Ironman Lake Placid 2008

I first did the Ironman in Lake Placid, two years ago. Although I finished (16:41), I had a tough day primarily due to a failure in my nutrition plan. I actually gained 6 lbs during the race and wound up spending the night in the ER to replenish my electrolytes.

I made the tough decision to attempt Ironman Lake Placid again. I felt that I could apply lessons learned in terms of nutrition and training would go better. (I was in the Navy Reserves as well two years ago, making training a bit of a challenge due to military obligations.)

And my training did go better this go around. I felt very much prepared for the race. However, during my 20 mile run, my right knee buckled. This was about a month before Ironman race day. I have had knee problems for several years, but have learned how to basically keep things in check and stay healthy. However, this time, I was apparently suffering from some tightness in my IT band and other tissues, causing my kneecap to be unable to move freely. It was simply "one of those things" and not preventable. I went through some aggressive physical therapy, even up until two days before the race, as my PT (Kerri, PT Extraordinaire) was there in Lake Placid. Alas, my knee simply did not heal completely in time.

I elected to go through with the race primarily because I had put so much time and effort into it and thought I would be all right as long as I didn't let my mind focus on the knee. I had let it rest in the several days leading up to the race. I was diligent with physical therapy. I thought I would be just fine.

I started out race morning calm and collected. I woke at 3:15 and had coffee. Breakfast was my usual spinach omelet and 2 Boosts. (Ever see that commercial for eggs where the egg is doing the triathlon? That's me. My triathlons and long training rides are fueled by eggs.) I was stoked for a great day.

Helen (the best IronMate ever!) dropped off Pam and me and we headed into transition. Bottles. Check. Body marking. Check. Pump up tires. Check. Everything was set to go. No pre-race jitters. Just set to have a good day.

The swim was a rougher than I recall from two years ago. I swam rather wide for my first loop. I got kicked in the chin, which stung a tiny bit, but I was still surprised to see an irritated scrape on my face from it when I looked in the mirror later. Between loops, I took a Gu, smiled for the cameras, and embarked on my second loop. I stayed on the buoy line for most of the second loop. My swim time was 1:25, a minute faster than from 2 years ago, surprising as I'm a much stronger swimmer now.

It was not raining pre-race, but I felt the raindrops pelting my arms while I was swimming. The rain did not stop for 12+ hours.

Heading out on my bike, the rain began to negatively affect me early on. Am I not mentally strong enough for this? Ironically, dealing with the rain helped me turn my focus and I was not thinking about my ailing knee for some time. I struggled mentally throughout the ride. And my knee began to haunt me. There were times that it hurt so badly on a climb, I just yelped.

I am not quite sure why I elected to press on. Early on in my second loop I knew my chances of making the bike cutoff were uncertain. I averaged 13.5 mph on my first loop and I was getting slower. The knee pain was increasing. Quite honestly, there were times where I could not help but cry. In addition, my brakes seemed to get clogged with grit from the road and were rubbing against my wheels. I pulled over 3 or 4 times to examine my bike. So much of me wanted to quit. But for reasons I cannot explain, I pressed on.

When I approached the out-and-back from Wilmington to Black Brook and back (mile 80 or so), Team Z had a cheering station set up. How easy it would be to drop out. I could hop into one of their cars, get out of the rain, and get into dry clothes. But I didn't.

When I emerged from the out-and-back, I was the last Team Z racer, and the cheering there was infectious. I knew I only had 1 hour, 15 minutes to bike cutoff. However, I wondered if I could make a miracle happen and make bike cutoff. My knee pain seemed to temporarily subside to a dull ache. Could I do it?

On the hill affectionately known as Mama Bear (heading into town one hits the Cherry Patch and the Three Bears), about mile 108, I met my doom. I was near two other cyclists at the time. The race director advised us we missed bike cutoff and we could either elect to finish the loop unofficially, or he could take our bikes and deliver us to transition. I selected the later, mostly because I had been shivering from the cold rain and decided it was pointless to hurt my knee anymore and climb Papa Bear. Besides, Jill, from Team Z, was a few cars behind and told the race director she wanted to pick me up.

Jill dropped me off at transition.

I had mixed feelings upon arrival. Part of me felt like I have nothing to prove; I already am an Ironman finisher. But there was a part of me that felt like a failure. I decided to try and keep my spirits up. How many other people can say that they toed the line, and swam 2.4 miles and biked 108 miles in the pouring rain? Casey asked me if I had made the bike cutoff, would I have been able to run? Probably not. After all, I could barely walk the next day (and would still be limping for a week or so later).

Many people at the Team Z tent were fabulous. Helen had my dry clothes. However, she thought I was out on the run course as she saw my bike in transition and she did not have her cell phone with her due to the rain. In the meantime, Mrs. Durst, Victoria, and Emily were wonderful help to get me into some borrowed dry clothes. Mr. & Mrs. Durst cranked up the coffee maker, just for me. Sarah made sure I got a burger. Iwon simply made me laugh and look at the bright side. Robin gave me a blanket. And EB made it a personal mission to find Helen. From there on out, Helen took amazing care of me.

It was a tough day for many of us. Eight of us from my triathlon team did not finish. Nevertheless, we had the courage to start.

Congratulations to all of us. Those that started, those that finished, and those that had the strength of character just to stand in the rain all day and cheer their hearts out for us.