2017 Ironman 70.3 Lake Placid Race Report
Ironman 70.3 Lake Placid Race Report
Friday – What was supposed to be a 6.5 hour drive turned into a 13 hour nightmare. 2.5 hours into the drive, my two year old son starting crying and rubbing his eye. This went on for 30 minutes before we decided we needed to stop at an urgent care. After an hour wait, we finally got to see the doctor, turned out Matthew had scratched his eye. The doctor recommended we go see a specialist. Somehow we were able to be seen by a nearby Ophthalmologist. Another two hour wait and when the doctor got to see him the scratch was significantly better. He prescribed him some drops and we were back on the road. We were originally expecting to arrive in Lake Placid around 4pm, we didn’t arrive until 9:30. It wouldn’t have been a big deal to me but when you have 2-year-old twins that are in the car for that long it can be a little nerve wracking.
Saturday – Got up and went for a short bike ride around town and checked out Mirror Lake. I’m not sure if it was the events from the day before or the weather or the sight of how far (to me) a 1.2 mile swim really looked, but the nerves really got to me. I went back down to the Lake around 9am for a short swim. After the swim, the nervousness went away and I was calm and relaxed. The rest of the day was spent playing at the park with my boys, getting checked in and checking out Ironman Village.
Sunday – I was up at 4:45, breakfast of oatmeal and a coffee and out the door at 5:30. A short walk to transition, got things set up and over to the Lake by 6:30. Got in a nice warm up swim to calm anymore nerves. The worst part of the day for me was standing in the corral without any shoes or flip flops. My feet were hurting they were so cold.
The Swim – Predicted Time 45:00 Actual Time 49:43.
The swim went much better than I had expected. The first half I tried to stay out wide to avoid any contact but found myself zig-zagging A LOT. After the turn I got on the cable and followed it the rest of the way with minimal contact.
T1- 11:50
I left a pair of shoes on the beach which was huge for me. I was able to slip them on and not have to worry about running on the carpet or take a chance of hurting my feet. I did a complete change into my EN kit and tried to dry off as best I could. Slipped on a jacket and gloves and was out on the bike.
Bike- Predicted Time 3:15:00 Actual Time 3:16:20
I was a little worried about getting cold on the bike with the cold temps and the Keene decent. But because I took some extra time in T1 drying off and changing, I did not get cold at all. The bike was pretty uneventful for me, I just tried to take in as much as I could and enjoy it. The scenery was breathtaking at spots. I drank a bottle of Gatorade every hour and a gel packet every 45 minutes.
T2- 3:12
Racked my bike, slipped on my shoes, hit the porta-john and was out onto the run.
Run – Predicted Time 1:55:00 Actual Time 2:11:40
I found it difficult to hold back with the significant down hills in the first few miles and started out way too fast (lesson learned). I started to have some stomach issues around mile 5 and had to walk through most of the aid stations. I was really struggling with 1.5 miles to go when I ran into fellow ENer Natalie Pilon. Got some mojo from her and was able to finish strong. Hugged my family at the finish line and finished with a time of 6:32:43.
This was my first 70.3 distance tri and it was an unbelievable experience. Lake Placid is truly an amazing place. I look forward to returning here to do this race again and possibly even the full one day. I learned a lot and had a ton of fun.
Comments
Congratulations on your 1st 70.3. While this course is tougher then most it is very beautiful. Added stress can definitely take a bit out of you, but that's life. It's worth it though to be able to share it with family. WHEN you decide to do the full, get to the EN camp and you will be even better prepared when you know the course inside out. While the nausea may have been from a day of nerves, what did you eat on the run?
@Robert Sabo I had a gel every 40 minutes and when the nausea set in I started getting Coke at the aid stations