Ironman USA Lake Placid - TriathlonFull Ironman

WOW did I get beat up on this swim! It was tough and tight, but I did manage to draft some and get some clean water. the bouys weren't as tough as at Honu, but the overall swim was more brutal. I was punched, got a fat lip, and had my goggles ripped mostly off as well as had them kicked ON - which hurt. I also almost lost my timing chip and stopped at the turn around to fix it - which gave mu just enough time to hear Mike Rielly call my name as I went by. I think he likes me :)

Not much, except swim faster by a minute :)

This T took longer than it should have. I was messing around with my jacket and nutrition, and should have gone quicker. We were not allowed to leave our shoes on our bikes so I also had to run in them - through the mud!

run faster and take my own wetsuit off. pack my transitin bag a little differently.

On the first lap I felt great, but just wanted to keep riding to get through the rain... Not sure why I though riding faster would get me through the rain, but I did. On the 2nd lap I was just laughing at the rain - it was comical by then! But I also consciously backed off a bit so that I could save some for the run. I still kept thinking I was making the "rookie mistake" of going to hard for my first IM. The hills on this course were REAL. The way it goes is you start with some upward trending rollers, smallish climbs, then a HUGE downhill - which would have been much more fun on dry roads - then some false flats, then the Climb to Wilmington, which is about 3 miles and is relatively rolling with some steeper sections. Then is the out/back which was pretty fast/ flattish with a few rollers. Then a little drop before another upward trending rolling section with the climb to Whiteface Mountain, which is a real hill. Then some more upward trending rollers culminating in the "cherries" (little cherry which is very little, big cherry, which is pretty big) and "the Bears" Mama bear, which is the hardest, then baby bear, which is non existent if you come off mama well, then PAPA bear, which is the STEEPEST and only a few miles from the halway/ finish. This was FUN the first time - and a little slower the second time, but still awesome with the streets lined with people with megaphones, clappers, dressed like the devil - DESPITE the pouring rain! It was AWESOME!!! All in all I felt good and my ass didn't even hurt until about mile 90 - WOW. I ate 3 bars, 1 Hammer gel, 1 pack of shot bloks and 1 gu (which was my only mistake) along with about 400 cal of sustained energy and 4.5 bottles of Nuun. The plan was to have 5.5-6 bottles of nuun, but I think the rain kept refilling my aero drink so I probably got the extra in rainwater :)

moderate the first lap and push the 2nd a little harder. Or just push the hills at the beginning of the 2nd a little harder maybe? Also have a WORKING bike computer and power meter. Oh and not eat that last gu - read below on the run...

So I was a little jerky coming off the bike, and it was still POURING. I had to get my own bags and run barefoot through the now DISGUSTING OZZING DEEP mud... With bloody feet... Because of the fact that I didn't wear socks on the bike and dirt got in my shoes, the tops of 3-4 of my toes were bleeding. Thankfully I was smart enough to have out the blister bandaids in my T2 bag. I did the right thing by getting water, cleaning and drying my feet putting the bandaids on and then socks/ shoes. Although it took FOREVER, I think it saved my run. I didn't get a single blister on the run.

go faster? wear socks on the bike if it's going to rain - in my defense, I thought it would be a quickly passing shower like the news said and I had trained with no socks on my long rides.

Right before I got off the bike I ate a gu - then when I started the run I had a few shot bloks and some nuun... HUGE mistake! My stomache immediately bloated and I wanted to barf. My stomache hurt pretty badly, but my legs felt fine, so I just kept running - it's just a little pain and it will pass. It started at mile 1.5 and I just didn't eat or dring ANYTHING from mile 2-5. Then I started with a few sips of coke, then a sip of gatorade, then a gel and water by mile 8. Ultimately it might have been good so that I didn't go out TOO fast, but I do think the later miles would have been better with a little more nutrition.
Anyway, still I was smiling and happy from miles 8-15 or so. Then I started to have to slow a little. The legs were SCREAMING on those downhills the 2nd time. Just quad pain - reminded me of Boston! and the uphills were painful in a different way, but the bottom line is I ran EVERY step of the way. NO walking. And I will admit I lost count of the number of times I peed my pants, but it was a freaking downpour of rain anyway so I didn't really care.
A few things that helped me to smile along the way - seeing a sign for Kathy G up on the run at around mile 3. No one made a sign for me, but it warmed my heart to see a sign for her. Seeing LaurenSU02 on the run a few times and MaineRob was great too - seeing Kathy on the run REALLY made me happy because I didn't know if she would make it. I also met Amy K - one of Mike's D3 coaches on the run. I really tried to enjoy it and just laugh at the rain - it WAS comical by that point. I laughed when I came to special needs and thought about the dry shoes, socks and running shorts I had in that bag - what's the freaking point?! They would be soaked again in a matter of MINUTES!
Around mile 23 when the comedy was starting to leave me... I came to 4 guys under a tent - one was holding up a sign that said "Wet T-shirt Contest!" So I unzipped my top, showed them my clevage and got a bunch of "10"'s - yes they told me I had won and it kept me laughint until mile 24. Then that last painful hill almost made me cry, but at the top of it, I saw Desiree Ficker and it made me realize that I had had a GREAT day compared to her. she finished only 2 minutes in front of me! When I came into the stadium, I realized that there were 3 guys jogging along side of me, but I wanted MY ribbon to break and MY ironman picture, so I ran like I was on the track until I heard Mike Rielly say "Julia Purrington from Pine Colorado, is really putting it on for the finish. It's her first Ironman - Julia you did it - Julia YOU are an IRONMAN!!" He must have said my name a dozen times. It felt SO good. I couldn't stand and got whisked away by the medical staff. EVERY Minute of it worth it. It FLEW by. How can 11 hours and 11 minutes FLY by. And how could I have just done that?

NOTHING

If 2 IV bags and icing my knee counts, then that was my CD. After that we got my bike and walked it back to tribike transport. I was fine lying down or walking, but sitting sucked. I couldn't sit still, I couldn't sleep either. I couldn't believe what I had done. I was giddy, but in awe of myself. I know that sounds arrogant, but so many people put doubts in my head about what I could do and I almost believed that 1+6+4 was out of my reach. But it WASN't it was RIGHT THERE and I did it. I will be happy if I never do another IM again. This was the SHIT.


Anyone who thinks that a full IM in the pouring rain would not be fun, great, wonderful, and AWESOME was probably not at this race. The fans were STILL all out there and it was truly amazing. I absolutely loved my first Ironman - every rain drop of it!