I've now made the trek to Lake Placid 5 times in the last year. Well I guess you could say 6 since I did come up here with my parents when I was a wee child. Back then I skied with my Mom on Whiteface, watched the Harlem Globetrotters play basketball, and skated on the Olympic Rink. I must have been about 10 or 11 years old but I can honestly say that I loved it here in Lake Placid. In fact, I loved it pretty much everyone my parents have taken me. If I can take a bit of a detour from my Lake Placid inspired post I want to say thanks to my parents. I want to thank them for all the long-weekend trips that we took back in the day. The trips to Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire, Connecticut, etc. Yes, I have been blessed to have traveled predominantly with my mom literally all over the world. Growing up with older siblings and relatives that spread out all over the globe from Colorado to Japan to Australia gave me the chance to see the world at a very young age. Let's face it, I was spoiled rotten. By the age of 12 I had been to more distant places that most people had been in their whole lives. That's just the way it went. I did not grow up with a brother or sister who lived with me and I grew up living in the upstairs of a real estate office...thus my childhood was a bit different than most. But I wouldn't trade it for the world. I had so many unique experiences, I mean just think...I was best friends with the kid whose parents ran the go-kart track right down the road from my parents office/my home, I was babysat (aka roller bladed with) by a kid named Cable Doyle. If your from Penn Yan and know who that is you will get a kick out of that. So yeah I can remember going Horseback riding with my mom in New Hampshire, going to the big LLBean store in Freeport Main, riding the Cog railway, skiing Whiteface Mountain..and the list goes on. Nowadays I do more traveling on my own since I am now a very old 24 years old but looking ahead I can't wait to have my parents join me up here in Lake Placid during Ironman Lake Placid race week. I have never experienced the race week up here but from what I hear its absolutely electric, and thats good to hear because I really light up from the people around me. I am like a sponge when it comes to that type of atmosphere, I can literally suck in the energy from all those around me and store it right in my body...and you know I will surely need it during those last 11 miles on the bike and pretty much for the entire 26.2 of the Marathon! Alright I'll get back to my original post now.
What I began writing about today was in retrospect to all the trips that I have made to Lake Placid over the past year. I guess this whole journey all began almost 1 year ago (the day after IMLP 2009). It was July 2009 and I had just began my triathlon career. I was digging it and drinking it all in. I had just finished my first 1/2 distance at the local Musselman Tri in Geneva, NY..which was tough! Anyway, the Lake Placid Ironman was in the back of my mind and it was kind of like a joke when I thought about actually doing it, but if you know me when I get something in my mind and I really want it or and intrigued by it...its just going bug the hell out of me until I scratch that itch..be it bikes, cars, shoes...whatever. So anyway last July I was out in Denver during the IMLP race weekend. I was there for the wedding of a family friend. Denver is way cool by the way, the rents and I caught a Rockies game, enjoyed downtown Denver, and were able to be present at an absolutely gorgeous wedding. Well the whole time I kept thinking that on Monday, the day after we would get back (the wedding was on Saturday and we were flying back Sunday, scheduled to touch down in Rochester at 10:30PM). Well...leave it to me to just bug the hell out of myself until I just did it. I knew that if you were at Lake Placid the day after the race you could get in line and sign up for the race next year after all the volunteers had their chance. Leave it to wacky triathletes to wait in a 7 hour line to sign up for an event that takes place the following year..and here is the kickers..we are gladly willing to plop down almost $600 dollars for race entry and then go to the local hotel and get a hotel for a mandatory 5 day stay in which the bill is well over $1k...and were are grinning from ear to ear the whole dang time! I LOVE IT, haha. Thankfully my father needs to be properly situated when staying at hotels (aka he needs a comfy hotel bed, a clean room/bathroom, good tv with cable which includes the Golf Channel and Speed Network, etc..)so naturally my mom and I searched out for one of the better hotels in Placid, and I think we found one in the Golden Arrow. The place is pretty swank and is located right on the LP Main Street..right across the road from where Cusetri is staying..which is cool. And btw, Cusetri just confirmed that he got the ok from Ms. Cusetri to travel with TurboCurbeau up to Lake Placid a day early (the wed before, since his hotel reservation doesn't start until thurs). This is cool because the drive to LP can be boring and it will be nice to have a co-pilot. Plus, I am going to need someone to keep me occupied leading up to the race..I mean other than watching the tour de france what the hell am I going to do with myself as I won't be able to go for 3 hr bike rides...So anyway, I got off the plane in Rochester around 10:30PM and hightailed it through the night to Lake Placid. I arrived somewhere around 4:30am and proceeded to sit in line until 12:30pm when at that time I was able to sign up for the race..and are you ready for the kick in the pants. A number of my friends were able to sign up on the internet just a couple hours later from the comfort of their homes. Usually their are only a few slots left that go to the internet, so its your best bet to register in person...well I guess not this year as they registered from home...and me I was in Lake Placid, sleep deprived but still smiling from ear to ear. I was not mad, it was just another journey in the life that is Turbo. So that was definitely an adventure, and a fun one at that. It seemed so long ago that I signed up for this race and now here we are, my friends (teammates)and about 2500 other people..just 5 weeks out from the race. Personally I've been dealing with some injuries that have hindered my running..but whatever will just see what everything is like on race day and go from there..either way I am going to have one hell of day on July 25th..I am going to be able to race with almost 3,000 people and most importantly with my fellow Train This teammates. We have all been through a great year of training together and its going to be special to see all of them on the course going after it!..and just imagine what the finish line is going to be like...the truth is I can't imagine, I am just going to soak it all in and just be in the moment...its going to be absolutely amazing!
So that was my first trip back to LP. Since then I have been up here with my friend Joe Crispino. We came up last August after we had both signed up for the race. He took me on the bike course, 2 loops, and as this was my first time doing that distance..I was rocked after it...my legs felt like they wanted to just fall off...but it was a good pain, that's for sure. Then in October I was able to have one of those long weekends with my parents (the ones we had when I was in school) up here as they came up and spent a few days in the great outdoors while I rode my bike and ran around up here in Lake Placid, that was cool! Then fast forward to Spring 2010, last weekend I was up here with my buddy Mike "Cusetri" Corona. We had a great time getting some training in, even if I about bonked off my bike while Cusetri proceeded to crush everything in sight. Oh well, I think I was just tired..I can't wait to tackle some awesome training this weekend, Ive rested up this week with minimal training and I feel that I am primed for some great training. Sidenote: Corona and his brother are racing a sprint tri this weekend and it is Corona's brothers first one ever! I wish him all the best and I hope he kicks butt! Then this weekend I am back up here in this paradise that is Lake Placid. I will be meeting up with a ton of fellow teammates from the Train This tri team that is coached by Mary Eggers. It is going to be hell of weekend. There is going to be a ton of energy from all the people..and you know what that means...it means that all the energy is going to be soaked up by me and utilized on the course...I love this stuff! Already two teammates have arrived. The original Bromantic partners (Chris and Don) arrived at about midnight to the palatial Alpine Air Motel. They had been very generous and allowed me to stay in their room last night so I was nestled in the corner of the room sleeping when they arrived. We greeted each other and then proceeded to pass back out till morning. And here I am, its about 7:20am and Im getting my coffee and breakfast in before I hit Mirror Lake for an easy morning swim to get the blood flowing. After that I believe Chris, Don, and I are going to relax by watching the USA in the FIFA world cup..honestly I am not that interested in the soccer game but it will be nice to just hang with the boys...to not have any other responsibilities other than to rest up for all the training that we will be doing this weekend. Plus I am going to work on getting my bike all set up for the weekend...yeah...I LOVE THIS STUFF!
So that's it for now folks, I am going to finish my coffee and take a dip in the lake and then chill...until 3pm when its time for 2hr bike and another 1 hr swim, followed by some serious carb loading for dinner..
btw, I just saw a guy with (no joke) a mullet, a truker hat, a mustache, cut off jean shorts (cut by himself), high white tube socks, and some old black shoes..this is all from one person...HALARIOUS!
-Explain different trips
-Explain Newton Falls Detour
-All the people on their bikes that I saw this morning alone.
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