Congratulations to WattsUp athlete Shawn Clark on his first full Ironman at Lake Placid - 5th place AG Podium finish!

Jul 25

WattsUp Multisport would like to congratulate Shawn Clark on his first full Ironman and first full Ironman age group podium finish for Ironman Lake Placid 2023! Shawn put in the work and it paid off in a great day!

Shawn earned a 5th place podium finish in his age group for Ironman Lake Placid!

Shawn’s Race Report on Ironman Lake Placid:

I signed up for this race almost a year in advance knowing it would be popular and sell out. Being from back east and knowing how iconic the Lake Placid Ironman venue was, I was really passionate about doing this race as my first full Ironman!

I put in many many hours of training leading up to this race, which proved to be hard leading closer and closer to the race because I had to balance working overtime and training volume increases at the same time. The only issues I had leading up to the race were some hip irritation while on the bike, which I’ve never had before. It seemed to dissipate with stretching and massage, but I was still a little concerned.

Gina, the kids, and I flew into Buffalo to visit Niagara Falls before heading east to Lake Placid. We were all a little tired from traveling, but it was nice to see Niagara Falls before heading to Lake Placid.

Picture I took of the falls while doing an easy shake out jog after flying to Buffalo, NY.

Sitting in one of the oversized Adirondack chairs

Official rock plaque for Ironman Lake Placid!

Taking a picture with the famous rock after doing a practice swim

Race Day Morning: Swim Start

We woke up around 3 am to get ready for the race. I had all my gear ready to go the night before, so we loaded the car and made our way over to the lake.

Making a new friend while getting ready for the swim

I wore a sleeveless wetsuit since I am generally more comfortable with it on and the water temp was around 74 degrees that morning. It felt really comfortable, so I don’t regret my choice, even though you lose a little time with a sleeveless vs sleeved wetsuit.

I ate a banana and an SIS gel before lining up for the swim.

Everyone lined up and waiting for the swim to start

I lined up in the 1:00 - 1:10 swim time since there was no 1:05 - 1:10 time, which I was aiming to swim around. I took out the first lap relatively easy based on feel. It ended up being around 35 mins, which was right in the zone I wanted to hit.

The second lap was a little more chaotic and crowded, but I will say that most people swam relatively straighter due to that cable between the buoys. Apparently, that cable is there for boat races of some sort and not specifically for Ironman, but the race organizers use it to line up their buoys as well. I barely had to sight on the way back in on lap two and finished the swim in 1:11:37, which was only slightly slower than I was aiming for. I was trying to conserve as much energy as possible and probably could have pushed it a little more. I was trying not to kick at all, but this type of effort might have paid off later in the race.

Making my way out of the water feeling very fresh!

Making my way out of the swim into Transition 1

Running from the lake to the transition was downhill and somewhat far. I tried to be careful because people were falling going around the corner coming out of the park area. I grabbed my bike bag and got my helmet on, took off my swim gear, stuffed it in the bag and ran with my shoes in my hand over to my bike. I had a not so great bike rack spot so I didn’t put my shoes on until I got over to my bike. I also used road bike shoes because they felt more firm and connected to the pedals for something like a 112 mile ride. I got on my bike and started riding cautiously down the hill out of transition.

Bike Course Start

I was trying to pace my ride so that the first 20 miles or so was relatively easier than the rest of the ride, just to kind of ease into it. There were quite a lot of people on the bike course before me by this point so I was passing constantly. The roads and course felt overall relatively safe and I never felt like I had to take a chance to pass someone and risk my life. Only a few people were blocking, whom probably just didn’t know the rules.

Cruising around on lap 1 of the bike course

Once you make your way back towards town you climb up a section called “The Three Bears” Basically a climbing section that is really fun if you like to bike. On the last climb “Papa Bear” there were tons of people dancing, playing music, cheering, and having a great time. It was something really cool I’ve never experienced in a race like this before. This was definitely the highlight of the bike course.

Once I started on loop 2 it got incredibly quiet. I questioned whether or not I went the wrong way, but I was still on course. It also started getting a little warmer out, but I was trying to stay on top of my nutrition and hydration. By about mile 90 I started feeling some cramping in my calves and then hip flexors so I had to back off a little just to be safe. It wasn’t too bad, but I didn’t want to ruin my race by pushing too hard. By around mile 100 I was starting to feel a little tired too. The last 10 miles or so is gradual up hill (Three Bears Climb) and we had a relatively moderate headwind coming at us. By the time I got near the town I was getting anxious to get off the bike!

I took in 2500 calories on the bike, 2000 was liquid calories and 500 from gels. I probably drank about 2 gallons of water mixed with everything since I refilled at every single aid station! I put a gel flask in my top frame bag, which really helped make it easier to take in small quantities more often. Definitely recommend doing that again.

My son, Reilly waiting for me to come into transition before heading out on the run! My mom, uncle, sister, and nephew were all watching the race too!

Transition 2:

It started to downpour right before getting off the bike into Transition 2! I got soaked trying to make my way into the transition tent. I don’t even remember what else was going on other than getting into the tent, which was soaked all over the grass with puddles everywhere. It was a mess! I removed my bike gear and got into my run gear as fast as possible. I wore my running vest with 400-calorie flasks on each side, and 400 calories worth of gels (1600 total)

Run Course Start:

Starting out on the bike course, giving some cheering spectators the thumbs up, but feeling unsure of how long this rain was going to last!

Running in the rain storm, trying to take in some SIS electrolyte gels to hopefully alleviate any cramping

I started the run out of transition 2 and immediately felt great! It was so weird since I was starting to feel some fatigue near the end of the bike course. I was actually thinking to myself if I saw Gina I would have to tell her I screwed this race up and to text Geoff to apologize. It was also raining like crazy, but it’s Ironman so I figured it’s supposed to be like this, with both the unpredictable weather conditions and fatigue.

After a couple miles into the run, the rain let up. By around this point I also knew my legs were going to be good for this run, at least that was how I felt. No signs of cramping and every discomfort from being on the bike was completely gone. I probably need a new bike fit actually. That might be helpful as well.

Running back into town near the end of Lap 1, looking for Gina and my family.

I finally, for the first time during the race saw Gina and my family while I was running up a hill towards the first lap turnaround. This gave me a nice boost of energy seeing everyone and knowing I only had one lap on the run left. I also felt like I was just getting started, playing the first lap conservatively until I knew what the course was like.

Each lap starts with a couple of miles of rolling downhill, then another mile or so of more gradual rolling and downhill before you make a turn onto River Road. Once on River Road, it is flattish rolling type hills, not super easy, but not crazy like the uphills going back into town. There is an uphill once you make the right turn off River Road going back into town that is a good one. Not too steep, but pretty long before leveling off. I saw a lot of people walking on that one. I actually saw a lot of people walking in general, but way more when I was on the second loop. All my running up here in the mountains, not by choice, but just because it’s local, really paid off.

I didn’t start feeling tired on the run until around mile 22. I actually ran out of calories and grabbed a Maurten gel. I think I had around 1700 calories on the run and wanted to make sure I was topped off right until the end. I was learning on this race that my body is very good at taking in tons of calories, which helped immensely to get through the run! I also took in 1 salt stix pill every 4 miles, but only on the run. I probably should have had a couple on the bike to help with cramping (if electrolytes do in fact help, I know there are mixed arguments on this) I think they helped though, but so do calories.

Once I got to around mile 24 I started feeling more confident and running a little harder. I actually felt like I was picking up speed at one point since I was so excited! I started to run into the famous oval making my way to the finish line!

Coming into the Olympic oval, setting my eyes on the finish line for the first time!

I saw Gina and my family at the finish line and knew that I finally was going to complete my first Ironman! This was one of the most exciting feelings I’ve ever experienced, like an adrenaline rush! Feeling strong like I could have kept running if I needed to made it even more amazing! In contrast, when I did Tulsa 70.3 several weeks earlier I didn’t feel like running anymore, even well before the finish, which was kind of scary!

Finally hearing, “You are an Ironman!” a moment I’ve been waiting for now for a few years, perhaps even longer! Pure excitement!

Getting refreshments in the finisher area

After the race, I met up with my family when Gina told me I had gotten 5th place in my Age Group! I was so happy to have podiumed my first full with no experience doing this distance. I raced the entire thing based on feel (no HR monitor) and gradually built up my effort as I went along, which probably just allowed me to not slow down as much as some others. All my training weeks and plan, provided by Geoff Steffens, really prepared me well! A lot of long training sessions felt harder than doing this actual race, which helped me to feel strong and push through right up to the end.

We went to the awards ceremony the next morning, where I received my 5th-place Age Group plaque before heading back home to New Mexico!

Recap:

Lake Placid is a beautiful and challenging Ironman course that I think every triathlete should try at least once! I can see why this one has been around since 1999! It is the perfect venue for a race like this. I’m super happy I chose this one to be my first full distance Ironman! I was also very happy with my training plan and how everything worked out. Some weeks were crazy busy trying to train 20 hours a week plus doing around 20 hours of overtime. Some mornings I felt like I shouldn’t even have been training, but I pushed through. Mostly the swim workouts at 5:30 were the hardest. I’m trying to get better with time management and I think the past 6 months really helped me with that.

Thank you to my family for coming to visit and see me race! Now my mom knows that Ironman is more than just a run, haha. Thank you to everyone for your support and messages, it meant a lot to me as I have invested so much of myself into being able to do a full Ironman. Thank you to my coach Geoff, who was always there to help me and answer all my questions about training. And thank you to my wife, Gina, who still thinks I’m crazy and hopefully doesn’t stop thinking that anytime soon, haha!