Four days after Alyssa Bahel and her father, Mike Bahel, completed the Ironman in Lake Placid, N.Y. — a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride, and a marathon — Alyssa was at a bachelorette party in Florida and Mike was taking part in Montauk Cycle Company’s Hot Laps, a hilly bike ride to the Montauk Lighthouse and back.
Both finished 17th in their age groups in the July 19 race. Alyssa is 28; her father was 59 at the time.
“It was brutal,” Mike said. “It was not pleasant when you’re 59 and you don’t train right.”
A new sexagenarian as of Monday, Mike finished the Ironman in 13:32:46, an average pace of 10:29 per mile. He swam for 1:24:57, biked for 7:19:10, and ran for 4:35:28. It’s hard to imagine competing in a 13-and-a-half-hour race a week before your 60th birthday, but that’s what Bahels do.
“Bahels never quit,” he said. “You can’t.”
The trouble for Mike started with his bike selection.
“I know what to do before races, nothing new, but I didn’t have the right bike. I bought a brand-new tri-bike for it. I rode it once and then decided to use my road bike,” he said. “I finished the swim and was looking at everybody and thought I could do 17 miles per hour on my bike, but that didn’t happen. By mile 40 I was toast.”
Alyssa finished the race, her first Ironman, in 12:01:35, averaging 8:20 per mile. She spent 1:12:32 swimming, 7:00:45 biking, and 3:38:58 running.
“I never had a time goal. I just wanted to finish, but the day before the race I was thinking it would be cool if I could break 12 hours so I ended up going as hard as I could. Almost got it done. . . . There’s just room for improvement,” she said.
That said, she could not have asked for a better run. The average marathon time for a woman 25 to 29 years old is around 4 hours and 30 minutes. She beat that by more than 51 minutes, after swimming and biking for over eight hours.
“The run I knew I would be most excited for, but didn’t know what the time would look like. I definitely surprised myself with 3:38,” she said. “I was really proud of that time. It was so much fun — the coolest thing I’ve ever done.”
Mike had hoped the run would be his best leg as well, but by mile 4.5 his knees started giving him trouble.
“Usually the run is the easiest for me. I can swim, but I’m just slow. The swim turned out to be the best — it was my favorite.”
This was his fourth Ironman. He previously completed Lake Placid twice and a shortened Ironman in Ireland, where the swim was canceled because of weather conditions.
“I’ve watched him compete in triathlons since I was a kid, and now it’s something we get to share together, which is pretty special,” Alyssa said. “I went to Lake Placid when he did the Ironman in 2009 and watched him finish in 11:34, which is an insane time. Seventeen years later, I got to do the same Ironman with him, so full circle!”
Alyssa enjoyed the experience so much that she said she would do another Ironman next month if she could. Despite his struggles, Mike is also eager to get back at it — though maybe with a proper bike next time.
“I’m going back for revenge. Placid is hard, it’s hilly. It’s one of the hardest ones, but I’m going back,” he said, before pausing. “Maybe I’ll go to Panama City next. It’s flat,” he added with a laugh.
