Ironman Lake Placid - Part 3: The Sequel ...to Part II

I had two objectives by changing into running gear:
1) Have nice, new, ungrossified clothes to put on.
2) Give myself something to focus on (changing), so that I could get in and out of the change tent and not get stuck to the nice, comfortable, hard plastic, folding chair.

That plan worked on both fronts, so I was quickly off on the run.

...or rather, off on the walk. My marathon "race" plan was actually to run 10 minutes and power walk 45 seconds, starting with a walk to get myself used to moving again. Naturally, all the spectators were yelling at me to go (since it was just the start of the marathon), but I smiled and waved and stuck with my walk. A few minutes into my first run, I passed everyone that I had left transition with, never to see them again.

My little run/walk strategy worked great. I stuck to it except for a few aid stations and the last two hills back into town. Very few people passed me, but I got to get through a bunch of people, some of whom I'm sure where annoyed that I'd run past them, then they'd pass me when I walked, then I'd pass them back when I ran again.

I had a nice conversation with one of the pass/repassers about my awesome ugly shoes (Vitruvian Running -- $60!). Exchanged stupid jokes with other runners, none of which were funny, but we all politely laughed. That's mostly what I remember.

I never hit "the wall;" I just gradually slowed down (10-minute miles on the first loop, 11-minute miles on the second). Mostly that's a result of my (lacking) run fitness. However, I maximized the fitness I had and ran to my full potential (on the day).

Moving through lap two (somewhere around mile 15). Luckily this is a downhill, so I still look like I'm moving at a decent clip.



Coming in to the finish. Hey, did you know that Ironman is sponsored by Ford?

No, really, I'm serious.

I swear, it really is. I guess you'll just have to take my word for it.


So, that's that. I executed the race exactly as I had hoped, and came up with an almost 40-minute PR, almost all of which occured on the run. You can't ask for a much better day than that.

Here's my support entourage/family post-race (minus Robin and Bob). It was great to have everyone there.

Well, at least JNM looks good. And maybe my dad.