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Get Fit Athletes Triathlon Lake Placid Race Report
Get Fit Athletes Triathlon Lake Placid Race Report
My goals were:
- To finish. Seriously with a race this long anything can happen. Just look at all the DNF's at the end of the results.
- To reduce the number of port-o-johns I visit. Really, last year I had nutrition problems and visited 4 on the bike and 10 in the run. I really, really did not want to see the inside of that many again this year
- To improve my times in all 3 legs. I wanted to prove to myself that I learned a lot last year and that I could do better even though I'm a year older. Age isn't everything!
Swim:
It started to rain before the swim and during (same as last year). I swam over to the far side and told everyone around me that this was a great place to start cause last year I was barely touched through the swim. Cannon went off and the mahem started. Arms, legs flying. I told myself that it would thin out in a few minutes and not to panic. But, it just never did. For the entire 2 loop course (2.4 miles) I was trapped smack in the middle of swimmers. I was kicked, hit, pushed, pulled, and I was doing the same to others (unintentionally of course). I remember Lisa Myers telling me that you can only swim as fast as the people in front of you, and I wanted to tell those climbing over top of me the same.
Last years time 1:21 and I loved it
This year's time 1:20 and hated it
T1
Uneventful. Get in , change, get out
Last year 10.44 (putting on rain gear, I guess)
This year 7:50
Bike
Started to rain as soon as I got out of town. Same as last year. But it stopped by the time I got to the big down hill. The course is absolutely beautiful. It was the same as last year, except it felt like they added more hills. I just don't remember so many last year. I was pushing the pace a bit (only 0.5 mph) faster then last year, but I could feel it in the legs and kept telling myself to back off or suffer on the run. It got hot about half way thru, and my feet started to burn like they were on fire. I could tell they were swelling because I had to loosen my bike shoes. I was worried I would have blisters before the marathon. I started grabbing water bottles from the water stations and pouring the water into my shoes to cool off. It clouded over and got windy the last 30 miles. The hills at the end were tough. Nutrition was right on. Peanut butter Ritz Bits taste great. One port-o-john stop (woohoo)!
Bike time last year 6:54 (was disappointed it was over, loved it)
Bike time this year 6:33 (couldn't wait for it to be over)
T2 great volunteers helping me. Get in - change - get out
Last year -4:13
This year - 4:36
Run
My one and only thought when I started to run was to get past mile 2. Last year that is when I hit the wall, and I really wanted to get past that looming mile marker in better shape this year. I was like mission control at the space center checking over everything. Stomach -OK, knees-OK, legs-OK, feet-OK, back-OK, shoulders-OK, etc. I was able to slip into a comfortable pace and keep it going. When I realized I was going to be able to have a decent run, I wanted to make it to mile 15 without walking since I've done that in training. Besides I wanted to get as close to the finish, as fast as possible so when the wheels did come off, I could still make it. I made it mile 17 before walking thru the water stop. But that was a mistake, as soon as I stopped I could feel all the fatigue hit me. I walked about a minute and probably the hardest part of the day was to get myself to run again. It took about a mile to get back into a comfort zone. I did walk one more time, part of the big hill coming back into town, but only cause I think my fast walk was faster than my hill climbing.
The last mile coming into the finish is indescribable. It must be slightly downhill, cause it felt like a breeze. It is definitely a memory I will hold onto.
Last year time - 4:29 (hit the wall at mile 2)
This year time - 4:02 (never really hit the wall)
1 port-o-john stop (yippee)
Last years time -13:01 was happy with that (severe dehydration at the finish)
Final time - 12:08 Super happy with that (felt great at finish!)
total port-o-johns =2 (and they both were clean!)
It was awesome to finish. But it really is my last Ironman. No doubt about it, they are hard. Hard training, hard on the family, hard on the social life. Awesome to finish, but so much hard work and commitment into one day. I'm just lucky I had a good day.
I feel great. No nausea which is huge compared to last year. I do feel like someone took a baseball bat and whacked me hard across the quads (several times), but its a "good feeling" (if you know what I mean).
Thanks for reading. Thanks so much for the well wishes, prayers and support. You all are so inspirational!
I'll send pictures as soon as we get them set up.
Next weekend we are going to Key Largo for a relaxing vacation - woohooooooooooo!
Lori