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Lake Placid Training Trip – Day 3

Day 3 in Lake Placid was another good one. The Lake Placid Marathon started at 8AM and I wanted to get out before the crowds. So, I got up early and took off for my run. It was a sunny and hot morning without a cloud in the sky – too hot for my training run and way too hot for a marathon. I did one 13.1 mile loop of the Ironman marathon course. I was happy to see that the course is really nice – beautiful scenery, obviously, but not too hilly (certainly not flat, but what I guess you’d call “rolling”). Surprisingly, my legs didn’t feel yesterday’s workout too much – they were a little heavy, but I was trying to take it relatively easy anyway. After finishing up my run, I came back to the hotel and packed up the car. Once the car was all set, I got back on the bike. I only wanted to ride about two hours and since the first part of the bike course was on the marathon course, I didn’t want to ride that way. Instead, I did an out-and-back on the back-side of the course (down 86 into Wilmington, plus part of the Hassleton out-and-back). The descent out of town was pretty fun, but of course, that meant that I had to come back up it. I figure it was good experience to tackle those hills one last time.

Tomorrow evening we leave for 11 days in Italy. Our first stop is Capri, where we’ll spend four nights before heading to Tuscany, where the Shaffers have rented a villa in celebration of their 60th birthdays. We come back to the U.S. next Friday, and that Saturday (the 23rd), we head down to Philly to race in the Philadelphia Triathlon on Sunday. While we’re in Italy, I’m planning on running and swimming as much as I can, but probably won’t spend any time on a bike. I’ll use the time to maintain my run and swim fitness and let my body recover from the last few weeks of training. When we get back, it will be just four weeks until raceday!

A couple other important notes:

1) Chris Bergland’s book, The Athlete’s Way: Sweat and the Biology of Bliss comes out on Tuesday. I was fortunate enough to get my hands on a pre-publication copy in March. As I wrote in March, the book is great. It’s multi-faceted: equal parts training guide (with sections on endurance training, strength training, stretching and nutrition), practical neuroscience for athletes, inspriational quotes and lessons on positive thinking. A lot of what Chris has written has become ingrained in my head during these last few months of hard-core training. The book is available everyone, including Amazon.com, of course!

2) CAF: Thanks to you, I’ve raised nearly $9,000 for CAF. Clicking here will take you to an inspirational video that CAF recently put on-line.

3) High Peaks Cyclery: I have to give props to High Peaks Cyclery on Main Street in Lake Placid. They hooked me up a few times during my stay – with simple bike fixes and also with advice about riding the course. The staff is friendly and very helpful.

4) Fun photos: Not that you really want to see these, but here are some fun shots showing the results of Friday’s fall (the hands are the worst, by far):

Right hand:

Left hand:

Left leg (sorry, couldn’t figure out how to rotate photo):

Left arm (again):

Left cycling shoe:

Run – June 10
Distance: 13.1 miles
Time: 1:45
Average heart rate: 150
Course: One loop Ironman run course
Conditions: Hot, sunny

Bike – June 10
Distance: 35.6 miles
Time: 1:57:45
Average heart rate: 124
Course: Lake Placid – down and up back of Ironman course
Conditions: Cloudy, cooler than during the run