BY SAPNA PATHAK
Mike Lavery remembers the moment well – wading in Mirror Lake, surrounded by thousands of swimmers, the Bedford native faced his toughest mental challenge to date.
One year later, he did it all again.
After a taxing introduction in 2006, Lavery signed up for his second Ford Ironman USA triathlon, once again heading to Lake Placid for the competition on July 22.
“The swim, especially the first half of it, (is the most difficult aspect),” said Lavery. “Swimming was definitely my weakness, and I’m not the most confident swimmer. There were like 2,300 swimmers all around you. You’re being kicked in the face.
Someone’s grabbing your ankles … It was definitely a shocker. The first half was the most stressful because you don’t even want to swim, you’re just thinking, ‘Get me out of here.’”
Despite his doubts about the 2.4-mile swim, Lavery finished this year’s triathlon eighth overall among men and first in the 18- to 24-year-old men’s age division.
The Derryfield School graduate, already a runner and cyclist, added swimming to his repertoire when a fellow college student pointed Lavery toward triathlons in fall 2004.
“I’d just finished a marathon and ran into Dan (Arlandson),” said Lavery. “And he said I should swim so I could do triathlons. In high school, I would bike and run to train to ski, but it turns out I was better at running and biking than ski racing.”
Lavery completed the triathlon’s 112-mile bike race in 5 hours, 19.40 minutes, the swim in 1:00:28 and the 26.2-mile run in 3:19:35.
Joining Lavery at Lake Placid was Bedford athlete Molly Zahr, who placed 19th overall among women and second in the 24- to 29-year-old women’s division.
The final results qualified both Zahr and Lavery to compete in the Ironman World Championships in Hawaii later this year.
Training at least twice daily, Lavery spends up to eight hours each day compiling mileage on his bike or in the pool.
And he does this while balancing a full schedule studying at the University of Notre Dame.
“Ironman is pretty much about endurance and not really how fast you go,” said Lavery. “It gets a little crazy with school and the training. I still do two workouts a day, at least, when there’s a long time before a triathlon. I never knew what to expect until you actually get there. The swim was rough my first time, but this time I was a little more relaxed because I knew I just had to get through that first part."