Lake Placid, New York
26/07/09
10hrs 10mins finish for 62nd overall from 2,545 (including 41 professional) starters. 12th in 35-39 Age Group. 40th fastest non-professional overall and 1st British finisher.
SWIM 1:03:51 3.8km
BIKE 5:22:48 180km
RUN 3:30:53 Marathon
OVERALL 10:10:41
RANK 62 of 2,545
DIV.POS. 12 of 333 in 35-39 Age Group
SWIM SPLIT 1: 1.2 mi 1.2 mi (30:57) 1:37/100m
SWIM SPLIT 2: 2.4 mi 1.2 mi (32:54) 1:43/100m
TOTAL SWIM: 2.4 mi (1:03:51) 1:40/100m
RANK at end of Swim 328
DIV.POS. at end of Swim 49
BIKE SPLIT 1: 36 mi. 36 mi. (1:32:28) 23.36 mph
BIKE SPLIT 2: 56 mi. 20 mi. (1:04:51) 18.50 mph
BIKE SPLIT 3: 92 mi. 36 mi. (1:37:08) 22.24 mph
BIKE SPLIT 4: 112 mi. 20 mi.(1:08:21) 17.56 mph
TOTAL BIKE 112 mi. (5:22:48) 20.82 mph
RANK at end of Bike 96
DIV.POS. at end of Bike 20
RUN SPLIT 1: 13.1 13.1 mi. (1:40:52) 7:41/mile
RUN SPLIT 2: 26.2 mi 13.1 mi. (1:50:02) 8:23/mile
TOTAL RUN 26.2 mi. (3:30:54) 8:02/mile
RANK at end of Run 62
DIV.POS. at end of Run 12
Ironman number 11, this time in Lake Placid, a beautiful spot. Stayed with Dave and Ian and their families in a huge lodge overlooking the lake, set in 22 acres of land and aptly called 'The Humdinger Residence'. We had the place to ourselves and race week was very relaxed. Thanks guys for a great week.
Training for Lake Placid was lower volume versus previous years. Post Hawaii in October I had pushed ahead with training and completed a two week swim block (10 swims for 35km) followed by 5 weeks of decent run and bike training including fourteen rides > 2hrs and six 1hr runs on the track with increased intensity, averaging approx 13hrs per week. I was therefore in great shape at the start of December. With a new job mid-December came a significant reduction in training right through to the start of April – no swimming for 5.5 months! from end-Nov to start-May and just ticking over on the bike and run in and out of work from mid-Dec to end-Mar with zero training at the weekends in that period. So at the end of Mar and 18 weeks out from the race the realisation that another one of these days was coming landed and I started to up the biking and running though avoided the pool for another 6 weeks further! My goal was to post a decent time and to enjoy another Ironman course. 9 weeks out from the race I was a little sick for a week with a stomach bug that the whole family caught but after that I absolutely nailed my training in the 8 weeks following. I increased intensity on the bike and run and focused on recovery to ensure that every session counted. From 1st January to race day I had completed just 38% of the swim training, 70% of the bike training and 90% of the run training versus the same period for 2008. I think that I benefited from the training down time at the start of the year and was well placed physically and mentally to push the pain barriers in June and early July. Fortunately the UK weather was great during that period – particularly so during two six and a half hour rides a week apart when the temperature tipped over 30 degrees C and I wore as much clothing as possible (three fleeces, two base layers, skull cap!) in order to increase sweat rate/heat acclimatise. I remember that during the first of these rides, at the foot of a large hill and already 5 or so hours into the ride with my core temperature through the roof thinking '... all that I want to do now is lie down on the tarmac at the roadside in the shade' but then the warrior in me stated 'no, suffering is good, seek more suffering, continue...'!
The Lake Placid course is one of the tougher Ironmans. The bike course included 1,330m of climbing and the run course (which turned out to be more like a serious hill run) included 500m elevation gain.
Bike Course
Run Course
After a few race week swims with Big Dave and Big Ian (think uber-athlete Big) + a couple of bikes + a run on the course, we were all up at 4am on race morning. Helena kindly also got up at that time and gave us all a lift down to transition area. I felt ready to go and couldn’t wait to hear the race hooter.
The swim start was easily the most congested swim start I have experienced – 2,500 highly charged adrenaline/caffeine/energy product loaded individuals corralled into a very small start area. My plan was to swim out early to the very front, nestle under the start rope approx 15m wide of the buoy line and tread water until the swim began. I figured that I would stay wide of the buoy line, expecting to be swum over a few times but as long as I stayed calm it wouldn’t be that bad.
Waiting for the start with rain coming down, right at the front, an open lake in front of me and the entire race field behind was an awesome feeling, until everyone around me started discussing how they were going to swim 50 minutes! The hooter sounded (I think it was a gun) and we were off!
In what seemed like 10 seconds I had been pushed over to the buoy line and therefore into a 15 minute tussle with other combatants trying to maintain position until we reached the first turnaround buoy. The back leg of the first loop was a little calmer and after a quick sortie onto the beach I was diving back in for loop 2. Exited the water in good shape and with a 1.03 swim PB – achieved on only 12 weeks/85km of swim training! (IM UK was quicker, 1.02, but I think that swim was slightly short). A great swim time but I burnt some matches getting it, heart rate was way too high due to the limited swim training build-up. A lesson for next time - SWIM MORE!
Onto the trusty Cervelo P3C together with Zipp 808 deep section wheels – a true beast of a bike! – for the two lap bike course. Felt very good on the bike, I had done the training and after 180km did not feel too beaten up for the run. I was very strong on the climbs + putting out some serious power on the rollers and passed a net 230 riders at the front end of the field. I also hit 50 mph going down the long descent into Keane which required extreme concentration with my front wheel shifting from side to side in the wind!
My bike split ended up being the 30th fastest non-professional bike. A great bike course - plenty of climbing and fantastic scenery.
Out onto the run course with 6hrs 40mins on the clock. I knew that I was up near the front and was feeling good and so pushed from the start. The run course was two loops and very hilly with two long hills at 9 miles (22m) and 10.5 miles (23.5m). A continuous up and down. Late June I had run two high tempo 2hr 30min runs with multiple long hill repeats throughout in Greenwich park which were very effective aerobic system and strength builders (not for the faint hearted!) - these runs combined with increased intensity in my run training brought me to this race in strong running shape. The first half of the marathon was completed in 1hr 40. Completed the second half in 1hr 50 for a 3hr 30min marathon for the 54th fastest non-professional run.
A 10hr 10min finish for 62nd overall + I ended up missing a Hawaii World Championship slot by 1 position and 117 seconds! Very, very close to qualifying again but not too disappointed as I had not trained for qualification + travelling to Hawaii in October/further training for that race was not something that I wanted to do this year with Kata expecting/focus on work etc etc. Thanks to Kata for giving me an 8 week pass to train properly for this race!
A great result on less training and higher intensity. More cumulative miles in the bank. This game is a continuous learning curve and am already planning how to get stronger.
I'LL BE BACK.
