Showed up in Lake Placid on the Wednesday before the race. The pre-race days were filled with last minute tasks, eating, drinking, and just keeping the feet up.
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Here’s a shot of some STer’s. DawnT, Swordfish, Me, Chris_G, and Record10Carbon. Really nice to grab a beer (but only one right…) with some new faces. After i left the average age of the group shot up by about 20 years.
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Here’s Belinda’s bike two days before she smacked down the pro field (and all but 4 men). Was hoping to spot a TT01 for the first time but she rode a BMC Pro machine in tri-config.
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Love the super clean spare tubular attachment. makes mine look plain silly!
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one last pre-race bike shot.
When race morning arrived I felt focused and calm. I remember treading water in the middle of the lake waiting for the start. There were over 2000 athletes around me, many thousands of spectators, the sun was rising on the lake and a helicopter was flying low over the water for TV coverage. It was Epic and I soaked it in.
My pacing was good for the swim and the first loop of the bike. I felt strong and was keeping a sustainable level of effort and speed. I was breathing thru my nose, staying in the saddle, and sticking to the small chain ring for the climbs. The wheels came off somewhere on the second loop of the bike. I began having trouble taking in nutrition and though i would get calories in my mouth i’d gag and be unable to swallow any sizable amount of fluid. i had to survive the last hour and a half on water and gels. I’m normally someone who requires a lot of nutrition so i was a little worried when i exited the bike. When i began the run i noticed that i was slow to start. Usually it takes me a couple km to settle into a nice rhythm but it wasn’t until i reached the horse show grounds (about 4km) that i realized it was going to be a very long marathon. My goal became just to run and keep running. By the second loop of the marathon i was feeling truly awful. Even though i’d been taking in coke, water, and food i was suffering like i had never experienced before. In the end i finished around 13:10 and eventually made my way to the medical tent where i found out that i had lost 10lbs and needed two IV bags of fluid to rehydrate. Felt amazing after that.
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post race shot. feeling it.
It was the most difficult physical feat i have put myself through. I’m delighted that i’m finally an Ironman and can look back proudly at the work and discipline I’ve poured into this. I think i was fit enough go quite a bit faster but Sunday just wasn’t my day. Can’t help but feel like a dummy poser riding around with a disk and an aerohelmet then going over 13. I was hoping to have a dramatic Mark Allen/Dave Scott style smackdown with Chris_G seeing as our tupper lake times were within 4 minutes. Chris ended up spanking me being a perfect example of the “twice half-iron time plus 1.5 hours” formula. Seems he had a sweet day though he said it got rough on the second loop of the marathon.
I didn’t register for 2008 but if i can win a slot at Muskoka (does Peterborough have LP slots???) in the spring i’ll be back to settle some unfinished business in LP. This time i’m going to earn it by getting into tip top short course form for the spring. Just in case i booked a 4 night stay at the Econolodge for LP2008. For now the focus shifts to resting up, and nailing some solid races in the fall. I feel the need to redeam myself with a strong showing elsewhere this season. Almost wish i could give her another shot next weekend. all in all It took thousands of km’s on the bike and run and hundreds of thousands of yards in the pool but I’m finally and Ironman. It feels pretty darn good.
