Lake Placid July 22, 2007

Race morning was cool and crystal clear. This year there were some 2,000 athletes vs only 1,600 in 2003. The pre-race tension was palpable. At 7am, the fun began.

I had a great swim coming in at 1 hour 23 minutes. That was a personal record ("PR") for me. As usual the swim started out all knees and elbows. I got smacked and kicked, but gave as good as I got. About half way through the first lap of the swim, I was got close to the buoy line and was able to hold that for most of the rest of the swim. I finished strong, had my wetsuit stripped by the peelers and hustled off to the changing tent.

The first lap of the bike course was great. I was strong on the uphill portions, and was able to focus and ride hard on the flats. Naturally, the downhills were exhilarating. I had a fast first lap, but a headwind, and tired legs slowed me down on the second lap. Nevertheless, I completed the bike ride in 8 hours and 8 minutes, only 4 minutes slower than my previous best bike time.

I saw my tri buddies Chuck and John late in lap two, and I saw my loyal fan contingent everywhere. Joani biked out to the hill called "Papa Bear" twice and saw me struggle to the top. She then hustled back to the center of town, to see me begin my next event. Arlene and Roger (sister and brother-in-law) had a great view of the race from the road in front of the Marriott Courtyard. Jason and his kids mostly hung out there too, and they enthusiastically greeted me every time I went by.

Now, having completed the bike before 5pm, I could finally begin my run. It's always fun to begin a Marathon right after a brisk little bike ride. The first 13.1 miles of the run were tough. My legs were stiff and achy at first. By the time they loosened up, I realized that I had raised blisters on each foot. Such is the life of an Ironman. I really did feel stronger on the second run lap, and by then the sun had set, and the much cooler temps were a blessing. I saw many of my tri buddies on the run. Patricia was about a half a lap ahead of me. I didn't see John R, because he was nearly done when I started running. I saw Chuck during my first lap, and was surprised that he did not catch me. Later I saw Rob and John E but I did not think they would catch up at that point. I never saw Andy, but I finished the race with Brook.

My fan contingent was great on the run. Jase, Jordan and Reed had no problem keeping up with me when I got to their viewing spots. They paced me and we chatted. Roger and Arlene were busy snapping pictures, and Joani was everywhere...encouraging me, cheering, giving me time updates, etc. She managed to catch me 9 times during the day!

My primary goal for the day was to beat my previous best time of 15:59. Most of the day I figured I had that made. Ha! Late in the second run lap, I realized I had better speed things up. When I got back into town, with only 2 miles to go I was able to knock 2 minutes per mile off my pace and finished strong. That put me over the line in a brisk 15 hours and 50 minutes, nine minutes faster than my previous best!

I crossed the finish line with most of my fan contingent in tow.



On Monday, a bunch of us got together for a late breakfast. That's me on the left. Andy completed his first Ironman after only two years of tri's. Rob finished his fifth Ironman, and did so without training. Patricia knocked over an hour off her previous best time! Chuck got a monkey off his back by finishing this year after having medical problems that prevented his finish in 2003. And John E finished his first Ironman during his first tri season.

So, what will we do for fun next year?

Road to Lake Placid - July

The first week of July (1-8) was a great final hard week of training. Got in two open water swims; did one long run (10 miles), and two long bike rides of 88 and 111.6 miles. I also worked up some stats comparing my training for the 2003 IM and this year's race. Here is the comparison in miles trained:

.............2003 . 2007 Change
Bike........849 . 1099 +29%
Run.........243 .. 282 +16%
Swim........48 .... 45 . -7%
Weight....142 .. 137 . -3.5%

So, with the increased bike and run training, better swimming in races and weight loss, I'd have to say that I am about as ready as I could hope to be.

The second week in July (9-16) was my "taper week". I cut way down on the volume of training in order to allow my tired old muscles to recover in time for the race. I did a couple of open water swims, two moderate bike rides and some easy running.

On Tuesday July 17, we left for the big show.