Ironman Lake Placid 2014
I haven’t been to Ironman Lake Placid, or to the town of Lake Placid since I last raced there back in 2010. It wasn’t my best finish, but it certainly wasn’t my worst! For the fourth time I finished and for the fourth time I swore that I would not return. In my opinion, Lake Placid was the hardest course of the 15 I have competed in, including Kona! Well, I went back on my promise and I did return, but this time as a spectator!
This year I had three athletes competing in the race: Jose Hernandez, Susan Roman and Johnny Graziano. As I headed up there Saturday morning I began to feel the same nerves I would always feel driving up to Lake Placid. This time, however, my nerves were for the three athletes I mentioned who I had the pleasure to work with for the months leading up to this weekend. Each athlete had their own up’s and down’s throughout training (as everyone does) and each had a special place in my heart.
Lake Placid did not disappoint this year as far as difficulty is concerned. Come race morning the skies opened up during the swim. The roads were flooding and thunder and lightning were directly overhead as the athletes were swimming. I was standing under my umbrella trying to stay dry watching the organizers frantically pulling people out of the water! Because of this, the final times only reflect everyone’s first loop of the swim and no T1. As I was standing at the lake watching, I was getting very nervous for the athletes out on the bike course. I’ve done this course in the rain before and found the 4 mile downhill in the beginning of the course to be terrifying in the rain! I hoped that everyone would be safe out there and thankfully they were!
Once the rain cleared up, the sun came out and it got very HOT and humid! This was obstacle #2! Again, I was hoping that the prep from the past months was paying off out there and that everyone was doing what they could to stay nutritionally sound and as cool as possible! In the end, each one had a great race despite the conditions of the day, which is all you can ask for in Ironman. I’m happy to say that Johnny, Susan and Jose all persevered and each one had a great day out there! Here is the short version of the race recap for each of the athletes’s mentioned:
Johnny Graziano and I had met up in the winter to discuss the season ahead that would culminate in his first ever Ironman finish: Ironman Lake Placid. Johnny came into training with an injury that prevented him from running for a couple of months. We decided to train heavily in the pool, as this was Johnny’s weak link. We also ramped up the cycling to build strength in that area. Once Johnny was able to run again, his bike and swim were coming along fantastically! Johnny continued to train hard throughout the season. He made huge gains in the swim and bike and was showing his raw talent in the run. Unfortunately, Johnny had more trouble with injury towards the end of the season limiting his running. Because of this, we had to again rely heavily on swim and bike training to build strength in those areas leaving him as strong as possible for the run. Johnny came into lake Placid with only one “moderately” long run, but I had faith that he could still have a great day out there. He was stronger than ever in the swim and the bike and I knew that despite the lack of running miles in training, he could pull off a fantastic day.
Well, he proved me right. Johnny finished IMLP in amazing fashion! I don’t think he realizes just how great he did up there! He finished the swim strong and unscathed, biked a solid 112 and went on to run incredible marathon after VERY LITTLE run training!! His talent, hard work and positive attitude really got him through a tough day after many obstacles. I couldn’t be happier for Johnny and I know he is in store for a killer Ironman if he chooses to do another one in the future.
I started coaching Jose Hernandez in the winter as well. Jose’s swim has been his weak link, so we focused on technique in the pool to help make him more comfortable. Jose couldn’t even swim 1 length of the pool the previous year! He taught himself how to swim and with the help of his friends was able to finish Ironman Mont-Tremblant in 2013! When I first met with Jose, it was obvious he needed a lot of work in the water. It was also obvious that he was a huge physical talent. He would do everything I told him to do in the water without a problem! His body awareness and ability to change his technique in such a short amount of time was incredible. Needless to say, Jose’s swim improved by leaps and bounds over the months!
As most know, Jose is a huge talent on the bike. With the addition of the power meter, we were able to see just how talented he was and were able to dial in all his workouts based on his threshold power. It was incredible to see his FTP improve throughout the season despite his already strong cycling leg. But what most surprised me was Jose’s run talent! I had the pleasure of doing many run’s and track workouts with Jose. Whatever pace I ran, Jose would be right there with me! His aerobic engine is huge and I was super excited about his strength in all 3 sports across the board!
Going into IMLP, we had Jose’s watts dialed in. I wanted him to have a solid bike, but also wanted him to set himself up for the run, as I found this to be his “secret weapon”. Jose finished the swim very strong and, like Johnny, feeling totally unscathed coming out of the water. He hopped on the bike and stuck to the prescribed wattage. When I saw Jose at the end of the first loop he looked SUPER smooth, as if he was going out for a relaxed ride. His time was right-on too! Again I saw him after the second loop and again he looked
fantastic!
Jose started off running perfectly. He was relaxed and ticking off the miles like we thought he would. He felt strong, but unfortunately, as this sometimes happens in Ironman, his stomach began to have major cramping. He was reduced to walking due to the pain, which slowed him down. Jose, being a fierce competitor was able to rally and finished the race looking strong again! He finished his second Ironman 3 hours faster than his first! Amazing job Jose! I am excited to see what he can do in the future when he runs the marathon that he is capable of running off the bike!!
Susan Roman and I started up back in the winter as well. When we first met up, she was recovering from a serious knee injury that needed major treatment and months of no running at all. She was up to a 30 minute run 2 days each week and a 40 minute run as her long run when we met up. Susan came into this season focused on a goal and her hard work and determination never wavered throughout the season! Susan worked closely with me, as well as with a nutritionist that revamped her daily nutrition as well as her race day nutrition.
Susan, in my opinion, had a “dream season”. This was by no means a “lucky season”, this had to do with her attention to detail, close working relationship with myself and her nutritionist and her ability to listen to her body at all times. Every race Susan competed in this year was an amazing one, a PR, a great day. Lake Placid just ended up being the “icing on the cake”.
Susan came out of the water in lake Placid with a PR swim, by 3 minutes. She then hoped on the bike and crushed her goal time as well as a PR bike split by 29 minutes. On the run, Susan not only ran a PR marathon, but she bested her run split at IMLP by over 53 minutes! Her finishing time was 1 hour and 26 minutes faster than when she competed back in 2006! I knew her potential going in and I knew she would have a great day out there, but for everything to go as perfectly executed as it did, blew me away!! A HUGE congrats to her for an amazing season ad a dream race! Susan isn’t done for the season, however, so it will be exciting to see what she can do after recovering from Lake Placid and using that fitness for shorter faster races!
Congrats to all three on fantastic races up there. I was thrilled to cheer each one on throughout the day!
More race results have been rolling in, so check in soon for more to come!
Happy training and racing!
Dee