BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — After completing Ironman Lake Placid, 7 Weather Chief Meteorologist Aaron Mentkowski recapped his journey leading up to the event and completing it.
WATCH: Aaron Mentkowski talks about his experience completing the IRONMAN event at Lake Placid.
Aaron Mentkowski's Blog:
Last August I signed up for Ironman Lake Placid. I figured I had 11 months to train physically and mentally for this event.
My training started on January 1, 2024, with a sprained ankle on my first training run. The ankle never fully healed and it was not the start to training I was hoping for.
I followed a program in the book "Be Iron Fit" and it was great to have an outline of what I needed to do. The 30-week training program takes you to the start of Ironman Lake Placid.
After months of training, I felt I had put everything I could into training and I just wanted to get to the race. I would get a lot of texts asking "Are you ready?". I was nervous, excited, scared, and hoping I was ready.
My son and I left for the race on Friday. The six-hour drive was nice and we got to Lake Placid around noon. We checked into the hotel and then went to the Olympic Village to register for the Ironman. About 2,800 athletes participated in the race. There were so many people and you could feel the excitement in the air.
On Saturday, I woke up and took a swim in Mirror Lake, followed by a pancake breakfast. After breakfast, I turned in my bike, my bike gear, and my running gear for the race. The rest of the family arrived Saturday afternoon. After dinner, I put all of my clothes out for Sunday morning and tried to get some sleep.
I woke up Sunday at 4:15 a.m. and had my oatmeal. I grabbed my swim bag and we made our way to the start of the race. I was able to take a pre-race swim at 6:05 a.m. and that really helped get some of the jitters out. The swim was my biggest worry. I'm not a good swimmer and 2.4 miles is a far swim. I got in the water at 7:00 a.m. and it took me 1 hour and 43 minutes to complete the swim portion.
After the swim, it was to the transition tent to put on my biking gear. I took my time to make sure I did everything correctly. I even remembered my sunblock which was needed. I ate two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and headed out on the bike course. This bike course had about 7,000 feet of elevation. This was the hardest part of the race for me. At mile 105 I got sick on the side of the road. I had to walk my bike up a hill and thought about quitting. I finished the last seven miles on the bike and exhaled a huge sigh of relief. It took me eight hours to finish the ride portion, which was about an hour longer than I had planned for. The hills were brutal and I can honestly say I gave everything I had.
Now to the transition tent to get the bike gear off and put on my running clothes. In my gear bag I had a peanut butter cup as a reward for finishing the bike. My hands were so tight I had to ask a volunteer to open the package for me. We had a good laugh and then it was out on the run course.
A marathon was all that stood in the way of me being an Ironman. It took about 6 hours to finish the run. It's a very hilly course and I was just happy to finish. You get 17 hours to finish the Ironman event so I knew if walked the hills and ran the rest I would be under the time limit. I finished 16 hours and 19 minutes after I put my foot in the water at 7:00 a.m. At 11:19 p.m. I heard Mike Reilly say "Aaron Mentkowski you are an Ironman!!". I felt so many emotions during this event and crossing the finish line was one of the best feelings ever.
This was such an amazing journey. I met so many incredible people along the way. It would not have been possible without the support of my family and friends. Now I need to plan my next adventure!
