This race usually sells out the day it opens and for good reason. The Lake Placid race is held in a quaint village named North Elba that is surrounded by the Adirondack mountains . There are a dozen lake side restaurants, and over 100 shops and stores on main street as well as a historic movie theatre. It was home to the winter Olympics in 1932 and 1980 and hosts a world class training facility for ski jumping, bobsled and speed skating. The Ironman village was set up on the track.
The swim is in Mirror Lake which was a short walk downhill from the Crown Plaza Hotel where we stayed. Our hotel room had a panoramic view of the lake & mountains surrounding the village. The 1.2 mile swim course was a large rectangle that stretched from one end of the lake to the other and the water was flat and warm.
The 56 mile bike course starts with a moderate climb, then a 2,000+ ft curving descent over a ten mile stretch. The next 30 miles are rolling hills with some short challenging inclines. The last fifteen miles are a gradual incline up 2,000 feet that returns to the village. Most of the course is adjacent to the two branches of the Ausable River , with many breathtaking waterfalls. The run course was a rolling 13 mile out and back course that passed by the ski jump facility and mirror lake.
Race day started with 65 degree temperatures and a fine drizzle rain. Most swimmers were treading water in the lake at the start line when the cannon fired off the start of the race. The mass swim start of over 2,180 athletes is a memorable event. Since my normal swim time is usually in the lower third of the pack, I swam to the outer edge of the pack, slowly working my way toward the center on the return lap. I did manage to get my goggles knocked off once within the first 15 minutes, but quickly recovered after a few gulps of lake water. On the second loop I was able to swim adjacent to the markers. The best part was the buoys are all tethered to a yellow cable about 5 ft below the water. By staying within view of the cable, I never needed to look up to see if I was on course. This saved me at least five minutes on the second lap and better still I was able to get into a nice groove. With all the fast swimmers way ahead, I swam at the same pace as by fellow slowpokes, so I didn't get whacked like I did on the first lap. I came out of the water almost dead last at 1:26 , which was 5 minutes faster than the Florida race. I was in 1,833 place out of 2,200!. My swim to bike transition time was 9 minutes, because it took 3 minutes just to run 1/3 mile from the lake to the changing tents.
After the swim it the weather remained a 65 degree drizzle. Before the race another athlete mentioned that the big downhill was going to be very cold and recommended to stuff a magazine under the front of my shirt to stay warm. "When you hit the aid station at the bottom of the hill you can toss the magazine". I took his advice, but the wet magazine ("Triathlete Today") ended up shredding under my jersey and I spent the next ten minutes plucking clumps of magazine from my abdomen. At least I had some reading material to pass the time.
My bike computer decided not to work that morning, so I was not able to see my bike speed at any time during the bike portion. The big downhill was a "white knuckle" on wet pavement. I was told we hit 40 mph at one point, even though I laid back and hit the brakes a lot to play it safe, while more aggressive riders flew past me. I caught most everyone on the climbs later and ended up passing about 1,100 people during the first loop averaging just under 20 miles per hour. My target heart rate was 150 for the first loop. The second loop I was more aggressive on the downhill but laid back on the hills keeping my heart rate at a steady 140. My last race was a half ironman in June and I made two critical mistakes, a) lousy nutrition strategy and b) expending too much energy on the bike and "crashing" on the run. I solved the first issue by eating a bagel after the swim and then four peanut butter sandwiches (oneevery hour) on the bike. I also took enduralyte-electolye pills every hour and a half to keep from cramping. This is by far the most beautiful bike course I have ever raced. The Ausable River follows much of the course and you can see waterfalls and cascading water during most of the climbs. The sound alone was refreshing. The second bike leg was slower at an average of 18.5 miles an hour. It was hard to lay back on the bike because its my favorite part of the event, but I am glad that I did because my legs felt pretty good going into the run. My bike time was 5:51 at 19.4 mph.
My goal was a 12 hour finish, That meant I needed to run a 4:25 marathon after a 5 minute bike to run transition. The first run loop I felt great. Running 10 min miles for the first 13 miles at a heart rate of 140. My half way split was 2:08 . I was feeling strong and well fueled and well on my way to my goal. I brought a water bottle with me and filled it with ice and Gatorade at each water stop. At mile 18 my heart rate started sliding to 130. On the hills I could sustain 138, but went back to 130 on the flats. This dropped my speed to 12 min miles as I adopted a run walk strategy, running to each support station, and walking 1-2 minutes. Mile 24 is almost one long continuous hill. There are hundreds of people cheering you up the hill. It's actually better to walk that section than run it... but you feel like such a quitter walking with all those people cheering and calling out your name...I ended up jogging it. I crossed the finish line at 12:17 , about 40 minutes faster than the Florida race. The ironman finish line is one of the most memorable places you can cross. They hold up a tape for you as you cross and your image is on a huge jumbo tron monitor as they call out your name and hometown.
I was able to compete in this race only because I won a lottery slot on June 14th at the Eagleman half ironman race in Maryland . In fact the 2007 race is already sold out ! Susan, my training coach helped me put together a 5 week exercise plan to get prepared for the race. I finished 66 out of 220 in my age category (45-49) and 816 overall out of 2,055 finishers. As with many endurance events, you get blown away by the things you witness and the stories you hear. I saw an Iraqi war veteran with prosthetic leg on the bike and run course, and I was passed by a couple of 60 year old runners. Over 700 first time ironmen & women raced Sunday. I feel very fortunate that my family supports me while I prepare for these races and take time away to travel to compete.