I wanted to share this race report that I sent out to my athletes the morning after racing Ironman Lake Placid. What I love and hate about Ironman is the unknown. You can plan and train and you still never know what can happen on race day. The ups and downs are great and the mental fortitude to push throughout the day to get to that finish line is immense. I hadn’t raced Ironman Lake Placid since 2010. Back then I was racing as a Pro. Coming back now, 13 years later, I remember what is so special about the place. It is a “hometown race” for us. I felt as if everyone in the crowd knew me. Not just my athletes, but also friends from the past that I’ve raced with through the years.
Racing an Ironman with a group is the best. I was fortunate to have an incredible group of athletes racing with me this year and we had an even more incredible group of spectators that came up to watch us. It truly is that journey that matters most. Training with others, the daily banter, spending the days before the race together and recapping the next day over breakfast. These are the things that I treasure most.
My 21st Ironman didn’t go quite as expected, but they rarely do!
Jodi and I lined up right at the front of the "1 Hour-1:05 Group". It was so amazing to start next to Jodi for this one, as most of my swim starts are solo. We hugged and before you know it, we were in the water! My first thought was that I made a mistake wearing my full-sleeved wetsuit! The water was warm, and my shoulders and arms were killing me from the get-go, as it was snug fitting! And the loop felt SO long! After the first loop, I tried to mentally prepare to go back in and do it again. It was rough, especially the 2nd loop (not from wind, but from all the athletes!). Halfway into the second loop I saw Jodi just ahead in a group and it brought a smile to my face to know she was having a great swim and going to win the swim portion of our group bet (which including everything from time splits to number of times you peed in the race, transitions, etc.)! The pic below is me coming out of the swim with our cheering squad (Joe Wines, Staci and Taylor Blanket, Julie Michels and Mary Beth Lichtneger!
Through T1 quickly and onto the bike. The legs didn't feel "great", but experience tells me to give them time! I started focusing on hydration and nutrition right away. Halfway into the loop I started to feel slightly nauseous (very unlike me). From that time until the end of the first loop I was fantasizing about running over something sharp, or a pulling over and causing a blow out in my rear tire so I couldn't continue. I was hoping for that the entire time! That would give me an excuse to end my day without having to DNF on my own! These are the crazy thoughts you have to get through the dark points in Ironman!
Coming through town on loop 1 was incredible! First, I saw Julie, Staci, Marybeth, Joe and Joanne screaming for me! Heading through town, I felt the entire crowd knew me! It was amazing. Then I got to see my parents, which was awesome (a sight I have been used to since first Ironman in 2001 at the age of 24!). I started getting choked up as I headed out for loop 2... I thought loop 2 would be disastrous after going through loop 1 nauseous and praying for a major flat to end my day, but I ended up feeling pretty good! I "shut off my brain". meaning that I tried not to think about the fact that I had to do this really hard loop again! That was too much to contemplate! My back started to really hurt, so I'd try to stretch on any downhill that I could. I was just happy the nausea went away, and with that, so did my thoughts and dreams of sabotaging my day! At the end of the bike, probably 3 or 4 miles to go, a storm rolled through, and it was pouring! I lost my helmet visor as I was trying to "defog" it ("No way I am stopping to pick that up at this point in the race!" I said to myself).
Again, going through town I felt like a rock star! I was told that I was in the lead in my age group! In and out of T1 quickly, and onto the run I saw my parents first and then the IFE group! I felt great and I was psyched. The run is my strength, so I felt confident I could hold my lead. I started running my "all day pace". I knew I could run the entire marathon without stopping, and though I would most likely slow down the 2nd loop, I felt confident that I had first place tied up.
Out to River Road, I focused on eating, hydrating and salt ("gel, water and coke at the next aid station; salt, coke and water at the next, repeat, repeat"). I peed (while running) 7 times on that loop and thought that was very odd. I always pee, but 7 times in the first 11 miles was strange.
Coming through town to finish off loop 1 was amazing! Julie, Staci, Mary Beth and Joe were going nuts! It was awesome! I also saw John Caffrey as I ran past the run special needs, which was awesome. I felt like everyone around the lake knew me and was screaming my name and I learned that I had 6 minutes "and building" on my next competitor. "Just keep moving forward" was my mantra. I would be fine!
Finally, heading out for loop 2 I started to feel some stomach troubles out of the blue (the nausea on the bike is catching up with me? I thought). I quickly dipped into the woods to take care of that and got back to running. About 1 mile later, same thing. Dip in the woods, but this time I came out also feeling dizzy... "keep moving forward, Danielle".... then again it happened, and again. Finally at mile 19, I had to stop and walk. As I mentioned before I pride myself on my will to keep running without stopping. Well, that went out the window!
I was getting "loopy", and I was swerving around on the road (dazed and confused). I did that past a medical check and one of the EMT's urged me to come over and "take a seat". "OK", I said, and I thought, "well this will be it for me! My race is over! " They started asking me questions (where I am from, etc.), took my blood pressure and pulse (both were fine! "Her blood pressure during extreme exercise is better than mine!" they joked. "I must just be a big be wimp then if my blood pressure and pulse are fine!" I joked back).
They asked if I had been hydrating (I told them I had been, but in hindsight, maybe it just wasn't enough on the bike? I did take in 6 bottles of Maurten as well as water in my aero bottle, but maybe that wasn't enough on this day? Also, I thought about my peeing 7 times on the first loop and how that was odd...so maybe I hydrated too much? It's always a puzzle that you try to figure out!). The EMT's urged me to "relax" in the comfy chair for a bit. That sounded fantastic! But when I heard that my vitals were GOOD, I found the will to get up and go. I was still "loopy", and the next aid station wasn't far, so I shuffled over and walked through, trying to take in more fluids, some potato chips, and then start running again. I just assumed my lead was no longer, and that was OK.
At mile 22 I saw more EMTS and walked over to them. I told them that I was stopped at the last check, but my vitals were OK. "Do you want to drop out?", they asked. I gave it a good thought for a second (part of me really wanted to drop out!) but I knew I couldn't., "No, I'm going to see if I can keep going". About a mile later, I saw Bobby, and he told me I still had a 2-minute lead. "I do?!" this perked me up! "Danielle...you can do this!", I said to myself. I started shuffling along. I also started feeling better! My pace wasn't fast, but I felt I could hold onto my lead. I "ran" (shuffled) up the big hill in town. "No stopping now Danielle!" I said to myself! "You can run 3 miles!" Just past mile 25, I was told I had 20 seconds on 2nd place!!! "What?!!!" I yelled. "20 seconds?!!!!!!" I started to run as fast as I could! I saw Mike Monastero and he told me to "empty the tank!" "It's already empty!", I yelled as I started "sprinting (it felt like sprinting anyway!). I ran as hard as I could for that last mile to the line, running in the 7:20's for the last 3/4 of a mile (it felt like 6:20's!).
Crossing the line (Jow Wines was my "catcher"!), I thought I would break down, but I was in disbelief of what I just did, and how hard that day was, so I just stood there and contemplated on how hard that was. I then saw my parents and gave them a hug as I tried to take in some fluid and food.
Minutes later we checked, and I learned that I had a good 3-4 minutes on 2nd place. I couldn't believe that the day turned around as it did and that I was there, in the oval after a battle from the start! My 21st Ironman, 5th Lake Placid, 13 years later. Nothing was easy on this day! This will go down as one of my hardest ever!
Thank you to my athletes for their amazing support! I am truly lucky.
Below are pics of Magda and Greg Petryk and Jodi Cameron finishing up their races!
