RR: Ironman Lake Placid

[sgf726]

Well - I did it, I completed my first Ironman Distance Triathlon.

It really was an amazing experience.

We headed up to Lake Placid on Thursday Afternoon (most of the hotels have a 5 night minimum) it was actually nice to get up there early relax and acclimate.

Friday Morning I went for an early morning swim in Mirror Lake with my cousin who was there doing the race for the 3rd time. After the swim we went for breakfast and then headed over to registration to check-in. You are actually required to check-in my 5P on Friday for the race. After check-in,we checked out the expo then hung at the hotels beach until the athlete's dinner that night.

Saturday was up early again and went to breakfast with my husband and a couple of friends who were up volunteering. They then went to ride one loop of the course and I had a rest day. Today's workouts was just a quick easy 30 minute bike ride to check out and make sure everything that was working OK and then an easy 2 mile run to keep everything loose.

Next step was to get everything organized and over to transition. Unlike other races I have done for the IM races everything needs to be bagged for transition and nothing is placed by your bike. I packed and double checked that the right stuff was in the right bag. I then brought the bike and the bike and run gear bags over to transition. After dropping everything in transition went and got lunch then hung out for the rest of the day.

Sunday 4:30A - Race Day was finally here, I was up early (actually barely slept) and no alarm was needed. I ate breakfast (bagel w/PB and Honey and a banana) and headed over to transition. Since most of our stuff was already in transition there was not much to do. I put my bottles on the bike and some food, brought my bike special needs bag to the drop off and then headed to the swim.

The weather for race day was as good as we can expect it was a little warm (low 80's) but humidity was low and no rain.

Swim - I am a slow swimmer. I knew I would be one of the last swimmers to finish. I was really nervous about the mass swim start, but positioned myself to the back right as was advised by friends who had done the race before. When the cannon went off I waited about 30 seconds and then started. It actually wasn't as crazy as I thought. Since I was behind a majority of the people I really wasn't bumped around that much. I stayed a couple of yards to the right of the bouy line for the first lap then was able to move closer for the second lap. I estimated my swim would be 1:50 to 2:00 and was 2:00:59. My goal here was to beat the cut-off of 2:30 which I did.
I don't know how many people were behind me as I didnt' look but my husband said I wasn't last and there were people that didn't finish.

On to the bike - I am always happy when the swim is done and I am onto the bike. The bike course at LP is a two loop course, and is fairly hilly (about 6000' climbing total most in the last 15 miles of the loop). The course starts with a short down hill then some rolling hills for first 5-7 miles before a screaming downhill into Keene, it then if fairly flat with some small rollers until about mile 35 of the loop when it goes uphill for the rest of the loop. I was happy with the bike, the goal was to keep a steady and consistant pace and not use up all my energy on the bike. I am a good climber and was able to pass a number of people on the hills. I stopped twice on the bike for pit stops once at mile 35 then around mile 70, Bike time was 7:53

Run - This was the biggest unknown. I had no idea how I would do running a marathon after riding 112 miles. I had only run one marathon before. I was happy with the run, was able to keep a slow-steady pace and my splits were fairly even. I ran most of the race while walking through the rest stops and some of the bigger hills. Many people were walking so I passed alot of people on the run. Run 5:06:24/11:41 pace.

The Finish - The run is also a two loop course, the run finishes on the Speed Skate Oval from the 1980 Olympic Games. You enter the oval and basically do a half loop around the course. When I entered the oval I was so happy I thought I was going to cry. There are tons of people cheering you on and then you turn the last corner see the finish line and hear Mike Reilly calling your name and saying "You are an IRONMAN"

Total time was 15:14:59

After I finished we stuck around and cheered the rest of the finishers in until midnight. It was allot of fun.

I actually felt pretty good the next day, I was tired (am still tired) and my quads and calves were a bit sore but really not bad. We got up, had a light breakfast (I really wasn't that hungry), went for an easy walk around Mirror Lake and then went and watched the award ceremonies. Monday night was the Volunteer Banquet (DH volunteered on the run course), and we got to meet the overall winner Andy Potts. He had a IM record swim of 45 minutes.

Stats:
Swim: 2:00:56
Bike: 7:53:10
Run: 5:06:24
T1: SWIM-TO-BIKE 6:58
T2: BIKE-TO-RUN 7:28

Overall: 15:14:56

At this point I am not sure if this is my only IM or not, definetly not next year. Althought it was a fun and rewarding experience it was very time consuming with my job and the training and I really couldn't do anything else other than work, sleep and train. I find the time commit for HIM and shorter distances more manageable.

I have the Philly Marathon in November then next year probably a couple of HIM and some shorter races.

Sharon

[Veronica]

Congratulations! Sounds like you had a great race!

Veronica

[Blueberry]

Sharon-

Congratulations!! And thank you for sharing your race report. Sounds like you had an amazing experience

[GLC1968]

Impressive! Ditto everyone else, it sounds like you had a great race! Thanks so much for sharing the report. I did no triathlons this year, but just reading your account made butterflies show up in my stomach. Funny!

Congratulations!!

[Susan Otcenas]

Congratulations!!! SO happy you had a great experience!

[Dogmama]

Congratulations and thank you for sharing your story. What an inspiration!

[sgf726]

Thanks All! I feel really good about it. I ran the race I wanted to run.

Still feeling very tired and hungry but other than that feel good.

Sharon

[salsabike]

Sharon, congratulations---that sounds wonderful!

[colby]

Congratulations!! You are an Ironman I'm glad you raced a Mike Reilly race, his voice is so quintessential Ironman. It's still amazing to hear no matter what, and even just to have in your heart if you don't race an official m-dot. Great report, too. The finish on the speed skate oval sounds really cool! Thanks to your husband for volunteering, too.

The experience, including the logistics, of Ironman is definitely like no other race. I think it helps you think through the race prep at a good pace (race check-in, bag/bike check-in, last minute prep and RACE, rather than trying to cram it all in to one morning).

And a 45 minute swim!!?!?! ZOMG. That's one LOOP of the swim for me on a pretty good day! Wow.

Rest and recover well. I wish I could say training for "just" a marathon will seem easier, but to a large extent it won't. Our minds are good at re-prioritizing and re-scheduling themselves around the tasks at hand. I remember last time I was marathon training thinking on a long run "how the heck did I ever train for THREE things?" ... and it was only 6 months after Ironman. Definitely less all-consuming, but still a good amount of effort.

Enjoy the victory!

[Wahine]

Congratualtions!! There's nothing like finishing your first IM.

[Crankin]

Congrats, Sharon. It all seems amazing to me!

[Tri Girl]

Woot Sharon!!! YOU. ARE. AN. IRONMAN!!!!

Congrats on your race. LOVED the RR. Thanks for sharing. Sounds like overall it went well. The most important thing is that you enjoyed the experience. Racing is the fun part, the hard part is all that darn training that goes into it.
Congrats again, and good luck in Philly in Nov.!

[katluvr]

Awesome!! I am always in awe of those that complete such feats!
You ARE and IRONMAN!

K

[Anelia]

Congratulations! You are an iron woman