Samantha Davies poses with her dog. (Provided photo — Samantha Davies)

TUPPER LAKE — When Tupper Lake native Samantha Davies heard that her friend was going to be competing in the Tupper Lake Tinman’s Sprint Division in 2017, she wasn’t going to let them do it alone.

“I have a competitive edge, so I said, ‘You can’t do it without me,'” Davies said.

In her first triathlon, she placed 11th. A year later, she returned to the sprint division and placed third.

Since then, Davies, 40, has moved up the triathlon distance ladder, competing in every distance at the Tinman, while also having done seven half Ironmans – 70.3 mile triathlons.

Her love for — and at times distaste for — triathlons has continued to grow over the years. But Davies is ready to take her competitive edge to another level when she competes in Ironman Lake Placid on Sunday.

Samantha Davies smiles while competing in the biking portion of a race. (Provided photo — Samantha Davies)

“I wanted to try it out, it might be one and done,” she said. “It might spark a new level of crazy. Triathlon is a love-hate relationship. You love a lot of it, but sometimes when you’re doing it you wonder why you’re doing it, but that sense of accomplishment when you are done outweighs it all.”

Davies was inspired to compete in the upcoming 140.6-mile Ironman — which combines a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike ride and a full 26.2 marathon run — by her coach and close friend, Amy Farrell.

“Somehow we came to the conclusion to do Ironman at 40,” Davies said. “I’m not sure why I thought that.”

Luckily for Davies, Farrell isn’t your typical coach. She’s a multi-time Ironman Lake Placid champion having won the race in 2015 and 2017. But what makes her a great coach for Davies is that she knows her well.

“She does all my swim, bike and run workouts,” Davies said. “I do all of my strength workouts on my own with a trainer in Lake Placid.”

During Davies’ training sessions she usually heads over to Lake Placid to practice swimming and biking.

“We’re close enough for biking anyways,” she said. “I go to Lake Placid a couple times a week to swim.”

Davies said the leap up from training for half Ironmans to the full Ironman, hasn’t been that bad during the week.

“But during the weekend it’s really time consuming and tiring,” she said. “Usually by the end of my training session I need a nap.”

Of the three disciplines in Ironman, Davies said the run portion will be her strongest. She previously ran track in high school.

With race day right around the corner, Davies is both nervous and excited to be competing in her first full Ironman. Despite her love-hate relationship with triathlons, the thrill of crossing the finish line is what really motivates her to push forward.

“You love it and you hate it because you’re wondering why you’re doing it,” she said. “Then after you’re like ‘OK when is the next one?'”

During the race on Sunday, Davies will have a solid group of people cheering her on, including members of the Coeur Sports team that she is on.

“A lot of our teammates will be there cheering or participating,” she said. “I do have family coming to watch, they are not athlete people so a days long Ironman will be a little tough. I’ll have a bunch of friends who will be either racing, volunteering or cheering.”

Davies said her main goal on Sunday is to actually finish the race, before worrying about time.

“Each race day is different. You can go in thinking one thing and you have to be willing to adjust and adapt,” she said. “If all goes well, I’m hoping to be in the 11 — so under 12 hours. Secretly in the back of my mind there are 100 slots to Kona. That’s furthest from my goals, but it’s there.”