August 5, 2019
Welcome to the next part of my Race Racap! If you missed the first part which led up to the actual race, click here
Age group start was at 6:40, and I lined up just in front of the 1:45 group. This is when I really feel race day nerves…standing around and waiting to start. But everyone around me was calm and in good spirits, and I didn’t feel nervous for once. Made it up to the water at 6:57 and off I went! Despite hearing that the swim was going to be crowded, I was had plenty of room around me without needed to swim wide. The hardest part of the swim was from the 2nd to 4th buoy where I took some time to get into my groove, focusing on my breath and staying relaxed. By 400 meters in, I had settled in and had a great swim. Sighting was easy and for the most part it wasn’t crowded. IMPL is a 2 loops swim, with the athletes getting out of the water at the half way point, running across the beach before completing the second loop. It was a great way to break up the swim! There were a couple of instances….I got smacked in the back of the head once and once under the chin. Almost got swam over a couple of times. But it wasn’t a big deal. The only time I felt it got crowded was at the very end, so I just stayed patient as I approached the shore.
Out of the water in 1:44. A volunteer came up behind me and unzipped my wet suit. I pulled down the top half and ran over the the wet suit strippers…this was one of my favorite parts of the whole day! I laid down, put my feel in the air, and she pulled my wet suit off! If you have never used a wet suit stripper, you should definitely try it at your next race! These people rock!
Running toward transition I had a great surprise. My friends Claudia and Liz from the Valley Shore YMCA Tri Club drove up to spectate. Claudia was there with a big picture of me waving it around! I took 5 seconds and ran over to her. Spectators and volunteers always make my day! I take that energy with me!
Ran to transition, grabbed my T1 bag and headed into the changing tent. A volunteer took my wet suit and helped me with my bike shoes etc….and when she handed my my Ziploc with my extras I said the only thing I needed was my food. She found the peanut butter sandwich I was going to eat before the bike, but the rest of my food was missing. No freaking out…I said “no food? hmmm…interesting…I wonder where I put it? Oh well…that’s why they have food on the course!” I didn’t want her to feel bad! It was my fault…I eventually found it in my special need bag…OOOPS! So I took a bite of the sandwich, put the rest in my jersey pocket, and ran out to where a volunteer handed me my bike. 10 minutes in T1.
Excited to see a couple of HEAT friend, Dean and Kurt as I was headed out on the bike. Started nice and easy to settle in. At the first Aid Station about 10 miles in I grabbed a banana and a GU to make up for the missing food. This is also where I saw another YMCA Tri Club friend, Mark, who was volunteering.
Shortly after, I noticed my bike was making an odd noise. So I decided to stop before I got to far to see what it was. My rear water bottle was slipping out the cage, and my rear wheel was rubbing on it….the bottle was now empty. The same thing happened as I started the second loop also. I have yet to figure out if I didn’t put the bottles in securely or what…nothing I could do but toss the bottle and grab a Gatorade at the next Aid station. You never know what is going to happen on race day. Obstacles are going to arise, and how we deal with them in the moment have a lot to do with how the remainder of the day goes.
Lake Placid is a double loop for the bike course as well. about 12 -15 miles in starts the Keene Descent, which I think is about 7 miles of downhill at 4% grade. I built the hill way up in my head. But when I got there, I just focused on staying relaxed, sat up, and feathered my breaks. It was actually a lot of fun! I didn’t fly down as fast as others, but I wasn’t petrified either. A highlight of the day! The climb back into town wasn’t as bad as I built it up to be either. Don’t get me wrong…it was challenging! But all the hills I trained on paid off! Somewhere in the middle of loop 1, the pros when zooming by….they are so freaking fast! As I made my way back to town, there is a section called the 3 Bears….well, I missed Momma and Baby, but then I looked up and saw what was the steepest uphill I saw all say and thought “oh shit…what bear is that?” Fortunately it was Papa Bear…short and steep. But manageable. An awesome group of spectators at the top. Back to town, got my special needs bags to get my second loop fuel (oh…food…that’s where I put you!) and off I went again. Second loop was pretty identical to the first…even down to the water bottle issue! Except for the 3 short bursts of rain. I hadn’t noticed how hot it was getting until it rained and then stopped. Bottom of my left foot started to hurt around mile 80….but that is normal so I just unclipped a couple of times.
Back to Transition after 7:23 minutes of riding. Was hoping for closer to 7 hours, but I knew this was more realistic and I felt good with my ride.
OK…I think that’s enough for now! Check in a couple of days for the Run and my final thoughts! Send me your questions!
Leave a Reply