A very wet Ironman LP 2008
In summary Ironman Lake Placid 2008 was a memorable day. It was very, very wet…in fact in retrospect I should have just wore my wetsuit the entire race. With 3 inches of rain over 14 hours my times were slower than I wanted, but given the circumstances I’ll take it. I finished 8th and on the podium in my first Ironman as a professional, all in all a very satisfying feelingl.
Swim: 57:46, 91st overall
I’m still not sure what happened here. I swam really hard for the first 5-10minutes and then tried to settle but I was never able to find a steady rhythm. I think I probably pushed a little too hard at the beginning. I found a good draft group toward the end of the first loop but then lost it shortly into the second lap as they surged and I couldn’t stay on their feet.
T1: 3:33
Those of you have been to IMLP know that T1 can be a bit of a haul. After a disappointing swim where I was already pretty tired in combination with completely rain soaked carpeting and grass I didn’t try to go too fast and focused on moving thru smoothly and steadily.
Bike: 5:08:52, 14th overall
This course is unforgiving for those who over pace themselves on the bike, especially the first lap. As a result I pushed a little for the first 15min to find my rhythm and after that I settled into what felt like a pretty relaxed effort. I just kept my cadence up and power steady regardless of terrain. There were several people who passed me, especially up the hills, however, my mantra on race day is “the race begins at noon.” That is, for the first five hours of the race it is just a steady up tempo training day for me, then at noon if there is anyone around, then I can start racing and that’s just what I did. I saw several of those same guys who I re-passed on the second lap of the bike or the run. Additionally making this course more interesting and challenging the roads were completely drenched and there were rivers running down the road in some sections. I played it a little conservatively on the corners and the down hills as I knew losing a few seconds to minutes was preferable to crashing. My Trek performed perfectly and certainly helped me to maintain an upright position throughout the ride. The day was beginning to grind on me around mile 100 as I began the climb back up to town from Wilmington and found a little trouble concentrating and keeping my power steady. All in all I was pretty happy with my bike split and my power, although not super human it was respectable at 250w, along with a VI of 1.03, which for that course is very satisfying.
T2: 1:19
Fastest of the day…this is my 3rd Ironman in a row where I had the fastest T1 overall (including Kona last year)…so it’s fun to see how fast I can get thru! Again, not a sprint just a steady smooth relaxed process.
Run: 3:01:36, 5th overall
I felt ok for the first few miles and then I began to settle into a rhythm and got going after mile 4 or so. I knew that there was still plenty of racing ahead and beginning the run in 18th position I was confident that I would be able to make up spots. At the special needs station at mile 13 I couldn’t get my bottle and lost most of my intended calories for the second half of the run…crap! I stayed calm and instead of my usual race day nutrition, I just drank and ate as many carbs as I could at the aid stations. Then the run began to get interesting. At about mile 16 or so a spotter told me I was in 10th position, at that point I wasn’t really sure how many guys I had passed. I thought to myself, “dig deep,” as this was really my goal in the run portion. I wanted to leave everything I had out on the race course, I didn’t want to walk away with any regrets wondering what if I had pushed harder, like I often do. At mile 22 my arms and hands began to tingle and turn numb. At mile 23 I was informed that I was 40 seconds behind fellow Timex Team member Dave Hardju (a former Ironman Champion) and I was trying as hard as I could to run him down. The last hill climbing back into town nearly destroyed me, but I kept pushing and the last mile my feet were turning numb as well. I crossed the finished line and collapsed, something I have never done before. According to my Kurt Perham, my coach, I looked like death…well let me tell you, I felt like it also. After a little while in the medical tent I felt better and then I took the greatest hot shower I think I have ever experienced.
Honestly I have mixed reactions on the day. Having finished on the podium in my first Ironman as a professional as well as obtaining a spot for Kona I am ecstatic! However, my swim was very disappointing…3 minutes slower than last year, that one I cannot blame on the weather! Also I know that I can run faster as well. So I walk away with feelings of pride and satisfaction as well as a little disappointment and feelings of missed opportunity. At this point in my career I know that the big improvements are very few and far between, therefore I need to focus on the little victories. After placid I am taking a “mid-season break” both mentally and physically for about a week to 10 days. Then I will be ready to hit the last several months of the season with renewed motivation and my sites set on the Big Island in October.
Lastly, a big thank you to all the folks who braved the rain, rain and more rain to cheer us on all day. In particular my coach Kurt Perham , who gave me splits all day, as well as worked the phones with my wife, giving her updates and words of reassurance all day.
Normally I like to include some pictures of the day, but due to the rain and soggy illegible race numbers there were almost none taken!! However, this one at the finish line sums up the day pretty well.
