Ironman USA Lake Placid - TriathlonFull Ironman

I got in the water about 15 minutes before the race and stay where I could stand for a while. The water was cold without a wetsuit! Once the pro's went off, I headed over to the start line. I ended up on the left hand side only about 10 feet or so from the cable or "the line"(there is a cable that runs throughout the entire course). I was planning start back a little further because I wasn't wearing my wetsuit, but that is just kinda where I ended up. I did my best to tread water, but it got tougher and tougher as the race got closer as everyone kept cramming in. I got pushed under a few times and it took a lot of work just to stay up.

It was kinda a relief when the gun went off. There was obviously tons of congestion as we got started, but it was a lot better than IMAZ last year because you can actually see in Mirror Lake so you have an idea idea of who is around you. There was a lot of bumping going on, but it wasn't too bad. There were a couple times I really had to get my head up to try to find a lane, but for the most part, I just focused on staying around the line. I ended to the left of the line for the majority of the first loop, which was fine. However, as I got to the end of the first loop, I moved over to the right of it. When I got up to end the first lap, I checked my watch it was right around 35 minutes and I was pretty pumped as I figured it would be more like 37-38. They announced my name as I ran over to start the second lap which was pretty cool.
The second loop was more of the same. There was a lot of congestion, especially because I was staying on the line. However, I was able to do some drafting and it really wasn't bad. I just continued to focus on taking it as easy as I could and kept on thinking about my form.
When I got to the end of the swim and my watch showed sub 1:10, I was pretty happy.

It definitely would have been nice to wear a wetsuit or at least a swim skin, but I'm happy with my swim overall.

There is quite a long run from the water to T1. However, I will admit that it was nice not to have to worry about taking my wetsuit off. I ran into T1 at a pretty good pace and paced quite a few people along the way. The crowd was awesome and it really got the adrenaline going.

I found the row for my gear bags quickly and headed right into the changing tent. I got my gear on pretty quickly and was out of there. I will admit I hate running in bike shoes and really prefer leaving my shoes on my bike. Nonetheless, I got my bike and got the mount line pretty smoothly. There was some congestion there, but I just ran passed it and mounted. You start off going down a hill so its very easy to get up to speed.

Happy to do T1 in under 5 minutes as that was my goal.

When I headed out on the bike, the adrenaline was definitely going. I remember checking my power and hitting 300 watts and feeling like I wasn't even spinning. I knew I needed to settle in and it really made me appreciate racing with a power meter because it force me to settle in much sooner than I would have if I didn't have one.

Once you head out of town, you get to the longest hill section of the course. There were a lot of people out there, but it was so nice to be able to use the entire right side of the road because the shoulders are in brutal shape! I did my best to continue to take it easy, but my legs felt really good and I probably went a little harder than I should have the first time through this section. Definitely not crazy hard by any means, but looking back, I think I could have gone a bit easier. This section seemed to fly by and I was onto my favorite section of the course. Just before the big decent there is an absolutely breath taking view to your right of the mountains with a river running below it. Its just beautiful! The decent was pretty intense. There were still a lot of riders around and you had to be really careful. There was a head wind so my max speed on the day was only a little over 46 according to my Garmin. I was expecting to top 50.

After the decent, there is the flat section that is pretty flat with a couple rollers. During the section, I just focused on keeping my wattage at around 225-230 watts and was successful in doing so. I just stayed in "my box" and made sure I was drinking enough. It was great having my speedfil because I was able to reload on Perform and water very easily. I used my speedfil for Perform and put the water in my cage. The rest of the flat section was relatively uneventful.

When I headed up the Jay ascent, I was still feeling great. I just focused on my keeping my power down and trying to keep my cadence up. This continued through this section and to the add on.

I cruised up the Whiteface section pretty smoothly as well. I didn't realize that there would be tons of people on both sides of the road when we got to the top. It was really cool and I felt like I was in the Tour De France. However, this did get the adrenaline going again and I pushed it a little harder than I should have here, but still stayed relatively disciplined.

The center of town was awesome. There were big crowds there as well. However, I didn't know where my parents were going to be so I kept looking for them and couldn't find them. Finally on the descent right outside of transition, I saw them, which was really nice. I did my first loop in 2:46:03 was about a minute behind what I was hoping for.

The hill section outside of town on lap 2 went pretty well. I again just focused on my power and trying not to over do it. This section flew by again and I was off to the gorgeous view and then the descent. The descent was a little more relaxed this time because there wasn't as many riders around me.

As the flat section went on, fatigue started to set in a bit. My hip flexors started getting tired which I was a little surprised by because this didn't happen much during my long rides this year. However, I'm pretty the no wetsuit swim had something to do with this. Nonetheless, I just kept pushing and doing my best to keep my power steady.

By the time I got the whiteface section of the course, I was beat. I was really looking forward to getting off the bike. I knew that the crowd would be waiting for me at the top so I used that to keep my motivated.

When I headed into town, I was definitely happy to know I was getting off the bike. I kept telling myself that I had some new legs waiting for me when I got off the bike. I took it pretty easy as I cruised through town for the final time on the bike.

It looks like I came out a bit too hard on the first loop. My goal was to average around 225 watts and I ended up at 219 so I definitely didn't put out the same amount of power on the 2nd loop. Nonetheless, my splits were within about 6 minutes of each other which is considered to be pretty good on this course so I'll take it.

Happy with my T2. I didn't realize you could leave your shoes on the bike so I will definitely be doing that next time. My legs didn't like running with my bike shoes on so I took it a little slower than planned.

Grabbed my stuff without a problem and got my shoes switched pretty quickly so T2 was pretty uneventful.

Leave my shoes on the bike

Overall, I'm happy with my run. In my longer races, I've been having some problems with side stitches on my right side so I will admit that they were on my mind as I started my run.

My legs felt great as I headed out for the run. As I told myself, I had new legs and they were ready. However, as I headed out of town, I knew I needed to stay disciplined and not go out too fast, especially with a downhill to start the run.

On the way out of town, I saw my buddy Chad at the aid station he was volunteering at and it was nice to see a familiar face. But sure enough, during miles 3 + 4, the side stitch started coming on. Shit! I was not happy about this to say the least and this is almost exactly where it happened to me at my HIM earlier this year. I just did my best to stay positive and really focused on my breathing although I had been pretty much the whole run. At the next aid station, I took in some coke and walked a little longer than normal, which really seemed to help. It didn't completely go away for a while, but I was able to keep it at bay.

As I headed back into town, I was a little nervous about the hills and hoped they wouldn't reactivate the stitch. However, I just focused on small steps with a high cadence and I got right up both of the big hills with out too much trouble.

When I got to the aid station at the top of the hill, my friend/guy I coach that was volunteering was waiting for me and asked me what I wanted on the way back through. He got me some water and ice and ran with me for a couple seconds which was great.

As I headed out for the second lap, I was feeling really strong. I was definitely getting hot and tired, but stuck to my game plan. I focused on continuing to run from aid station to aid station. At each aid station I would take in some fluids and try to cool down. As the day went on, I also started copying Macca and putting sponges on my chest. I also dropped ice cubes down my back with was nice.

The majority of the second loop was actually relatively uneventful. I did pass one of the athletes I coach that was on her first lap and she said, "How did I let you talk me into this?" and I chuckled and just reminded her of her strategy and to keep on plugging.

Besides that, the miles just kept cruising by. I started passing a lot of people including some people that were a ways ahead of me on the first lap. Everything was good until I got to the last big hill at around mile 24. At this point, going sub 10:30 was pretty much out of the question and I was getting tired so I decided to speed walk up some of the hill. Looking back, it would have been nice if I didn't do this, but of well. After that, I got back to running and it was all smiles.

As I approached the finishing chute, I knew I wanted to take my time and enjoy it. Last year in AZ, I decided to sprint down the chute so before I even got to the finishing chute, I started high-fiving the crowd. I did this all the way until the end. My buddy Chad was down towards the end so I gave him a big high-five and then headed across the finish line.

Pretty happy with my run. I shaved about 18-19 minutes off my marathon time from AZ last year and negative splitted. I'd say that's a pretty good improvement.

I was actually a little disappointed with my cadence and it was low. I am going to work on improving that during my next one.

Once I crossed the line, I was trashed. I ended up putting my hand around a volunteer and having him help me to the massage tent after I got my picture. The girl I got for my massage was great. She took her time and let me rest on the table for a bit. I was feeling nauseous and I did dry heave a few times which wasn't cool. However, after the massage, I went and got some pizza and coke which helped a lot.


Not wearing a wetsuit definitely slowed me down on the swim quite a bit. I think I would have been around 1:01 or 1:02 if I had my wetsuit.

On the bike, there were a lot of hills and they will definitely slow you down, but I'm going to continue to get stronger on the bike.

Pretty happy with my run, but as mentioned, I need to focus on keeping my cadence up during my IM runs.


I will admit that I think my first IM was a little bit more special than this one. Nonetheless, I improved by over 6 minutes from IMAZ 2010 on a much more challenging course and also didn't wear my wetsuit. However, at the same time, this may have been an even more special day because I got to watch Adam and Nancy, two of the athletes I coach, become Ironmen. I honestly think I get more joy out of seeing my athletes do well than when I do something well.

Overall, it was a great race and I really enjoyed this challenging course.