Ironman Lake Placid - Triathlon

The swim start was fine but I couldn't find the right person to draft off of like the last time. That definitely makes a difference. To me, this is a difficult swim. There is so much contact and frankly, people don't seem very nice. There's a lot of kicking, pawing, and cutting you off. I got kicked in the eye at one point and had to readjust my goggles. I couldn't wait to get out of there. I did not think it was enjoyable at all even though I feel I'm a good swimmer.


Find someone to draft off of.

I came out of the water and made eye contact with two wetsuit strippers who both wanted to help me. Unfortunately, they really stunk at their job. I think it took longer with their help than I could've done on my own. They couldn't pull it over my hips once I laid down. I had to check to see if my zipper was down. It was. They yanked some more. When I got up, I had a lot of sand on me.

Then I proceeded to run down to the transition area. It's a long run down the hill. I had to find my own T1 bag and then run to the women's changing tent. Once inside, a volunteer helped. Again, I didn't pick the greatest volunteer. I asked her to find my shirt. She gave me my vest. Oh well, they mean well.

I went with arm warmers/no vest/no jacket/no shoe covers.


Find a better wetsuit stripper.

Put sunscreen on. It was cloudy for the start of the bike but then the sun came out full force and I could've used the sunscreen.

This was a very enjoyable bike ride. The scenery is amazing! Even the 4-mile downhill was not as bad as in the past. That was most likely because the road seemed smoother and it wasn't wet. It was sunny and easy to see everything. I enjoyed the entire first loop. I thought to myself that it didn't seem that difficult. The second loop was not as much fun. I was probably getting tired.

During my first loop as I was happily passing people on uphills (very unusual for me), some guy looked at my leg and said that I couldn't possibly be 61 years old. I said I was and he said that was impossible. I told him that he made my day and instead of passing, I stayed on the outside chatting with him. It was great until I heard the motorcycle. I looked back and it said "Ironman Support" on the front. They can't possibly be USAT officials, I thought. Wrong! I got suspicious when the support motorcycle didn't keep going, they were hovering. I told that guy that I should drop back so I did. Then I was worried I didn't leave enough space so I dropped back more. Then the motorcycle came up to me and the girl on the back said, "Linda, you are going to have to go to the penalty tent." She was very nice. She said I took longer than 20 second to pass. I said I was sorry but I was talking. I asked how many minutes and she said "3; tell them yellow." After they pulled away, I continued my conversation with the guy for a bit. He felt so bad. He said it was his fault for engaging me in conversation. I told him not to worry about it; that it was better than crashing like I did the last time.

Funny, every time that motorcycle would pass me later on, and it was frequent, the woman would wave and smile like we were friends. I'd wave back. LOL!

Then for the next 10 miles or so I worried about where the penalty tent was. I was so afraid I'd miss it. It was pretty obvious, though, and I pulled in feeling like a bad girl. They told me they'd been waiting for me. Then they marked my number with a slash. I told them that I was talking, not drafting. The woman told me that I was lucky and should've gotten a 5-minute penalty. I had plans for going to the porta-pottie, eating, stretching but I didn't even get off my bike. It didn't seem like 3 minutes.

After the first loop, I was going to hand off my arm warmers to Bob, but I didn't want to do anything else that could cause me to get a penalty.

Consumed on the bike: 1 package of Clif Bloks, PB&J on whole wheat pita and 2 GUs. I brought 2 large bike bottles of blue Gatorade and 1 half water/half Gatorade, which I drank first and threw away. I picked up 5-7 bottles of water on the course and 3 banana pieces. I did not eat the Power Bar I brought. I couldn't eat it. The bananas seemed to go down easier. Nothing tasted good to me. I think it was because of my cold. Also took about 9 Endurolytes--3 per hour for awhile.

I did not stop at a porta pottie 5 times on the bike.

At the end of the bike, I heard Mike Reilly announce my name, age and town. I thought, surely Bob would hear that and know I was coming. He didn't. I also didn't realize that I was coming in first in my age group!


Didn't need the arm warmers.

Pay more attention to the motorcycles and not get a drafting penalty.

I took off my shoes once I got off of my bike. My feet were killing me. Volunteers were yelling at me to take off my helmet to cool down. I didn't feel that hot. I limped to the porta pottie, stopped in and then walked to the changing tent. The volunteer I got this time was great!

I decided to treat myself to a dry pair of shorts. I put on my favorite old tri shorts. I had been getting chafed on the bike and just wanted a little comfort. I Vaselined my feet pretty good and put on dry Smartwool socks, my running shoes and a visor. I switched sunglasses, putting the bike ones in the case for the run ones. I had assistance putting sunscreen on.


I was not in a hurry. I can't seem to speed this up.

I started out on the run and was actually running. I didn't feel like I had a lot of pep, though. It was very sunny and hot. I started walking pretty quickly. I did a walk/run. I came upon a woman who was walking who kept looking at her watch. I asked her what she figured her pace to be. She said she was going for 11s. I'd love to do that! So I stayed with her but when she would run, she went too slowly. I'd get ahead and then walk and she'd catch up.

I noticed that I was passing and getting passed by the same people. I tried to stay with them. It was a losing battle. By the time I was starting the second loop, I was fried. I came upon Bob, Michael and Bill. Mike started walking with me. I asked if he could walk the entire second half with me. He started to and then said he felt like he was holding me up. (He was probably getting tired.) After that, it started to get cooler and I started to feel better. I started running from about mile 16 on and only walked the aid stations and big hills. I did stop a lot at the porta potties. I would feel better afterwards. I must've been hydrating well. Come to think of it, I wasn't cramping either.

Consumed on the run: GU at mile 5, 10 and 15. Couldn't stomach a 4th one. Ate pretzels every chance I got. Took the chicken broth at the first opportunity. I could've used that a lot sooner. Drank yellow Gatorade, chased down with ice water. I dumped ice in my top every chance I got. It came in handy to eat between aid stations. Took 3 Endurolytes.

Nine porta pottie visits take a long time!!!

I skipped the last aid station to save time. I figured I didn't need that one and wanted to finish.




Definitely follow my training plan. I did not run hardly at all in February and March because of the herniated disc. I feel that my run would've been more up to my par if I hadn't skipped two 18-mile runs and two 20-milers. Plus, I was racing with a cold.

Crossing the line is always exciting!!! I decided not to go to the medical tent for the first time EVER in an IM. I was going to try skipping it even though I felt terrible. It took awhile to find Bob. I went to the race exit to the street and luckily found a chair. I just sat there. I was having a hard time slowing down my heart rate. I felt dreadful. I couldn't drink and could barely walk. Luckily, after about 10 minutes, I saw Bob walking by. Thank goodness for that bright yellow shirt. I called his name and he saw me. It took Bob and Mike holding me up to get me back to the condo. Why oh why was it so far? We went at a snail's pace but at least I was able to walk all of the way back.

I kept thinking that I was absolutely crazy to sign up for next year ahead of time and was so sorry I did that. I was happy I didn't get the Kona slot because I knew I couldn't do another one in 10 weeks. As I write this three days later, I'm excited about going back. I'm already confident that I'm going to PR next year.


My time was an hour slower than in 2013 but I really can't complain. Between hurting my back and catching Bob's cold, I was lucky to even start the race.


Best volunteers ever!!!! They actually compete for awards. Although this race is extremely hilly, the scenery is magnificent.