I’ve only been up to Lake Placid once before in the dead of winter to do some skiing, man it is a beautiful place no matter what the season. I’m considering vacationing again just for some hiking/family fun. We stayed at the Crowne Plaza for the race which is perched on top of a pretty large hill with some great views of Mirror Lake and the surrounding scenery (no so great going up the hill POST race, haha). Anyways, on to the race:
Race morning I was up at 4:00am for pre-race breakfast. It consisted of a plain bagel with a healthy heaping of Adams Almond Butter, Nutella and a banana, topped off with some coffee of course. At 4:45 I was headed to transition. Since I had already packed up my bike and run bags the day before all I needed to do was inflate my tires and put my nutrition on the bike. I’m used to spending some time in transition getting everything ready so the fact that it only took me 10 minutes was nice, but I wished I had slept a little longer.
Swim: (56:05 - 38th overall, 6th M25-29)
By 5:15am or so I was headed over to the swim start where I put my wetsuit on and relaxed at one of the picnic tables while waiting for the swim warm-up. Time seemed to drag at this point and nerves were kicking in but eventually it was time to get in and warm up which seemed to take my mind off the 140.6 miles in front of me. At this point the weather was really nice, but there were mumblings amongst the other athletes about when the rain would come. From what I heard most were expecting it later in the day.
Finally it was time to line up for the staggered start and I placed myself in the 1hr or less group. I swam collegiately so swimming is definitely my most comfortable event after running. The cannon went off right at 6:30am and I was off at a relaxed pace. Given that you are swimming with other athletes of similar capabilities it didn’t really thin out until the first turn buoy. My first lap was 27:29, right where I wanted to be. The second lap was brutal because I began to run into the swimmers who started later, this lead to a choppy second lap that seemed much more challenging. I finished the second lap in 28:36 for a total swim time of 56:05. I was really happy with this for my first Ironman swim and it hadn’t taken much out of me.
Exiting to transition the rain had already started and it was really coming down. I quickly made my way through transition in 3:56 and headed out onto the bike course.
Bike: (6:03:12 - 226th overall, 26th M25-29)
Right out of transition you are headed down some steep short hills and with the rain really coming down large puddles of standing water had already formed. I decided to be cautious and stay up right so I made my way carefully. The next hour is basically a blur because I was freezing my ass off. It was down pouring and on the descents I froze. I was shivering pretty bad and I could tell it was taking a lot of energy out of me. I started to take down nutrition in an attempt to take my mind off being so cold. For the ride I had two bottles each with 2k calories of Infinit nutrition, one for each loop. Approaching the halfway point the rain started to let up and I completed the first lap in 2:56. Everyone and their mother said not to take it out too hard on the first lap so I followed their advice. The second lap was great weather wise and I finally warmed up. My lack of long rides while training started show here because even though my NP was only 165 watts to that point I was fatiguing more than I expected. And by the last 20 miles I really just wanted to be off the bike. I finished the second loop in 3:07 for a total time of 6:03, a pretty even effort.
I used the men’s room during the bike to run transition which slowed me down a bit but I still managed a 3:55 transition time.
Run: (3:10:36 77th overall, 9th M25-29)
Since I had never done an Ironman I had no idea what to expect from myself on the marathon after putting 112 miles on my legs. I’ll tell you what though, the volunteers and all the spectators on the course cheering you on and the fact that I got to see my family 5 times throughout the run really pulled me through. I am a strong runner so I ran the first half at 7:15-7:30 pace. I was passing a lot of people which really gave me an adrenaline rush. I was 226th overall going into the run and by mile 16 I was 116th and by mile 26 I was 77th. I also moved from 26th in my age group to 9th with a finishing marathon time of 3:10:36. I had no idea I was capable of that type of running going into this. My fastest open marathon time in 2:59 so I assumed I would be in the 3:45-4:00hr range after so many miles on the bike. In fact, the entire run I was thinking to myself that I am going to cramp up at any moment, but it never came. Nutrition wise I had 2 GU an hour and only water at the aid stations.
All together I finished in 10:17:44 which was good enough for 77th overall and 9th in my age group. If you use the adjusted times due to the swim debacle I’m 10th in my age group and 92nd overall. Either way I am really happy with my first Ironman race. I can probably strike a better bike/run balance and improve my time now that I know what I am capable of. Also, I’ve read it a million times here, but I need a few more long rides. Sadly my longest was 56 miles for Syracuse 70.3 a month before. With a 3yr old and almost 1yr old I try to keep my weekends free for the kiddos. I guess I have some really early weekday mornings in front of me before my next Ironman.
Any suggestions on where my next ironman should be? I like to use the week as a vacation for the family as well so although I am from Boston anywhere in the continental U.S. is fair game. You might even be able to convince me to go outside the U.S. if it’s compelling enough!
edit to fix spacing issue.
Race morning I was up at 4:00am for pre-race breakfast. It consisted of a plain bagel with a healthy heaping of Adams Almond Butter, Nutella and a banana, topped off with some coffee of course. At 4:45 I was headed to transition. Since I had already packed up my bike and run bags the day before all I needed to do was inflate my tires and put my nutrition on the bike. I’m used to spending some time in transition getting everything ready so the fact that it only took me 10 minutes was nice, but I wished I had slept a little longer.
Swim: (56:05 - 38th overall, 6th M25-29)
By 5:15am or so I was headed over to the swim start where I put my wetsuit on and relaxed at one of the picnic tables while waiting for the swim warm-up. Time seemed to drag at this point and nerves were kicking in but eventually it was time to get in and warm up which seemed to take my mind off the 140.6 miles in front of me. At this point the weather was really nice, but there were mumblings amongst the other athletes about when the rain would come. From what I heard most were expecting it later in the day.
Finally it was time to line up for the staggered start and I placed myself in the 1hr or less group. I swam collegiately so swimming is definitely my most comfortable event after running. The cannon went off right at 6:30am and I was off at a relaxed pace. Given that you are swimming with other athletes of similar capabilities it didn’t really thin out until the first turn buoy. My first lap was 27:29, right where I wanted to be. The second lap was brutal because I began to run into the swimmers who started later, this lead to a choppy second lap that seemed much more challenging. I finished the second lap in 28:36 for a total swim time of 56:05. I was really happy with this for my first Ironman swim and it hadn’t taken much out of me.
Exiting to transition the rain had already started and it was really coming down. I quickly made my way through transition in 3:56 and headed out onto the bike course.
Bike: (6:03:12 - 226th overall, 26th M25-29)
Right out of transition you are headed down some steep short hills and with the rain really coming down large puddles of standing water had already formed. I decided to be cautious and stay up right so I made my way carefully. The next hour is basically a blur because I was freezing my ass off. It was down pouring and on the descents I froze. I was shivering pretty bad and I could tell it was taking a lot of energy out of me. I started to take down nutrition in an attempt to take my mind off being so cold. For the ride I had two bottles each with 2k calories of Infinit nutrition, one for each loop. Approaching the halfway point the rain started to let up and I completed the first lap in 2:56. Everyone and their mother said not to take it out too hard on the first lap so I followed their advice. The second lap was great weather wise and I finally warmed up. My lack of long rides while training started show here because even though my NP was only 165 watts to that point I was fatiguing more than I expected. And by the last 20 miles I really just wanted to be off the bike. I finished the second loop in 3:07 for a total time of 6:03, a pretty even effort.
I used the men’s room during the bike to run transition which slowed me down a bit but I still managed a 3:55 transition time.
Run: (3:10:36 77th overall, 9th M25-29)
Since I had never done an Ironman I had no idea what to expect from myself on the marathon after putting 112 miles on my legs. I’ll tell you what though, the volunteers and all the spectators on the course cheering you on and the fact that I got to see my family 5 times throughout the run really pulled me through. I am a strong runner so I ran the first half at 7:15-7:30 pace. I was passing a lot of people which really gave me an adrenaline rush. I was 226th overall going into the run and by mile 16 I was 116th and by mile 26 I was 77th. I also moved from 26th in my age group to 9th with a finishing marathon time of 3:10:36. I had no idea I was capable of that type of running going into this. My fastest open marathon time in 2:59 so I assumed I would be in the 3:45-4:00hr range after so many miles on the bike. In fact, the entire run I was thinking to myself that I am going to cramp up at any moment, but it never came. Nutrition wise I had 2 GU an hour and only water at the aid stations.
All together I finished in 10:17:44 which was good enough for 77th overall and 9th in my age group. If you use the adjusted times due to the swim debacle I’m 10th in my age group and 92nd overall. Either way I am really happy with my first Ironman race. I can probably strike a better bike/run balance and improve my time now that I know what I am capable of. Also, I’ve read it a million times here, but I need a few more long rides. Sadly my longest was 56 miles for Syracuse 70.3 a month before. With a 3yr old and almost 1yr old I try to keep my weekends free for the kiddos. I guess I have some really early weekday mornings in front of me before my next Ironman.
Any suggestions on where my next ironman should be? I like to use the week as a vacation for the family as well so although I am from Boston anywhere in the continental U.S. is fair game. You might even be able to convince me to go outside the U.S. if it’s compelling enough!
edit to fix spacing issue.
Last edited by:
davetheharris: Jul 30, 14 10:24
