrowed bike and gear! One had 6 flat tires during the race. Incredible stories of overcoming . The very fact if completing this race is already a bonus for me.
While training for Ultramarathons or Ironman events, while going through extreme athletic events, I routinely, daily, override “the lizard brain”:
“1. The reptilian brain, composed of the basal ganglia (striatum) and brainstem, is involved with primitive drives” (viaPsychology Today : “Don’t Listen to Your Lizard Brain The evolution of the brain can help us understand human behavior.”
Which is no easy, but by no means getting there through the job search period of my life, through lower volumes of training impacted by that, through the 1 year of preparation , and doing it – by no means it was easy.
Swimming in Resurrection Bay, riding my bike on Alaska highway and running in Alaska woods and mountains – it was oh so worth it.