Going into Lake Placid I was not excited at all. My ankle had been
bothering me about 6 weeks out from the race and then 2 weeks before the race,
at Muncie, my baby finger was almost cut off in the hinge of a porta pottie
door. I had to go the ER and get stitches. I did zero swimming for the two weeks
leading up to Lake Placid. I got my stitches out on Tues and my finger came back
open on Wednesday morning. I was completely freaking out and wasn't sure how I
was going to make it through the swim with people bumping into me. Plus I was
having issues gripping my bike properly. Needless to say my focus shifted from
the actual race to my finger. I stupid baby finger. Who knew you used that thing
as much as you do?
We drove up at about noon on Thursday and got to Lake Placid at about 9pm
thanks to Jason's speedy driving! We stated at the Courtyard Marriot which is
about a mile from town and the transition area. If I were to do this race again
I'd stay at the Hampton which is right were you want to me. In the middle of
everything. No walking for what seems forever when you don't want to walk!
Ok onto race morning.... We left our hotel at 4:30am and made our way into
T1. I put my snax on my bike and dropped off my watch in me run bag. I was ready
to go!
The swim - 2.4 miles - 1:15:13
As mentioned, I was super nervous about my finger and worried it would bust
back open from all the people bumping into it. I put glue on it, waterproof
tape, a finger condom and then blue sponge tape. My finger looked like a light
bulb! Thank you to coach T and Rachel for helping me get all this on my finger
without hurting me :) Since my focus was on my finger I completely forgot to put
sun screen on and chamois cream which would later bit me in the ass. Anyhow,
Meaghan and I made our way over to the swim start. Lake Placid is a self seeded
rolling started. They have signs up similar to corals in a running race. When we
got over there, it was so crowded. Athletes were smushed together like sardines
and we could barely squeeze through the crowd to get to our swim start time
line. I started behind the 1:10 - 1:20 swim finish time. Before I knew it I was
headed under the arch and into the water!
To my surprise I did not panic at all! I usually have a mini heart attack
the first few minutes of the swim, but not this time. I think the rolling start
really helped with that because it wasn't as crowded. At Lake Placid the buoys
are connected via a cable that you can see and use as a lane line if you wanted.
I actually avoided doing this and swam outside the buoys as to stay away from
the other swimmers. Less people meant less chance for my finger to get bumped. I
pretty much had my own space until the red turn buoy. Basically was a washing
machine over there. I got dunked aka swam over top of. One the turn around I
also got a nice friendly breast stroke kick to the face. I thought I got a
bloody lip but at least my goggles didn't come off. As I made my way to the swim
exit to start my second loop the water got really crowded. People were being
animals at this point and someone tried to grab my leg and pull me.
Um...WTF...NOPE! I made it out of water and ran on the sand and back into the
water. I hated getting out of the water and doing two loops. My heart rate was
all over the place from trying to run fast and get back into the water asap. I
also cut my left foot and maybe rocks getting back into the water. I could feel
my foot burning. Great. It took a minute to settle back into a good swim stroke,
but once I did I felt fine. The rest of the swim was uneventful. My finger held
up and even though it was hard to cup my hand with all the junk I had one it, I
survived. I was more than happy to be running out of the water and making my way
over to T1. The hardest part of the day was over for me! Now I could relax and
bit!
T1 - 6 something minutes
It's a long haul over to T1 from the water. I felt like I was one of the
only ones running. They have a small carpet to run one, but it's only wide
enough to run single file so I basically had to run on the pavement to be able
to pass everyone just walking. I made it into T1 and was a hot mess. I turned
one of my socks inside out. So during the bike one sock was normal and the other
inside out. Oh well. I pulled off most of my finger crap and just left the
waterproof tape on as it was also cushiony which would help protect it on the
bike. The volunteer helped me get my glove on but both fingers went through the
same finger whole. Ugh. Redo. I also had to volunteer suns creen me up but I
don't think she did a good job. I felt like I was in the tent forever! One mini
snickers down my pie hole, pb&j shoved in my jersey pocket and off I
went....
The Bike - 112 miles - 6:06:02
Time to go to work and dig myself out of the hole I created for myself with
my slow swim time. The second I got on my bike...squeak, squeak, squeak. Was it
my chain or gears??? The thought of "please oh god please don't fall apart on me
bike. I need you for the next 6 hours!" went through my head. Ugh. Anyhow, I had
not pre-viewed the course prior to the race so everything was going to be new
and exciting to me! Weee...I love my bike and new places! It's really a stunning
ride with great views. The first 30 miles or so seem to be downhill. There is a
very large 5 mile decent. My garmin beeped 9 minutes for 5 miles. Lol. I was jut
screaming down the hills and didn't use my brakes much. Going downhill is my
favorite. I ended up eating no chews or gels on the bike. I had a total of 3 fun
size snickers on me. One I ate in T1 and the other 2 I ate within the first 40
minutes. After that I ate my pb&j sandwich. I had it cut up in fours and ate
one piece about every 45 minutes I would guess. I started off with Osmo in my
aero bottle. I didn't want to f' around with the single serves so just took
gatoraid at the aid stations. I was still feeling pretty good as I made the
climb back into town. I was super surprised and excited to see Jason standing on
top of one the "3 bear" climbs. He really caught me off guard. Love my M!!
I ended up stopping at special needs, drank half my COKE (omg life saving
stuff right there) and grabbed my other pb&j and snickers bar. The
volunteers told me to put my bike in the lowest gear to make it easy to get back
on and up the hill but I was so out of it I put it in the hardest gear. I
couldn't start pedaling, my bike wasn't moving and I was so confused because I
thought I had it in the lowest gear. One of the volunteers pushed me like the
tour de France which helped. ha. I also thought special needs would have
bathrooms, but nope. I guess that's that I get for never reading the athlete
guide.
Anyhow, I started the second loop pretty excited thinking I could maybe go
sub 6 on the bike. The descents went well but the wind had picked up. We seemed
to have a head wind on the second loop. I really was having fun up until maybe
mile 90, then death on the bike started to settle in. My feet had gone numb and
I had to go pee so bad. I hadn't gone pee yet and I had been holding it forever
but I didn't want to make a stop. I tried peeing on myself, but nope couldn't do
it. The 30 miles back into town seemed to take forever. I was so ready to get
off my bike. I felt like I was barely pedaling. I watched my average speed to go
down. F this. Get me off my bike. But on the upnote, my stomach felt good and my
nutrition was right on target. Who knew. Snickers and PB&J would get me
through 112 miles!
Saw Jason again as I made my way into T2 and onto the "fun" part if the
race!!
T2 - 3 something minutes
First things first.....pee! Made a quick stop and a porta pottie and
was extra careful with the door. ha. Had the volunteers sun screen me up and I
could already feel the terrible sun burn I had on my back. Changed socks and
shoes, grabbed my hat and watch and off I went!
The Run - 26.2 miles - 4:08:32
If there was a crown I would be wearing it for the queen of going out to
fast! I can't help it though. I am always so excited to get off my bike and my
legs just want to go go go. And the thought of why the hell not goes through my
head thinking hey maybe I can hold this pace the entire run, can't hurt to try.
Yes, this is stupid thinking, I know. My 5k split was 23 minutes something and
even I knew I was being crazy. I slowed myself down and just tried to get into a
comfy pace. I saw Meaghan around mile 2 and got so excited, I gave her a nice
friendly ass slap :) Then I saw Rachel and she ran with me for a little bit. I
was smiling and happy at this point. After you go down a big hill you basically
make a right hand turn to hell and back. Yes hell. Not a cloud on the sky. Sun
shining down bright. No shade. A special tri version of hell. The only saving
grace on this section of the run is looking at the Olympic sky jumps around mile
8 or 9? OMG. never would I ever jump off those but they looked so cool! I passed
Rachel again around mile 11 and my stomach had started acting up a bit. By the
time I saw Jason at mile 12 my legs were still feeling ok, but knew I needed
some tums. I had been going down the aid station smorgish (sp?) board and
grabbing a water, gatoraid, coke, water along with orange slices and cookies.
There is small out and back right by the Olympic Oval which is a killer mentally
because it's right by the finish and right by your second loop but basically is
a mile out and back. I was a little under 2 hrs for my first loop. OMG. Can I go
sub 4 or right at 4 hrs on this run??? I was getting excited.
I started the second loop and I could feel my left hamstring starting to
kind of seize up. I was an idiot and had taken no salt up to this point. I
fished out a salt tab out of my spy belt and took it but I think it was to late.
I was also the only one I had one me. Right at Lisa G's and Meaghan's parents by
left leg completely cramped up (around mile 14 I think). I was bend over in pain
not even moving. I would try to take a step and would hunch over in pain again.
The only thought that was going through my head as I just f'ed up my own race by
not taking salt and I'm ruining my time. No 4 hour marathon. No 11:30. I don't
even know why my goal had changed because it was originally to go sub 12 hours
and now I wanted more. why? I don't know? I guess I always want more. Anyhow,
Rachel came running over to my rescue and gave me a tums and pringles. A bunch
of pringles! I didn't think I could eat all of them and she told me to just lick
the salt off them. But I ended up eating all of them, then the base salt people
came to my rescue. I took two licks and my cramps seemed to go away. I could run
again! But the cramps were an issue the rest of the run. I somehow lost the
little tub of salt I had gotten and was bend over in pain again unable to move.
I shouted out to the runners around me. "salt, anybody, salt, please." Someone
was nice enough to give a lick of their salt and a swig of their water. Thank
you mystery man. After returning for the second out and back of hell I told
myself I am never doing this again. Never. I saw Rachel again mid way through
the big hill. I walked that sucker. No need to waste energy on what would have
just been a shuffle uphill anyhow. 2 miles left! omg! It's finally almost over.
I just want to stop moving! And son of a gun my damn leg cramp returned again
with less than a mile to go. I was swearing out loud and pissed that I was bent
over again. Some guy yelled at me to keep moving. Umm. Yeah I know, I look like
an idiot, if I could move I would be! More salt licks and then a ton of salt
licks right before I entered the oval. The last thing I wanted to happen was to
cramp up in the chute. As I made my way into the chute I could feel the tears
start to weld up in my eyes. I put a smile on my face and ran towards the finish
line arch! Before I knew it, I was raising my arms and crossing the finish line!
It was over, I finished ironman number 3.
Total time: 11:38:57
Post Race
Crossing the finish line never gets old. No matter how many times you say
you hate this or I'm never doing this again, it feels amazing to finish. It's
really hard to describe. And as much as I said never again. I'm doing it again.
Completely hooked. Overall I am really happy how the day went. I had over an
hour PR so I can't complain and placed 11th in my AG. But.... yeah.... I messed
up on the run and I know I can go faster. Looks like IM number 4 is in my
future. Also thank you to Jason for always been there for me and supporting me.
I know I am super needy and high maintenance. Love you so much!
