November 15, 2006

2006 Ironman Lake Placid Final Thoughts

The “high” from race day lingers but it’s slowly fading. Training for 2007 begins in a few weeks. Here are some final, fragmented thoughts that I wanted to get down as my last and final on IM LP 06.

*The “Watch Me Finish” clip on the Ironman USA website is incredible. Watching that moment when you become an Ironman is priceless. Hint to first timers: try to finish by yourself with no other participants around you. You’ll get a better shot!

*The Black Bear in town is excellent for breakfast. Not bad for lunch too!

*Swim the course on the Friday before the race. It makes all the difference in the world.

*Take a weekend in the Spring and train in LP. Getting to know the bike course can be quite helpful. I didn’t do that the first time around but will try to do it in 2007.

*Make sure you get the right size T-Shirt after you finish. In the heat of the moment, I didn’t check and it was 1 size too small. Fortunately, I was able to rectify the situation.

*Thank as many volunteers as you can. They are the best! They make your race a lot easier, let me tell you.

*Say thank you to the spectators as well. They stay there all day cheering you on and calling out your name. It’s inspiring.

*Experiment more with your Heart Rate Zones during training unless you are quite positive about them. I have some doubts about mine and wonder if I could have pushed a little harder on the bike.

*Push hard on the bike during training once or twice.

*Get your free massage at the end of the race.

*If you want to sign up for next year, remember that as a participant this year, you don’t have to lay out any cash for about 3 weeks.

*Ironman North America runs a great race!

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