Ironman USA Lake Placid - TriathlonFull Ironman


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Lake Placid, New York
United States
GTC
70F / 21C
Sunny
Total Time = 11h 52m 49s
Overall Rank = 630/2160
Age Group = M30-34
Age Group Rank = 123/279
Pre-race routine:

we had an incredible jockstrap crew for this race. we rented 2 houses and had a huge group supporting us. thanks to everyone there (mom, bill, dad, m-a, carol, sis, mitch, zephyr, zack, josh, laura, billy, sean, karen, mike, ron, chris, and all of heidi's and nate's family). they helped make the week fun and easy so we could concentrate on the race.

6 friends were all racing (kristin, konichiwa, hdhtri, natedog, and cpjohnson) and although we don't generally care about speed, our group has never had a dnf in previous races (15 for 15) so we were eager to get 6 to the finish line.

woke up at 4:00am, got stuff together, and stretched in the foyer with tim and k while eating bagel w/ pb, clif bar, and granola bar. sis gave us a ride ~5:00am to the special needs dropoff and we walked to the body marking and transition. it was pretty cold so we put on our wetsuits in the massage tent. apparently nate like changing there and decided to stop in to try that out for t2. he was about to give them a good show when they caught him and sent him to the transition tent.

we walked to the lake and said our good lucks and goodbyes before heading into the water and our respective swim spots.
Event warmup:

none.
Swim
  • 1h 10m 25s
  • 4224 yards
  • 01m 40s / 100 yards
Comments:

tim, k, and i chose ~25 meters behind the line in the center. mirror lake is great, but it was the most crowded swim i've ever done. no clean water until the second loop. goggles kicked once and even lost my swim cap on the second loop. ended up having a good swim though and felt smooth and strong.
What would you do differently?:

put cap on better.
Transition 1
  • 08m
Comments:

ran all the way to t1 and through the transition area once changed. wore the same jersey the whole day, but changed shorts every transition (trishorts->bikeshorts->trishorts)
What would you do differently?:

nothing
Bike
  • 6h 28m 20s
  • 112 miles
  • 17.30 mile/hr
Comments:

felt good on bike right from the start. had goal of 16+, but could not really go by speed because the loop is so hilly you never can tell what your average will be until the end. i went entirely by hr (tried to keep it below 150). for food i went with a gu every :26 minutes the entire day and in addition i ate banana at every aid station on the 2nd bike loop.

i came upon heidi ~20 miles in. i didn't expect to see her until the run (if at all), and it worried me that i was going too hard and she was racing smarter than i was. she told me that tim had just passed and was up ahead, but i backed off slightly and made sure i followed my hr.
i got to see tim and heidi on the out and back, and then i spun up the hills and flew through town.

the start of the second loop was a little rough. i can't stay calm when the crowds are all there and always go too hard. once you get back out of town and the crowds thin out i always have to pay the price. i was ableto settle back down and get under control during the long downhill though. that thing is so fun. i was worried it would be dangerous, but with the entire lane and shoulder closed, it was great.

second loop was slower, but fine. i caught up to tim while he was taking a piss with ~10 miles left. didn't think i would see him at all either so all i could muster was a "nice weiner!" it was lame and the woman next to me who didn't know he was a friend thought i was retarded, but at mile 100 that's as witty as i could get. tim caught up shortly after and asked if i wanted to ride it in with him. hell yeah! anything to get my mind off those hills. we took turns hanging back from each other so we were never drafting, but we could exchange a few words when passing each other and made the ride back up into town much better.
checking the watch, i hit town much faster than expected and crazy finishing times started to dance through my head. settle down. there's still a marathon.
What would you do differently?:

nothing. great bike.
Transition 2
  • 04m 41s
Comments:

came in with tim, but we split up to find open chairs. i noted where he was sitting and when i went to leave, his chair was empty, so i assumed he headed out expecting me to catch him.
What would you do differently?:

nothing.
Run
  • 4h 01m 25s
  • 26.2 miles
  • 09m 13s  min/mile
Comments:

i stopped for the bathroom ~mile1 and took off to catch him. it turned out he was behind me and i didn't see him until the turn around.
i felt pretty good except for my left knee which has been bothering me for the last few weeks. the pain would come and go, but i could hold a decent pace inspite of it. i ran with a nice guy named dave for a while but i couldn't hold his pace without my hr creeping up to 160.
i made it to my second loop, but i still didn't know whether k (my wife) or nate had made the bike cut-off. it was their first im and i hadn't seen them all day. i started doing some math and realized that if i held a 10:00/mile pace i could break 12:00hours, but unfortunately i started to realize that if i didn't see nate or k any minute, they must not have started the run. having to run the final 7 miles already knowing one of them didn't make it would have been awful regardless of my finishing time.

just then, nate comes around the corner looking great and just behind him k yells to me. what a beautiful sight!!! now i was ready to run! laura and ron made a long trek out to the run out and back and were cheering each of us on and running along side us for a while. that was the last push i needed to make it back to town. i pushed through the last few miles into town and to the last turn around. from there was the best part of the run. all fast downhill and right by my friends and family on the sideline. i hit the finishing track on the speedskating circle and went nuts with a final sprint to the end. 12:00 was still nowhere in sight.
What would you do differently?:

nothing. finally ran a sub 10:00/mile marathon!!!
i should have put on more sunscreen though.
Post race
Warm down:

i grabbed a massage and then went back to the finish to see heidi and tim come in with great finishes. i then went to the tent our friends and family had on the course and cheered on taco. when the sun dropped, it got cold and rainy. nate and k were still out there, but nothing could stop them now. we went to the finish and saw them become ironmen. beautiful! 6 for 6 and 21 for 21!

What limited your ability to perform faster:

i guess training. i was able to shave time off every event and nutrition seemed right on. the knee pain on the run caused pain, but didn't seem to slow me down too much.

Event comments:

IM USA is awesome. course is tough at parts, but i love the bike loop and the swim is great. spectators and volounteers are amazing. without them none of this would be possible. the town of placid is great as well. i would move there in a second.


Profile Album


Last updated: 2005-12-06 12:00 AM
Swimming
01:10:25 | 4224 yards | 01m 40s / 100yards
Age Group: 139/279
Overall: 837/2160
Performance: Good
1st loop 34:21 2nd loop 35:54
Suit: farmer john
Course: 2 rectangular loops. had to do beachrun between laps.
Start type: Wade Plus: Shot
Water temp: 76F / 24C Current: Low
200M Perf. Good Remainder: Good
Breathing: Good Drafting: Average
Waves: Navigation: Good
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 08:00
Performance: Average
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
No
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed:
Biking
06:28:20 | 112 miles | 17.30 mile/hr
Age Group: 182/279
Overall: 1095/2160
Performance: Good
1st loop 3:04:15 18.24 mph 2nd loop 3:24:04 16.47 mph 1013th after bike
Wind: None
Course: 2 loops. very hilly.
Road: Smooth  Cadence:
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Good Hills: Good
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 04:41
Overall: Average
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike Good
Running with bike Good
Racking bike
Shoe and helmet removal Average
Running
04:01:25 | 26.2 miles | 09m 13s  min/mile
Age Group: 72/279
Overall: 365/2160
Performance: Good
1st loop 1:52:40 8:36/mile 2nd loop 2:08:45 9:49/mile
Course: 2 loops with some early hills.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
Physical exertion [1-5] 4
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Average
Race evaluation [1-5] 5