Ironman Lake Placid 2011 Race Report

I have not been very good at writing race reports over the years, but after reading so many from my fellow triathletes about Ironman Lake Placid, it got me motivated to try harder and get one written.

So the trip started with our normal routine, drive up on Thursday, go to race registration, get situated in the hotel, get a quick spin in on the bike and head to dinner. Friday was an early morning swim in Mirror Lake which felt great, the water temp was just right (even a degree or two warm). Then go to the expo, refraining from buying any clothes that were directly related to the 2011 race as I feel like I would be jinxing myself. Saturday was filled with the normal day before stress, get a small brick workout in first thing in the morning and get the bike and transition bags all prepped. Afterwards head down to the Olympic oval to rack the bike and hang the transition bags. Finally, just try to relax. Luckily we were able to hook the laptop up to the TV in the hotel and watch the tour de france.

Sunday morning, the normal 3:30 wake-up and pre-race ritual began. Drink some coffee, have some breakfast, shower, apply sunscreen (which must have all washed off during the swim as my sunburn will tell you) get dressed and head down to body marking. Body Marking and Transition opens at 5 AM and I got there at about 4:50 which turned out to be a good thing. There were about 20 people in front of me waiting for transition to open and by 5:00, the line must have been about 100 deep or more.

Dropped of the items in the transition bags and then headed over to the bike for the usual, load up nutrition, pump up the tires and calibrate the SRM. The bikes seemed so much closer together then I previously remember. To calibrate the SRM I have to turn the cranks over 2-3 times which I couldn't do because the bikes were so close together. Luckily the guy next to me need to borrow my pump, so as he moved his bike to pump up his tires it gave me some clearance. About 3 people borrowed my pump thus I had to wait until everyone was done to head out to drop off special needs, but I thought it was good karma (more on that later).

Then it was off to drop off the special needs bags, make a visit to the porta potty and then head over to meet the family (my wife Laura, out beautiful daughter Maddie, and mom and dad filgate). Dad was already there, which was nice because that meant there was a seat waiting for me to just sit down and relax. A few minutes later the rest of the family arrived. This is the worst part of the day, from a nerves perspective, just sitting and waiting. Finally around 6:15 I started to get the wetsuit on, then gave everyone a kiss goodbye and it was off to get into the water.

Once in the water, I went to my normal starting point, way to the right and about halfway between the starting line and the end of the beach. So the professionals go off at 6:50 and you then know that your day is about to begin. As Mike Reilly was making his normal comments, there was one comment that he always says that just stuck in my head (little did I know then that I would be needing it later) and that was "the only thing you can control out there today is your positive attitude". Then as he always right before the cannon is about to go off is "Who's going to be an Ironman today" and that kind of gets the adrenaline going and then the cannon sounds and the race is on.

Swim (1:17:27) - Well for someone who is not a very good swimmer, who has had panic attacks before, I had yet again for the 3rd straight year, a very relaxed and calm 2.4 mile swim. My time might not be really fast, but I can say that my Ironman swim turns out to be the best swim of my triathlon season. I always settle right in to my bilateral breathing and just go through the motions. I should add that this year the water temperature was 77 degrees. Per WTC regulations, if the water is between 76.1 and 84 degrees, you can wear a wetsuit, but you are not eligible for podium finished or Kona qualifying slots (no problem here! give me my wetsuit). I came out of the first loop in 38 minutes and change and always try to come as close as possible to holding that pace for the next 1.2 miles. This year near the end of the loop 2, when you are close to the shoreline where the spectators sit (I know my family is right there on the waters edge trying to locate me) I tried to wave to them as I was taking my strokes. It was great to find out later that they did indeed see me and see me waving to them. Getting out the water after an Ironman swim always feels like a major accomplishment in itself for me.

T1 (11:28) - I really need to try to speed up next year in T1 as my time is usually pretty slow. There is quite a run from the exit of Mirror Lake to the transition area at the Olympic Oval. Then the usual grab your bag and head into the tent and get ready for your 112 mile bike ride. The T1 tent is always a mad house, this might be why I totally forget to have on of the volunteers apply sunscreen on my shoulders and neck, which I payed for later.

Bike (7:03:03) - Fighting a hip injury all year, and from training with Power, I knew that my Power numbers were no where close to what they were last year. With that in mind my goal was to just ride a pace that felt comfortable and always making sure to take that first lap a bit easy. Things were going well, I shot down the first decent on 73 to Keene, made the turn on 9 and within a few miles my rear tire was soft; so much for my good Karma. So I decided to give Pit Stop a try. Never used it before but thought I would give it a try. In hindsight, knowing that I had almost 100 miles still to ride, I probably should have just changed the tire, but with riding tubulars and still not be comfortable with the process, I thought I would give it a shot. So I continued to remember Mike Reilly saying "the only thing you can control out there today is your positive attitude" and just decided to take it all in stride. Ironman is a long day and you just have to accept and deal with what the day gives you. So the last 10 miles of each loop has you climbing back to town and I remember that this section is all about try to carry your speed through the ups and downs. I made sure to push a little on all the downhills and flats and try to carry my speed as best I could up the hills. I felt like that was the best time I had ridden that section. I am back in town which is nice because that means I get to see the family! Dad always makes these great big signs that have a picture of me from a previous race that says "Go Ken". It always makes locating them in the crowd for me that much easier as well.

I start Lap 2, go through town, am about to hit the first climb which isn't even at mile 60 yet, and my rear tire goes flat. Damn that Karma, remember Mike Reilly's saying. So I need to change the tubular, which was not pleasant as usual, and all I could think was Zipp 808 Firecrest Carbon Clinchers next year!!! So on lap 2, after the descent to Keene and the turn on 9, I felt something that I never remember feeling at Ironman, a feeling of being all alone. It seemed like there was a stretch where I could only see about 1 rider in front of me, as if I was just out on a training ride, or made a wrong turn somewhere. Luckily after a couple of miles I started to catch back up with different groups of people. Around my 80-90, in the Ausible Forks section, I started to get hot spots in my left foot that I sometimes get, and they can be quite painful. They lasted on and off for a good 15-20 minutes so I was definitely happy when they were gone. Once I got to mile 100 and was on that last 10 mile stretch back to town, I took the same approach as as the first loop and was feeling strong and that I was riding this section strong. Then around mile 105 I dropped my chain, I mean really the 2 flats weren't enough, remember Mike Reilly. I got the chain back on quickly and was off. Got back to town, and that means another chance to see the family, which is always a welcome and uplifting. I finished the bike feeling that I put in a good ride and after analyzing my data, found out that I actually averaged 5 watts more then last year. While that is great all things considered, it was a lesson learned that last year I took it way to easy on the bike.

T2 (7:44) - The only thing I hate about T2 is running in your bike shoes on the cement to get to the changing tent, it just seems slightly painful. I am always tempted to take my shoes off but always feel that with my luck I will step on a rock or something and have a sore foot, remember you still need to run a marathon. At least the changing tents in T2 are a lot less chaotic then T1. The volunteers are awesome, and this time I remember to get some sunscreen, although I think at this point the damage was done. Time to run a marathon.

Run (4:52:50) - My goal was to run as close to a 10 minute mile pace for as long as possible. I knew this was all dependent on my stomach. My last 2 years at Ironman, and this only happens to me at Ironman, I get terrible stomach pains the reduce me to a run walk. All the research I have done leads me to believe that I get intestinal bloating from the swim, I can go on forever about this but will opt not to. So I was doing my 10 minute mile pace, with my normal plan of walk the aid stations and the 2 big hills back into town. The run is great in that my family is right on the side of the road, I can see my girls and give them both a kiss twice. The first time I saw them, I am not sure that Maddie (14 months old) knew exactly who I was, but the second time I got a big smile and that was great!!!. So I get my 10 minute pace going, I could feel the stomach issue coming and coming, and then somewhere between mile 15-16 I was reduced to a run/walk for the last 10-11 miles. On my garmin watch I never look at what my total race time is as I don't want it to influence me early in the run and make me try something stupid. I finally decided to look around mile 25 and was a bit disappointed that I didn't do it a few mile prior. When all was said and done I finished running and 11:10 pace (and I know that once I get this stomach thing figured out I can put up a much better marathon split) and missing a PR by about 4 minutes and 30 seconds. I think if I would have check my watch sooner, I might have tried to gut it out a bit harder for a PR. Well there is always 2012, which I am signed up for, but for 2011 it was a total time of 13:32:32.

Post Race was filled with the same feelings of joy and accomplishment mixed with a stomach ache. As bad as the stomach can pains can be and as tough as the race seems at times, I always think of the saying "Pain is temporary, quitting is forever". Monday was filled with family and food time and going to the finishers merchandise tent to stock up on some nice Ironman clothes. We always go for BBQ Monday night, I am not sure if the rest of the family loves it, but it is something that I definitely look forward to ever year, a reward for all the hard work.

As always, I have to thank my two beautiful girls. I know that Ironman places a lot of time demands on me and my wife is always completely understanding and supportive and I cannot thank her enough. Thanks to mom and dad filgate for making the trip and being part of the cheering squad, thanks to my parents who I know are cheering me on from home, and thanks to the the triathletes both on and off the course that were there and cheering, its always much appreciated.

Already excited about Ironman Lake Placid 2012!!!