Ironman Lake Placid - Race Report

Wow where to begin, my 2nd Ironman was a huge success in my humble opinion.  We left Colorado for upstate New York on Thursday and spent the next 15 hours getting there.  It took 2 days to get back so not a likely repeat race as long as I am living in Colorado, very difficult coordinating.  We stayed Thursday evening way up state in Star Lake at my family's place.  Friday we drove down to Lake Placid and got checked into the race.  We skipped the pre race dinner and instead went to a cookout that my friend Chad invited us to.  That was a great change of pace and helped me relax.  Chad and I knew each other through email and his blogging of all things tri.  He had a big crew for the cookout, some very super triathletes, probably at least 6 Kona qualifiers there.  Anyway it was fun.

Saturday was a day of resting with a brief swim in mirror lake, a brief bike and run then checked in my bike and transition bags.  Then it was back to our house in Upper Lake Saranac to rest.  I had some more chicken and pasta for dinner.  Always works pre-race.

Race Day - Awake at 3:45AM (that's 1:45AM for me in Colorado, another difficulty).  I did sleep ok though, about 5 hours.  Pre-race meal was 2 bananas, 2 hard boiled eggs and a sugary granola bar.  I also had my first coffee in 3 days.  That did its cleansing trick and I got a quick hot shower.  Then we were off for a 40 minute drive to Lake Placid.  We stayed further away but it was cheap, probably won't save money next Ironman and try to be super close.  We came in the back way, which is paramount to parking at Lake Placid.  Then Dana and I walked up to the transition area.  I put bottles where they needed to be and then made the long hike to the special needs bag drop.  I had about an hour to kill so I decided to stand in the bathroom line and go one more time if possible.  I saw Chad and his crew sitting on the grass and wished them all luck and then headed to the swim area.

6:50AM the Pros take off on the swim.

7:00AM Swim start, mass chaos, 3,000 people give or take.

Swim 2.4 miles - 1:25

I thought I'd get done around 1:15 but it took me extra time given all the friggin people.  It was ridiculous really.  It never opened up.  I got kicked right in the eye the first minute of the swim.  But the cable is pretty sweet on the out and back swim.  I definitely kept it for siting, which helped.  I got out of my first lap around 42 minutes and promptly went back in the water for round 2.

T1 - About 6 minutes - there is a decent run from the swim back to transition so this was a pretty solid T1 for me.

Bike 112 miles - 6 hours 36 minutes

6 and a half hours is a long time on the bike.  I took it easy the first lap and kept my heart rate right where it was supposed to be.  No ego battles with the people near me.  Let them work hard.  I'll see you later.  I knew most of my race came down to the bike and Lake Placid is a hilly course.  In particular mile 44 and 100 (it's a double loop) have about a 10 mile climb.  It sucks really.  The funny thing is keeping my heart rate down, I was flying the first 28 miles.  It's mostly downhill.  I was like damn I am smoking.  Then around mile 28 the temperature goes up about 10 degrees in this low lying field.  My Garmin said it was close to 80 degrees.  Then the gradual uphill begins, ugh.  Now I am in the heart of Ironman.  Once again I realize I am not as fast as I hoped on the bike but my heart rate is holding.

I finished Loop 1 in about 3:20 and saw my family screaming for me.  That helped.  Now it was time to let loose with whatever I had left in the tank.  I gave it all I had on lap 2.  I figured I passed 500 people, all those crazy folks who went out too hard.  After the race it turns out it was about 490 people.  Not too bad and one heckuva a good feeling.  I negative split with about a 3:16.  Very happy with that and now just need to run a marathon.

T2 - about 3.5 minutes...I did not waste any time and wanted to get this thing over with.

Run 26.2 miles - 4 hourse 18 minutes.

I figured this would be tough but dang that run course is just mean.  I had to crap at mile 1.5 but was happy to get that over with I thought my stomach was going to explode.  There's a good downhill coming out of town.  I saw my family again and they screamed and I managed to high five a bunch of them.  I took it nice and easy with little steps on the downhill.  This time the passing started right away.  I held a steady pace under 10 minute miles.  But man that hill coming back into town was a beast on the out and back.  I finished the first 13.1 miles in about 2 hours and 4 minutes.  Just 13.1 miles to go.  I held steady under 10 minutes or so but that 2nd half hurt my quads every step.  But I kept running and gave it every ounce of energy I had.  I took in aid at every station (coke, powerade, chicken broth, water).

A lot of people were walking.  There's an old line I read about the run course of Ironman being littered with fit dudes walking and talking about their great bike split.  I felt like I passed another 500 people.  Turns out it was about 425 people.  Another great feeling.  When you run uphill in town and other people are walking, the crowd goes bonkers and screams your name for putting out the effort to run.  That was just AWESOME, really kept me going.  My family was snapping pictures and screaming too.  So I made it up the big hill again and made the turnaround toward the finish.  The finishing shoot was going crazy, I was pumping my arm and screaming back at the crowd.  It was surreal, like walking on clouds.  And with that I am a multiple Ironman finisher in 12:30:02...1 hour 8 minutes better than my first.  Very satisfied putting all I had into that race.  It felt good to push hard one week after our little cat Maui passed away.  To top it off I raced for the Janus Charity Challenge and raised almost $4,000 for Autism Speaks.

YEAH BABY!!!

ONE HAPPY DUDE!!!

THE BEST CHEERING AND SUPPORTING CREW IN THE LAND!!!

HAPPY TRAINING!!!