Lake Placid Training

Long training weekend up in Lake Placid last weekend. Joe Coyne, had organized a training trip in preparation for s upcoming Ironman USA.

DAY 1/Thursday: Thursday morning Matias and I started off at Turkey Thicket with a solid 5,000 yard swim. We then headed out...picked up Kelzie, and then headed to meet up with Joe and Laurel. Team Versa was on the road by 9:30am, only 30 minutes later than planned. The drive was pretty uneventful..a few rest stops...and then around 3pm a stop in Woodstock to ride a 30 mile loop Joe had found. WOW...Woodstock was just as I pictured it. My legs felt stale...this would be a rough ride. We got going and it did feel good to get moving. After about 20 miles though I was ready to be done and thought this could be a long few days if my legs did not feel better. Since Tour de Skyline they just had not been feeling it. Not much recovery and over-training is what I suspected. We missed a turn and ended up with about 36 miles and were back in the car. After a quick stop at Sunflower, a local health food store, and a run in with a very laid back yogi we were on the road again by 7pm. We made it to Placid by 10pm...I was beat.

DAY 2/Friday: After a look at the weather forecast the previous night and our late arrival, we decided to sleep in a bit until 8ish, hit the grocery store, and then head out to ride one 56 mile loop of the Placid course. At about 10am we were ready to roll out. I was glad we had waited a bit for the sun to come out and temps to go into the upper 50s. As we started to ride my legs still felt so strained. UGHH. BLAH. I wished I was swimming. The 1st part of the course was some serious downhills...dang...downhills are not my strength at all. So yea, maybe 6 miles of realy downhill. I wanted to turn around but now though that might not be such a hot idea as we plummeted into this valley...going back up might not be so fun. I was stuck. After about 14 miles the downhills ceased and we came into Keene and regrouped. I was definitely not feeling well. I decided I should turn around and find a pool. BUHAHA. I told the group I was not feeling it and going to head back...the reminded me I had to go back up what we had come down. I did not care...I love climbing. Sucka...the climb back up was rough...nuf said. After that I felt a bit better. Headed back into town...the group would not be back for maybe another hour so I decided to ride through town and check out the Lake Placid Fitness Center, which supposedly had a pool. Unfortunately their pool was closed. Major bummer. I headed back to the condo...for a total of about 40 miles. The group returned around 2pm. The afternoons workout was a swim in Mirror Lake. We headed for the lake at 430pm. I had heard the water was in the lows 50s and was a bit nervous but really wanted to swim. Got my wetsuit on and lingered around awhile. Matias busted right on off the dock...huh...he seemed ok. I went over to the shore and waded in and started swimming...it was freakin cold. Not the type where one would warm up. DANG. I swam maybe 15 minutes and started feeling dizzy...this can not be good. I decided I should be a wuss and turn around before I had a problem. I was done trying for the day. That night we crushed some food and watched a movie about a guy who somehow became blind in Mexico.

DAY 3/Saturday: After yesterdays bust...I decided to do my own thing today. The group was doing a lot of riding (at least 1 loop of the course each day). I decided that was not the best for me with how my legs had been hurting and with Eagleman coming the following weekend. I planned to do a long run and then try to find a pool. At 930am I headed out solo-mission in the Newtons to run around Mirror Lake (which I believe was about 3.5 miles round trip). I did one loop and was feeling pretty good, and no signs of blisters (At the end of my runs in the Newtons my toes would began to get sore and I was getting some good looking blisters). One more loop should put me at 8 miles. After the 2nd loop I was still feeling pretty good so decided to go for one more. Coming through the town that 3rd loop my feet/toes started to hurt. I could have done another if I cut my toes off. I headed back to the condo and ended with about 12 miles...m longest run to this date. I really wanted to swim so looked online and called some places to find a pool. No matter where I go I am always able to find something...NOTHING. geez. When Matias got back from riding he felt my frustration and decided we should try and bust into a hotel he had seen. We headed to the Adirondack Inn and were able to sneak into their 15 or so yard pool. It felt great to stretch out and then sit in the hot tub. After the swim we went to Pasta La Villa for a Starburst martini and $1 drafts. nice. Then headed back to the condo to catch the end of a movie about a he-she. That night we crushed some more eats and then headed to the American Legion for some karaoke. We sat in the corner and watched the professional karaokeeer's line dancing and singing. After about an hour we were all falling asleep and decided it was bedtime.

DAY 4/Sunday: Today I would attempt to ride 1 loop of the course with the group again. We decided to get an earlier 8am start as the weather looked like it would get worse throughout the day. The way to Keene my legs felt soso...the downhills began...really not fun. Mile 35 the legs started feeling very strained again. Well at least only 20 more miles. The next section was this out and back. The wind started to really pick up and at times I felt I was going backwards. I became sad and wanted to be done. Kelzie was ahead...Matias was ahead but kept slowing to wait up for me and make sure I had not blown away. Joe and Laurel were not far behind. At mile 44 the climb back into Placid began. It had started to rain and I got cold. The last section was Little Cherry, Big Cherry, Baby Bear (weak), Mama Bear, and Papa Bear hills. Not too bad...I do love climbing. And finally it was over and we were back at the condo. Matias and I headed to the crepe place and I had a sandwich with gluten-free bread! It was so yummy. Then we decided to check out the Swedish Hill Winery. They had some great wines and we bought 3 bottles. Everyone was pretty wiped from training at this point...that night we crushed the rest of the food and talked about what we would do our last morning in Placid.

DAY 5/Monday: The group discussed a couple options for the morning training before leaving to go home. I was leaning towards NOT riding and just going for an hour run. They had wanted to do a mini-tri. This would mean getting in the freezing water around 7am. I was not up for that. Then someone mentioned this Whiteface Mountain ride. UGHH ride. Then the talk was of this mountain which consisted of 8 miles of climbing. OK I was in. Whiteface Mountain is 8 miles on a 8% Grade. The Climb is 3,500' up Scenic Whiteface Mountain Veterans Memorial Highway. New York's 5th highest peak with 360° panoramic views of the Adirondacks, New England, Vermont and Montreal. Starting line is at the Junction of Routes 86 & 431 in Wilmington, New York. Team Versa headed out at 630am, arrived at the starting line at 7am and were rolling by 715am. The climb began. Is this the start I kept asking. I sure as heck hoped...we were already significantly (out of the saddle type) climbing. "Yes, but we have not entered the actual climb," they kept saying. nice. Mile markers started saying 3, 2, 1 miles until Toll Booth (that meant park entrance). After 3 miles we came upon the closed park gates and signs which said NO bikes. I was bustin on through. Matias and I had gotten there 1st..we waited for Laurel and Joe to make a decision. Laurel said "LETS GO"...so we were climbing. Yes, this was climbing...no relief whatsoever. We settled into our paces. Matias was about 50 feet ahead of me and Joe about 50 feet behind...I did not want to let Matias out of my site. We came up on a sign...ROUGH ROAD 5 miles...great 5 miles till the top. They were not kidding...this was crazy tough. After wat seemed like a loooong time I came to ROUGH ROAD 4 miles...GOOD GRIEF. I needed fireballs and a gel...I was going to bonk after riding 4 miles. The next 2 miles seemed long and it started to get colder...maybe a temp drop of 10 degrees from the base. And the visibility was becoming very low...maybe 50 feet...I could barely see Matias but knew he was only about 50 feet in front still. Then the wind picked up...I had to really fight to ride through it. Finally, I came upon ROUGH ROAD 1 mile. There were no longer trees as we were at the top of the mountain...I felt as if I were in a different country. And finally I was at the top at some castle. So strange. I found Matias and Joe shortly followed. We were SO cold. Temp had gone down to 40 degrees and the wind was very strong. Some guys who worked in the castle had drove up right as we were finishing and told us we should not be up there and better ride back down asap. We were waiting for Laurel and then were gonna head back down. I was NOT looking forward to the ride down. Laurel arrived and they let us warm up a few minutes in the castle. Then we headed down. I took it EZ...breaked the entire time. There were some serios small rough bumbs middle of the road that could have taken someone out if you had not been paying attention. My eyes were watering and I was SO cold. I gripped my breaks so hard that my hands went numb. Temp was rising...at mile 4 it was about 55 degrees and then at the base about 62 degrees. I did not see anyone ahead of me at the base...I felt delerious and was unsure of where to go. I called Matias and Joe...AH DUH. Then figured it out...made my way back to the car. I was proud of that accomplishment. Probably the hardest thing I have done on Bananas. We got back to the condo, packed up, and shipped out. The way home went quickly. Matias drank too much Rockstar and went psycho. He finally bonked about 8pm...there is a 1st time for everything.

Thanks Joe for putting this training trip together. I had a great time training and hanging with everyone! Go Team Versa!

Up Next: Eagleman June 8, 2008