Ironman Lake Placid Race Report
Friday, September 5th, 2008Ironman Lake Placid Race Report
After a 3 year hiatus, I was so excited to race the Ford Ironman Lake Placid. I finished second in 2005, had to skip it in 2006 because there was not a pro women’s race and had to pull out 4 weeks before the race in 2007 due to a shoulder separation. Ironman Lake Placid is one of my favorite races. The course is nestled in the Adirondack Mountains; it’s beautiful yet extremely challenging. I trained on the course over a dozen times in the past 3 years and I was just so excited to be healthy and finally able to race one of my favorite events.
My swim training was inadequate going into the race due to chronic shoulder injuries resulting from my shoulder separation last year. I exited the water with quite a deficit. Fortunately, my bike and run training have been going really. I hoped on my Cervelo and felt great. I’ve had so many good training sessions on the bike course throughout the summer, and I knew I would work my way towards the front of the field. Then it happened, I hit the first long 9 mile descent heading out of town and started shivering incessantly. The torrential downpours were relentless and combined with the low temperature and winds, made for quite the bike ride! For the next 5 hours it was a battle to bike hard enough to stay warm but not so hard that I had to walk the marathon. By the middle of the first loop I moved up to second place and started closing the gap on Hillary Biscay. I knew that I had to continue to eat and drink, but I was so cold I was having a hard time getting anything into my body. I entered T2 in second place and managed to close the gap down to 7 minutes and post the fastest bike split of the day. I put on my new K Swiss racing shoes (which by the way are the most comfortable shoes I have ever raced in!), grabbed my fuel belt flask and slowly tried to replace some fluids. Even though I am from Vermont, my body does not do well in the cold, at all! My legs felt empty and I was hungry for most of the run. The cold reeked havoc on my muscles and I knew I would have to race smart. I ran patiently and by mile 18 passed Hillary for the lead. I knew that Caitlin was a phenomenal runner, but I did not know how close she was. I failed to see her at the last turnaround and had no idea that she was running 2:59 pace! Right before the 23 mile mark she came storming by me. I tried to respond, but the pace was so much faster and within seconds she put on a sizable lead. I ran as hard as I could to the finish line, but Caitlin ran faster, went on the take the win and set a new run course record in the process.
Once again it just goes to show that there are so many variable to great ironman racing; swim, bike and run fitness, mental prep, nutrition, and environmental conditions. I am looking forward to a week off to rest up and spend some time with my family on Long Island. My plans for the rest of the season include a Boulder training camp with Kelly, an Olympic and 70.3 race (TBD) and then off to Kona for the Ironman World Championships where I will try to improve on my 8th place finish there in 2005. I’d like to thank all my sponsors for all the support. I have the best of the best this year and would like to thank K-Swiss, Powerbar, Cervelo, FuelBelt, Lifesport, Katalyst Multisport, Zipp, Ski Rack, Blue Seventy, Giro, and Vasa.
See you in Kona!
Kim
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