Ironman Lake Placid : Official Thread (Page 78)

Wow that's really cool.  I bet all the conversations are about LP.   It's good that you have so many people around you that are doing the race.  Definitely makes it a great journey

It is pretty cool and 3 of us are staying in a house together, will be fun.

I'll second that Harryman Half is excellent prep for Lake Placid.  It's Exit 16 off the Palisades about 35 mins north of the George Washington Bridge.  However - the Harryman course IS MUCH tougher than Lake Placid.  The Harryman course for 56 miles is 6,000 feet of climbing (1500 per 14-miles) this is exactly double Lake Placid course 1-loop, 56 miles.  The Lake Placid bike course is approximately 6,000 feet for the full 112 miles!!   However, after conquering Harryman you will have the confidence of knowing that you will do just fine on the Lake Placid  course.  The climbs and descents are steeper at Harryman. 

Harryman is currently 95% sold out... so their are a few slots left.

DC-good to know!  I'll have to take my time there with a grain of salt I guess, looks like the run has 1,200 ft too.  Just hoping my foot holds out for the run.

About one year ago, I moved to Sloatsburg.  It has been a great move for many reasons.  My house is exactly FIVE miles from the Harryman course.  Amazing training and a great, challenging race!

I'm scheduled to race American Zofingen in New Paltz the very next day, or I'd be out there doing Harryman.  Good luck to the both of you...

I know how you feel about the fear.  I fear the AmZof race more than LP right now!  That bike course has 2800' per lap (28 miles).  I'm doing the middle distance, which is 5 mile trail run, 28 mile ride, 5 run, 28 ride, 5 run!  Yes, I'm scared!

I'll see you guys at the race site.  I'll be wearing Toga Bike Shop gear...

I just realized that the pic didnt post but here it is.

finishing chute

DC,  Harryman vs Quassy:  Which is tougher, what are the differences, which do you prefer? 

Great stuff.  I've been wanting to race in character for some time.  One critique though - You gotta wear the CAPE next time!! 

10 days to Harryman/AmZof race weekend.

Currently, Lake Welch water temp is 57 degrees.  Plenty of time to warm up.

If you wear that at LP we might look a little crazy.  I think I just picked out my super suit that I'll be racing with in LP and with the calve sleeves I may look like the Green Lantern when I'm done, I just need the mask.  I'm sure that outfit got the crowd into it though

They are both equally tough and very similar.  Both lake swims, similar elevation gain on the Bike and Run.  Quassy is harder in the sense that for the bike there are subtle false flats at the very beginning and end of the ride, and the climb from Mile 24 to 31 is just a grind at times, and then when you get to to the top of the climb you have nasty headinds and crosswinds.  And mentally it's tough cause after that long climb you figure there must not be that many more hills but they keep coming and coming.  Some of the descents toward the end of the bike are also a little sktechy and windy.  And, again, the very last few miles of the Quassy bike are a nasty false flat and then a climb back up to Quassy.  The run for Quassy is a 1.5 mile free-fall down, then it flattens out and then mkile 2.5 to 3.5 is just a ridiculously brutal escalator-grade dirt road.  Just a mile straight of steeper and steeper inclines.  Then a rolling hills out & back, another long 3/4 mile-long steep climb, finally flattens out for about the last 4-miles before hitting a sinister NASTY SOB of a climb with .5 of a mile left to go. 

At Harryman, the Bike is a 4-loop course so you know where the climbs are and can judge your effort better.  And the two tough climbs per loop are concentrated at either end of Lake Welch Parkway.  The rest of the course is flat or gently rolling.   The Harryman HIM Run is 2-loops so again, you can judge your effort a little better (even though for most of the field - myself included - it's all about survival at that point ) . 

So IMO both courses are equally difficult because of similar overall Bike and Run elevation gain, and equally challenging for other reasons.  But if I had to rate once course as the most difficult - hands-down I would actually give it to Harryman, and here's why:  Harryman can and has been foggy and cold in the morning, a few years at Harryman it's poured rain with 50 degree air temps and atheletes were pulled from the bike course and treated for hypothermia; the water temps at Harryman are on average a frigid 55 degrees!! brrrrr, Harryman has almost no crowd support except for right around the transition area; At times you can be racing alone with a much smaller filed; Although Harryman is in a stunningly beautiful park, the scenery doesn't change and only repeats whereas on Quassy your brain is stimulated with different imagery of classic New England stone-walled fields, barns, houses, you ride through many different towns and at the end of the longest tough climb you are rewarded with a breathtaking view. 

Harryman is more of a grass-roots kind of race with a field of maybe 400 total for the Olympic and Half, and maybe two or three low-profile pro's show up for the Half.  Rev3 Quassy is pro triathlete and triathlon bling galore with the likes of Mirinda Carfrae, Matty Reed, Terenzo Bozzone, Julie Dibens and Craig Alexander walking around (I have four Crowie signed hats and a picture with him to prove it! )  The pro's also have big posters of themselves at an easily accessible transition spot, and even the AG'ers have a nifty Rev3 title card stapled to their transition slot.  The Harryman race is well run but due to the early time of year and the elevation locale, it's rare a Harryman race goes off without a single hitch (and again, this is ZERO fault of the race organizers).  I also love that the Harryman race organizers put a mat at the furthest point of the Run course (and someone records bib numbers) to ensure fairness.  That is something our local Long Island race organizers don't care to do and that tells me the Race Organizers want fair results and aren't just interested in collecting race fees.

So if you want a well-run but raw grassroots 70.3 experience, where you should expect the unexpected, Harryman is your race.  If you want the rah-rah bling , then Rev3 Quassy is your cup of tea.  If you want to race the purer more difficult race, then by a slight margin - I have to give it to Harryman.

I wouldn't plan on it warming up.  Don't get me wrong, for everyone' sake who is racing I hope it does, but I've never heard of a Harryman race where the water temps were above 60.  The two years I've done it the temps were 55 degrees and 56 degrees.  Although it has been a milder winter.  I would HIGHLY SUGGEST anyone doing Harryman invest 15 to 20 bucks and buy a neoprene cap to put under your race cap.  Also, make sure you dress warm on the bike as you can freeze on the descents.  And I would suggest taking your time in T1 and focus on getting dry and warm on the bike.  Harryman is NOT about Racing Fast; it's about racing Smart.  Focusing on keeping warm and focusing on nutrition, and spinning the hills easy and early will go a long way there.

just to add to the nutrition bit, our bodies will burn more calories trying to keep warm (everyone is different though) and I would not be surprised if it took eating and drinking more throughout the race to keep from feeling the effects of the weather. I know personally when it is colder I don't feel dehyrdrated or if I feel I have to eat but just because you are not sweating doesn't mean you don't need to fuel.

race well, and safely, my friends.

Well friends of the Ironman Lake Placid Thread today is a sad day for me. For the last month I have been having some pain in my ankle/shin. In the past I have had some tendonitis pain and have always figured out a way to run through it. Last Wednesday I went for a 14 mile run and at six miles started feeling a dull pain in my lower leg, by eight and a half miles I had to start walking because it hurt to bad to run. I ended up walking the last five and a half miles home. I kept biking and swimming but the pain was pretty consistent so at the advice of a couple folks here on BT I went to the Dr and got an MRI. The verdict is in and I have a stress fracture of my lower left leg. The Dr said the fractures extend from my ankle bone half way to my knee and "was lucky that the bone did not completely break". I'm in an air cast with crutches. Supposed to stay off the leg for one month, possible swimming in six weeks, cycling in eight weeks and no running for four months. To say the least I am extremely disappointed. I just keep telling myself that this is a lifestyle for me and it is not about one race. I am signed up to volunteer at Wisconsin in September and will be signing up for 2013. My plan has always been one IM a year until I can't do them anymore...except this year.

I'll still watch (and comment) on this thread and will track many of you online during the race. Good luck in your training.

There will be another day and another race for me.

Stay Healthy

Mike 

Wow, Mike, so sorry to hear!  I'm glad you did decide to go in and have an MRI done; sounds like you avoided a much worse predicament.  I'm sure you are disappointed, but I commend you for your positive outlook!

I may see you over on the IMWI 2013 thread.  I had planned to sign up for it all along; however, I'm dealing with some chronic foot injuries that may take me out of IM for next year.  I, too, have been planning one IM a year until I can't (this is my 4th year in a row) and next year may just be the year that I can't.

Anyway, keep in touch, stay strong and heal up quickly

Mike, I'm sorry to hear about the news.  I know it has to be tough but you did the right thing and caught it before it could have really gotten worse.    Keep posting and let us know how your progress is going.   Good luck

That just stinks!! I'm terribly sorry to hear about this. And I'm sure you will heal up and be back at Ironman.

I've not heard of such a prolonged rest period for SF's, but you and your doctor need to have a good game plan to get you healthy.

Stay with us on the thread and keep us all updated with your progress. As far as I'm concerned, you are still an IMLP 2012 peep.

And don't forget to track the big showdown between TB and DC...

(I'm not saying who my money is on)

Mike,

I am so bummed for you. Based on your treatment plan I think you can still do IMLP. I'm pretty sure I won't be running the marathon, we can walk it together!  Prayers for you and sorry for this delay in you IM journey.

Just damn, Mike - I am just getting caught up on my BT time and read this. Sounds like you dodged a gigantic bullet to me. I know it sounds completely ridiculous to say, but you are extremely fortunate to have caught this before it got REALLY life-changingly bad. A number of years ago this happened to a high school cross country runner from Ohio, and she only found out when she broke both bones in her lower leg at the end of a race. The video was widely circulated on the internets for a while, but I recommend that you DO NOT google it. It is really terrible. The only really good thing about it is that she crawls across the finish line because she did not want to let her teammates down - the most serious case of HTFU I have ever seen.

Extremely glad you got on top of this time - hopefully you will still be at Lake Placid? If nothing else you are sure to be in great swim shape for the annual BT swim meetup! Hopefully you stick around the group - I know we would all like to help cheer you through your rehab.

LMAO - Now that is some funny stuff right there! And I know who I would put my money on....