IMLP Race Report
Well here goes. IM – Lake Placid was my 2nd IRONMAN. First was IMAZ 2006. My time for that race on an easier course was 10:56:57.
My goals for Lake Placid were the following:
Increase overall training volume
Swim close to an hour
Bike 5:40
Run sub 3:30
With those goals I knew that if I had a perfect day, I’d have an outside shot at a Kona slot.
Race build up was very solid with several 20 plus hour training weeks. I did lots of swim drills and volume, lots of climbing on the bike, and lots of hill work on the run, even on the longer runs I’d make sure to do hills in the beginning and end of the runs.
The last few weeks prior to the race were good. I did have some stress at work (I am selling my company) but was able to still get in most of the training. Nutritionally, I was very disciplined and felt like my weight was spot on (IMAZ weight = 187, IMLP = 173).
The Swim
I decided to start in the front row and drill it for the first 250 meters in order to get out of the chum and get some clean water. This worked to perfection. I found some fast feet quickly and sat in the draft until the first turn. I felt like I was in a good rhythm right away, swimming strong but still relaxed. I finished loop 1 in 29.14 and felt excited for loop 2. Loop 2 was a different story as I could never really find a good draft. I was closer to the line, but was kind of “in jail” and got thrashed a bit. Even so, I still felt like I was swimming strong and stayed focused the entire time. As I approached the shore, I started to mentally prepare for T1.
Swim: 100:42
T1
The run from the beach to T1 is really one of the highlights of Lake Placid. Running through that crowd makes us average Joes fell like world class athletes. Very cool. My swim time made it even better as I felt like I did a good swim and was right on track for a good race. Once I entered T1, I realized I’d made a big blunder by not putting a small towel in my bag to wipe my feet off before putting my shoes / socks on. I wasted some time by have to wipe my feet with the vest I had in the bag but that didn’t work great. Off to the ride!
Bike
I had put lots of time in on the bike and thought I was in good enough shape to ride the course in 5:20 if I weren’t doing it as part of an IM. My goal was to really be conservative on loop 1 and be very conservative on the hills. So, exiting T1 I kept repeating “chill out” to myself. The first climb I felt good but could not believe how many people were “hammering” the climb. The decent into Keene was blast as I hit 56mph – fun. The climb after Upper Jay was again an exercise in restraint, just concentrating on watts and letting people go. The out and back section was harder than I thought, partly because of the stress of lots of riders going both ways and the surface wasn’t great. The climb back to town was easier than I thought and the transition through town was awesome with the crowds. Starting the second loop my goal was to pick it up a bit and I felt good. However, I could tell right away the wind had shifted. The decent to Keene was much different as a strong headwind had picked up. Top speed = 43. I also had a mechanical issue that cost me about 5 minutes as my front break started to rub. The head wind continued through the flat section along the river. The out and back seemed much longer this time and I got a little cranky. I tried to down lots of calories and started to feel good on the final climb. I was starting get concerned about the time but reminded myself not to try and “make-up” time from the mechanical or the wind.
Bike Time: 5:51
T2
My only “problem” in T2 was that my number had ripped and one of the volunteers screamed at me to fix it before leaving. That cost me about 90 seconds, and I lost the number later anyway. Oh well.
Run
After not hitting the bike goal, I knew I had a decision to make early on the run. I decided to go out a little faster than planned. My legs felt awesome right away and was able to do the first 6 miles all in between 7:00 – 7:20. I was already picking off groups of runners. It became a real motivator running through groups, seeing another group up the road and working my way up to them. I passed one girl who was struggling a bit who said to herself, “You’ve got to be kidding me” when I passed her at a good pace. I was running every aid station (I walked them in AZ) and still being very attentive to getting in the calories and water. At the ½ point I still felt great and was very motivated by the time of 1:37. I switched to coke as planned here and got a quick boost. I was still picking off groups of runners. At mile 20, I said to myself, “just run a hard 10K”, but I started to feel the wear of the race and my splits started to get closer to 8:00 / mile. The hills back into town really hurt and about half way up the last hill, the lights started to dim. I don’t really remember the last out and back. I was shadowing a fellow age grouper coming into the oval and put in a surge that I thought dropped him. But, he came around me as the oval started. I dug deep and passed him back. I crossed the line and hit the deck, totally spent. So, after a 20 minute visit to the medical tent with tasty IV, I started to come around.
Run Time: 3:26
Total Time: 10:31
AG 19 / 415
Overall 96
So the bad news, I missed a Kona slot by 11 minutes. But, I am OK with it. I left it all on the course. I had a good swim, so-so bike, and a great run. I passed 152 people on the run and felt like I was actually racing and not just surviving the run. I give North American Sports and Lake Placid an A+ as this is a classic race, which I’ll do again. For next year, on to Coure D Alene, and perhaps I can find those 11 minutes!