My race for the most part was very nice. The town of Lake Placid is a beautiful place and the community supports the race to the fullest.

The days leading up to the race were very nice. Highs in the low 80's and lows in the low 60's with sunshine. Race day arrives and the forecast did not look so promising. Scattered t-storms throughout the day with a chance of severe weather.

The swim started at 7:00 under clouds, but at least it was not raining. 10 minutes into the swim I realized it had started raining and was hoping it would stop before the bike. Oh well, what can you do? The first loop of the swim was very congested because it is kind of hard to fit 2500 people into a lake that is not much bigger than Lake Serene. I figured the swim would clear after the first loop. I did the first 1.2 miles in around 35 minutes and headed around for the second loop noticing that there were still people all around. During the second loop I was still being knocked around by folks because of the traffic, but at least it made me keep a good pace. My second loop finished in around 36 minutes for a total time of 1 :11. After exiting the water and having four volunteers strip the wetsuit off of me I headed for the transition about 300 meters away. By the way, it was still raining.

After getting my feet muddy, and changing into my biking outfit I headed out for the ride. The bike starts out with a gradual 3 or 4 mile downhill out of town before heading uphill for a few miles and then 6 miles of drastic downhill. Unfortunately I'm not crazy enough to go 60 mph downhill so I was not able to benefit totally from the downhill, but managed to get up to 40 mph in the rain. The remaining 35+ miles of the bike are up and down, but pretty nice. I managed a conservative 3 hrs and 15 minutes or so on the first loop and felt good. I found Kim in the rain and we were able to take a picture before I headed out for the second loop. Folks were looking at me like I was crazy for stopping to take a photo, but I was up there to finish and have fun. The second loop saw no end to the rain, but I managed to come back only 12 seconds slower. I would have been faster, but I stopped to pee numerous times.

The run saw me start off at around 8:00 minute pace for a few miles, so I figure I better slow down a bit or I may not make it. I was not feeling bad, but I did not know what to expect. I made it through the first half marathon feeling strong and knew I would be able to finish as long as I did not speed up too much. I got into a groove with a few faster fellows that were finishing there second loop as I was finishing my first, so I think that helped me a lot. I carried on thru the puddles for the last loop and somehow managed to have a sprint at the finish.

Going in I figured I'd do 11-12 hrs and my time ended up being 11:50 something. I know I can do better because I felt better after this race in comparison to any of the marathons I have done. I will do another Ironman, but I don't think it will be anytime soon. I'd really like to think Mike Villalonga for outlining a training program for me that worked, the numerous other people I trained with, my parents for helping out with the boys, and Kim for putting up with all the training required to finish a race of this magnitude.
© Robin Ryder