Ironman USA Lake Placid (Page 2)

I went up this weekend to Lake Placid and rode the bike course with Tom (TC117). What a great day and super confidence builder for me to know my fitness vs. course's hills.

The Keene down hill is so amazingly fun.

My training is ramping up with 20+ hour weeks. Being sort of slow takes me longer to do 100 miles rides and 19 mile runs.

The town of Lake Placid was great and this visit we were able to walk around more and take things in as it wasn't so crowded like race week. 

Hi all!!  I've been a little in denial about this race, but I'm registered, racing and a little nervous for my first IM.  Has everyone booked lodging and are people flying or driving?  My options are to fly to Boston and drive with my Dad, or to fly from Boston into Lake Saranac...  And I'm a bit concerned about not having a room yet.  I don't even know if my Dad is GOING or not yet!  YIKES!  Anyway, hope everyone else is getting excited like I am!!

Not a planner huh? As of two weeks ago The Hilton had rooms.  

What happened last year, at least, was that those 5 night minimums magically went down to 2 nights within the last week or two before the race.  People cancel, hotel may or may not get to keep the deposit and they still want to make more money as much money as possible off of us.

Right now is probably a good time to book something.  I think a lot of places have a 30 day cancellation and the race withdrawal deadline to get any refund just past.  Try the visitors bureau (you can reach that site through the race site) and start calling the hotels.   

Were down to the last 4 weeks people!Take away the taper and really only 2 weeks to get in those last high volume workouts!  Hope everybody is feeling good about their fitness  and staying injury-free going into these last few weeks. 

The TDF kicks off on July5th, right on time for us to have something to distract ourselves with while we begin the difficult task of actually cutting back on our crazy workout schedules.

I spent the weekend in Lake Placid swimming, biking and running. It was a good learning experience and lots of fun. 

I only have one more build week for bike/run then taper time. I will still build for my swimming for  10-14 days.

No IM next year.  I want to do the Musselman half IM as it is only about 15 miles from here.  I will probably stick to shorter tri's and spring marathons for the next couple of years. 

Although I have thoroughly enjoyed the experience so far and am looking forward to the race, giving up so much time on the weekends has been a real balancing act.

I plan on getting a voucher Saturday just so I have the option to sign up or not. I won't know until after the race and digesting it if I want to do it again in '09.

My coach suggested another route for me for next year to help me get faster by working on shorter stuff. I've seen it work well for some of their other athletes.

I will not be signing up for an IM in 2009. I'm looking forward to doing some shorter tri races, trying to qualify for Boston, and enjoying more time at home.

Honestly, I'm not sure I'll ever do an IM again, but never say never and all that...

I mentioned this in another thread in the iron distance section, but for those who have not seen it - Aaron has started the official participant list/goals/race watching thread here: http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=120702&posts=1&start=1