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 Swim
Comments: At the start of the race, they made the announcement that wetsuits would not be legal for Kona or Age Group starts… I really had to think about that… for about 2 seconds. I was expecting a 1:15 – 1:20 swim, so I seeded myself in the middle of the pack. I had a good 10’ of clear space in front of me and was not too far back from the start. With the wetsuit, I was able to just kind of float around without expending energy and take in the overall scope of the race start. What an amazing view from the water looking out – thousands of people surrounding the beach! My goal was to mentally block out the contact and just swim my race, no faster no slower. Surprisingly, the plan worked out well for me. The overall pack of swimmers pretty much pushed me towards the buoy line, and I was able to sight off the cable (which was about 10’ away) for most of the swim. That is one of the greatest parts of the Lake Placid swim… if you can sight off the cable that connects the buoys you can have a fairly straight swim. Looking around, it didn’t seem much less crowded anywhere else so that plan worked well for me. Second lap went about the same as the first although I was pushed a bit closer to the cable (not by choice) and took a couple of the larger buoys off the head! I finished in 1:23 which put me just off my goal, and for my first Ironman swim I’ll take it! What would you do differently?: Nothing! I think I seeded myself perfectly based on my ability. I didn’t get passed much or have to pass many people and the benefits of sighting off the cable and having a straight line outweighed any additional contact.  Transition 1
Comments: The wetsuit stripper had a bit of a problem getting my wetsuit off – the top part of the bib john rolled under and got caught, so I had to roll it back up and start over. Didn’t add too much time, but it would have been faster to do it myself at that point. As I was making the LONG run from the beach to transition, I also noticed my Garmin had stopped… apparently I had been knocked in the head hard enough to hit the button (I had put the watch in my cap), so I reset the timer as I was running. I saw my wife and girls right along Main Street in front of the speed skating oval, so I stepped off to the side to give my girls a kiss. There was a drop off or platform that I stepped off and gashed my big toe pretty bad! I didn’t notice it too much until I got to the changing tent and realized that I really needed to patch it up. The volunteers didn’t have any medical supplies and I didn’t want to waste time going to the medical tent, so luckily the guy next to me had some medical tape and I just peeled off a strip and wrapped my toe. Not much else I could do at that point. Changed into my bike shorts, grabbed my stuff, and off I went! What would you do differently?: I definitely wasted a several minutes looking for a bandage and taping up my toe. I should easily be able to cut those 7-8 minutes off that time the next race. I am glad I changed into bike shorts though since there would have been some serious chafing doing that distance starting in wet tri shorts.  Bike
Comments: The first few miles of the course were pretty difficult, mostly due to the number of people in such a small area. It was really hard to get into a rhythm when people were weaving back and forth, but it started thinning out heading up those first few miles of hills.  That descent into Keene was a blast! I’m probably heavier than many of the riders, so this was the only point on the course where I could blast downhill and not have anybody pass me (though they all eventually got me back on the uphills). Need to have some advantage on you skinny people! The next miles went by very quickly. I looked down and was averaging close to 19 mph – meaning I would have finished the course in under 6 hours! But then the hill from Jay to Wilmington hit and just took their toll. It’s one thing to prepare for hills, but those last 12-14 miles of each loop are just unforgiving. Each time you reach a peak, there is a flat or slight decline, then it just keeps going up. Nothing crazy in terms of grade, but just a never-ending climb. I definitely need to work on hills (and lose another 20 lbs) before next time! Coming into town is also pretty deceiving since there are shorter, but steeper, hills and you don’t think about them since there are more and more people cheering you on! Did a quick stop at Special Needs and swapped out my Infinit bottles. Made it again to Jay without much incident (though I did see the aftermath of a couple multi-bike crashes) but that climb into Wilmington really got me. I had some knee issues with longer runs in training and I felt a lot of stress on my knee during that section. I started to take it easier for the next set of hills and spin up them, but my knee just really felt weak at the time and I knew I was dropping valuable minutes. In all, I finished with a 7:29 bike split which was about 45 minutes longer than my goal of 6:45. What would you do differently?: Lose weight, more hills, and longer training rides! I missed a lot of my longer rides due to family and work commitments and that had a huge effect both physically and mentally on the bike for me. I also need to take in FEWER calories. I had my Infinit set to 300 calories/hour which was way too much and affected my run. Transition 2
Comments: My love affair with my bike definitely diminished after that long ride, so I was very anxious to get back on my feet again. T2 went very smoothly overall though it was pretty obvious at that point that my big toe would be in rough shape the next day. I took the time to change into running shorts since the additional minutes didn’t matter much to me at that point. What would you do differently?: I’m pretty sure I can easily cut 2-3 minutes off T2 just by moving with a sense of purpose, but otherwise not too much. I’d like to get used to riding the longer distance in my Tri shorts and just leaving them on for the run, but comfort was far more important to me than time on my first outing and running a marathon in my DeSoto 400-mile bike shorts was not an option.  Run
Comments: The first half-mile of the run out of Lake Placid starts off with a fairly steep descent. I was able to run that section fairly quickly with the support of both gravity and the crowd, but as I headed uphill to the aid station, it wasn’t my knee that was bothering me as much as a mean stomach cramp. I felt bloated with water, but knew I had taken in way too many calories (and/or protein) on the bike segment and my stomach was cramping pretty bad any time I broke into a jog. Looking at my race pictures, I think I was carrying an extra two gallons in water weight. I spent the next 5 miles running until I cramped up, then walking, having nothing more than a bit of water and ice at the aid stations. By mile 6, my stomach felt much better, but now my knee felt stressed. Looking at my watch, I knew there was no way of breaking 5 hours as planned (with a run/walk strategy) and honestly just focused on finishing. At about mile 7, I picked up a running partner named Kathy who was on her third IM at Lake Placid. As it turns out, her husband is an elite male who just finished Ironman Austria and was not racing this year. For those of you who haven’t raced before, finding somebody to run with this late in the day is a HUGE mental boost! For the next 19 miles, we took turns motivating each other, running (jogging/limping) the downhills and speed walking the uphills. Picking landmarks in the distance and challenging each other to run to them. We passed her husband near special needs on the first lap and he thanked me for helping her, but I told him she was helping me just as much. I stopped briefly at special needs since my wife and kids put motivational notes in my bag, and that gave me a nice kick to keep going!   On the second loop, my knee had no more strength and I knew my feet would be in rough shape (never got blisters running, but walking fast kills you!), but my muscles in my legs felt pretty good, so we kept going. Looking at my watch, I knew that breaking 15 hours was do-able, but only if we kept a consistent run/walk going. So once we hit the turnaround at River Road, it was all business until we hit that finish line. We took turns leapfrogging with Jerry (ironwannabe) for the next several miles since Jerry was also on a mission to break that hour mark! A little more than half mile out, you could hear Mike Reilly announcing names on the PA system and the adrenaline kicked in. I only had 7 minutes to break the 15 hour goal, so I drew in my last bit of energy and just trotted away for that last stretch to finish as strong as possible… and came in with two minutes to spare!  What would you do differently?: Fitness on the bike absolutely carries into the run, and I did not have a strong run background to begin with. I need to spend some time to focus on my run and distance in general. In the future, I need to take in FAR fewer liquids and calories as I seemed to have overcompensated significantly. Post race
Warm down: Does pizza and beer count? I was pretty happy at that point just to finish upright. While about 90 minutes off my goal, it did allow me the mental fortitude to set a new goal into the run and achieve it. I had a good friend following me online (using the MyAthlete GPS system) and he kept texting my wife to let her know where I was on the course and ETA based on my pace. It was extremely helpful since AT&T towers are lacking in Lake Placid. Because of this, my wife and kids were at the finish line and got to see me run down the chute to finish. It was awesome to have them there! After the excitement and adrenaline wore off, I got a little nauseous and was happy to head back to my room and crash after a nice shower. I would have loved to stay to cheer on the finishers until Midnight, but my feet were not having it. They were pretty much hamburger at that point. I hadn’t had a single blister in training, but the speed walking did its damage on me. Aside from wearing flip flops for the next several days, my legs were a bit tired and knee felt a whole lot better, so no lasting injuries. Looking forward to an easy Sprint in a few weeks! What limited your ability to perform faster: TRAINING! I could never really get more than 7-10 hours in a week for training and I know that had a huge affect on my race, but I also knew that going in. I would have loved to get a few more century rides in to help dial in my nutrition better and have started to focus on my run more for a half marathon coming up in October. Even though I’ve lost close to 40 lbs, my goal weight is to drop another 15 which will really help with both my run and the hills on the bike. Event comments: All I can say is WOW, what a great race and great location for my first Ironman! I still can’t believe I was able to achieve this goal based on where I was last year and am so hooked right now on the endurance races. The location is awesome with so much to do for the family, beautiful scenery, supportive locals, and just outstanding volunteer support. Everything was organized perfectly and I’m glad we stayed downtown within walking distance, as it made it so much easier for the kids to get back and forth from the race during the day. I read an article in the Lake Placid paper about the future of Ironman there being in jeopardy, so I really hope that they come to an arrangement since this is a magical place.  We’re planning a winter vacation back to Lake Placid this year and planning my comeback for possibly 2013 as I need to take a year and spend more time with the family. However, one of the best things about it is that my wife now truly understands what it means to me and we have figured out, together, how to plan for the longer training and future IM events. She has always been supportive, but it has been challenging and now she is not only supportive, but encouraging! And with the aura of fitness in the air, she was motivated to sign up for her own running race this fall! Last updated: 2011-01-23 12:00 AM
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United States
Ironman North America
75F / 24C
Sunny
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Age Group = M40-44
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It was exactly one year to the day, July 24, 2010 that I raced in my first triathlon ever - a Sprint distance in the New Jersey State, running with a friend on behalf of a charity called Ryan’s Quest. I barely made that 500m swim without drowning and had to walk most of the 5K at the end. What an incredible journey it has been since that point… one that has changed my life for the better.
I got to Lake Placid with my family on Wednesday evening, settled into our room downtown, and called it an early night. After breakfast on Thursday, I went down to check-in at the high school. It was nicely organized and really set in that I had committed myself to this crazy event! I deliberately stayed away from the pictures table, since I didn’t want any bad karma paying in advance for a finisher’s pic!
On the way back out, walking through that crowd and seeing the empty bike rows at the speed skating oval was just amazing! You could feel the energy in the air and everything really started to set in. We spent the remainder of the day exploring downtown Lake Placid and visiting the Olympic ski jumps. Those guys are far crazier than we are to go down those things!
Friday morning started out meeting up with some of the great people I've met on BT for a lap in Mirror Lake.
After the swim, I picked up my Zipp 808s from RaceDayWheels and had the shop mount my race tires and latex tubes. It wasn’t a good sign when the shop pinch-flatted my front tire when inflating it and popped my first tube! The goal was to ride the descent into Keene and then ride the bears, having my wife trail me in the sag wagon. About 5 minutes into the descent, I heard a loud POP… ended up blowing my rear tube this time (and luckily the air was coming out slowly…) Rather than change my flat, I just called for a pickup and headed back to the shop. This time I decided to put back on the Continental 4000 tires that came with the wheels… after seeing the roads it ended up being a much better idea. Decided to ride out and back on the bears and felt much more confident with the change in tires.
Friday afternoon, the kids had a great time in the fun run and received kids IM “Finishers” medals. I was pretty amazed at the 12-year-old girl who ran a 5:43 mile! I really need to work more on my run… Later that day we went to the athlete’s dinner and race briefing, which had poor food, but great inspiration! You really get pumped up there and the speakers did an outstanding job at entertaining both athletes and non-athletes alike.
Saturday was pretty much a chill and relax day. We went down to the Mirror Lake beach with the kids and enjoyed the water and the scenery. Not sure how draining the sun was that day, so I think next time I may spend more time indoors! In any case, it was far more important to spend quality time with the family and we really enjoyed the atmosphere.
I tried (unsuccessfully) to get a good night’s sleep but my mind was occupied with the event the next day. The anticipation is brutal! Finally started to doze off and at 4:00, my wife woke me up and thought that I was late! Thankfully, I wasn’t really sleeping anyway, so I grabbed my gear and headed across the street for a coffee and oatmeal breakfast. Next, down to body marking and then to check my tires and drop off my Special Needs bags. The only stress of the morning was a LONG line at the port-potties in the Special Needs area. I was just getting to the front of the line as they were calling for racers to start getting in the water! Luckily I made it in time, but didn’t need that extra rush on my mind!