My son completed the Ironman challenge at Lake Placid, New York. All I can say is wow! A 2.4-mile swim, followed by a 112-mile bike ride and then a full marathon! I am tired just writing about it.
I am happy he did not ask me to run it with him. I did meet parents who were competing because their kid asked them to compete. This is why I began running in 2019–my son asked me to compete with him in a triathlon. An ironman is too much for me.
Congratulations Ironman!
My son’s journey is one of dedication and hard work. He trained a lot. He ate what he was supposed to eat and trained when he was supposed to train. We just got in the car to drive him to the competition and more importantly, drive him back home the day after the 13-hour event. It was a joy for us to see him compete. We met others who did not finish. It cannot be easy to continue going strong enough to finish this grueling competition.
We arrived in Providence in time for dinner and discovered my son has not just a training plan for exercise but also one for eating. Good thing he lives on Federal Hill in Providence. Eating is always enjoyable in this area. We found plenty of good options for us, including carrot cake desert.
The weekend of the Ironman was upon us, and we had an uneventful drive up to Lake Placid. What a pretty setting for an event. We loved walking around the town. As my son went for a warm-up swim, we went out kayaking on Mirror Lake in the Village of Lake Placid. This is where the event was held on Sunday.
Saturday, prior to the event, we walked around the lake and explored the village. I remember watching on TV the Miracle on Ice from the Winter Olympics held in Lake Placid. It was exciting for us to see where it took place. We also explored the Ironman Village which was in and around the Olympic area. It rained on Saturday, and that was okay. It was dry on Sunday, race day, and that was important for the competitors riding bikes on all the hills.
It was recommended in a parents and friends briefing that we look for watch locations where our athlete will pass by one or more times. Saturday’s hike around the lake allowed us to pick out spots to watch for our son to pass by. We made it to the hilltop of a trail just off of Mirror Lake. Because it was cloudy and misty, we could not see much from the top looking down to the village.
Sunday morning was cooler than Saturday but thankfully no rain. We could feel the excitement from all the fans and athletes as they got ready for the start. Hey, that is my kid with the black wet suit and green cap…
The Lake Placid Ironman course has athletes do two loops for each event. So, twice in the lake, twice by us on the bike and run. We were told to find a place where they would go out and loop back; we were happy with the spots we selected the day before.
We had several hours in between seeing our son go by. I know he was working hard. We ate, enjoyed a walk.
After a long day for us and a lot of work for our son, he was proclaimed an Ironman. We are proud of him and all that he did to make that possible.
Lessons Learned:
My son needed dedication and focus to stay the course and complete his ironman training. Anything we are focused on achieving requires the same. Well done.
Other Fun:
I did manage to get in a few runs around the lake. I am in okay shape for my age, but these ironman participants are in really good shape. Hey, I am no ironman, just dad. My legs were fresh. The ride home was quiet.
Our drive up to Rhode Island and uilimately Lake Placid started in the car. We need to break up the drives, so we stopped in Ohio at the Gorman Nature Center to hike and explore. This is a well done nature center; we could have spent longer here exploring more of the trails and the indoor exhibits.
We needed to transport our son’s bike up to Lake Placid, so we brought our bikes to his place. On the way up, we stopped to enjoy the Lackawanna River Heritage Trail in Scranton, PA. The paved trail is not too long. We did see a ground hog, and it made us ask if we see one, and it doesn’t see its shadow, how much longer will summer be with us? On our way home, we stopped back in Scranton to walk the paved Lackawanna Trail.
After dropping off our newly minted Ironman, we went to Massachusetts to see our grandson and do more running and play games.
We spent some time on our last visit playing pickleball. We did that again on this visit. Our daughter-in-law is a member of the East Bay Pickleball Club. It is a good facility; despite our not being that good, we had fun playing with others.
We were able to ride together the East Bay bike trail on our way out of town. It is such a pretty trail.
Congratulations Ironman. See you on the road.
