Ironman USA Lake Placid - TriathlonFull Ironman

It was your typical IM swim. Total combat the entire way!! I've never experienced anything like it - it was so cool!

It took about 500 yards to get into a groove, but once I did I was fine. I was pretty cautious the first lap, as I hadn't experienced this type of swim before and I don't think I was quite prepared for how brutal it was. I was letting some people pass me in order to stay in the clear, which I shouldn't have done. I like to think that I was kind of a pansy the first lap, but then I started doing a bit of aggressive swimming of my own on the second lap.

My plan was to stay off to the left until I hit the boathouse, then start making my way toward the red buoy for the turn around. That would have been fine, but I guess I didn't go far enough to the right, because when I looked up once, the red buoy was directly 100 yards to my right. I made the first turn for home and somehow, I kept swimming right on the buoy line, which I did NOT want to do. I kept getting pulled over in that direction though, which I think is why I thought the swim was tough for the entire 2.4 miles.

Out of 2,339 other people, it seemed like everytime I looked up to sight, there was Kellie! It was too funny...a sea of strangers and we're together for the entire swim.

Thankfully, NASports had a huge screen TV at the swim start, so I could easily sight for the finish line with the bright light at the end. I made the short run onto the sand to start the second lap without a problem.

Like I said, I was much more combative the second lap than the first one. No more Ms. Nice Triathlete! I don't think I dished out too much, but if a person wasn't going to move for me, then I was going to take any avaiable real estate I could find on my path.

The whole time I tried to find feet to follow, but they kept changing up really fast. It seemed like the whole swim was a giant draft fest anyway. It seemed like the minute I found feet, they would take off on me.

I think it started raining sometime in the second lap, but I'm not sure. I do know it got difficult to breathe and I was drinking a lot of Mirror Lake in the second lap.

I should have been more aggressive at the start...I will be next year!

OK...this was a bit excessive for a transition. My coach asked if I brought out my blow-drier when he saw my time. As has been noted before, the tent was completely dark, which took me by surprise. It was also disgusting and smelly. I had a hard time finding a place to sit down, but when I did I took my time getting everything together and making sure I had all my nutrition.

Speed up? There's about three minutes in here (at least!) that I can cut off, although it does include a port-a-potty stop.

Hey guess what?? It rained in Lake Placid on IM day! The latest estimate I heard was 4". That's a lot of rain.

My main goal for the bike was to keep on top of my nutrition and to keep it easy the first lap. I was totally freaked out about the thought of a marathon after riding this course, so that kept weighing on my mind. I knew that if I didn't achieve both of those goals, 26.2 miles would suck, bad.

The ride started off ok, but it was really crowded on the roads. You couldn't help but to draft because people were ALL around you. (I did see some people in the Penalty boxes, though). I made the climb out of Lake Placid fine, and the descent into Keene fine (I even hit a new high speed, which I guess shows how much of a decending weenie I am in training rides). The fun started on the ride out to Jay.

I got to about mile 18 when I noticed something up with my rear tire. [flash back to 10 a.m. on Sunday: "Coach, can you give me a quick tutorial on how to change a rear flat? I haven't had to change one yet, and I'm not sure I know exactly how to do it."] BAM - rear flat at mile 19! Let me tell you, the scene that followed was NOT G-rated. There were literally HUNDREDS of people flying past me, and there I was, stuck on the side of the road (in the rain) fixing my first rear flat. I don't how long it took to fix it, but I'm guessing between 5-10 minutes. I got back on and my bike was still making a weird noise, like there was a card or something stuck in the spokes. I got off again and looked, but I didn't see anything wrong with the derailluer or brakes, so I kept on going. Come to find out, I think it was my computer cable. It kept making the noise the entire ride (on and off), but never broke down again.

After watching everyone fly past me, I was SO fired up and I just wanted to catch back up to where I thought I should be. I kept remembering not to push TOO much, because I would end up paying for it in the long run (literally!).

The first loop ended fine, I suppose. I wasn't really paying much attention to my computer or Garmin (which was mounted on the bike) because of the rain. I had set my Nike stopwatch for the entire race, and that was my main source of timing. I had the Garmin attached just because I wanted the data, and the bike computer was on anyway. I did the entire race on RPE.

The climb up the bears was crazy! The Devil was out and made the scariest face I've ever seen while I was climbing up Papa Bear - it was totally like the Tour de France (or as close as I'll get anyway!). I rode up Northwoods and down into town, where I saw my cheering section (yea!!). God Bless each and every one of the volunteers and spectators for staying outside in that rain all day. I don't know how or why you did it, but it means the world!

The second lap was much less crowded, and thanks to my paranoia about nutrition, this was the first ride I've ever really nailed it. In retrospect, it was probably the cooler weather - when it gets hot, I don't like to eat as much.

Nothing too exciting about the second lap - just kept up with the nutrition and kept my effort at about a 7. Although, on the ride back I got behind some hotties and was anxious to keep on their tail. Whatever works at mile 100 on a 112 bike ride in the rain, I guess? Made the climb back into town with all my bottles empty and some run legs avaiable, so I made my goals.


I was wondering if I lost focus a bit too much during the race, but I don't think I really did. Seven hours is a LONG time to be on the bike, and I think I did a good job with staying on my game plan. The real question is whether or not my game plan was aggressive enough.

Yuck! What a mess! Thankfully, a volunteer helped me reattach my race number (one side had fallen off) and get my shoes tied up (I don't race with Yankz). I changed shirts, ditched the useless sunglasses and put my visor on.

There is probaly a bit to trim off here, but I don't know how much. I didn't run to the tent in my bike shoes because my toes were hurting, so that's one place.

Now is when the real race begins!

As I left transition, I thought a) I'm so glad to be off the bike and b) Dude, I have to run 26.2 miles! I did feel good - probably the best I've felt after any of my long rides in training, and the "bike legs" weren't as pronounced as they had been before. My plan was to walk through each of the aid stations, taking some calories in each one. I didn't bring anything with me on course, so I was living off the land.

At the first couple aid stations, I needed something solid in my tummy, so I took a banana and water, which worked out well. I was really feeling pretty good on the run, and was keeping up about 9:45 miles, which I was thrilled about! Everything was going along fine for the first half marathon, walking through each of the aid stations and taking in food. Boy, did I take in food - powerbars, bananas, gatorade, coke...you name it, I was eating it. My stomach never got really upset or anything though, so I guess I needed it.

I was paying more attention to aid stations instead of mile markers, because my run was focused around food (haha...it's always all about the food!). I would see the miles go by, but since there were so many of them, it wasn't really registering. I was paying more attention to getting to the turn around spots, or key points on the course (ex., start of River Road, turnaround on River Road, end of River Road, oval, turnround on Mirror Lake, etc.). That seemed to help the time go by faster.

After the half marathon point, I noticed that my quads were pretty tight. I tried to stretch them out a bit, but it wasn't working very well. I really just wanted to get done and then deal with all the injuries and stuff after the race, so I kept plugging away. I was still keeping up about 10:10 miles at this point, which I was frankly amazed at. I was running faster in my IM race than any of the HIMs I've done (it was also about 15 degrees cooler and no sun during the IM, however).

I think it was at the start of River Road the second time when I noticed that my ankles and IT bands were hurting. They continued to get progressivly worse for the entire race. I made it to the turn around on River Road, and by then the walk breaks between aid stations had started. I was actually doing well going up hills, but going down was a different story. My quads and IT bands did NOT want to extend like that.

I was still waiting for the "dark momenets" to come. I was most scared of this time in the race, when it seems like it's absolutely impossible to finish, yet somehow you have to drag yourself through it. My coach and I had talked about it, and I knew this would be the point that would break me during the race, if I let it. I was more freaked out about this moment than the nutition and pacing on the bike mostly because I felt like it was the most out of my control (actually...it's the element that's most IN my control). I never really felt like I had that "dark moment", though. Sure - it was tough from mile 19 - 24, but it felt just like the marathons I've run. Maybe it was the marathon experience that made me stronger through those miles? I knew that I just needed to stay focused and the miles will pass, eventually.

I made it into town and walked down the hill, because my IT bands would not cooperate. A port-a-potty stop at the bottom of the hill was required (yes...I know...I should fix this for next year), and then I walked the majority of the hill back into town.

I made the turn for the out and back, and that's when it started to hit me - I'm actually going to do this and become an Ironman! All those early morning sessions, afternoon workouts (I hate evening workouts!) and long rides are paying off and I'm doing this! The run down to the turnaround on Mirror Lake seemed to take FOREVER, because when I turned around the next stop would be the finish line!!

I crossed Main Street and I swear started sprinting down the oval. It was totally surreal - out-of-body experience. I don't even know if it was raining or not - I felt like a rock star! Tons of people clapping, screaming, and me running down the Olympic oval! There were two people in front of me - one wanted to finish with her daughter. I'm such a weirdo - I starting thinking, ok...slow down and don't interfere with their finish photo, plus you don't want them in your picture, so slow down. I was so overwhelmed and happy that I totally missed Mike Reilly calling me an Ironman! I know he said it, and said that I was from Wilmington, Delaware, because my parents heard it.

The finish line catcher was SO nice - he wrapped me up in the solar blanket and walked me over to the photo booth to get my picture taken, and got me a t-shirt and hat. He had a calm, soothing voice that was totally appreciated.

I think I could have pushed a bit more in the run. My pace slowed dramatically between the two laps, and I think I could have pressed a bit more.

I found my family and coach and posed for all the pictures with them (all of which I look like a totall weirdo in, but I'm blaming in on exhaustion). My coach helped me get my stuff from transition, because he still had to get his bike in there too (he DNFed - hypothermia on the bike course). I walked back to the house and took a much needed shower and changed. It was difficult to process it all at the end.


I think this is about as good as I could have performed, based on my training and the circumstances - I'm totally happy with my race! Of course next year...that's another story!


It was the most incredible experience ever! I'm so glad I did this - I'm totally hooked on the "Iron" lifestyle. I'll be back in Placid for a few years, for sure!