Ironman Lake Placid
Monday, August 2, 2010 at 07:41PM Okay, the dust has finally settled and I'm ready to give a race report a shot. For those who have never been there, the venue for IMLP is simply fantastic. Swimming in Mirror Lake, biking in the Adirondacks-- it does not get much better than this. This was another great trip with my family and many, many friends who were competing or watching the race.
Ironman training and racing is kinda funny. You sort of put all of your eggs in one basket. That is, I'd only done one other race this season (Rev 3 Half Iron); mostly because I don't like to "waste" big training weekends with shorter races. Thus, it can be a little hard to get a gauge for ones' fitness and know how your training is going. However, I was happy with my result at Rev3, and felt like a top 5 ("podium") finish in my AG was a realistic goal for IMLP this year (I aged up!).
Two close friends and training partners (Greg Stewart and Peter Mullen) and myself all jumped in the water nice and early so we would have plenty of time to get loose and also get a good spot amongst 2700 (!!!) competitors. This "strategy" paid off nicely as Greg and I both got out to a quick start and found a lot of open water, free of the rugby scrum just to ourt left. I exited the "first loop" (you actually get out on the beach and go under the timer) in about 28 minutes, which was about what I expected. My second loop also went pretty well, as I managed to draft a bit and remained pretty relaxed. I exited the water in 57:16, 13th in my AG.
Once on the bike, my focus was to start out nice and easy and try and remember how long a day was in front of me. My P2C felt great, as always, thanks to the boys at the shop who had it primed and ready to go. After about a half hour, I began to focus on getting some calories in and enjoyed an EFS bar. I was aware of the fact that many people were definitely passing me in these first 30 miles and needed to constantly remind myself to stay patient. This is not always easy. I stayed relaxed up the 11 mile climb into town and got a huge shot of adrenaline from screaming fans, and especially from the many friends and family cheering me on (THANKS!). I believe my first split for the 56 miles was around 2:39; purposely slower than last year's in an attempt to have more in the tank for the second loop. This definitely paid off as I built my effort and, despite the considerable head wind on the 2nd loop climb, managed a 2:41 loop for a 5:20:29 (20.97 mph) bike split. This put me in 3rd place in my AG to start the run.
Now, as many times as I have told myself to purposely start the run SLOW, I still don't seem to be able to manage this one. The first 6 miles of the run have a lot of downhills, big crowds screaming, and it is VERY EASY to go too fast. I ran the first 6 miles at 6:54 pace, which would be perfect if I had the fitness for a 3-hour marathon. I don't. However, I felt great and was seduced, once again, by this fool's gold. During this stretch, I passed a guy in my AG (a dude named Derek) and was now in 2nd place, but far behind the guy in first. This was short lived as another guy went flying by me and put me back into 3rd. Around mile 8, I finally caught Greg, who had an outstanding bike ride. We ran together into town and made the turnaround running shoulder to shoulder at the halfway point of the run. However, this ended when Derek came smoothing by us and I remembered we were not on a training run. Greg, to his credit, said "go get him if you want," and, after a short pause, I did just that. Derek and I then ran together until around 17 or 18 when he simply ran away from me. Securely in 4th place, I hoped this was where I'd finish. I dug deep from mile 18 on but definitely felt like I was fading. Around mile 25, I was passed one more time (soundly!) and was not able to respond. Finally into the Olympic oval, I "sprinted" with whatever I had left for a 3:24:12 run split (7:47 per mile). This gave me a final time of 9:49:31 and a new Ironman PR. I ended up 5th in my AG and 38th overall.
So... it's back to the Big Island of Hawaii and another shot as the lava fields!!!!
Huge thanks to TargeTraining for all of the support-- there is no doubt in my mind that the hard work done indoors on the bike in January, February, and March (thanks for the beatings, Eneas!) set me up for success in July and a return to Kona.
With Rick and Eneas' blessing, Peter Mullen (TT client and Kona qualifier!!) and I will be riding the Kona course indoors at TT on a Saturday morning in August or September. We would LOVE to have company from as many people as possible willing to ride some or ALL of the course with us. Stay tuned for details... Mai Tai's on me.
