Ironman Lake Placid Race Report

Hello Dear Readers!

Whew what a race! I have to tell you, this was the hardest race I have ever done. It kicked my butt up one side and down the other and then it came back and kicked me in the head again! Let's get started...

The Swim (2.4 Miles)

The swim was really interesting. Everyone had to line up along the beach and go through the timing chip station at the start to get in the water at around 6:30 AM. The pros started at 6:50 and we started at 7 AM. The water was cold, but I knew from my swim there a few days earlier that I would warm up once it got started. The sky was pouring buckets of water on us and we thought we were in for a repeat of last years race. I could see from the looks on people's faces who was a first timer and who was experienced. The air was totally electrified with nervous and excited energies. I spoke with a kid from Canada (who was a first timer) and he was really nervous. He asked me for some pointers and I let him know to keep calm and relaxed and don't think of this as a race but a really really long training day. He told me a little about his preparation and I didn't have the heart to tell him that he might not be prepared for what he was in for. But hey, the guy was in his early twenties so he may have made it fine. You could see people bobbing alone and some huddled together holding o to each other for buoyancy. And yes just about everyone went pee in their wetsuits so a rule of thumb is to not get water in your mouth at the start (oh gross!). It's a mass start so imagine over 2200 people in the same section of a lake all starting at once when the cannon went off. It was beautiful chaos!

I positioned myself somewhere in the middle and did my best to fight my way towards the buoy line (which you could conveniently see under the water). Yes, you get hit from all directions and surprisingly people were pretty cool if they hit you. I've been hit and kicked and pulled on a lot harder in much smaller races. It is hard to get into a swimming rhythm at the start due to all the stopping and starting when you run into someone. I just always kept sighting the buoy line and looking for a open line to swim in.

One thing that was interesting was that as I went along I saw that they had divers below us watching for swimmers in distress. Kind of creepy to see someone staring up at you while you swim above him/her. It doesn't happen often, but there have been some deaths during the swim. Something about getting a cardiac arrhythmia due to the cold water and heavy exertion. The divers make sure the people who need help can get it quickly. Also there are several kayaks all over the place with watchers keeping an eye on the swimmers on the surface.

I did the first loop in 40 minutes and we exited the water and then went back through the timing chip mats and back into the water for another loop. I finished the second loop in pretty much the exact same time. As I exited the water, a volunteer stripped off my wetsuit (of course I had my racing outfit on underneath, the skies started to clear and I thought to myself that this may be a great day after all! I finished the swim in one hour and twenty minutes.

Transition One

The run from the swim to the bike transition is really long for a Ironman. You have to run up the beach, along a sidewalk and across the street to get to the Ironman Village (see pics from my previous blog post). I grabbed my bike gear bag and went into the changing tent. I felt really good and took my sweet time making sure my feet were dry before putting on my socks and bike shoes. There were tons of volunteers there helping us get from point a to b. It was a little chaotic getting my bike out with all the other racers doing the same thing, but again the volunteers were there to get your bike when your race number was called when you exited the changing tent. I got to the mount line made sure my helmet was already on my head and bucked (there is a major violation for not doing so). I got out of the transition area in twelve minutes and on we went!

The Bike (112 Miles)

The road was still wet from the downpour, so you had to be really careful at first. A newbie was walking her bike to the side and I almost hit her because she didn't realize she was blocking everybody coming out of transition one. She had the deer in the headlights look about her, but I did successfully maneuver around with no issue and started to hammer out of town.

Everyone I spoke to about this race warned me that it was a very challenging ride. I thought to myself, "Eh, I grew up in the mountains, it will be tough, but I am tougher!". Oh boy, they were not kidding when they say this is a tough bike. In fact I even heard some say it is harder than the Hawaii Championship due to the long steep climbs. This bike course is two loops of 56 miles each. The same loop twice basically. The first big hill was pretty steep but I didn't think it was a big deal and it was followed by a really long descent that scared the caca out of me. I looked down at my bike computer and it said I was going over 45 miles per hour! That's the fasted I have ever been on bike and it was even faster than the posted speed limit. And guess what, I wasn't even pedaling! My crushed time trial helmet must have made a difference because I kept catching up to people ahead of me. I even had to brake a few times to avoid first timers who were riding their brakes during the descent but not realizing that there are other people on the course who may need to go by on the left. I got upset but didn't really say anything since I was there once myself. I did see one bad crash. A woman was across the road being attended to by the ambulance, I heard she was put in the ICU, not sure what here status is, but I hope she was fine.

After the long descent was a series of climbs and flats for the next 30 miles or so. The only issue I had was my chain falling off during one of the steeper ascents. Not really a big deal, had to stop and put it back on, but no matter. Some hills were steep some not so much, ALL took their toll on my flat lander legs. Remember, I have been training in Houston, Texas where the only mountains are the overpasses and bridges in the Houston area.

Once I turned left on route 86 to go back into Lake Placid, I thought to myself, "That wasn't bad". Oh was I wrong. The last 20 miles or so of the loop was basically ALL UPHILL ALL THE WAY!!!!!! I guess it makes total sense since we had that long descent, there had to be a corresponding ascent with it to get back into town. This is where the suffering happens. I remember chatting with other people and we kept joking about how we would look down at the real wheel to see if we had another gear to switch to. But unfortunately, you can only gear it to the last set of teeth and that is as easy as it is going to be. So I just dug in and tried my best to keep going at a reasonable speed and not let my heart rate get too high (uh, not going to happen). In fact, for those of you who tracked my at Ironman.com, you will notice that the first 36 miles of the loop had a great average speed and the last 20 miles....well let's just say not so much. When I rounded back to Lake Placid, I stopped at the special needs station and got some Muscle Milk, nutri-grain bars and so forth. It was then that I realized that I was going to have to go through this all again!

So we all got going again for loop number two. One interesting thing I learned from this race is that it is really hard to drink and eat your salt tablets while going up a steep incline. So now I had to start worrying about getting dehydrated. The sun stayed out and it was starting to heat up. A lot of racers were complaining about how hot and humid it was and I just laughed and let them know about my 112 degree heat index rides and runs in Houston.

The 2nd loop went similar to the first, but a little slower this time. I could sense the toll the hills were taking on my body. I have been racing enough years to know that my gas tank was going to be really close to empty when I got to the marathon portion of the race. I saw a few heartbreaking scenes during the second loop of the bike. One that is still in my mind was of a guy on the last long ascent into lake placid, with his bike leaning against the guardrail and the guy sitting there with his hands over his face sobbing. I don't know if he had had enough or if he was just trying to gather himself to get to the finish. I hope it was the latter. Anyway, I kept plugging away at it though and kept focused on my form, nutrition and now that I had done the loop once, I even enjoyed the scenery. If it wasn't for the pain I was enduring, this would have been a really sweet touring ride, because the sites we went by were some of the most spectacular I've ever seen. Rivers, water falls, majestic mountains, trees over a hundred feet tall. It felt wonderful to be alive and competing and despite the suffering, I was really having fun! I finished the bike in six hours and fifty six minutes.

Transition Two

I finally got back into town and successfully dismounted at the proper line. A volunteer took my bike and I ran into the transition area to get my bike to run gear bag and headed into the changing tent again. A volunteer sprayed my now very sunburned shoulders with a new layer of sunscreen. I correctly judged that the marathon was going to be a tough one, because I had expended so much energy during the bike. I left transition two in seven minutes.

The Run (26.2 Miles)

This is always the hardest part of Ironman for me. It's also where most people drop out and get the dreaded DNF (Did Not Finish). As I said before, I knew I was running on empty at this point. The run course is two loops of 13.1 miles. I originally had a goal at the start of the race to finish between thirteen and fourteen hours. From the way I was feeling at the start of the run, that goal was now to finish in under seventeen hours (the official cut off time).

I knew I had to pace myself and started out at a nice and easy trot. At this point your joints are all starting to hurt and it takes a bit of effort to remind yourself that you have done this before and that the pain is only temporary. I knew that I was a little dehydrated because I only had to go to the bathroom once during the bike. This is usually bad news, so I focused on getting as much water and Gatorade in me as possible during the first few miles to get myself back in balance. The first 6 or so miles went fine. They were hard, but manageable. At about mile seven, I hit the proverbial "Wall" spoken of fondly by marathoners. Unfortunately, instead of the wall hitting me at mile twenty, it was mile seven.

I have been here before and I knew what I had to do: WALK! Yes, dear readers, the man who is made of Iron had to walk part of the marathon. Hey, even pro's do it. I took the time to gather myself, hydrate, eat some more calories and soldier on. I ran into a guy from New Jersey (Scott) who was in the same boat as me. Actually at this point in the race, almost everyone had to take walking breaks. They call this the "Death March" for a reason. It was still pretty hot outside and while I was used to it, it still was taking a toll (people passing out, etc). So we walked and talked about all sorts of things. Family, training, jobs, you name it. We just had to keep our minds off of the pain in our knees, hamstrings, calves, shoulders, you name it, it was hurting.

This was Scott's first Ironman and he was really motivated to finish before the cutoff. I was starting to feel better and since I knew that my original goal was shot to pieces, I decided to make sure Scott was going to make it. I made a deal with him to walk a while and then run a while. This is a great strategy to keep your energy, allow yourself to recover and make your average pace better. He was a trooper I tell ya. We did this for quite a while and finished the first loop and again stopped at the special needs station to get our special foods, etc.

Scott had lost all his salt tablets and I had more than enough so gave him some of mine. That helped him a lot during the second 13.1 mile loop. It was starting to get dark and he got to hurting worse. I told him my story from the first Ironman I did where my good mentor Thomas told me that as long as there is life, keep putting one foot in front of the other.

At around mile 15 I was really starting to feel better and hydrated and more recovered. Based on Scott's current pace, I knew he was going to get in under the 17 hour mark with a lot of time to spare. Of course, there was tragedy all around us as well. Ambulances carrying people off the run course, people who were forced to quite when their body just wouldn't cooperate anymore. I remember a guy sitting in one of the race vehicles looking at us go by knowing that all his time and preparation just weren't enough. It's such a tough race and I respect anyone who even attempts it, regardless if they finish or not.

Another buddy of mine from Connecticut (John) ran by and I decided to make up time and run with him. It took me a few miles to catch up, but we planned to run the last 7 miles together to the finish. At around mile 22 he started to slow down, but told me to keep going since I was "in the zone" and had me go on at my current pace. I told him thanks and ran ahead and on to the finish area.

The last few miles of the Ironman is what makes all the pain and misery worth it. Imagine thousands of people cheering you on as if you were a rock star. That's what it feels like. Your name is printed on your race bib so people were yelling out things like, "Bill, you are awesome!" "Bill, your pace is great!" etc. Men, women, even children holding their hands out to high five you as you run by. I think I ran those last four miles or so at a under 9 minute per mile pace and at that point I had such an adrenaline rush, I was feeling no pain and was even accelerating!

When I hit the 26 mile time chip area, I was sprinting past tons of people. I crossed the finish line at 14 hours and 46 minutes. Considering that the marathon took me around 6 hours and 9 minutes, that was pretty good. Imagine if it was a flat course and I was fresher for the run and not trashed from the bike!

I crossed the finish line and was immediately wrapped in a thermal blanket, given my finishers medal and taken to the photo area for my "trophy" picture. I saw my wife right afterword and she was really proud. She said she was worried because people were throwing up and passing out at the finish line. I was tired, dehydrated and feeling the pain, but most of all I felt really really happy that I completed one of the hardest courses Ironman has to offer.

Thanks to everyone who helped me prepare for this race (Kevin and the team from Tri On The Run) and of course my wonderful wife Denise. I also wanted to say a special thank you to all who donated to the CCFA in my name before, during and after the race.

I will post pictures to my gallery once I get them from the photo company. That's all for now!

Tri your best!

Bill