On Tuesday, Leah and I finally left for Lake Placid!! She, of course, had an organized itinerary for our trip. If she wouldn’t of, I would have. I did, however, take time out to laugh at her itinerary and snap of pic of it. She is SO organized!! She is much more type A than me, which is nice because my husband is the complete opposite. Haha.
Our flight took us to Albany where we had to rent a car and drive the 2 1/2 hours up to Lake Placid. When we were about 30 minutes outside of town, the weather started getting crazy. The landscape was beautiful though. I thought to myself about how lucky I was to be racing here on Sunday!!!
The crazy weather? Well, we found out later that it was a tornado that ripped through the west side of Lake Placid, snapping trees in half and taking down power lines. Why did we even care about this? Well, our cottage that we are renting for the week was on the west side of Lake Placid. The power was out. So, it was time to break our “taper rule” of not drinking the week before a race. Wine!!!
Wednesday morning was meandering through the cute little town of Lake Placid. Gorgeous town!!!!
Right?
Brown Dog Cafe and Wine Bar. Super cute stuff with funny little “dog” sayings…
The power lines were being worked on ALL day!
Getting to my Ironman destination 5 days before the race has been a great experience. I feel like we can really take our time to get all of our stuff ready and explore the swim, bike, and run routes.
We got an open water swim in for the last two days in a row. The water is much warmer than CDA!!
Power was still not on even after this.
More Brown Dog Cafe Art…
Leah mentioned at the airport that I was in desperate need of a pedi, so after lunch yesterday we headed to the Aveda Salon. I opted for Team Blaze colors. Of course, the woman doing my pedi thought I was strange, but I love them!! Life is too short to have boring nails…especially if you are racing an Ironman.
Our open water swim this morning. Water was so warm. We did one lap of the Lake Placid IM swim course. As I understand it, you have to do one lap, then get out of the water, maybe run across a timing mat, then head back out on the second loop.
We picked up our race packets today, and they came with some pretty cool bags!!!
Then, we picked up our bikes through Tri Transport and took them for a spin to make sure everything was working properly. There were some kinks, but I’m glad we caught them today instead of Sunday!
I’m a dork. I’ll admit it.
The hubs gets in tomorrow, and I’m really excited to show him around this cute little town.
Now, we are going to hit the showers and enjoy the view from our cottage. Oh, and we have power and wifi finally. Life is good. 
Lisa Eirene July 19, 2012 at 1:42 pm
How do you get over open water swimming anxiety? I used to do it as a kid so much it seems silly to be scared as an adult…
Lisa Eirene recently posted..Spicy, Smoky or Savory
Nicole July 20, 2012 at 4:36 am
Just keep doing it. I still get scared, but I make myself just do it. Once I get in, I’m fine!
Nicole July 19, 2012 at 1:59 pm
I just found your blog but I’m looking forward to hearing about your race! Good luck!!!
Nicole July 20, 2012 at 4:35 am
Thank you! Welcome!
lindsay July 19, 2012 at 6:00 pm
oh my gosh indeed!!! Be safe and good luck!
p.s.
Wine during a taper is key!
Nicole July 20, 2012 at 4:35 am
Ha! Where is my ‘like’ button?
Ann Dunaway Teh @ Nourish & Flourish July 19, 2012 at 6:29 pm
I LOVE Lake Placid! I did my first IM there in 2003 – hard to believe it has been that long. But yes, that is how the swim goes as you said above. And if they still do it the same, you can swim inside the buoys and follow the underwater guide rope as long as you go on the outside of the buoys at the turns. This made the swim much more enjoyable for me!
Ann Dunaway Teh @ Nourish & Flourish recently posted..Should I Buy Organic Produce?
Nicole July 20, 2012 at 4:34 am
Yeah, I’m enjoying that underwater rope, but I don’t know how accessible it will be on race day with so many people. Yes, it is so beautiful here!
Tiffany @ The TexAthlete July 21, 2012 at 5:56 am
I think it’s hilarious (well…not hilarious. Ironic?) that you’ve left a place in Tornado Alley (where we haven’t seen that much tornadic weather for a little bit) and gone to a place where they (randomly?) had one! K, that one sentence was loaded with parentheses. I’ve apparently had too much coffee.
Good luck tomorrow! ROCK IT OUT!
Tiffany @ The TexAthlete recently posted..Slumps Be Gone!
Nicole July 27, 2012 at 8:16 am
haha. My life is ironic.
Cynthia (It All Changes) July 22, 2012 at 9:10 pm
I live near Lake Placid now and we had the tornado up our way. We were in a movie theatre and the ceiling broke. Fun!
But I’m excited for you. I can’t wait to read your recap.
Nicole July 27, 2012 at 8:15 am
Cynthia, I had no idea you lived so close!! I wish we would have had time to meet up.