Because of the nagging overuse injury of my right hamstring, it looks like I’ll be testing the less is more theory in Lake Placid next weekend. I just haven’t been able to put in the run mileage that my schedule has called for and having to run the ironman marathon without having completed a decent long run recently will make for a tough run in LP.
We recently made a trip to LP before heading out to PEI for our vacation and I was able to ride the bike course and, at least, have a look at the run course. I was able to ride the course twice; both times I got completely drenched in thunderstorms! They seem to come out of nowhere in LP, one minute it’s sunny and warm, the next minute the rain starts coming down and the temperature drops. The first drenching wasn’t too bad but the second time I rode the course, it started raining just as I started the long, steep descent section of the course, from LP to the town of Keene. This is the only part of the course that seems to give respite to the seemingly endless hills that make up this course. Now I understand the descriptions of riding this downhill in people’s race reports from last year’s race in the pouring rain. This part can be treacherous; it’s steep, slippery and fast. You can easily hit 60kph, no problem and I’m sure some people fly down there at much faster than that. For most of the way down I was on my brakes, just trying to stay in control and keep it under 50kph.
I found the bike was particularly hard to control, the constant gusts of wind and rain were blowing me all over the place. By the time I reached the bottom , I was freezing cold and shivering, having stopped pedaling, you stop producing body heat and with the wind chill and being soaked, you cool down real fast! When I reached the bottom, I noticed my rear tire was almost flat, that was what was making the bike so twitchy on the way down. As Coach Rick says about this descent, “Be alert, don’t get distracted and keep your head up and eyes open”, good advice. No doubt, travelling down the Keene descent, rain or no rain, with 2000 of my best friends inches away will be race highlight I’m sure!
After a couple of days in LP we headed off to PEI.
1 comment:
good luck next weekend. i was terrified last year heading down the mountain in the pouring rain. i find that bike course challenging and haven't been able to break 6 hours. the run is quite nice, though. there are tons of people cheering you on and i found the run to be the most enjoyable part both times i did it. i am doing IM canada and have a blog of my training if you are interested seescottswimbikerun.blogspot.com
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