IMLP Goals Revisited

Well a few days have passed since Ironman Lake Placid and I thought it would be good to revisit my goals for the race.  To recap they were:

1. Dream Goal
2. Top 30% of Age Group
3. Top 30% of Overall
4. Run full marathon (minus aid stations)
5. Finish strong

To clarify finish strong I meant not crawling over the finish line and not having to visit the medical tent!  My best miles were the final miles pace wise and I did finish strong escaping with only a minor sunburn and one lost toenail.  No blisters, no bike crashes, no kicks to the head.  All told this goal was achieved.

Run the full marathon (minus the aid stations).  With the exception of one mile to deal with some GI issues it was successful.  I ran between each aid station, did not start walking until I got to the sponges and started running as soon as I was at the end of the station.  While I didn’t nail this one I came pretty close and am happy with the result of my first 30+ KM run, my first IM marathon and my first marathon ever.  No complaints.

Top 30% overall and top 30% of age group.  This gets a little complicated as there were two sets of results, combined (wetsuit and non-wetsuit) and wetsuit.  The numbers are still pretty close and this is how they break down:

• Overall 927/2502 (37%) combined
• Overall 517/1891 (27%) wetsuit
• Male 793/1870 (42%) combined
• Male 471/1052 (44%) wetsuit
• M35-39 174/302 (55%) combined
• M35-39 104/225 (46%) wetsuit

So not in the top 30% but I am not concerned here.  These were based on the dream goal that, had I hit that goal, would have placed me in these groups.  Not hitting that goal dropped me out of those areas.

So the dream goal, what was it?  Well it was broken down into a few smaller goals which when combined would meet the dream goal.  The dream goal was sub-12 hours and was based on hitting these numbers:

• 1h 15m swim
• 15m transitions (T1 and T2 combined)
• 6h 0m bike
• 4h 30m run

While I missed the dream goal by 25:44 I was on track until the second half of the run and had beat a few goals along the way:

• 1h 8m 56s swim
• 13m 52s transitions
• 6h 4m 51s bike
• 4h 58m 5s run (2h 18m 1st lap)

So well I gained time on the swim and transitions, I lost a little on the bike but was still on target at the start of the run.  I was on track until the second lap of the run and really until the 30KM mark things were going OK.

Am I upset?  Hell no!  I had a great day, a great race, hit or came very close to hitting all my goals and it was my first Ironman.  The only goal for your first Ironman is to finish in under 17 hours.  I got the shirt, I got the hat, I got the medal.  Mission Accomplished!