Executive Summary
Swim: 1:09:46
T1: 6:01
Bike: 6:14:58 (17.9 mph)
T2: 3:10
Run: 4:19:49 (9:55 min/mile)
TOTAL: 11:53:43
1/16 Athena
12/89 35-39 Age Group
493/1852 Overall
Long Version (You might want to grab a bottle of wine...)
I knew going in, that this race was going to be a new experience for me. I typically race with my training partners and have several friends/family along to support us. However, for IM LP, I was going solo. None of my training partners were racing or coming along for support and none of my close friends or family would be there either. I did know a few other athletes from Dallas that were racing and also several of my fellow Deads (friends from the TRI-DRS email list) would be there. Thankfully, I was able to meet up w. Kurt, Shelley, Mark, John, Elizabeth, Steve, Dr. Jones and some of the Dallas athletes for most of my meals, so it wasn't as lonely as it could have been.
THURSDAY
Todd picked me up 6 AM to get to the airport for my flight into Montreal (via Chicago) and finally arrived in LP about 8 PM on Thursday night. This was later than I'd anticipated, so I ended up taking both Wednesday and Thursday off from workouts. Got checked into my hotel, got my bike put together and made a quick trip to Planet Placid for CO2 and to get my tires pumped up so I'd be ready to ride in the morning. As you may have read from John's IM LP Diary, my hotel, The Pines of Lake Placid, looked a bit like a mental institution from the outside. It was not the Ritz... I think it was built in 1908 and much of the accoutrements in my room appeared to be original. No AC, no cold water in the sink, no closet, but in the end, it really was fine and the bed slept just great. The proprietors (Jill & Frank) were very nice and it was a shuttle stop on race morning, so that was pretty convenient. Plus, the price was right - I think it was only about $70/nt.
FRIDAY
Friday morning I headed to the Black Bear for the famous blueberry pancakes (yum) & then hooked up w. Kurt, Shelley & Mark for a few minutes before heading off for a swim. The swim was great - calm, warm (sleeveless) water and that yellow cable was exactly like everyone had said it would be - practically a map to follow just about ten feet below the surface. Swam about 25 minutes and then headed out to ride the uphill near the ski jumps followed by a 15 min. run. Stopped by the Oval to pick up my race packet - all was good & I was settling in nicely. Headed back to the hotel & tried to figure out how I was going to carry all my stuff up to the room, when I realized that I'd left my wetsuit hanging over a barricade at the swim - three hours ago... Oh CRAP!!! Headed back there & of course, it wasn't there. Found an IM person (Joanna) who helped me look, checked their offices, and then said I needed to talk to Tom Z. - the guy who ran the Gatorade swim tent. She also suggested I try the information booth over at the Oval. So, back to the Oval. I find the info. booth & the two 14 year-old volunteers looked like deer in the headlights when I mentioned lost & found.... Discouraged, I'm headed back to my car when I see a guy in an IM employee-type shirt. Told him I thought he looked like he'd know stuff, wondered if there was a lost & found. Said I'd been at the swim earlier & before I could finish, he said "Orca, Team In Training, sleeveless wetsuit"? OH MY GOD - WOW! Ends up, of all the IM people I could've asked, this was the Tom Z. that Joanna had recommended I find. He had it stored back over at the swim and was heading there now so he offered me a ride over. How cool was that? We chatted on the ride over and he was racing on Sunday too, so I wished him luck. (He made the finisher's video, as I think he was quite close to the cut-off & told Graham F. that he should probably actually train for his next IM.) He gave me my wetsuit & I gave him a big hug!! One more reason to race with my peeps - they would've not let me make such a boneheaded move... Back to the hotel, gathered my stuff, rested all afternoon. Kurt & the gang picked me up and we went to the pasta dinner & athlete meeting. The food wasn't too tasty as usual and it POURED during the meeting which made me nervous knowing how long the descents on the course were. But, we determined it was better that it rain now & would likely be out of Mother Nature's system by Sunday. It was great to hang out w. the Deads & I swear that Kurt knew every one of the 86 athletes there from Texas.
SATURDAY
Out again for a ride of the hill by the ski jumps and then a 4 mile run. Back to the hotel for a quick shower, grabbed a BLT and beer down on Main Street while watching the stream of uber-fit athletes go by. Packed up my T1 & T2 bags with much less stress and attention to detail than normal & then dropped them off w. my bike. Later realized I'd not packed my gloves or arm-warmers, but was able to put in in there on race morning. Took a little rest, ate dinner at the hotel with the Dallas group, a couple glasses of red wine, two Tylenol PMs and then off to bed. Asleep by 10:30.
SUNDAY - RACE DAY - PERFECT WEATHER
Woke up about 4:30, potty, ate some lukewarm oatmeal & grabbed the shuttle about 5:10. Potty. Huge lines for Inside-Out Sports to pump up tires. Luckily, an athlete near me let me borrow their pump. Potty. Dropped off special needs bags (which I didn't end up stopping for either) and then back to transition to climb into wetsuit. Potty. Headed to the lake about 6:45 with just enough time to cross the mat, hear the National Anthem & get some good goosebumps and into the water. Did a few strokes to verify my goggles wouldn't leak, but didn't really warm up. Seeded myself about 10 rows back and in the middle - bad choice. It was really rough and violent. Probably the most crowded on the first leg of the swim I've ever done. Twice I just flipped over onto my back and did a couple strokes just to get a bit settled. Finally, I spotted some open water on the inside of the buoys. At the pre-race meeting, the RD specifically mentioned that we could swim inside the buoys as long we went outside the buoys on the turns. This worked out much better for me and although I did end up getting my goggles knocked off and a few minor kicks, I was really pleased with my swim time & think that having the yellow cable to follow and not having to sight was key. I felt like I'd been out there forever, so was expecting about a 1:20, I was ecstatic when I saw it was less than 1:10!!!
Found a peeler who ripped me out of my wetsuit, jogged the long way into T1, found my bag & into the change tent w. no problems. All I needed was helmet, shoes, gloves, sunglasses, salts. Skipped the armwarmers & I was off. Pleased w. my T1 time as it was a long run from the lake to the tents. As I headed out on the bike I was thinking about my strategy. Before I arrived in Lake Placid, my plan per my coach, was to go 88% the whole time on the bike. But, everyone I'd talked to that'd done IM LP before said to go easy on the first loop or you'll crater on the second. Once I saw the course and knew how much hills took out of me, I revised my race plan to go 78% on the first loop and 88% on the second. The course is beautiful with lots of trees, streams, mountains, decent roads and good crowd support. I stuck to my plan and finished the first loop right at 3 hours. I knew I'd have a tough time on the second loop as my saddle was bothering me quite a bit already and I knew those hills would be bigger the second time around and there was now a headwind too. Well, I persevered and made it to the turn-around on the out & back section before I decided I needed a break. My feet were painfully numb, I had to pee and my seat was on fire. Got off the bike just long enough for a porta-potty stop & tried to get the blood flowing back to my toes. My ability to do math was already fading at this point, since I think this was at about mile 80 and I told myself I only had 22 miles to go, just a bit more than an hour (looking back now, I had 32 miles to go, most of it uphill and was probably closer to two hours)!! When I got to mile 90 and again did the calculation and said to myself - only 22 miles to go - WTF - Yeah, oxygen deprivation had definitely set in. I tried to spin up Whiteface and the last two hills into town, but I was in my 27 and still grinding away at only about 60-65 rpm. Definitely not spinning! When I saw Mirror Lake - I was smiling! I finally get to get off this saddle - woohoo!! Before seeing the course my goal was to bike about a 5:45, but once I saw the hills I revised it to try go under 6:00 if I was having a good day. So, when my first loop was right at 3:00, I pretty much knew I wasn't making goal. My second loop on the bike was about 15 minutes slower than my first, but considering the headwind and my saddle - I wasn't too disappointed. T2 was quick w. just a change of shoes, grabbed my Gu flask & hat and headed out.
Once out on the run, I felt okay. Not bad, but not fabulous. It was during this portion of the race that I really missed my peeps! I saw some of the Deads and some of the Dallas athletes out there, but there wasn't anyone I was racing against to compel me to keep moving forward and no one waiting & cheering just for me back at the Oval... Pre-race, I'd set a goal to try to break 12 hours. When I started out on the run, I pretty much figured that goal was out the window after 6:15 on the bike and revised my goal to break 12:27 for a PR. But, I kept to my plan of running from water-stop to water-stop, walking the uphills and taking advantage of gravity on the downhills. I had been checking my mile splits and they had been below 10s which I was quite pleased with throughout the first 13 miles. Once I hit halfway, I was still feeling pretty good and then the calculations started, again, while oxygen-deprived - not good... Eventually I figured out that if I could keep around 10 minute mile pace (slower than I'd been going), I had a chance to break 12 hours. I threw in a sub 9 min. mile somewhere in there & thought that if I kept that up, I'd definitely crater and end up walking it in & not make any of my goals. I did a lot talking to myself out here and kept saying that my family, friends, training partners and the entire Dead list were tracking me on-line - I had to keep moving forward. I started to forget when I'd taken my last Gu or my last salts and the walks at the water-stops got a little longer each time. This was when it got the hardest, despite the fact that I'd hit the turnaround and know I'm headed back into town for the last time. There are almost no spectators out past the ski jumps and I did a lot of rationalizing about when I could walk and how much further it was to next rest stop. I was a bit lonely and having serious mental battles, but every few miles a Dead or Dallasite would yell to me and that would brighten me up for a few steps. Had a rabbit for few miles, yellow shirt & patriotic headsweat, but we never really chatted. Not sure why, but I never seem to strike up the friendships and talk to my fellow racers the way I hear that so many others do in their race reports. I guess I'm so inside myself when I'm racing that I don't think to chat much. I ran near the Iron Friar coming back into town and that was pretty cool, since he got a lot of cheers & that helped to push me a long. Walked up the last, long hill and turned towards the Oval, before having to make that second turn up the short, steep hill away from the Oval and down along Mirror Lake for the final out and back. I started to think about one of my training partners, Amy, who is also coached by my coach, and had just finished her first Ironman at CDA with an 11:52. As I was on this last leg, I wondered how close I was to beating her time - a bit of competition between friends is healthy :) I knew I was going to break 12 hours but had no clue how close I would be to Amy's time. Finally said screw it, I'm walking this last rest stop, grabbing a Gatorade and then going to finish strong. As I left that water stop I said out loud "Five minutes, run for five more minutes Kate and it will all be over!" And that's what I did.
Crossed the finish line & I was once again an Ironman! I'd fought through a tough mental and physical day and met my goal. Tried to get an IV - no luck. Tried to eat some pizza - but the tummy wanted none of that. Drank a few sodas, chatted w. John and a few other racers and then gathered my bags and bike and hopped the shuttle back to the hotel. I was a bit concerned since I couldn't locate my T2 bag which had my helmet & bike shoes in it, but decided to deal with it on Monday. After a big beer, shower and a burger and fries and I felt like a human being again. Called my parents and Todd and few others and checked my email. It was great to see how the Deads tracked us throughout the day posted how we were all doing. My friends and family had been following me on-line too, so they knew I was finished & my time before I even called them. Most of the other athletes at my hotel were now straggling in too and there were lots of congratulations all around. Although I'd thought about going back down to cheer on the late finishers, my body had other ideas and I kinda wanted to be alone to savor the moment. Go figure, I'd felt a bit lonely all day, despite being surrounded by 2,000 other athletes, 3,000 volunteers and countless spectators and still wanted to be by myself.
MONDAY
Just like the previous three post-Ironman mornings, I was up bright & early at 6 AM. Started to pack and then headed down to buy finisher's gear - spotting Kurt & Shelley down there too with their credit card on fire! A nice security guy let me into the transition area and I found my T2 bag with everything in it!! WooHoo - now I could pack up the bike box and be ready to hit the road right after the awards luncheon. Sat with the Deads at lunch and told Dr, Jones how Debi had gone through the list of finishers in front of him and already figured out that he was pretty much guaranteed a Kona slot. He looked quite relaxed and calm as far as I could tell. Thanks to CLM's posting the night before, I knew I would be getting first place Athena award, so headed over to the stage for that. Got a huge plaque, watch, hat, socks - all good schwag. I had to leave to catch my flight out of Montreal before the video though, so I was bummed about that & hope that someone from Dallas got a DVD for me!! Can't wait to see it!
POST RACE
By Tuesday, it's back to work & back to the grind. My quads are a bit sore, but a swim after work helped that quite a bit. I've still not put my bike back together, but will likely do that this weekend. RiverCities Sprint is next weekend & then doing the bike portion of a relay at DeGray Half Ironman later in August. I can't believe that I have another Ironman (Florida) in a couple months and then IM Arizona just a few months after that. I can't wait either! Breaking 12 hours on a hilly course like LP really makes me realize that I've really improved as an athlete.
SUPPORT & GRATITUDE
The list of people I want to thank for helping me improve as an athlete and survive another Ironman is really long, but I think the constant support of my training partners, especially Todd, Cari, Amy & Michelle made a huge difference. Although none of them are racing long right now, they took turns running or riding with me for portions of my long workouts so I wasn't alone the entire time. My coach, Chuck, has found the right buttons to push so I actually DO my workouts as scheduled and has hung with me on quite a few rides where I know I would've bagged it if he hadn't been there. I think he has more confidence in my abilities than I do and if I can continue to put up with his curmudgeon coaching style, I will only continue to get better. Finally, my parents have been so supportive and are always asking what's on my schedule and how my body feels and I know they are looking forward to cheering me on at IM Florida since they weren't able to make Canada last year or Lake Placid this year. Kym, JP, Ellen, Jen, Les, Jenny, Chris B., TRI-DRS, Team Fit2Train, Team TX Alpine, Donald and all the others that I've not mentioned by name - THANK YOU! I also want to thank my work colleagues, especially Ken, Pam, Jill & Darlene, for your understanding and putting up with my sometimes crazy schedule. The support from each and every one of you is appreciated and I know I couldn't have made it through all the training and race day without your encouragement!!
Katie
IM LP 2005 Finisher: 11:53:43
PS - For those wondering - yes, I have an appointment for a bike fit and to get the saddle issue resolved once and for all!
