Ironman Lake Placid - Part: the First

Finally, the moment all (none) of you have been waiting for... my IMLP race recap!

I drove up to Lake Placid the Thursday before the race. Had I been thinking, I would have taken pictures of the constant downpour, which was more than a little unsettling. I had prepared myself for the likelihood that it would be warm; or rainy and warm; or cold at first, then warm; or cold, then rainy, then warm. However, it hadn't ever occurred to me that it would rainy and cold only. So, in a mild panic, I had Hannah bring up three different long sleeve shirts when she came on Saturday with RDM and JNM, none of which I ended up using (the day ended up cold, then warm... whew).

There was a minor incident with Johnny Law that kept my vast fan base from arriving as originally planned, but it worked out in the end.

Race day got off to a (cold) start with some aimless wandering around. Here's everyone (minus photographer RDM and my uncle) after I dropped off my special needs bags. I had seen them from a decent ways off and was waving to get there attention, but it wasn't until we were right on top of each other that they noticed me. I'll be honest, I was a little unsure of their spectator skills at this point, as the race hadn't even started yet and they couldn't identify me (don't worry, they did fine).

I got myself (wet)suited up and headed out to the start.

After splashing around trying to stay warm for 30 minutes or so, we got rolling with the start canon. I had lined up in the second or third row back, right in the middle of the start line. I might as well have started in the very front, because I got pummeled like never before. I don't think I was so much swimming as much as climbing on top of people for the entire swim. It was the first race I've ever done that I thought about that old Clif Bar commercial.




I wasn't too happy and chose to walk the section on the beach between the two loops. Here's me taking my time amidst others not taking their time (I'm in the middle with red shoulders, you know, the one with the white cap and goggles).



The second loop was only marginally more pleasant than the first. I finished in just under 1:01, with about two minutes difference between the laps.

After the swim I had trouble getting out of my wetsuit sleeves (I wore a somewhat unique two-piece suit), then had trouble getting into my arm warmers in T1. Slow going, but it was worth it to be warm enough for the first part of the bike.

As much as I would like to pretend I was being all cool and giving a thumbs up here before getting my bike, that wasn't the case.