Ironman Lake Placid July 22, 2007

Well it has been over a week (actually 3) since I completed Iron man USA in Lake Placid, New York. For those of you who do not know, Lake Placid is located in the Adirondack region of New York. It is a very lovely area. Why has it taken me so long to write up my summary you may ask? I just need time to reflect and get my head straight and feet on the ground (plus HP keeps distracting me! I am rereading the entire series before I read the final book… so not a word please :) (at this time, I have actually completed the series. Just been really busy to post)

Prior to leaving for Lake Placid, I was a wreck. I was trying to tie up some experiments and make some headway. So needless to say I was edgy and over stressed. One of the senior students is leaving soon so I need to have him train me as much as possible on certain techniques. My mind was thinking, ‘Man if I did not sign up for this race a year in advance and already paid for everything, I would not go’. Being stressed like this can lead me to do some uncharacteristic things. I caught my self drinking COFFEE and eating sweets that I usually abhor. I also had this dull achy headache. Wednesday night, I realized that I was starting to get sick. I was feeling dizzy and nauseous. So instead of packing like I normally do, I went to bed.

Thursday, I was not feeling much better. I just ate my salad and then did a semi fast for the rest of the day. We left S. Deerfield around 11. The original plan was to leave at 8 am. It is about a 5 hour drive for us to get to Lake Placid. And boy howdy was it raining!!!! Not a good sign I thought. We got to our hotel in North Pole, unpacked, and decided to go to Lake Placid to get my race packet. I thought we could pick up things until 8 pm. Nope, they closed shop at 4pm. We would have to come back tomorrow. So we cruised through Lake Placid then decided to head back to the hotel.

We got back hoping to use our laptops only to find that their WiFi was having issues from the power outages and severe weather they have had for the past week. Turned on the TdF (we were excited since we do not get cable) and then the power went out. Eek! I had brought along 5 smoothies for each of use, plus salads, that was crammed in our old mini bar fridge. I was more nervous about the smoothies spoiling than anything else. As far as light goes, we always carry a flash light with a hand generator in the car. I was able to read HP by flash light. (tee hee). About 10 pm, the power came back on. Whew!




Friday morning I woke up and my headache seemed to have subsided. However, my stomach did feel somewhat queasy still. A lot of gunk seemed to have drained from my sinuses. I braved eating/drinking my smoothie. After getting an update on the TdF, we headed back into LP to pick up my packet.


I think the population of LP doubled overnight! If you can recall, in 1980. LP held the Winter Olympics. LP is still home to one of the Olympic Training Centers. In the center of the speed skating oval (where Erik Heiden won 5 gold medals) is where the main transition area was located (bike racks, changing tents, medical tent, and massage tent). Along the oval were dozens of venders and sponsors (Gatorade, Ford, Timex, Tanita, and Janus). Behind the oval is Lake Placid high school where I picked up my packet. It is almost impossible to explain the hum surrounding the event. I was starting to feel emotional. I was starting to feel the impact of the event. Over 2600 athletes will be competing on Sunday vying for one of the 80 spots for the world Championship in Kona. Also the race this year is the women’s pro championship race. In my age group alone, there are about 150 women signed up. This race is immensely popular with tri geeks. I was lucky to get in. It sold out on line in `less than 20 minutes! The rain (while less than Thursday) did not seem to dampen the spirits of this town.




Once I picked up my packet and got my ‘athlete bracelet’, we ventured around the oval. Tim went into one of the tents to make me a sign (aww....he is so thoughtful) that was provided by Janus. I on the other hand went and checked out trigger point technologies. Amazing stuff. Bought it. Then I decided to check out the Tanita body fat scales. It measures your body fat, abone density, percent water, visceral fat, metabolic age, as well as your overall weight. That Friday before the event, I was 128 lbs, with 20% body fat, low amount of visceral fat (2 on a 1 –10 scale), great bone density, and 55% water, and a metabolic age of 14. It also said I need only 1340 calories a day. Cool I thought. After my massage, (not a deep one, just mainly to help my IT band), I went for a short run. I was starting to feel better. Had my salad for lunch and we went out to dinner later where I had a porto burger.

Saturday, I awoke feeling icky and weak again. But I knew I had to warm up my legs on the bike before the big day. After drinking our smoothies, we did the short out and back (15 miles) that was by our hotel. Then I had to pack all my transition bags, and take them down to the T area along with my bike. After all that was done (and Tim checked out the Tanita scale – 10 % bf!) we got food from the Price Chopper (I was still not feeling 100%) and went back to the hotel where we watched more TdF and I tried to calm my nerves. Set the alarm for 4:15 am and went to sleep (or tried too) at 10 pm.

Sunday. After about 4 hours of sleep, I got up and started drinking my smoothie. I wanted it in and some of it processed prior to the 7 am start! We left the hotel at 4:30 and drove into LP. Tim thought he could drop me off at the transition area, but all the roads were blocked off. Instead he gave me a hug and a reassuring smile and off I went.

There were probably already 200 people in the transition area. I immediately went to check on my bike. It looked good. Filled up my water bottles and then ate some more food. I went to my transition bags and just kind of stood there trying to envision what I wanted to accomplish today. I knew I would not qualify for the big dance, so I thought of individual goals I wanted. Another piece of good news: 0% chance of rain today. This was good news, because I was kind of concerned about some of down hills on the bike. They would be treacherous if wet.

Around 6, I decided to put on my wet suit and walk over my special needs run bag (a long sleeved shirt). I was hoping to see the start of the women’s pro race (they started at 6:25) but I was stuck in line for the porta’s. Did my business and then shuffled off to the swim start. In vein, I tried to spot Tim, but it was like trying to find a needle in a hay stack. There was already over 3,000 people mashed against the fence to watch us start. I stashed my shoes by the fence near the start and started walking towards the start.

The swim portion of the event was a water start with two laps. This means we have to tread water until the gun goes off. Before getting into Mirror Lake, we had to walk over the timing chip mat. This was actually surreal. So many athletes walking through, it is as if they were herding cattle. I got into the water, put my goggles on, and did a few strokes to make sure they would not leak. Once I made all of my final adjustments, I decided to look around at the other competition. There was a crowd of people under the start flags, mostly men (white caps). And a fair amount of people a good 100 yards behind the swim start at the edge of the lake. I was somewhat in between them. Without any wave starts, one has to place themselves somewhat strategically. I knew that it would take me over an hour to do the swim, So I did not want to be too close to the front. But I also did not want to be in the back because passing people when there are this many competitors is very difficult. So I decided to stay in between where there were not a lot of other athletes, hoping to keep the incidental contact minimal.

Before the start I gave one more attempt in looking for Tim. No luck. So once the anthem finished, I focused my attention on getting ready. And would you believe it, I suddenly had to go to the bathroom again! Not much I could do about that now. Once your wetsuit is wet, it is impossible to get off and back on again. Ugh. Not a good way to start a long race. After the anthem, the RD got us pumped up with Black Sabbath’s “I am Ironman”, then the gun went, and we were off. The roar of the crowd was beyond deafening. 2600 of us start off at the same time. It sounded like a waterfall (if you can imagine).


The swim was nothing short of a lesson in combat techniques. I got kicked a few times in my already sore ribs (from the bike accident I had) and dunked a few times as I was trying to get a breath. No longer was I worried about my swim form, I was fighting for survival more or less. I knew this race would be competitive, but I guess I did not realize how competitive it was. Between each lap, we have to get out of the water and go across the timing chip mat again. I saw my time for the first lap, 33 minutes, not bad I thought. I predicted a 1:10 swim. Most of us walked calmly to get back into the water. However one guy just barreled through pushing us aside. I hope he won. Anyway if I could keep pace, I would make my predicted swim time. But during the second lap, my left leg started to act up a bit. This is the leg with the troublesome IT band. So I did not kick as much as I usually do, instead I dragged my legs somewhat behind me. That is the beauty of a wet suit. It helps keep your legs afloat. I was also hoping that the swim would thin out by now, but it seems I was still with the main pack. Back in combat mode! But I decided that I would try to stay on the outside of the pack. Mistake. I got of course and had to make a beeline to get back on. Lost some time on that mistake. I could not wait for the swim to be over. I just wanted to keep my left side protected and my goggles on. Alas, the end was in sight. (swim time = 1:15)

I hurried out of the water and started to peel my wet suit off. Somehow I was guided to a wet suit stripper (pretty much pandemonium at this point. The volunteers did a great job steering us!). Wow what an experience. He had me lie on the ground while he pulled off my suit. It was off in like 10 seconds. It usually takes me a minute. Once off we were guided down a carpet and ran about 200 yards to the transition area. I went to grab my swim to bike bag, but it decided it liked hanging on the hook. Another competitor was yelling at me (she was in the same aisle) ‘Just grab it! Rip it off!’ But I like to keep my mind calm in these cases. Got it unhooked and ran towards the changing tents. Still had to go potty, but I was being guided to the tent.

Got to the tent, dried my feet, put on my shoes, socks, jersey, sunscreen, race number and helmet. Stashed my suit in the bag and off I went in search of a potty. Again it was combat mode to get into a portalet. No one cared who got there first. Once one was available you just had to rush towards it. I was denied twice until I just grabbed one. (again imagine mass pandemonium).

As we entered the bike area, our number was called (2175 for me). They had one volunteer at each rack that would retrieve our bike for us. Nifty came to mind. Got my bike turned on my Garmin and I was off! (8:30 am). My stomach was feeling somewhat queasy at this point. I think it was due to all of the lake water I in avertedly drunk.


The bike course is also two loops, 56 miles each. My goal was to do each loop in 3:20. We started down a big, steep hill, turned and started up a slow accent. For a short time there, I thought my tire was flat. But others around me were not going any faster, so I realized we were on a ‘false flat’. We passed the Olympic ski jumps then soon we hit this great big downhill. I am not sure how many miles it lasted, but we went fast. I averaged about 40 mph going down this hill. The downhill lead us to a nice flat area along one of the braches of the Ausable river. In the town of Jay, there was a kid on the side of the road playing his bugle and we rode past. During one the of aide stations, I grabbed a couple of orange quarters and ate one hammer gel. I never knew an orange to taste soo good. It was so juicy and sweet! Amazing.

Another fast down hill where I had to dodge a jersey on the road and a couple of loose CO2 cartridges (Tim asked later, half joking, why didn’t you stop to pick them up?), then a sharp left turn to a very long steady climb (5 miles). What an insult to the legs. After that a short downhill to a right turn. This turn lead to a 14 mile out and back that consisted mostly of rollers. On the way out, a poor guy had broken his chain. I stopped and loaned him my spare link and a chain tool. After the out and back, we had 13 miles to LP, 9 of those miles being another long climb. This climb took us past Whiteface mountain (where the Olympic downhill skiing took place) and Royal Falls Gorge. We toiled up the hill. Towards the top, I finally heard Tim. Thank goodness! I did not know if I would see him again during the day.

We made another right turn which leads us into town. The streets were just lined with oodles of people. I felt I was competing in the TdF. Massive cheering and shouting!
Made it across the timing chip and went off again. Lap time= 3:20!! Pace = 16 mph… a little slower than I wanted but it was okay. Probably could have pushed it harder up the hills. But I was being cautious because my IT band was starting to have problems. I did not want to end up biking the second loop with only one leg.

My legs seemed to have recovered from the uphill assaults. I felt pretty good at the start of the second lap. Got past the ski jumps, and suddenly a head wind hit us that would follow us for another 30 miles. The course is difficult enough without the wind! At mile 81, things suddenly started to go wrong. I was starting to feel dizzy and really sick to my stomach. It was getting really hot out. I pulled over and took of my sweat band and poured water over my head to try and cool off. My stomach was not accepting any fluid or food. I gave myself a pep talk and said, "You just have less than two hours to go." 30 miles and you will be off your bike. Feeling somewhat better, I mounted my metal steed and off I went. At the next aid station, I decided to eat a couple of orange quarters after I used the ‘facilities’. The oranges did not taste so good now. I was beginning to think they were contributing to my stomach ailments. Sipping of water also made me very queasy.

The head wind was ferocious. Make it stop, please. I did not need that on top of feeling queasy and dizzy. During the next big climb, I had to stop and take a break. I did not want to fall off my bike. After a couple of minutes I got back on and finished the hill. During the out and back at one of the aid stations, I decided to brave another orange slice. My tummy was seeming to feel somewhat better. Mistake… it went back to being queasy. Tainted oranges? Not sure. But at this point, it was just 18 miles left to go. I thought to myself; just make it to the next aid station. Other competitors were cheering me on. They had obviously noticed I was struggling. I made it to the next aid station, tried to use the facilities (I just wanted to sit down) but to no avail. One of the volunteers was kind enough to pour cold water over my head. I was severely overheated. Not only was it hot, but it was really dry. I had noticed that I had salt rings all along my shorts and jersey. .. (This is common in the west. During Frisbee tourney’s, we often had salt rings). I have not seen this since I moved to the east. I am used to riding my bike for long hours in 90 degrees and high humidity. But the dryness … maybe that was the source of my problems? Probably not but I guess I was definitely low on salts I sat down in a chair hoping to revive myself and settle my stomach. After about 10 minutes I got back onto my bike and rode the rest of the 4 miles. At this time I had given up on a sub 7 hour bike. I just wanted to get through this and get off my bike. (total bike time 7 hr 50 min)


I got back to the T station, grabbed my bike to run bag and went to the changin to not change and just take my jersey off and run in my jog bra and tri shorts (of course Timg tent. I decided was expecting a different outfit, so he did not find me on the run course). I was too hot to wear a shirt. My leg was still really bothering me, plus I was trying to settle my stomach (not moving can help). There was a therapist in the changing tent that looked over my leg and did some pressure point stuff on my hams and IT band. Then after getting gooped up with sun screen, I was off like a turtle. :-) Mostly glad to be off the bike and happy that I only had the marathon to go. I still had over 7 hours until the course closed. Even if I had to walk the entire 26.2 miles, I would still finish.

The run course is 2 x and out and back (each leg = 13.1 miles). After scooping out the course the night before, I decided to walk down hills and up hills due to my IT band. (I did not want to have a repeat of last time). At the beginning of the run course is a very steep 3/4 mile down hill. Another strategy to walking is it helps get fluids into your body. If running, the GI track will effectively shut down. The volunteers in the tent were very keen on me getting some fluids in. Even at 4:30, it was still very hot, so I dumped some more water on my head. I also tried to drink some Gatorade. Unfortunately it was lemon lime, not a big fan of that flavor. (they had orange flavor on the bike course... did not have any then… wish I had some for the run!) Once I was done with the liquids and they seemed to have settles, I shuffled off.

The run course consisted of three very steep hills, in which we would have to go up and down. Brutal. I walked more than I ran (I think, kind of lost track). This was partially due to the fact I was trying to get liquids into me (I had not peed since 2 pm). Getting liquids in during this stage is very difficult. Especially if you have already experienced stomach problems. So I would walk through aid stations, drink and have to wait for another couple of minutes before I could run. Running with too much liquid in the stomach can cause some very bad cramps. Now my next strategy was to try to run (well shuffle anyway) to each aid station. At the first turn around (we had four in total); my IT band was becoming very, very tight. But one of the volunteers seemed to be a PT and he gave me a once over (I think he was an angel in disguise... they were part of a church group that comes up every year from Virginia to volunteer and help out.) Anyway he got me going and off I went to reach the next turn around.

It was during this section that all the signs the spectators made had been put up. I was trying to find my sign that Tim had made, but it was not where we thought it was (We saw it the night before). It was just one big massive row of signs. But someone else had moved our sign and I never saw it either time during the run. So off and on this went, drinking what I could at the aid stations, tried to eat a couple of pretzels for salt, (I was starting to cramp up!) I walked up that massively steep 3/4 mile hill. A few volunteers gave me a nice push ;-). I made it to the next turn around (12 miles). I looked at my watch and it showed that it took me 2:40 to do this much) Oh if I could keep this up, then I could have a 5 hr marathon. I grabbed my special needs bag just in case I needed my long sleeve shirt.

I semi ran back down that 3/4 mile hill (hard to walk down if you want to know the truth) and decided to try a run for 7 minutes and walk for 2 minutes. I also decided I did not need to take liquid at every aid station (they were spaced out every mile). I was able to keep this up for a while. I walked down the next big downhill (by the Olympic ski jumps) and then started to run again. But my groin muscles were having another say. Plus it was starting to get dark and chilly. I was probably mostly cold due to my sweat and the fact at each aid station they had been giving out cold, wet sponges that I used to keep myself cooled off. So I put on my long sleeve and started to run again.

Now I am not sure but somehow Tim spotted me at the next turnaround. It was dark at this time. He slowly rode his bike along side me whilst I tried doing the run/ walk thing. It was nice to have someone else along side me to keep me going on. He then became my domestique, riding on ahead and fetching me water/Gatorade. Suddenly (or so it seemed) we were back at the really steep hill that lead back into the main part of town. Only 2.5 more miles to go. Walked up the hill due to the fact that running up it was painful at this point. Once I got onto the flat part, I started to run again.

There was a bunch of onlookers cheering us on. They made a tunnel for me to run through where I could give them “fives”. Went to the last turn around got to run through the tunnel again, where they were saying, “Who is going to be an Ironwoman?” ran onto the Olympic oval and cross the finish line.

I wanted to do it in 13 hrs, but it took me 2 hrs longer than anticipated. I learned a lot about myself and what not to do during a big race. IMLP is a very popular race and extremely competitive. I think I like the Chesapekeman better because I felt there was better camaraderie and good vibrations. Also there was a lot less people. I think for my next time, I will find a smaller venue, where I do not have to sign up a year in advance.

Actually I think what I am going to do is focus more on ½ IM’s. They can be just as fun and rewarding but with a lot less training volume. With the amount of training time it takes for an IM, (up to 25 -30 hrs/wk during the peak phase), it was really draining. Now I need to focus on getting through graduate school. It is really nice to come home and not feel like I need to train. Though for a short time I was thinking about doing a Fall marathon, but my legs said no. so currently I am keeping up with my swimming. Maybe this weekend I will break out my bike if it is not raining.