Ironman Lake Placid 2014-Race Week Update #1

Well the week I have been preparing for all season is finally here. It was a quick 3-day work week and then packing up and heading to Lake Placid on Thursday morning. I did a light swim and easy hour bike on the training Tuesday and Wednesday just to keep the blood moving. Tuesday was a bit of a panic day after finding a large nail in the back tire on the CRV and then the crown on my tooth fell out. I fortunately had a dentist appoint that morning already, which was really the reason it fell out in the first place since I decided to floss. I won’t do that again! 🙂

Denise also cut my hair on Tuesday night, so I took the trimmer to my legs right after. It was not pretty. And there was bloody carnage that came with those “free” alleged 15 watts. Warning! Some viewers may find these images disturbing…

All the issues eventually took care of themselves as we got 2 new tires on the CRV and my crown was glued back in place again. Packing up seemed much less stressful this year and I usually keep most things I need all ready to go at a moments notice.

Thaddeus Kosciuszko Bridge on I-87

The drive up went very smoothly and no major traffic except for a small slowdown on I-78 due to them spraying some chemical cocktail of herbicides along the side of the ride. It was some pretty nasty stuff which we were able to taste and smell for some time after we passed. Thanks for the carcinogens NJDOT!

Veggie Tacos-The Comfort Kitchen, Saratoga Springs, NY-@ComfortEats

Denise did most of the driving and had located a good farm-to-mouth place in Saratoga Springs called Comfort Kitchen. They had meat and veggie burgers, but I ended up going with the veggie tacos. They were mostly corn and beans with a piece of some deep-fried veggie, which I think was eggplant, and some spicy and tasty little sauce on top. I would gather it was not vegan, but it was too good to inquire about. What I don’t know won’t kill me right? Saratoga Springs was a bit busy for some reason and it was hard to find a spot to park. The food was good though, so it was worth the stop.

We arrived at the house on River Road around 4 PM and settled in. I was eager to get out on the road for a little run to stretch the legs a bit. It was a beautiful afternoon and the run felt so good. I kept it to a half hour though just to stay fresh. I felt like I could have run forever.

We headed out for dinner after a quick shower. We had made reservations at Freestyle initially, but cancelled them after viewing the menu and seeing Foie Gras listed all over it. Foie Gras is a disgusting practice were the force feed ducks which I have some major issues with. You can google it if you care. We tried Cafe Rustica, but it was an hour wait. It was tough to turn down because it smelled so good there. We ended up at the Cowboy, which is one of my favorites. They had had a large party being served there so we had to wait a bit until they were done. It was not even a half hour though. I ended eating the same Thai Noodle Salad and Thai Green Curry with Tofu I had back in June. It is just to good to pass up.

Thai Noodle Salad-The Cowboy, Lake Placid, NY

Peanut Satay Green Curry-The Cowboy, Lake Placid, NY

After dinner we made a stop at the Hannaford Grocery store to pickup some frozen fruit and a few other items. Next we were back to the house and settled in for the night. I had a crappy night of sleep after waking up at 2:30am and having trouble getting back to sleep again. My Jawbone said I slept 7 hours, but it sure didn’t feel like I did.

It was a pretty cold morning when we left the house. The thermometer said 46 degrees F and it felt like it too. I ended up putting pants and fleece on to head into town to get some breakfast.

We got out to the Breakfast Club by around 7:30AM to beat the crowds, which we were successful with. I had a massive stack of pancakes and I was feeling a little guilty about it after seeing all the people running and riding by the window on Main St. I got over it pretty quickly though because they were yummy!

We killed a little time walking around until 9am when I was able to register and get all my race crap. There was a little line coming down the steps at the convention center, but it moved pretty quickly once they started up. One of the things they do is weigh you. I was not looking forward to this after eating that huge breakfast and the large meal the night before. I also had pants, phone, and wallet on too. I was 180 when I left home, but they got me at 188…Yikes!!! I told the lady those pancakes I had for breakfast weighed a whole 8 lbs. She got a laugh out of that.

Ironman Lake Placid Transition Area Bike Racks-IMLP2014

I finished being ushered around to all the different stations to get my race numbers and stickers, swim cap, computer chip and some swag. We actually a nice little bike multi-tool which I thought was cool. We also got IMLP backpacks again, but I like the ones this year much better. I could probably use this one for work. They make you go down to the expo area to pick them up probably so you buy some more stuff. I bought nothing this time. Last year I over did it and then half the stuff was on sale on the website afterwards anyway.

Denise was chatting it up with nice guy from Charlottte, NC named Bob. His son is a pretty awesome triathlete from what he was saying. He was a pretty interesting guy. I also bumped into my Coach, Scott too and talked with him for a few minutes. We walked around the expo for a bit and Denise ended up buying some electrical muscle massage thing.

Ironman Lake Placid 2014 Finish Line Arch

I headed over to the lake for a quick 20 minute swim in the lake. The lake seemed a little cool at first, but should be perfect for raceday with a wetsuit on. I took it easy on the 10 minutes down the lake and then took it up a notch and cruised back towards shore. I saw the cruise back average pace was around 1:38/100 yds, which for me is pretty fast. Doubt I could do that for 2.4 miles, but it does give me confidence of being more in the 1:45 range.

I was ready to get out of the craziness of town after my swim and get back to the house and chill for a bit. I think I saw two-thirds of Team AWESOME too on the way out in their Soas kit. It was a little too crazy though to stop and say hi.

Well that is about all for now. Got some chillin’ to do!