Working Towards Normal

Will it, or won’t it drop?  That is the question.

Ironman Lake Placid was my sixth full-distance Ironman, so in many ways, I knew what to expect. However, the race was also one of many firsts, and I wasn’t sure how everything would play out on race day.

All That Was New

You can read countless coaches’ blog posts and the information Illuminati in the various Ironman race-specific Facebook groups that say that you should never use new equipment or nutrition on race day. There was even a post where someone was considering changing to a tubeless set-up 2-3 months before the race, and he was admonished for even considering an equipment change that late in the game. I wondered, “at what point is something not regarded as new?”

Well, I broke that rule, and then some, if you follow the guidelines set forth by the wisdom of the crowd in the Facebook group. I started by buying a new bike, a Quintana Roo VPR with Enve 6.7 carbon wheels, at the end of April and received it the first week of May. Buying it was a bit of a financial stretch since I’ve been out of work for the last two years, but I have also been riding my BH Aerolight RC for ten years and was looking to bring my riding to another level. But that remains to be seen as of this writing, even though I believe my bike split was faster than my last time through IMLP in 2022 since the course was about two miles longer and had more elevation gain. I only had two months to get used to the bike and had several issues that plagued me throughout the training period leading up to and during the race. More of which I’ll get into later.

This was also the first full-distance race for two athletes which I have coached since January. Not only was it their first 140.6, but they are the first two athletes I have coached at this distance. It was really important to me that they be successful in their Ironman journey while also trying to balance my own needs for my race. In some ways, it helped me stay relaxed for the race by thinking about how I could help them through the days leading up to the race. Both had the goal of only finishing the race, but I have trained with them since the start of the pandemic and knew that they could do much better than that.

A knee injury (my first ever) almost derailed this race. I have often recovered from injuries during training blocks leading up to races. From Achilles and calf issues to breaking my neck, this was the first time my knee hampered my training, and it happened closer to this race than previous injuries. I didn’t run more than seven times from April 12th until June 1st, when I did a 70.3. Those runs were tests to see how long I could run before feeling pain. Inexplicably, all of my runs leading up to the 70.3 ended in pain, but on race day, I ran pain-free. From that point on, I had seven weeks to regain some of the run fitness I lost while injured.

Finally, my 80-year-old parents and sister came from Georgia to see me race. My mom wasn’t technically eighty yet, but we celebrated her eightieth birthday while she was here. It was the first time my parents had seen me race this distance. They went to my first 70.3 race nine years ago and another one the year after. It was the first time my sister had seen me race. And despite them being there to support me, another group of people also needed my attention. Although, my wife handled a good part of that. She did a great job educating my family and the husband of one of my athletes on spectating a 140.6 race. I have never spectated a full Ironman or a 70.3, for that matter, so, I have no idea how to manage it. However, my wife has filled me in on the all-day nervousness she experiences until she sees me go by on the bike or run.

The New Bike

Since the second time I rode my new bike, I have been plagued by chain drops and chain suck. My first ride consisted of a 30-minute ride to bed in the disc breaks, so I didn’t do much chain ring switching on that ride. After that, it consistently dropped at least once per ride and has dropped going from the big ring to the small and the small ring to the big. After the first chain drop, I brought it to a bike mechanic to see if anything was wrong. I bought QR’s FIT-READY UPGRADE, where I gave them my measurements, and the bike that comes to you is mostly assembled. You have to install the DI2 battery and seat and mount the wheels. It is pitched as receiving your bike ready to ride. The bike mechanic couldn’t see anything wrong with the drivetrain, which caused the chain to drop. The next ride, it dropped in the beginning, and I had to get picked up because the chain was wedged between the frame and the chain ring in such a way that I couldn’t get it out. As it turns out, the bike mechanic had to remove the crank to release it. Luckily, the clear protective tape around the bottom bracket was the only scratch. But the chain continued to drop.  The next time I brought it in, he discovered that the front derailleur was installed incorrectly and was not parallel with the chain ring.

Long story short, after countless frustrating rides with chain drops, my wife connected me with someone she knows through work who used to work in a bike shop and had many connections with mechanics. He was able to connect me with a Di2 expert and have him look at it two days before I was supposed to leave for IMLP. I took my BH bike out the day I dropped it off because I was sure I had to use it for the race. But I got the bike back the morning I was supposed to leave. He found the chain to be too long, and both derailleurs needed slight adjustments. Once I got home, I took it out for a test ride, and it shifted more smoothly and the chain didn’t drop. That is, until the end, when I was spinning easy through gear changes. It dropped, shifting from the small to the big chain ring. I chalked it up to having little to no tension on the chain, causing the alignment to be off. At least, that was what I told myself so I could ride this bike and not my old one in the race. I was convinced I would likely be faster on this bike even if I dropped my chain one or two times.

Race Day

There were many times I didn’t think this day would come between my bike troubles, limited running, and stupid shit happening to me; like falling through a deck board and slamming my shin into a deck joist while rebuilding my parent’s deck in April to the liquid contents of a can of compressed air that ricocheted off the surface, I was blowing off into both eyes in June.

The night before the race, I didn’t get much sleep and I reliably got up every hour to pee, but this is how it goes for me in every race. I got up at 3:15 to have my three cups of applesauce and protein powder. I got dressed, and we were out the door by 3:55 a.m. to drive from Keene Valley to Lake Placid to find a parking space that didn’t require a long walk. We easily found a spot about a half mile away, and our first challenge was conquered.

We walked up to transition, and I left Sandra to check my bike and add my BTA bottle, bottle of EFS Pro, and a bottle of high-concentration EFS Pro (old Formula) to mix at aid stations. I also checked again to ensure I was in the right gear to start. I then dropped off the pre-race concentrate for the bike and the run. Next, I needed to find my athletes and answer any questions they may have had.

I found one adding nutrition to her bike and getting ready to put air in her tubes. The line we saw wasn’t long until we realized one of the pumps was broken, and people were waiting for one pump. What’s funny is that I helped everyone in front of my athlete get the proper seal to get air in their tubes, but when it got to Meredith, we couldn’t get it to seal. We tried another pump and couldn’t get that one to work either. Her tires felt fine, but I had no idea what their pressure was. We both hoped for the best and moved on. We then met up with my other athlete before heading to the swim start.

Swim

I managed to get into the practice swim area and get some strokes while everyone else waited in the portlet lines. After I was done, we met other people from our local tri club before the press to get into the swim corral.

Meredith and I lined up at the beginning of the 1:05 section, and Mike Reilly made his way through the crowd nearby to give people high-fives. Meredith managed to get a high-five before the rolling swim started.

I made it through the gate, ran across the water as far as I could, and then dove. I was off and trying not to go out too hard. About 100-200 yards out, I took a face full of water while sighting and choked. I had to tread water for a few seconds to try and clear my throat and reset myself. I then put my head back into the water to cough out some more and make sure that I could get back to swimming and still be able to cough underwater. That worked fine, and then I was off again. I felt the washing machine effect when I got within a couple of hundred yards from the first turn, which lasted for about 3/4 of the rest of the way back for the first loop. I kept having people converge in front of me and having to stop to get around them. As I made my way to the Australian Exit, most people before me were walking from the chest-to-hip deep water. I swam until my fingers touched the bottom and prayed my hamstrings wouldn’t lock up. I felt a slight twinge but made it to shore and back out to swim with no issues. Once I got 500 yards out, the washing machine effect seemed to lessen, and I focused on counting to twenty to keep a good rhythm. I didn’t find anyone to draft off until about 750 yds remaining and lost them about 50 yds from the dock.

I finished the swim at 1:13:22. It wasn’t a great swim time for me, especially for what I perceived my effort to be. In retrospect, maybe the person I drafted off of wasn’t swimming that fast after all. I told myself the swim didn’t make that much difference overall and moved on to the bike. While I knew I wasn’t going to podium, I still wanted to beat my time for IMLP 2022.

The Bike

Now, it was time to find out if I could make it through the bike leg without dropping my chain and if the new bike and race wheels would make a difference.

I hopped on the bike at the mounting line and struggled to get my right foot clipped in. Also, with the new bike, I changed to the Speedplay Power Pedals. The first set of cleats I tried were impossible to clip in. The ones I had on my new Tri shoes (yes, another new piece of gear) were much easier to clip in. But today, I traveled a little over half a mile before I had to stop, pull up on the sidewalk, and work on clipping in my right cleat. After a minute or so, I got it clipped in.

After settling in as much as you can doing climbs and descents on wet roads, I came up on Meredith and let her know she had a great swim. She was puzzled and asked me what happened on the swim for me to be behind her on the bike. I shrugged and made my way to the Bobsled Center. I did the inaugural 70.3 here in 2017, and the full in 2022, but I couldn’t remember what we did in 2017 and knew the 2022 race didn’t go as far, so I was pleasantly surprised with the loop we had to do before heading back out to Route 73. In 2022, the aid station was on the slight climb back onto 73.

I made it to the Keene descent, and the roads were still a bit wet. The last time I did the descent was in the middle of June, and it was pouring rain and heavy traffic. That was still fresh in my mind, so I took it a little slow. What I can’t figure out is why I get nervous on a descent and free spinning, but when I am on rolling hills going the same speed, I feel in control and enjoy the speed. I only averaged 35 mph on the first loop and similar on the dry second loop. I am also not as confident on my new bike yet because the deeper rims and the stiffer frame are making for a longer learning curve.

I went too fast on the ride out 9N from Keene to Jay. At least that’s what Strava tells me since they have it as my second-best effort on that segment, and it is nine seconds slower than my PR the month before, in which I felt like I was hammering the whole way. About a mile before I reached the dreaded bridge, my chain dropped going from the small to the big ring. I let out a deep sigh, pulled over, fixed the chain, and turned the crank with my hand to make sure everything was lined up to start back up. I went through the covered bridge without incident and headed up the North Jay Road climb. We still had some cloud cover, which made the climb more manageable than in the full sun.

I still don’t understand why the covered bridge was part of the course other than a photo opportunity. When we were here the month before for training, we saw maybe one car on the road.

By then, I hadn’t finished my first bottle, and my stomach felt a bit wonky. Despite following my ten-minute alarm to drink, I wasn’t taking much in. The Maurten gels were not going down easy as well. I was a little worried that I would blow up like I did the previous year in Tremblant 70.3, so I did my best to stick to the schedule. Every sip I took, or gel I ate made me a little nauseous for the rest of the race.

After making it back down 9N and starting the climb back into Wilmington, my effort was right in line with improving my bike time but not going hard and risking blowing up on the run. The descents into the valley before climbing back up to the turn for Haselton were fun and confidence-boosting.

The climb back to Lake Placid from Wilmington was uneventful. The wind had not kicked up yet through the Wilmington notch. I rode by my family on Mirror Lake Rd and waved. My first loop finished at 3:05, which was on pace to be about one mph faster than in 2022. Around this time, I also lost connection with my left power meter pedal, and my drivetrain squeaked with every revolution of the crank. A guy who came by me on one of the climbs back to the Keene descent said it sounded like I had a mouse trapped in my bike. I agreed and hoped it would go away soon, but no such luck. I never got my power meter back, and the squeak tormented me for the rest of the ride.

I made it down the Keene descent again but still was conservative on my way down. I moved to the center of the lane to avoid the ripples in some spots. Some guy burned up the left-hand side, yelling for people to get out of the way doing 50-60 mph. Not that people in front could hear him until he passed by. I couldn’t understand how this guy was behind me on the second loop if he could go that fast on the descent. He must have struggled on the climbs. I didn’t get a good look at him, so I don’t know if I caught up with him later.

The segment from Keene to Jay was about 2:12 minutes slower than the first time. This started a trend where I was around a minute behind my previous run-through. The rest of the ride to mile 100 was uneventful, other than gradually slowing down and the sun staying out of the clouds for extended periods.

Around mile 100, I was ready for the bike to be done, but I knew the bears were still to come. I just focused on being strong for the short descents left to help me get up the hills and that I was almost done. I was disappointed to see that I had lost ground in getting a PR for the bike leg, but I also knew that this course was longer and had considerably more climbing than in 2022. As I made my way down Mirror Lake Road, seeing my wife and family cheering me on to the bike finish was great.

I made my way to the bike dismount area and finished at 6:26:14. My 2022 bike finish was 6:25:36. I was disappointed then but didn’t know how close I was.

Before I dismounted, I was ready to get off the bike and run. But the bike catcher was barking orders at me as the guy next to me was leaning over my bike, blocking me from doing anything. The bike catcher kept yelling at me to get off the bike, but there was nowhere to go. That was frustrating for me, but I unclipped without a problem, something I wasn’t sure would happen given the way the bike leg started. Plus, I was pretty sure my running shoes wouldn’t squeak like my bike.

The Run

I was semi-looking forward to the run after 100 miles on the bike, as much as you could look forward to spending four to five hours more exerting yourself after already doing that for more than seven hours. While getting changed for running, the guy who commented on my mouse-powered bike complimented me on my ride. He said he could never quite catch up to me, which felt pretty good since he was easily 20+ years younger and significantly lighter than me. I thanked him and complimented him on his ride as well.

I dropped off my bike bag and headed out for the run just as the sun became a permanent fixture in the sky. The run downhill past Station Street has been my fastest mile split for both races. While I kept telling myself to slow down, in the back of my mind, I was also thinking – take advantage of the downhill.

My stomach was not feeling great and I had to choke down every gel on the run. I used ice in my cap to distract me from the nausea. It would burn when I added it to my cap, gradually becoming less intense. I also stuffed ice in the inside pocket of my tri kit. I tried the Mortal Hydration in the first 2-3 stations but decided to stop doing that because of the taste. Instead, I took in three licks of the base salt before getting water and ice at each aid station. I kept that going until mile 18, and then I stopped being able to bring myself to take in a gel. I switched to Coke, which initially made me feel better, but many were left carbonated and warm, so I could only take in a little bit at those aid stations.

At mile 4 on River Rd, my right hamstring locked up, and I had to do some active stretches to work it out. Luckily, it resolved itself after the stretches, and I could continue running. I forgot I had a hot shot in the back pocket of my kit. Just as well it was hot as hell, and I still had another half mile to get to the next aid station for water.

At mile 11, heading down the hill by the golf course, it felt like I had a stone in my shoe next to my pinky toe on my right foot. It was a burning pain, but I held off on stopping until I was in the shade. I took my show off, tipped it over, and nothing came out. It must be the sock, I thought to myself and adjusted it so it would not be bunched up. I put my shoe back on and started to run. I made it about ten steps before the pain started again. This time, I rolled my sock more over the center of my foot before putting the shoe back on, and that did the trick.

Somewhere after mile 11, my watch told me it was running out of battery. Around mile 14, it beeped at me again, and I hit the lap button instead of the up button. Somehow, I lose all memory of the function each button controls when I am this far into a race. So, I ended the triathlon activity tracking and paused the watch. So, I just hit resume and hoped for the best. That worked for about another 3 miles, and the activity recording stopped. So I just hit start and cycled through each leg with the lap button until I hit run. It recorded for another 0.88 miles before it died for good.

While I only walked up the hill to Main Street on the first lap, hill walking became my default method for tackling anything that wasn’t downhill or flat for the second loop. Even some of the flats after mile 19 looked like hills that needed to be walked. I told myself I was saving my legs when I first went up the hill from Station to Main Street. I expanded the criteria to include any time I felt worse than I did 5 minutes ago.

The thing about my run-walks is that I go from walking 50 feet to doing a 9-minute mile pace. For some reason, I can’t slow down and steadily keep running. I also tended to run when I went by the club tent out on Mirror Rd. However, my parents were further down this time and caught me walking up the hill before the intersection. Despite the jig being up, I still ran past the club tent and ran-walked to the turn-around point. A short distance after the turnaround, I decided I needed to finish running, and I did. I finished the run at 4:39:32. I heard Mike Reilly call out, “Brian Muldowney, You are an Ironman.” He also let everyone know I’m 58. I’m not quite there yet, but that is my triathlon age.

I finished my last race run here in 4:32:05, so being only seven minutes longer with more elevation gain seemed like a win.

I finished 19th in my age group at 12:34:15. 0:10:14 longer than 2022.  Many thanks to my coach, Elliot Kawaoka with Peak Tri Coaching, for getting me to race day despite my injury and talking me off the ledge when I was ready to throw my bike into a dumpster, Jack at Velo Resource for figuring out the front derailleur alignment with the chainring, and to Lincoln Philips for helping me out with my bike days before I was leaving for the race.

 

Wins from this Race

My parents and sister got to see me race a full distance. We celebrated my mom’s 80th birthday. Both the athletes I coached, Rachel and Meredith, beat me on the swim and far exceeded their goals for the race. I got to see them multiple times on the run and cheer them on. They are both going on to compete in the World Championship in Nice, France, in September. I only dropped my chain once, and the pain in my knee held off until mile 18. My biggest cheerleader, my wife Sandra, was there to greet me at the end.

Impressions of the Course

It’s a challenging course, and they made it harder this year. The covered bridge was unnecessary and one of my athletes lost twenty minutes with a flat tire on it.  The bike was still easier than Whistler, so there’s that.  I liked the changes to the run despite the fact that there was more elevation gain.  Not having to take a left on Main Street and continue to climb was a plus, and I didn’t feel like the climb out to Northwood was that challenging.  Everything was challenging in the second loop, but I just liked it better.

What I Need to Work On

My swim. I need to get back into a master’s swim program. I’ve lost about 10 sec per 100 in my swimming over the last few years. I need to move up and find better swimmers to draft off of.

I need to slow down on the first half of the bike and focus on hitting numbers and not how it feels. I didn’t feel like I was going too hard, but I sure felt it on the second loop.

I need to figure out how to keep running and not lose that momentum on the run.

What’s Next

While I didn’t have a bad race at IMLP, I had a lot of issues that made it not a good race either. While I wasn’t planning on doing another race this year, I’m headed to North Carolina to do the 70.3 there. It should be a fast course. I have OnondagaMan in May of 2025 and then Ottawa in August.