IMLP Race Report - Brian Comiskey
(Note: I joined EN the week of the race and only had the benefit of LP course talk and CoachP's Four Keys presentation)
Goin’ Down The Road Feelin’ Bad
Ironman Lake Placid 2010
For 2010, my summer Ironman journey takes our family to Lake Placid, New York. As soon as we entered Adirondack Park on Highway 3, I got the feeling that this was going to be something special. An hour later we successfully outran a tornado by speeding to Tupper Lake. Next stop was Saranac Lake at Little Italy for the best New York style pizza I have had in ages and it is only Wednesday.
Thursday
My friend, Jay, had arranged for a group of 18 of us to go white water rafting in the Hudson River Gorge with Adirondack Rafting Company. Our guide was the owner, Bob Rafferty, who had 20+ years on the river and provided a top notch 17 mile trip through some Class 3 whitewater. All four Ironman triathletes survived with bodies and egos in tact. Vibram KSO’s are an excellent footwear choice for this.
Friday
An early morning 30 minute swim in Mirror Lake with my rafting buddies Jay, Andy, and Jeff. An absolute treat to swim in such a clean and clear lake. Perfect. Jay was trying to scare Jeff by swimming underneath him but due to mistaken identity, startled some stranger.
After the swim, I went to the athlete registration and got my wristband, chip, and bags. Had a nice lunch at Adirondack Brewing Co. and then went to drive the 56 mile bike course. I wanted to get a sense of the climbs and descents on the loop. Some very fast descents. Good call not to ride in the rain and with cars.
Saturday
Sleep in (7:30am) since I don’t always get the best sleep the night before a race. Packed Bike Gear, Run Gear, Bike Special Needs, Run Special Needs, and Morning Clothes Bags. Wifey later helped out with Special Needs too. Checked in bike and gear bags in the morning. Went to Olympic Ski Jumps and rode elevator to top of 120M jump. Very cool. Then went to Gondola Ride up Whiteface Mountain. Saw a bunch of people loading mountain bikes on the Gondolas for downhill. Sweet. Dinner at Nicola’s at 5:15pm (filet and veggies). A note on nutrition, I have been following Paleo Diet for Athletes for 10 weeks which has resulted in losing 12 pounds and 6% body fat. No carbo loading aside from some extra fruit the night before. In hotel room by 7pm and asleep by 10pm.
Sunday
Shotgun an Ensure at 2am for 250 cal and go back to bed. Wake up at 4am and eat breakfast of 2 cups unsweetened applesauce with two scoops vanilla protein powder added and another Ensure. Total cal of about 450. Had a Starbucks Via and one 200 mg caffeine pill. Went to transition at 5am to get body marked, put bottles on bike, and air up tires. Music playing in transition was cover of “Purple Rain” that sounded like Blues Traveler but wasn’t. On bike nutrition consists of aero drink with water in front, 500 cal bottle of infinit on down tube, and two 500 cal bottles of infinit on xlab cages in the rear. Brought a banana with me for just before the race. I think the most important consideration before a long swim is not eating anything that gives you disgusting burps (i.e. cereal).
Gear Choices:
Swim: Speedo Vanquisher 2.0 tinted goggles, DeSoto Forza Tri Short, Blue Seventy Synergie wetsuit, Body Glide.
Bike: Giro Advantage Aero Helmet, Oakley Radar Path Chrome/Blue Iridium sunglasses, Sidi Ergo 2 shoes, Feetures light weight socks, DeSoto Forza Tri Top. DZ Nuts, Garmin Edge 500 Computer (no power meter yet).
Run: Newton Sir Isaac Guidance Trainers, Xtenex Tri Laces, Balega Enduro Socks, Garmin Forerunner 205.
Swim: 1:15
Lots of talk about 3,000 athletes starting at the same time in a fairly narrow space. I did not really care and had two swim goals: 1) Don’t get kicked in the face, 2) Don’t stress my left shoulder. I had labral reconstruction surgery in February and was not able to start swimming again until a few months ago in late April. I thought my time would be 1:15 - 1:20 taking it very easy. I did not get kicked and tried to avoid people by staying to the outside. I could be faster but the cost does not seem to be worth it at this point.
Bike: 6:16
My goal was an even effort throughout the 112 miles and a sub 6:00 hour split. In terms of nutrition, scaled way back from last year at Ironman Wisconsin where I was taking 450 calories per hour. I went for 250 calories per hour which was basically half an infinit feed bottle every hour.
The initial climbs prior to the Keene descent are long and hard. Bike course seemed windy most of the time but mostly crosswinds. I tried to spin up the hills (12-27 cassette) but should go to compact cranks with a power meter so I can really get it right. Biggest problem was having to take two 5 five minute pee breaks at mike 36/92. I rode my brakes much of the Keene descent on lap one and tried riding without the brakes on lap two. Bad idea as nearly lost control midway of 6 mile descent at 45 mph. This was due to the road being a bit wavy/bumpy more than anything else. The volunteers were great. At one of the aid stations, someone even built a BMX style bike ramp that was spray-painted, “Sweet Ramp”. I was thinking about laying down a table-top on the P3 but held back.
After the pee break at 92, felt really strong the last 20 miles and passed a number of riders. The last miles include a number of climbs the most notable being Baby Bear, Mama Bear, and Papa Bear. Spectator with sign “Make the three bears your bitches”. Nice. Caught up to Ed around mile 95 or so and chatted for a while. I think he needs to lose the sideburns to be more aero.
Run: 4:57
Due to shoulder surgery and a ruptured plantar in 2009, I basically did not run at all from October through April. As such, I was very conservative in ramping up the volume. For Lake Placid, I planned on following a run 30 minutes, walk 10 minutes strategy throughout the marathon. I was expecting this to yield a 4:20 to 4:30 marathon time. This plan worked the first two hours or so until THE CRAMP on mile 12. I could not move and was wondering if I would be able to finish. I did not panic and just stood still for a couple of minutes and the cramp in my left quad subsided. I walked to the next aid station and then began to run a little bit at a time. It took about 45 minutes until my run was back. I passed a house playing a late seventies Grateful Dead show on the outdoor speakers. Heard “Playin’ In The Band”. After the turnaround (about 30 minutes) later, ran by the house again and “Goin’ Down The Road Feelin’ Bad” from the same show was playing. And it got me thinking...
It was exactly 20 years ago since my first Grateful Dead show and now here I am again traveling to the outposts of the country and now part of a new subculture. The dancing bears and steal your face logos have now been replaced by MDot and 140.6 logos. Sure the inked arms and calves are now a lot leaner and nicer to look at, but it still calls out who we are and serves as a means to identify other IronPeople (I heard some spectators use that term in town). Experimenting now is with pacing and nutrition. I still get to talk about about LSD and Crack Pipes though the terms don’t mean what they used to.
Back. I got to run with Bernie for a few miles which was a real treat. Saw MJ too but can’t run with her since she runs too fast for me.
Finish: 12:51
Accomplished my two goals: 1) Sub 13 hour finish time and, 2) Finish in the daytime. I feel truly blessed to be able to play in nature’s most wonderful swim/bike/run playground. I HEART LAKE PLACID. See you in 2012.
Comments
Great report Welcome to EN! You're only going to get faster.
Good luck in 2012. Wish I could join you.
Wonderful read. Glad you enjoyed the day. Congratulations on meeting your goals.
Thanks everybody for the kind words and welcome. I ordered the Quarq Compact SL-K from Coach Rich two weeks ago and can't wait to use it.
B