Ironman Lake Placid Race Report (Liz's Report)

Ironman Lake Placid 2009… It’s in the books!

First off, thanks to everyone who has supported me throughout the last 8 months as I trained my butt off for this once race. Justin, the family, coach John, and friends. Without your encouragement and understanding, it would have been a long, tough journey.

Jus and I on a practice bike

Me and Joey at registration

Pre-Race

We headed to LP Wednesday after work, didn’t get to the house until about 1:30am. Thursday through Saturday were resting days – short workouts and lots of laziness. LP is beautiful; it was nice not to have to do anything and just get to take it all in. We stayed in a house right on the run course, 2 miles from town, it was a great spot.

Race Morning

Jus and I woke up at 3am to eat breakfast. I never have much of an appetite on race mornings and even though this was Ironman and it’s essential to eat, I still didn’t want food. I had a bagel with peanut butter and one banana. We went back to bed for an hour and half and woke up at 4:30am to get the day started. Dressed and ready to go, Joey, Jus and I headed to the race. I checked the bike, pumped the tires, dropped off transition and special needs bags and suited up. Just as I was getting the wetsuit on, the sky graced us with a nice little downpour. Being nervous already, the rain didn’t help to put me at ease. We made our way to swim start and I got a good stretch in before entering the water. I started to tear up a bit from the nerves and being a little scared of the day. We saw Joey walking into the water, wished him good luck and parted ways.

Strecthing

Swim [1:23:38]

I got in the water with 10 minutes till start. I got used to the water and found a comfortable spot to start. I placed myself about 10 feet behind the crowd that swarms the start line. Justin told me to turn around and take in the crowd – that was an unbelievable sight and feeling, one you can’t describe. He soon left to find his starting spot and I was then on my own. I watched the clock tick away. The spectators cheered on their athletes and the athletes cheered on their supporters. The gun went off at 7am exactly and the race was underway. Playing it safe, I kept my head above the water until I felt like I had enough space to actually swim. I didn’t want to risk a punch in the face or losing my goggles. To my amazement, I had a nice swimming spot once I hit the second yellow buoy and it was smooth sailing from there on out. I was relieved and surprised at how the swim was nothing like I thought it would be. I was expecting punches, pulls, anxiety, not-so-smooth swimming and all the works. Instead, there was a little bit of bullying for the first couple minutes but once all the swimmers found their spots, it was as if I was the only one in the water. I lined myself up to the left of the buoys, spotted the line underwater and kept it the whole way. There is a wire that runs the swim course under water in Mirror Lake so you don’t have to spot, ever. All the swimmers created a very large draft and at points I felt like I was just floating yet moving so fast in the water. It was funny to see the scuba divers underneath you as you swam. I did my first loop in 40 minutes, second in 43:38 for a total time of 1:23:38. This was actually good times for me this season so I can’t complain. Wetsuit strippers are, in my mind, the best thing in the race. With that out of the way, I ran to T1 with a smile on my face.

Swim start

T1 [6:47]

The transition from swim to bike is long. You have to run a quarter mile just to get to transition and then run another quarter mile to get to bike mount. I was happy with my time of 6:47. The volunteers were awesome… they told me just to throw everything on the ground I didn’t need and they’ll take care of it all. That’s what I did and at the end of the race, everything of mine was in the bags, nothing lost. They didn’t have my bike ready for me as I ran by so I had to stop and wait for someone to grab it. Once I got it, I was out and riding.

Coming through on the bike - furthest right.

Bike [6:34:01 – 17.1 mph]

I had half of a peanut butter sandwich right when I started the bike. At this point, the rain was gone and the sun was starting to shine through. I was feeling good starting the bike but reminded myself over and over again to take it easy; I had 112 miles to go. Climbing the first hill before the long descent into Keene I caught up to Justin and gave him a little shout out. We stayed together for the following few miles until he pulled away and took off. I took the hills slow but the flats fast and the descents even faster. I caught up to Joey on the big bear climb. Unintentionally, we stuck together from than until just about hitting the last 15 miles or so on the second loop of the bike. I felt strong starting the second loop and was confident I’d come in with a good time. I saw the family cheering on both ends of River Road – they put themselves in great spots to cheer! I hit the huge descent before hitting Keene at 46 mph. I was scared to take my eyes off the road to see my speed but I was curious. Joey flew down this hill like a madman. I caught back up with him on the out and back and took the final pass on the bike before hitting the last 12 miles – later! I was happy to see transition again as I dismounted the bike and headed into T2.

T2 [2:52]

I took T2 fast. The volunteer that was helping me in the tent said to me as I left “THAT was a fast transition!” Ha.

First loop of run on River Road

Run [4:28:35 – 10:16 min/mile]

I was very nervous to see how I would feel on the run. My legs have always hurt a lot for the first 2 miles or so of the run during my brick workouts in training. To my surprise, I felt awesome heading out for the run. No pain. I was tired, but actual pain, there was none. I think I was gleaming ear to ear. I carried a water bottle the entire run which has become more of a comfort thing for me than anything else. Going into the run I told myself to walk every aid station. It’s a long run, I need time to regroup and make sure I am fueling up properly. That’s exactly what I did. At every aid station I took sponges and squeezed them over my head, then whipped my face off. I’d take a Gatorade and a piece of banana. That was my routine. When I hit the end of the aid station, I was running again. I saw a lot of familiar faces out on the course which really helped to keep me going. Justin always gave me a wave, Joey and Phil would yell encouraging words each time I passed one of them, Kristoph and Steve, who I just met for the first time that weekend, worked an aid station and spotted me both times I came around and cheered. The crew from Landry’s was out cheering the racers on and I recognized them as they yelled “YEA BEAR NAKED! GO!” The runners themselves were great. I talked to couple of them out there and it was a huge help to pass the time. I started drinking cola on the second loop as my stomach started feeling a little iffy. The cola worked and I made it through the run (and the whole race) without any issues. The best moment in the race for me was hitting the last aid station, seeing the finish, hearing the cheers, and knowing I had just done an Ironman. I threw my water bottle to the side, put a smile on my face and took in the crowd’s cheers as I ran the final stretch of the course. It wasn’t actually crossing the finish that was THE moment for me; it was that last half mile that meant the most. I saw my family as I turned the corner of the oval – I don’t think they will ever realize what having them there did for me that day. Thanks guys! Extra props to all of you for a great sign that helped me spot where you were AND for even more awesomer shirts : ) As I crossed the finish line I saw Justin waiting for me – I walked over and greeted him with a huge hug.

Heading to the finish

Post-Race

I am never hungry after long workouts. I tried eating a piece of pizza immediately after the race but the thought of it made me nauseous. I took a cup of pretzels and had about 5 of them. I headed into the message tent for my 10 minute message. I was freezing cold after it and was shivering. I got my morning clothes bag and changed into some very warm sweatpants and hoodie, met the family for pictures and called it a night. With intentions to head back at midnight to see the last finishers come through, we couldn’t get ourselves off the couch once we were home, showered and had a full stomach from dinner.

Congratulations to Justin for becoming an Ironman and to Joey for becoming an Ironman for the second time. One question for you, Joey: What did you get me into? IRONMAN?!

Joey, Jus and I - You are an IRONMAN!

Afterthoughts

No one can truly understand what it feels like to complete an Ironman until you've done it yourself. It takes a lot of training, dedication, sacrifice and courage. Most will take it for granted and never truly understand what it takes. There are many points in my training where I wanted to give up. There are also many moments that were memorable and fun. As much as biking in 20 degrees sucked, I look back at those times and laugh and say "oh, what were we thinking." I would and will do it all again - only faster next time : ) Only until Jen told me did I find out that had I been racing just one age earlier (24), I would have been three minutes behind the girl who took the Kona slot... and you bet I would have given it my all to make up those three minutes for a 12:32 finish and a ticket to Kona. Oh well, what can you do? I couldn't have asked for any more on race day. Thanks again to everyone for routing me through and helping me get here. With just a couple more triathlons this season, I'll soon be starting to focus on qualifying for the Boston Marathon this October. The season is just halfway through - much more to come!

The Family in their support shirts!!