Ironman Lake Placid - TriathlonFull Ironman

I was happy that the water was a little cooler than it had been on Friday. I wasn't able to seed myself in the back where I would have liked because so many people chose to stay on shore. I had noticed some submerged concrete blocks and other hazards as I was getting in so I didn't want to take the chance of running into those as the race started. I ended up in a large empty space between the front runners at the start line and the group on shore which gave me a bit of room to warm-up. Once the gun went off I didn't get far beyond the start line when the group from shore overtook me. I just waited for them to pass and then got into my rhythm. I didn't get close enough to the buoys to take advantage of the underwater cable, but I still didn't have to sight much because I had faith that those at the buoy line knew exactly where they were going. Even better about 500 meters in I noticed the woman next to me was swimming the breast stroke (yes the same speed I was swimming freestyle). I knew she could see so I just stuck with her through the end of the first lap.

The wetsuit strippers were located right at the swim exit. We efficiently removed my suit which I then had to carry for the two block run to transition. I hadn't started my Garmin until into the second lap so I had no idea what my time was. I didn’t see a clock until arriving at transition. I was happily surprised to see my time which meant a 10 minute swim PR for me. The woman running in next to me was quite happy to see her time too. Mirror Lake lived up to its reputation as one of the easier IM swims, and I was happy to get a good start on the race.


Nothing. My time was better than expected.

Long two block run from swim exit to transition. Didn't do full change this time. Put on tri top over bathing suit top, swam and rode in tri shorts. Everything went smoothly. Was hoping for a better time, but with the run from the swim, this wasn't too bad.

Nothing.

I started onto the bike course about the time I’m usually exiting the water so I was feeling pretty good. I settled in nicely as we started out of town and hit the first hill. I took the first hill pretty aggressively and may have come out of the saddle at a bad angle as I crested the top of the hill because not long after leaving Keene a muscle strain just above my inner knee became apparent and quickly grew very painful. The second half of the first lap was awful, and I couldn’t wait to get started on the second lap and hit that descent, especially at that last short but steep hill heading into town where one spectator was yelling, “get out of the saddle”. Oh how I wished I could. I wasn’t able to pedal out of the saddle for the rest of the ride so not only did I lose momentum on each accent, but my butt was hurting like crazy. I kept coming out of the saddle as a reflex which caused more momentum loss but at least got some blood flowing to my backside. The second lap wasn’t quite as awful mentally as the first, but I was still in a lot of pain and riding slowly despite my best efforts.

With a mile to go it looked like I might barely make the cut-off when a spectator backed onto the course and into the cyclist in front of me. We both went down (the spectator did not). I was still clipped in and a man came out and picked up me and the bike as one and righted me. Then while another held me up the first unclipped my shoe and another pulled my upended water bottles out, and they sent me on my way. They were determined for me to finish. I know their help is illegal, but at this point there were no officials to call me on it, nor do I imagine they would have bothered. Unfortunately, I arrived at the bike finish a minute and a half late so I was disqualified.

I don’t know what happened to the other cyclist. He was sitting up and yelling at the spectator last I remember. I don’t picture him still at the scene when I left, but there was so much going on so quickly. If he was able to get going before I was, I can’t imagine he made it in time, but I’d be interested to hear if anyone knows. I feel bad for him. He was very upset. With the pain I was in throughout the ride it was almost a relief for me, but I’m sure he was looking forward to continuing. I hope he wasn’t hurt any more badly than I with a few cuts and bruises and a stiff neck. Helmets are wonderful things.

I also felt bad for the volunteers who had to tell me I hadn't made the cut-off. Luckily I have completed a few IM's so I wasn't devastated, and I tried to convey that to them. I definitely felt a mix of relief (from the pain) and disappointment, especially watching others finishing.

Nothing. There were times on the ride that I was tempted to ease up, but I knew that would seal the DNF, and I had to try to finish. Although I would have only had to make up a few seconds to miss that collision in order to finish before the cut-off, looking back there is no moment where I can say if I had just pushed harder there I would have made it. I was pushing the whole way. I'm happy about that. At least I don't have any regrets.

Oh, one thing I might change is to ride in bike shorts or train more in tri shorts. My butt was killing me.

:(

I stopped into medical to make record of the collision, make sure I didn't have any injuries I wasn't feeling, and get some ice on that muscle strain. Everything seemed to be in order so my family and I headed over to a brew house along the run course. This is where the disappointment set in, seeing that I wasn't out there. Especially, as the evening progressed and we saw more people with finisher medals. The next day was hard too. Oddly not being as sore as I would have if I had finished was a source of disappointment. I felt like I had missed a big workout and hadn't earned that bacon and egg breakfast. I thought I would have felt better had I been able to complete most of the run before DNFing which sounds counterintuitive.


Muscle strain which had been mildly nagging the months before the race, probably a compensating injury for IT Band issues I've been having. I anticipated a problem on the second half of the run because of the IT Band, but the muscle strain on the bike was a surprise since that had been so mild leading up to the race. I'm sure the lack of sleep the night before didn't help either.


Thanks to my cousin and his family who came up to watch the race. Sorry I wasn't able to provide the epic finish at your first IM viewing, but it was great having you there. I'm glad to hear the girls (and their parents) were inspired by the event anyway. Thanks to the Simmons for hosting us in the days following the race, and to my mom for always traveling with me and spending hours ringing that cowbell.