Lake Placid IRONMAN coach. Built for the climbs.
Lake Placid is the IRONMAN that punishes athletes who trained for Florida. 8,000+ feet of climbing across two bike loops, a glacial swim in Mirror Lake, and a run that breaks down anyone who didn't ride conservative. I coach triathletes targeting their first IM finish here, a Kona slot, or a real performance on a course that rewards smart pacing over raw watts.
Lake Placid is honest. The course will tell on you.
Most IRONMAN courses let you fake fitness for 90 miles before the bill comes due on the run. Lake Placid does not. The first bike loop tells you what your second loop will feel like, and your second loop tells you what your marathon will be. Pace it wrong on the descent into Keene and you've already lost the race.
The training fix is unsexy: low-cadence strength intervals to build the leg strength for sustained climbing, big-day rides with double the elevation of your weekday rides, and run training that prioritises sustained Z2 over interval work. Specificity, not heroics.
How I coach this build
Low-cadence strength intervals two weeks of every three. Sustained climbing in your big day rides, even on a trainer if your local geography is flat.
Lake Placid has a guide cable beneath the swim line. We rehearse drafting and cable sighting in open water. It saves 60–90 seconds easy.
Brick runs every weekend in the peak block. Your IM run is decided by how you ride, not how you run when fresh.
IRONMAN is an aerobic event. We build the diesel engine, not the sprint. Threshold work is sharpening, not the main course.
Every long ride and every long run gets the same fuel plan you'll execute on race day. By race week, your gut is trained for it.
Lake Placid sits at ~1,800 feet. We add a small heart-rate offset in the final 6 weeks and rehearse a 4–7 day arrival window if your travel allows.
A sample peak-build week
Week 18 of a 24-week build for an age-grouper targeting a sub-12 hour Lake Placid finish. Roughly 14 hours total.
Get the free Lake Placid IM Playbook.
The course-specific framework I use with athletes racing IRONMAN Lake Placid. PDF, no fluff.
- Bike pacing template for both loops at three goal times
- Swim sighting and drafting on the guide cable
- Climbing-specific 6-week bike block
- Race-day fuelling schedule at altitude
Frequently asked questions
Two things: the bike course climbs over 8,000 feet across two laps with a 3-mile sustained ascent on each loop, and the swim is in a clear glacial lake with a guide cable below for sighting. It's slow, honest, and demanding. PR-chasers go to Florida; mountain hunters come here.
24 weeks for a structured build assuming you have a baseline aerobic engine. If you're new to long-course triathlon, plan a 9–12 month runway with a base phase before the IM-specific build.
No. Most of the roster is fully remote. I do run a coaching camp in Lake Placid every summer if you want time on the actual course — see the camps page.
Hill repeats on whatever you have, low-cadence strength intervals on the trainer, and one big bike day per week with double the elevation of a normal ride. Specificity beats geography.
Lake Placid sits at ~1,800 feet — meaningful for sea-level athletes but not extreme. We add a small heart-rate adjustment in the final block and rehearse a 4–7 day arrival window for athletes who can manage it.
The 24-Week IRONMAN Plan is $125 one-time. 1:1 coaching billed every 4 weeks: Aurora $250, Phoenix $350, ThunderBird $750 (capped at 4 athletes).