Ironman Lake Placid Race Report - by Mitch West
Monday, July 30, 2012 at 12:10PM 
Okay, for both of you (mom and aunt Margaret) who have been waiting with baited breath for my race report, here it is. First of all, my Thursday through Saturday were ideal as I stayed with buddies and my 13 year-old son in a spectacular house that we rented ON Mirror Lake. We all had a blast together and enjoyed the incredible beauty of the lake and the town of Lake Placid. Race morning was thankfully uneventful and a bit warmer than the previous few mornings. I was able to get out onto the water early enough to get a spot in the first row and far away from the rugby scrum “on the line.” I found the swim to be very comfortable as I found some nice open water and stayed out of any and all traffic. No draft, but also no worries. My first loop was 28 minutes and the second 2 minutes slower for a 58 minute swim, roughly what I was hoping for.
Once on the bike, my focus was on settling in, drinking some water, and finding a rhythm. My heart rate stayed quite high for the first 20 minutes despite what felt like an easy effort. However, by the time I made the descent to Keene and took the left hand turn, my heart rate had settled down and I was ready to find my pace. Unfortunately, I donʼt have any power numbers, average cadence, or other cool numbers to analyze. I suppose Iʼm fairly old school (and hard headed) and mostly go on HR and perceived effort. My first loop was roughly 2:38, pretty close to what I was expecting. My second loop began around 11:00 a.m. and it felt like the day was beginning to heat up. I continued to take salt pills and put Nuun tablets in my aero drink as well as spraying water on my face through aid stations. For those of you who know the race course, we caught a nice tail wind from Keene to Upper Jay, and then Jay to the end of the out and back. However, as soon as we turned around on the out and back and then banged the right toward Wilmington, things began to get tough (at least for me). We climbed directly into a headwind and I was standing and pushing in my easiest gear, something I never did in training here.
I was a bit disappointed and worried when I got back into town that I had ridden my second loop some 10 minutes slower (2:48), for a bike split of 5:26. Once in the tent, I asked a volunteer to dump several cups of ice water on my head as I laced up my Newtons and gathered myself for the marathon. As bad as I was feeling on the bike, it felt great to run. Seeing my friends and family once again on my way out of town game me a HUGE boost, and everyone feels good going downhill out of town. My 5K run split was roughly 22 minutes, WAY too quick, but it felt pretty effortless and I decided to run while I still could. At the halfway point (13.1), I was somewhere around 1:37 minutes and hoping I would not lose too much on the second half. Well, so much for that. Hmmm, why is my right quad so sore? Why is my turnover slowing down? Now itʼs survival mode. Fortunately, I was getting updates on my AG race from my buddies and heard that I had gone from 4th to 2nd place. I told myself “just hang on, remember that everyone is going to be slowing down, stay with it.” Had I not walked up the two hills on the way back to town, I may not have been able to run the flats. I was definitely fading. As I ran back into town and heard my family and friends, I knew I could give it one more “push,” however slow that would be. Deep in the hurt locker, I finished in 9:57:40, 2nd in M40-44 and 26th overall. Apparently, it had been a tough day for a lot of folks.
Any lessons? I always learn something from an Ironman. From this one, I would say that I learned to not focus so much on the clock. Race conditions dictated that this was going to be a slower race for everyone. Worrying about being under 10 hours, or hitting a certain split is pointless. As my very good friend says, “itʼs a race.” While I am currently not “feeling it,” I am sure I will get amped for my 3rd trip to Kona in the coming weeks! I know for sure that I wouldnʼt be going back to Kona were it not for the support of TargeTraining. When I see my Tuesday/Thursday homies meet and exceed their own goals, it makes me push harder. Iʼve watched folks transform their lives and their bodies in the past 12 months. These goals include things like losing weight, entering a first race, and smashing a previous PR.
Iʼll need some help and inspiration as I look toward Kona. I look forward to seeing you in class.
Reader Comments (2)
Congrats on a well-executed race!
Nice work, Mitch! You make us proud to be TTr's. See you at 4:50am tomorrow.