Ironman Lake Placid - TriathlonFull Ironman

Wasn't sure how to pace. I seeded myself at 1:10 thinking that I may be able to go faster. I had a better first loop, stayed away from the cable, and stayed fairly straight. Decided that the 2nd loop would be thinned out a bit and decided to find and follow the cable. Took a solid shot to the chin from an elbow, and had my goggle smashed into my eye socket probably by a heel. I didn't really see what got me. Recovered ok, but the continuous contact slowed me down.

Stay outside the buoy line, it is not work taking the extra contact. I should have pushed harder for the second lap. I swam today (2 days later) and have zero fatigue in my upper body (legs a different story).

Used stripper. Was a pretty long run up from the water. Found a chair fairly quickly. No real issues, had ran through my routine about 30 times in my head that morning.

Maybe run a bit quicker from the water.

I had been told more times than I can count. "Go easy on the first loop". Good advice. I had been warned about the climb out of town, and heeded that advice (on the first loop), but I wanted to go fast down the descents and not lose out on the "free speed". Had a few issues though. It was raining, and my helmet visor was fogging up. With that and the rain on the visor, my visibility was pretty poor. I hit a small pot hole, not a disaster, but hit it hard enough that my right elbow pad on my aerobar dropped about an inch. I stopped after getting out of Keene to fix it and in my haste stripped the threads on the clamp, but manage to get it on tight enough so it didn't move for the rest of the ride. I had planned for a 6 hour bike leg, ended with 6:14, and I DIDN'T go hard the first loop. The last 26 miles were 2 mph slower for me on the second loop. I did manage to lose myself in the scenery at times, and there were some pretty awesome spectators out on the course. One house was blaring Queen's "Bicycle Ride," song on a stereo. Had that song stuck in my head for the next 56 miles, then "We are the Champions," on the second loop from the same house. There was no single climb that was tough, even "papa bear" was pretty tame, its just that the miles add up, and it is just one small climb after another for the last 10-15 miles back to town.

Ride more in training. I did follow a program, but knew that this course required more work to ride it well. I am not a cyclist, and only started last year. I lose too much time on the bike compared with most.

Changed into running shorts, decided I didn't need to "re-up" on the body glide or sunscreen.

Nothing really. Didn't really need the sunscreen or body glide.

I really felt I could go sub 4 hr. I did have 2 bathroom breaks, and with out them would have been really close. My main issue was GI distress starting at about mile 8. I killed my bottle of Perpetum getting off the bike, then I ate a gel in transition, and then took some of the cola that people rave about. I really should have tracked my calories. I had to slow my pace by about 1 min/mile, and was only able to take on a bit of water for about 3 aid stations or so. I did recover, and started doing a bit of cola and water at each station and that was working for me. More great spectators on the course. I remember a dad and son laying down a nice beat on some pots and pans on River Rd (tough part of course, far from town), the son had a big pot over his head, the beat helped with my cadence. The run into the oval was everything I thought it would be. As hard as it was, it was one of my favorite runs counting every time I ever laced up a pair of running shoes.

Run faster?? If I had better bike fitness, I could have kept up a better pace on the run. Manage my nutrition a bit better.

Two awesome volunteers took me from the finish line to get food. I chugged a chocolate milk, and had some pizza. The pizza was pretty salty and cold. I was freezing within a few minutes and started shivering a lot (I was soaked and it was about 63 degrees or so, and all this training has left me with very little body fat). One volunteer offered to take me to the massage tent and I got some blankets and a massage. I would try to describe this, but any analogy would not be adequate. I will try though. I have never tried heroin or any euphoric type drug, but I suspect it is similar. If possible, I would do another IM right now just to have that same experience.


BIke fitness. Period.


I cant explain how great the volunteers are. They give me faith in the human race. The spectators were awesome also. The atmosphere for this race is amazing. If you are debating doing this race, don't even think about it, just do it.