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Race Result

Racer: Scott Baldwin
Race: Ironman USA
Date: Sunday, July 23, 2006
Location: Lake Placid, NY
Race Type: Triathlon - Ironman
Age Group: Male 35 - 39
Time: 10:19:51
Overall Place: 102 / 2160
Age Group Place: 22 / 418
Comment: Could not have asked for a better day



Race Report:



The last time I did IMLP I DNFed....and I have been kicking myself ever since. The last time I did an IM (Fla 2005), I walked most of the marathon and was pissed at myself for weeks. Since then I have done everything I could to not go away from the race with disappointment. I have cranked up my swim and bike volume and have had gotten lots of help from others. Katie helped me with swimming. Danny and David kicked my butt on the bike. My family has been very patient with me as they knew this was my last push at an IM for a while. Dr. H worked wonders on my IT band which was giving my trouble just at the time I should have been putting lots of run miles in but couldn't.

The days leading up to the race were showing promising weather. Things were cooling off. The were a few rain showers going into the weekend. I race best when it's cold and rainy.

Swim: (1:06:26)
Nothing exciting. Just lots of people trying to swim between 1:04 and 1:10. Not very easy to get open water in such a small race course and so many people. My goal was to get through the swim and not use a lot of energy doing it.

Bike (2:42:48 and 2:48:12 equals 5:31:00)
Good bike split. All the hill training I did made this course seem nearly flat. I flatted going down the big hill out of town on the first loop. I did not panic. Managed to change it in about 2 minutes (I love tubulars). But I was out of spares (I hate tubulars). Again, like the swim, my goal was to just cruise and have energy left for the run.

Run (1:37:14 and 1:54:31 equals 3:31:45)
I actually felt good for the first 16 miles of the run. I saw my split after the first half and didn't think I could keep up the pace but decided to keep going for as long as I could. It lasted until about mile 16 when I had to walk through an aid station for the first time. I was starting to get major cramping in the quads. I was looking of some salt tablets and a woman came up to me and handed me a container of Mortons Salt. I asked here what I was suppose to do with it and she had no idea...I told her I'd pass on the NaCl.. I managed to get through the last ten miles of mixed running and fast walking. It hurt a lot...

I finished with my son next to me in a time on 10:19:51. 10:20 was my predicted ulitmate fastest I could have gone on a prefect day. This time would have gotten me a spot for Kona any of the previous 6 years in Lake Placid. I missed a spot by 10 minutes. Am I dissappointed? A little bit. Any regrets? None at all. I could have not gone any faster on any portion of the race. I did the best i could on that day. I gave it everything I had. So I am happy....Will I do another IM? Not next year and probably not the following. But I'll never say never...


Key Points:
1) In addition to the increased training volume in the pool and on the bike, I spent a lot of time thinking of all the successes I have had this season leading up to this race. I wanted to have these fresh in my head for the race when things got tough I could recall them and hope the I could get through any lows. This really worked for the most part. In the past I have gotten into a rut and everything around me would pull me down. I learned that mental thoughness is really important especially in a race this long.

2) More run volume in training is not necessarily better. My running suffered in the last two months leading up to this race. I was having major IT band issues and wasn't quiet sure what to do about it. I couldn't decide if I should just push through and hope I wouldn't make it worse or do I stay off of it and hope my run endurance did suffer. steve smith refered me to Dr. H who does ART. I spent 1-2 times a week in his office for 6 weeks leading up to this race. He me hurt when I went in there but I felt progressively much better each time I left. I ended up keeping my run voume low and everything worked out. This marathon turned out to be one of my top 10 (standalone) marathon times.

3) Don't panic when things go wrong. getting punched during the swim, flatting on the bike and cramping on the run. These are all small things when you look at the big picture of the race. They are all part of the race. And the challenge is to get through all the little things (planned and unplanned) without making them ruin your day.