Hey friends, just thought I would drop a few lines here about whats been going on training wise for IMLP. Things have been good, I've been healthy and my body feels like it is in the best shape that it has ever been. I'm on a rest week this week, but I have 2 more weeks of build until I hit the infamous taper time :o)
I've traveled up to Lake Placid twice since the last update, once on Memorial Day weekend and once just this weekend past. Both trips were beneficial for completely different reasons and I did not feel the same after either. Unfortunately I have no pictures to post, just stories to tell...so let me try to paint a picture with words.
Memorial day was a good trip, I was able to take the Friday before off of work and made it up to LP by 2pm to be on my bike and riding a loop by 3pm or so. It was sooooooo nice to be back in the mountains, as they are something I truly miss. It just felt comfortable, like that old pair of running shoes that has 400+ miles on them and you slip on after a long hiatus. It just felt right, like being with an old friend you haven't seen in ages. It was comfortable, made my heart happy and was just right...
The bike on that Friday was good, Joe Meyers and I blazed it around the bike course and I might have taken it out a little hard, but I was feeling good on the hills and he caught me in the last 2 miles back into town. (great work on his part because at like 30 miles in, I looked back on a climb and he was no where to be found) I ran off the bike for about 30 minutes and felt great. Still too cold to swim (and I had already gotten my swim in on Friday morning) on Saturday we woke up and hit 2 loops of the bike course to get a realistic feel for pacing/nutrition/the hills/etc. That ride was good, got some things dialed in and became more attune with the course. I paid a great deal of attention to landmarks that I was going to hit and look for on race day. Good recon.
Sunday's run was fun, it was a long run day and I wanted to hit the out and back on River Road to recollect and remember those "rollers" along the river. Joe and I started off together and I had to do a pit stop at 3 miles in. He took off and I did my business and was about 3 minutes down, but within the next 3 miles, I caught up to him and blew past him because I wanted to run and that is generally my strong suit. Finishing up the run, it didn't feel like I had ridden 112 miles the day before. I hit 22 miles at 7:20-7:30 pace which woulda put me right on for a 3:20 marathon. I was wrecked afterwards, but the following week was a rest week, so it was perfect.
Overall at the end of the Memorial Day trip, I felt good about the course (might have had something to do with the stellar run I had on Sunday) But I just want to be able to have the run this year in Placid that I know I am capable of. I felt good and relaxed about the race and wished it was the next week. Luckily, we still have 6 weeks or so from today to race day...
Last weekend was a different story, staying with the Graney's it was a blast at their house. Good times, good people, and lots of laughs in between HARD training. That was the end of a "bike week" for me and I wanted to ride 2 loops of the bike course on both Saturday and Sunday also running 4 miles for a transition run after each day. I swam well for the first time in a wetsuit this year and it felt different, fast, but just different from being unrestricted in a pool. I took a moment at the far end of Mirror Lake to stop the watch and float and look around and soak in the energy of the mountains. It really is spectacular up there and when racing and training sometimes you get "laser lock" on the road and you forget that there is energy to draw upon in the mountains and land that you are racing on. It's beautiful and always fills me up, so i recharged for a minute or two and went back to shore.
Day one was fine, normal 2 loops of the course. day two i bonked about mile 60 after passing thru the first loop and when I got to the out and back, I skipped it and went into the store and bought a slice of pizza and a coke. I watched my overall average speed plummet, but I made it back in one piece after another 100 mile day. BRUTAL. Probably the hardest day on the bike I've had in a LONG time. But that was the end of a 21+ hour training week. (I hit 17,18,20 ending with Memorial day and then it's been an average of about 19-20 hours each week with some big miles in there.
I felt a little unsettled getting trashed by the bike course last Sunday, but I feel like I REALLY know the hard parts of the course now and know where I can push and where to cruise. I'm kinda itching to race as I haven't done a triathlon yet this year, but as a close friend once said, you have to let it be a slow burn and not race too much before the big dance. Store it up and rip it on race day. So I guess we'll see what happens in July... I'm nervous, but excited for it at the same time because I know I've been putting in the work. I'd like to bike a similar time to 2007, but rip a MUCH faster run, so we'll see what I can muster.
For now it's a rest week and I have MUCH to catchup on, so I have to run. I'm gonna try to post a TOP 10 list in the near future and that one should be MUCH more interesting than this post. :o) Until then, train and rest hard folks, I'll see you out on the roads. JFT and cheers.
