Ironman Lake Placid 2009 Race Report

My journey to Lake Placid this year was not a smooth one. I raced IMLP in 2007 and had a great experience -I met my goal time and thought I could easily take a big chunk of time out of the race next time I did it. Well, I might have had a decent shot if :

1. my youngest son Cameron was not hospitalized for 3 months



2. I did not have to fly to Maryland every other week Friday-Sunday



3. I did not come down with bronchitas, an ear infection, the flu, conjunctivitas and a nasty yeast infection from all of the antibotics ( gross - TMI)

By the time I got to Lake Placid this year I was emotionally drained and physically undertrained. It had really only been about three weeks where I had avoided contracting any kind of flesh eating bacteria type illnesses and Cam had just gotten out of the hospital. I made the decision to give it everything I had on that day - that was all I could ask of my body. I had two goals:

1. Have a good swim (56:00 to 58:00) - preferably beat JP out of the water :-)



2. Finish

Here is how the race progressed:

JP and I got a great spot for the swim start right in the front row slightly to the right. I got battered in 2007 for the entire 2.4 miles because I started right on the cable so I decided that was not a good idea this year. Some guy kept drifting over to me and kicking me - JP knows I don't like strangers touching me so he kept pushing the guy away, and then he would float into me again and JP would push him away. This little game continued for about 10 minutes until the cannon went off unexpectedly ( as always). JP took off sprinting and the plan was for me to go along with him but unfortunately floater man did not get that memo and managed to wedge himself between the two of us. In the mass mayhem of 2,300 people in the IMLP blender I was now on my own. Surprisingly I found some open water about 500 yards after the start, I settled in and found my rhythm. After a while of fighting the surf on my own I decided to find someone to draft because I was doing an aweful lot of work on my own. I headed over to the cable and found some feet to tuck in behind. I would draft for a while, then surge and try to gap to another group - this seems to work well. Before I knew it, I was heading for shore for my first loop - out in 28:00 minutes - perfect, right on target. Back in the water - a few dolfin dives where it was shallow and back out for more fun. I used the same drafting/surging strategy for the second half and as I was about 500 yds out from shore - who appears but JP !!! When we swim together in open water, he is constantly telling me I am going off-course but I think HE is the one going off course. As we are heading in - he starts to go to the right, I think JEEZ - here we go again he is swimming off-course. I decide to hug the cable and go to the left. Turns out the cable goes back towards the dock and the swim exit was to the right ( I HATE it when he is right !!!) Needless to say he beat me out of the water but we both finished in 57 minutes. Goal 1 - DONE

Had a good transition and was waiting for the volunteer to hand off my bike to me when I saw JP running out of the changing tent - his tri top was bunched up like a sports bra and his HR monitor was hanging out - NICE look !!! He was bringing SEXY back in a major way :-) I made a mental note to ask him how long he rode along like that for ( answer: a least a mile). I felt good streaming by the crowds. First loop felt great - came through in 3:00 hours. Nice, perfect - lets do it again just like the swim. Half way through the bike I start feeling nasty - too much Carbo Pro and gatorade. Decide to hold off on the carbo pro for a while to try to get my stomach under control. The hills now had become mountians and my average speed was dropping - I am grinding the gears and I see girls that I regularly beat in triathlons all the time passing me. Ok - time to dig deep and get back in the game. My stomach started to feel better but it was too little - too late. Second bike loop had added 30 minutes to my first split so I was now at 6:30 total for the bike split. I decided it was not that bad and head out on the run in good spirits. Stomach feels great now and I am cruising through town thinking maybe this is not going to be so bad after all. I actually kept right on pace up until 13.2 miles - then the wheels fell off. The legs refused to run for any length of time - the weird thing is that I still felt great - good energy, was eating and drinking - no stomach issues. JUST could not run. True system failure - my effort had far exceeded my training and this was the end result. I came upon my teammate Chaz - he was awesome, what an inspiration - he encouraged me to run with him to landmarks and then walk. It was nice to have a friend out there keeping me going. Chaz has some health issues and for him to even be there competing was a big deal - Chaz was also on his first loop as I was finishing so he had a LONG day ahead of him. He was determined to finish - he did not care if he missed the deadline - he was going to do it. ( He ended up finishing in over 18 hrs) At about 24.5 miles Chaz turns to me and tells me to go - you have to run it in he tells me. Somehow I find the strength ( probably cause I walked most of the back half) I start running and glance back at Chaz - he is smiling at my effort :-) I am psyched now that he is proud of me and I give it every last bit of effort I have. The crowds are getting thicker now, I see the oval - THANK GOODNESS Running around the oval is always the most incredible experience - people yelling your name and giving you high-fives all around. Then the best part - Mike Reilly announcing that I am an IRONMAN !!!! Finished in 13:54 - nowhere near what I would have liked to have done but I did not end up in the medical tent, I did not throw up and I finished with a smile on my face. Pre-race goals attained - 1) Decent Swim 2)Finished

I still would have liked to beat JP out of the water (I am such a brat)- he ended up 5th in age group and qualified for Kona with a 10:22 - at least one of us had an incredibly awesome and spectacular day !!! Our neighbor at the Olympic Motel summed it up perfectly, he said " You get out of Ironman exactly what you put into it" Amen brother to that one :-)