Ironman USA Lake Placid : Official Thread (Page 108)

I didn't race but congrats to everyone that did.  I was at the special needs run in the AM taking your red bags.  The VERY tall blond guy with the blue Adidas bucket hat if you remember..

I'm doing it next year and very excited to be part of it!

Hey everybody,

It was great to meet you all and I'm happy that you all had great days on Sunday.

I on the other hand didn't have as good as a day as I was expecting. I'll get a full race report written up sometime but for now heres the short version.

Had an amazing swim, 1:13, faster than my goal time. I was actually taking it really easy the entire swim I think it was just the fact that I was continuously passing and drafting off of people in the water that allowed me to swim that fast. Felt great coming out of the water.

The first loop of the bike felt great, managed it in just around 3:06 which was slightly faster than my goal pace. But just as in the swim I took it easy the whole way. Spun my way up hills and keep it easy on the flats.

Started the second loop feeling just as strong. However with about 30 miles to go (right around the small incline up into Jay) I noticed my quads/calfs were starting to cramp. It would only happen when I stopped pedaling then the cramps would work them selves out as soon as I got going again. The last 10 miles climbing up back into Lake Placid was a struggle but I still felt good. Thought as long as I kept moving the cramps would work them selves out. Got off the bike right after 3pm which was right where I wanted to be.

Got into the changing tent sat down to change my shoes and my calfs instantly locked up on me. Took me about 5 min of massaging them to get them to relax(thought the volunteer was going to call medical on me then). Finally managed to get changed and get going. Hobbled out of T2 and starting "jogging"(more like barely able to get my legs moving but it was more than a walk)

Stopped to walk at the first aid station to take in some fluid. Tried to start running again after it and my legs would not work. As soon as I did anything more than a walk they completely locked up on me. I almost fell over on the side of the road a few times trying to start running. Decided on just trying to walk it out and hopefully they'd get better.

I ended up getting pulled off the course at a little before mile 4. I had stopped walking at the aid station to try and catch my breath/lower my heartrate(was up to around 170 just walking), when I suddenly got very dizzy. Some volunteers sat me down and called the EMTs over.

Long story short, ended up getting taken via ambulance back to the medical tent, had close to 4000mL of Saline put into me via IV. Lost close to 15 pounds, and almost sent to the hospital.

Initially I thought that I was drinking enough water on the bike but the more I look back on it I really don't think I drank that much. Hard to tell due to getting a new water bottle every 10 miles on the bike. 

The worst feeling in the world was lying in the medical tent hooked up to the IV with all the doctors around me and hearing everyone's name being called out as an Ironman when they crossed the finish line. If it wasn't for the fact that my GF managed to somehow get into the tent to see me I would have ended up with with a pretty bad mental breakdown. Seeing everyone on Monday in their finisher gear almost messed me up really bad as well. Once again my GF and some other friends in the area kept me in one piece.

Its a big disappointment but I'll learn from it and come back next year to kick its butt.

(And to add insult to injury I missed the back of my shoulder blades putting on sunscreen and I'm currently dealing with very bad second degree(huge blisters) on my back. The sunburn might also have contributed to my dehydration)

I went off my Garmin -- just checked and fixed it on my blog and put the time at 12:47.  Looks like my Garmin was auto pausing in multi sport mode whenever I stopped moving.

Wow!  To get up after that and finish is amazing.  But to do it under 12hrs is the stuff of legend!  Great job and happy anniversary.

Oh man!  Sorry to hear about your ordeal out there.  It felt way hotter than the thermometer read, that's for sure.  Your attitude is great though...you will rock it next year for sure!

I'm in; I felt the same way I volunteered the entire day.  I was able to help the first racer and the very last racer that day.  It was very inspiring.   

I do have two questions already about next year.  For the ones that just went through it or have gone through it.  For the Hotels most of them are 5 day minimum did you decide to get there early and leave the day after or did you come later and then end up staying a day or two later.  I wasn’t sure if there was any benefit of getting there early for doing some recon work about the course or did you just take it easy while you were there.  For those that did the Tri camps in LP, did you find them beneficial? 

Thanks for volunteering.  You guys were AWESOME!  Total selflessness, kindness, and uplifting spirits from the volunteer crew made my day.

To answer your questions from my perspective:

I got up here Wed and leave tomorrow...I DON'T WANT TO LEAVE.  If I could do it again I would stay Thurs-thurs because I was a grump to my family before the race, but now I am more relaxed than I have ever been.  It's empty up here today and you can park anywhere and there are no lines, unlike the other days.  But I'm here with my 3 little kids and it's a vacation, so your situation may be different.

As far as camps go...YES.  I came up 6 weeks ago and rode the course twice.  One day was sunny and one day was raining.  By race day I felt like i knew the course well and the Keene descent did not look nearly as steep, and neither did the hills coming back to town.  I also ran one loop of the run, which was really helpful in mentally preparing and on race day.  I did the Endurance Nation camp which was free...the coach KQ'd this year and he really knows the course like the back of his hand.  Highly recommended.

John I'm so sorry to hear about your day....you have an amazing attitude and I look forward to you kicking it next year.

Jerry, you have to change your username from "ironwannabe" , you ironman you

Rusty!! Beyond rockstar for kicking it after the crash. So awesome you and your wife are doing it next year.  Aw crikey, I wish I was doing it next year (of course before the race I was like "one and done") ...  I don't think I can because of family stuff I forsee over the next year (ill family member)... I don't think I can swing it (what a joint family effort this thing has to be)... almost wish I hadn't had so darn much fun  

Had a great day, loved every minute of the race.

Anyone else think the mass swim was a blast? I was a little worried about it, but thought it was maybe the best part of the day.

Goal time of 13 to 14 hours and finished in just under 12:46.

Stayed in town at the Mirror Lake Inn, a little expensive, but worth every penny.

Thought it was cool to watch the 2011 swim start knowing I was in it after having watched so many other LP swim start videos before the race:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnqJEwXR0v8

Enjoy!

Hey all, just catching up on the short reports.  For those that didn't have the race they envisioned, don't let it define you.  The distance is not one to easily figure out and S#$T happens sometimes (i.e bike accidents).  Also, it was dry out there and the sun definitely contributed to the dehydration issues.  There will be other races to come back and apply the lessons learned. 

For those that did have a good race, congrats all around. 

My goal post accident was to just finish as I didn't know how the hands would respond.  I remained conservative on the descent to Keene and made it to the run in decent shape.  However, after a pretty good first half-marathon (roughly a 8:27 mile pace) I dehyrated to the point of having dark colored urine.  At that point I was only drinking cola and chocalate gels.  Scared me pretty good...thought of DNFing right there.  I decided to walk some and only take in water for the rest of the race.  After a couple of aid stations stops the pee started to clear up so at that point I decided to start running again.  Finished and immediately went to the medical tent to report my condition.  They said I was ok and to start pushing the fluids.  After a couple of hours I was feeling much better and pee was back to normal.  Also I forgot the sunscreen on the bike and now have a tri geek burn all over back.  This likely contributed to my dehydration as well.  Lesson learned from this:  even on a "cool" day the sun can quickly dry you out.  I have IM-AZ later this year so I feel fortunate to get the education in now.

Overall I finished at 11:23, just 23 minutes over my pre-accident goal of 11 hrs.  Honestly, after the past five weeks that I had, I felt blessed just to be up at LP and toeing the line with everyone.  Anything that I accomplished after that was just gravy on top.

Best wishes to everyone in your future races,

Jeff

I was not sure how I was going to finish that run. My knee was killing me, but when you shuffled by and said that we can break 15 I checked my watch and knew we could do it. Thanks for your motivation as well! You, my friend, need to change your screen name now since you ARE an Ironman!