Ironman Lake Placid - TriathlonFull Ironman

Rough and crazy swim. We positioned ourselves right in the middle about 20 yards behind the start. I wanted to be a little further to the right, but the right was packed and the middle was open. The first lenght was all about survival. Then the length coming home everyone went wide and I stayed close to the wire. I was actually by myself for little while, which was nice, but I wasn't in the pack to draft. Time at the end of first loop was 34 something. Happy with that, but the 2nd loop I wasn't in the draft as much again, I was hanging onto the wire, and the last length coming home I got kicked in the face knocking my goggles off. After fixing them, I decided to make up some time and push the last length a little more. My swim was about 3 minutes longer than I expected, but still solid.

Not much to do. I got sucked into the crowd and survived. Learn to swim a little better.

Long T1 run from the lake to the bike bags and tents. I passed my bag and had to go back and find it. Wasted a few seconds here. I got into the tent, went to the back and grabbed a seat. Swimskin off, body glide feet, lube up under the shorts, socks and shoes on, helmet on, sunglasses on, race # on. This still took a little longer than I wanted. My rack was also near the end of the rack in the back (so I grabbed it first, before getting through the field). So, overall, it's an Ironman Transition, and didn't waste time, just had a long way to go.

I practiced where my bag would be, but I still missed it. But overall, I wasn't incredibly efficient.

My goal was to be in the 5:40s. Mission accomplished. Yes, I can ride this in the 5:30s or even maybe faster, but have nothing left for the run. I was shooting for mid to upper zone 2, which is where I stayed for most of the ride. I got up into zone 3 in the hills and riding through town after lap 1 was a rush and my HR jumped up. I felt my legs getting tired a few times, which worried my a little, but I just kept things as steady as I could.
Nutrition - Started the bike with aero bottle 1/2 full of water (no need to carry a full bottle as there is plenty of water on the course), 1 flask of Cappacino Perpetuem with 3 scoops, 1 bottle EFS with 3 scoops, and 1 bottle EFS with 3 scoops EFS and 1 scoop Pre Race, 1 Power Bar cut in half (so I can eat it easier on the ride). Got thru all of this, special needs I slammed 1/2 can of Coke, grabbed 2 bottles of EFS (both with 3 scoops but 1 had Pre Race just like at the start), and another Perpetuem flask. I finished the EFS bottles, but didn't feel as though I needed all the calories in the Perpetuem. I refilled the water as needed.

I need to still be a better long distace cyclist. I can go a lot faster, but I don't know how much to push myself and still be able to run well.

I didn't take my shoes off on the bike. Too long to run without shoes and I didn't want to risk stepping on something. I got off my bike, and the bike runners were there to grab my bike and rack it for me. I ran and found my run bag, went into the back of the tent, bike shoes and socks off, helmet off, HR monitor off, body glide on feet, fresh socks and shoes on, grabbed my EFS gel flask with a scoop of PreRace, and off I went.

Nothing really

2nd Ironman Marathon and again, it all came down to this for me. All the training, all the miles and hours in the pool, on the bike, and running. Just so that I could finally have a sub 4 hour marathon. I looked at my watch at the start of the run, I needed to run a 3:50 marathon in order to go sub 11 hours. So, off I went. I knew that I only needed to average a 8:45 or 8:50 mile pace in order to do this. But my goal was to average 8:30. I was supposed to be faster in the first loop, but I felt like I could easily hold a sub 8:30 pace after the first mile. Then I had one Port o John stop at mile 2. Then the 2nd downhill rumbled my stomach, and I had to make another stop at mile 4. This was a real necessary stop. After that, I felt great. Well as good as I thought I was going to feel. I had my EFS gel with some PreRace that I had a shot of at each aid station on the first loop. I also had water, ice,sponges, coke, and IM Perform at each stop. I told myself it's okay to walk the hills, so in the first loop I walked half of them, then jogged the rest. That helped and I felt fresher at the top and passed a bunch of people. Then the second loop at walked a little further on the hills. I think I retired at around mile 18. At mile 22, going up the hill by the ski jumps, my right knee and IT band started to hurt. I knew that once I got passed the ski jumps and by the horse show grounds it was slighlty downhill back to town. I just made sure my stride was smooth and I wouldn't let my average pace drop below the mid 8:30s no matter what. I got to town, 1 last big hill. It's starting to hurt now, a lot. I still had a shot at sub 11 hours. I was actually a few minutes ahead of that. I got into town and by the lake, passed the FeXY tent, passed special needs, 2 miles to go (if that), the mile marker signs were a little off from my Garmin, I trusted the Garmin on this one, this was going to be a long mile to turn around. The turn around finally came, and I started running with almost everything I had left, but I also wanted to enjoy this experience, then I saw Lisa, "Take it the F*&% Home!" she screamed at me, then i started to lose it, knowing that it's all downhill from here, and I would reach my goals. But I had to keep my cool, I still hadn't seen an official race clock. I turned at the gas station, got waived into the Olympic Oval (yes the official Olympic Race Oval), started to round the Oval, fellow FeXY teammates (Brad and Kristin) were right there and (Sara Swenson) working security and waiving me in, I saw the clock (10:57), I completely lost it, one of the most incredible feelings of my life. I did a sub 11 hour Ironman, that's 41 minutes faster than IM Louisville last year, and I shattered my previous marathon time by 30 minutes. I jumped up screaming, waving my arms in pride and victory. All the pain went away. I got to the finish, got my medal, hat and t shirt, grabbed a chair and cried. At this point I couldn't wait to see Lisa run around that oval and finish.

Absolutely nothing.

Massage, changed clothes, ate pizza and a sub. Weighed myself at the med tent. Weight was the same as the am, but I was wearing wet clothes and shoes, and just had some water.


Nothing, I hit all my goals.


I actually finished 50th in my age group since I did not wear a wesuit. That means that 20 people in front of me wore a wetsuit. I am glad that I bought the swimskin. The fact that I didn't wear a wetsuit really validates this for me. I have arrived in this sport. I may not be the fastest, but I have been improving and feel great about my Triathlon achievements. This was one of the best experiences of my life. I went sub 11 hours, got some great photos of me, and Lisa qualified for Kona. I'd say that's a great day for Team Albrecht. My Dad was also at this race. That was nice. So was my Mother in Law - she's an Ironman fanatic at this point, and I can always hear her screaming for me. We've worked so hard for this, and for both of us to have amazing races and hit our goals is just incredible. I don't think that I would do Placid again, just for the reason that it would be tough to match this experience. Just like Louisville. I loved that race and that city, but I can't match that experience of my first Ironman there again. What's next?