LAKE PLACID TRAINING CAMP

I went into this training camp at an all-time low physically and mentally.  I was tired and wasn't recovering from workouts like I usually do and the two days prior to camp we had temps in the mid to high 90's which forced me to cut some workouts short.  Still I was looking forward to getting out there on the course and seeing just what I was in for come race day.  Kerry and I hit the road at 5:15am Friday morning with her car packed to maximum capacity. We arrived around 11:15 and got some lunch.  We set out to find the places where we were staying race week but it began to rain a bit.  Since my bike was on the roof I wanted to get it somewhere undercover as soon as possible.  We headed to the condos where we were staying and luckily enough they were ready early so I got my bike in and we unpacked the car. Of the 20 people attending the training camp only 4 of us were women.  We headed back into town for a bit since we didn't have to be ready to run until 3.  The weather was actually pretty good as it was cloudy and overcast in the low 70's.  We were ready to run at 3 but no one else was apparently so we finally got started at 3:45 just as the clouds cleared, the sun came out and the temp shot up to the eighties.  I liked the run course overall.  There is a pretty long hill back into town at the end of each loop but I will be walking that thing anyhow.  Unfortunately my run started much the same as the past 4 runs have gone for me.......craptastic!!  It got a bit better in the middle but around mile 9 I had pretty much had it.  I resorted to the walk/run method to get through.  As always Kerry stuck with me and was my cheerleader.  Somehow I did it. 13.5 miles done.  Scenery like this helped

Olympic Ski Jump

After quick showers we headed to my coach's condo for dinner with the team and a talk about the bike course.  This is what we were waiting for.  The bike course is well-known for being very challenging.  In fact of 25 IM bike courses it is ranked the 6th most difficult.  They weren't kidding.  Beautiful...yep...scary...yep...quad-burning...yep
but most importantly...manageable. Unfortunately I had gearing problems about 20 mins into the ride which hampered my whole ride and really didn't allow me to bike like I wanted.  I pulled up my big girl bike shorts and dealt with it.  The first big challenge for us was the infamous Keene descent which is about 8 miles of downhill.  While there were some insane bikers out there bombing down the thing in aero going 50+ MPH there were times when I was sitting upright wishing my body would turn into a parachute and slow me down.  By the time we got to the bottom my hands were cramping from the deathgrip on the handlebars and I think my brakes might have been smoking.  I was so very

I wonder if I could borrow his jacket on race day?

happy to be at the bottom of that hill and so very unhappy I had to do it again on the next loop.  The next section of the bike course was great and passed fairly quickly and then we headed back toward Lake Placid in what are undoubtably the hardest but most beautiful 18 + miles I have ever ridden.  This section is just hill after hill after hill. 

Minus the snow this was some of the scenery.

As we were finishing up this loop I heard some thunder in the distance.  I should have known what was ahead but I was in denial.  I stopped at the condo on the way to do the 2nd loop of the course to fill my bottles and get more food.  Kerry came about 10 mins later so I waited for her to head out.  Off we went.  On the first climb out of town I dropped my chain.  Kerry held the bike and I got it back on quickly and off we went.  The roads were now wet as we headed into the long descent but at least it wasn't raining.  We made it down safely again and were about 2 miles into the next section when it started raining.  Surprised?????  Yeah ..me neither.  The rain progressed to torrential I can't see two feet in front of me to thunder to lightening.  The roads were flooding in parts.  Kerry and I were separated again at this point but I just knew we were both thinking the same thing.  The rain stopped at one point and the roads begin

to dry up.  Things were looking up!!! I made the turn to head back into town again up all the hills and now the only thing looking up was me......up the hills as the next downpour started.  A few minutes later I was wondering why the rain was bouncing off my arm and I kept hearing a pinging on my helmet.  Ohh wait I know why...it is freakin hailing!!!  Really Mother Nature????  I must have really pissed her off at some

BITCH!!!!!

point in my life.  I just kept on riding and riding and riding and swearing and laughing and shaking my head till I got back to the condo. 7.5 hrs, 113 miles, 8 bottles of sports drink, 6 gels, 2 bonk breaker bars, 3 thunderstorms and 1 hailstorm later I was done with the new entry in my bike ride from hell file.  As a point of reference during my last 100 mile ride the elevation gain was 1500 ft.  For this ride it was 5000 ft.  Now I am supposed to run 6 miles.  Really???  How????  I couldn't run yesterday and I just spent the day on my bike.  As I was talking myself out of it Kerry got back and told me I was running.  We will go slow..you can do it..just see how you feel.  OK Kerry.  Off we went.  We shuffled along for 2 miles and I said I was going to turn around and be happy with 4.  When I got to 4 I looked down and my legs were still attached and moving so I ran back to find Kerry and finished up the hour with her.  I got 5.6 miles which was good enough for me.  For the umpteenth time the past few weeks it was Kerry that got me through a run.  I think she gets the following award.

I wouldn't want to do this without her.  Thank you so much Kerry.  We finished our run around 4:30.  We started the bike at 7:15 that morning.  We were wiped.  We hit the shower and went to dinner with the team.  We then walked into town for a bit of shopping and a photo-op.  We managed to stay awake till 10 that night and were up at

It was very difficult getting out of this thing after an 8 hour workout

6 Sunday morning for our 7am swim.  We walked down to the lake as a team and did a 1.5 mile swim in Mirror Lake.  It was great because there weren't 3000 people there and I could just sight off the underwater cable.  That won't happen on race day.  I was of course the last one out of the water and everyone else was already out of their wetsuits and had dry hair by then.  Whatever.  I hate to swim!!!  We headed home at 10 am.  In a span of under 42 hours we trained for 12.5 hours.  Can you say exhausted?
I am taking Jeff's words about this weekend to heart because I need to for my confidence.  He said on race day everything will be easier and you will be faster. You entered the biggest training weekend of your life running on empty.  On race day you will be well-rested. I am counting on it Jeff.  I do feel much better prepared and have a whole new respect for the difficulty of what I attempting to do.  While I have had ideas of what I thought my finishing time could be I will now be truly happy and satisfied to finish under the 17 hr cutoff.  One more brutal week of training and then the tapering and recovery process begins.  I am hanging by a thread right now and I hope it holds for one more week.  Sorry so long peeps but I had a lot say.