40+ Club : Where the Cool Kids Are

Happy Monday, Kids;

My wife and I are just back from a weekend trip to Lake Placid. Ten of us spent the weekend at High Peaks Cyclery as a base lodge for a triathlon camp put together by my coach. The weekend was a combination of training, sight seeing and socializing. The natural beauty of the Adirondacks, the historic Olympic venues and the hundreds of cyclists, swimmers and runners training for Ironman events gave this trip a special feel.

On Saturday, we started out by riding the Ironman bike course, which was both beautiful and very challenging. The first few miles were moderate climbs, then at mile 8 we began a series of increasingly steep descents, including a long, screaming descent that put us just over 45 mph before we flattened out. It was definitely a "white knuckle" ride. Miles 20-40 were beautiful and fairly flat farmland along the Ausable river, before we started the climb back into town. This is where we did some suffering. The last 15 or so miles included most of the 3000 feet of elevation gain on the course. The scenery was breathtaking, but the work was constant. Once in town, we did a quick 20 min transition run off the bikes, then broke for lunch. After lunch we put on wetsuits and headed to Mirror Lake for the first open water swim of the year. Water was cold at 56 degrees, but not unbearable in a wetsuit. Did a half mile swim following the underwater cable marking the race route. After that it was time for food, wine and rest.

On Sunday, we ran. We headed downhill out of town past the Olympic Ski Jump venue for several miles before turning around and running back uphill to town. A few folks were rehabbing from injuries and only ran the first 6 miles, but most of us then did two loops around Mirror Lake, finishing by running down Main Street to the Olympic Speed Skating Oval for our 13.1 miles. It was a very satisfying place to finish the run. After the run, we played tourists by visiting the shops before heading home. Our group enjoyed the camp so much that my coach is booking another training session up there in August before our actual race weekend in September.
I took a bunch of pictures and thought I'd share a few. Note the climber on the rock escarpment on the bike course, and the ski jumps on the run course.

Hardcore 22 Day 1: Cardio 1 and Core 1 plus a 4-mile easy run...DONE!

The temperature was a balmy 85 degrees when I made it out this morning. However, I think I'm already adjusting. It didn't feel awful and I was able to keep my speed around 10 min/mile instead of 11 - 12 like last week.

Happy Monday!

@Djproulx -- You've got me teetering on the edge of triathlons again. Or even just getting a wetsuit so I can open water swim for reals early in the season.

Rowed intervals (5x1500m/5:00r @ 2:17/500 avg pace). Normally I'd do some upper body lifting after, but my left elbow has been giving me some trouble. Giving it a rest, then will figure out what the problematic lift is.

Wow, DJProulx, Amazing!

lol @ "the naked experience", caramel....aaaahhhhhhhh!!

It has been marvelous weather for my May long weekend...most of it spent on the baseball diamond watching son. None of it spent at the gym. Oh well....the winter was very long and I yearn to be "outside".

BOOM!

TmacMMM wrote: »

@Djproulx -- You've got me teetering on the edge of triathlons again. Or even just getting a wetsuit so I can open water swim for reals early in the season.

Let's see..........you own a bike trainer, you've started running and you've already done an open water swim this season. So I don't think you're teetering, I think you've taken the plunge!

With that in mind, I'd suggest the Niantic Bay triathlon on August 6th as your first race. It is run by the Hartford Marathon Foundation and gets great support. The course is beautiful and they have a separate swim wave for first time triathletes.

Can I tell my posse that you'll be joining us??

45 year old here! 5'8"...so I carry my weight okay...Back issues so exercise moderately, partial thyroid removal and taking hormone replacement. Seems so hard to lose but it is a lifestyle change. Not looking for a sudden super loss but a gradual permanent loss of 25 pounds. My scale is broken so I don't know how much I have lost but my clothes are more loose so maybe I need to stay away from the scale a bit longer as long as I see me going smaller not bigger!

@caramelgyrlk - Glad the new gym seems to be working out!

@Djproulx - I've got my event calendar pretty well locked down this year, but next year? It's looking good for at least one tri. I'll keep running, biking, and open-water swimming this year though. Just not all at the same time.

Ran 3 miles, intervals; followed by lower-body strength (bodyweight).

This group keeps me from giving up- I see you all doing different things every day and that is the motivation I've needed to deal with my injury- I can't run and it's really making me sad but look at all y'all hitting the yoga mat, cycling, walking, swimming, lifting ... thanks y'all-