Ironman Lake Placid Race Report - Kona Qualifier!!

Pre-Race:

Overall, I was feeling good as the race approached. I was physically in great shape but, more importantly, I had done a lot of work to be mentally ready to race. I had a plan to deal with the negative thoughts that come up because they always will in an Ironman! Travel itself was smooth and we arrived at our hotel in Saranac Lake after hitting a healthy grocery store on the drive over.

Friday was a busy day with packet pick up, bike check with Tri Bike Transport (they are amazing!) and a practice swim. As the day went on, I realized the Saranac Lake hotel location was not super convenient. I was nervous about all the different locations for bag drop on race day morning and wanted my amazing sherpa, Sarah, to have a place to rest during the race. I was also walking around too much on Friday because we couldn’t go back to hotel during all the pre race stuff. I had over 15,00 steps, which is not a good idea right before a race! I found out the Grand Adirondack hotel had openings so we booked that for Saturday and Sunday night. I immediately felt relief when did that.

Pre Race Meals:

As I do with all out-of-town races, I booked reservations at the healthiest restaurants I could find and reviewed the menus in advance. Thursday dinner was a salad at hotel restaurant. I knew this would be my last salad as it’s important to reduce fiber as it gets closer to race day. Dinner on Friday night was salmon poke with seaweed and rice. It was delicious and low in fiber. I was struggling a bit with what to eat for dinner the night before the race. Most restaurants had decent protein options but with potatoes and I do better with rice. I eventually went to a sushi restaurant and picked up a California roll along with steamed chicken and rice. I took digestive enzymes with all meals as it’s more difficult to digest food when we are in a pre-race, sympathetic nervous system state.

Race Day:

I was asleep by 9:00 the night before and woke up around 3:00 so felt well rested. I had my matcha and made sure everything was moving along, if you know what I mean. Left the hotel at 5:00. Went to transition to check bike and noticed that the bike next to me had their handlebars in my rear spokes but everything seemed okay. Put my nutrition on the bike and then went to drop bike SN bag. Stopped in a slow port-a-potty line on way to run SN. A spectator friend of another race offered to drop all our run SN since they needed to be dropped off before 6:00.  As I predicted everything took a bit longer than expected with the different drop locations.

The Swim:

Got to swim start and a lot of racers were already in their wetsuits. I got my on but felt a little rushed. I then left my old run shoes at the end of the swim finish chute and lined up at the end of the 1:20-1:30 group. The swim start moved more quickly than expected and I was in the water within 15 minutes. I felt nervous but not anxious.

Started the swim and it was pretty congested. I stayed to far left (off the cable) to avoid being too congested. I felt like the water chop from the other swimmers was pulling me along and it seemed the 100 meter buoys were passing more quickly than usual! It felt a little slower coming back in but going around the turn buoys was not bad. Got out and back in to start the second loop. I was shocked how many people were finished with their second loop when I was just finishing my first loop. First loop was 44 minutes so not bad for me. The second loop did not have as much current assist since there were less swimmers. I felt slower but never really felt my arms were tired. I was ready to get out and the last part coming in seemed long on both loops. I came out in 1:31. I was hoping for faster but was not bad for me. Turned out I was 41st in my AG after the swim, which is pretty bad for me!

 T1:

I used the wetsuit strippers and then put my shoes on to run to transition. A man said he was waiting to see who those were for. :) In the end the run did not seem like .5 mile so I probably didn’t need the shoes.  I initially grabbed my run bag so had to go back and change to bike bag (they were right next to each other). Got into tent and did not have a volunteer to help me but was fine with that. I thought I would put on sock arm warmers but I felt pretty warm after swim so skipped them. I put socks on which I have never tried with newerish bike shoes. I thought about taking them off but shoes were already on so I just went with it… I should have gone with my gut and taken the time to remove the socks. T1 time 8:50.

 The Bike:

The downhill and twisty start of bike was not too bad. I went slowly, to avoid losing my water bottles and to stay in control. Felt a little cold on the bike but started gradual climb to Keane. It was beautiful! The Keane descent was fine and I actually did not need to brake much. The climb after the hard left turn had a sign that it was a long hill but I thought it wasn’t too bad. I almost went into a pothole in the out and back so made a note to be more careful on second loop.

I felt pretty good coming into second bike loop. HR on first loop was within parameters but was a little higher than my coach predicted. I felt like I should take it a bit easier on the second loop to prepare for the marathon. Was doing well on nutrition but decided to only take in two caffeine gummies instead of three. I could not feel the caffeine effects as much as I had in training but was feeling good overall and not tired. Went a little faster on Keane descent (41.3 mph). I could feel the climbs at the end a bit more but still felt good. I was ready to get off bike but the course was not as hard as expected (thank you altitude training). Got in all my nutrition as planned (UCAN Energy, Skratch High Carb Fuel, Super Sport Aminos, Salt Stick and caffeine gummies). Ended at 6:23 and biked into 12th place in AG so definitely made good progress on bike but was hoping I would be top ten off the bike.

 T2:

Could not run into T2. Was hoping legs would feel better immediately after the bike but grabbed my bag and started changing things. My right foot really hurt on the outside. I think the bike shoe was too tight with socks on. I definitely should have changed out of those socks in T1! T2 time 5:50.

Run:

I started to run as I came out of tent and felt better. Foot still hurt on side but then I noticed the bottom of both feet were really sore. I decided to just go with it and run the first two miles since they were downhill. I took my UCAN Edge fairly soon into the run. I took my aminos and salt after. At about mile 5, I realized I had forgotten the Clif Bloks from my run bag. I knew I had some in SN so would grab them at that point. I took my caffeine gummy at mile 6 and felt a little burst in energy but I could definitely feel the hills going back into town. I had planned to race walk them but walking really hurt my feet. I realized I needed some calories to replace the Clif Bloks in the first loop so took Gatorade at mile 9 and 10. It was warm and gross so I just took in what I could. I also had Werthers candy to suck on which is a great way to get some sugar directly through the mouth. SN is about mile 11.5 so I quickly grabbed my Clif Bloks and started getting them in. I saw Sarah and she told me I was in now 10th and closing in on 9th and 8th. I was happy with my progression but I was hurting at the start of the second loop. Even running downhill hurt! Along River Road I started to take more walk breaks but realized if I came in under 12 minute miles I could break 13 hours. I just kept that in my mind as I did a mix of run walk. Most of my miles were in the 11s and well under 12 minutes. I was feeling good about that and it pushed me to run and not just keep walking. I started with coke at mile 18 and continued to take each mile (once you go coke, you need to stick with it). When I came into the last out and back Sarah told me I was in 9th and closing in on 8th. That gave me a little boost. My Garmin battery died at mile 25. I told myself to run as much as I could since I could not rely on the watch to keep my pace. Thankfully, the last part is downhill before towards the amazing Olympic Oval. I was very happy as I got into the Oval and I could not wait for red carpet. I had the whole finishing chute to myself so took my time with it. Crossing the line I didn’t feel as exhausted as I have in the past. Run time as 4:43 and total time was 12:55. I finished in 8th, which is what I was hoping for so that I could comfortably feel I earned a slot and would get one that’s not technically a roll down slot.

Post race:

I’m going to Kona baby!

Went to awards and roll down the next day. I was actually walking better than I expected and didn’t have any back pain. They did slots from oldest to youngest and there were only 6 slots for the 60-64 group so I was worried but figured there should be at least 8 slots. Turned out there were 11 slots. Only two rolled so they went to 12th and 13th. I was so happy to get my slot but a little nervous that this was actually happening!

I flew back on Monday night and felt less sore than I had after other IMs. We were starting a kitchen remodel in two days so we had to empty the kitchen before flying out to Denmark on Wednesday afternoon. I got a massage on Tuesday and it was magical and not as painful as I expected. Denmark was the perfect recovery break as I went on easy bike rides, a lake swim and gradually transition running into walks.

Now it’s a 4 weeks later and time to start building the training hours for the Ironman World Championship in Kona! 8 weeks and counting!