Ironman Lake Placid - TriathlonFull Ironman

My goal was 1:10:00, so I'm very happy I beat that. I started close to the start line, about 20 yards from the beach. I kept that line as I had no intention of messing around on the buoy line right off the bat. This planned worked well as there was some contact, but not a ton, and I was able to sight well. The turn was very crowded, and on the way back I found myself on the line. Contact was worse, but.. the line! Took a couple hard hits, but nothing too bad. Hit the shore at 33:31.. fantastic! Now I was expecting the 2nd loop to thin out a bit.. I was wrong. I couldn't get away from the line if I wanted to, bodies kept pushing me back toward it. Contact was unavoidable, often quite rough. At no point was I even aware of my effort level as all my focus was on the rugby match I was apparently taking part in. Made it to shore a minute short of my goal and not bleeding.. I'll take it!

Nothing

Wetsuit strippers = the best thing ever! On the jog back to T1 I saw Leigh when she screamed some words of encouragement at me, that was pretty awesome :). Wasted some time in the changing tent mostly due to confusion. I had no clue what to expect when I walked in there, and it was quite a scene! Found a seat and took my time dressing in no particular order. Volunteer had my bike when I was running out (love those people!) and off I went.

Not sit so long in the tent

Digestive issues pretty much the whole time. I was able to eat as planned, but I think it hurt my fluid intake. I've heard if you don't urinate by mile 60 its a problem.. well I didn't go at all. At special needs the volunteers had a hard time finding my bag but I wasn't even upset. It was absolute chaos there and they were doing an amazing job, plus the extra few minutes of rest probably weren't the worst thing. Tried to eat my sandwich but digestive issues forced me to stop after only a few bites. Got back on the bike and hit the 2nd loop. My power levels were about what I've done in long training rides and my splits were very consistent so I think my effort level was spot on. Rode the descents aggressively and the climbs conseratively and I think that worked out. Not the time I was hoping for but given the digestive issues I'm not too upset.

Force myself to drink more. Rather than being pleased I wasn't wasting time to stop to pee I should've recognized this as a problem.

Wasted less time. My plan was to eat some food but my stomach was starting to get to the 'no more' point already. Only choked down a few pretzels.

This was a battle. At first my goal was to keep my heart rate in a certain zone, but other issues made that irrelevant. I was walking aid stations trying to take in fluids and calories but I couldn't catch up. Dehydration hit me pretty hard by the second half as well as hyponatremia. Legs were getting crampy but I forced myself to at least jog between stations, then walk through and try to take in as much as possible. Didn't seem to matter, my stomach was rejecting food majorly. It took me a full minute to choke back a single pretzel and I couldn't handle anything but water. I just kept thinking about the finish line and how bad I wanted it. Coming back into town was a huge boost as the crowds were AMAZING. Heading back down Mirror Lake Drive I could hear the noise from the staduim and I knew it was going to happen for me. Before entering the oval a guy in my age group passed me and I stuck him, planning to pass on the bend. Another guy went around both of us just as we were entering the oval so I made my move, affraid that would set my guy off. I passed both of them easily and saw a 3rd guy giving high fives around the bend and I said "well, might as well pass him too and just sprint it in". Flew by him and hammered home despite severely cramping calf muscles. Put my arms up and smiled big before collapsing into volunteers. Awesome.

Better hydration/nutrition starting on the bike.

The volunteers plopped me in a chair and I stayed there for a solid 20 minutes trying to drink/eat. I was in pretty bad shape and couldn't stomach much. I was asked several times if I was okay but I kept waving people off with a smile. Eventually I was able to eat more and got up to find Leigh. What a day!


Poor hydration/nutrition. Can't complain as it was my first IM and I'm very happy with my result!


What an awesome event. And I can't say enough about the volunteers!! They were amazing and absolutely make the event what it is.