Episode 34: A Deep Dive on Ironman Lake Placid

In this week's episode, Coach Jim sits down with Coach Katie and Coach Kevin to cover everything you need to know about our Beast of the East: Ironman Lake Placid. Katie and Kevin have both qualified for the Ironman World Championships not once, but twice, at Ironman Lake Placid. We chat about the history of Lake Placid and why it's such a special race; the nitty gritty details of the swim, bike, and run course; the crazy weather and conditions we have seen at Placid; the key workouts that prepared us to qualify for Kona at Placid twice; and considerations for why you should or shouldn't sign up. We also go over many general Ironman training and racing considerations you should be thinking about for any Ironman race. Check it out!

Coaching and training insights: 

Katie:

  • Tried out a new effective mantra for training, racing, race sims: “reserve judgment” 

    • Recent race sim, had urge to judge the whole ride 5 minutes in because I felt like HR was up (hot day)  

    • Later on, was coming up on a coffee shop stop and kept saying “I’m definitely going to want to call it when I get there, I’ll be so close to the car anyway”

    • Both times, and throughout: RESERVE JUDGMENT. Don’t judge the entire ride/race/race sim based on how you feel in any one given moment. Tell yourself to get to the next checkpoint and we will evaluate how we feel when/after we get there. 

    • Feel like “reserve judgment” is easier for me than “woohooooo go Katie you’ve got this” because that the toxic positivity frame doesn’t feel as authentic for self-talk. Trying out something neutral may be helpful for our cynical athletes!

  • Race sims in hot weather: Easy to overheat, under hydrate, under fuel because you don’t have aid stations, especially on the run 

    • Idea: set up an aid station in your car and do loops from there. Cooler with ice, icy bottles, snacks, etc. and do 1-2 mile loops or out and backs so you can practice exactly what it will be like to have that consistent fueling/hydration/ice access 

  • Using the difference between normalized power and HR as a gauge for how you are feeling. 

    • For me, when I am feeling good on a long ride, there is a roughly 30-35 difference between normalized power and HR (example: 135 HR, 165-170 normalized power). 

    • If I am sick, or overtired, that gap shrinks. I might see 145 HR for 165-170 NP, or 125 HR and 140 NP. 

    • Recovering from a GI bug right now and I was seeing 125 HR and 137 NP. Not good! 

    • Everyone’s ‘gap’ will be very different and power is somewhat related to bodyweight, but figuring out what normal looks like for you can give you more data for understanding if something is off.  

Jim:

  • If you need to take time off from your sport because of work, family, injury, you will be fine!  Sometimes it’s scary to imagine life without sport as a centerpiece for identity and physical and mental health. But a break from sport will inevitably happen.  You can still focus on eating well, plenty of sleep, 10K steps, and lifting weights. This will provide a health bridge to when you can resume your sporting life.

  • As you enter W8 and W4 and Race Day, start to focus on showing up 100% healthy to those sessions.  By this time in the training cycle, you are quite fit. The Monday - Friday sessions are supporting workouts but not always critical workouts.  Weekends and particularly Week 8 and Week 4 Race Sims are the most important to closely approximate race day demands. These weekends provide the most important stimulus that will allow you to adapt to race day conditions.

    • The number one thing you can do entering those weekends or race day is showing up mentally and physically fresh. If this means taking an extra day off, scaling back some Monday-Friday workouts, do it.  You want to bring your best on those days so be sure to make space in your busy life to ensure that is the case.

Kevin:

  • Reverse planning to execute race sims and long runs on the weekend

Main content:

A little background on why we are doing a deep dive on Ironman Lake Placid:  

  • History of this race and the Endurance Drive

  • We have spectated or been to this race MANY times

  • Kevin and Katie 2x KQ at IMLP

  • Relevant to many of our listeners as it’s one of the closest IMs you can do (and can drive to) if you live in the Northeast

  • Kevin family history in LP

All about Placid: 

  • Upstate NY (5 hours from Boston, 3 hours from the UV)

  • In the heart of the Adirondacks

  • Hosted the 1980 olympics / Miracle on ice — a ton of sports history 

  • 26 (!) years running

  • The VIBE!

Let’s get to the course: IMLP is known for its amazing swim, hilly but beautiful bike and hilly, and usually hot and humid run. 

We going to give you a general description of each section and most importantly how you approach racing this section of the course:

Swim:


When you should be up at the Lake from transition
How to seed yourself
Where to swim (on the cable, of course)

How to pace each loop
How is the swim traffic on loop one vs loop two?
How to exit the water and make your way to T1 (under control, not running!)

T1/Bike:

Swim to T1: what to do, what not to do. (gear, calories, etc)

LP to top of Keene Descent

Keene Descent

Keene to Jay

New section loop / Jay climbs

Wilmington to LP (Three Bears)

Bike Special Needs

T2/Run:

T2: Any advice?

Out of T2 down Lisa G hill

Lisa G to River Rd

River Rd out and back

River Rd back to Lisa G

Lisa G hill up

Out and back on Mirror Lake Dr:

Climate — can vary (rain, heat, humidity, colder temps). Last year the weather was awesome except a freak rainstorm; Kevin’s 2021 year had low air quality; Katie 2019 was pretty hot and humid on the run

  • There can be 3 - 4 different weather systems at play on race day. LP / Jay / Wilmington can all have very different weather/conditions.

Training considerations for Lake Placid

  • Big piece of advice that goes for this race and any other IM: traveling to the course beforehand and ideally doing a race sim out there is one of the most valuable things you can do leading into race day. TED W4 race sims at Placid have been crucial.

  • Open water sighting and general OWS skills are less important than in some other races given the underwater cable.
    But, in training, you still need to make 4K a standard weekly swim during the last 6 - 8 weeks before race day.

  • Need to know how to climb on a TT bike: tons of hill training on long rides, low cadence work on the trainer.
    Placid particularly rewards the cyclist who has a smooth pedal stroke in all terrains.  Pay attention to your VI on long weekend rides and Race Sims.
    You should have a 34 cassette on your back wheel for Placid. If you don’t know what this means, take your bike to your local bike shop and tell them you are doing IMLP and need a cassette for big, long climbs.

  • Hill work on the run as well. Prioritize strength running over speed.

    • Talk about the 9 miler we did off 112 mile bike at W8 Race Sim with all of the Placid climbing condensed into it. 

  • BRick sessions that include a lot of climbing on the bike and especially on the run.  For runs, become familiar with sustainable effort rather than pace.

  • BIG bike volume during training. You need to make 100 miles feel routine.

Reasons to definitely do IMLP:

  • The crowd and energy are amazing

  • Climate is similar to what you are training in in the Northeast — this is a general point about choosing a goal race that has weather you can train in 

  • Lake Placid is a special place and IMLP is a true classic like some of the big, famous European triathlon races.

Reasons to definitely NOT do IMLP:

  • If you can’t train on hills, IMLP will be super hard 

  • Lodging can be very expensive in LP and will sell out really early 

  • If you are just starting your triathlon journey, get in 2 - 3 seasons of shorter races, learn the triathlon craft, build durability and then sign up for the big one.

Other races that are similar to IMLP? Any 70.3s that we think are particularly good prep races or dress rehearsals that can give you a feel for Placid terrain? Tremblant 70.3? White Mountains Triathlon - the 70.3 distance and even the Olympic is beefy.

  • Key point: Ironmans are closer to 3X - 4X harder than a Half Ironman. It’s not just 2X harder because the distance is 2X longer.  It’s an exponential curve.  The best way to be prepared for an Ironman is to do Ironmans. Be prepared to do many Ironmans if you want to get good at Ironman.

Gear pick of the week