Lake Placid Here She Comes!

With less than a month before Lake Placid Ironman things are getting intense. Amber went up to Lake Placid for a long weekend training camp where she among other things bike around 500 miles, swam the 2.4 mile course multiple times and ran a sub-3 hour marathon on the Ironman course. That's right! A sub-three hour course as PART of her weekend training hell, er camp.
In the spirit of everyone making predictions of race outcomes, here is my humble one on Ironman Lake Placid on 7/25/2010:

Swim(2.4 miles): 0:57
Bike(112 miles): 5:28
Run(26.2 miles): 3:22
Total(140.2 with transitions): 9:50

Obviously, there are a lot of things that can impact this prediction, such as flats, weather and nutrition but I feel that Amber has practiced and prepared for all elements and despite whatever comes her way race day, she will not only be one of the fittest out there but also definitely one of the most mentally prepared.

For those who can't wait to see Amber at Placid, she has recently added the Black Fly Triathlon weekend, at Waterville Valley to her race plans. Let's see if she can retain the Lord of the Flies title! Good Luck to Amber and all the other participants.

Amber's 2009-2010 Achievements to Date

(Amber Pushing the Pace at Mt Washington Road Race with a 1:19 good enough for 7th female overall)

I quickly put together a list of Amber's 2009-2010 racing achievements. Am I missing anything?


Local:
2010
-Will Run for Beer Series- Overall Winner

-Granite State Snowshoe Series- Overall Winner

-Mooseman 70.3-1st Amateur Overall

-Mt Washington Road Race- 7th Overall, 1st NH finisher

-Rock N’ Race- 1st Overall

2009
-Bull Moose Champion

-Lord of the Flies Champion

-NH Triathlete of the Year

National:
2010
-70.3 World Championship Qualifier

-Short Course Duathlon Worlds Team Qualifier

-National Snowshoe Champion

-World Snowshoe Championship Qualifier

-New Orleans Mardi Gras Marathon- 9th Overall

2009
-Ironman Wisconsin- 3rd Place 25-29

Mooseman 70.3 from Danny's Perspective

Amber competed in this Sunday's Mooseman 70.3 which had a significant change in the bike course so it was expected to be quite a bit slower due to all the added hills. Amber had ridden the course a few times and had told me that she had never seen so many hills on a race course. I was unable to watch the race because my brothers and I were celebrating my sister's 21st birthday at the Second Annual Gold Jacket Tournament but I had Amber's sister, Deidre, and my friend, Greg, keep me posted on how she did.

Danny: How's she doing?
Deidre: She's second in her age group out of the water, 7th female overall!
Greg: Amber's ahead of Sean Snow by a full minute!

Danny: Where is she now?
Deidre: Half way through the bike, two pros just dropped off. Currently in 10th place overall, 1st in age group!
Greg: She's biking well over 20mph!

Danny: Any word?
Deidre: Just started the run with two bloody knees!
Greg: Amber just finished the bike only five minutes slower than Sean! She might catch him!

Danny: What pace is she running?
Deidre: I don't know but she just passed several guys.
Greg: She's running 6:40's, Sean's running 6:50's. It's going to be close!

Danny: I hope she's having a margarita at the finish line?
Deidre: Crossed the line, first non-professional female, 33rd racer(male and female) overall!
Greg: Well, she qualified for Clearwater and I think she was close enough to the first female pro to qualify for the Pro License herself. 4:42:04 only 20 seconds off of Sean.

It was an exciting way to watch the race unravel, but it was too bad that she couldn't have competed in the Bull Moose Challenge to defend her title(it was canceled after Mooseman Half turned into 70.3).

Amber's race summary to follow...(hopefully)