I just completed the new Mountaineer Half-Iron triathlon which was fairly challenging with it’s hills. Was wondering if there is anyone out there who also raced the Mountaineer and could compare/contrast the bike and run course with Lake Placid. Thanks.
Doctor G, I sweated through the Mountaineer too, also for my LP tune up - I’ve done LP several times. I think Mountaineer was a good overall fitness check, though certainly not an exact “scale model” of LP. Obviously you’re going to have longer descents and more climbing at Lake Placid. The road conditions in Lake Placid should be better as well. But is was a nice mix of challenging hills and flat sections in which you can build some rhythm. I think it was similar to LP in that respect.
The Mountaineer run was pretty tough. I joked afterwards that the course was not “out and back” but “out and up and down and back.” The basic Lake Placid tactic: Go conservative on the bike and save energy for the run. Go conservative on the run and save energy for the finish (particularly the last two miles). I think if you approached Mountaineer thinking similarly - go conservative on the hills and save energy for miles 3-6.5 of the run, and that worked for you, then you are in the right frame of mind for Ironman.
Any weather is possible in upstate NY on July 24, but hopefully we wont have quite the oppressive heat as we had Sunday.