David Raftis Lake Stevens Race Report

On Sunday I finished my first "Half Iron" at Lake Stevens. It was a great day for triathlon as the weather was perfect. I was not fast but I finished and it meant the world to me to just be there competing and doing a triathlon. I have a few circumstances in my life that may have made the Lake Stevens 70.3 seem like a long shot just a few years ago so this was a bitter sweet milestone for me. First, I was a smoker until November 30, 2005. I smoked for 20 years and with the help of an on-line quitsmoking support group, joining Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Team in Training program, and finally RTB I quit and have stayed quit. I quit and relapsed many, many times over the years and in particular from 2000 to 2005. In a downward spiral I wondered what happened to the happy 22 year old that was doing triathlons in the early to mid 80's and I longed to be back in that place. I got a little hope from those memories and decided that if I could get free from smoking I would do triathlons again. I am not as fast as I was in 1985 but I have 14 triathlons under my belt since quitting and I cherish every experience. Second, I have an extremely rare inherited form of diabetes that is not the sugar type but a defect in the kidneys that prevents my body from reabsorbing water back into the cells of the body. In other words, dehydration is a problem. It is called Nephrogenic Diabetes Insipidus and effects 4 in a million. I take a diuretic which would make normal people loose water but is just the opposite for me and thus allows me to get to about 50% of normal function. I am also on a low sodium diet which recommends 500-1000mg of sodium per day. The reason for this is that the body can only regulate sodium by drinking water and I already would be drinking 4-5 gallons per day on the medication alone. By also keeping my sodium in this range it allows me to "only" drink 2-3 gallons a day. It is saving kidney function by reducing the sheer volume of water I process. So, salt tablets on race day - bad idea. The diuretic I take depletes potassium so race day was a balancing act where I cut-off the diuretic on race day and load up on my high dose prescription potassium. The diuretic effect still works for about 24 hours after taking so I was OK on that front but needed to get my potassium level up. On Sunday I drank freely all morning pre race. I chugged 16 ounces of water in T1 and I had 2 litres of water in my camel back. In addition, I drank four 20 ounce bottles from the aid stations. I still had a headache from dehydration by the end of the bike. It was getting hot and I was worried about my chances if it got worse. I drank a minimum of 16 ounces at each the 12 aid stations which led me to use the porta potties at least four times on the run. I walked more than normal hoping to stave off worse dehydration long enough to finish and it worked. My vision was a bit blurred after the race which is a classic symptom of dehydration but otherwise I was fine and estatic that I finished the race on my terms and not some course official or medical person. In addition, I have had reconstructive ankle surgery, knee surgery, and a previous stress fracture that kept me watching and listening to my body very closely during the training phase for lake Stevens. I also developed shoulder problems last year and did not race in 2008. The problem is still unresolved and thus I did not train swimming except for a handful of times this year. I "wung it" on the swim and had one of my better open water days so that worked out very well for not training. I still have dreams of a full Ironman but it would have to be the perfect alignment of stars, constellations, and weather to happen. I know from this 70.3 that 140.6 is a stretch but I can still dream can't I ?. This is my Ironman for now and I am very proud of my finish. I am grateful to the support I received all season from my wife Louisa and son Anthony. As all of you at RTB know they sacrifice daily as we are not fully engaged due to the training demands. I want to let my wife know I love her for going along with my "Half Iron" goal. I also want to let everyone from RTB know that I sincerely appreciated all the support on the course during the race and especially on the run - It helps more than you know. I was not going to let you guys down no matter how bad I felt. Raise the Bar Baby!!!! Dave Raftis P.S. On a funny note I was rushing around in the morning getting my transition set-up and went to get body marked before going back to the motorhome for final dress. I found the young lady with the marker and I pulled my shirt off for the arms and whipped my sweat pants down to my ankles before I realized I was standing there only in my tighty whitey's. I just laughed, said oops and quickly pulled my pants up. I have attached a photo I took the moment I quit smoking back on 11/30/05