Lake Placid Race Report

This picture really sums up my day...since signing up for IMLP last year I did not regret ONE second.  I chose to embrace the fact that this was a new distance and a new experience and I went in with no expectations....which was AWESOME.  I wanted to finish and I wanted to smile the whole dang way....and I did.

THE SWIM - WTC introduced a new swim start...which really did not make me up in arms since I had nothing to compare it to....I love swimming and I knew that IMLP was a fast swim.  I lined up with the sub 60...I had thought about it for a couple of days and decided that I would try to swim sub 60...I got in...hung on some dudes feet for the entire first loop...got out and did that again...until we ran into the back of the pack and then that was a pain in the neck...the swim felt smooth and relaxed the whole way which was nice.

THE BIKE - As we left town it was raining...which was a little bummer since you climb out of town for about 40 minutes and then you descend into Keene...luckly by the time we descended...it was not raining too hard...I felt good and everything was working...we turned to head into Wilmington...I could not believe how good I felt...the watts were nice and light and things were smooth...BOOM BOOM BOOM...and as I turn into Jay...I feel my back wheel slide a little...I thought it might be the wet roads...but nope...a mile up the road I had a flat...so I pulled off my wheel...and got to work..of course it was the rear and on race wheels no less...I got the tire out and the tube changed but I could not get the tire back over the rim...by this time...the marshals had circled me twice and I was just trying to figure out what my options were. The marshal yelled over that he would call bike support...so I had a choice..hang out and wait...or try to get this dang tire over the rim...one final attempt and I GOT it..filled it with CO2 and was off.

And there appeared Jenny on my shoulder..telling me I cannot make up for lost time..while my inclination was to pedal furiously as I had watched some hundred thousand people go by...I rode in the perimeters in which we had set...slowly..it was still too early to go hard.  We rode up into Wilmington and I was just hopeful that I could make it to special needs where I could replace my tube and CO2 and be on my merry way.  I got back into town but not before the bike computer lost power and cadence readings...

I saw my cheering squad right around the special needs and then we were off again for the second loop.  The wind had picked up a little but the rain had stopped.  The second loop was great and there were no flats..as we rolled back into town I was glad to be off my bike.

THE RUN - Probably what I was most nervous about was the marathon.  For me this was the wildcard in that I did not know how I would feel.  I left town and the crowds were awesome.  The weather was cool and the energy was high....I felt pretty good and just started to try to be conservative because I knew it was a long day.  The first miles ticked off and I was loving the run.  We ran back up through town and the people make this experience so much fun.  My stomach was borthering me a little and I was just trying to keep moving.  The second loop was much harder, I was having some cramping issues and I needed to stop at the bathrooms every mile.  I was trying to keep in calories but my body was deciding differently.  Finally, at the last turn around I was done with gels, water, and coke... I just wanted to finish...

And finish was AWESOME...worth every step of the day.  I am so lucky to have had a great day and to be able to do this!