Ironman Lake Placid Race Report

Most people assumed Ironman Lake Placid was going to be a "fun" Ironman since I had qualified for Kona last month at Eagleman. However, qualifying for Kona was never my goal for Ironman Lake Placid. When I outlined my goals for the year for my coach late last year, I told her I wanted to be the top amateur at Lake Placid. Even though it sounded a bit ridiculous to me, I also thought it *might* be realistic given my results from last year. So needless to say, I was a bit of a nervous wreck all week. In fact, I think of the six Ironmans I've done, the only one I was more nervous for was my first Kona. My poor parents and Chris who put up with me.  Yikes.

Pre-Race

Swim - 54:18

I think mass starts are awful. While some find it magical for thousands of people to start their Ironman journey with the boom of a single cannon, I prefer the time trial start of Ironman Louisville. Ironman Lake Placid is a very narrow course, so the start line was jam packed with everyone vying for the magical buoy line. I lined up right on it though, behind a larger male, so he could clear the water for me.

Swim Start

From the first few strokes, I was getting punched, kicked, dunked, etc.  I've taken my fair share of blows over the years; however, this was the most violent swim experience of my entire life. I considered quitting, but decided that was ridiculous and continued swimming. After the first turnaround bouy, it thinned out and I hopped on some feet on the way back for lap one. 

Mike Riley announced after lap one I was the first amateur and my split was faster than either of my half splits this year, so I knew I was in for a fast swim.  Although I felt disorientated, I lunged forward for lap two and kept swimming strong and riding the feet in front of me. I could feel the current for lap two and before I knew it, we were rounding the turnaround buoy for home. I pushed as much as I could that last lap to stay on the guy's feet in front of me and was very happy when I reached shore.

T1 - 4:40

This transition is worth mentioning since I was a bit of a klutz. I stopped at a late wetsuit stripper to get my suit stripped and started running up the 400 yds of carpet to the transition. I remember thinking that I was afraid I was going to fall and unfortunately I did somehow slip a little later.  I had a nice male stop and help me up and I kept running for transition and did my best to forget it. Since I was one of the first females in transition, I had four volunteers all to myself and was out quick.

Bike - 5:33.52

Coming out of transition, I could tell my bike legs were feeling good. My cadence was high, my heart rate was good and my power was right where it should be. I left town smiling reminding myself to be patient with the climb. I really like to climb so I enjoyed this first part out of town. I passed a few males, which always makes me smile, and before I knew it, I was at the descent I feared.  Except it wasn't bad at all. I pretended the males in front of me were Chris and I was chasing him down Skyline. I was aggressive and made it down much faster than I had in any of my other times I had rode the course (top speed of 44mph for those considering this race). I hit mile 30 five minutes before I expected to and could tell I was setting myself up for a great ride.

Then I started noticing some weird back tightness. I sometimes have pain in my sciatic when I ride, but this was different. It was like my whole low back was spasming and it was running up my spine. I tried to stretch / ignore it, but it wouldn't go away. I thought maybe it would feel better once I got to sit up during some of the climbs from Jay to Wilimington. Nope. Well, I don't believe it quitting things so I kept riding and prayed it would loosen out or I wouldn't notice it when I hit the run.

Unlike most, I was happy to hit the climb from Wilmington to Placid. I like steady climbs and enjoyed passing males the entire way back to town. Didn't think much of the three bears on lap one (thank you Skyline Drive) and enjoyed all the cheers I was getting. The highlight was definitely rounding around the school for lap one and seeing my parents and Chris going wild as Mike Reilly was announcing I was the first amateur female.  SWEET.

End of Lap One

I still felt strong for much of lap two. I didn't hit my normal ironman low around the four hour mark. I think partly because I took in more nutrition, but also because I've done a lot of long rides this year. The back tightness kept getting worse, so I sat up to stretch more than I would like the last 30 miles and by the end, I couldn't push the power I wanted.  Uh oh, was my day going to end after the bike?  I really had no idea what I would find when I would hit the run, but I knew I had a huge lead on the rest of the amateur pack and was not ready to give up.

T2 - 2:33

I walked for much of T2 in hopes that my back would loosen. It was awesome to see a friend's sister, and once again, I was treated like a queen in the tent since I was the only person there.

Run - 3:56.44

I ran out of transition and my legs felt fresh.  Like really fresh. This never happens. But my back hurt and as soon as I hit the first hill, I knew I was in trouble. There was no way I could run up. So I stopped and tried to touch my toes. I could barely bend over. Crap. I walked a bit, tried to stretch, but nothing was helping. Did my best to start running again, but things were not going well. I made the turn down River Road and was wondering what I should do. I didn't want to injure myself and hurt my chances to do well at Kona, but I also didn't want to give up my shot to be first. I had worked so hard all year for this and had already endured a lot of pain.

Luckily, a nice camera man started cheering for me and got me running. My stride was off, but I was able to run and run fairly strong.  I made it to the turnaround at mile six and could see how I was doing in the amateur race for the first time all day.  When I realized how far ahead I was, I told myself I had 18 miles of pain to go. I thought about anything I could to distract me.

Ready for Lap Two - Heel striking galore!

Once you get off River Road, things pick up.  You see lots of people.  Tim Snow was awesome and cheered for me all day long. My mom, Chris and my dad stationed themselves on different parts of the run hills to keep me running / walking fast.

I hit the turaround feeling pretty good. I knew as long as I kept the paces under 10, I'd stay in first and made that my mission for lap two.  Things felt pretty good until around mile 18 and then the fatigue hit quick. I focused on one mile at a time and did my best to break things up. When I made the final turn off River Road, I knew I would have to walk up pretty much all of the hills. My left achilles was now also acting up.

Miles 21-24 were a bit of a death march. I did my best to shuffle, walk, etc, but once I hit 24, I knew I was almost there. I took my last water at 24 and clenched that cup in my right hand for the rest of the race. Chris ran on the side of the road from me for much of mile 25 and even though I wanted to kill him at the time for yelling at me to run, I kept running.

And suddenly, I was back at the Olympic Speed skating oval. I ran through the gate for finishers and started running around the track. Finally I saw the clock, I heard Mike Reilley yelling; the crowd was screaming, and I was D.O.N.E. in 10:32.05.

Finish Line

I crossed and almost immediately collapsed. The amazing volunteers held me up and walked me over kindly to a chair where my parents joined me. I was overwhelmed after I finished with the attention I received and I still slighly am, but I cannot thank enough those reading this who have reached out and congratulated me. It means the world to me.

Ironman is truly a journey. Race day is the climax of months and months of sacrifice and hard work. It's a very selfish endeavor.  So to my family and Chris who have been there for the good and bad, thank you. My awesome coach from Carmichael Trainig Systems, Lindsay Hyman, I can't thank you enough for helping me achieve what I thought were very unrealistic dreams. To Powerbar, Cyclelops, and Swim H20 Audio, thanks for your support.

Women's 25-29 Podium

TYR Swim Prime! Thanks Haley for not doing the race :)