Jeffrey Kramer

Ironman Lake Placid 2010 Race Report

Wow!  Where do I start?  Between having a great race and watching my wife Dena finish her first Ironman I don’t know where to begin.  I will try to keep this short so I don’t bore you.

Swim (54:47)-  3rd fastest Ironman swim out of 17!  Best overall finish 30th .  Hey this fat kid can swim J  I was right up in front in the middle and had the smoothest swim I have ever had in an Ironman.  I guess with only 27 people in front of me (two were pros) it was smooth sailing, and with that line I never had to pick up my head.  I got out of the water, had a good transition and then took off on my bike.  Thank you volunteers!
Bike (5:49:38)-Well I thought I was going to have a better time, but I did a bit of a silly thing.  I thought I was in good enough shape but I was out a little too hard.  2:40 first half, 3:10 second half.  As we all know those should have been a little closer to each other.  No reason to have a second half over 3 hours.  Oh well onto the run.

Now here is the interesting part of my race…….
Run (4:00:43)- Wow!  I ran a 4 hour marathon while only running 4 miles at a time one day a week for the last 4 months.  For those of you that don’t know me, I have a whole in my ankle and have obviously had limited run training.  Eric Hodska gave me the best game plan in the world to run aid station to aid station and walk the hills.  It was like 26 mile repeats.  Never thought of that before.  That is why I hired a coach.  I took that strategy to heart and had a great run.

Now the really good stuff…..
I crossed the finish line in 10:54:29.  Third fastest time at Lake Placid.  Fastest time and first time under 11 since my bout with Thyroid Cancer in 2008.  So I was  a little emotional.  Jaime Sullivan was getting his stuff after his great day and he was nothing but full of compliments to me and my accomplishment seeing as how I had no run training.  For the first time in my 17 Ironman races I actually cried after I finished.  I then found my Mother in Law, Sister in Law and her boyfriend after I composed myself.  They were great!  Cheering all day. 

Here’s where it’s really, really good…….
Dena finished her first Ironman and I was there to watch her cross that finish line.  I’m not sure what was better, my race or watching her finish?

As I always say in all my race reports.  Thank you for reading and taking an interest in one of my passions in life.  I would like to thank some people for there part in my success as well as Dena’s.  Eric for never giving up on me and coaching me to a break through race. Jaime Sullivan, Dan Veltri, Jen Veltri, Carol Bacinskas, Karyn Bacinskas, Jay Hanecak, Shawn Dejardins, Bill Honeck, Morgan Cotter, Gus Ellison, Mike Biehl, Roger Thrall,, Alan Macdougall, Ken Osborne, Newington Bike Staff, The My Athlete Staff, all my new friends I met along the way and especially my wife Dena.

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