Lake Placid Ironman 70.3

Lake Placid Ironman 70.3 “Anything is possible”

Backstory You can Skip

Signing up

A little over two years ago I decided to go out to New Hampshire and watch Cathy in the Timberman Ironman 70.3.  It was quite the experience, seeing how the pros moved around transition like a machine was pretty cool.  I was inspired by Cathy’s performance added doing one to my bucketlist.  I always had the idea of doing a full ironman but no timetable to do one at that point.  A month later registration for Lake Placid 70.3 came up and I got tagged by Cathy on FB.  I signed up shorty later!

Backstory - The Swim

After the race, I started going back to the pool to relearn how to swim.  I took classes 8 years ago at Baruch College.  I was one of the three people in the class who had no idea how to swim.  I would spend an extra half hour or so practicing after class ends which was a lot for me back then (but now thinking about it, once a week wasn’t much).  I managed to swim my first lap without stopping at the exam in the end.  I stopped swimming as soon as the class ended so it was 6 years of no swimming where I started up again. I practiced in the kids section as the lane swimming was entirely deep end and that was scary.  The pool for aquatics center closed for yearly maintenance and I stopped going.  March 2017 came and I signed up for Ridgefield tri, a sprint tri in June.  I moved to western Queens and got LIC YMCA membership for their pool.  The non-deep pool ended up being a good starting point.  I swam my second pool lap without stopping about 3 weeks before Ridgefield.  You could kind of see where this goes.  I got pulled out of Ridgefield tri within 4 minutes.  That was my first time in a wetsuit and in open water but at that point I wasn’t even comfortable with the deep end of a pool.

Afterwards I took advance swim beginner lessons in the Y.  I didn't get much out of it.  The instructor was a college student and was teaching adults for the first time.  He didn't have much of a structure to the class and just went with what people wanted to do.  I also went to Coney Island for open water and Lake Tioritti in Harriman which helped a lot but never ventured beyond where my feet couldn’t touch.  Lake placid came and this time after freaking out for about 20 minutes I got coached by John in a kayak and made it about a mile before getting cut from the swim (an hour and 25 minutes in the water).  I credit the experience, the keeping going when everything seems hopeless, for my 100 mile finish a few weeks later.  My focus was the 100 miler and I didn’t get enough swimming practice in.  I was still not comfortable with pool swimming at that point.

I knew that I would try again and when registration for 2018 Lake Placid came I would try again.  My approach to training wasn't too different.  I still slacked off in swimming but my time in Mirror Lake gave me experience.  I was more aware of how water environments could influence the body and had some backup ways to fall back on.  I signed up for Ridgefield again and this time I was able to finish.

Backstory - The Bike

Of the three sports, cycling was the only one I started in childhood.  Much of my elementary school summer days was spent doing one mile loops on a cheap mountain bike.  Though the internet eventually took over my hobbies at middle school I never forgot the balance I learned as a kid.  When I finally brought a road bike after my undergrad years I picked up cycling quickly.  I never struggled with clip-ons and such.  Everything came back naturally, as if I only been off the bike for a year or so, not 13 years.  When I did ride, I loved it but getting myself out the door for bike rides was a challenge.  I did fewer than 8 bikes rides a year till I moved to western Queens.  There I found it quicker to commute via bike than subway so I got citibike membership. 3 miles on citibike was most of my time on a bike.

Backstory – The Run

I wrote a bit about getting into running before so just a quick summary.  I started running a year after undergraduate college as a way to lose weight.  I started with the goal of jogging 4 miles without a walking break that soon became a half marathon in a few months.  Friends got me to sign up for my first and second marathon.  As my fitness improved I quickly moved into trail ultras as a way to train for long hikes.  After getting injured on my second marathon I lost interest in speed and went for distance.  50 miles, 100k, and eventually 100 miles.  After going vegan and rapidly losing weight I started getting free speed which brought the idea of speed for the first time.  Joining Queens Distance helped push me causing me to also improve as a runner as well.  As my main sport, I knew that no matter how beat up the swim and bike left me I could do decent in the run.

Summer 2018

Summer came and my focus was once again at what I love.  Trail ultras.  The more rocks, roots, and boulders, to climb on the way – the more fun.  I went through three 50 mile races and did my own 50k.  It was August by the time I finished and I decided to devote a month for tri training towards Lake Placid.  It wasn’t till I started the training that I realized how little time that was.  I crammed in as many as three workouts a day.  During my ultras I realized that hiking muscles were not the same as running muscles and if I thought about it further I would have realized that running muscles are not the same as biking.  My calves got more and more sore the more I biked and I was trying to get faster at running at the same time.  Finally after Percy I reduced running miles, something hard for me to do to allow time for more tri training.  The cramming eventually burnt me out about a week before the race.  Lucky it was in time for Labor Day weekend which I was hoping to make it to.  The weekend before Labor Day weekend I had a great swim in the Long Island sound in LI.  It lead me to think that cycling was going to be my big weakness. 

Pre-race week

The Monday before I race I went to Lake Placid to swim in Mirror Lake to practice in the swim course of the lake.  It went badly as I dealt with similar issues as the year before.  Later on the day I saw the transition area being set up and my stomach turned.  I started panicking and it took me two days to mentally recover.  I find it weird that it was seeing them set up the transition area, not Mirror Lake that caused me to panic.  It was as if my brain remembered how nervous I was last year and all those feeling came back in full force.  Convinced that I was going to die I looked at my life choices that led me to here and I went through a range of emotions.  I think I just had to sort through my thoughts. 

I decided to drop cycling and running and just focus on the swim.  I swam at Baruch for two mornings.  It’s the coldest pool I knew and I wanted to eliminate the shock of cold water.  I also swam continuous in pool practice for the first time, I usually take a break after 50 meters or so. 

I arrived at Mirror Lake the day before the race at 7:30 am.  Around the same time that the race will take place the following day to swim in similar conditions.  By then a lot of athletics were already swimming, biking, and running.  A lot of swimmers swam 2 buoys down and then cut across to the return lane buoys and swam back.  About 15 minutes swim for them.  Some Canadians complained about how warm the water was.  I swam back and forth about 80 meters out, not quite making it to the first buoy.  I was still too scared.  I swam for about 20 minutes.  Then I biked out to the 86 and returned, this way I got the last few miles of the cycling portion done.  Cycled for about 35 minutes.  During the bike I realized how stunning beautiful the bike course is.  I noticed it before while driving but seriously, I won’t mind biking 112 miles with views like that (hint hint).  I still had some time so I decided to do a 2 mile run at an easy pace to finish my own triathlon.  Then ate brunch at a vegetarian place before meeting up with Michael and Jackie at bib pickup.

Bib pickup went pretty similar to last year except they didn’t weigh us this time.  We got our numbers, filled out waivers, got the bib and swim cap and then the shirt.  We then got our bikes and moved to the village/transition area.  Compared to previous years there was a lack of brand ambassador promoting products at the village.  Guess they’re getting cheaper?  (I remember the Timberman village two years ago being more alive when I wasn’t even competing, a bit more dead last year and pretty dead this year).  I picked up the Lake Placid Ironman bag which in the merch tent which I guess was available to me last year as well but no one told me.  Dropped my bike off.  I listened to the “mandatory” pre-race briefing (they don’t record you attending so not sure how mandatory it was).  I found it more informative than last year. 

The cold was a big concern, 32 degree in the morning so we went around shopping.  Most stores were already sold out of cold biking gear.  Jackie and Michael then went to get in quick swims.  I was tempted to join them but I knew I could only hurt myself at this point.  Michael explained to me the difference between mirror and clear googles which should explain how much of a newbie I still am to swimming.  Afterwards we checked in to the Airbnb, went back into town.  Got food and ate with a beautiful view of Mirror Lake.  We then went to Price Chopper to get some beer and breakfast.  Had a celebratory toast and then a call with Cathy getting some last minute tips.  Watch the Office 5k episodes before going to sleep.

Race Day

We woke at 4:30 am and left by 5:10 am.  After parking we took a shuttle bus to the start (it was a 5 minute walk but meh).  Got our body marking and set up our transition areas.  We were informed that this was the coldest Ironman start in history.  I then went out of transition to swim start for a no line porter potty upon the advice of the transition area announcer.  I wish I brought my camera because the fog/mist coming out of the lake was an amazing sight.  They allowed us to have morning bags, a bag which you could drop off right by the swim start.  I didn’t pack an extra jacket with me so I decided to wear my causal running shoes barefoot and then use my causal socks as gloves.  I would save my jacket for the bike ride so I left it in transition.  On my way to swim start the second time around, as transition area was closing I forgot my socks so I went sockless on my shoes for no reason.  I met with Michael briefly and dropped off my shoes in the morning bag.  I decided to go in the warmup area of the water to get in a few strokes for confidence.  Michael went to the warming tent.  I intended to join him but after I was ready there was a long line of people waiting to enter the swim blocking the entrance to the warming tent.  So I went back into the water.  Despite the water being warmer than air temperature I was shivering.  Swim times are self-assigned, you could by pace rather than age and gender as many other tris.  If you go into a pace group faster than you, you simply will get swam over by faster swimmers.  It’s not pretty if you are slower.  Had some small friendly conversations with others waiting in the water.  I joined the last group and entered the water at 7:59.

The Swim

I had the choice of using my long sleeve wet suit or the sleeveless wetsuit that I borrowed from David Corona.  The long sleeve wetsuit might have kept me warmer in the wait for the start but I loved how easy it was to take off the sleeveless wetsuit.  I didn’t notice a change in buoyance. 

It should be known that my form for open water swimming is horrible.  I breathe every stroke.  I started off swimming pretty well.  Lake placid has a cable three feet under the water that runs down the swim course.  I avoided the battle for the line by being one person left of the line where I could still see the line but not get swam over by people right on top of it.  I ended up preferring to swim next to someone on the line.  Easier to see a person than a cable.  About a third of the way, I gobbled in some water and instead of calmly breathing it out and getting back to my rhythm, I went to my back to catch my breath.  To my surprise there was a pack of swimmers behind me and they all passed in my break.  I lost some time here dodging them and getting back to the line.  Back to the front and at the turnaround point I found that the cable also does a turn.  I previously thought I would have to sight till I got to the return buoys but not at all.  I saw a man swimming backstroke the whole way and wonder how he could tell where he was going.  The return felt like forever and I started feeling tired.  My neck hurt, probably from constantly turning my head right to breath.  I flipped over for a break and then continued.  I started to switch between my normal pool form where I breathe every 4 strokes and the every stroke open water form I was doing.  I noticed an immediate difference in speed.  About 400 meters left I got a cramp on my right calf.  I don’t usually cramp so I went on my back and kept my leg straight as I attempted to teach myself backstroke.  A standup paddleboard person saw me and I swam over to take a break.  After a minute I continued along my way.  My right calf cramped again shortly after and I once again went on back.  The lady on the standup paddleboard came back to help but I said I was okay.  I figured the cramp would go away and I wanted to keep moving.  I don’t know how to do backstroke (freestyle is the only form I know) but I know you could float on your back and raise your arms halfway up and then bring back down to move a bit.  It was slow but I used that to keep moving as the cramp went away.  Back to the front and a little later my left calf cramped up.  Same thing again.  Maybe I should have drank some electrolytes before starting the swim.  I soon left the yellow cable.  I found someone else swimming and swam next to them.  I used them to sight for me instead of sighting for the last 100 meters or so.  Lucky, they went the right way.

T1

Finishing the swim was pretty emotional for me and I cried as I ran barefoot to my bike.  I was also happy that people stuck around to cheer for the back of the pack swimmers like me.  My transition spot was close to the changing tent so I opted to completely get off my wet clothes in the changing tent and switch to my cycling clothes.  I forgot to bring my towel into the changing tent but to my surprise I was pretty dry (water didn’t get in the wetsuit).  After the cycling clothes I put a jacket on and cycling gloves.  Put the helmet on and off to the bike ride.  I think I did well on time despite using the change room.  I forgot my water bottle in the car, I was planning on drinking an entire bottle of hammer heed electrolyte drink but had to settle which my science in sport gel instead. Forgetting the water bottle would have big consequences later on as the next aid station where I got fluids was on mile 20 of the bike ride.  I also decided to go sockless on my cycling shoes.  Something I practiced once before 40 miles bike ride with Jess and Omar.

Bike

I got my tri bike a few weeks before the race and I still wasn’t set for it yet.  I lower the seat and raise the handlebars a bit but I still need to work on fitting and was still not use to changing the gears on it.  Still I knew I was faster on the tri bike than on my road bike with the same amount of effort and I wanted that free speed.  My unfamiliarly with changing gears caused me to stand up on all the uphills to use more muscles to push through higher gears (this is something I do often on the citibike, stand up on the ride up Queensboro bridge).  I passed a lot of people but initially people would pass me on the downhills.  Then I remember last year, Omar taught me about aerodynamics positing and how to get into a faster position on downhills which helped.  I ate a hammer gel and cliff block without any water trying to get calories in.  At mile 20 I finally got to an aid station.  I had no idea what they would look like.  How do cyclist get water during a race?  The aid stations are set up pretty much the same as running water stations except they give out full bottles.  The volunteers were set up on the right side and lucky I’m more comfortable with my right hand being free.  I took a Gatorade bottle, even with slowing down to grab one I felt like my hand hit the bottle a bit hard.  I didn’t have enough time to drop it in my bottle cage so I freed up two fingers on my right hand and grabbed a cliff block with those fingers.  Pretty successful on my first try.  I immediately drank half the Gatorade bottle.  Around mile 35 I decided to start pushing hard to the finish.  I went to max gear and was going at around 20 miles per hour.  It felt like I was flying but it was too soon and by mile 40 I was burning out.  At the next aid station I took a water bottle but the Poland Spring sports bottle was thinner than the Gatorade sports bottle and it didn’t stick to my C shape bottle cage.  I only was able to drink a quarter of it before it fell over (lucky no one behind me).  I also ate the cliff block I got from the aid station.  At the final aid station I got another Gatorade bottle and drank a third of it.  Then we approached the three bears climb which I did the day before and I knew we were near the end.  I wasn’t able to push harder however.  Overall, I think could have done better on the bike if I actually trained for it.  My inexperience caused me to push harder (like in an inefficient way) and push to finish too soon.  Also by using a jacket over my cycling jersey I got cut off from my back pockets and struggled a bit with using my jacket pockets with storage of gels.  I would opt for using a gel flask instead too to make it easier for one hand nutrition.

T2

T2 was quick.  I took off my cycling shoes and put on hiking socks.  My darn tough hiking socks were nice and wide so I didn’t have to struggle to quickly put them on as the usual thin running shoes are.  I had my running shoes already double tied so I just slipped them on.  I put my Queens Distance jersey on which already had the bib pinned on it.  Quickly went to bathroom and took a cup of water before heading out.  I had a cliff gel and a hammer gel in cycling jersey pockets.  I immediately notice it bounce around and didn’t like it. 

The run

My feet immediately felt hot as I started running.  I think it might have been a combo of being sockless for 56 miles on the bike and then putting on thick hiking socks.  No blisters developed though (but those are already extremely rare for me).  I started off at a strong pace.  Around 8 minutes in the start falling back to 8:30ish.  I should have looked at a map to know where to expect the aid stations.  The first one came too soon for me to eat a gel and drink water so I just took some Gatorade.  Got a gel in the second one.  At mile 2.6 I saw Jackie on the out and back and gave a high five.  A little bit later someone yelled QDR and then I saw Michael shortly after too, I think 3.9 miles in for me.  I felt pretty energized, seeing my friends and that random QDR shout helped.  I bonked hard at mile 7 and I even started to feel dizzy.  This was new!  I think it was due to not drinking enough fluids and not taking in enough nutrition in the bike ride.  I did have to go to bathroom (which might indicate I’m hydrated) before I started the run but that might have just been from water ingested during the swim.  Maybe I drank too much lake water and ended up flushing out electrolytes?  I struggled the rest of the way.  I used a lot of my mental strategies – thoughts of friends and family to push myself during the bike ride so burnt out of those usual fallbacks, I went to the basic aim for a cone.  After you reach the cone, aim for the next one.  I started drinking two gatorades at the aid stations which helped me feel better.  I craved fruit but there was always someone blocking the one person giving out fruit and I didn’t want to stop to take some.  I didn’t recover, the race wasn’t long enough for that but my finish probably looked a bit strong because I knew it was over. 

Finish

Upon finishing I felt pretty weak and I would have probably collapsed but a volunteer walked with me.  She allowed me to lean a bit on to her and then a EMS came to help me as well.  Off I went to the medical on the promise that there was broth there.  Surprise, it was chicken broth so I had to settle on crackers to get some salt in.  They checked my vitals and it was fine which I knew.  I got some soda and fruit in.  I was advised to eat whatever felt good.  I then went back to the finish where they were some food.  I was disappointed at the lack of vegan options but I guess this isn’t an ultra, can’t expect much.  They had turkey and ham subway sandwiches, pizza, mac and cheese and fruit.  I’m too use to trail ultras where they have real food at the end.  I met with the group shortly after and they helped me pack.  They finished more than 40 minutes before me!  After some finishing photos at the parking lot we drove to Poughkeepsie for Thai food for dinner.  Thanks to Michael for keeping me company for most of the drive back down.  It was really good hearing about how the race went for him.