Placid vs Louisville?
So I'm signed up for IM Lake Placid in July; however the year end bonus wasn't as expected and has me reconsidering it strictly due to budget. I'm considering transferring into Louisville as I can stay one less night and have half the hotel cost of Lake Placid. I'm assuming food will be cheaper as well since Louisville is bigger etc. But I'm torn as I've always wanted to experience Lake Placid.
For those that have done both, what am I looking at in terms of course differences? Assuming Louisville has less hills (esp on run), but definitely has the heat to contend with.
Any other insight from others that have done both?
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Are you sure you're able to transfer your IMLP entry to IMLou? I didn't know that WTC had this program.
The races and the vibe are quite different. Execution-wise, both bike courses are relatively easy to figure out. At LP you're doing one thing for a long time so it's easy to wrap your head around racing _this_ terrain for the next few miles, then _that_ terrain, etc. However, there is a quite a long climb back into town so that if you screw that up (you won't, but many do) you'll pay for it hard the next lap.
The Lou bike course is "just a bike ride." There's nothing epic on it or anything particularly difficult to understand. However, heat WILL be an issue on the bike as well as the run.
And of course the towns are dramatically different but IMLou is definitely less expensive.
I'm in the same boat you are, Lance, but I already pulled the trigger. I transferred to Louisville. WTC made it very easy. (Interestingly, I emailed WTC asking to transfer before they announced their transfer program. They were nice enough to call me within an hour of my email, and told me that it would be approved but that they asked me to hold off until they announced the program officially.)
This will be my first ironman. My logic went something like this: The travel and lodging costs will be materially lower for Louisville. I live in Nashville and can easily train on the Louisville course, whereas I would have to go up to IMLP early to recon the course. I know it will be hot in Louisville and can prepare for that, whereas it will probably be cooler in Lake Placid, but the weather appears to be more variable. Most importantly: it being my first ironman, having family support is critical - and my wife jumped for joy at the idea of Louisville, but was very hesitant to go to Lake Placid with me.
I still want to do IMLP one day, but baby steps first. I'll be in Louisville and hoping to see other EN folks there.
Matt
Lake Placid, if you've never been, is such a cool place. If you get a few good days of that perfect weather, you will remember the week leading up more than the race itself. It's beautiful up there. (Don't let the OCD air of the stressed out IM athletes/families distract you from this)
My vote- LP.
To answer the first question - yes IM started a very specific transfer option this year for North American races. Still needs some tweaking IMO, but is far better than the past option.
In simply doing the math, the hotel difference alone is $700. On top of that I'm picturing Lake Placid as having a lot of mom and pop restaurants with race week menus that are sky high which translates into more moolah for the family. Plus Placid would be 5 days/4 nights and Louisville would be one less day/night.
Heavily leaning towards making the transfer over to Louisville as I think it's going to be about a $1000 difference when all is said and done.
Race wise I think I'm just as bad with hills as I am the heat. Neither you can hide from!!!
Lance, did you decide? I am on the same boat, having a hard time getting used to training in the CT area. This will be my first IM and I am thinking LP might be harder than Louisville. Still LP is such a classic race I am not sure what to do.
I'm 98% sure I'm going to xfer into Louisville. It really has nothing to do with the difficulty of the course etc etc. It's purely financial/budget at this point.
I've had to bail on this race before due to injury and it's such a classic race and area, but I just can't justify it and it would really penalize the family on what we could do the rest of the year (financially). If it were a small difference it wouldn't even be a thought, but we're talking Louisville being at least half the cost of what Placid would be and probably a 4 digit difference.
Still torn though.
IMO, all IMs are equally "hard". Some allow you to go faster, finish sooner, but the net effect is the same ... Trashed legs by mile 15-16 of the run if you paced the bike properly, or walking by then if you didn't. I'd vote to stick with LP, as you say, the non racing parts of it make it a "classic".