Ironman USA Lake Placid - TriathlonFull Ironman

After I said goodbye to the family about 10 minutes before the start, I headed towards the water. One thing I didn't anticipate was the logjam at the timing mat to enter the lake, so it was about 6:55 by the time I got into the water. Since my strategy was to start on the outside, I had to hustle (swim) to the opposite side of the lake. I arrived there just a couple of minutes before 7:00- probably ended up being a good thing since I had less time to hang around being nervous before the start.

It was chilly out, but the water temp was OK- about 69-70 degrees. After a few days of rain, the weather for the race could not have been nicer. The lake was covered with a low cloud of mist, which- along with the thousands of white and blue caps bobbing in the water- made for a pretty dramatic scene.

When the cannon went off, I prepared myself for that "washing machine" effect I've heard so much about with the mass start, and got ready for kicks, punches, and grabs. Surprisingly, it really wasn't that bad at all. I actually found clear water almost from the beginning, and though there were a couple of gentle bumps, the start really wasn't that bad.

Outbound on the first loop- and throughout the swim- I tried to keep a relaxed and easy pace. Although I had done a number of 5000+ yd swim workouts, I hadn't done a nonstop 2.4 mile swim in training. That- and the fact that the rest of the day would be long- kept my approach conservative.

Throughout the first loop, I tried to find feet to follow. I was less successful than I hoped, but I think there was a mass draft coming from the hundreds of swimmers ahead of me. A couple of bumps, but again nothing terrible.

I was shooting for a 1:20 swim, so as I finished the first loop, I was pleased to see 34:xx on the clock. I was also a little concerned, as I was breathing fairly heavily coming out of the water and had to remind myself to slow down.

On the second loop, I made a more deliberate effort to relax and take it easy. Again, I was less successful than I hoped in finding drafts- probably had feet in front of me between 1/3 and 1/2 of the time. At one point I did get pounded a couple of times- then discovered that I was right on the buoy line (yellow line underwater marking the course). I moved out a little bit and was fine.

More of the same for the rest of the loop, and again I was happy to come out ahead of my goal time.

Not much.

Man, this was a seriously slow transition, and I'm trying to figure out why it was SO slow.

The wetsuit strippers were great, though I don't think I helped them as much as I could have. It was a block or two on carpet downhill to the transition area. Based on some previous Ironman RRs, I was under the impression that volunteers retrieved your bags for you, but instead we grabbed our own. No big deal, though.

I changed into bike shorts and a jersey/tri-top and arm warmers for the bike, as I wanted to be sure I was comfortable. After getting squared away, I ran out to find my bike and headed out to the course.

Well, I wish I had washed all the sand/dirt off my feet. When I changed into the bike shorts for the ride, some of the dirt got into the- um- nether regions with predictable effects on the bike.

Overall, I just need to work on my transitions.. they are always bad, but I just don't put time into practicing them. I think I see a correlation.

I was most worried about my bike training, since I had some ITB issues going into my peak period and had to dial back a little at the time. I was able to get in a 100-miler and a couple of 80-milers in training, but not the volume I wanted going into the race. Still, the 100-miler 2 weeks prior was a good confidence-booster.

Like the swim, my goal on the bike was to stay conservative. During a training weekend in LP several weeks ago, I got discouraged on the first ascent before the downhill into Keene- it was tougher than I thought. So I tried to remember that and stay within myself. It was tough, as I had a bunch of people pass me and tried to stay focused on sticking with my strategy.

I felt pretty good and started my nutrition plan about 15 min into the race- combination of shot bloks, powergel, and gatorade endurance. The climb went OK, and the reward is that 5-6 mile downhill into Keene. I have trained mostly on the flats, so the downhill was pretty intense for me. I have to admmit to feathering the brakes a bit, so my max speed topped out at around 40 mph, which is still the fastest I hhave gone on the bike.

I felt good coming off the downhill and making the turn toward Jay. It was a nice 10-mile run, mostly flat and downhill, and went quickly. Then it was payback time as we turned left onto 86 and began the climb into Wilmington. Again here, I did my best just to spin up the hills, keeping cadence above 80.

It was nice to get to the Haselton Rd. out and back for a "rest" after this climb. There was an interesting aid station at the "out-" a Halloween theme with people dressed in costumes- I remember a gorilla but there were others, as well. Coming back on Haselton Rd, I made my first stop at an aid station to use the porta-john. Here was the first of many terrific volunteer experiences- the volunteer held my bike and asked if there was anything else I needed. He grabbed a water bottle and filled up my aero-bottle and put some suntan lotion on my neck before getting me on my way. Awesome.

Turning off of Haselton Rd, we started the long climb back into Lake Placid. More spinning, and although it was tough, it was nice to have some flat "steps" to recover on before beginning the next hill. I also made a conscious effort to look around and appreciate where I was and what I was doing. This is just a beautiful course, and I wanted to enjoy it as much as I could.

During the last couple of miles, people start to appear on the course to cheer you on, especially during the last couple of climbs. On Papa Bear, the last climb before the turn back to Mirror Lake, there were a bunch of people lining both sides of the road, with drums, cowbells, and screams getting you to the top of the hill.

Getting back onto Mirror Lake and through town was just amazing- really made you feel like a celebrity. Just before entering town, I stopped at special needs to change out my water bottle, drop off my arm warmers as it was now quite warm, apply some more body glide in strategic places, and get some suntan lotion. I did make a pretty big mistake here, as I forgot to grab the "reload" of my shot bloks. Fortunately I had also trained with gels, but this threw off my nutrition plan, which I paid for later on the run.

Coming out of town for the second loop, I stopped very briefly to say hello to the family, get a kiss on the cheek from my sleepy 3-yr old daughter.. then almost fall re-mounting the bike.

On the second loop, the wind started kicking up a bit, and it was mostly in our face on the first climb out of town. I hoped that meant the wind would be at our backs during the final climb, but I wasn't sure of my geographical/meteorological skills at that point. At this time of day, there were a ton of cars coming into town who were stopped because of the race, but instead of being irritated about it, most of them were out of their cars cheering us on. And actually, during the entire ride, there were lots of people either biking or running on the other side of the road, often shouting encouragement, which was very cool.

Second downhill into Keene was uneventful, which was the goal. A little slower because of the wind, which was OK with me. Another porta-john stop on the way to Jay, where I unfortunately had to wait a couple of minutes, but it was worth it. It was about this time that I ran out of my shot bloks, so I tried to calculate how much PowerGel and GE I would need to maintain the calories my nutrition plan called for. Nope, math skills now gone, as well. So I winged (wung?) it from there the best I could.

The second climb into Wilmington was where it started getting tougher. But I still felt OK, having held back in the first loop. My back was getting sore, though, and I got out of the saddle a few times to stretch. Then finally onto Haselton Rd- out to Halloween town where the gorilla had now shed much of her costume, as the temperature had climbed in the 3+hours since I had last visited.

Then I visited my favorite aid station right before the final climb, where one volunteer rubbed ice on my neck, which was fantastic. Someone had also left a jar of vaseline in the porta-john, so throwing caution to the wind... TMI?

On the final push into Lake Placid, I started to feel some twinges in my knee- near that ITB zone- and got a little nervous about that. I had been wearing a band all day to release the tension, and I tightened it a bit, and the pain went away. I was also in new territory at this point- my first ride beyond 100 miles, and I started getting some tightening in my quads, as well. It kind of came and went, though, and I was able to pass a number of people in the final 12 miles.

I did spend a little time on the last climb riding next to another first-timer (where the lanes were wide and plenty of room to pass us!)- a really nice guy from the NYPD who was very pumped up and helped to pump me up, as well- there was a lot of camaraderie on the course, everyone wanting everyone else to finish.

Again at the end of the climb, it was great to make the ride through town, especially the second time around. I was very relieved to pass off my bike at T2, as my biggest fear on the bike was the possibility of having a mechanical failure that I couldn't deal with. I actually didn't see many people along the road with bike problems- maybe 7-8 flat tires.. I was glad that I had decided not to go with the untested race wheels, even if I gave up a little speed (though I don't know that I'm fast enough to justify them, anyway).

I had been shooting conservatively for a 7:30 split, so I was very happy to go sub-7, even though it was my weakest event (transitions excluded). I figured I had spent maybe 15 min or so off the bike for aid/bathroom breaks, so I probably could have made some of that up, but the short breaks probably helped.

Handed my bike off and got ready for the marathon.

Be more careful/deliberate in special needs.

Another slow, slow transition. I decided to change shorts and socks again, and I ate a quick PB&J and a swig of diet coke. Also re-applied the sunblock, but I didn't feel like I was moving that slowly. But apparently I did.

Practice, practice, etc.

I really didn't know how this was going to go. My primary experience prior to triathlons was running, and I had done 3 stand-alone marathons, with my fastest being around 4:10. I figured I would be somewhere between 5 and 6 hours but had no idea what running this distance after the 112-mile ride would be like.

The beginning of the course is downhill, and I started off feeling pretty good. I was passing a number of people- finally catching up with some of those who flew by me on the bike. Because my nutrition was kind of out-of-whack due to my experience on the bike, I randomly picked out food at the aid stations- usually pretzels or grapes- or cola or GE- but a gel only once or twice because I was so sick of them by now. Not the best of strategies.

Anyway, when I turned onto River Rd. at the ski jumps- around the 2-mile mark- I decided to take a couple of endurolytes. So I reached into the back pocket of my jersey and.. nothing. They- along with my backup Aleve- had disappeared. I thought I had zipped the pocket, but apparently not, and they must have bounced out. I didn't quite believe it, so I reached around all my pockets for a few minutes until I convinced myself that they were gone. Oh, well. About this time I also noticed that a lot of salt was caking on my jersey, and I couldn't remember for the life of me whether that meant I needed more salt or more water. Since math had already abandoned me, I wasn't going to solve this complex problem, so I just tried not to think about it.

Anyway, I ended up feeling pretty good for most of the first loop. I walked the 2 big uphills back into town and walked the aid stations, but otherwise kept running. At about 11 miles, I was under 1:40 and thought this was probably too fast, but I decided- in another brilliant piece of logic- I might as well get as many miles behind me as possible before I started feeling bad.

So about a mile later, I started feeling bad. My stomach started to feel awful, and I had to slow to a walk for about half a mile. Thankfully, somehow the Tums I had put it my jersey pocket had stayed put, and I'm pretty sure this saved my race. Over the next 12 miles, I went through an entire packet. I'm pretty sure I picked up this tip from a BT race report, so let me repeat it: "bring Tums for the run!"

Back to the first loop- as I turned the corner in town, the announcer on the megaphone said, "come on, Chip, I know this is your second loop- you can do it- you can break 10:30." I wished it was true, but alas. Another loop to go.

Coming back into town to start the second loop, I decided to go ahead and stop at special needs on the run and change socks to a thinner pair. I actually sat down to do it, which was a bit of a mistake. Standing back up was not real easy.

I finished the first loop in about 2:05, and I ended up walking a lot more on the second loop, though I was able to pick the run back up without too much trouble after the walk breaks. At about mile 17, I walked for a few minutes with a guy who turned out to be a science teacher at Lake Placid High School. We chatted for a couple of minutes, and then I realized- hey, a science teacher should be able to answer this. So I asked him about the salt stains on my shirt, and he said, "um, you should be eating some salt." And then he gave me one of his salt tabs. Again, awesome.

Once I got to mile 19, I finally had the chance to experience the "magic" chicken broth, and it lived up to its reputation. At that point of the race, it was just what I needed, and I grabbed it four more times before the finish. Actually, one time it was ice cold- which wasn't so great- but otherwise it was terrific.

Coming up the hill into town, it was tough to pass the oval to do the final 2 miles around Mirror Lake, but there were big crowds for the rest of the race, screaming your name and just providing incredible support.
I was able to run most of the last 3 miles, and I'll never forget the feeling running into the Olympic Oval. I was pretty much sprinting at that point, and since I didn't have a running time total on my watch, I couldn't believe that the finish clock was registering 13:10:xx when I saw it. I was honestly thinking 14:00 would be a good showing for me, so this was way beyond my hopes.

It was great running by the family, as they were going nuts, but I was past them before I realized they were calling me back. Now, my wife and I had talked about having my 3-yo daughter Grace join me for the final run across the line, but we decided against it because a)we thought she was too young and might cry, and b)it might ruin someone else's finishing photo. But apparently, she had seen so many other people do it that she very earnestly told my wife that she wanted to "run with Daddoo." I looked back, and there wasn't anyone else in sight behind me, so I went ahead and grabbed her and carried her across the line. I missed Mike Reilly calling my name in the middle of this, but it was great to share this with Grace.

I felt great coming across the line, and the two of us shared the space blanket, the medal, the t-shirt, and the hat.

Do a better job securing my endurolytes!

It had been a long day for the family, so I really didn't take part in the post-race activities. I grabbed my transition bags and spent a few minutes talking with my sister, who saw me cross the line on the live feed.

My stomach started feeling queasy about 10 minutes after the race- I should have grabbed some pizza, but I didn't want to hold up the family, so I retrieved my bike, and we walked back about half a mile to the townhouse we were renting. Fortunately downhill!

I didn't feel like eating much, but pizza sounded good, so we ordered some. Apparently it was popular that night, as it took about 90 minutes to arrive, and we ate around 10:30PM. We thought about going back to see the final finishers, but decided that bed sounded pretty good.


Other than a couple of mistakes and some very slow transitions, I think I pretty much performed to my potential given the amount of training I was able to commit to.


This was just an unbelievable experience- this is a dream I've had for many years but never thought I would actually accomplish. Even though my expectations were high coming in, they were exceeded in every way.

Even though I only occasionally post comments on BT, I am a very frequent visitor and have learned a ton from some really great people here. The advice and support I have experienced here have been crucial to getting me to the finish line of my first Ironman, and it meant a lot just to know that so many people were following progress online. I wish I had the chance to meet folks in LP but family commitments were pretty tight- I will certainly do a better job of this in future races. Thanks!!