Ironman Lake Placid 2024 Race Report
Tue, Jul 23 at 4:00 PM
I’m writing this (and yes it may be long, but it’s the last Ironman Race Report that I’ll write in my life), so either get a cup of coffee/cold beer and read it or just jump to the end.
For 2024, this was going to be my 25th time doing the Ironman Lake Placid, which started in 1999. In 1999, I signed up on a whim and just kept coming back year after year to challenge myself, to make sure that as I was getting older that the “old guy” still had a little bit of vinegar left in his body.
Training for 2024 was instrumental to getting my body across the finish line in less than 17 hours. For the swim training, I swim laps in the local pool. 25’s, 50’s, 100’s, 200’s, but I also know that a lot of people hurt their rotator cuffs because all that they swim is freestyle. I swam butterfly, back, breast and freestyle. I did a lot of kicking. I tried to “stay fresh” and not go to the pool and swim 5,000 yards freestyle and get totally exhausted. Go to the pool for at least an hour, splash around a bit, have fun, talk to other friends at the pool. Also use the pool to stretch sore muscles. It worked for me this year.
For the bike training, since we live in Florida and our house is 42 feet above sea level, there is very little chance to ride hills. Since Lake Placid is in the Adirondack Mountains, I knew that it would be challenging again this year. My idea to create a biking challenge to change my gear every ten minutes, going from easy to hard. If it was windy, too bad. Suck it up buttercup. No excuses. Grind it at 40 or 50 RPM’s, when you should be in an easier gear pushing 90+ RPM’s. What doesn’t kill you will make you stronger.
For the run training, I had to balance an achilles tendon lingering issue with how many miles to run each day, each week. I settled on 2 runs a week, running 4, 6 or 8 miles per run. My longest run in Florida was 10 miles. Since I have a lot of marathons and ultramarathons under my belt, once I start running, my body knows what to do. For training in an Ironman, running 6 or 8 miles is not ideal, but on the other hand I always felt fresh. The day after running, I was able to ride or swim. When you do a long 20 or 30 mile run, it takes your body about a week to recover. Thus, my plan was to go with low mileage and then know that my body would respond on race day.
One person, who is no longer with us after suffering thru Lou Gehrig’s Disease (ALS), is my brother-in-law, Tony Harcar. Tony was a great inspiration to me and to others and I decided to get a RoadiD created this year with a saying “Play To Your Potential”. After wearing number 44 as a fullback in high school, Tony coached his kids in school at the school is a plaque with the saying “Play To Your Potential”. I used this saying and made it into “Swim To Your Potential”, “Bike To Your Potential” and “Run To Your Potential”. Yeah, 2024 was going to be a great year. One last thing about Tony. When Tony came down with ALS, I asked him, "How did you know that you were really sick? He told me that at work, he and the guys that he worked with would do 6 sets of 50 pushups each day. One day, he realized that his body could no longer do 300 pushups per day and he knew that something was wrong, besides just getting a little older and a little slower as everybody does. Wowza.
We (wife Sandra and our four legged companion, Teaco) arrived in Keene, NY on July 1st. Keene is about 14 miles from Lake Placid and is along the bike course. This was my training place for the next three weeks until race day on July 21st. Went to Lake Placid and did a swim loop (1.2 Miles) about two or three times a week. Then went to LP and did a double loop (2.4 Miles) on a Tuesday and Thursday. Time was about 40 minutes for 1 loop and an hour and 20 minutes for two loops. Everything felt good. My goal on race day was 1:1x:xx or 1:20:00 as the worst case.
For bike training, I mostly rode from Keene to Upper Jay, Jay and a new section that was added over a covered bridge and on Stickney Bridge Road, then back to Jay, to Wilmington and back home to Keene for me. That was roughly a 3 hour ride going up and down hills, using every gear on my bike. However, I also told myself that while training on the steepest hills, I was not allowed to go into my “Granny Gear” and spin. I forced myself to stay in gear number 2 and not gear number 1. Yes it was harder. Yes, it hurt. Yes, I did not spin up the hills as fast. But I wanted to make sure that my body knew that it could ride gear 2 the entire course. On race day, I would allow myself the ability to go down to gear 1 because it was race day, but all of my training while riding the entire course, I stayed and suffered in gear 2. Crazy, but yes it worked for me.
For run training in Keene, I climbed Hurricane Road all of the time. Hurricane Road leads to the trail head for Hurricane Hill. There is a reason that it’s called Hurricane because for about 2 miles it’s straight up and up and up. My long run was 10 miles that I did 1 time in Keene and the rest was smaller runs up Gristmill Road and other climbs. My body had to learn how to run up steep roads and not stop. Look only at the top of the hill or the trees on top. Do NOT look down at the road. You’ll get dejected. You’ll feel like their is no end. Only look up and see your goal.
Pre-race, my family all came up to Lake Placid for the race. Jeanie, Reed, Nancy, Ed, Lynn, Jack, Don, Mary and Ashley. It’s very comforting to see familiar faces in out of town places. Ashley designed and ordered blue shirts with a GURA 25 on the back with a great Candyman Can saying. Wow, what a great pick me up.
Friday, we all went to lunch and met another triathlete sitting at another table - Jaki. She’s from Jersey, up in Lake Placid to try again. In 2023, Jaki Did Not Finish after swimming 2.4 miles, biking 112 miles, then running 16 miles, she had to stop 10 miles from the finish line. Jaki is up in LP for revenge. Whenever I meet another person and chat for a bit, I ask them their race number to pull up their results after the race. More to come later about Jaki.
Saturday, it’s time for lunch and we’re ordering sandwiches from a place that has 46 sandwiches for the 46 peaks in the Adirondacks. Of course, I order sandwich number 44, in honor of Tony. It was delicious and I know that he helped fuel me up for Sunday’s race.
Race Day
4:30 Wake up, eat granola cereal and a banana, pack my Special Needs Bike and Special Needs Run bags, fill up a couple of water bottles for the bike and leave the hotel
5:00 Go to the bathroom as much as possible
5:30 Go to the bathroom again as much as possible
6:00, Put wet suit on and go to the start line
6:18 Pro Men go off
6:22 Pro Women go off
6:30 Race Gun starts
6:40 With the staggered start, my race begins
Swim, Nothing special, just swim like I swim. There are a lot of others arms, legs and body parts in front of you, on the left, on the right and touching your toes saying “Swim Faster because I want to draft”. Whatever, I swim at a comfortable pace, trying to keep my Heart Rate down. Last year, my swim was in Zone 4 about 95% of the swim. That’s bad. However, it’s hard to “relax” when there is so much chaos around you. Stay focused Jeff. You can do it. I use my Garmin watch to start/stop but I really do not bother to say “What’s my time?”, besides without my glasses it’s hard to read the little numbers. I just hit the stop/save button and will look at the details later. 1:18:xx swim. Great for me. I’m happy. I’m relaxed. I did not push myself too hard. I didn’t suffer behind some slow swimmers. I was in Zone 3 about 50% and Zone 4 50%. Great job. You did it. You “Swam To Your Potential”.
Bike, There was a sprinkle or two on race morning. The roads were wet but it wasn’t really raining. It felt cold because my one piece tri suit was still all wet from the swim, but it’s better to feel a little cold and warm up rather than to be too hot. Everything was going good, but the ride down to Keene on a wet road is dangerous. Ride the brakes all the way down and just hope to make it. For me, the ride to Keene takes about 60 minutes. I looked at my watch and it said 58 minutes. Wow, I’m cruising today, but stay steady. The bike plan is to drink every 10 minutes. On the 15 and 45 minutes per hour, I eat a Cliff Block or piece of candy. At the 30 at 60 minutes, I eat an energy bar. I have 6 energy bars, 6 Cliff Blocks and two water bottles filled with a touch of Olive Oil, a Hammer Gel Electrolytes Extreme Tablet, Maple Syrup and Maurten Mix. My goal is to get 100grams of Carbs an hour. It’s a crazy high number, but it works. I’ve been training this way and plan to race this way. With the 5 aid stations along the course, I also grab some water, other energy bars, Mortal Hydration drink with Salty Mango and just keep going. All good so far. Now from Keene for my ride, I know that it takes me about 1 1/2 hours to get to Wilmington. At Mile Marker 100, it’s really 100-56 on the first loop which is 44. I keep running into the Football Number 44. Ride it just like I trained. Everything is good. First loop, I stop twice at the aid stations to visit the porta potty to pee. All good.
Get to the 1/2 way on the bike and get my bag. More energy bars and more maurten mix. Say “Hi” to Jean, who is the Captain of the BPN station and shove off. I look at my watch and it’s 3:24. I was hoping for a 3:30, so we’re doing great, not pushing it and everything is working. Second loop is the same as the first. Two pees, aid stations, ride it. There are several ambulances taking people off the course but that’s normal. The second loop the road is dry down to Keene. What the hell, go for it. If you do not ride the brakes, it’s 45 mph downhill for about 6 minutes. I thought that if I slow down at 35 or 40 mph and crash that it’s going to feel the same as going 45 mph. No brakes, ride the aero bars and feel the cool breeze flow by. Nothing really crazy, just a fun ride with 2,500 other crazy fools.
Goal for me was 7:15 on the Bike. 3:30 on the first loop and 3:45 on the second loop. The wind was very kind today. Normally, there is a nasty head wind thru the valley on the ride into Lake Placid. Today, a little cloudy, a little sunshine and the wind is 4-6 mph, but it feels like nothing. Second loop I get to Mile Marker 100 Again. Yeah, that’s one loop of 56 and 44 extra. 44 Number Again. Only have 12 more miles on the bike, up the hill, into the wind to Lake Placid. Piece of Cake. Actual time on the bike was 7:02. So far, it’s a great day when you “Bike To Your Potential”. 112 miles divided by 7 hours is an average of 16mph on the bike. I’ll take that any day on the Lake Placid course.
Now, the only thing to do is to run a marathon. OMG. Run a mile, walk for less than 60 seconds, take a drink and then run a mile. After doing this course for the last 24 years, I know the Swim, Bike and Run course like the back of my hand, but it’s still very challenging. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, turn around out on River Road, 6, 7, 8, 9 back into Lake Placid. Run up every friggin hill on the course. No walking thru aid stations. Go, run to your potential. Your body knows how to run. You’ve run 10 Boston Marathons. You know how to suffer. Do your feet hurt? No. Do you feel any pain in your quads? No. Run, run and run. See family members along the course, give high fives and it’s Mile 13. Back out for the second loop. Stay focused. Keep doing what you’re doing. 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 and then I say to myself. Listen to your body a little bit. Your feet really hurt and you have a ways to go. You do NOT want to walk. At an aid station, I sit in a chair, take my shoes off and allow myself two minutes to rub my feet. Yes, they are numb but the 20 second massage feels good. Time to lace 'em back up and go. No walking. Go. I’m about 10K (6.2 Miles) to go and keep after it. Run up every nasty hill and none of these hills compare to Hurricane Road. I do not look at the other people on the course that are suffering. I do not see the guy with FDNY on his race jersey on the side of the road puking his guts off. I do not see the ambulances taking other athletes off the course. No, I do not see them. I only see the Finish Line ahead of me. These are just little bumps in the road. About 90% of the other triathletes are “walking the hills” and “walking the aid stations”, but not me. Nope. I’ve run 100 Mile Ultra Marathons and felt a lot worse than I feel today. Keep going, do it. Is that another ambulance taking another participant off the course? I dunno. I don’t see the ambulance. I don’t have any empathy or sorrow for the athlete. I have to stay 100% focused on getting to the finish line. No distractions. Just be a horse wearing blinders. See the top of the hill and climb it. See the athlete on the side of the road in pain? Nope, I don’t see her. See family at Mile 22. Go out and back. Mile 23, 24 and back into town. Go, Mile 25 and then you can smell it. You can feel it. Go, Go, Go. Get near the finish in the Olympic Oval and two women are walking. I pass them and want to make sure that nobody is in front of my and nobody right behind me because I want to make a grand entrance. Yes, humble Jeff wants to make it a big deal. Then Mike Reilly, says “Jeff Gura, you are an Ironman”, Jeff is the only person to complete all 25 Ironmans in Lake Placid.
My run goal was good. A 12 minute per mile is 5:12 minutes. I knew that I could not keep that pace with the run/walk. I definitely wanted to be under 6 hours. My run was 5:26. Jeff, Run To Your Potential. Yes
Overall goal was under 15 hours and I did 14:26.
Ironman Lake Placid was not so nice to Jaki. She DNF’d again. She swam 2.4 Miles, Biked 102 Miles and that was the end of her race. I don’t have her email or contact info, just going off the info on the webpage. I truly feel sorry for her and she will either try again or understand that covering 140.6 Miles is a big ask for a body and maybe her body is not designed to absorb the punishment. Oops, did I really say that.
Ironman was very nice to me. I had a personal interview with the Ciatlin, Ironman Marketing, I met the PR person for Ironman, Mike Reilly who is the “Voice Of Ironman” and an Ironman Hall of Famer announced this race. At the finish, Ironman gave me a “Finisher’s Jacket” to celebrate. Caitlin met me at the finish line to congratulate me and talk to me for about 10 minutes.
At the Welcome at the Park, Mike Reilly identified me as the only chap that had Finished the first 24 in Lake Placid. At the Awards Banquet on Monday, they called out my Name and highlighted my achievement. I’m sitting at the breakfast table and the Male Pro that finished first (Trevor) is sitting right across the table from me. Just an overall crazy, fun experience.
Thank you Ironman for making my 25th Ironman in Lake Placid a monumental moment.
Thank you to all of my family members for coming up to Lake Placid. Thank you to my wife, Sandra, for putting up with me for the past 25 years. Thank you to all of my other crazy triathlete friends like L-Pup (Larry), D-Dawg (Deb), Yakabo (Gordon), Buelito (Jim), Ultraman Crazy Chris, Woody is Woody, Andrew, Bernie (who was my training buddy in 1999). I can keep going with IronToe, IronPenguin, the one and only Hammy, Goodtime… I’ve also met some new IronFriends in Florida like Cat and Scott. It’s been fun training with you and also sharing some of my favorite moments and some of my favorite foods (Atomic Fire Balls, Salt Water Taffy, Payday, Milky Ways and other sugary treats) with the Candyman.
Could you do another Ironman, like Ironman Lake Placid 2025 - Yes
Can you mentally and physically do another Ironman - Yes
Can I enjoy a pint of Stewarts Crumbs Along The Mohawk Ice Cream - Yes and Yes
Will you do another full Ironman, covering 140.6 Miles - No
I’d be happy to go for a bike ride with anybody on Skyline Drive in Virginia, or ride along A1A in Florida. I’d be happy to go for a run. I may do a Ironman 70.3 Mile event for only half the punishment.
Jeff, aka Candyman