Lisa Marangon and Kate Bevilaqua finish 3rd and 4th at Ironman Lake Placid Triathlon

The last 4 days have been a whirl wind of adventures and I have loved it! I had the opportunity to have a look around Lake Placid.

After transferring from the Comfort Inn into a house near the swim start 2 days before the race I was so lucky to be sharing with Sheri Fraser. Not only a former professional triathlete and coach but a massage therapist! Perfect for me! It was tough to take laying there having a massage looking over the mountains and golf course. I was definitely relaxed!

The “FELT” was fast and ready to go! Transition area was amazing with 3100 athletes registered to race. For once I was glad to be starting 10 minutes before everyone else!

Race Day – What can I say! I came into this race just hoping to improve on my own personal Ironman Lanzarote performance. My short block of training had gone well and I was ready to see where I was at.

I absolutely loved the swim! I felt comfortable, found a great set of feet to follow and after the first lap found myself in a great position that I was determined to hold on to. The second lap became extremely crowded as we had to weave our way through slower age groupers but there was no taking the smile off my face to have finally put together a good swim. I always knew I could do it! My Blue Seventy Speed suit was so so nice to swim in!!

Onto the bike and the rain had stopped which was great timing for the descend into Keene. It took a little while to get into the groove but I focused on my nutrition and staying strong. Unfortunately I missed my special needs (my much wanted Vegemite sandwich!) and I am going to make sure that doesn’t happen again! The wind picked up a bit on the second lap and I did feel myself tiring the last 10-15km. Rather than continuing to push hard, I returned to a comfortable level reminded myself there was still a marathon to run and I may pay for it later.

A quick toilet stop in T2 and it was onto the run! How was I going to feel? I haven’t put together a descent marathon in 2 years and I was desperate to achieve this mentally and physically. Coach Jeff’s strict instructions were begin the run easy!! It is downhill right from the start and easy to let it go but I held back and felt comfortable enjoying the first loop. Even the climb back into town. Obviously the 2nd loop was all mental and my pace dropped off but I kept moving forward and did not walk once!! It was an amazing feeling coming down the finish chute feeling confident I had achieved the goals I had set for the day. Amanda Balding was there to give me my finishers medal and a huge hug, I was relieved!

Pizza and Cookies and Cream Ice Cream went down a treat but the excitement was to continue when I found out the next day I had a Kona slot!! I am so so excited! I qualified in 2008 but didn’t go due to injury so it has been a few years now. I can’t wait to return to that special place!

The top 5 women! Celebrating at the awards luncheon!

To all my friends and family (especially my amazing mum and dad, love you both and miss you!!), coach Jeff Shilt and amazing sponsors (K-SWISS, Novatron, Selle SMP Saddles, Nuun, GU, FELT, Computrainer, Ryders Sunglasses, SKINS, Tony Bence Sports Massage and Ruth Chang champion Physio!!) Thank you for standing by me during the down times. It is onwards and upwards from here and I can’t wait!!