Ironman Lake Placid Race Report...One word for this race...FUN!

 3rd place in the Professional Women = One more step closer to success!

Ironman Lake Placid was a breathe of fresh air! It was JUST what I needed right now in my season!

It was not the most perfect race...but there were SO many things right about it!



After a rough start to the season...I switched around my schedule and decided to forgo a star studded Rev3 Portland or IM Frankfurt and instead head to one of my first loves in racing, IMLP!  This was a tough decision as I love being a part of anything Rev 3 but the closer Lake Placid got the more I wanted to be a part of it! This would be my 5th time on the start line there and I found great comfort in that!

  There are a couple places in the US that I just love...Lake Placid is one of those special places that I hold dear to my heart. It was my first Ironman that I entered into in 2004. I had no idea of the course and went into it totally blindly. I made the mistakes everyone makes by pushing too hard on the first loop of the bike and then paying for it the rest of the race!
But 8 years later I would now be toeing the line once again in my 20th Ironman and getting ready for the challenges that this course offers.

Race week arrived and I was so excited to race. Coach Jesse and I would be treating this Ironman as a hard build up leading into IM NYC 3 weeks later. The week before I had a full week of training with a 5.30 bike and  a 2 hour run day. The closer the race got though and hearing I was one of the girls favored to win I was wishing I had had more of a taper and was coming in with fresher legs!

But I put that all behind me and went into the pre race activities with enthusiasm and excitement! This was probably the first race I have done where there would not be an Ironman Champion already racing which meant a BIG opportunity to one of the pro girls racing!!! How much fun!

Race morning arrived and I felt calm and ready to go despite not a wink of sleep!  I really wish I could get a few hours of sleep the night before an IM...I really think it would help....although I know they say the night before does not matter. Adrenaline always seems to kick in!

I headed down to the start line feeling prepared and ready. I had a plan and was going to execute it no matter what!
One of my biggest goals for this race would be too have FUN!  Dave Erickson from IM laughed at me at my pro panel when I mentioned this. "Ironman is not fun" he said...but when you have a passion for something it really IS about having fun and being in the moment of loving what you do!
I really do love to race as I have mentioned many times before....hence ON that start line I felt excitement, passion, butterflies, focus, adrenaline..all those things that make you feel alive right before me.
It was my day...and I was going to do my best to enjoy every minute of it...WIN or lose!!

I can truly say that's what I did!

As the gun blasted...I pushed hard and was pleasantly surprised. I was with the group on the first buoy, second buoy, 3rd buoy 4th buoy..then OMG I thought  I was dying when are they going to slow down 5th buoy. They were pulling away but I thought I would try stay on this guys feet...Oh no he's lost the group and now I have to pull around him and chase the group. Well I tried hard to catch them but they just kept pulling away. I was left in no mans land...with no one in front of me. On the second loop Sarah Piampiano had caught me and knowing she was around an hour swimmer I welcomed a break and went on her feet for a bit. When you are swimming on your own it almost feels like you are swimming on a spot. I was glad to have Sarah there and I just enjoyed the open water we had. This would be the least confrontational IM swim I have ever been in.
Unfortunately as I exited the water and saw my split, this would not be my best swim here as I exited in 1.02.This was a bit slower than Coach Jesse and I were thinking! I smiled and high fived some friends on the way out. It always is such a crazy run from the water to T1.

Onto the bike and I was feeling good! I could hear Coach Jesse's voice....hold back..hold back on the first hills! So I settled in...got some nutrition and was amazed at how the miles were ticking by on the bike. I was riding exactly where I wanted to be riding...which apparently was a little to hard. On the out and back I could see where I was....It looked like 5th with the lead girls riding a few minutes ahead.
I stayed focused and felt great riding the hills back into town.

I came into town with eventual winner, super strong biker and team mate Jessie Donovan. I believe we were 4th and 5th at that point. The next loop I could tell the age grouper guys that had passed earlier on were fatiguing but I felt strong. I pushed the 3rd section of the course trying to keep Jessie in sight. I knew for me to have a chance of winning I would have to come off the bike near her as she can run.

But when it came time to kick things up a notch on the last 30 minutes of climbs into town. I could not. I cursed my legs. I reached into my bento box for something with caffeine but I was out.. I had dropped a gel earlier on.  I would end up riding the exact same split...2.45 on the first loop 2.45 on the second loop. Yes, I am proud of that but I wish I had had a little extra left in the tank as I definitely lost 5 minutes to the lead.

LP is such a tricky bike course and the girls that had pushed to hard earlier on were now paying for it! On the last climbs I passed Ali Fitch to move into 3rd place.

I headed into T2 so happy and thankful to be in the position I was in. Running out through town I was feeling amazing! My legs felt solid and I was laughing as Coach Jesse always has me carrying so much food! I was stuffing my face with a banana while stuffing my pockets with Power gels. I was trying to head out calm and controlled but all I could think of was second is 1.30 up and 1st 4/5 minutes. I would have to go hard for as long as I could.  First mile came in at 6.37....slow it down I thought...second 7 min flat...I would see my family there and that gave me a big boost and I jumped back down to 6.45 pace. Then I could see second place girl just ahead of me. By mile 4 I moved into 2nd place. Boy I was having fun but was also worried as I was thinking I still got 22 miles to go. At the first turnaround I could see that I was not making up much tome on Jessie and then I saw my next concern Jennie Hansen another QT2 Team member charging on the run. She was looking great! I remember Coach Jesse telling me about how solid her running was. But this was her first IM. I was happy for her and was  wandering if she would beable to hold the pace. Sadly all being coached by the same coach I knew we were all capable and all striving for a solid second half of the marathon.

Jennie caught up quickly and charged ahead and I moved back into 3rd and continued on a pace that I thought I could handle for the remainder of the run. I was really enjoying the other athletes and spectators racing and was just so  appreciative of all the nice comments. The energy out there was amazing and seeing so many friends out on the course was awesome!

The last thirteen miles always seems to take forever and the sun was at full force with temps rising into the high 80's and the heat index being at 90%. It definitely took its toll on me but I just kept on.... I was getting a few cramps and really tried to stay on top of the hydration and even walked through two of the aid stations.  Dumping water over my head and getting full cups of sports drink in. I fought the cramps in my stomach and calves and finally I made it up  the steep hill in what felt like a snail pace and headed back into town. The out and back through town was a high point and I was thrilled to run through that Olympic Oval finishing my 5th Lake Placid in 3RD place. This was my best result since my 4th place in IMSA a few years ago and it felt great!

I took the time to stop and kiss my supportive family, really savoring the moment and the accomplishment and enjoying the finishline!

 This was a great podium of girls! Big congrats goes to Jessie Donovan on her first Ironman WIN!  So happy for you!

Big thanks goes to Coach Jesse Kropelnicki owner of QT2 Systems on the amazing day all his athletes had! It is such a reflection of the passion and hard work that goes into his coaching every day.
Thanks to my sponsors Rev 3,Pearl Izumi, Power Bar, Kestrel, Blue Seventy,Torhans Hydration Systems and Norma tec Recovery boots!
Thanks goes to Kristen for the awesome chats we have had the last few weeks too!
 I think I accomplished my goal of staying focused and in the moment the whole race!
Also big thanks to Charlie Abrahams for the stunning pics he took all day! Lastly I thank my friends and family for always understanding the commitment it takes to race at a pro level! Their support is everything!

Quassy...A Roller Coaster ride of emotions...Ups and downs!

This would be my third year racing at the fun Middlebury CT venue. I arrived at my home stay, the wonderful Carbone family on Friday afternoon!
  The thing about Rev 3 races, they have such a relaxed atmosphere. Being an East Coast race and living in NJ and being on the Rev 3 team,  all plays a part in me feeling like I have arrived for a big  reunion, a weekend of hanging with great friends.
Saturday was the most relaxing pre race day ever. With some lousy rain that kept on all day, I was glad to just hang back at the Carbone house. They took me to the best diner for a QT2 traditional prerace Carbo load breakfast. I was glad David participated in my eating frenzy and his wife Jill modestly ate her short stack of pancakes.  After came the post carbo load nap.  Later I headed down to the Expo and pro meeting. The Rev 3 Expo's always makes me smile. Unlike the feeling you get at other races when everyone is too stressed and focused to look at you. The muddy expo was full of music, laughs, catching up with friends, chatting to sponsors/vendors. The kids race was about to begin and their was excitement in the air all beating to the pulse of roller coasters rumbling by.

As you can tell by this photo I was way to relaxed.

Race morning arrived. I was not nervous at all. The field was top notch! With the $125 000 dollar prize purse the best of the best had arrived and I felt like I might as well have been at the World Champs in Vegas.  The only problem I was showing up not in world champ racing shape. I was excited to race as I love the bike course but my prerace anxiety level was low and there were no nerves.  I think my only concern was that I might freeze on the bike.  (I really think I need to toughen up!)
All cameras were focused on a handful of girls so I just stayed calm and enjoyed the whole racing process. I was feeling pretty good and I headed down to the water bracing myself for a cool non wetsuit swim.  The warmup swim was freezing as the sun was not strong and I was happy to have brought down a jacket to wait in post swim.
Standing on the start line I was very relaxed. Too relaxed! I looked at the great field of pro girls around me and was happy to be there but in my heart I knew I was not ready to compete. With the 3 week taper that came with IMSA and the 10days I took off after the race and pretty much only 2 1/2 weeks of solid training under my belt I was feeling hopeful but not confident. It's impossible to come into a race like this with a stellar field with the kind of low key zone 1 training I did, and have any expectations other than to race,  try execute a plan based on my current fitness and try not beat myself up too much mentally after it.
Well I did just that.

When the gun went off I swam hard! My sprint speed is definitely improving and I hung witht he group for maybe 300 yards. But as I had started on the very right of the group I was being pushed out of staying on any ones feet. The feet I did land up on unfortunately lost the feet that were in front of hers so we spent the next 25 minutes trying to catch up to the group that I should have been swimming with.
The swim seemed long, but I felt good the whole way through. Once on land I ran up to T1 where I made the wimpy decision that I did not want to freeze. So I took the extra time...a whole minute of it and put on socks, arm warmers and gloves. Yes it was over kill and yes after about 10 miles I was comfortably warm! But it was so nice not to freeze uncontrollably for those first 10 miles!

I went out hard and tried to stay with the two girls that passed me.  I was working hard on the hills. But my heart rate/watts were on the high side so I pulled back knowing there were lots of hills up ahead. There is 4000 feet of climbing on this course so I paced myself and rode steady hard. But once again I found I was riding solo so it was just me and my garmin. When you ride solo like that it becomes almost like a training ride. It becomes a mental game of staying focused and in the race. I kept pushing, passing 2 girls near the end. I finished feeling strong and even though I was far back from the lead girls I was still having fun. I saw Heather W outfront and Angela Naeth and Rinnie , then Heather Jackson  and Kelly Williamson charging!
I saw my team mates Malaika and Jess Meyers. Then it was my turn to get running.

I loved the crowd going in and out of T2. I pushed hard and then suddenly I found myself in unfamiliar territory. I could not catch my breath. I was running down hill and I was  having to slow my pace down.  This shortness of breath which hopefully was related to all the pollen in the air lasted for almost half the run. I managed to pick things up after about six miles and I pushed  all the way to the end.  I could see the girls up ahead but just ran out of real estate to catch anyone.

Once I finished I then realized how closed my chest still was and ended up going to medical
I don't like to show up to races unprepared, but unfortunately that is just the way it landed up!

After a disappointing IMSA I think I have been in a post IM depression!  It's tough mentally when you train hard and things don't go your way...This whole season has been a roller coaster. With mechanicals in Panama, followed by an awful Rev 3 Costa Rica. I saw some light with a solid performance in Texas 70.3 but followed that up with a heart breaking South Africa and then an average Quassy! But I am determined that I  can come back strong and race to my potential and I will refocus and get stronger again!
I'm a fighter and these let downs only make me want it more! So until the next race I will be training hard!

Am I glad I raced given the result I had! Definitely! These races that I race where I know I am at an end of a build or I am not fit  for are just stepping stones to make me stronger.

At the end of the day I'm racing healthy and I get to go  home to a great family who loves me no matter what! And friends that are always by my side supporting me and believing in me and that's all that matters!


Thank you so much to the Carbone family for hosting me. Also to Rev 3 for a successful and fun race. Thanks to QT2 Systems and Coach Jesse who had to deal with me post race and to PowerBar for fueling me, Pearl Izumi for their awesome gear and Blue Seventy for the most comfortable wetsuit ever! Not forgetting TorHans Aero Systems, Recovery Pump and Brielle Cyclery!

Win or Lose Mom you are still my Hero...keeping things in Perspective!

Going Home! No matter how IMSA was to go I felt like a winner before the race even started!

I had been waiting since November of 2011 to do IMSA. I put it in my schedule early on as I could not think of a better IM to do than a race after my crash last year. I thought about going to this race often. What it would feel like racing,crossing the finish line,getting on the podium, the crowds, the support, the sun and the african feel. I knew this was the right choice for me and I was motivated to train and race all through the winter. After months of hard work and a busy schedule of racing and training to prepare, race week approached. I made one last adjustment in the decision to bring my daughter. Whose persuading words that I was her hero and she needed to travel with me as we were travel buddies. I booked for her to join me on this adventure. My mom would be meeting me shortly after arriving in Port Elizabeth and I would be able to continue my race day preparations as I normally would. Bringing Sydney with me on a race trip always provides an element of fun and excitement and pure joy. Yes some may ask is it a distraction to my race..yes it is but in a good way. I wanted to have her be a part of my experience and if I was to do well I wanted her to share in my victory! Sydney posing in the lion cage!!!

Entertaining herself while i get a pool swim in!

Race week was filled with all sorts of fun but making sure I got plenty of rest too. As she had not been to South Africa in six years I wanted her to appreciate all SA had to offer. The lion and elephant game reserves,the beautiful landscapes and the prerace excitement.

All week, the weather while a little cool and windy, was beautiful. I became well aware that the hot race I had envisioned was not going to happen. With them moving IMSA back from March to late April the weather would be considerably cooler with the increased chance of rain and wind. Those would be the exact conditions we were to race in. Checking my bike in...Confident and relaxed!

Mastering My Mind at Texas 70.3 National Pro Championships!

Texas 70.3 was a successful day!

In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure.
Bill Cosby

What is success for me???
Success differs from person to person. Being a competitive athlete and only measuring success on your placement can be very frustrating. I have definitely been one of those athletes...but I have learned over the years to set different goals for races and thereby broaden the definition.
Yesterday I placed 11th in a competitive field at Texas 70.3. I viewed it as a good day for many reasons! Don't get me wrong ,
a Top 3 or Top 8 or a pay day would have been ALOT better and a big BONUS! But that was not my goal for this race!

Why race then?
I really believe you learn from each race....and from each race you get a boost of fitness. This was what Texas was for me! An opportunity to train in the best possible environment...a closed course,great competition and a chance to push myself harder than I would in any training day!

What did I gain from racing?

It was my suggestion to add Texas 70.3 to my schedule after my flat/mechanicals in Panama. I really enjoyed racing in Galveston last year and I love a 70.3 race 3 weeks before an Ironman. At first Coach Jesse was a little reluctant but then he agreed. On one condition I had to accept the day no matter what...without any negativity as it was going to be in the middle of my last big training weeks for Ironman South Africa. Now this is always easier said than done. Of course I had suggested racing prior to seeing the heavy schedule of training I was going to endure the 2 weeks prior to racing. But I just rolled with it and took each day one at a time . (With the occasional freak out ;-))

As a lot of you may have read...I went into race day quite fatigued. I raced Costa Rica Oly 2 weeks ago and made it a 20 mile run day then followed it up with another 22 plus day running 3 days later...then followed that with a 110 mile ride followed by a 140 mile ride4 days later on the lovely Texas 70.3 course (4 days before TX 70.3)!!! This was quite a big block of miles. And anyone who has done this race knows that riding in Galveston is like riding on the trainer...down in the aeros...no stopping... It was a windy long 7 hours.

After riding in the busy NJ roads I welcomed miles and miles of open riding with no stops!

San Luis Bridge...my favorite oart of the course!




So I was pretty much smashed 3 days before the race. Thankfully Coach Jesse eased up on the last few days by a hair allowing me to soak up the hard work and giving me the chance to recover a little before Texas.
He assured me I would be ok but after the race he shared that he was definitely worried that I might not have anything in the tank come race day! A good coach knows when to lie :-)

One of the things Coach Jesse and I had addressed the week before racing was the fact that I put ALOT of pressure on myself in wanting to perform well! Who doesn't! I have the tendency to want to make each and every workout count and each and every race a PR. Now this does not always happen. But by race day mentally I was quite prepared for the day! I knew it was not going to be easy!


So to reflect on race day. Here are 10 positives I took out of of my race yesterday.

1.I did not sleep much the night before the race..but reminded myself it's the sleep two nights before that really counts.

2. It was warm out...always a great way to start the day! As NJ has been cool I have been lucky to get 3 HOT weather races in this year. Big help for IMSA!

3. It was going to be a wetsuit swim...I have not swum in a wetsuit all year and IM South Africa will be wetsuits so it was important practice for that race.

4.Even though I missed the main pack and it was not the swim I hoped for I still took off more than a minute off my swim time from here last year. I swam aside 2 girls but never got the benefit of swimming on anyones feet.

5. Coach Jesse had decided the day before to have me ride 5-8 watts lower than previously suggested...I am glad that I chose to follow my instincts and biked at the initial suggested watts as my legs although flat were able to push. The bike just like last year was a chase to catch up to the girls who had come out of the water 1-3 minutes ahead of me. I managed to catch about 5 girls on the bike. Biking a 2.29 in windy conditions.

6. I was very thankful that that plan did not backfire.

7. My Torhans Aero Bottle is an amazing addition to my bike set up. In windy days like yesterday it wass perfect!!! Can't race without it!

8. Once on the run it was a relief to find out I still had running legs. My first 5km was 6.22 pace...probably a shade too fast as I could not hold it later in the race when it got really HOT! It was a 1.10 minute PR run for me on that course. 1.28.40 run.

9. Now for the BIGGEST one. I was more focused than I have ever been in a race. 100% in the race. If I had allowed myself at any point to dwell on my prerace fatigue I would never had been able to push this race...In my mind I was fresh and tapered!

10. I am so grateful to be back racing!!! I had no expectations going into this race other than RACE!!! No expectations =Happy with 11th place!~

It was so good to see everyone out in Texas. Big thanks to QT2 for putting together a lovely pre race breakfast and really fun post race party! What a great group of athletes.

Galveston..a unique touristy shore town...




Thank you to all of you for your warm wishes pre and post race.
Thanks to my sponsors Revolution 3, QT2 Systems, Power Bar, Pearl Izumi, Recovery Pump, TorHans Aero, Louis Garneau, Kestrel.