I really enjoy reading long race reports, so I wanted to write about my experience at my first ironman in Lake Placid. Sorry for the delay but as you can imagine it took a while to put this together. (Cliff notes version at the bottom if you don't feel like reading or have time)
Prologue: After completing a number of halves, last year I decided I needed to step it up and try a full. For some reason, Lake Placid has always intrigued me as long as I've been following the sport so last year the day after the race I was online at noon and secured my spot. I have never been to Lake Placid before and looked forward to checking it out as well as racing. For the last year or so, I've been working with AJ Baucco of AJB Coaching with my goal set on finishing at Lake Placid. I've always been a MOP triathlete and was more focused on finishing than on my time in my first full. That being said, along the way I took 30+ minutes off my half time and have definitely improved in all aspects of racing. AJ chatted about a week before the race and he put a plan in place that I was very comfortable with. I was looking forward to putting it into action.
On to the big weekend...
Wednesday: My wife Megan and I worked a full day, then ate a quick dinner at home before heading out the door at 6:00 PM for LP. Since we were leaving after work, we weren't sure how far we wanted to drive, just that we weren't going to make it the whole way in one night. We were thinking that Harrisburg PA seemed like a good place to rest for the night so we had that penciled in. About an hour or two from there we started checking online for rooms and found that everything was basically booked up so we kept driving, eventually finding a place in Allentown PA. We drove longer than expected but that left less driving on Thursday which was kind of nice. (No workouts on Wednesday)
Thursday: Since we were up later than we expected, we slept in as long as we could and grabbed breakfast at the hotel before getting back on the road. We're Waze fans (it's a gps/traffic app for those unfamiliar with it) and used it to get most of the way to Lake Placid. Our lodging was in Keene, per a suggestion I received here on Slowtwitch. Everything was going wonderfully until we were about 5 miles from our cabin and I missed a turn, with no cell service Waze went into a panic and couldn't figure out where to go. Luckily we were close and I could figure out on the map the rest of the route. Around 3PM we pulled up to our home for the weekend, the Climber's Lodge at the Rock and River (http://www.rockandriver.com/) It was the perfect spot for us. We unloaded the car got settled in and then I headed out to Lake Placid to knock out a few workouts.
I drove into town from Keene and parked about 100 yards from the swim start, not really realizing how lucky I was to find such a great parking spot. The plan was for a 30 minute swim at the race site. I wasn't really sure how many people would be there since I felt like I was getting a pretty late start, but it was pretty busy. I donned my brand new Xterra Wetsuit for the first time and jumped in the water. I was hoping to get one full lap of the swim in but realized that would take me much longer than 30 minutes at the pace I was going, so after about 6 buoys I crossed the course and heading back towards shore. I felt great and the water wasn't nearly as cold as I was expecting which was a nice bonus. I ditched my wetsuit and put on my bike gear and headed out for a ride. For the bike I was supposed to do 90 minutes of Zn1 riding. Initially I headed right into the heart of Lake Placid and realized that wasn't very smart so turned around and headed back towards Keene. I thought I was on the bike course but wasn't quite sure, mainly confused by the arrows on the road that I would eventually learn were for the run course. I got about 3/4 of the way to Keene and realized I better turn around since I had a decent amount of climbing to do. It wasn't really a great ride from a heart rate perspective but once it was nice to feel out the course a bit. Once I got back to my car I headed I threw on some running shoes and did a quick easy 30 minute run around town. That allowed me to scope out the transition area, registration etc.
After my run, it was in the car and back to Keene. Had some dinner, caught up with my parents who were just getting into town, and just relaxed. Around 10, my friend Marc and his family rolled into town. Talked with them for a bit, showed them their room and headed to bed. All the workouts happened much later than expected but I was happy to get everything in and didn't worry about it too much.
Friday: I put my dad in charge of breakfast and he delivered. Shortly after waking up ate a good breakfast then started to get some things organized. I wanted to knock out my workouts early and I needed a driver, so Marc drove with me into Lake Placid. The schedule called for a short 10 minute swim, so he dropped me near the swim start and I hopped in the water and knocked that out. (There were considerably more people around and in the water than the night before and much less parking) For the bike my plan was to ride the descent all the way down. I've never ridden anywhere like that before so AJ thought it would be good to try it once or twice. Marc dropped me off just past Sugarworks Way on 73, which was basically the peak of the ride there. It looked like the bottom was about 12 or 13 miles from there in Jay or Upper Jay so I told him I'd meet him there. There were a lot of people on the road and a decent amount of traffic. It was good to see that part of the course and that's when I realized I'd done most of it the day before. Once I caught up to Marc, I threw on the bike shoes for a short run and then we headed back to Lake Placid. There we caught up with everyone else, registered his kids for the Ironkids fun run and grabbed some lunch. After that I went to registration to get my packet, that went smooth until I needed to get my chip. Their computers went down so we stood there for a bit while the line backed up. Some people got frustrated but a few minutes later we were out the door. We went over to the Ironkids race for the start of that. It was a pretty nice little event that they put together, way more people than we expected but fun for the kids. I thought they organizers did a good job herding all the children where they needed to be. The parents on the other hand were a different story, somebody should teach them how to follow directions!
After the race we walked around the expo area. I must admit, I'm generally disappointed with triathlon expos, always small, no great deals and very few freebies. I should probably lower my expectations but after doing some big marathons with awesome expos I keep hoping somebody will deliver! We left Lake Placid back to our lodge in Keene and relaxed and had dinner (carb loading for me). Marc was in charge and whipped up his famous chicken parm. A short while later we headed back to Lake Placid for the opening ceremony. Not typically an event I would attend but since it was my first time I thought it would be cool to check out. It was cool to hear some of the inspirational stories, hearing the story of Dave Silk (member of the Miracle on Ice team), Dave Mirra and folks from the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation, IMLP’s charity partner.
In the future if I'm close to the event I would check it out but don't think it would be worth the 1 hour round trip ride it was for us in Lake Placid. We headed back home and I got my transition bags ready. I didn't realize that I needed to drop everything off on Saturday so I had to get all that squared away. My aunt and uncle (the last two members of my support team) arrived after a day at Saratoga Raceway so we chatted with them for a bit before getting some shut eye.
Saturday: With no workouts scheduled, my big tasks for Saturday were checking my bike in, eating and resting! My dad had a great breakfast of pancakes, eggs, etc. ready for us in the morning. After that Megan and I headed into Lake Placid with my bike and transition bags. The others headed to various sites around the area. I wanted to listen to the athlete briefing, which was at 11, so I kind of hustled to set everything up and then headed to that.
Don't remember learning all that much from the meeting but I always like to attend them just to be safe. After the meeting I went back to the area near the transition bags where one of the race directors was giving an impromptu info session. That talk was much more helpful than the athlete briefing, it reviewed the logistics of the transition area and what to expect the next day. Following that I met up with one of my AJB teammates Mark and just BS'd for a bit. Most of the other AJBers are from Ohio so I don't see them much. It was cool to talk shop with someone who had been through a similar training plan and had a similar race plan in place. After chatting for a bit we went our separate ways, with Megan and I heading back to our lodge for lunch. The remainder of the afternoon was spent with the support crew trying to plan logistics for the next day. One smart thing I did was pack up most of my things, since I was pretty sure I wasn't going to want to spend a lot of time doing that the next day or Monday! I ate a small simple dinner according to the plan, which was tough since Marc made bacon wrapped filets for everyone else. I wanted to get a good night’s sleep and since I had breakfast planned for 3AM, I put myself to bed at 7PM. I was shocked that I was able to fall asleep pretty quickly, unfortunately that didn’t last long. I woke up around 9 and then tossed and turned for a few hours before I think finally falling back to sleep around 11. Sleeping is something I’m usually pretty strong at but this was like Christmas Eve times 1000!
Sunday: Ate breakfast on schedule at 3AM, showered, dressed, packed and was ready to go about an hour later. I checked my phone and saw a tweet from Ironman that said “We’re aware of the fire but Ironman Lake Placid is still on.” A little freaked out, I quickly googled it and saw the horrible fire that occurred Saturday night and was happy to learn that nobody was hurt. Realizing there wasn’t much to do or worry about we hopped in the car at 4:30 and headed into town. We had no idea what the parking situation would be like and didn’t want to leave anything to chance. We parked at the elementary school and got in a shuttle bus. Everything went smoothly and we were to the speed skating oval (aka the transition area) by 5AM or so. I got body marked, then pumped up my tires, set up my bottles and dropped off my special needs bags before my crew all got there. After that we took some pictures and I headed to the swim start. With the rolling start I wasn’t sure exactly where to position myself. I thought 1:10 might be a reasonable estimate for myself so I stood all the way at the back of the 1:01-1:10 crowd. The big talk as we waited for the start was the fire. It was split pretty evenly between people that knew about it and people that didn’t. Some people were even evacuated from their hotel from 6:30 to 10:30 Saturday night. That was the first time all weekend I was glad we were 30 minutes away in Keene. After the national anthem and some words from Mike Reilly, we were off!
Swim: The beginning was at little crazy at the start and I swam over the top of a lot of people but by the second buoy I was able to position myself right near the cable. I think I held a pretty good line after that and my first lap was 36:58 and I was content with that. It meant those people I swam over were a bit optimistic with their times but I should have expected that. I was actually pretty happy when I saw the clock as I was getting out of the water. I was wearing new goggles for the second or third time and they seemed too tight, it felt like they were crushing my skull so I stopped on the beach for a minute to loosen them. I wasn't too happy to give up the time but figured it was worth it so that I wasn't miserable for the whole second lap. The second lap I felt confident and like I was pushing harder and stronger but for some reason it was harder for me to keep the line and I seemed to have a lot of people in my way, maybe it was the quick stop on the beach. During the second lap, I got my goggles knocked off, got punched in the head, kicked in the eye and got stuck behind a guy that couldn’t swim straight to save his life. Every time I tried to pass he got in my way. Eventually I said “Screw it” and decided to swim as fast as I could to get by him. Big mistake! My hamstring immediately cramped up. I basically stopped kicking for a minute or two to let it relax. Eventually it was back to normal and I just kept plugging along. I was slightly disappointed that when I got out of the water my second lap was slower but I got over it quickly. Second lap: 39:57
Swim Split: 1:16:57
T1: Grabbed my bag and headed to the changing tent. I had my tri kit under my wetsuit so I just needed to put my bike gear on. I’m pretty terrible at transitions and since I was heading out for my longest ride in a race I wanted to be sure I had everything set. I ate a powerbar as planned since taking nutrition at the start of the bike seemed like it would be tough. As I hopped on my bike there was a guy near me whose bike shoes had just fallen apart, made a note to self not to let that happen in the future. I can’t think of many worse things to go wrong.
T1 Split: 11:29
Bike: My heart rate started off high on the bike as expected, up from the swim and then a bit of climbing at the beginning of the lap. I felt like the climb at the start of the lap was pretty tough and seemed to drag on forever. As we approached the big descent I was pretty excited to hit it with the road closed and relatively few riders around. I think it was huge to have ridden it previously so I would definitely suggest it to others. About ¾ of the way through the descent we passed to the street our lodge was on and Marc and his family were there to cheer me on. I was flying but able to wave at them with my left hand. Garmin said I hit 47 mph on the first lap and 48 mph on the second lap.
After that I just settled into my race and aimed for my heart rate goals. AJ and I had split the course into 4 equal parts. My goal for my first segment (the first 28 miles) was 135 and I rode 138. Even with the long downhill it was still 3 beats above my plan but I wasn’t too worried. The beginning of the second segment wasn’t all that eventful. I felt like I was starting to chafe a bit so late in the first lap I stopped at an aid station for Vaseline, it cost me a minute or two but the relief was well worth it. My nutrition plan was going great. 1 bottle of Gatorade and 1 gel every 30 minutes. Pretty simple but very effective for me. As we approached the famous climbs at the end of the first lap I focused on staying in my zone and not getting to excited by the crowds or the other athletes. Once I was back to the swim start I thought to myself “If I feel this good in 56 more miles, I’ll be very happy!” I was doing fine on nutrition so I skipped special needs and kept on riding. I saw some of my crew and I headed out for the 2nd lap, which gave me a nice boost. I felt great so just told myself to do it all over again. I felt like I hit the big descent even faster the second time through so I was happy with that as well. Somewhere during the second lap a guy passed me on the right even though I was riding on the white line. I wasn’t too happy about it but brushed it off. I passed him a short while later and felt better but then a few minutes later he passed me on the right again. Just like the first time I passed him again in the next mile or two. Thinking that was in the past for good I moved on. I was wrong! It wasn’t more than a few minutes there he was trying to pass me on the right again. I had enough I sat up and said “What the hell are you doing?” “What do you mean?” he said. “I don’t care if you pass me but pass me on the left, it’s safer for both of us.” I fired back. “I will next time” he said. Frustrated I pushed it a little bit and tried to leave him behind me. Thankfully I never saw him again. If that was the lowlight of the bike, one of highlights was an older woman sitting on her porch with Queen’s “Bicycle Race” blasting away. (Bicycle bicycle bicycle, I want to ride my bicycle bicycle bicycle!) One of the big goals for the weekend was to feel good at mile 80 on the bike. As I passed that mark, I was feeling great, so another mental boost. I kept on moving to the 3 bears (the series of 3 hills towards the end of the lap) and told myself to keep in control and push through there and then it would be time to run (my favorite part). The first time I went through the crowds were good and supportive but the second time through they were off the chart. It was great, I loved all the fans. I can see how some people blow up through there. It would have been easy to hit them way too hard and mess up my run. I fought that urge and stuck to my plan. Soon the road was level again and I knew we were close to transition. As I got ready to dismount I checked my garmin and was happy to learn I negative split the bike. My time was slower than I expected but really I had no basis for my estimate so I was still very pleased with my race to that point.
Bike Split: 6:24:33
T2: As I was finishing the bike I was noticing that it was starting to warm up. I made on small “tactical” adjustment. I was planning to run with my Headsweats visor and Rudy Project sunglasses but decided to keep my Headsweats “do rag” that I normally only wear under my bike helmet on as well. In training on hot days this has been quite effective to keep cool, either by soaking it with water or putting ice underneath it. I ditched my bike gear and headed out for the run. Just before the exit I hit up the sunscreen booth. I told them to apply it pretty thick because I felt like I was already cooked pretty good in a few spots. Saw my aunt and uncle and I was off!
T2 Split: 6:18
Run: The plan for the run was to for my HR to be +5 from my average bike HR within the first two miles and to go up from there. The start of the run was downhill so I was moving pretty good and got my HR where it was supposed to be. I was pretty happy and comfortable with how things were going. I focused on staying cool, drinking and following the nutrition plan. I was basically taking down as much Gatorade as I could get at each aid station. Every two miles I would put ice under my do rag, which worked out perfectly. It seemed like that was about how long it would take the ice to melt. It was good to start the run through town, with tons of people, but the same can’t be said about the out and back down Riverside Drive. It was lonely out there and I had no concept of where the turnaround would be, though once I got there I was very happy. Felt even better to get back in town and wrap up the first lap. I skipped run special needs as well, didn’t need anything and just wanted to keep going. After the first lap was over, things were going pretty well. Mentally I was telling myself I was less than halfway there and put one foot in front of the other. It was warm and getting warmer but I tried not to focus on that. The plan was to raise my HR one beat every mile or two, with AJ telling me at some point I wouldn’t be able to do that any longer. For a while I thought I would be able to prove him wrong but at some point I realized he was right. Somewhere in the mile 16-19 range things I started to hit the proverbial wall. There was walking and running and some less than positive thoughts. At one point I really wanted to jump in the river that ran along the side of the road. Around that time I looked at my HR and realized that it was way too low and tried to pick it up again. I’ve always bought into the belief that endurance sports are very much mental and I try to use the people around me to motivate me. That can take on different forms. Late during the second half of the run I looked around and people looked MISERABLE. Training in North Carolina I had dealt with much warmer weather. I saw a guy walking and sobbing and another guy “sleeping” in the grass on the side of the road (as I was approaching volunteers were helping him out). I told myself "I feel better than these people look" and tried to push myself again. I did have a quick issue with both of my calves cramping up. I put back 2 salt pills, nothing happened, put back 2 more, nothing, 2 more nothing, then eventually it seemed to get better. I was starting to wonder if I was going to overdose on salt so I was glad it went away. Once I got back to the main road where there were some crowds it motivated me and even though there were a bunch of hills, I tried to keep plugging on. I was enjoying the crowd and they were enjoying me. I know I wasn't moving fast but it felt better to be doing 10 or 11 minute miles than 12 or 13 minute miles. With 2 or 3 miles to go my fingers got tingly and I told myself "I know what to do!" I ate a banana at the next aid station and it went away. The end of the race was great, tons of energy in town and people around, if only there weren’t so many hills! I skipped the last aid station because I felt good and I just wanted to finish. The last half mile or so I realized it was almost over and was pretty stoked. As I entered the speed skating oval I saw my parents, said hi and handed them my visor, glasses etc. so I wouldn’t have to worry about them. The chute was crowded with two other guys in front of me. I wanted a good picture but at some point said screw it and just crossed the line. I was really hoping to run 4:20 but there’s always next time and I was happy to be an ironman!
Run split: 4:36:50
Post-Race: After I crossed the finish line I felt pretty relieved and very satisfied. I was immediately surrounded by a few volunteers. They gave me my finisher medal, shirt and hat and somebody took my timing chip. Somebody asked questions about how I felt, how many times I went to the bathroom and what color it was, unfortunately I didn’t know the answers to most of those questions. I’m not sure if he was a doctor or what but shortly after that he let me go. I dumped two bottles of waters over my head then drank two. I grabbed some pizza, a pretzel and a sprite and looked for my people. While I was looking for them I took one bite of the pretzel and threw it out, ditto with the pizza. My stomach didn’t want anything to do with it. I eventually found them and after talking with them for a few minutes I told them I was hot and I wanted to go back in Mirror Lake. I think they thought I was crazy but they weren’t about to argue and Marc’s kids were happy to join me. I didn’t really go swimming, just basically stood there but the cold water felt fantastic. After that we stood near the entrance to the speed skating oval and watched for a few of their friends to finish. Somebody wanted ice cream so we walked down Main St. and got some, I was actually able to down a milkshake by that point. It felt good to have something in my stomach. We headed back to the finish line to cheer on the rest of the finishers. It was probably about 9 or 10 and the kids were getting tired so we headed back to Keene. After about 5 minutes in the car I looked down at my hand and realized my wedding ring was gone. I had no idea where it was. I’ve worn it throughout training (since I’ve been married at least) and it hasn’t fallen off once. I told Megan, who wasn’t happy (not that I was) and it bummed both of us out. I was hoping it was in one of my transition bags or something but thought most likely it was at the bottom of Mirror Lake. Back home I tore apart all my bags and couldn’t find it. It was a pretty terrible end to a great day. I had a beer and a chick parm sandwich (first solid food since breakfast) and headed off to bed.
Monday: We woke up around 7 and had breakfast before we started packing up the car. I was definitely sore but able to move pretty well and felt better than after many marathons I’ve run in the past. We ate breakfast, said our goodbyes and got on the road. My wife was driving, which allowed me to relax enjoy the drive. Similar to our drive to Lake Placid, we didn’t have any set plans. We figured we would drive as long as we (or more specifically my wife) felt good. We got lunch at the Modena rest stop since it had a Moe’s in it. This seemed like a much better option than most of the other stops. After lunch we just keep plugging along. It was crazy how many other athletes we saw on our drive, fun scouting out the different bikes and where people were from. While we were driving I emailed ironman to see if anybody had turned in my ring. I was impressed they replied but unfortunately they didn’t have it. They told me to be patient. We kept on cruising along and stopped Tyson’s Corner in Virginia for dinner. We figured we had another hour or so of driving in us so we while we were stopped found a Hampton Inn off the highway in Fredericksburg and made a reservation. After dinner we were back on the road and checked into Hampton Inn. Megan did a great job getting us most of the way back to NC. We fell asleep pretty happy that we only had a few more hours left the next day.
Tuesday: Since we only had a few hours left, we were good to sleep in a bit before getting back on the road. Before getting in the car we took advantage of the breakfast at the hotel (my favorite) which was good because my appetite was definitely back! The rest of the drive was uneventful and we were both happy to be home just past noon. Back to reality unfortunately!
Friday: Great news, received word from Ironman that a volunteer turned in my wedding ring and they would send it to me ASAP. Extremely happy and feel extremely lucky. Was told that it was found on the beach so must it fallen off while they were stripping off my wetsuit. Sounds like a needle in a haystack!
Epilogue: I was very happy with how everything turned out. I believe following AJ’s coaching (training, nutrition, race plan) positioned me well for success and I was able to execute on most of it. There are obviously a few things I could have done better or would have done differently but wouldn’t change very much. Specifically on race day a few changes may have saved me a few minutes but I don’t feel like I left very much time on the course. I also felt finishing in 12:36 and 575 out of ~2000 in my first full was pretty respectable. When people asked me what my goal was, I didn’t have a time in mind; I just said I wanted to finish strong. I was hoping to run all (ok most) of the run course and have enough in the tank to cross the finish line without people concerned about me collapsing. From that perspective it was mission accomplished. At the end of the day, I wouldn’t have gotten there without amazing support. My wife put up with a ton of training of the last year and my friends & family were awesome at the race, including one of the best race signs ever.
To sum it up, I loved racing, even though it was a hard day it was a ton of fun and I look forward to doing it again!
Cliff Notes:
Prologue: First half ironman, been training with AJ of AJB coaching for a year, had a solid race plan.
Wednesday: Planned to drive to Harrisburg PA, no hotel rooms so kept driving to Allentown PA.
Thursday: Drove the rest of the way to Lake Placid, checked into the Climber’s Lodge at the Rock & River, then got a good swim, bike, run workout in.
Friday: Quick swim, quick ride down the descent into Keene, quick run followed by packet pickup, the Ironkids race, carb loading and the welcome ceremony.
Saturday: No workouts, bike check-in, catch up with AJB teammate Mark,
Sunday: Up at 3AM for breakfast and off to LP.
Swim: Slower than expected but didn’t sweat it.
T1: Slow transition, ate a powerbar, got on the bike.
Bike: Conservative bike, focused on race plan, happy with negative split.
T2: Ditch bike gear, covered in sunscreen, time to run!
Run: First half felt great, hit the wall for a bit, fought back strong.
Sunday night: Happy with a great day until realized wedding ring was gone.
Monday: Drove from Keene to Fredericksburg, tons of other IMLP athletes on the road
Tuesday: Home sweet home!
Friday: Ring found!
Epilogue: Psyched to have completed my first ironman on an amazing course with a respectable time.
Prologue: After completing a number of halves, last year I decided I needed to step it up and try a full. For some reason, Lake Placid has always intrigued me as long as I've been following the sport so last year the day after the race I was online at noon and secured my spot. I have never been to Lake Placid before and looked forward to checking it out as well as racing. For the last year or so, I've been working with AJ Baucco of AJB Coaching with my goal set on finishing at Lake Placid. I've always been a MOP triathlete and was more focused on finishing than on my time in my first full. That being said, along the way I took 30+ minutes off my half time and have definitely improved in all aspects of racing. AJ chatted about a week before the race and he put a plan in place that I was very comfortable with. I was looking forward to putting it into action.
On to the big weekend...
Wednesday: My wife Megan and I worked a full day, then ate a quick dinner at home before heading out the door at 6:00 PM for LP. Since we were leaving after work, we weren't sure how far we wanted to drive, just that we weren't going to make it the whole way in one night. We were thinking that Harrisburg PA seemed like a good place to rest for the night so we had that penciled in. About an hour or two from there we started checking online for rooms and found that everything was basically booked up so we kept driving, eventually finding a place in Allentown PA. We drove longer than expected but that left less driving on Thursday which was kind of nice. (No workouts on Wednesday)
Thursday: Since we were up later than we expected, we slept in as long as we could and grabbed breakfast at the hotel before getting back on the road. We're Waze fans (it's a gps/traffic app for those unfamiliar with it) and used it to get most of the way to Lake Placid. Our lodging was in Keene, per a suggestion I received here on Slowtwitch. Everything was going wonderfully until we were about 5 miles from our cabin and I missed a turn, with no cell service Waze went into a panic and couldn't figure out where to go. Luckily we were close and I could figure out on the map the rest of the route. Around 3PM we pulled up to our home for the weekend, the Climber's Lodge at the Rock and River (http://www.rockandriver.com/) It was the perfect spot for us. We unloaded the car got settled in and then I headed out to Lake Placid to knock out a few workouts.
I drove into town from Keene and parked about 100 yards from the swim start, not really realizing how lucky I was to find such a great parking spot. The plan was for a 30 minute swim at the race site. I wasn't really sure how many people would be there since I felt like I was getting a pretty late start, but it was pretty busy. I donned my brand new Xterra Wetsuit for the first time and jumped in the water. I was hoping to get one full lap of the swim in but realized that would take me much longer than 30 minutes at the pace I was going, so after about 6 buoys I crossed the course and heading back towards shore. I felt great and the water wasn't nearly as cold as I was expecting which was a nice bonus. I ditched my wetsuit and put on my bike gear and headed out for a ride. For the bike I was supposed to do 90 minutes of Zn1 riding. Initially I headed right into the heart of Lake Placid and realized that wasn't very smart so turned around and headed back towards Keene. I thought I was on the bike course but wasn't quite sure, mainly confused by the arrows on the road that I would eventually learn were for the run course. I got about 3/4 of the way to Keene and realized I better turn around since I had a decent amount of climbing to do. It wasn't really a great ride from a heart rate perspective but once it was nice to feel out the course a bit. Once I got back to my car I headed I threw on some running shoes and did a quick easy 30 minute run around town. That allowed me to scope out the transition area, registration etc.
After my run, it was in the car and back to Keene. Had some dinner, caught up with my parents who were just getting into town, and just relaxed. Around 10, my friend Marc and his family rolled into town. Talked with them for a bit, showed them their room and headed to bed. All the workouts happened much later than expected but I was happy to get everything in and didn't worry about it too much.
Friday: I put my dad in charge of breakfast and he delivered. Shortly after waking up ate a good breakfast then started to get some things organized. I wanted to knock out my workouts early and I needed a driver, so Marc drove with me into Lake Placid. The schedule called for a short 10 minute swim, so he dropped me near the swim start and I hopped in the water and knocked that out. (There were considerably more people around and in the water than the night before and much less parking) For the bike my plan was to ride the descent all the way down. I've never ridden anywhere like that before so AJ thought it would be good to try it once or twice. Marc dropped me off just past Sugarworks Way on 73, which was basically the peak of the ride there. It looked like the bottom was about 12 or 13 miles from there in Jay or Upper Jay so I told him I'd meet him there. There were a lot of people on the road and a decent amount of traffic. It was good to see that part of the course and that's when I realized I'd done most of it the day before. Once I caught up to Marc, I threw on the bike shoes for a short run and then we headed back to Lake Placid. There we caught up with everyone else, registered his kids for the Ironkids fun run and grabbed some lunch. After that I went to registration to get my packet, that went smooth until I needed to get my chip. Their computers went down so we stood there for a bit while the line backed up. Some people got frustrated but a few minutes later we were out the door. We went over to the Ironkids race for the start of that. It was a pretty nice little event that they put together, way more people than we expected but fun for the kids. I thought they organizers did a good job herding all the children where they needed to be. The parents on the other hand were a different story, somebody should teach them how to follow directions!
After the race we walked around the expo area. I must admit, I'm generally disappointed with triathlon expos, always small, no great deals and very few freebies. I should probably lower my expectations but after doing some big marathons with awesome expos I keep hoping somebody will deliver! We left Lake Placid back to our lodge in Keene and relaxed and had dinner (carb loading for me). Marc was in charge and whipped up his famous chicken parm. A short while later we headed back to Lake Placid for the opening ceremony. Not typically an event I would attend but since it was my first time I thought it would be cool to check out. It was cool to hear some of the inspirational stories, hearing the story of Dave Silk (member of the Miracle on Ice team), Dave Mirra and folks from the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation, IMLP’s charity partner.
In the future if I'm close to the event I would check it out but don't think it would be worth the 1 hour round trip ride it was for us in Lake Placid. We headed back home and I got my transition bags ready. I didn't realize that I needed to drop everything off on Saturday so I had to get all that squared away. My aunt and uncle (the last two members of my support team) arrived after a day at Saratoga Raceway so we chatted with them for a bit before getting some shut eye.
Saturday: With no workouts scheduled, my big tasks for Saturday were checking my bike in, eating and resting! My dad had a great breakfast of pancakes, eggs, etc. ready for us in the morning. After that Megan and I headed into Lake Placid with my bike and transition bags. The others headed to various sites around the area. I wanted to listen to the athlete briefing, which was at 11, so I kind of hustled to set everything up and then headed to that.
Don't remember learning all that much from the meeting but I always like to attend them just to be safe. After the meeting I went back to the area near the transition bags where one of the race directors was giving an impromptu info session. That talk was much more helpful than the athlete briefing, it reviewed the logistics of the transition area and what to expect the next day. Following that I met up with one of my AJB teammates Mark and just BS'd for a bit. Most of the other AJBers are from Ohio so I don't see them much. It was cool to talk shop with someone who had been through a similar training plan and had a similar race plan in place. After chatting for a bit we went our separate ways, with Megan and I heading back to our lodge for lunch. The remainder of the afternoon was spent with the support crew trying to plan logistics for the next day. One smart thing I did was pack up most of my things, since I was pretty sure I wasn't going to want to spend a lot of time doing that the next day or Monday! I ate a small simple dinner according to the plan, which was tough since Marc made bacon wrapped filets for everyone else. I wanted to get a good night’s sleep and since I had breakfast planned for 3AM, I put myself to bed at 7PM. I was shocked that I was able to fall asleep pretty quickly, unfortunately that didn’t last long. I woke up around 9 and then tossed and turned for a few hours before I think finally falling back to sleep around 11. Sleeping is something I’m usually pretty strong at but this was like Christmas Eve times 1000!
Sunday: Ate breakfast on schedule at 3AM, showered, dressed, packed and was ready to go about an hour later. I checked my phone and saw a tweet from Ironman that said “We’re aware of the fire but Ironman Lake Placid is still on.” A little freaked out, I quickly googled it and saw the horrible fire that occurred Saturday night and was happy to learn that nobody was hurt. Realizing there wasn’t much to do or worry about we hopped in the car at 4:30 and headed into town. We had no idea what the parking situation would be like and didn’t want to leave anything to chance. We parked at the elementary school and got in a shuttle bus. Everything went smoothly and we were to the speed skating oval (aka the transition area) by 5AM or so. I got body marked, then pumped up my tires, set up my bottles and dropped off my special needs bags before my crew all got there. After that we took some pictures and I headed to the swim start. With the rolling start I wasn’t sure exactly where to position myself. I thought 1:10 might be a reasonable estimate for myself so I stood all the way at the back of the 1:01-1:10 crowd. The big talk as we waited for the start was the fire. It was split pretty evenly between people that knew about it and people that didn’t. Some people were even evacuated from their hotel from 6:30 to 10:30 Saturday night. That was the first time all weekend I was glad we were 30 minutes away in Keene. After the national anthem and some words from Mike Reilly, we were off!
Swim: The beginning was at little crazy at the start and I swam over the top of a lot of people but by the second buoy I was able to position myself right near the cable. I think I held a pretty good line after that and my first lap was 36:58 and I was content with that. It meant those people I swam over were a bit optimistic with their times but I should have expected that. I was actually pretty happy when I saw the clock as I was getting out of the water. I was wearing new goggles for the second or third time and they seemed too tight, it felt like they were crushing my skull so I stopped on the beach for a minute to loosen them. I wasn't too happy to give up the time but figured it was worth it so that I wasn't miserable for the whole second lap. The second lap I felt confident and like I was pushing harder and stronger but for some reason it was harder for me to keep the line and I seemed to have a lot of people in my way, maybe it was the quick stop on the beach. During the second lap, I got my goggles knocked off, got punched in the head, kicked in the eye and got stuck behind a guy that couldn’t swim straight to save his life. Every time I tried to pass he got in my way. Eventually I said “Screw it” and decided to swim as fast as I could to get by him. Big mistake! My hamstring immediately cramped up. I basically stopped kicking for a minute or two to let it relax. Eventually it was back to normal and I just kept plugging along. I was slightly disappointed that when I got out of the water my second lap was slower but I got over it quickly. Second lap: 39:57
Swim Split: 1:16:57
T1: Grabbed my bag and headed to the changing tent. I had my tri kit under my wetsuit so I just needed to put my bike gear on. I’m pretty terrible at transitions and since I was heading out for my longest ride in a race I wanted to be sure I had everything set. I ate a powerbar as planned since taking nutrition at the start of the bike seemed like it would be tough. As I hopped on my bike there was a guy near me whose bike shoes had just fallen apart, made a note to self not to let that happen in the future. I can’t think of many worse things to go wrong.
T1 Split: 11:29
Bike: My heart rate started off high on the bike as expected, up from the swim and then a bit of climbing at the beginning of the lap. I felt like the climb at the start of the lap was pretty tough and seemed to drag on forever. As we approached the big descent I was pretty excited to hit it with the road closed and relatively few riders around. I think it was huge to have ridden it previously so I would definitely suggest it to others. About ¾ of the way through the descent we passed to the street our lodge was on and Marc and his family were there to cheer me on. I was flying but able to wave at them with my left hand. Garmin said I hit 47 mph on the first lap and 48 mph on the second lap.
After that I just settled into my race and aimed for my heart rate goals. AJ and I had split the course into 4 equal parts. My goal for my first segment (the first 28 miles) was 135 and I rode 138. Even with the long downhill it was still 3 beats above my plan but I wasn’t too worried. The beginning of the second segment wasn’t all that eventful. I felt like I was starting to chafe a bit so late in the first lap I stopped at an aid station for Vaseline, it cost me a minute or two but the relief was well worth it. My nutrition plan was going great. 1 bottle of Gatorade and 1 gel every 30 minutes. Pretty simple but very effective for me. As we approached the famous climbs at the end of the first lap I focused on staying in my zone and not getting to excited by the crowds or the other athletes. Once I was back to the swim start I thought to myself “If I feel this good in 56 more miles, I’ll be very happy!” I was doing fine on nutrition so I skipped special needs and kept on riding. I saw some of my crew and I headed out for the 2nd lap, which gave me a nice boost. I felt great so just told myself to do it all over again. I felt like I hit the big descent even faster the second time through so I was happy with that as well. Somewhere during the second lap a guy passed me on the right even though I was riding on the white line. I wasn’t too happy about it but brushed it off. I passed him a short while later and felt better but then a few minutes later he passed me on the right again. Just like the first time I passed him again in the next mile or two. Thinking that was in the past for good I moved on. I was wrong! It wasn’t more than a few minutes there he was trying to pass me on the right again. I had enough I sat up and said “What the hell are you doing?” “What do you mean?” he said. “I don’t care if you pass me but pass me on the left, it’s safer for both of us.” I fired back. “I will next time” he said. Frustrated I pushed it a little bit and tried to leave him behind me. Thankfully I never saw him again. If that was the lowlight of the bike, one of highlights was an older woman sitting on her porch with Queen’s “Bicycle Race” blasting away. (Bicycle bicycle bicycle, I want to ride my bicycle bicycle bicycle!) One of the big goals for the weekend was to feel good at mile 80 on the bike. As I passed that mark, I was feeling great, so another mental boost. I kept on moving to the 3 bears (the series of 3 hills towards the end of the lap) and told myself to keep in control and push through there and then it would be time to run (my favorite part). The first time I went through the crowds were good and supportive but the second time through they were off the chart. It was great, I loved all the fans. I can see how some people blow up through there. It would have been easy to hit them way too hard and mess up my run. I fought that urge and stuck to my plan. Soon the road was level again and I knew we were close to transition. As I got ready to dismount I checked my garmin and was happy to learn I negative split the bike. My time was slower than I expected but really I had no basis for my estimate so I was still very pleased with my race to that point.
Bike Split: 6:24:33
T2: As I was finishing the bike I was noticing that it was starting to warm up. I made on small “tactical” adjustment. I was planning to run with my Headsweats visor and Rudy Project sunglasses but decided to keep my Headsweats “do rag” that I normally only wear under my bike helmet on as well. In training on hot days this has been quite effective to keep cool, either by soaking it with water or putting ice underneath it. I ditched my bike gear and headed out for the run. Just before the exit I hit up the sunscreen booth. I told them to apply it pretty thick because I felt like I was already cooked pretty good in a few spots. Saw my aunt and uncle and I was off!
T2 Split: 6:18
Run: The plan for the run was to for my HR to be +5 from my average bike HR within the first two miles and to go up from there. The start of the run was downhill so I was moving pretty good and got my HR where it was supposed to be. I was pretty happy and comfortable with how things were going. I focused on staying cool, drinking and following the nutrition plan. I was basically taking down as much Gatorade as I could get at each aid station. Every two miles I would put ice under my do rag, which worked out perfectly. It seemed like that was about how long it would take the ice to melt. It was good to start the run through town, with tons of people, but the same can’t be said about the out and back down Riverside Drive. It was lonely out there and I had no concept of where the turnaround would be, though once I got there I was very happy. Felt even better to get back in town and wrap up the first lap. I skipped run special needs as well, didn’t need anything and just wanted to keep going. After the first lap was over, things were going pretty well. Mentally I was telling myself I was less than halfway there and put one foot in front of the other. It was warm and getting warmer but I tried not to focus on that. The plan was to raise my HR one beat every mile or two, with AJ telling me at some point I wouldn’t be able to do that any longer. For a while I thought I would be able to prove him wrong but at some point I realized he was right. Somewhere in the mile 16-19 range things I started to hit the proverbial wall. There was walking and running and some less than positive thoughts. At one point I really wanted to jump in the river that ran along the side of the road. Around that time I looked at my HR and realized that it was way too low and tried to pick it up again. I’ve always bought into the belief that endurance sports are very much mental and I try to use the people around me to motivate me. That can take on different forms. Late during the second half of the run I looked around and people looked MISERABLE. Training in North Carolina I had dealt with much warmer weather. I saw a guy walking and sobbing and another guy “sleeping” in the grass on the side of the road (as I was approaching volunteers were helping him out). I told myself "I feel better than these people look" and tried to push myself again. I did have a quick issue with both of my calves cramping up. I put back 2 salt pills, nothing happened, put back 2 more, nothing, 2 more nothing, then eventually it seemed to get better. I was starting to wonder if I was going to overdose on salt so I was glad it went away. Once I got back to the main road where there were some crowds it motivated me and even though there were a bunch of hills, I tried to keep plugging on. I was enjoying the crowd and they were enjoying me. I know I wasn't moving fast but it felt better to be doing 10 or 11 minute miles than 12 or 13 minute miles. With 2 or 3 miles to go my fingers got tingly and I told myself "I know what to do!" I ate a banana at the next aid station and it went away. The end of the race was great, tons of energy in town and people around, if only there weren’t so many hills! I skipped the last aid station because I felt good and I just wanted to finish. The last half mile or so I realized it was almost over and was pretty stoked. As I entered the speed skating oval I saw my parents, said hi and handed them my visor, glasses etc. so I wouldn’t have to worry about them. The chute was crowded with two other guys in front of me. I wanted a good picture but at some point said screw it and just crossed the line. I was really hoping to run 4:20 but there’s always next time and I was happy to be an ironman!
Run split: 4:36:50
Post-Race: After I crossed the finish line I felt pretty relieved and very satisfied. I was immediately surrounded by a few volunteers. They gave me my finisher medal, shirt and hat and somebody took my timing chip. Somebody asked questions about how I felt, how many times I went to the bathroom and what color it was, unfortunately I didn’t know the answers to most of those questions. I’m not sure if he was a doctor or what but shortly after that he let me go. I dumped two bottles of waters over my head then drank two. I grabbed some pizza, a pretzel and a sprite and looked for my people. While I was looking for them I took one bite of the pretzel and threw it out, ditto with the pizza. My stomach didn’t want anything to do with it. I eventually found them and after talking with them for a few minutes I told them I was hot and I wanted to go back in Mirror Lake. I think they thought I was crazy but they weren’t about to argue and Marc’s kids were happy to join me. I didn’t really go swimming, just basically stood there but the cold water felt fantastic. After that we stood near the entrance to the speed skating oval and watched for a few of their friends to finish. Somebody wanted ice cream so we walked down Main St. and got some, I was actually able to down a milkshake by that point. It felt good to have something in my stomach. We headed back to the finish line to cheer on the rest of the finishers. It was probably about 9 or 10 and the kids were getting tired so we headed back to Keene. After about 5 minutes in the car I looked down at my hand and realized my wedding ring was gone. I had no idea where it was. I’ve worn it throughout training (since I’ve been married at least) and it hasn’t fallen off once. I told Megan, who wasn’t happy (not that I was) and it bummed both of us out. I was hoping it was in one of my transition bags or something but thought most likely it was at the bottom of Mirror Lake. Back home I tore apart all my bags and couldn’t find it. It was a pretty terrible end to a great day. I had a beer and a chick parm sandwich (first solid food since breakfast) and headed off to bed.
Monday: We woke up around 7 and had breakfast before we started packing up the car. I was definitely sore but able to move pretty well and felt better than after many marathons I’ve run in the past. We ate breakfast, said our goodbyes and got on the road. My wife was driving, which allowed me to relax enjoy the drive. Similar to our drive to Lake Placid, we didn’t have any set plans. We figured we would drive as long as we (or more specifically my wife) felt good. We got lunch at the Modena rest stop since it had a Moe’s in it. This seemed like a much better option than most of the other stops. After lunch we just keep plugging along. It was crazy how many other athletes we saw on our drive, fun scouting out the different bikes and where people were from. While we were driving I emailed ironman to see if anybody had turned in my ring. I was impressed they replied but unfortunately they didn’t have it. They told me to be patient. We kept on cruising along and stopped Tyson’s Corner in Virginia for dinner. We figured we had another hour or so of driving in us so we while we were stopped found a Hampton Inn off the highway in Fredericksburg and made a reservation. After dinner we were back on the road and checked into Hampton Inn. Megan did a great job getting us most of the way back to NC. We fell asleep pretty happy that we only had a few more hours left the next day.
Tuesday: Since we only had a few hours left, we were good to sleep in a bit before getting back on the road. Before getting in the car we took advantage of the breakfast at the hotel (my favorite) which was good because my appetite was definitely back! The rest of the drive was uneventful and we were both happy to be home just past noon. Back to reality unfortunately!
Friday: Great news, received word from Ironman that a volunteer turned in my wedding ring and they would send it to me ASAP. Extremely happy and feel extremely lucky. Was told that it was found on the beach so must it fallen off while they were stripping off my wetsuit. Sounds like a needle in a haystack!
Epilogue: I was very happy with how everything turned out. I believe following AJ’s coaching (training, nutrition, race plan) positioned me well for success and I was able to execute on most of it. There are obviously a few things I could have done better or would have done differently but wouldn’t change very much. Specifically on race day a few changes may have saved me a few minutes but I don’t feel like I left very much time on the course. I also felt finishing in 12:36 and 575 out of ~2000 in my first full was pretty respectable. When people asked me what my goal was, I didn’t have a time in mind; I just said I wanted to finish strong. I was hoping to run all (ok most) of the run course and have enough in the tank to cross the finish line without people concerned about me collapsing. From that perspective it was mission accomplished. At the end of the day, I wouldn’t have gotten there without amazing support. My wife put up with a ton of training of the last year and my friends & family were awesome at the race, including one of the best race signs ever.
To sum it up, I loved racing, even though it was a hard day it was a ton of fun and I look forward to doing it again!
Cliff Notes:
Prologue: First half ironman, been training with AJ of AJB coaching for a year, had a solid race plan.
Wednesday: Planned to drive to Harrisburg PA, no hotel rooms so kept driving to Allentown PA.
Thursday: Drove the rest of the way to Lake Placid, checked into the Climber’s Lodge at the Rock & River, then got a good swim, bike, run workout in.
Friday: Quick swim, quick ride down the descent into Keene, quick run followed by packet pickup, the Ironkids race, carb loading and the welcome ceremony.
Saturday: No workouts, bike check-in, catch up with AJB teammate Mark,
Sunday: Up at 3AM for breakfast and off to LP.
Swim: Slower than expected but didn’t sweat it.
T1: Slow transition, ate a powerbar, got on the bike.
Bike: Conservative bike, focused on race plan, happy with negative split.
T2: Ditch bike gear, covered in sunscreen, time to run!
Run: First half felt great, hit the wall for a bit, fought back strong.
Sunday night: Happy with a great day until realized wedding ring was gone.
Monday: Drove from Keene to Fredericksburg, tons of other IMLP athletes on the road
Tuesday: Home sweet home!
Friday: Ring found!
Epilogue: Psyched to have completed my first ironman on an amazing course with a respectable time.