Training in Lake Placid

July 21st - July 26th

7-21-10 - Day off - Travel day - Feeling very lucky to - my longest fatigue today hit today - right on schedule. Thankful for the opportunity to rest and sit for the duration of the day. (PHOTO LEFT: All of our bikes getting ready for their journey to Lake Placid)

7-22-10 - Run/Swim 1.2 - After arriving in Lake Placid, we decided to go for a shrot run and swim one loop of Ironman Swim course. First, seeing the Ironman setup is amazing - Lake Placid is amazing. Seeing other athletes training for Sunday is scary - It's almost like you don't feel elite anymore - you are no longer the stand-alone in a community, but one of 3,000 other athletes who do what you do, every day. It is scary and amazing at the same time. (PHOTO UP: Me, having just arrived at the North Pole Inn (or something) in Lake Placid).

Swam the 1.2 in 30 minutes - that was my estimate, the job through the village and around mirror lake was really fun - looking forward to tomorrow.

7-23-10-Ride 56 miles/Run 12 miles/Ride 18 miles - First real day of training in placid. the ride was super hilly with hills that create 6 mile decents and on our bikes we cruised to over 45 mph. The run here was difficult. I wasn't feeling it and the 18 mile extra ride felt good too. On teh 565 mile ride, there was a 10 mile stretch that was one angle - continually up - one, constant, 10-mile incline and I felt amazing. LOVE THE INCLINE!!!! Thank you Lake Placid for such a marvelous strech of road. (PHOTO LEFT: part of the Lake Placid race course).

7-24-10 - Ride 45 miles - Went out for day #2 of real hills. my gears changed - that's the only way I knew I was a little tired from day #1. We stopped periodically to take amazing photos of this piteresque place. My legs feel strong and I honestly feel as though I am defeating hills - for the first time. Its an amazing feeling! So far, so good - glad to be training somewhere else so close to race day!

7-25-10 - Ride - mileage unknown) - RACE DAY! Lake Placid race day. Got up early - we were dropped off near the start, rode into town to watch the Ironman start - very cool - After watching everyone come through the transition, we headed back to the hotel on hte bike - BRRRR - pretty cool biking down hill on the same course as the pros - coming upon the leaders as they pushed their way up hill. (PHOTO RIGHT: Swim start in mirror lake).

After biking, we ate the biggest breakfast ever - SO HAPPY! Then, off for another ride where we pretty much headed to the top of yet another mountain - unknowingly. I am, needless to say, very confident in hills by now. (PHOTO LEFT: my breakfast - YUMMY).

Next up: 8 miles straight to the top of the whiteface mountain (Please see seperate blog for Whiteface Mountain).

LAKE PLACID TRIP RECAP: Coming out to Lake Placid, I had no expectations - I just knew I would be training and that there would be LOTS OF HILLS to train on. Of course the trip turned out better than I imagined.

First, after riding the Louisville course - even after completing 85 miles of the hills on course, I came home feeling doubtful of my ability to complete the course and then run - no reason why - I just felt scared. Note: I am not confidient of my "hill ability" and feel ready for the Louisville Bike course.

That being said, arriving in placid, we immediatly went out to ride and in placid, you start out climbing . . . and climbing. . .and what goes up, must go down. The placid course almost rewards the rider for climbing with amazing decents where we hit amazing speeds and along the way, you are enthralled by the mezmorizing scenery and the excitment of being around so many others who are just like you.
It was amazing upon arrival and course, this was Ironman weekend. My eyes were flooded with thousands of people just like me. Its a comforting feeling knowing there are so many others who have dedicated themselves to something so seemingly obscure. It was amazing to go out on a long ride and midway through to come across a natual swimming hole, take off your shoes, park your bike and coll your body temperature down and relax for a second. what a priveledge to train in such a beautifully challenging place. (PHOTO RIGHT: me, relaxing in the natural waterslide).
Overall, Placid gave me the confidence in hills that I needed (If I walk away with any one specific thing). Around every corner was some new piece of spectacular scenery. I didnt' even care how far i had to bike because I knew there would something else amazing to see if i just kept riding. I experienced the rush of fierce speeds coming off big decents, and the thrill of climbing 8 miles up to the top of whiteface mountain. Lake Placid Training - a great success.

The Journey Continues

July 18th - July 20th

7-18-10 - Bike 4:45 Alone - Today I went out for a long ride alone. I have been advised to do this because I will be alone on the Ironman course so long and I should get use to it. the beginning of the ride started out bumpy. I got to my parking place and ralized I had taken my aero bar pads off to clean them and had not put them back on yet.

After finally getting on the road, I have to admit, the first 2.5 hours was easy. Wiht the Lake Placid hills coming up, I wanted hot, but flat and save myself from injury before heading out to New York to train. This ride was all about getting used to the humidity and going at it alone.

I didn't have any glitches or issues until around 2:45 when I turned straight into the wind and starting consuming my last bottle of water. I started out with four and now I started to wonder if I wuld make it to my planned water destination in time. I was passing by a number of houses, so worst case scenerio, I would go cold-calling and begin begging for water.

About 3 hours in, I noticed storm clouds - about 3:15 in, I started getting rained upon. However unlucky I felt that day starting out, as soon as I truned onto the next road on my map, I saw a state park wildlife refuge ahead - there I found shelter, a clean bathroom and water! WHOO HOO!
It is amazing how what it all really comes down to is so simple. I waited out the storm, took some pictures, guzzled 16 oz of water and ate some combos. Life was looking really good. Finally the storm passed and I headed out hoping to find home. I had to ride dwon a 4 lane highway for 1/10 of a mile (that was terrifying), but I finally made it back - 9 fig newtons, 2 dozen pizza combos and 6, 16 oz bottle of G2 and water later.

7-19-10 - Run 1:30 - I went out for a 2 hour run and ended up completing only 1.5 due to fatigue. GRRRRRR. But, when the body won't go - the body won't go. What is a person to do?

7-20-10 - Bike 2:00 - Again, fatigue,but I am learning that drinking a chilled mocha before I go helps - I should have drank one this time. It's amazing how a 2 hour ride now seems very normal and goes very quickly - it almost doesn't feel I am doing enough.

The Brick Wall

July 14th - July 16th

7-14-10 -Bike 2:00/Run 1:45 - Good new note: I believe that on my brick run today, I took about 4 minutes off of my 12 mile run today - usually it would take 1:50, today it took 1:46. It was hot, but not as hot as it has been - 90 doesn't feel hot any longer - I LOVE IT!

The bike felt strange the first 10-20 minutes, but I went with my camera intending to capture some interesting moments. I did just that - the corn is TALL!!!!! I pulled my bike up next to it then proceeded to jump to try to touch the top - not even close but pretty funny! I felt strong and confident today. Thank you again, Genoa township fire department for putting the water cooler out by the bike path - it has been a life saver.

7-15-10 - Bike 1:45 - Bike a little - not in the mood to do anything today though. The first 30 minutes of the bike

was tough - I was out of breathe, then I realized my break pads were on - what is up with me and my flipping breaks pads???? Have to remember to check those before Ironman (LOL).


7-16-10 - Run 3:00 - LESSON LEARNED

The plan for the day - run 3 hours mid-day, run 1 hour later. I parked in the middle of my favorite housing development and ran what I call loop 1 (it takes approx 45 minutes). After 45 minutes, I swing by my car, grab a gel pack, towel off and grab a new water bottle. One thing I have learned is that one gel pack goes a long way with me. I cannot eat an entire pack at once and will have to eat just a small amount at each mile marker during the race.

Loop 2 - Section two takes me through the neighborhood, across a main road and down a bike path where I pass a park with a restroom and a fire station that puts out water (my life saver). Part 2 takes approx 1:10. At the end of part two, I eat more gel and head back - stopping to refill my water bottle (bottle #3). Section three takes Approx 1:05 - I know that once I hit the neighborhood again, the heat is going to take over.

By 2:45, I was feeling more than wonderful - in fact, I was cruising! Once I hit 2:50, I hit my first brick wall - literally - my body didn't want to run anymore, or move forward for that matter. I stopped my watch, stretched for a second, walked for 2 minutes, took a bite of a PowerBar and headed off thinking I would fall down or something, but I ran to the finish. Overall, my nutrition and hydration were spot on. I felt great. Very little lactic acid in my legs. Aside from the glitch in body function at 2:50, I felt fantastic despite the heat and humidity.

Testing the Course

July 10th & 11th

7-10-10 - Run 15 miles - Headed down to Louisville to ride and run the course. Surprisingly, the run course was flatter than expected, but I am going to anticipate a hot run without much shade. After completing 14 miles of the course, we turned a corner and I saw where the finish was. I got overly excited and forgot about how hot and tired I was, picking up my pace. I can only anticipate what race day will be like when I turn that same corner after having swam 2.4, biked 112 and run 26.2. Oh my!
It was cool to see where the start for the swim will be, as well as the transitions. It sort of sets my mind at ease and yet freaks me out a bit as well. I have battle scars to prove the adventure as we wore camel packs to hydrate properly and mine left some nice, nasty blisters on my neck and back. Somehow, these battle scars don't hurt as badly since I earned them! HA!

It was a good day! Happy to have been on the course.

7-11-10 - Bike 85 Miles - Headed out for an 85 mile ride on the back section of the Ironman course (a.k.a. the HILLY PARTS). I had some indication what I was headed into because we drove some of it in order to park the vehicle. Very quickly into the ride we soon realized Louisville was going to be more than some rollers and instead would be a 4+ hour section of riding up or rolling down with very little flat in between. My initial though was that the course would be 60% flat/40% hills. Instead, my mind soon changed to a belief that the Louisville bike course would now be 70% hills/30% flat with little space for stretching the legs.

LOOP 1 - After riding loop one of the back section, we had peddled up and peddled down. There wasn't any space to stretch the legs. Noted: stretch the legs while going down - it will be the ONLY opportunity to do so.

OUT & BACK - The out and back section looked terrifying from the car and even on the bike, it was pretty scary screaming down on a bike for what felt like a mile. Because: what goes down, must go up and that is never a cyclists first choice - "up". Knowing the out and back section is only going to be happen once makes that tolerable and not so bad overall. NOTE: turning off 42 and onto the "out and back road" hydrate and eat something first.

LOOP 2 - The second loop, the prep was a bit different - stretch the legs & soft peddle down the hills just because there are so many, and so many back to back.

MAKING SENSE: What I am taking away from the Louisville weekend is that this race is no joke. I knew this before, hence the training, but when the heat is beating down on you and your legs are burning after climbing your 125th hill, you begin to realize what a magnificent feat this race really is and what an accomplishment to actually cross that line.

When I got out of the car this morning, I was terrified and ready to cry. Now, I am salty, sweaty, a little tired and wiser to the Louisville Ironman course. I now have a better idea what I am in for and how to prepare over the next few weeks.

P.S. Combos are totally going into my special needs bag - they are packed with sodium awesomeness!

FEELING: I don't feel great about the course. I have seen it, so I feel ok. I guess I'll just have to push it the next 5 weeks that I have remaining to train and hope that it is enough. That's all I can do at this point - prepare and pray, have fun, race smart and stay hydrated and eat.