On Friday morning, the hubster and I drove up to Lake Placid, NY to take part in the annual train this camp with about 30 other triathletes. We stayed in the luxurious Alpine Air motel, and put tons of miles in on the bike, water and on our leggies running. It was amazing. Just amazing.
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| Luxurious accommodations |
I had blogged on my feelings about camp last year, and went into it with a completely different feeling this year. Since I'm not training for placid, I went to have fun, get in a long ride, run and some open water swimming, and get away from crazy life stuff for a few days. And, as always, Placid delivered!
On Friday, we traveled up, got settled and reunited with some old friends while making some new, and the set out to ride the last 11 miles of the course. Of course, my bike gave me hell right off the bat (at least she did it on Friday and laid off Saturday :-)) but the hubster and I got in a nice hour ride after that, came back, and changed to swim the course! We went down to Mirror Lake and had every intention of doing two loops, but fell in love with the water and decided to swim to the end of the lake and back instead. Silly kids :-D.
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| Train this dinner! |
Post swim, the entire team gathered at an Italian restaurant for a team (plus us taglongs!) dinner. We caught up, met new people, and chatted about everything from triathlon to graphic fonts to weddings :-). Love this team!!
Saturday began the long training. The hubster and I planned to do two loops of the course, cutting the out and backs the second time for 100 miles. I woke up bright and early, ready to ride but super nervous (again) about the Keene descent. One of the other athletes suggested riding the course in reverse, which I thought I might do for the second loop. The hubster and I set out, and quickly began leapfrogging each other, me pulling ahead on the hills, and him catching up and passing me on the flats and descents. Super fun! I held my line (in the road!) for the Keene descent, which was awesome :-)) and then split off from the hubster about mile 45 to explore the old course.
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| Post run ice bath! |
As I was climbing up 86, Mary, the train this coach, came up behind me and told me I had good form , which was an excellent bonus, as I am trying super hard to work on my bike form and holding my line well-yay!!! I climbed up the last 11 and had hit mile 70 when I heard my cell ring....the hubster had broke a spoke at mile 62 and needed rescuez :-( We coordinated a rescue and I rode back to the hotel to make sure he was ok! (It was all good, but his ride was over. Bummer). I headed out for my T run and got a good solid 20 minutes in, felt amazing. As I pulled back into the motel, a few team members commented on my solid run stride, which was awesome :-) God I love running!! Headed down to the stream, took a nice natural freezing cold leg soak, then headed back to the room to shower and rest up a bit before.....
Workout 3 of the day: swim time!! The hubster and I headed down to Mirror Lake to get another loop in!
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| MIrror Lake swim time! |
Even though I was a bit tired, it was still an amazing swim. We did another loop, then packed it in to go get some grub :-) This time, we skipped the team dinner and got some sandwiches and chips and had a nice little picnic down by the lake. In 5 weeks, the lake will be teaming with 3000 athletes, but on Saturday, it's natural beauty and stillness was the perfect backdrop for a tired, yet fulfilled pair of athletes. Two days down, one left to go.
Sunday = long run day! Now, THIS is my forte. I bounced out of bed early, ready to run!! Joined the team again for a balcony breakfast and discussion of plans. Focused. Just one more "long" workout to go-13 miles, or, one loop of the course. The hubster and I drove to the start of the run course by Mirror Lake, contemplated the sign above(were they talking about us? lol) and I left out for a loop a few minutes ahead of Greg, planning on running the first hour at my pace, then hitting the end of river road and catching up with him for the second hour. Perfection. My mp3 player died in the first 5 minutes, which was annoying for a minute, until I released that Lake Placid is just not a place to run with music, but rather, to simply enjoy the beauty. I ran the first 7 miles on my own, then connected with the hubster for an hour of nice running together! At mile 14.5, I dropped him off, then did the last 2 miles back to the motel on my own.
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| Post workout carbing! |
Friends, just amazing. During this run, I had no less than 3 people comment on my form and stride and how great I looked. I felt great, and could have run forever! Now, my pace wasn't terribly fast overall for me, but it felt effortless and natural, which was awesome.
What a way to leave Placid on a high note!!
The hubster and I jumped in the car after packing up and saying goodbye, then hightailed it for home, stopping in Watertown for some much deserved eats!! YUM-Chinese food!
Hit home about dinnertime, unpacked and CRASHED. And here I am today!!
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So, with all that, what's the takeaway? Not sure yet :-) Usually, Lake Placid gives me the get up and go to keep on Ironman training, but not this time. I enjoyed swimming and biking, of course, but felt the real takeaway came from the run....am I really more of a runner than a triathlete? Should I do this ironman in September, or should I hone in on my true love and go for that sub 4 marathon? Hmmm. Decisions, decisions.
So, with all that, what's the takeaway? Not sure yet :-) Usually, Lake Placid gives me the get up and go to keep on Ironman training, but not this time. I enjoyed swimming and biking, of course, but felt the real takeaway came from the run....am I really more of a runner than a triathlete? Should I do this ironman in September, or should I hone in on my true love and go for that sub 4 marathon? Hmmm. Decisions, decisions.
Either way, I did not want to come back to reality! Even though I am unsure about long course right now, Lake Placid gives me this "Happy to be alive and active feeling" that I don't get all the time in the real world. I loved every minute of camp, and I can't wait to be back up there in 5 weeks to have some more awesome training and to cheer on the hubster as he takes on his first Ironman! A BIG THUMBS UP!!!!
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| Coach Mary with some our "camp treat"! |
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