Ithaca's Ironwoman: Yvette de Boer
In Ithaca, the name de Boer is synonymous with the word Ironman -- and that goes for the women in the family, too. There are no couch potatoes in that household; heck, there's probably not even a couch.
Dad and mom, Tob and Joan, are still active in running, cross country skiing, cycling, rowing and triathlons. Son Maarten was an excellent long-distance cyclist and runner, until knee problems slowed him down.
Daughter Claire swam the length -- not width! -- of Cayuga Lake sometime in the mid-'80s.
And daughter Yvette, arguably one of the best endurance athletes in our region, still excels in running, cross country ski racing,, swimming and triathlons.
"It's the Dutch genes," said Joan, who, like her husband, is from the Netherlands.
"It all harks back to (ice) skating," said Tob. "My mother loved to skate, and in the Netherlands there was a 200-kilometer, 11-city skating event that was my dream to do -- just like the Ironman. We did finally did it in the mid-80s, and that was a big thrill."
"We do have a reputation in this town," agreed Yvette, a 6th-grade science teacher at DeWitt Middle School.
Yvette is now the official Ironman in the family, having completed the Isuzu Ironman Triathlon USA, July 29, at Lake Placid in 11 hours, 24 minutes, 52 seconds. After swimming 2.4 miles, biking 112 miles and running a marathon (26.2 miles) -- all in one day, de Boer placed ninth out of 76 in her age group among women ages 35 to 39, and 407th overall.
About 1,650 triathletes finished the Lake Placid Ironman, which is one of three Ironman-sponsored triathlons in the United States. It is also designated a world championship qualifier for the Hawaii Ironman in October.
"I wanted to do an Ironman because it was very different from what I've done, in terms of endurance challenges," said de Boer, 37. "(Friend) Julie Hilson did it the first year, and she got me hooked. Then I went to Lake Placid last year to watch it, and was blown away by the whole ambiance and the challenge."
De Boer signed up for the 2001 Ironman the next day -- the entry fee is about $300, and the one-year training program kicked into action.
"I loved the variety in training, because I can't run all the time," said de Boer, injury prone after two 3:11 individual marathon performances. "I vowed I would do this all in one piece. Because you're doing different sports each day, you don't break down as much. Swimming is easy on the body; the biking builds strength. I learned that less is better than more, and I was always conscious of how much I was doing with the goal of not overtraining."
De Boer swam three times a week, once with a masters swim group at the Ithaca YMCA, and other times alone at Ithaca High School.
Cycling also was done three times a week, with longer rides on weekends with friends or with the Finger Lakes Cycling Club. As the weeks went on, the rides extended from 40 miles to 90 miles.
Running workouts, three to four times a week, were interspersed between the cycling and swimming days. Long runs lasted from one-and-a-half hours, to no more that two-and-a-half hours. Sometimes, right after a long bike ride, de Boer would run for 30 minutes. That's called a "brick."
"I'm a better runner, and if I compare myself to others, that's where I pass people," said de Boer, who also competed in pre-race triathlons like the Tri for the Y, Green Lakes and the Tinman, a half Ironman in Tupper Lake, on June 30. "I've worked a lot on my cycling, but it's still a weakness. I'm not a great swimmer, but I'm not bad. After I finished the Tinman, I felt great, and really encouraged. It gave me confidence."
Armed with that confidence, de Boer arrived in Lake Placid on the Thursday before the Ironman event.
"I couldn't wait anymore!" de Boer said. "I wanted to become acclimated; there's lots of logistics to figure out; and, I wanted to catch the ambiance."
Sunday morning, when the Ironman began at 7 a.m., the air temperature was 55 degrees; Mirror Lake, the swimming venue, was 72 degrees. Triathletes had the option of treading water or starting on shore.
"I seeded myself close to the front, thinking I'd rather be run over than have to pass swimmers," said de Boer, who recorded a 2.4-mile swim split of 1:04:59. "It was crazy, with bodies everywhere, and I tried not to panick. It took me about a half mile until I could swim freely. They said it was the biggest mass swimming start in triathlon history, but swimming in Mirror Lake was one of my favorite parts."
Once out of the water, triathletes run down a carpet stretched from Mirror Lake to the famous Lake Placid skating oval, where transitions take place. But first "wetsuit strippers" yank off your suit, then you grab your swim/bike transition bag and head for a changing tent, where volunteers wait on you hand and foot. That goes on all day through each transition.
The bike course was a double-loop, roller coaster ride. At one point, there was a huge pile up at the foot of a screaming downhill, which de Boer witnessed but avoided.
"I watched all kinds of people pass me, but I focused on doing my own thing," said de Boer, recording a 6:22:56, 112-mile cycling split. "I felt strong the first loop, and if I felt my legs burning, I'd shift down. On the second lap, I started to feel it, but towards the end I tried to stretch and stand up. And the spectators were screaming -- unbelievable!"
Thankful her "weak link" was over, de Boer started her strongest talent: running.
"Usually, my legs feel like bricks, but I thought, 'Wow! My legs feel good,'" said de Boer, recording a 3:48:16 on the marathon leg. "I felt really good until mile 15, then I said, 'Oh, man!' I had my high points, and some low points."
De Boer drank some Coca-Cola, which gave her an energy boost, and walked through all aid stations after mile 15, putting one foot in front of the other.
"At one point I said to myself, 'What a crazy race this is! Yes, I'm insane!' But you just keep going, thinking about the next mile marker, how's my pace?; how's my stomach?" she said. "After a while, it was really about me, and no one else."
When you watch those Ironman finishes on television, it's a real tear-jerker. Bright lights, music, screaming fans, people collapsing at the sight of the finish banner -- what a vicarious thrill. But, when you're actually doing it, the feelings are quite different.
"The last two miles, you just want it to be over," said de Boer, who received a medal, a towel and a T-shirt after finishing. "I expected to cry, but I didn't. I smiled the whole time I was running around the oval. You are absolutely elated, but you are so tired, you're out of it, too. It's all just hitting me now."
"Yvette looked so happy all the time," said Joan, who with Tob, cycled the course to get a good view. "She was always laughing, and yelling at us, whooping it up for the camera"
"It was quite a spectacle, and very emotional," added Tob. "It is extreme, but Yvette knew she could do it. But as soon as I got the urge, I quickly laid down."
Would Yvette do it again?
"I said, 'Never again!' But then the days go by, and I think I'd like to do Hawaii, Japan or Canada. Right now, it feels good to shift emphasis to something else," de Boer said."So much of it was everything I wanted it to be, with all the training and getting ready. The race was a dream."
And, there had to be a lesson somewhere in that 11-hour day. De Boer acknowledges she learned it takes an entire community to build one Ironwoman. Bob Dattola generously lent her his $1,000, aerodynamic bike wheels; former Ironwomen Laurie Cuomo and Kim Snedden cycled with her; the masters swim team, and Terry Habecker, also an Ironman, gave her words of encouragement; the Finger Lakes Runners Club gave her scholarship money to attend a training camp; her parents were there cheering for her every step of the way.
"I come back to all the people who supported me," de Boer said. "I've never asked for help before -- I'm very solitary. I learned there are a lot of people who are excited to help you get ready to do something. Just ask..
"And, if anybody has a goal; puts his/her mind to it; puts in the discipline and time -- anything is possible."
-- Diane Sherrer
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