Lake Placid Training Camp 2012

I am a little behind with my posts, but wanted to share my recent training experience in Lake Placid.  I am very happy to be coached by Todd Wiley this year.  I first met Todd through Team in training while preparing for the Philly Tri several years ago.  He is a great guy and a super athlete.  He was kind enough to hold an informal training camp for a handful of us that will be competing in the Ironman Lake Placid this year.  I headed up on Thursday May 17 and checked into the Comfort Inn.  I have stayed there before but always in the main hotel.  This time I was in a smaller unit lakeside on Paradise Bay of East Lake!  It was a very nice unit and very quiet.

When I arrived in town I was feeling a little out of sorts from the long drive, so I called and made an appointment for a massage on Friday morning.  I was lucky and was able to have one of the owners, Tim, work on me at Balanced Bodywork and Massage.  He loosened me up to get ready for my weekend workouts.  It was such a great session that I ended up scheduling another for later on Saturday after my long ride and T run!  Plus, I set up an appointment for the day after the race in July.   Ahhhhhh!!!!!

Friday afternoon our group of seven plus Todd met on Main Street and rode out of town on the run course.  We followed the course down onto River Road and continued out to Rt. 86.  From there we headed down to Wilmington and regrouped there.  All was going well until I hit a rough patch while going at a pretty good clip and my bottle in my X-Lab Torpedo Mount launched across the road!  I switched cages for Saturday's ride and didn't have any problems, even through the Cascades.  Friday's ride was around 31 miles.  A few of us met at Dancing Bears for dinner which was very good and called it an early night.

Saturday morning we met at the Crowne Plaza where most of the group was staying.  My friends Cindy and Mike always stay there for IMLP too!  It is a beautiful hotel with a great view.  We headed down to the oval and out of town on the bike course.  It was a little chilly, but was a beautiful morning.  Clear, crisp and very little humidity.  As always we were not alone with many athletes getting in their training rides.  The roads were in good condition but you could still see signs of the devastation from last year's flooding.   The temperature heated up quickly especially on the climb past Whiteface back towards LP.  The winds were light which was a blessing.  I had parked in the lot near the back of the high school and stopped there to refill my water bottles before heading out for my 2nd loop.  I had wanted to do about 90 miles and Todd had recommended cutting over the mountain on Rt 12 once I reached Upper Jay.  By then temps were getting hot and I took the climb slowly.  A turn on Fox Farm Road brought me out just above the road to Whiteface.  I was starting to feel pretty worn out and stopped at a park entrance to get in some shade, get some fluids and throw some water on my face.  I felt much better after that and felt pretty good on my second climb of the day back into town.  I got in 94 miles and added a short 20 minute T run.  That was a good day!  I caught up with a few of the others that were going in for a swim.  The water looked great and there were a lot of people swimming.  The water was pretty warm for this time of year.   I showered and headed out to see Tim for my massage and then headed to Lisa G's for dinner.  I had been there for lunch two winters ago with my good friend Bonnie.  We had ridden snowmobiles there from Upper Saranac!!  I enjoyed my meal once again!!  Early to bed that night!!!!

Sunday morning we met at 7am to get our run in.  It was an absolutely gorgeous morning!!!  We followed the run course and enjoyed the incredible scenery.  I opted to walk the hill by the ski jumps and also the one just past Lisa G's to Main Street.  I'm sure I will be doing the same on race day!!  It was starting to get warm by the time I got back into town.  Todd rode along while we ran and gave some great advice and refilled our drink bottles.  I was out of fluids by the time I was on Mirror Lake Drive almost to Northwood Drive.  Luckily someone had their sprinkler system going and I was able to get some water on my face.  I finished in the oval, grabbed a Gatorade and walked up the hill to the Crowne Plaza.  That was the toughest hill of the day!!!  Mike, I don't know how you do it after racing!!!!!  Thanks Todd for a great training weekend!!

From there I grabbed a Subway breakfast sandwich and headed back to my room.  A shower and some stretching and I was ready for the drive back to PA.  My weekend was fueled with PowerBar Ironman Perform drink,  PowerBar Double Latte Gels and Strawberry Banana Gel Blasts followed up with PowerBar Ironman Restore.  Thank you Powerbar!!

I had to stop on my way out of town to take a picture of my favorite road sign....  See you in July!!!!!!

The SCU Quad County Metric

This past Saturday I made my over to Green Lane Park for the start of this year's SCU Quad County Metric ride.  Registration was a breeze and I ran into my good friend and fellow TNT teammate Johnny Martone.  It was great to see him and his daughter and her fiance.  I missed our other buddy Bruce who was meeting up with them.  I opted for the metric distance plus the Intensive Climbing Unit (ICU).  Temps were a little chilly as I got the bike out of the car.  I was on my way right around 8:00 and quickly warmed up on the early climbs.  By the time I made the turn for the ICU I had to stop and take my arm warmers off.  I had my PowerBar Ironman Perform drink, water and PowerBar Double Latte gels and they keep me feeling strong.  the first rest stop was at around the 30 mile mark which put us somewhere below Macungie.  Lots of fruit, PBJ, cookies and other goodies!!  I opted to grab a banana and water to fill my bottles and mix up some PB drink.  A porta potty stop and back on the road.  I had a few problems shifting and checked out the line for the Guy's Bike Shop tech.  Too many in line so I just headed out.  From there we headed east on some roads that Melissa and I have ridden.  By then the temps were getting up there and the scenery was beautiful.  We passed through Richlandtown and I was tempted to stop at an ice cream shop but I knew that wasn't the best thing on a training ride :-)   The next rest stop was at mile 50 in the Towhee Park.  I was thrilled because I have seen signs for the park and always wondered what it was like there.  I also think Towhees are fun birds!!!!  Drink-your-teeeeeee!!!!  I hear them often on my rides.  Another well stocked stop and this time opted for a cookie as well.  From there we headed south and east back to Green Lane.  Once back I had a great veggie burger and a wonderful massage!!!!  Overall I give the ride an A+!  It was very well marked, very scenic, well stocked rest areas and a very organized registration/finish area.  Thank you SCU!!!

Here is the ride map and cue sheets 67 mile plus ICU: http://ridewithgps.com/routes/1167116