T -3

We're here. Wendy, Ben and I arrived in Lake Placid yesterday evening and we had a really pleasant trip.

I had an appointment with the chiropractor Wednesday morning and then headed out to BWI airport. We flew from Baltimore to Burlington, Vermont and then picked up a hire car to get to LP. Ben was as good as gold on the flight and even slept through takeoff. The drive from the airport to Lake Placid was beautiful. The easiest way from Vermont to New York state is via ferry across Lake Champlain and it was a lovely little ferry ride. For virtually 45 miles of driving on the New York side of the lake we didn't see a single car and could see the mountains around Lake Placid getting closer and closer - not having seen the bike course I was starting to get worried.

Transition - inside the Olympic Speed Skating loop - before the bikes

Just before you get to the town of Lake Placid you are greeted by the two Olympic ski jumps which I will have to run past on Sunday. We went directly to the hotel and didn't see any of the town and Olympic village until the following day. At the hotel we grabbed dinner and watched the Tour on TV but found ourselves alone in the restaurant at 9:45pm with the lights turned out - they obviously go to bed early here as the restaurant even has a bar and pool table.

The turn around is basically at the far end of the lake

This morning we met up with Mary Lou and headed down to Mirror Lake, the site for Sunday's swim. I was supposed to do a 30 min swim but I was so close to the end of the course at 15 minutes that I kept going and did the full 1.2 mile out and back (you do it twice during the race for a 2.4 mile swim). The lake was fantastic. It was the perfect temperature, not too hot and not too cold and the water was clear with a deep green colour. There were a number of other swimmers about but everyone had loads of room and it is a shame that the swim is not more of an individual time trial rather than a 2500+ person mass scrum.



After the swim we headed to registration. There were big queues but because Mary Lou and I were not on the list of names by the door we grabbed one of the officials who then led us through a back door, neatly cutting out the lines. He took us to a desk marked Pros/Problems. I thought it was a bit unfair to label us problems and wondered if we could fool anyone into thinking that we might be Pros instead but by the amount of time we spent at the desk it was clear that we were problems. The lady at the desk was very helpful and before too long had everything sorted out and we had our Ironman Bracelets on and had all the other 'stuff' we are going to need for race day. As well as the usual swim caps and chip you have a plethora of bags for various stages of the race. You have bags for your transition needs and also bags called 'special needs' bags in which you can put in anything you thing you might need half way through the bike or run, e.g. dry clothes, food, fluid, parts etc.


After lunch Wendy, Ben and I headed out to drive the bike course. The course was not bad but is far from flat. After getting out of town there is a massive descent to a town called Keene which looks like it is going to be very, very fast and the descent goes on for several miles but what goes down must come up. I saw 3 or 4 short climbs which looked a bit tough but the majority of climbing should be pretty steady. The last part of the course back to Lake Placid takes you by Whiteface Mountain and the scenery is absolutely stunning.

Whiteface Mountain

Back in town and having been out on the road for nearly 2 hours you realise you have to do that entire 56 mile drive on a bike - TWICE. By that stage I didn't have the energy to DRIVE the run course. I was ready for a nap but after trying, and failing, to get internet access it was about time to go for dinner and we headed out for a bite to eat with Mary Lou. By now town is buzzing with cars, expensive bikes, fit bodies and deep tans. The restaurants were all filling up rapidly by 6pm and we were glad to get a table. After dinner I met up with Ed from Team Z to get my bike off him and I am now back in the room trying to stay awake and get this post out.


If I were to try and gauge how I was feeling in terms of readiness and confidence for the race I would say that I am not panicking but have some concerns. I swam very close to race pace today and felt great but I have not been for a run for over 2 weeks. The sharp pain in my groin has gone but after travelling for a day my entire inner thigh felt stiff and mildly uncomfortable and I am worried how this might manifest itself on race day. I am fairly content, I know under the circumstances I couldn't have done any more to get prepared for this race and I do feel like I have fitness reserves so we will just have to wait and see what happens on the day.

Even if the race itself doesn't go to plan it is a great experience being here and the atmosphere is great. I have never been somewhere that is so entirely devoted to all things triathlon and it is a very surreal but enjoyable experience.

Ben thinking "Same s#@t different Lake" this will be his 4th Tri in 2.5 months of existence

Hopefully I will be able to update the blog at T-2 and T-1 days to race and I realise that Tuesdays post should actually have been T-5. I am going to go for a ride tomorrow and I think I will go back out past Whiteface Mountain and then I will try and go for a very gentle jog to see how I get on.

Last but not least I now have a race number, 2591 (that's right there are really that many people competing). If you want to follow the race you can use the race number, or my surname, to track an athlete, details are on the Ironman USA webpage and there is a link to the right of this webpage. Just before I go the 3 of us wanted to wish my Mother-in-Law, Janet, a happy birthday.