August 2, 2019
I can’t believe it’s been it’s almost been a full week! Things have been crazy at Kopcha Epic Coaching as I catch up! But I wanted to make sure I got at least the first part of my race report out!
I got up to Lake Placid on Wednesday afternoon so I would have plenty of time to settle in and not feel rushed.
Next time I could probably wait until Thursday!
I stayed at a cabin at High Peaks Cyclery with a group from HEAT (Hartford Extended Area Triathletes) and Base Performance. Ironically, while pretty much everyone was an Ironman, not one was actually racing that weekend! But they welcomed me and gave me tons of great advise about the course and the day. On of my favorite things is adding to my family, and it got a lot bigger that week!
Getting there early meant I got out to preview the run course on foot and bike. A couple of nasty hills coming back into town. I also rode the last few miles of the bike course and actually drove up the Keene Descent on my way into town. I built up the descent a lot in my mind, but once I got to ride it…it was actually kind of fun! I also got to swim in Mirror Lake a couple of times…buoys were out and I followed the cable which was super easy to see!
Saturday was designated to checking in my bike, dropping of transition bags, packing special needs bags, and going to the athlete briefing. Early bed for a 4:30 wake up.
I was up at the same time as my house mates as they were all volunteering. Coffee, food, dropped off special needs bags, went to body marking, but fuel on bike and pumped up tires. Then, because we were staying so close, I could actually walk back to the house to go to the bathroom and put on my wet suit. That’s right! No pre-race porta potty needed! Left for the beach in time to get in the water and warm up which started at 6AM.
Got in the water, swam out a little ways, came back in and felt pretty good! No major nerves for once! So I got in my seeding area around 6:30. I had been swimming the distance in the pool in just over 90 minutes. But knowing my tendency to need some time for the first few hundred yards to get my groove, I lined up just in of the 1:45 coral. Turned out to be a good call, because I swam a 1:44!
OK…that’s Part 1! Stay tuned for Part 2!
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