Wow! This week has been a lot busier than I thought it would be. I am here in Lake Placid and it is the night before the race. Got lots to tell you about so here goes.
Monday's Swim Session 7/20/2009
Had a nice and easy 2000 meter swim today. It was the last scheduled swim workout (yeah like I was not going to swim the course before the race, more on that later). Swam nice and easy. Felt pretty good and got done in under 40 minutes.
Tuesday's Trip to New York (also known as the travel day from hell!) 07/21/2009
Denise and I decided to work this race into a personal vacation to go visit with my parents in the Lake George area. Everything started off fine, my brother and sister in law got back from Honduras (they have a home there) and were all set to babysit our dogs while we were gone. Her sister wasn't feeling well and was coughing a lot (more on this later). Arrived at the airport fine, the flight from Houston to Newark was great. I thought things were going really well so far. Then when we arrived in Newark for our connection to Albany, we were informed that the flight was canceled due to weather. Funny thing, there wasn't really any bad weather! I think the airlines canceled due to lack of seats being sold on the plane personally. So Denise and decided to rent a car and drive it to Albany. I go to the Hertz counter and they inform me that they don't do one day one way rentals. I asked if they would rent me a car the whole week and let me drop it off in Albany. She said she would and before she told me what the price was she ran my credit card. I get the paperwork and it was for over 600 dollars! I said no way and decided to look for other rental companies who would do a one way rental. She said she would void the charge and I thought it was over and done with (we will return to this later). I then got a one way rental with National and it was much cheaper to go one way to Albany and still get the other rental I already had waiting there. The one way rental was still highway robbery, but combined with the charge for my Albany rental it was still cheaper than what Hertz offered. We drove to Albany and that trip actually wasn't too bad. We arrived in Albany about 90 minutes later than if we had flown, so that's not too bad really. Everyone arrived safe and sound to my parents (about a hours drive towards Lake Placid from Albany) and had some great Chili and went to bed early. I was pretty stressed out for the day.
Wednesday's Bike Workout 7/22/2009
I did a 20 mile ride on my Dad's mountain bike. If someone took a picture of me, it would look like a giant trying to ride on a clown bicycle. I was supposed to do this ride yesterday, but due to the travel fiasco, I had to move it to this day. Felt wonderful to ride in the mountains again with cool weather. I miss this area very much (the winters no so much). Denise, my parents and I had lunch at Capri Pizza (the best pizza in the world) and we ate at Massies Italian Restaurant that night (best Bragiola you will ever eat).
Thursday's Run and Drive to Lake Placid 7/23/2009
We got up late and had some breakfast and I went on a 4 mile run this day. Kept my heart rate in control and the pace easy. I did notice that the higher altitude made my heart rate higher but I still felt really good! Denise and I packed up the car and drove to Lake Placid. Took about 90 minutes or so. It is such a beautiful drive. We checked into the Crown Plaza in Lake Placid with no problems. Nice room and very comfortable bed. We stayed here the last time we took a vacation up this way. I traveled down to the race site and got my transition bag and bicycle. TriBike Transport did a great job, except for one thing. They crushed my helmet! The tear drop end isn't so much of a tear drop anymore, something more like a tear ripple. I will have to call them and make a claim when I get back to see if their insurance will get me a new one.
The view from our hotel is spectacular! Here is a view from the front of the lake. Note the swim buoys for the race (click to make bigger):
Here is a view of the empty transition area. I cannot believe it will be jam packed with biked by Sunday!
Friday's Swim and Race Preparation
I had a really nice and restful sleep and woke up to a beautiful morning. I was starting to get really pumped up about the race and decided to swim the race course in my wetsuit. But first I had to officially get my registration and check in over with. The line was long, but I eventually got my blue Ironman wrist ban that showed I was a racer and this allows me access to the "athlete only" areas of the Ironman Village. Once I got that done I had some lunch and went down to the beach. The water was very chilly at first, but I got used to it after a while. I noticed that the water was so clear that you could see the line connecting the buoys. Used it to site and got done in a little over 40 minutes. Not too bad considering I wasn't pushing it, but just getting into a rhythm. Here is a picture from the beach. I had to zoom in a little so you could see the buoys clearly (click to make bigger):
Denise and I had a nice pasta dinner in the village and got to sleep early as well.
Saturday and Tomorrow is GO TIME!!!!! 07/25/2009
Had a lot going on today. Had to get my bike and transition bags checked in. In a Ironman triathlon, you cannot just place your stuff in the transition area next to your bike. You have to have your bags in a different area hanging from hooks with your number (by the way, my race number is 742!). There are four bags. You have your swim to bike bag (this contains all your bike gear (shoes, helmet, gloves, etc.) when you exit the swim, you get this bag and go into the changing tent. There you can dry off apply your anti chafing products and place the wetsuit in the same bag. You then have a bike special needs bag. This bag is available to you halfway through the race and you put food, whatever you want in there so that partway into the bike you can get more stuff. You then have run and run special needs bags. You guessed it, they contain your running gear and special foods for use partway into the run. Here are some pictures from the transition area (getting full now) and the bag area (click to make bigger):
Here is a picture of my bike in the rack. Note that I covered my handlebars and bike seat with bags because they may get rained on all night. Unfortunately, the forecast is for crap tomorrow (click to make bigger):
So there ya have it. If you want to track my progress tomorrow go to:
www.ironman.com
click on athlete tracking and you can track me by name or bib number. Mine is 742.
Thanks everyone for reading my blog and a special thanks to my wife and family for putting up with the long hours away and my "occasional" irritability! I will post a race report later. That's all for now.
Tri your best!
Bill
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