Ironman Lake Placid : Official Thread (Page 142)

Ah, finally found the message you were referring to in your reply to my race report. Yep, I had known for three hours that I was playing it close with the bike cut-off, so I just started bawling out of relief and joy.

And yes, I am a runner. Although I jogged it easy (had enough hurting on the bike and was out there to finish, so wanted to really enjoy it), I still passed over 300 people. Proof I need to keep working the swim and bike! LOL!

I was thinking about doing the same race!! gotta get the pass from the fiance first though... after the scare I gave her sunday, this might be harder than it looks...

Hey everyone...finally back where I have internet.

What a day! I know none of you knew I was planning on racing...and that was on purpose.  My shoulder had been pretty good the week before and the dr changed my status to no contact sports and no more figure 8 brace...3 weeks early!  Still wasn't allowed to run or bike though.  I met with my swim coach on Monday night to see if we could figure out a way to swim with one arm.  We manged to get that straightened out after about 30 minutes and 200 yards.  It wasn't comfortable but with the option of doing it looming and 6 more days of healing it was in my head that this might be a possiblity. 

I immediately contacted the guy that was looking at my bike to see if I could get it back...got it the next day all fixed up.  This was almost a make or break deal for me.  I hadn't sat on thing since the wreck and didn't even know if I would be able to support my body...but I was.  I was also able to get into aero as well which surprised me!  So I figured at this point I was good to go.  But talking with the wife we decided to only tell our family as we didn't know how I would feel in the coming days.  I get bumped in the mall, one of my kids grabs my arm not remembering...etc.  It would be easier to explain that I'm doing it once.  Rather than oh yea, I'm doing it....getting hurt...oh yea, I'm not doing it.  Make up your mind Jeff!  So it wasn't a governmental cover up or anything it was just how much time I wanted to spend explaining myself to people lol.

I had a blast meeting everyone and I apologize if I forgot your name/face.  I'm horrible with that sort of thing for some reason...don't take it personally.  

I like the honorary Bad award, I'll take it.  Thank you to everyone that encouraged me on the course, it helped a lot!  I've filled out my race report in case anyone wants to read it...it's kind of lengthy.

Oh, and I signed up for '13.

Ha! Thanks

I'm hearing it was quite inspiring for a lot of people so I'm hoping to use this story to help people in some sort of fashion!  But I'm glad I could help.

It's so great to read everyone's reports of their day!  I was a volunteer at the Wilmington Bike station for 8.5 hours, and loved every minute of it.  Cornick, we saw you finish and thought you must have had a crash during the race.   I hadn't been in here for a while and had no idea it was a pre-race crash.  Badass for sure!

I swam 2 loops of the swim on Friday night and rode 2 loops of the bike course on Saturday.  It's much tougher than anything we have around home, for sure!  

I am signed up for 2013 for my first IM.  I'm looking forward to getting to know all of you.

Hi -  I am new to the group.  I'm signed up for 2013 and this will be my first iron distance race.  I have really enjoyed reading everyone's reports and am really looking forward to this experience.  I am in awe of all of you.

I have seen various numbers regarding the bike elevation gain & change.  What are the actual numbers?  Is anyone willing to share their garmin/gps data?

Thanks. 

Mike

Congrats to everyone who finished the race. It was a great day for me until mile 95 on the bike then my knees started to hurt so I dialed back on my power. I started the marathon feeling good but by mile 5 my knees felt as if they would fall off... but I kept moving forward. Walking/jogging... I knew I was going to finish was just a matter of time. The pain went away for a few short seconds as I entered the oval. Blisters weren't pulsating, knees felt fresh and I saw the big bright lights and heard Mike Reilly's voice. 16:29, I was an ironman.

Talked with Cornick a bit on the bike and the run. He's the man. Much respect.

We both passed a guy on the side of the road at mile 47 or so of the bike who said he was just quitting. It amazed us, the different level of ambition people have.

Sorry I was not able to hook up with any of you. I was going a mile a minute and when I wasn't I was off my feet.

PinkPrincess, we totally ran into each other on the run and walked/jogged/chatted a bit. I was wearing an orange uniform...

Here is my RR...didnt go as planned, but in some sick way I'm glad it didnt! I came to the conclusion I simply didnt take in enough water on the bike which caused my quads to completely lock up shortly into the run. Oh well, live and learn, come back and kick some !

Lake Placid 2012-

I’m going to skip the whole part of getting up to Lake Placid, checking in, and the whole “experience” of going to an Ironman and jump right into the actual race itself, since all the festivities, stuff you can buy, banquettes, and everything else are all there for one reason alone…the race.

I stood in the water about chest deep as the cannon went off for the Pros. As an age grouper (M 30-34) we would start right at 7am with another cannon shot. With 5 minutes to go I swam out to the far right about 3-4 rows back and about 15 yards from the shore. Before I knew it the cannon fired and we were off swimming…all 2800+ of us. I have heard/read plenty of horror stories of the swim in Lake Placid, but to be quite honest with you, it wasn’t bad at all. Sure there was some bumping, swimming over each other, but everyone was rather civil and its just one of those things you deal with. If you were calm and were not a deliberate trying to swim on top of other people it wasn’t half bad. I decided to take the 2.4 mile swim very easy as I have never swam 2.4 miles straight and I didn’t want to torch myself right at the beginning of a 12+hr day. I crossed the first timing mat in about 39 minutes…not terrible. By the time I finished the 2nd lap my time was 1:22, a little slower than I would have liked, but I was purposely holding back. I KNOW I can go faster since my arms are not even remotely fatigued from the swim, nor was I breathing hard.

Transition was what you could expect from a few hundred sweaty dudes in a tent in the middle of summer; needless to say I was out of there as quick as I could be and on to the bike.

After jumping on the bike and heading down into town it was amazing to see how many people were lining the street to cheer everyone on. After a few miles we were out on our own and into the hills. My goal was to simply go easy and not push too hard. The climbs were not terrible coming from Northern NJ, where most are pretty steep. Everything we encountered was a gradual climb…just long. The descent was everything it was made out to be…awesome that is! I’m not sure what speeds I hit, but I was definitely bleeding off speed as I went down, simply due to the amount of people myself and a few others were passing. I would rather be safe and lose 30 seconds than crash at 50mph+! The middle section of the course was my favorite, I could cruise about 23 mph and just motor along with little effort. We soon hit an out and back section which at first glance doesn’t seem hard, but it has multiple false flats and had a hell of a headwind on the way back which definitely put a dent in everyone. I saw huge packs of cyclists drafting about 20 minutes ahead of me, but I can understand why…it just simply couldn’t be avoided for them! A few looked like legitimate pelotons moving down the road. After the out and back the course started climbing and would do so most of the way back into Lake Placid. Admittedly I am not a good climber and I could stand to lose 10 lbs to improve my power/weight ratios, but overall it was not bad. The three hills back into Lake Placid called “The Bears” were great. Right before we got to them there was a sign that said, “Goldie Locks was a ”. Some of the signs were pretty humorous to say the least! On Pappa Bear, the largest of the climbs, it looked like the Alps during the Tour de Frace, there were hundreds of fans cheering us on lining the road with only enough room for about 3 riders to ride abreast. If for one reason alone I would do this race it would be this one hill with those spectators! After a quick little downhill it was back down to the lake and hundreds of more spectators screaming, cheering, and ringing cowbells, it was AMAZING. I stopped at special needs, grabbed more bottles and gels and it was off for lap two. The second lap was pretty uneventful other than some cramps starting to sneak up on me in my inner legs. I started chugging water and it seemed to do the trick. I was about 14min slower on my second lap and I think this is mostly due to holding back due to the potential cramping. I came off the bike with a time of 6:18 and feeling pretty damn good for just having ridden 112 miles!

Back into transition, it was a little calmer this time and I quickly threw on my socks, shoes and visor and headed out for the run. As I started the run another racer in my age group and I got to see Andy Potts coming in for the win back into town.

The run starts with a good downhill of about half a mile I think and I think this is what may have did me in. I could feel my quads working a bit harder, which I expected and I purposely was trying to hold back, I felt this before in other longer tris. I clocked my first mile at 8:55, my second a little slower around 9:11 I think, and then BAM, both of my quads locked up out of nowhere with no warning whatsoever. No tingles or twitches like when you feel a cramp coming on, just full blown lock up and I was forced to walk with no more than 2 ¾ miles into the marathon. I shuffled/jogged most of the flat sections and was forced to walk up the inclines and hills. I would basically shuffle/jog until I felt my quads want to lock up again and I would then walk. I’m not sure if I didn’t get enough water or sodium in, or if I pushed the bike too hard, or perhaps I just didn’t do enough bricks which involved long rides and then runs. Either way, it was time for my own personal Bataan Death March. As I started my second run loop I saw riders coming in trying to make the bike cutoff, I knew that my day was going to be a piece of cake compared to these guys! Lap two was uneventful other than making some “5 minute friends”, guys and gals I would chat with as we walked and jogged together until one of us took off. Some were on their first lap and others were on their second. I was surprised to find that many of whom I talked with had done a few Ironman’s and were just having a bad day due to conditions or some other anomaly that threw their plans out the window. As I approached the hill into town with about 2 miles to go, I heard someone yell, “Can I get a runner up this hill!” So I figured, what the heck, its 2 miles, if my legs completely give out at this point I can crawl this and still make the 17 hours! So I ran and got a cheering squad of around 200 people and a ton of high fives…simply awesome. As I approached the Olympic Oval I knew it was finally done and I had made it. I had grand visions of a 12 hour race, but it wasn’t too be. I crossed the finish line in 13:13:23 with a marathon of 5:16. Not an amazing time and not a terrible time for my first Ironman and having not really run or swam with any purpose since about this time last year. Hell I hadn’t even done my first triathlon yet at this point last year!

Overall I couldn’t have been happier, and in some sick way, I’m happy I blew up on the run, I’m happy that it was hard as hell and didn’t go as planned. The Ironman is supposed to be freaking hard and a test of willpower and endurance. If I came across the line tired but hitting my goal I’d be saying to myself, “Well that wasn’t easy, but it wasn’t too bad either.” I’m glad the Ironman kicked my !

And I now have a new goal….go faster next year!

You can watch the finish line cam,  I had to watch myself cross the finish line like 100 times already.  

There seems to be 3 videos depending on when you finished.  

http://live.ironman.com/?race=lakeplacid&year=2012#axzz21Hb9HMK4

Instead of clicking on racetalk, click on the racelink and then it will have people's names under to click on them.

My race report is up!!!

when I pull this page up it only lets me see the finishers after 14 hrs. Am I doing something wrong? I only see one finisher's video. so ur telling me there are 3? lol

I just pasted this link and i was 3minutes away from crossing!! thanks!!
How do you forward and rewind?!?! 

Heres a slide show of my Blessed day my family put together for me.

Enjoy God Bless

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z42YUjgpW3c&feature=youtu.be

http://www.finisherpix.com/start.html

BEAUTIFUL video Jeremy....congrats!

Great video,  It was good to see you before and during the race.  It was a great day.

Hey all! Race report finally posted.

Anyone else feeling bored and lazy? I think I will go for a bike tomorrow. How soon do most of you jump back into a normal training regime? I also think I am going to be signing up for another triathlon in September sometime...

Jeremy -- How did you get so much talent in your family? Video production, Ironman finisher, cut kids...

Fantastic encapsulation of the day for you.  Thanks for sharing.  I'm really glad you stopped me on Mirror Drive before the swim to chat -- it came back to me on the second loop of the run.  By that time you were somewhere in front of me but I recall wondering if we would pass each other and notice enough to talk for a little bit or if I would be too bonked to notice you running away from me.  It was the latter, but just as I came into the finish/medical/food/massage area we reconnected and you helped me again -- with orientation of where everything was at.  I was totally out of it -- my mind shut down seconds after my body shut down at the finish arch.  I don't even know what I said to you but I remember being really happy for you.

Way to go on a great day. 

Kent