Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Lake Placid Epicman

So, Beast, Sausage Tom, Sara and I made our way down to Lake Placid for the Epicman. Epicman is a self-supported long training day six weeks out from Ironman Lake Placid. It consists of a 50 min swim + 112 mile bike (the Ironman course) + 5 mile or half marathon (Ironman course). The day began at 6:00 am and, as you can see from my expression, I was pretty psyched - even though I'm definitely not a morning person.

Here's Beast and Tom prepping for the swim. Tom was already looking for breakfast of bacon and eggs and requested we stop repeatedly in an attempt to wear us all down. We stayed focused on the task at hand and made our way to Mirror Lake.

Surprisingly it was quite warm this early in the morning but we were already five minutes behind as there was no waiting by the group at large. No worries - more free space for us.

In the 50 minutes I was able to swim to the end of Mirror Lake and back, approximately 2500+meters in total. The nice thing about Mirror Lake is the buoy line is permanently fixed with a cable about 6 feet underwater so you never have to look up to see where you're going (if you hit land - STOP).

Here's Beast and I after the ride. Beast made the trek to Bonktown while heading back from Wilmington to Lake Placid but he gutted it out. A combination of a busy work schedule and lack of sleep finally caught up with him. He passed on the run post ride but recouped the following day to run 14 miles with Sara - I think it was the beer that allowed for the positive turnaround.

By the end of the bike and start of the run it started to heat up and it was absolutely beautiful.

Tom, who basically has taken up the endurance craze this season, managed the 50 minute swim, 140k of biking and joined me for 19k of running. At this point I was grateful for the company. Sara snapped this pic as we made our way to River Road at the base of the Olympic Ski Jumps. Tom tried to talk me into going for a swim in the river at the run turnaround but stopping would have locked me right up so we pushed on.

Who's that Hobbit running with Tom?!

Post Epicman, Beast, Sara and I (Tom was passed out) made our way to Adirondack Steak and Seafood Restaurant. If you're ever in Placid, go there - the food is amazing! Here's Sara with my beer, a Belgian Blond. I caption this picture "A Blond With A Blond" (now give me back my beer!).

The Beast was in fine carnivorous form and ordered the Marcy, 32 ounces of prime rib - real Flintsones-style piece of meat.

This is the Beast's plate after - trust me he ate it all! We washed down our meals with some local beers and all was good.

Don't these two look excited? Beast and Sara as they head out on the Ironman run course. They completed just over a half mary and the light rain cooled them as they went. After yesterday's festivities I had the day off.

Here they are on River Road, a four mile out and back on the run course. The course is really beautiful and, as the name suggests, it follows a river. Flyfishing is really popular in Placid.

This magnificent site is most welcomed as it signifies the end of the out and back portion of the run and you get to head back to town and the crowds of cheering spectators. Epicman was an awesome experience and it definitely built confidence towards the big day on July 24th. I must have seen over 400 people swimming, biking, and running this course over the weekend (I'm probably underestimating it). Next time I see this I'll be racing Ironman Lake Placid 2011. Look out!

Cheers!

Friday, July 1, 2011

Training Update: Muskoka Weekend Pt 2 and Lake Placid Weekend Pt 1

Check out the view Friday morning at Clyffe House - eerie eh? The sun burned it all off by lunchtime and it was sunny and warm for most of the weekend.

This family called Clyffe House home as well.

Despite already swimming 3200m, running 5.5 miles and biking 25 miles, Logan had scheduled a little interval work on the paddle boat. After all the day's activities I found it tough and had a sweat going. The picture shows how beautiful Mary Lake is, especially without fog.

Logan's becoming quite the outdoorsman. Paddle boats are fun but he really enjoyed kayaking and took to it quickly.

This is basically the same shot I took that was covered in fog this morning. Now it's sunny skies!

Dork!

Here Logan and I are enjoying a paddle together. It would definitely be cool to live here.

After our huge ride that ranged between 75-112 miles we had our annual Saturday night potluck. As usual it did not disappoint and there were some happy bellies post meal, all washed down with beers and wine - the recovery drinks of champions!

Logan and I dockside enjoying the end of an awesome day. Next on the Road to Ironman Lake Placid is the Lake Placid Epicman. Epicman is a grass roots training day the starts at 6:00 am with a 50 minute swim, followed by 112 mile bike (the Ironman course) and finally a 5 or 13.1 mile run all in one day. The Lake Placid event took place on June 10th.

We checked in to the Crowne Plaza on Thursday and in the lobby was an old bobsled that actually participated in the 1932 Olympics. I just had to check it out - Dork!

Here's a nice view from the Crowne Plaza looking down at the old church and Mirror Lake.

Sara and I got a shuttle from the hotel and had dinner at the Boathouse Restaurant on Mirror Lake. It was good food with a nice view.

Here's the Boathouse Restaurant from the other side of Mirror Lake - it's quite the spot. Next post will highlight our training day - it was quite the adventure.

Cheers! Oh, and by the way - HAPPY CANADA DAY!!