#IMLP7th

I’ll get to the 7^th place excitement in a minute, but first wanted to talk about the race. Brian and I have been trying to do at least one race a year together and decided that Lake Placid would be it this year. The past couple months we did some great training together, which I really enjoyed. All the training topped off with two peak weekends, the first in Lake Placid with his coach Jesse Vondracek (and wife Amy Cole) and then a weekend at Brian’s family farm in central VA with our friend Ben. I had been able to train on the course a little and was feeling fit and ready.

I didn’t realize until about 2 months out from the race that there were no homestays for Lake Placid. By then most of the accommodations near town were taken, so Brian and I were scrambling a bit to find somewhere to stay. Luckily, his coach Jesse was staying at the National Sports Academy for a couple months of the summer to train in Lake Placid. He graciously invited us to stay with him in his one bedroom apartment. We brought up an air mattress and though it was a little tight, we both really enjoyed spending race weekend with Jesse.

Dai Roberts group van spotting in Lake Placid!

Weird pre race contests... who can splay their feet the most, Brian won

living large, it actually was pretty comfy though and thank you Jesse for the place to stay

our traditional pre-IM mini golf, this goes back to my first IM when I was so nervous, Brian took me to play mini golf to get my mind off it

he beat me by quite a bit...

hanging out at the Infinit booth, super nice guys, great products

Race day came quickly and my nerves were bubbling away. Quick hug for Jesse who was racing in the pro mens field, and then I lined up with the other women to watch them go off. There were lots of ominous gray clouds over the lake, but I’m not even sure I gave them a second thought. The gun went off and I actually had a pretty good start. I was close to the first group that was breaking away, and then I got dropped… Hmmm not part of my plan but I adapted and hugged the cable and led a second small group until a little after the second turn buoy. At that point the two girls on my feet came around and I jumped on their feet (sweet, free ride!). I then noticed that they were kind of weaving back and forth a lot so I made the decision to just hold the cable line. By the way, the new Zoot Prophet 2.0 wetsuit is really comfortable, I loved the first version of the Prophet but this one is definitely a big improvement. Coming around the dock I was just over 30 min, not too bad. I jumped back in and worked on maintaining my pace and holding my line. I started running into amateurs about halfway down the first leg. No problem I thought, we’re the only ones allowed to swim inside the buoys (until the turns) so I’ll just get clean water there. No such luck, inside the buoys seemed just as chaotic. I take full responsibility that I should have found a way to handle this better, but it was frustrating. I came out of the second lap in 1:06 and couldn’t believe how much time I’d lost on the second loop. Definitely not an ideal swim for me, but it was time to focus on the bike. It had started to downpour just as I was finishing the swim. Running by my bike rack I was slightly relieved to see I wasn’t the only bike left.

There is a fairly steep hill coming out of transition that goes into a left hand turn. I rode the brakes, thinking better to be safe right here then wreck. I was able to get into a groove on the way out of town but remembered coach Tara’s insistence on taking that first climb fairly easy. Going into the descent I wasn’t as nervous as I thought I would be in the rain. The only thing I found really difficult was seeing through the rain collecting on my glasses. That and rain at 40+ mph is a bit uncomfortable. I hit the paved portion fairly fast and then was slightly more cautious on the rougher section toward the bottom. Left hand turn at Keene and I was onto my favorite portion of the course, the rolling road along the river. Somewhere on this road Brian came by me, and I was happy to see that he must have had a pretty good swim and was looking strong on the bike. I was able to get a look at the pro women at the turn around and thought, ok a few are not out of my reach, I just need to continue to ride strong. I rode pretty consistently up the climb back to town and prepared myself for loop 2. Pre riding the course a few weeks prior, I knew loop 2 would be tough. The volunteers were awesome and had my special needs bottle out of the bag and held out for me coming through town. I also was able to catch a couple shouts of encouragement from friends. The rain had stopped at this point and it was starting to warm up. I went a little harder up the climb out of town and then hit the descent a little faster than the first loop. On the first part of the descent I saw Brian on the side of the road and my heart sank. I asked if he needed anything and he waved me by. I’ll let him elaborate but he ended up on the side of the road for 20-30 minutes with a sliced tire. Once I was out on the out and back section I could start to feel the fatigue creeping in and knew the climb back to town would be tough but manageable. I just kept sucking down my Infinit custom blend to stay topped off. I did see Brian again before turning to climb back and was relieved that he had been able to get back on the bike. I was probably a bit slower than I should be on the climb but I felt like I gauged my effort fairly well. Heading back into town, I was ready to get into my running shoes. If you read my Syracuse report, I have a weird habit of finally being able to pee on the bike right before dismount. This race was no exception, though I had at least gotten out of my shoes first this time. Sorry bike handlers…

coming through town after the first loop

heading into T2, pretty excited to be getting off my bike

The volunteers in the change tents were great and I was in and out of T2 pretty quickly, finally in my Zoot tempos and holding my flask of Infinit napalm. Running out of town was exciting and energizing with all the crowds out cheering. The weird weather didn't appear to keep anyone inside. I wasn't sure what place I was in but I felt confident that I was racing within myself. After the first turn around I was trying to count the women but wasn't sure I was counting right. I passed Brian going the other way and he yelled that I was in 7^th. Hmmm I thought, 7^th is pretty good! But I was still gunning for 6^th or even 5^th if I could make it happen. I was holding my predicted pace pretty well until heading back uphill towards town. I knew this area would be slower and tried to keep my feet light and my legs turning over. There was a DJ in between the two hills and he played my favorite pump up song for me, The Fighter by Gym Class Heroes! Running back into town was fun with all the crowds. I turned toward the shorter out and back and saw a few guys by the brewery waving around a giant check and going nuts. I couldn't help but smile and high fived them. Shortly after that I saw my coach Tara with her little daughter Maya. Tara yelled that my cadence looked good and to keep pushing. I left town feeling newly energized to take on the second loop. That energy carried my all the way to the turn around on River Road, and then it started to get really tough. I was so happy to see that Amber was leading and smiling, she has always been so nice and I know she works really hard. I had seen 6^th place walking and thought there might be a chance to catch her, but if not I at least wanted to fend off 8^th. Coming up the two big hills into town was really tough, I refused to walk though, mostly because I was terrified I wouldn't be able to run again. I don’t think the last two miles of an Ironman have ever been that tough, I was starting to become concerned that my legs would just give out, and I begged them not to. I passed by Tara again and she yelled to hang tough. She told me later that her daughter said “Rachel looks upset” and Tara explained that I was just very focused and maybe hurting but that I would be happy at the finish line. I probably didn't soak in the oval as much as I should have, I was so focused on just making it to the line. I saw the Dark Mark before the finish and high fived him. I’m not 100% sure what happened when I crossed the line but I was told I raised my arms up and then kind of staggered to the side and fell into the finish line arch... Kind of embarrassing, the medical volunteers were great and grabbed me. I kept telling them I needed to wait for my husband to finish and they took one look at me and said no, you’re coming with us.

heading into the final out and back, pretty hurting at this point

When I called my coach once back at the apartment, I said, before you say anything I’m actually really happy with this day. She knew it wasn't the time I wanted and that maybe I hoped to place a little better, but was happy that I recognized my effort on the day. I've said in past reports that my ideal race is one where I have nothing left at the end. I can honestly say that for this race I pushed all day and am not sure I could have gone a step further at the finish line. Being able to push myself to that extent is what I really strive for.

after the race

at the midnight finish

I had about half a beer and was feeling tipsy...

Now this #IMLP7th business. I've been asked a few times if I was shooting for 7^th. All I ever want to do with my racing is go as hard as I possibly can. Whether that’s 1^st or 10^th as long as I know I gave it everything then I’m good. If I had been able to pass 6^th I definitely would have. That being said, I was pretty excited to be 7^th. I received a message from Dark Mark asking me to get to the brewery at 10pm for the “award ceremony.” I have to admit, I was a little nervous to meet Dark Mark and TRS as they are quite the twitter personalities. They were extremely nice and welcoming of me. I was given a Real Starky t-shirt and gluten tolerant wrist band and introduced to many of the people hanging around for the festivities. The award ceremony was really fun and it was really nice to meet and chat with the 7^th place male pro Raymond. When I was able to get to my phone, I had close to 50 Facebook notifications and almost 100 twitter notifications. I was pretty shocked at the huge response, which was 98% positive. I more than doubled my Twitter followers in just 2 days and many of them took a minute to congratulate me! While I recognize that Amber and Kyle are definitely the heroes of the day, it was pretty cool to see the triathlon community, largely amateurs, rally around the pros. I consider this an incredible gift from the triathlon community and wanted everyone to know that I greatly appreciate it. I know I don’t need to tell anyone what I will do with the money, but if I had donated I would be curious. I am a graduate student finishing up my PhD and my husband works a hard manual labor construction job building elevators. We get by fairly well, but money does get tight and I try to have my racing be as little a burden as possible. Currently that means doing races that I can drive to and staying with homestays (which I actually really enjoy). I have no expectations of getting rich from triathlon, and I definitely don’t do it for the money. I know it will take time to work up the ranks and I look forward to that challenge. I don’t necessarily think race organizers owe me anything, but it would be great to have a system in place to develop younger/newer pros. If this kind of support meant pros doing more at races, I would be happy to help out with clinics, kids races, etc. So I’m rambling, I was going to say what will happen with the money. The majority of it is going to make some needed repairs on our home that we have been putting off. I know that many people have much more to worry about than a leaky roof, but we are trying to sell our house and move when I’m done with school so we need to make those repairs. I do want to donate a portion of the money. The triathlon community has given so much to me and I wanted to find a way to thank them. I've been talking to Final Kick Sports about possible ideas to give back a little. I will also donate a little to two charities that are very close to me. I should write an entire blog explaining them, but two of my best high school friends passed away years ago in two separate incidences. Ali’s fund (Ali Sacco) supports cardiac research at the Boston Children’s Hospital. Adam’s fund (AdamTowler Foundation) supports a scholarship fund to a school in Wyoming where he was from, as well as the American Heart Association. They have both been an inspiration to me, and I used to raise more money for their funds through my racing, so I wanted to get back to that a little.

This blog is probably a little too sappy for Dark Mark, TRS and Pay10Deep :P Seriously though guys, I appreciate you bringing pros and amateurs together (IMLP7th video). You made a race that I might have been slightly disappointed with (for not finishing on the podium) really fun and my husband and I will be able to pay some bills and give back a bit. I hope I can thank/repay the community by being a good ambassador for our sport and racing to the absolute best of my ability at the rest of my races this season. I still can't believe I'm doing another IM 4 weeks after Lake Placid, but I'm actually getting pretty excited for Louisville. As always, thank you to all of our friends, family and sponsors for your unending support.