Ironman Lake Placid - TriathlonFull Ironman

Hoping for a 1:05:00 swim, I seeded myself right in between the 61:00 and the 1:10:00 coral signs, but I wish I had started a bit further up. After the initial chaos of trying to find some space, I got on some feet that pulled me around most of the first loop. I thought the pace felt too easy, but told myself it was only because I was excited and drafting, and stayed with the guy. Sure enough, the pace was too slow as I came out of the water at 33:13 for the first loop. I tried to move up a few spots before getting back in the water, and planned on pushing a harder pace for lap 2.

Had a little trouble finding good drafting feet on loop 2, and also had to fight for position a little more. On the way back I noticed it had started raining fairly hard (not what I wanted to see with a big descent starting the bike!). I tried to pick up the pace on the home stretch, but was fairly sure I was not going to hit my goal time. With a few hundred meters to go I saw a blast of lightning in the sky above. I started wondering if I would die if the lake were stuck, or if it needed to hit right next to me for that. Perhaps I would just feel a very powerful shock, but not actually die. Can't say I've ever had those thoughts during a triathlon swim before!

As it turned out I was pretty lucky to make it to the swim finish, about 15 minutes after I got out they started pulling people out of the water for safety.

I felt like I could have gone faster if I had seeded myself further up. I didn't feel wasted at the end and got out of the water safely, so I can't complain too much.

Had probably the slowest wetsuit stripers ever, but whatever, was happy they were out there in the storm! Took my time getting dry in the tent (not sure why in retrospect, it was POURING out). Also put on sunscreen. I'd say I was in robot mode. I made sure I popped my Gas-X too (new strategy to combat my gassy stomach post-swim). Had to get my bike from the rack myself for the first time at an Ironman. Overall not a very fast T1 but I kept it moving and made sure I was all set for the bike.

Probably could've skipped the sunscreen.

Wow, this was an intense ride! Heading out towards the Keene descent the rain and thunder was coming down hard. Everyone seemed to be nervous about the big downhill looming in these conditions. Once I started going down, the cold winds really started getting to me. So in addition to bombing downhill in pouring rain without being able to see much, I was also shivering so much that my bike was shaking. The scariest moment for me was when a support bike cut in front of me while going much slower right where the cones funnel us back into one lane on the sharpest turn of the descent. I could not be happier to turn on to 9N and be done with that part of the course.

It took me a few moments to settle into race mode after getting to the flats. My neck hurt from being so tensed up, and I was still trying to battle mentally against the cold. I tried to get into my watt range, and did a good job keeping things controlled on the hills from Jay to Wilmington. Sometime around Wilmington the rain stopped and the sun eventually started peeking through! Right about the time this happened, my power meter decided to stop working. This meant no metric as I climbed through the notch back to Lake Placid. I went by RPE and tried to err on the side of going to easy, but I was pretty bummed to have lost the power tap.

Getting back to town was great, the crowds were going nuts and I got to see all the Team Loco supporters. Leigh going crazy on top of the Bears put a big smile on my face. Made it through special needs very quick and got going on my second loop.

Much less eventful riding on loop two, the descent was actually fun this time around! After leaving town my power meter started working again (wonder if the rain had anything to do with it). I had trouble getting up to my goal wattage on the second loop and had to accept that I wasn't going to be anywhere near a sub-6 hour ride. Comfort issues began cropping up on the Ausable out and back and staying in aero for long periods became pretty tough. My stomach was starting to feel iffy, but I made sure I stuck to my nutrition plan. By the time I got back to Lake Placid, I could not wait to get off the bike and start running.

Bonus: Peed 6 times on the bike!

I wish I could have hit my power goal, but it may have made for a weaker run. Given the conditions I'll take the so-so ride.

Not sure why I didn't get my feet out of my shoes before the dismount. It was a bit uncomfortable running all the way to the tent in my bike shoes. Once I got there I moved efficiently through my bag, and made sure I got my feet clean and dry before slathering on the Vaseline and getting my run stuff on. Took my HR monitor with me and put it on while running.

Leave the shoes on the bike. Otherwise a decent T2

Coming out of T2 my legs felt pretty good (as good as they can after 112 miles on the bike anyway). Checking my watch I knew if I could run around a 3:30:00 I would go under 11 hours, which I wasn't sure was possible, but I wanted to give it a try without totally blowing up. I had a hard time keeping my HR down in zone 1 to start the run (as usual), even walking through the first aid stations to try to bring it down. I eventually just tried to keep it in zone 2, and would slow down if it got any higher. I ended up settling into a nice pace on River Road, and made sure to keep up on nutrition.

Seeing all the Locos out there was pretty awesome. Given the conditions on the bike, I was so happy to see that everyone was safely on the run course.

The hills back into town were tough, but I ran up them for the most part while keeping an eye on the HR. I grabbed my Skittles from special needs (and some Endurolytes for Mark) and headed out for my second loop. I hit the halfway point right about 1:45:00, on pace for that sub-11 finish, but I could tell my body was not going to be able to duplicate that. My stomach wasn't feeling so great either, and I started hitting the Cola at almost every station, trying to find a pick-me-up. The second time on River Road is always brutal, and it was no different here. I had to dig deep to keep my legs moving, as they were trying to give up on me. Here and there I would take a wrong step and I could feel my calf on the verge of cramping up. I think I even said "no no no no no" out loud at the thought of it happening this far from the finish line.

With about 8-9 miles left in the race, I came up on Liam and we ran together for a bit. I left him at the next aid station, hoping I wouldn't see him again until the finisher's area. I slogged through the rest of River Road, and on the hill immediately after the turn I was walking up when a spectator cheered " Go Team Loco!! ....and another Team Loco!". I turned around and sure enough Liam was right behind me, several miles after I left him. I guess I needed the motivation because I took off like it was Michael Myers, and decided I would not walk again until the Oval.

The run through town was painful, but so uplifting. It's so awesome running through the crowds knowing you are about to finish an Ironman. I hit the Oval and slowed up a bit, opting to enjoy the moment rather than sprint it in like the past two years. A few high fives and a few fist pumps capped an awesome race, possibly my last Ironman for at least a few years.

Might have had a slightly faster time if I started out a bit slower, but overall I'm very happy with this run.

I also wish I had waited for Liam at the last aid station and ran it in with him. Because he started ahead of me I still would've beat him had we crossed together, and a Team Loco celebration at the finish line would have been pretty cool.

Found Leigh and shared an emotional hug, then got some food and fluids into me. First time the finish line volunteers didn't hound me about going into the med tent, so I'll take that as a good sign. Chatted with some of the Locos (can't believe how close together the first few of us finished) before getting an awesome, and much needed, massage.

Went back to the hotel to shower and put on some clean clothes then came back to watch the rest of the team finish. So proud of how Team Loco did out there!


Conditions, pacing, plus the usual "could've done more of this or that in training", but I'm really happy with how I performed here.


It wasn't perfect conditions, and I didn't get my dream time, but I still had an almost 20 minute PR, and finally got to RUN in an Ironman. I'm incredibly proud of this performance, and to be out there with so many teammates was just awesome. Three in a row and this was definitely my favorite experience at Ironman Lake Placid.