Week Of:
I'd been back from Spain for almost a week at this point and was still feeling like crap. I had done a few runs and rides and could tell I still wasn't right; heart rate and perceived level of effort just didn't match up. I finally decided to go Urgent Care to have it checked out. Turns out I came back from Spain with a bitchin case of severe bronchitis, an ear infection, and a sinus infection. This is not what I needed headed into training camp. The Nurse Practitioner told me I needed to rest for the remainder of the week to which I politely told her to go pound sand and that I needed to be better by Friday (race simulation day). I guess she took me seriously because I left with 5 prescriptions. Then it was time to pack while heavily medicated.
Day 0 - Travel Day:
Tom was nice enough to offer up his Expedition and drive myself, Mel, and Fabrice. He made his rounds and we headed out from Ashburn around 8:15. Leave it to me to ask for a pit stop 10 minutes into the trip so I could get some Starbucks. The trip is long but surprisingly not bad. Perhaps that is because Fabrice had a 4G wifi card and I watched episodes of Archer on Netflix for most of the trip. It might suck a little more next month when I'm the one driving. We finally made it up in about 9 hours of drive time plus a few stops for gas and lunch. The house that Scott and Shelly secured was incredible. There were 7 bedrooms, 4 common areas, massive dining room, and even a creepy, horror movie-esque basement. I got settled into my room and went out for a short run around Mirror Lake. I was supposed to do one loop which was a little over 2 miles but ended up catching up with a guy from Canadia who had just run TTT last month. We struck up conversation and he was telling me all "aboot" his previous Lake Placid experience. I got through my 5+ miles and still felt like crap. My heart rate was still way too high for that distance and pace but it was all good. I had to remind myself that I was still sick and I shouldn't expect much. Finally, I headed in for dinner and took it easy. Of course, this view of Mirror Lake is never a bad way to end a day.
Day 1 - Course Recon:
This was all about going through the course to get a feel for it in prep for tomorrow's race simulation. I had a little extra on my plate and actually had to work most of the day. I woke up and was logged in by 6:30 with our ride starting at 9. I got to a good stopping point and had 10 minutes to change and get out the door. This was not a good start to the day and shocker ... I still wasn't feeling well. I was still having trouble breathing and my legs still felt like lead from taking 2 weeks off for vacation. Scott said my legs would come back and that I'd be fine but I wasn't feeling real confident about it. We got a quick lecture on how the bike course will work on race day and then we all clipped in and headed out. This was a casual group ride so we really didn't push the pace (not that I could anyways). We made it down the Keene descent and headed out to Jay and on to the Ausable Fork out and back. We came back to Jay and headed up into Wilmington, hit the short Haselton Rd out and back and finished the 15 miles back to Lake Placid on 86. We finished the ride in a little over 3 hours and while everyone else was resting up for the rest of the day I had to get back to work. Finally got work out of the way and it was time for one loop of the run course. I was supposed to take it very easy since it was just to get a feel for the course and check out some of the hills. The run course is no joke. The hills on River road aren't bad at all but the last hill back onto Main St is a huge bitch. Tackling that hill at mile 23-ish on race day is going to be painful. The day finally ended with 1 loop of the swim course. I've done plenty of 1 mile swims but the course is basically straight out and back and seems ridiculously long. I have one swim speed so I finished right when I thought I would which is probably what I'll do on race day. Day 1 in the books and time to rest up for tomorrow's race sim.
Day 2 - Race Simulation:
This was the most important day of the camp. The plan was to do 2 loops of the swim course, transition to 2 loops of the bike course, and then a 4-6 mile run just as we would on race day. This meant preparing a "special needs" bag that I'll have access to at the half way point as well as testing out our race day nutrition. I woke up finally feeling a little better but was moving pretty slowly around the house. I got everything ready to go and headed down to the lake. Like I said, I have one swim speed and that's basically how I swam for 2.4 miles; maybe a little slower. I exit the water and get ready for the bike. Shoes, helmet, nutrition, and sunscreen (not enough apparently). I take off and just try to settle in knowing it was going to be a long day. I made it through the first loop feeling good and rode up to Slake and Shelly at special needs. I grabbed new bottles, drank a coke, and ate my clif bar just as I planned. Off I went for the second lap with Mel in tow who I talked into cruising with me for this lap. I was sticking to my plan and all was well up until mile 85 or so. After 4.5-5 hours on the bike I was getting really tired of my sports drink. Note to self, mix it up a little bit; 6 bottles of the same thing gets old fast. I got to the point where I just didn't feel like drinking it anymore even though I needed to get the calories in. I trudged on but started to fade because I wasn't taking anything in. I forced down one last gel for tackling the Bears and cruised back to the house. I was supposed to run but my stomach was very unsettled so I didn't. There was lots to take away from the swim and bike and I have adjustments to make before race day. Overall the day was a complete success because of what I learned. Finishing the day's workouts also meant it was time for beer. Day 2 in the books.
Day 3 - Group Ride:
The hard part was over. Now it was time to hang out and have some fun. On tap for the day was another 100 mile ride with different places to turn off and shorten the ride. Of course, no casual group ride would be complete without a flat in the first 30 minutes of the ride. FAIL!
Thanks to Mel (helper), Fabrice (picture taker), and Super SAG Slake (tire pumper upper). Seriously, Slake must have some sort of 6th sense when SAGing. I flatted and within a minute or two he had already turned around and was back to help. Flat fixed and we headed out towards Saranac Lake then climbed part of Whiteface Mountain and descended into Wilmington (I hit 45 mph without even trying). We regrouped and refueled in Wilmington before heading down to Jay and out towards Ausable Forks to eventually make it Lake Champlain.
We left Wilmington with our next stop being the Ausable Chasm (below). The best part about today is that I finally felt like myself again. The drugs had worked! Ben and I decided to push the pace through Ausable and I felt great. Then Baldwin rode up and said that we should catch up with Fabrice and Bill who had ridden off the front. Sure, why not? Being able to sit on his wheel after all the miles we'd already ridden put me on cloud 9. I also have to give credit to Tom who hooked me up with a different nutrition setup for the day after my burnout the day before.
Photo opp at the Chasm complete and we cruised the rest of the way to Lake Champlain. After a quick dip in the water we were ready to go home. My ride was set to end in Jay. Tom, Mel, and I set the cruise control and rode the 20 or so miles where we caught up with Andrew and called it a day. Another 83 miles in the saddle. Finally back to the house and out for a quick swim. I was supposed to do another lap but turned it into drafting practice with Mel as well as some pointers on my stroke. Finally, done for the day and time for some beer.
Day 4 - Long Run:
6:30 came pretty quickly after finishing my last beer at 12:30 or so. But finally, last day of camp and all I had to do was run. On tap was a 20 mile on most of the run course. I ate my usual bagel with peanut butter and nutella and drank a cup of coffee. I slowly but surely got ready, loaded up my dorky fuel belt with Ironman Perform which I'll get on race day and headed out. My legs were definitely tired at this point but I was intent on executing my race day run strategy: E pace + 30" for the first 6 miles then E pace after that. At the start E+30 was just fine and I even wondered how I was going to speed up. The legs warmed up and I started to feel good and actually settled into E Pace and even a little faster at some points. I drank water and sports drink at each mile just like I will on race day. I finished up on River Rd and headed back into town. There are two hills on the way, the second being the nasty one back onto Main St. Hill accomplished and it was just another half mile back to the house. Long run complete and I treated myself to the last 2 cokes that I'm going to drink until mile 13 of the run on race day. Overall the run felt great and I nailed my pacing which is another confidence booster. Time to pack up and head home.
Take-aways:
This was a hugely successful trip. Not only because of all the training I got in, but because of what I was able to learn while I was there. Each night we had lectures on some aspect of the race; one night was on nutrition and another about the course it self. There are still plenty of surprises that can pop up on race day, but the course isn't going to be one of them. I know what where the next turn is and how many miles before I'm there. I know all of the climbs and how long I'll spend on them. I know that running back into town at mile 23 is going to be the worst part of my day and I can mentally prepare for that. I learned that my bike nutrition needs to be overhauled and I want a different rear hydration set up. After Saturday and Sunday I feel like I'm ready to go.
For funsies here are my totals for the camp: 4.5 miles swimming, 250 miles biking, and 38.5 running.
Whats Next:
I get a much needed recovery week then we will do one more "big" week. After that its 3 weeks of taper.
"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat." - Theodore Roosevelt
4.5 weeks to go ... starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel
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